The Farmers of Kilton
Picnic at Kilton Lodge about
1908. Vincent Grainger, Ann and Charles
Farndale, George
Farndale, Grace
Farndale, an unknown person and Mary Farndale
The First Hub
Four Hubs
Having
arrived in Cleveland, by the early eighteenth century, the family split into
four main Hubs. These were large extended families associated with different
geographical areas, from which over time, there would be further dispersal. In
the next four Acts, we will meet each of these four Hubs.
|
Act 13 – The
Farmers of Kilton The First Hub The
story of the Kilton Farndales, a family who dominated a village, since lost
to time, over two centuries |
|
Act 14 – Spreading out from Brotton and Loftus The Second Hub The
story of a substantial division of the family who spread widely across
Cleveland and beyond from Kilton, Brotton and Loftus |
|
Act 15 – The Mariners of Whitby The Third Hub
The story of the Whitby Farndales who settled in the bustling port of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
|
|
Act 16 –
Return to the Vale of York The Fourth Hub The
Ampleforth Farndales who returned south of the North York Moors to Yearsley
near Ampleforth |
In 1870, the Victorian author, John Farndale
imagined an emigrant on his return from a far country, saying, “No place can
equal Kilton for loveliness”, standing as it does, in the midst of sylvan
scenery, beautiful landscape and woodland scenery, and what a perfume of sweet
fragrance from wild flowers, particularly the primrose acres that would grace
any gentleman’s pleasure ground for beauty and for loveliness. Kilton, as it is
situated, is fitted only for a prince[1].
Scene 1 – Making our new home for two and a half centuries
Arrival in Kilton
By about 1705, Kilton had become the home of the Farndales
for almost two hundred and fifty years until 1940. The many branches of the
modern family are descended from the Farndales of Kilton, though some split
from it, into the other Hubs, quite early. The Kilton 1 Line and the Kilton 2 Line are significant elements of the
family history and the Kilton 3 Line also made Kilton their home. John Farndale wrote, from the perspective of Victorian Yorkshire, that My
children’s children comprise the sixth generation of our family that has lived
at Kilton estate upwards of two hundred years.
In about 1870, John Farndale (1791 to 1878) imagined his return to Kilton after years of absence when he
recalled The steward always called old J
Farndale to the vice-chair, he being old, and the oldest tenant. Farndale’s was
the most numerous family, and had lived on the estate
for many ages. Here we have chronicled something like a genealogy of a race of
people once thronging the streets of Kilton, but where are they now to be found? Many of them have gone to their everlasting
reward, yet a few, a small few, remain unto this day.[2]
The Victorian author’s great
grandfather was also called John Farndale (1680 to 1757) and he was baptised at Liverton on 27 June 1680[3], the son of Nicholas and Elizabeth (nee Bennison) Farndale. We met Nicholas and Elizabeth at
the end of Act 12. The older John Farndale is where the Kilton story began.
The older John Farndale is the last
direct ancestor of all members of the Farndale family and their descendants
today. All the stories which will follow this Act relate to John’s descendants.
The whole family today can trace their stories back through John and to John’s
own ancestors, whose stories have been told in the preceding Acts. As we read
on, to follow the fortunes of a family spreading across the globe and in experience,
it is sobering to reflect on how a simple farmer and his first wife, Elizabeth
Bennison, in a small rural hamlet in North Yorkshire, who only had five
children themselves, are the origin of all the lives which followed. He is my
great x6 grandfather and that, or thereby, of all descendants of this family
alive today. If only we could travel back in time to tell him all the family
stories of those who followed. If not for the lives of John and Elizabeth, the
future adventures of the family would never have occurred. It was John’s small
family who began a process of dispersal which began to lead the wider family
down many different paths.
|
27 June 1680 to 5
October 1757 Married Elizabeth
Bennison on 5 February 1705 and Catherine Jackson on 8 October 1730 Householder of
Brotton, the first Farndale at Kilton Kilton, Brotton,
Liverton |
|
|
About John and Elizabeth themselves, we know comparatively
little. John Farndale married Elizabeth Bennison on 5 February 1705 at Brotton[4]. He was probably the first of the family to move to Brotton, perhaps at about the time of his
marriage to Elizabeth and their family of five were born in the Parish of Brotton. The church at Brotton served the agricultural estate lands
of Kilton. John and his family almost
certainly moved straight to the farmland of Kilton, which may have been Elizabeth Bennison’s
home. John may have initially worked on the Kilton farms, but it seems likely that
he began to farm the lands of Kilton himself, perhaps through a Bennison
inheritance. Given the association of his sons and grandsons with Craggs, it
seems most likely that he began to farm on the gentle slopes of Craggs Hill,
close to the village of Brotton and overlooking the small village of Kilton in
the valley below.
The Farndale association with Kilton probably started in around 1705 at
about the time of John and Elizabeth’s marriage.
|
|
|
No place can equal Kilton
for loveliness |
Elizabeth died in 1726 and was buried at Brotton on 1 May 1726[5]. John was 40 years old then and in 1730 he married again, to Catherine
Jackson, again at Brotton[6].
Described as a householder
when he died in 1757, then aged 77, John was buried at Brotton on 5 October 1757 at St Margaret Anglican Church, Brotton[7].
John and Elizabeth (nee Bennison)
Farndale are the direct paternal and maternal ancestors of all those who
descend through the Kilton 1 line and a direct ancestor of all the modern family. He is the last person to
whom all modern Farndales can trace their ancestry. They had three daughters, Elizabeth Farndale who must have died an infant, another Elizabeth Farndale and Ellin Farndale, and two sons, who we will meet in Scene 2.
|
The genealogy of
the Kilton Farndales. It might help you
to have this page open as a second window, to help you follow the narrative |
Scene 2 - The Second Generation
Cabinet Makers and Cartwrights who took
their skills to Whitby and Great Ayton
John and Elizabeth Farndale’s eldest son was William Farndale I (1708 to 1789) who married Abigail
Gear at Brotton on 3 July 1733[8]. He farmed at Craggs, which was later associated with the Craggs Line of Farndales. Craggs is the hill which overlooks
Kilton from the north. When he died in 1789, he was described as William
Farndale of Crags[9]. It seems likely that it was to Craggs, on the slopes above Kilton, and
close to Brotton, that John and Elizabeth had first settled in 1705.
|
5 December 1708 to 28 February
1789 Married Abigail Gear on 3 July
1733 Farmer of Craggs Kilton, Brotton, Craggs |
|
|
William Farndale I’s oldest son was
probably Elias Farndale who moved to Thirsk by 1754[10] and was the ancestor of the family who returned south of the North York
Moors to Yearsley near Ampleforth. We will pick up their story in Act 16.
William’s second son, Samuel Farndale (1735 to 1797) became a cabinet maker in Kilton. His relative John Farndale wrote in the late eighteenth century that Near them is Samuel
Farndale and Betty, his wife, and their five children, one yet still alive,
cabinet makers and joiners, Wesleyans. They had some land, lived to be old and
died at Kilton, respected[11].
Samuel married Elizabeth (“Betty”)
Hutton in Brotton on 23 May 1776[12] and they had four sons and three daughters[13]. Samuel and Betty’s eldest son, another William Farndale (1777 to 1863), born in Kilton Thorpe[14], became a wheelwright and cartwright[15] who was indentured as an apprentice to a joiner, Thomas Garbutt of
Nunthorpe, in 1827 and later moved to Pinchinthorpe near Guisborough and retired to Great Ayton to join his younger brothers. Their
youngest two sons were Joseph
Farndale and Henry
Farndale who both
moved to Great Ayton[16]. There is a
substantial Farndale story to be told at Great Ayton, which we will pick up in Act
22.
William Farndale I’s younger son was William Farndale II (1743 to 1777), and he became master mariner of Whitby[17] and his family were the Whitby 3 Line. His brother Samuel’s second son was
John Farndale who also moved to Whitby, settling in Eskdale to the west of the town[18] and his family were the Whitby 5 Line. Their stories will be picked up in Act 15.
The family of William Farndale I were thus a part of the Kilton community for a while, but then dispersed
to the area around Ampleforth, to Great Ayton, and to Whitby.
It was the other part of this family
who remained in Kilton for generations, and who descend from a character called
Johnny Farndale, known in his latter days as Old Farndale of Kilton.
Old Farndale of Kilton
The
youngest son of John and Elizabeth Farndale was Johnny Farndale (1724 to 1807) who was baptised at Brotton on 28 February 1724[19]. Johnny became the patriarch of the
Kilton Farndales, a regaler of smuggler tales, a farmer and a business man. He is my great x5 grandfather.
|
when you are gone there will never be
such another Johnny Farndale 28 February 1724 to 24 January 1807 Old Farndale of Kilton Married Grace Simpson 0n 16 April 1750 By 1773 he was a tenant at Craggs Farmer, alum house merchant, yeoman and cooper Kilton, Brotton |
Johnny was also known, in his dotage, as Old
Farndale of Kilton. He was a farmer and yeoman, but he was also an alum house merchant and cooper. He was a tenant of Craggs
Farm on the Wharton Estate of 31 acres in 1773[20] and by 1791 he was also farming a 83 acre plot at nearby Howe Hill[21].
The village of Kilton from John Tullie’s Estate Plan, 1767, a bustling
village around Kilton Hall
A Sketch of Kilton Hall, from John Farndale’s
book
Kilton was farmland on the Wharton Estate of Skelton Castle. This was an
ancient estate, which was once part of the demesne of the first Robert de Brus
immediately after the Conquest. The first Robert de Brus was the first Lord of
Skelton, but through Scottish connections, also acquired lands in southwest
Scotland, as the First Lord of Annandale. His interests then split between his
elder son who retained the senior interest at Skelton and his younger son who
pursued the interests of the Scottish lands. It was from the younger son that
Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, who defeated the English army at
Bannockburn, descended. The Scottish kings after Bruce derive from the junior
line of this Yorkshire family!
The senior line of the family retained the title to Skelton until the
thirteenth century, when the Yorkshire lands were split between four daughters.
The Skelton lands then became the interest of the Fauconberg
family, the Nevilles briefly, and then the Conyers. In the sixteenth century
the hereditary line from the de Brus family ended and the land was sold to a
wealthy fellow called Robert Trotter. A Trotter lass in the eighteenth
century married Joseph Hall, whose son John Hall became Lord of Skelton,
including the Kilton lands, during an eventful period from 1733 to 1785. So our early family would have doffed their cap to John
Hall.
John Hall was a pal of Laurence Sterne, author of the
somewhat bizarre The Life and Times of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman,
written at Shandy Hall in Coxwold. John married
Anne Stevenson and added Stevenson to his surname. John Hall-Stevenson was known for his wild parties at
the castle, with his friends including Laurence Sterne, Zachary Moore and Panty
Lascelles, who came to be collectively referred to as the Demoniacs.
John was a hypochondriac, who wouldn’t get out of bed if the east wind was
blowing. Laurence Stern had the weather vane fixed so
it would never show an east wind. Skelton Castle was in a state of disrepair at
this time, and it came to be known as Crazy Castle.
His grandson, John Hall-Stevenson, was the squire from 1786 to 1843. He
ran up large debts and was confined to Fleet Debtors prison for a spell. In 1788 he took the surname of Wharton in order to succeed to the fortune and estates of his
wealthy aunt, Margaret Wharton. He demolished the old Skelton Castle and
between 1788 and 1817 built a similarly named Gothic country house in its
place.
These were
the Farndales’ landlords!
|
The baronial
Yorkshire family from whom later Scottish Kings would derive and who
dominated the early history of our later Cleveland home |
|
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 |
|
A history of Skelton and its old church. |
Johnny Farndale married Grace Simpson on 16 April 1750 and they had eight
children[22].
Whilst Johnny was thus a farmer at Kilton on the Wharton estate, he also
had interests on the coast at the troublesome hamlet of Old Saltburn. The new
town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea had not yet been built. Old Saltburn was a small isolated fishing village, with a side line in
smuggling.
The author John Farndale (Johnny’s grandson) wrote all about it.
Old Saltburn around Cat Nab,
was an eighteenth century fishing village. It became a centre for smugglers. In
1856, there was a hamlet around the Ship Inn, comprising a row of houses where
farmers and fishermen lived. The authors Laurence Sterne and John Hall
Stevenson raced chariots on the sands at Saltburn, but otherwise it was but a
small fishing hamlet[23].
Here stands the conic hill,
Cat Nab, where formerly many ship loads of contraband goods, of every
description, were landed.[24].
|
Stories of
smugglers, led by John Andrew, known as the King of the Smugglers, and the
undoubted involvement of our forebears |
|
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 |
|
1757 to 1835
The King of the Smugglers The grandfather of Martin Farndale’s wife Elizabeth Taylor, no
doubt in league with the c17th Farndales. When the local folk whispered Andrew’s
Cow has calved, everyone knew the goods had arrived. The wealthy John
Andrew later became master of the Cleveland Hunt He is my great x3 grandfather and will be an ancestor of many of
the modern family |
Johnny had a business as the
proprietor of an alum house at Old Saltburn whilst the lucrative sumggling
trade occupied many of the folk of the hamlet. There was a large alum house
near Cat Nab. My grandfather, who was a Kiltonian, employed many men at this
alum house, and many a merry tale I have heard him tell of smugglers and their
daring adventures and hair breadth escapes. The lime kilns and coal yard were
kept by old Mr William Cooper, whose sloop, “The Two Brothers”, was continually
employed in the coasting trade. Behind the alum house, Thomas Hutchinson, Esq.,
late of Brotton House, made an easy carriage road from Saltburn to that place,
which road will always be a lasting monument to his memory[25].
Alum deposits were up the
valley of the Saltburn Gill and the alum was dug at an alum quarry at Selby
Hagg and carried down the valley by packhorse to behind Cat Nab where it was
refined and purified at Old Saltburn and then shipped out to the Tyne or the
Thames docks. There is a field today on the road to Brotton called the Kelp
House Field where seaweed was dried and used in the refinery process and Alum
House Field originally faced Cat Nab Cottage. Cat Nab was a historic place of
refinery of alum by John’s time in the eighteenth century, though with peaks
and troughs in the market[26].
|
The alum trade
in Cleveland |
The large house at Mill Farm, that now stands between Cat Nab
and the road from Saltburn, would seem to occupy the site of the alum house
complex at Old Saltburn[27]. A map of an Estate belonging to
John Hall Stephenson Esq lying at Skelton and Brotton in Cleveland in the North
Riding of the County of York, produced in 1773 after a survey by Watson and
Seagrave shows the alum quarry at Selby Hagg, with steeping pits and a
cistern, at the place now referred to as Haggs Farm on the modern ordnance
survey map.
At the location of modern
Mill Farm, the Saltburn Gill met buildings at a place known as Allum House
Bank in 1773 and then continued to a large complex of buildings to the east
of Saltburn Gill Beck where it turns to join the Skelton Beck.
Mill
Farm, the site of Johnny Farndale’s alum works The Saltburn Gill which flows to the sea
from Selby Haggs, 2025
So this was the site of Johnny Farndale’s alum works.
Alum Houses such as that of
Johnny Farndale would have taken the concentrate from the alum quarry through
the next part of the process. The excess water content was evaporated off to
achieve the desired specific gravity, often measured by seeing whether an egg
would float in the substance, and alkalis were added. The alkalis caused waste
products to deposit as sediment. The remaining liquid was then run off into
large casks and crystallised. The crystals were then broken off and rinsed with
spring water and then dissolved in boiling water to create a saturated
solution. Ammonia was added to help the crystallisaton process. Originally the
ammonia was provided by human urine and there was a bouyant trade in the
product. Barrels were left in the streets of such places as Guisborough for
households to deposit their chamber pots and Thomas Chaloner of Guisborough
sold his own urine for 1d per firkin. An alternative to urine was seaweed,
which may have been used at Saltburn, although some believed seaweed to be iinferior
in its effect. The near final product was then run into very large casks to roach,
the end product being saleable crystals.
The close proximity of
Johnny’s Alum House to the Old Saltburn shoreline where ships were regularly
beached to load up at low tide, meant that the final saleable product could
quickly be exported from Johnny’s works. Sloops were beached on the low tide shore
to be loaded and then refloated at high tide for export.
Conditions for the alum
workers were generally dreadful. Particularly during the quarry phase, the
burning heaps gave off clouds of sulphorous smoke. It was sometimes like
working on an active volcano. Employees were often not paid for months on end.
The alum workers were described as poor snakes, tattered and naked, ready to
starve for want of food and clothes.
The primary use of alum was
as a mordant to fix dyes in natural fibres such as wool and linen. It was used
in dyeing and tanning and also as Epsom salts.
Johnny Farndale’s alum works
were at the periphery of the small hamlet of Old Saltburn which then comprised
a row of cottages which extended from the Ship Inn and another row of
houses on the seaward side of Cat Nab. There were a few other cottages in the
valley of the Saltburn Gill and a water wheel. There was another inn, the
Nimrod, and a third inn, the Seagull was next to the Ship Inn
and later absorbed into it. The original Ship Inn was just the snug bar
at the road end of the current pub.
There was yet another inn called the Dolphin and many of the
cottages also sold gin for 1d per glass. Near to Cat Nab entertainment was
provided by regular cockfighting. At the Sunday fair at Old Saltburn, there
were tales of geese being driven from Brotton after having their feet dipped in
hot tar and sand. This was the wild west and the locals were often out
of control.
When the alum trade at Old Saltburn declined again from 1776,
the out of work locals embraced the enterprise of smuggling. Old Saltburn was
an inevitable centre for smuggling. There were two roads which led to Saltburn,
which were easily watched, the Brotton coach road and the Skelton road. The
ravines of Saltburn Gill, Skelton Beck and Little Dale provided hidden paths
for escape and transporting of contraband. The locals were generally related by
marriage, and the Farndales were in the heart of this community.
The most popular contraband for the smuggling trade was
brandy, which had a customs duty of 6d (or 2 ½ p) per gallon and an excise duty
of 4s 8d (23p). Together this was roughly the equivalent of the weekly wage of
a labourer. Duty was also levied on gin (geneva), tobacco, black tea (bohea),
coffee, chocolate, playing cards, linen, Flemish lace, silk, flax, oars and
spinning wheels. If a vessel could be fully laden with about 8,000 gallons of
spirit, the smugglers could evade duty amounting to about £2,000, or nealy half
a million pounds today.
Along the valley of the
Saltburn Beck, was the White House, in which John Andrew would soon have an
interest. It is said the James Cook used to call at the White
House when sailing out of Whitby, on his way to visit his
parents at Great Ayton.
Alongside smuggling, legitimate trade
was conducted by landing sloops on the shore at high tide to carry coal and
limer. William Cooper’s vessel, the Two Brothers, unloaded coal and lime
at high tide, and refloated with cargoes of oak timber, wood for props, and
hazel corf rods, which were used to make large baskets for use in the Durham coal trade.
This was a trade which Johnny Farndale engaged in.
Johnny had his fingers in many pies.
Whilst conducting his merchant enterprises at Old Saltburn, he was also a
tenant farmer probably on Cragg Hillside to the north of Kilton village. The
smuggling of Old Saltburn took place all around him, and it seems pretty likely
that Johnny had some involvement. Indeed his great grandson would marry the
grandaughter of John Andrew, the King of the Smugglers.
Johnny was a rich character, at the
heart of his community. He saw the final days of the thriving village community
of Kilton, as it transitioned from an eighteenth century rural landscape, to
large scale farming and new industry. We can imagine him returning along the
Skelton Beck from Old Saltburn, having checked up on his alum works, to his
farm on the slopes of Craggs Hill looking southward to the thriving village of
Kilton nestled around Kilton Hall. This was before census records help
illuminate the detail of his enterprise, but he must have been the employer of
a small workforce at his alum house, whilst also managing an agricultural
workforce to provide labour on the farm which he leased from the Whartons. He
must have been a formidable force in a community that has long since
disappeared.
His grandson recalled that once, a year at
Christmas, they balanced accounts, over a bottle of Hollands gin, and after
eulogising each other, the squire would rise and say, “Johnny, when you are
gone, there will never be such another Johnny Farndale”.
Johnny died at Kilton Thorpe on 27 January 1807[28]. He was buried at Brotton Old
graveyard where several generations of our family can still be found.
|
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 |
|
|
The author John Farndale imagined an
emigrant returning to Kilton via the graveyard where Johnny still lies
today, on the high ground adjacent to Craggs hill, where Johnny farmed. But
yonder on the high ridge stands Brotton Church; there was to be seen his
father’s tomb, when no time was lost ere he stood on the sepulchre of his
father. Reading words and figures chiselled out, near one hundred years before,
then moistening the green sward with tears of reflection, below where his
father’s ashes lay, then, with slow and solemn step, turned away, and took the well known lane down to Kilton, when at Howe Hill, and
seeing a towering chimney above all; what misgivings now trouble his
unprepared, peaceful breast[29].
The satanic images of the industrial
area were beginning to taint the sylvan landscape of Kilton.
Scene 3 - The Third Generation
The Older Brother
Another John Farndale (1750 to 1825) was baptised at Brotton on 24 March 1750[30], the eldest son of Johnny and Grace
Farndale. He married Jane Pybus in Skelton on 23 December 1795[31]. John sand Jane Farndale had a family of eight and we will follow their
lives in Act 14.
|
24
March 1750 to 23 October 1828 Farmer
at Brotton Married
Jane Pybus on 23 December 1794 Kilton,
Brotton, Skelton |
|
|
He was a busy Kilton farmer. The Skelton and Kilton Terrier in 1809 recorded his
tenanted farm. There were several farms at Kilton managed by Farndales at this
time. The Farndales dominated this place.
So he was farming these lands in Kilton
|
No |
Enclosure Name |
State in 1809 |
Quantity in a, r and p |
|
|
|
70 |
Stack Yard &c |
Pasture |
“, 2, 16 |
um |
“ 10 “ |
|
264 |
Broad Garth |
Pasture |
3, “, 32 |
an |
7 4 “ |
|
54 |
Farndale Barf |
Llea? Mea? |
2, 3, 20 |
ud |
5 3 6 |
|
71 |
Bulmer Barf |
Paddock |
4, 3, 08 |
uh |
9 2 5 |
|
72 |
do |
Fall |
4, 2, 24 |
ao |
9 15 3 |
|
95 |
Swales Barf |
Llea? Mea? |
2, “, 32 |
uh |
4 3 7 |
|
197 |
Ward Barf |
Pasture |
5, “, 24 |
uh |
9 15 8 |
|
89 |
South Cow Pasture |
Oats |
7, 1, “ |
ud |
13 1 “ |
|
90 |
North Cow Pasture |
Wheat |
4, 1, 08 |
ua |
7 6 2 |
|
55 |
Chapel Long Close |
Llea? Mea? |
4, 3, 08 |
ua |
8 3 2 |
|
53 |
Lane from Kilton to
Kilton Thorpe |
Pasture |
3, 1, “ |
- |
|
|
Total |
|
|
43, “, 12 |
|
74 12 9 |
John Farndale died on 23 October 1825 aged 75[32]. His will read In the Name of God Amen. I John Farndale of the Parish
of Brotton in the North Riding of Yorkshire, Farmer, make this my last Will and
Testament in manner and form as follows. First I
desire that after the period of my decease all my funeral expenses and other
debts be duly discharged by my within named Executor
out of my personal estate. I then give devise and bequeath unto my wife Jane
Farndale all the residue or remainder of my personal estate consisting of the
stock and crops of the farm which I now rent, cash, household, furniture,
linen, plate etc during the term of her life, or as long as
she continues my widow. But after the said term or widowhood my Will is that
the aforesaid personal estate be equally divided amongst my children to share
and share alike. [33]
We will pick up the story of this
family again in Act 19.
The Butcher of Brotton
George Farndale (1753 to 1782) was the second son of Johnny and Grace
Farndale and he was baptised on Brotton on 13 May 1753[34]. He married Mary Stephenson in Skelton on 27 January 1778[35]. They had a son and daughter.
|
13 May 1753 to 19 November
1782 Married Mary Stephenson on 27
January 1778 The butcher of Brotton |
|
|
George was a butcher presumably in Kilton, though recorded in the Brotton records.
The Five Sisters
Johnny and Grace
Farndale had five daughters. Sarah Farndale died in infancy. Hannah Farndale married James Jackson in Lythe, along the coast towards Whitby. Elizabeth Farndale married Thomas Hall in Whitby. Mary Farndale married John Frankland in Skelton, a farmer of Brotton, perhaps also on the Kilton estate. Grace Farndale married William Fawcet at Skelton.
|
17
September 1755 to 27 December 1796 Married
James Jackson on 30 May 1775 Brotton,
Kilton, Whitby, Lythe |
|
17
September 1755 to 3 January 1839 Married
Thomas Hall on 21 April 1782 Brotton,
Kilton, Whitby |
|
21
January 1758 to 17 August 1759 Kilton,
Brotton |
|
26
April 1761 to 28 February 1844 Married
John Frankland on 4 February 1785 Skelton,
Brotton |
|
2
December 1764 Married
William Fawcet on 4 May 1785 Skelton,
Brotton |
The Merchant Farmer
William Farndale (1760 to 1846) was baptised at Brotton on 30 March 1760[36], the sixth child of Johnny and Grace Farndale. William married Mary Farguson at Brotton on 20 September 1789[37].
Like his dad, William was a Kilton farmer, with sidelines along the
coast.
His son was the author John Farndale, who wrote And now we come to our
grandfather and father and mother, William and Mary Farndale, and their seven
children’s birth place; farmers and merchants of wood, rods, coals, salting
bacon; church people. And those premises are held by our youngest brother, held
from generation to generation this two hundred years.
Springing from this roof may be said to be forty Farndales of this last
generation.
Round this hill (Cat Nab) my father used annually to bring thousands of corf rods to
ship for the coal pits in the north, where they are not now used. What activity
there was then at this place, when a vessel lay on the beach to be loaded with
rods, which were brought to the seaside in waggons accompanied by eight or ten
men, under the superintendence of my father, William Farndale, well known to
John Wharton Esq., who by the sale of these rods received many hundreds of
pounds[38].
Corf rods were large woven baskets, used to transport coal.
Then again I see old Cat Nab, where I have seen piled up
thousands of bundles of rods for the northern pits. I can imagine I see old William Farndale and his
host of men and wagons loading with rods the sloop, ‘The Two Brothers’ and
after dining together at David Latter’s little public house when perhaps
another vessel appeared for the next tide following and those chosen handymen
failed not to be in time and on the spot when all must be done before old
Neptune came creeping round, but oft time Billy and Farmer have been belly
deep, yet the work must be done. This was in Old Saltburn’s prosperity, when
gin could be got for a penny a glass, real Hollands. In former days there were
seen oft times near Old Saltburn, two or three luggers at a time laden with
contraband goods and the song of the crews used to be[39].
Then
passing down Cattersty Creak, where many a cargo of smuggled
goods have been delivered here, is a very choice place. The last I remember in
this place is that Tom Webster strangled himself by carrying gin tubs round is
neck. Once more I stand on Skinningrove duffy sands,
where I have seen it crowded with wood and corf rods for the North by the said
Wm
and John
Farndale. But what crowds of horses, men, and waggons, when the gin ship
appeared in view. Our friends had no dealings with those Samaritan gin runners,
yet they had great dealings at Skinningrove seaport, both in export and import,
as well as supplying the hall of F Easterby Esq.,
with corn, wheat, oats, beans, butter, cheese, hams, potatoes &c, &c,
and once, a year at Christmas – they
balanced accounts, over a bottle of Hollands gin, and after eulogising each
other, the squire would rise and say, “Johnny, when you are gone, there will
never be such another Johnny Farndale”.
Here lived the King’s officer, in the high season of gin running, but I knew
of few captures; he wished to live and die in peace, and the revenue received
little from his services. Near Skinningrove are the Lofthouse iron mines,
Messrs Pearse, lessees. Above is the grand iron bridge standing on twelve
massive pillars, 178 feet high, which spans the cavern from the Kilton Estate
to Liverton Estate, the first and grandest in all England. Lofthouse, and their
long famed alum works, which has been the support of
Lofthouse for ages gone, but now discontinued. How well I remember my school
days when we faced all weather through Kilton Woods, and how I respected my
masters – the Rev Wm Barrick, Mr Wm King, the great navigator, and Captain
Napper, steward to the works. The popular Midsummer Lofthouse fair was the only
fair we children were allowed to attend [40].
William Farndale pulled down the old Kilton Lodge, connected with the, by then, ruined Kilton Castle, to build the new family
home. The original farmstead of Stank House had been built of the stone of
Kilton Castle. In the east wall of the outbuildings is a large carved stone
which would appear to have once born a coat of arms, now completely
obliterated. Since the old Lodge was at Buck Rush Farm, south of Kilton
village, this suggests that William set up his home there, whereas his father
Johnny Farndale had farmed around Howe Hill north of Kilton. His son John Farndale wrote connected with the castle is Kilton Lodge
which my father pulled down to build a new house.
|
William Farndale IV
30 March 1760 to 5 March 1846 Married Mary Farguson on 20 September 1789 Farmer of Kilton and
a merchant of wood, rods, coals, salting bacon; a churchgoer Kilton, Brotton |
William was appointed as an overseer of the poor[41], as the family increasingly took on public responsibilities of local
administration. An overseer
of the poor was an official who administered poor relief through distribution
of money, food, and clothing. The role was created by the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597. Overseers of the poor were often reluctant
appointees who were unpaid, working under the supervision of a justice of the
peace. The law required two overseers to be elected every Easter, and
churchwardens or landowners were often selected. Overseers of the poor were
replaced in the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, with boards of guardians, although overseers
remained in some places as the method for collection of the poor rate. William Farndale first appeared in the Kilton Overseer’s Accounts in 1798, Disbursements of Ralph Mitchell and
William Farndale for the relief of the poor of Kilton.
This was a time of swashbuckling adventure during the Napoleonic wars with
France.There was another servant of my
father’s, named Ralph Page, equally as singular as Willy Swales. As Ralph
was once busily ploughing, a French Privateer, threatening land at
Skinningrove, fired into the town. Those in the district who had guns assembled
on the cliffs and fired a volley in return. To intimidate the enemy the women
mustered strong and attired in red cloaks and shouldering sticks,
to represent a body of soldiers, they stood far away in the distance. Ralph
took little notice of the privateer, not bothering his head either with the
French or the English, only they let him be, when a young woman passing in
haste, cried out “Ralph, French is landing.”. Ralph, turning round, with the
greatest coolness replied, “Then run yam, and sup all’t
cream,” and unconcerned he ploughed away as though nothing was the matter. The
next day the king’s cutter arrived, and the privateer and her had an
engagement, when the Frenchmen were beaten and the vessel taken, to the great
joy of the inhabitants of the surrounding district[42].
To
intimidate the enemy the women mustered strong and attired in red cloaks and
shouldering sticks, to represent a body of soldiers,
they stood far away in the distance
William was also
farming. In a Skelton Estate Terrier dated 1804 William Farndale is shown as a
tenant of 110 acres, paying £125 rent. The Skelton and Kilton Terrier in 1809
provided a detailed record of William’s tenanted farm. A terrier
was a record of field names, with reference number, land use, acreage, value
per acre and rent.
So William’s tenancy at
Kilton comprised:
William Farndale Tenant
|
No |
Enclosure Name |
State in 1809 |
Quantity in a, r and p |
|
|
|
180 |
Homestead &c 0.0.12 |
|
|
|
|
|
181 |
Homestead &c 0.0.16 |
|
|
|
|
|
182 |
Garth 1.1.30 |
Pad |
1, 2, 18 |
yn |
1 4 2 |
|
183 |
Harry Duck Stank |
Pad |
8, 3, 32 |
yh |
8 1 1 |
|
162 |
Stank Head |
Oats Beans |
3, 3, 08 |
uu |
6 5 4 |
|
163 |
Ward Fence |
Oats |
8, 2, 16 |
uu |
14 3 9 |
|
176 |
Carter Fence |
Wheat |
4, -, - |
uo |
6 8 “ |
|
175 |
Fence |
Llea? Mea? |
6, -, 16 |
um |
9 3 “ |
|
190 |
High Pasture 8, 3, 16 |
|
|
|
|
|
189 |
Pond Close 1.3.30 |
Wheat |
10, 3, 06 |
uo |
17 5 2 |
|
188 |
Near Pasture |
Llea? Mea? |
4, 1, 12 |
uo |
6 10 4 |
|
187 |
House Stank |
Pasture |
4, 2, “ |
yt |
3 16 6 |
|
192 |
Stank Head |
Pasture |
3, 2, 08 |
oa |
4 5, 2 |
|
191 |
Stank Head Close |
Fall |
6, 1, 24 |
um |
9 12 “ |
|
219 |
Kilton Hill |
Wheat |
8, “, “ |
um |
12 “ “ |
|
93 |
Long Moor |
Pasture |
4, 2, 22 |
ou |
5 6 7 |
|
218 |
Ditto |
Fallow |
7, “, “ |
um |
10 10 “ |
|
216 |
Beck Close |
Llea? Mea? |
5, “, 12 |
un |
8 17 7 |
|
217 |
Square Close |
Tweat?? |
11, “, 16 |
oo |
16 1 10 |
|
215 |
Long Pasture |
Oats |
12, 2, 08 |
ua |
21 6 8 |
This was a thriving community with Farndales aplenty. John Farndale wrote
that I see in the book recorded and registered in olden time, the names of
farmers who once occupied this great farm [at Kilton] – R and W Jolly, M Young,
R Mitchell; W Wood, J Harland, T Toas, J Readman, J Farndale, S Farndale, J and W Farndale, all these tenants once occupied
this great farm; now blended into one. I
remember what a muster at the Kilton rent days, twice a year, when dinner was
provided for a quarter of a hundred tenants, Brotton, Moorsholm, Stanghoe, those paid their rents at Kilton; and were indeed
belonging to the Kilton Court, kept here also, and the old matron proudly
provided a rich plum pudding and roast beef; and the steward also a jolly punch
bowl, for it was a pleasure to him to take the rents at Kilton, the day before Skelton
rent day.
William acted as a trustee in the bankruptcy of William Smith in 1817[43].
He died on 5
March 1846 of the infirmities of old age[44]. Shortly after he died there is a record of payments of £1 8s and 5s for
collecting ironstone from the cliffs at Saltburn and gathering and leading
stone, and for horse hire, so it seems that he was working until his death.
Scene 4 - The Fourth Generation
And so we pass to the fourth generation, the
family of the farmer-merchant William Farndale and Mary nee Farguson.
The Older Brother
The website author’s great x3 grandfather, George Farndale (1789 to 1858) was born on 1 December 1789[45], the son of William and Mary Farndale of Kilton. He was baptised at Brotton on 31 January 1790. His brother John Farndale described his elder brother George as a prodigal son, though he was probably just talking down his older brother in a family rivalry.
|
1
December 1789 to 8 May 1858 Married
Mary Armstrong on 22 November 1816 Agricultural
labourer of Brotton after living at Richmond (Easby) and Middlesborough (Marton) and who was
born and died at Kilton Kilton,
Easby, Stokesley, Middlesborough (Marton), Brotton |
In 1816 William Farndale took a farm at Easby, near Stokesley, for his older son George and another at Skelton for his second son, John. George married Mary Armstrong that year[46] and they had seven children.
George farmed in Easby after his marriage
in 1816 until about 1825[47]. He then moved to Marton, near
Ormesby and Great Ayton, before moving back to Brotton by 1841, by which time he was working as a labourer.
When his father died in 1846, old William had left funds to George’s three
brothers for George’s care. And I give and bequeath
unto my sons John Farndale, the said Matthew Farndale and Martin Farndale, the sum of One Hundred pounds upon
trust to apply the same, or any interest which may arise therefrom in case my
said three sons should place out or invest the said sum of One Hundred pounds
at interest in providing Board Lodging Clothing or Medical attendance to and
for my son George Farndale at such times and in such manner as
my said three children shall think proper, provided always, and I declare and
direct that in case my said three sons, the said John Farndale, Matthew Farndale and Martin Farndale shall think it expedient to lay out
or expend the said sum of One Hundred pounds in any other manner than is
hereinbefore mentioned, in favour of my said son George Farndale. I hereby authorise and empower them
so to do, it being my Will and intention that my said three sons shall have the
complete control, management and expenditure of the said principal sum of One
Hundred pounds and interest if any. And I declare and direct that in case the
said principal sum of One Hundred pounds and interest, or any part or parts
thereof shall not be expended by my said three sons at the time of the decease
of my said son George Farndale, then, and in that case, I give and
bequeath the same to the children of my said son George Farndale to be divided equally between and
amongst them.
George seems to have fallen ill and needed support. The Kilton farm passed to George’s younger brother Martin Farndale, and later to John Farndale’s son, Charles Farndale. However
the family unit supported George as he struggled to make a living in other
parts.
George’s family made new lives for
themselves away from Kilton, though not so far, and we will pick
up their story again later, in Scene 7.
The Author
We have
already heard plenty from the family author, John Farndale.
John Farndale (1791 to 1878) was born at Kilton on 15 August 1791[48], the second son of William and Mary (née Ferguson) Farndale, then described as farmers and
business people. The eldest son George had not taken the principal family
farm, probably for medical reasons. Whilst we might have expected John, the
second son, to continue the main family commercial and agricultural ventures,
he seems to have had other plans. His younger brother Matthew was clearly
destined to inherit the main family interests, but over time he too lost
interest and sought a new life in Australia. It was therefore the fifth child
and fourth son, Martin Farndale, who continued the family farm as it developed
into a larger enterprise. Yet Martin had no family of his own, and in the next
generation, the farm passed back through John to his children. These were
complicated succession plans, driven perhaps by circumstances and ambitions.
|
15
August 1791 to 28 January 1878 Married
Martha Patton on 18 May 1829 Yeoman farmer of
Skelton, Corn Merchant, Insurance Broker John Farndale wrote
extensively about Kilton and Saltburn
by the Sea Kilton, Brotton,
Skelton, Coatham, Long Newton, Coatham Stob, Stockton |
A sphinxian character, John was the most flamboyant of his generation and
he wrote extensively of the transition from the idyllic
pastoral landscape of late eighteenth century Kilton to the industrial landscape of Cleveland in the
nineteenth century and the emergence of ambitious new Victorian towns, like Saltburn-by-the-Sea. It is through his writings that we
have a priceless contemporaneous account of his wider family.
My first remembrance began in
my nurse's arms when I could not have been more than 1½ years old; a memory as
vivid as if it were yesterday. She took me out on St Stephen's Day 1793 into
the current Garth (a small enclosure) with a stick and 'solt' to kill a hare. A great day at the time.[49]
When only four or five years of age I remember my
father’s father telling what was done in those days and the old time before
them. Many things then told were deemed most important to those of us who then
lived together in a state of primitive simplicity, far removed from the
occurrences which now surround us. I can refer back to what might have ended in
death, but which by over-ruling Providence was otherwise ordered. It was
ordained that even to me was given an errand to fulfil, which I am at this time
feebly endeavouring to discharge:- namely, to do good in my day and generation.[50]
At the age of 14, after celebrating the victory of
Trafalgar in 1805, he was found dangling head foremost down the draw well
hanging by the buckle of his shoe.
I remember a draw well stood near the house of my father’s foreman. One day I was looking into this well at the
bucket landing, when I fell head foremost. The foreman perceiving the accident,
immediately ran to the well to witness, as he thought, the awful spectacle of
my last end. I had on at the time a pair of breeches, with brass buckles on my
shoes (silver ones were worn by my father and others), and to his great astonishment, he found me not
immersed in water at the bottom of the well, but dangling head foremost from
the top of a single brass buckle, which had somehow caught hold.
Since this accident I have ever been thankful for my
wonderful deliverance, I am now an old man, yet I hope my humble production
will by many be found worthy of perusal. [51]
Those who descend from John Farndale, including the Ontario 1 Line, and the Richmond Line, would therefore
not exist but for a brass buckle and some protrusion at the head of the well
which caught it.
Generations of Farndales are
alive today only because of a small protrusion at the mouth of a deep well
He went on to describe a very happy childhood and he clearly adored his
mother. At this time I believe I loved
God and was happy.
His parents, he said, were strict Church people and kept a strict look out. I
became leader of the (Brotton) church signers, clever in music and he immodestly claimed that he
excelled his friends. He had a close friend, a musician in the church
choir. One day he met him and said he had been very ill and had been reading a
lot of books including Aeleyn's Alarum and others which nearly made
my hair stand on end. Alleyn’s Alarm was a pious text from the time, which
no doubt follows a tradition of somewhat threatening alarums since the seventeenth century.
In 1815, by then aged 24, he was celebrating the victory
at Waterloo in Brotton where he led the
singing as they burned an effigy of Napoleon. From Kilton How Hill we have a
fine view of the German ocean, Skinningrove, Saltburn, Huntcliff, Roe-cliff,
Eston Nab, Roseberry Topping, Handle Abbey and Danby beacon. Here, too, at not
much distance from each other, may be seen no fewer than five beacons, formerly
provided with barrels of tar to give the necessary alarm to the people if
Buonaparte at that period had dared to invade our peaceful shores. After the
great battle of Waterloo, and Buonaparte had been taken prisoner, that glorious
event was celebrated at Brotton by parading his
effigy through the street and burning it before Mr R Stephenson’s hall, amidst
the rejoicings of high and low, rich and poor, who drank and danced to the late
hour. The author formed one of a band of musicians that played on the occasion,
and he composed a song commemorating the event, which became very popular in
that part of the country. Brotton never before or since saw the like of that
memorable day.
His song to the celebration of Waterloo went as follows:
|
Hail! Ye victorious heroes, England’s dauntless saviours, ye Who on the plains of Waterloo, Won that glorious victory. |
It was a day the world may say, When Napoleon boldly stood, Upon the plains of the Waterloo, There flowed rivulets of blood. |
Before the foe he bravely fought, And when he’d all but won the day, Would it were night, or Blucher
up, Our hero Wellington did say. |
But now behold in effigy, Him to whom kings such homage paid, Napoleon mounted on a mule As though he were on grand parade, Behold with joy all England sings, Brotton too is up and
gay, The band, the flag, the ball, the dance Ne’er ceased till the break of day. |
It was clearly quite a party.
John left Kilton and by the 1820s he farmed at Skelton[52]. On
18 May 1829, John married Martha Patton of Yarm[53]. He later farmed for a while at Long
Newton near Stockton[54] where Martha died aged only 39 in
1839[55]. He later farmed at Hunley Hall
Farm, a farm of 476 acres, north of Brotton. So for a while, perhaps shortly after Martha died, John
and his family were back close to Kilton, where perhaps he could rely on some
support from his wider family.
Brotton in 1850
In 1840 John raised as court action against two cart racers who caused
damage to his gig and harness[56]. He wrote of his time living at Hunley Hall Farm. How often here on a fine
summer’s eve have I strolled to this most retired and enchanting retreat,
Huntcliff, with my gun, to enjoy a sport of shooting the sea bird darting up
the cliff over-head; an advantageous sport, when an ordinary marksman need not
fail to bag a brace or two. This retreat was part of my Hunley Hall farm, and
is only a short drive from Saltburn-by-the-Sea.[57]
By 1851, he was clearly in financial difficulty when he was charged by
John Etherington with having discharged him from his service having refused to
pay the wages due to him[58]. He was bankrupted later that year[59]. He was sent to Durham Prison for a period of time[60], for debt. As Mr Micawber declared in Dickens David Copperfield, Copperfield, you
perceive before you, the shattered fragments of a temple once call Man. The
blossom is blighted. The leaf is withered. The God of Day goes down upon the
dreary scene. In short, I am forever floored.[61]
However he bounced back moving to the growing metropolis of Stockton, where he rebuilt his life as a merchant, agent and
author. He was a corn agent and sold various agricultural products[62], one of his advertisements declaring
that his turnip manure contained upwards of 1,300 pounds of dried blood in
every ton and was only half the price of guano, with four or five hundredweight
per acre being sufficient for turnips[63]. His son John George Farndale, who we will meet later, wrote home to his father from the
Crimean War at this time.
By 1856, only five years after his bankruptcy, he was back in society,
contributing to a significant public statue project[64].
By 1861, John Farndale was writing the first edition of his Guide to
Saltburn by the Sea, which was reviewed in the media[65]. He wrote of Saltburn at a time when
it was to evolve from a small fishing village, well known for its smuggling
history, into a modern Victorian seaside resort, with its own railway station
and grand hotel. On 10 March 1863 John had
written some verse on the marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, which he
presented to the Royal Household. It seemed to go down well and on 22 April
1863, Sir Charles Phipps wrote to John, Sir George Grey has forwarded me
your letter, with accompanying verses, &c. I have had the honour to present
the latter to Her Majesty the Queen, by whom they have been graciously accepted.
[66]
In 1870 John wrote The History of the Ancient Hamlet of
Kilton-in-Cleveland, also titled The Returned Emigrant. He also wrote some unpublished memoirs.
|
A transcription of the works by John Farndale |
He seems to have been well travelled and in 1864 he
recalled a visit to Edinburgh. I remember some years ago being at Edinbro’
when our beloved Queen first visited that city. Being an early riser, her
Majesty was on her way to that place soon in the morning, and the provost and
other civic authorities having laid so long had scarcely time to meet and
present her with the keys of the city, a ceremony usually observed on such
occasions. I still have a vivid remembrance of the festive rejoicings that took
place at “Auld Reekie”, on the occasion of her Majesty honouring it with a
visit. While there Her Majesty took up her abode at Holyrood Palace. It was her
practice every morning during her stay to take a private walk in the suburbs.
One morning she met an old Scotch woman advancing towards the Palace to offer
poultry and eggs for sale, which she carried in a basket. Her Majesty stopped
her, and, ascertaining the price of the articles, she bought the whole, to the
great astonishment of the old dame, asking her, at the same time, if she ever
tried to sell her produce at the Palace. The old woman replied in the
affirmative, and added, “And unco weel they knaw how to mak a gude bargain!
Bless ye, a puir body like me may well try t’ get bluid fra a post as try t’ get
muckle from them.” Her Majesty smiling then slipped a sovereign into her hand,
when the old dame exclaimed, “Aw canna brake this in twa, as I hae na got
either sixpence or bawbee!” “Never mind,” said her Majesty, “keep the whole”.
The old woman glad to meet with so generous a customer, then warmly thanked the
Queen, and inquired where she was to take the articles. “Take them to the
Palace,” was the answer, “and say her Majesty has bought them.” On amazement,
and lifting her hands she exclaimed, “Bless me, bless me, wha wad a’ thought
it, and are ye Missis Albert?”
In 1865 there was an extraordinary squabble between two
authors, John Farndale, and a gentleman named William White Collins Seymour, a
well-known figure in Middlesbrough in the 1860s, who
published a number of pamphlets deriding members of the Middlesbrough
Corporation. William White Collins Seymour accused John of writing a defamatory
work about him, probably titled Goliah is dead, advertised by a pamphlet
which allegedly declared Shortly will be published the Life of the notorious
Seymour. Seymour assaulted John in Stockton[67].
John gave his evidence. The plaintiff, in narrating his complaint, said that
defendant, a person to whom he had never spoke in his life, and with
whom he had no connection whatever, assailed him on the previous day in the
Market place. He used the most abusive language to him, charged him
with being the author of a certain handbill entitled “Shortly will be
published, the Life of the notorious Seymour”, and alleged also that he had
been actively employed in circulating copies of that bill. Exasperated by the
language which defendant had used he, (plaintiff) did call him a “wicked
brute” when he (defandant) lifted his foot and kicked him behind
(Laughter). The kick was a severe one; in fact it had inflicted a wound (Great
Laughter). He had undergone a medical examination that morning, and intended to
be examined again (Roars of laughter).
Seymour
have his disparaging response. Defendant then addressed the magistrates at
considerable length, premising that the charge was of such a paltry
description that he had not thought it necessary to avail himself of
professional assistance. He then proceeded to say that he had at one time
been brought before the magistrates for using the language of an eminent
statesman; the next day for reading Thomas Hood’s lyrics; a third time for
calling a man a cobbler; and that day for inflicting a serious injury upon
that eminent and distinguished, that moral and pious man, John Farndale. He
then proceeded to enumerate his own publications – “Who’s Who” &c; stated
that complainant, who was John Dunning’s protégé, had charged him with giving
2s for a dishonoured bill of a Middlesbrough magistrate; had circulated
placards professing to give his (defendant’s) history in connection with certain
electioneering matters in the county of Warwick, charging him with
seducing a publican’s daughter, with sending his son away to die in a
foreign land, &c. So far as electioneering matters were concerned,
everything was fair, from kissing a man’s wife to knocking him down; but as
regards the other charges they were totally unfounded, and while what he
wrote was public property, parties who commented upon it must adhere to the
truth. As regarded the assault, complainant first laid his hands upon
his shoulders and called him a blackguard, and he then raised his foot, but
did not strike complainant. Complainant called him a liar, and that was a
monosylable he would not submit to from any man in the country; neither would
he suffer those who were dear to him to be held up to public ridicule by a
contemptible nondescript like that[68].
The
magistrates in exacerbation inflicted a penalty of 5s and 11s costs, the Mayor observing that but for the provocation the
penalty would have been heavier. William White
Collins Seymour could not resist the final word. I bow to the bench. Such
things generally prove a very excellent investment and are returned a
hundredfold. Having paid his fine, he left the court, observing that a great
statesman had said that there were only two ways of dealing with a rogue – one
was a whip and the other something else. The Mayor said that might be so; but
it should not be adopted if other means could be used.
By 1868 John was in business with a man named Burlinson, continuing to
sell mainly agricultural products as an agent[69]. The partnership was in some
financial difficulty by 1870[70].
In 1873, John left Stockton to return to Kilton. On his 84th
birthday, in 1874, he wrote his Memoirs when he said he was
in good health. He seems to have retained some interest in his old life in Stockton, for in May 1877 he
intervened to prevent a domestic assault. On Saturday James Moss, Taylor, was
brought up charged with assaulting his wife, Elizabeth, on the preceding day.
Prosecutrix stated that her husband arrived home about three o’clock in the
afternoon in a state of drunkenness, and after abusing her followed her into a
neighbour’s house on the gallery, where he assaulted her. Prisoner was further
charged with being drunk and disorderly at the magistrate clerks office at the
same time. Mr Jennings, deputy magistrates clerk, deposed to the prisoner’s
wife entering the office for protection followed by her husband, who made a
great disturbance and attracted a crowd of people. Mr Farndale forcibly
ejected him, when he pulled his coat off and wanted to fight. He was very
drunk at the time[71].
John Farndale died aged 86 years on 28 January 1878, a gentleman, of senile debility at Kilton[72].
Although John did not farm at Kilton himself, his son Charles Farndale took over the Kilton Farm from John’s brother Martin Farndale, who had no children of his own.
The Australian
Matthew
Farndale (1793 to 1884) lived at Kilton Hall and later at Hallgarth Farm,
Kildale.
|
30 September 1793 to 8 August
1884 Married Hannah Thompson on 13
May 1829 Farmer of Kilton who then emigrated to
Australia Kilton,
Brotton Birregurra, Melbourne, Australia |
Matthew was brought up on the family farm at Kilton and went to school in the village or possibly at Brotton. Like his brother, he went to church
regularly. His parents were churchgoers and about the turn of the century
became methodists. There is no evidence that he left the farm in his early
years.
In 1816 his father had taken a farm
at Easby for his elder brother George and another at Skelton for his next elder brother John. This left Matthew with his father William
and his younger brother Martin Farndale at Kilton Hall Farm. Matthew was 23 when his elder brother left home and Matthew
started to do more of the work at Kilton.
Matthew married Hannah Thompson at Brotton on 13 May 1829[73].
Matthew paid a rent of £100 for the first time in 1834[74]. From 1835 to 1850 Matthew Farndale, was a Farmer; occupier of Kilton
Hall Farm[75]. From 1838 to 1850, Matthew was shown as a farmer at Kilton and with his brother Martin Farndale in the Register of Voters.
When Matthew’s father William died on 5 March 1846 aged 86, he left All my money upon note and other
securities unto my said son Matthew Farndale and my said son Matthew
Farndale, my sole executor. Clearly William expected his son Matthew to take over the farm at his death. We can only guess what was going
through Matthew's mind however. It seems that he was not prepared to let down is father
but that he did not want to spend the rest of his life at Kilton. He remained at Kilton for three years until 1849.
In 1849 Matthew and his family left Kilton and moved to Hallgarth, Kildale, south of Guisborough, where Matthew was a farmer of 150
acres with 2 labourers[76]. He must have agreed with his brother Martin Farndale, that Martin would continue the farm at Kilton.
However Matthew didn’t stay long in Kildale. The lease of his farm in Kildale was
relinquished in 1851[77]. Farms to Let at Kildale in Cleveland, Church House Farm, occupied by
Matthew Farndale, containing, more or less, 76 acres
of superior Turnip and Barley Soil; 74 acres in good Old Grass; and 85 acres of
sheep pastures. Every encouragement will be shown to good and improving
tenants. For further particulars apply to Mr George Peirson, Marske, Near
Middlesbrough. Marske, January 1st, 1851.
In his late sixties he sailed from
Liverpool with his family on the Argo on 8 October 1852[78] and arrived in Melbourne, Australia on 19 January 1853. He is the
founder of the Australia 1 Line of Farndales and their Australian adventures will be told in Act 23.
|
The story of Matthew Farndale and his two daughters who emigrated to Melbourne during the Australian Gold Rush and settled at Birregurra, who have left a wealth of descendants, though none still bearing the Farndale name. The story of another Australian
family of the 1960s |
The Farmer of Kilton Hall
It was therefore Martin Farndale (1798 to 1885) who continued the family farm in Kilton.
Kilton in 1850
Martin Farndale was born on 11 August 1798[79]. On 18 May 1833, he married Elizabeth Hours[80], but they did not have a family.
|
11 August 1798 to 22 June 1885 Married Elizabeth Hours on 18
May 1833 Farmer of Kilton of 200 acres and later
600 acres He farmed at Kilton Hall Farm,
and since he had no children it was John’s son
Charles who then took over farming at Kilton Hall Farm Kilton, Brotton |
By 1840 he was farming at Kilton with
his older brother, Matthew[81]. He lived at Stank House in the early days[82]. He was soon elected to be a guardian of the poor and a parish overseer[83].
The village of Kilton seems to have
gone into decline from about 1843, when John Thomas Wharton became the Squire,
succeeding to his debt ridden uncle, perhaps starting
to sort through the estate’s financial difficulties for the first time. By 1841
there were only ten houses in the village and the 1853
Ordnance Survey map showed the village had been replaced by Kilton Hall Farm.
This marked to transition from a thriving rural community to larger scale farms
on a more commercial scale, with a single Farndale family at the helm.
There was a fatal accident in 1846. An
accident of a most frightening nature occurred at Mount Leven, in this parish,
on Tuesday week. It appears that a man named John Elgie, in the employ of Mr
Farndale, farmer, had hold of a loaded gun. And was examining the lock, when a
young man of the name of Frederick Hockney went near him, but Elgie was so
intent on examining the gun that he did not observe him, and unfortunately the
gun was accidentally discharged, and the contents lodged in the body and left
arm of Hockney, who lingered until Sunday last, and then expired. Deceased,
prior to his death, expressed himself that it was purely accidental. JP Sowerby
Esq held an inquest on the body on Tuesday last when a verdict in accordance
with the above facts was returned[84].
By 1851, Matthew had embarked on his
adventure to Australia and Martin was a farmer of 207 acres, with eight
employees at Kilton Hall Farm[85].
Kilton Hall Farm in 2016
Kilton Hall Farm, 1853, by which time
the old village and the old Hall had disappeared, replaced with a larger
agricultural enterprise
Martin had many local public
responsibilities and in 1872, he was involved in setting up a new Urban
Sanitary District for the Guisborough Union area[86].
From this point, during the
agricultural depression of the 1870s, we find extensive records of Martin
Farndale being involved in criminal proceedings against poachers, trespassers
and damage causers on his land. Since this was a time of depression, we might
have some sympathy with those who were acting out of desperation and remember
Martin’s ancestors, who had been fined, outlawed and excommunicated, around Pickering Forest, for poaching in the king’s forest.
On the other hand, we must recognise the difficulty for farmers in protecting
their livelihood. What we can conclude is that these were difficult times, as
from this point, we start to see large numbers of cases brought by Martin the
criminal courts to protect his livelihood.
As a member of the Guisborough Board
of Guardians in 1876, he heard an anti-vax case of Mr W Dewing of
Guisborough, who had refused to have his children vaccinated, and who had been
fined on various occasions. He also read a communication from Mr. J Bennison,
grocer, of Westerdale, asking the board not to proceed against him again for non vaccination of his children, as he thought it was
opposed to the laws of nature.
In August 1877 Martin’s services were
recognised as a Guardian of 38 years since the inception of the Guisborough
Board of Guardians when at one of the most interesting ceremonies which
has ever taken place in connection with the Union, Mr Thomas Petch, of Liberton and Mr. Martin Farndale, of Kilton, who, with the
exception of a slight interval, had been members of the Board since its
formation 38 years ago, were each made the recipient of an illuminated address
and a piece of plate, the gift of their brother guardians, and both the
addresses, which Mrs J W Pease, of Hutton Hall, had generally undertaken to
have executed in London at her own costs, were beautifully mounted and
finished. Admiral Chaloner made the presentation[87].
He faced various challenges as a
farmer, including the slaughtering and quarantining of his cattle when disease
hit his farm. He suffered an outbreak of pleuro pneumionia on his farm in October 1878. After
discussion it was resolved to put Mr
Martin Farndale’s farm and Mr Proud where the beast was slaughtered into
quarantine as an infected district for the 56 days required by the Act[88].
By 1881 he was a farmer of 577 acres, with
nine employees[89].
In 1882, Martin was involved in a
dispute, Smith v Farndale, over his late wife’s claim in her father’s
estate[90]. Elizabeth (nee Hours)
Farndale, had died in 1877. The case concerned a claim by John Smith, a
solicitor acting for the estate of George Hours, against Martin Farndale,
husband of Elizabeth Farndale. Elizabeth Farndale was described as a lawful
sister of the half blood and next of kin of George Hours, whose will was disputed. Martin Farndale lost the case and paid costs
of £9 4s.
Martin Farndale a farmer of Kilton,
died of chronic bronchitis and senile debility, aged 86, on 22 June 1885[91]. Since he had no children it was John’s son Charles who later took over farming at Kilton Hall Farm.
Family Community
The large Farndale family at Kilton operated as an extended family and provided its own community and support
system.
When William’s eldest son, George Farndale needed support, he provided funds in
his will in 1846 for his other brothers to look after his interests to provide
Board Lodging Clothing or Medical attendance and to lay out or expend
the said sum of One Hundred pounds in any other manner than is hereinbefore
mentioned, in favour of my said son George Farndale.
By 1851 Matthew Farndale had left Kilton and on 1 April 1851 Martin Farndale was farming at the main family farm
of 207 acres at Kilton with 8 employees. His brother George Farndale, by then 60 and a widower and working as agricultural labourer, was
living with him as was his 15 year old niece Maria Farndale, and Charles Farndale, 13, his nephew and son of his
brother John.
Twenty years later in 1871 Martin Farndale was still at Kilton Hall Farm, Kilton, the head of the family, by then a
farmer of 600 acres with 16 employees. Living with Martin and his wife Elizabeth was Matthew Farndale, aged 22, his grand nephew, described as a
servant, so presumably working on the farm. Matthew was the son of the late Martin Farndale, and grandson of Martin’s brother the late George Farndale.
So the family farm provided a focus for the wider family community. They
all looked after each other. As long as folk stayed in
the cradle of Kilton, all was well. When they left, to seek fortunes elsewhere, they were
generally on their own. It was safer to remain in the family heartlands, and
risky to leave them. Yet the new economic winds of the industrial age were a
pull to new directions.
The rest of the family
in 1831 the third brother, William Farndale died of typhus fever, aged 38. There was an obituary to him in the
Methodist Records October 21st at Kilton: In the Stokesley Circuit in his
37th year, Mr William Farndale Junior. He was of an open disposition and of
studious habits. About the year 1815 a revival of the work of God took place in
the neighbourhood where he resided when he was acquainted with his condition as
a sinner and sought and found the Lord to the joy of his heart. He then listed
himself to the Wesleyan Methodists and became very useful among them as an
exhorter and local preacher. The complaint typhus fever which terminated his
mortal existence, considerably affected his mind, yet when he recollected he expressed strong confidence in God.
The oldest sister was Mary Farndale, who died at the age of 21 in 1817, and was commemorated by a tea pot
given to her by a sea captain.
In 1854 the second sister Anna Farndale raised a suit disputing the will of her father in law, William Phillips,
supported by her brother, Martin against Elizabeth Hume who had married William Phillips’ niece. When the
competency of the case was allowed, the defendant withdrew their defence. They
suggested that they had to dispute the will because there were questions of its
competency. Phillips and others v Hume. Will Cause. The will in dispute in
this case was that of Wm Phillips, late of Stokesley, gentleman, which was
dated January 6th, 1852. The suit was promoted by Anna Phillips, the widow;
John Henry Phillips, the nephew; and Martin Farndale, against Elizabeth Hume,
the wife of Wm Hume, a niece of the deceased. Mr Travis submitted that in this
case the competency of the testator had been full established,
and prayed that the will should be confirmed. Dr Bower, after the
inquiry which had taken place, had no longer to dispute the factum of the will.
The defendant had required the inquiry which had taken place, not only because
certain parties were excluded in the last will who were residuary legatees
under a former will, but also because there were some reasons to question the
competency of the testator, who was in a very infirm state when the last will
was made in 1852. All had now been done that could be done for the next of kin,
and therefore he only now asked for costs out of the estate. The Judge said a
perfectly legitimate course had been adopted by the next of kin, under the
circumstances, and he had every right to have costs out of the estate.
The youngest sister was Elizabeth Farndale, who died when she was only 18.
Scene 5 - The Fifth Generation
We now pass to the fifth generation
at Kilton. Since Martin Farndale had no children it was John’s son Charles Farndale who then took over farming at Kilton
Hall Farm in the fifth generation. Charles had two elder brothers and five
sisters. So it is to the author John Farndale’s family
that we next turn our attention.
The Customs Officer
William
Masterman Farndale (1831 to 1913), the son of John and Martha Farndale then of Skelton Barnes Farm was baptised at Skelton on 24 March 1831[92].
|
24
March 1831 to 1913 Married
Jane Elizabeth Brownbridge on 18 November 1856 Customs
officer and Tide Waiter Skelton,
Long Newton, Middlesbrough, Ormesby, Knaresborough, Runcorn, Macclesfield,
Whitehaven, Harrogate |
In 1841 William Farndale, then aged 10, was living with his recently widowed father John, a farmer, and his siblings at Long Newton near Stockton[93]. William was an Officer of Her Majesty’s Customs of Middlesbrough, when he married Jane Brownbridge, a
spinster of Middlesbrough at the Parish Church Middlesbrough, on 18 November 1856[94]. His new father in law was Thomas Brownbridge,
who was also an Officer of the Inland Revenue, and presumably introduced
William to his new career.
In the year after his marriage, on 3
April 1857 at Middlesbrough a fire broke out this morning, at three o’clock, on board the Hydrus,
Shapter, of Exeter. Captain Shapter, accompanied by captain Tregonna, of the
Perseverance, also of Exeter, went on board the Hydrus at one am, at which time
there was no sign of fire. At the time above mentioned the fire was
discovered by Mr W Farndale, assistant tide surveyor, then on duty, who,
together with Mr C Smith, rendered every assistance. The fire broke out in the
state room, and was quickly got under without much
damage being done to the vessel. Captain Tregonna, who was missed during the
fire, was afterwards discovered in the cabin burnt to a cinder[95].
William and Jane had a son, Charles Masterman Farndale who was born at Middlesbrough in 1858; a daughter, Anne Maria Farndale born in 1861 and a younger son, William Henry Farndale, born in 1865. Charles became a ship broker’s clerk but died at the young age of 31 and William became a rail clerk and died at the age of 27. Anne remained single and lived with her parents but later moved to Great Ayton.
By 1861, William and his family were living at the Preventive Office (Cargo Fleet) at
Ormesby, where William was working as an outdoor officer. In his daughter’s birth record[96], he was described as a tide waiter of Cleveland port. A tide waiter was an officer in various preventive customs services who boarded ships
and watched the landing of goods. Ormesby is now south east
Middlesbrough.
In July 1870, William Masterman Farndale was promoted to be assisting examining officer at Runcorn in Cheshire. Mr
W M Farndale, out door
officer 1st class at Middlesbrough, has been promoted to be assistant examining
officer at Runcorn[97]. By 1871 the family were living at Peel Street, Runcorn, Cheshire.
In 1877 he was an examining officer,
2nd class[98], and transferred from Runcorn to Ramsgate and on 9 March 1878 he returned back to Runcorn[99], where by 1881 the family lived at South Bank Terrace, Runcorn[100]. By 1901, having lost their two sons, William and Jane had moved to 30
Regent Grove, Starbeck, Harrogate[101].
William M Farndale, age 82 died at
Harrogate in 1913[102].
The Four Sisters
Three sisters with their mother,
probably taken when Charles Farndale's family lived at Kilton Lodge, about 1890. The photograph
is not labelled, but they are probably Elizabeth Mary Douthwaite (nee Farndale), Annie Hall (nee Farndale), perhaps with Charles’ wife, Ann Farndale and Teresa Featherstone (nee Farndale).
Elizabeth Mary (nee Farndale)
Blackburn married a master confectioner in Middlesbrough[103]. After her husband died, she continued the confectionary business
herself and later lived with her daughter who was a music teacher.
Teresa (nee Farndale)
Featherstone married a tailor and they also lived in Middlesbrough, where she was later a lodge keeper
who lets apartments to gentlemen[104].
Annie (nee Farndale) Hall
lived on Martin Farndale’s farm for a while and later married a farmer of 200
acres at Brawith Farm, Skutterskelfe, Stokesley[105]. Annie was widowed by 1901 and continued to farm herself[106]. There is evidence that she may have married Samuel Mede who came to
live in Brotton from Yarmouth in about 1896[107]. She may have remarried shortly before she died on 27 February 1907[108].
Elizabeth, Teresa and Annie each continued
or started new business enterprises after their husbands’ deaths. Although they
lived in a Victorian world which the historical records focused on male
activity, these were strong women, who held their families together, and
immediately took on wider responsibilities when circumstances changed.
Emma Farndale died an infant shortly
after her mother, John’s wife, Martha, also died in childbirth[109]. She was 19 days old when she died. She was buried at St Peter’s,
Brotton. This was a deeply Methodist family, and Martha’s obituary focused on
her religious virtues. She was truly converted to God in the twenty sixth
year of her age; and from that period she was a
consistent member of the Wesleyan Society. Her death was rather sudden but she was found ready. Aware of her approaching
dissolution she said, ‘This is the mysterious Providence; but what I know not
now, I shall know hereafter.’ Some of her last words were, ‘Tell my dear
husband for his encouragement, that I am going to Jesus. How necessary it is to
live life for God? Oh Lord help me that I may have
strength to leave a clear testimony that I am gone to Jesus.’ It was enquired,
‘Do you feel Jesus present?’ She replied, ‘Yes,’ and
soon fell asleep in Him.’[110]
This was a time of deeply held
Methodist belief, which was a dominant force in everyday life. These were
families who expected a reckoning at the end.
|
15 August 1832 to 12 April
1905 Confectioner Married Joseph Douthwaite
Blackburn on 21 August 1853 Skelton, Stockton |
|
5 December 1833 to 22 December
1896 Married Thompson Featherstone,
a tailor, on 7 January 1854 Tailor’s wife and lodge keeper Skelton, Stockton |
|
Annie Maria (“Maria”) Farndale
9 June 1835 to 27 February
1907 Lived at Kilton Hall with her uncle
Martin until she married Married Thomas Hall on 1 March
1862. She may have married Samuel Mede in 1907 Farmer’s wife (200 acres) with
ten children which she farmed herself when she was widowed Kilton, Skelton,
Middlesborough, Brawith Farm, Skutterskelfe,
Stokesley, Hutton Rudby |
|
2 December 1839 to 20 December
1839 Stockton, Long Newton, Coatham, Brotton |
The Crimean War Soldier
John George Farndale (1836 to 1909) the son of John & Martha Farndale then a farmer of Skelton was baptised at Skelton on 27 November 1836[111]. By 1851 he was a printer’s apprentice in Skelton[112] and shortly after that, he joined the army. He fought through the
Crimean War and write letters home from the heights of Sebastopol. Then, in
about 1870, he emigrated with his family to Ontario in Canada and his family
were the Ontario 1 Line. His uncle Matthew Farndale had emigrated to Australia in 1852, but John
and his family were the first of the family to go west. We will pick up his
story again in Acts 24 and 32.
|
26
October 1836 to 21 February 1909 Married
Elizabeth (“Lisebeth”) Sanderson on 24 March 1880 Printer’s
apprentice and served in the Crimean War before he emigrated to Ontario (possibly
via Australia) where he farmed Skelton, Stockton, Crimea, Ontario |
|
The Crimean War
through the perspective of John Farndale, who took part in the long campaign |
|
Upon his return from the Crimean War, John George Farndale took his family to Ontario in 1870. At about the same time Samuel
Kirk Farndale took his family to Ontario |
The Kilton Farmer
John and Martha’s son Charles Farndale (1838 to 1914) was born on 17 January
1838[113] and baptised on 27 February 1838 at Skelton[114].
|
17 January 1838 to 18 March
1914 Married Ann Dale of Danby on
16 April 1872 Took over the farming of Kilton Hall Farm where he
farmed 577 acres Kilton, Stockton |
He seems to have
been destined from an early age to return to the Farndale agricultural lands at
Kilton, to support his childless uncle, Martin Farndale. By the age of 13, he was regularly with Martin at Kilton and by 22, still unmarried, he was
working at Kilton Hall Farm[115].
In 1871 the 31 year old Charles was
farming in Kilton himself, whilst Martin was managing the larger farm of
600 acres at Kilton at the age of 73, with 16
employees[116]. On 16 April 1872, Charles married Ann
Dale at the Wesleyan Chapel at Danby End[117]. They had a
family of eight.
By 1878, Charles
was clearly acting more in partnership with his uncle Martin Farndale when
there was a continuance of a district ploughing and hedge-cutting competition
at the Farndale Farm of Messrs M and C Farndale, Kilton Hall[118].
Charles then took over the tenancy of the farm
at Kilton from his
uncle Martin Farndale and by 1881 Martin had
retired and Charles was farming 577 acres with 9 employees. Like his
forebears, Charles took on public responsibilities, including as overseer of
the poor[119].
During the agricultural depression of
the mid 1880s, there was some relaxation of rents. The local landowner, J T
Wharton, allowed a 50% land rental for the half year because of the
Agricultural depression, which received the thanks of the fraternity of tenant
farmers[120].
Contemporaneous
with the global Long Depression, Britain's agricultural depression was caused
by the dramatic fall in grain prices that followed the opening
up of the American prairies to cultivation in the 1870s and the advent
of cheap transportation with the rise of steamships. British agriculture did
not recover from this depression until after the Second World War. In 1882
Charles George Milnes Gaskell wrote that the vast increase in the carrying
power of ships, the facilities of intercourse with foreign countries, [and] the
further cheapening of cereals and meat meant that economically and
politically the old landed class were no longer lords
of the earth. The depression also accelerated Britain's rural depopulation. The
1881 census showed a decline of 92,250 agricultural labourers since 1871, with
an increase of 53,496 urban labourers. Many of these had previously been farm
workers who migrated to the cities to find employment. Between 1871 and 1901
the population of England and Wales increased by 43% but the proportion of male
agricultural labourers decreased by over one-third. According to Sir James
Caird in his evidence to the Royal Commission on the Depression in Trade and
Industry in 1886, the annual income of landlords, tenants and labourers had fallen
by £43M since 1876. No other country witnessed such a social transformation and
British policy contrasted with those adopted on the Continent. Every
wheat-growing country imposed tariffs in the wake of
the explosion of American prairie wheat except Britain and Belgium.
Subsequently, Britain became the most industrialised major country with the
smallest proportion of its resources devoted to agriculture.
There were a number of incidents of damage to crops. In 1881, there was
a summary conviction of three youths of Brotton for maliciously damaging beans
growing in a field occupied by Martin and Charles Farndale, the offence
committed at the township of Kilton on 21 August 1881, with the case heard at
Loftus on 26 August 1881[121]. Beans and oats were damaged
and Charles gave evidence that considerable damage had been done to his
crops, and although he did not wish the lads to be severely punished, he wanted
to put a stop to it. In the following year a servant and two drivers of
Brotton were convicted for maliciously damaging beans growing in a field
occupied by Charles Farndale[122] with a similar incident in 1883[123]. In 1886 two miners were convicted for
trespass in search of conies (an old term for a rabbit) and game on Charles’
land[124].
There was a significant sale of horses,
stock and farm tools at Charles Farndale’s farm in April 1887[125]. Perhaps this was due to the agricultural depression, or
perhaps it was just part of a general management scheme.
Charles was with his uncle, Martin
Farndale when he died on 22 June 1885[126].
Charles
continued a long tradition of involvement with the local Wesleyan Church[127]. Charles regularly chaired meetings and Ann
and her daughters were involved in bazaars and social events.
The Kilton of
Wesley's time was a very different place to the deserted village of today. It
could then boast of crowded streets and many shops. It was evidently a place
“Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain” and where oft times “All
the village train, from labour free, led up their sports beneath the spreading
tree”. But alas, as in the case of sweet Auburn “All these charms are fled and desolation saddens all thy green”.
Victorian Brotton
Wesleyan
services were held in a cottage until through certain changes, whole streets
were left empty, and have sent since being demolished.
For very many years
services have been held in the spacious farm kitchen of Mr C Farndale, Kilton
lodge, which was also that of his father before him. Methodism in the
neighbourhood and the cause of righteousness generally owes much to the high
Christian character and active interest in all good works displayed by this
devoted Methodist family. Here the preachers have always found a hearty welcome
and ministers and others who know the circuit spent under this hospitable roof[128].
As the new century passed in 1900, in Brotton
the day was observed pretty much as a general holiday, all the mines being laid
off, and most of the places of business were closed. At the Wesleyan Methodist Church the usual New Year's day
effort was held. A sale of work was opened in the schoolroom in the early
part of the afternoon and Ann and her daughters were in
charge of the stalls[129]. In
December 1902, entertainment at the Wesleyan bazaar was provided by a tableaux vivants by
the Misses Farndale[130]. A tableau vivant, the French term for a living picture, was
static scene created by actors. Before radio, film and television, tableaux vivants were popular forms of entertainment. They could
be done as amateur ventures, sometimes in a drawing room, and often told a
story without requiring all the usual trappings and production of a full
theatre performance. They influenced the form taken by later Victorian and
Edwardian era magic lantern shows, and perhaps also sequential narrative comic
strips.
Vincent Grainger aged 16 Vincent
Grainger August 1985 (aged 93)
Vincent Grainger worked with the
Farndales at Kilton in the early 1900s. In about 1985 he made a sound recording about Charles Farndale and his family
and Kilton at that time.
Picnic at Kilton Lodge about 1908. Vincent
Grainger, Ann and Charles Farndale, George Farndale, Grace Farndale, an unknown person and Mary Farndale (the same image also recreated in colour by AI)
Kilton
Tea Party about 1910 - Kilton Tea Party about 1910 - Mrs Ann Farndale, Charles
Farndale, visiting vicar (The Rev W Slader, O Wardley or W Nicholson perhaps?),
Vincent Grainger (who worked on the farm) and Grace
Farndale (the same image also recreated in colour by AI)
Charles was working in partnership with
his son, George by 1911[131]. He died at Kilton Lodge aged 76 and was buried at
St Peter, Brotton on 21 March 1914[132].
Ann
continued to contribute to the local community after he died until she died on
24 March 1934[133].
Windows
and tablets to the memory of the late Mr and Mrs Charles and Anne Farndale, of Kilton
Lodge were erected after Anne’s death at the Wesleyan church[134].
Scene 6 - The Sixth Generation
The eldest son of Charles and Ann
Farndale, John Martin Farndale and their seventh child, Ernest Farndale both died at the age of two.
The Richmond Farndales
The second son of Charles and Ann
Farndale was William Farndale (1875 to 1948). William was working on the farm at Kilton Hall Farm until about 1899, when he
married Ada Fawell in Auckland. By the time of their wedding, they had moved to
Gilling Wood Hall, at Gilling West, north of Richmond. Gillingwood
was also part of the estate of the Wharton family of Skelton Castle, who were also landlords of
the Kilton estate. The farm was named after the
mansion of the Wharton family, Old Gillingwood Hall,
which had burned down in 1750.
Their children, Annie Farndale, Beatrice Farndale, Charles Farndale and Edith Farndale were all born at Gilling, though Edith died when she was only 17 days
old.
The family formed the Richmond Line of Farndales. His son Charley Farndale (1905 to 1973) continued to farm at Gilling through the Second World
War.
|
25 April 1875 to 6 February
1948 Married Ada Fawell on 3 May
1899 Farmer of Gillingwood
Hall Kilton, Gillingwood,
Richmond, Saltburn |
|
The last Kilton Farmer
George Farndale (1876 to 1970) was born at Kilton on 24 August 1876[135] and it was he who continued the Farndale dynasty at Kilton Hall Farm. By 1903 he had joined the
Cleveland Hunt and regularly joined their meets[136]. He was involved in the formation of a farmer’s club at Loftus in 1907[137].
|
24 August 1876 to 14 February
1970 Farmer and partner
of Kilton Hall Farm The last of the Kilton farmers Kilton, Redcar, Saltburn |
He was working in partnership with
his father, Charles by 1911[138].
George joined the subscription to
relieve striking miners in 1911[139] to which he contributed £2.
Extract from a scrapbook
in 1912
George’s dad, Charles Farndale, died in
1914. As George took on full management of the farm on his own, he was the last
of the Farndale farmers of Kilton. By November 1914, he was advertising for a
new horseman[140].
The impact of the war was reflected
in the meeting of the hunt committee on 22 February 1916, with the Master,
Colonel Wharton, now on military duties and others on active service. As a
farmer, George’s effort continued in agricultural supply. Life was certainly
hard during the War, and in 1917 George asked for conditional exemption for a
farmhand at Buck Rush, Kilton, giving evidence that the man was the only
skilled man he had on both farms. He was two men short on the farm now[141]. By 1919, a year after the end of the War, George advertised for a
young man, as horseman for farm work and a strong youth for farmwork[142]. In 1922 he offered a vacancy for a farm pupil on a farm then of 300
acres[143].
Kilton Lodge Farm in about 1920
Buck Rush Farm about 1912 which was part of Kilton Lodge Farm under Charles Farndale Kilton Hall in
about 1970
George continued to be a keen
horseman and by 1923, he was on the committee of the point to
point races on the revived Cleveland meeting[144] and he was later clerk of the scales[145].
In December 1926, Followers
of the Cleveland Hounds experienced a very exciting chase the other day and,
had dark darkness not set in, no doubt a kill would have been recorded. A
very fine fox was put up in a covert near Moorsholm, and making his way
towards the village, with the hounds hot on his trail, Reynard passed close to
the Plough Inn. He made a sharp detour in the direction of Kilton, and from
thence on to little Moorsholm. By this time the only
horsemen anywhere near the hounds were Mr T S Patch, Mr G Farndale and the
huntsmen. The fox rushed into the yard of Messrs Pease and Partners’ Lingdale Mine, and then raced over
the high refuse shale heap adjoining the mine. From Lingdale
the chase continued to Boosbeck, and the quarry sought refuge in the gardens of
Boosbeck Vicarage. The fox jumped the garden fence and again got away, and
after running along Boosbeck station platform, and through the football field,
Reynard escaped, as hounds, owing to darkness, were called off[146].
In November 1928, George was part of the gathering when Two
exciting incidents marked the opening meet of the Cleveland hunt, held
yesterday in the picturesque grounds of Skelton hall.
The House of the senior “Quartermaster” of the Hunt, Colonel W H A Wharton, the
castle is surrounded by a fine wooded park and the imposing building with its
background of rich autumn tinted trees afforded in admirable setting for the
large gathering of scarlet clad black hatted riders. A fox which broke cover
from Saltburn Gill led the hunt along the Saltburn Promenade. Out of the Gill
the fox passed through the grounds of Rushpool Hall -
through the pleasure gardens, and emerged on the
promenade near the top of Saltburn Beck. After running for several yards along
the promenade, it finally eluded its pursuers by going to earth in a drain. Mrs
Weil, wife of Captain Weil, of Boosbeck, was riding through a gateway when a closing
gate caused her horse to shy and the rider was jammed against the gate post.
Mrs Weil was conveyed to her home suffering from a broken leg[147].
When a vicar was convicted in
Worthing, West Sussex in November 1929 for using obscene language; in appeal
proceedings, George Farndale, from his previous parish, testified as to the
excellence of the appellant’s character[148].
The southerners clearly couldn’t cope with the rich northern language.
By 1939, George Farndale was living at Stank House in Kilton, with his sister Grace[149]. They continued to be involved with the local Wesleyan Church. He did
not marry and so had no family.
In 1940 George sold the stock at Kilton and this was the end of the Farndale association with Kilton. He and his sister moved to Saltburn and George died there in 1970. The farm sale at Kilton Lodge to take place on 18
April 1940 at 12 noon was advertised by T S Petch who was favoured with
instructions from Mr George Farndale to sell by auction his valuable farming
stock comprising 4 horses, 72 head of cattle, 140 sheep, poultry, implements,
gears etc[150].
The end of the Farndale era was
summarised by the Wesleyans on 8 March 1940. For over a century the Farndale
family have been associated with the Loftus and Staithes Wesleyan Circuit, a
connection which is soon to be severed by the removal of Mr George Farndale
from Kilton Lodge to Saltburn. A member of the third generation of the well known family, Mr Farndale has
been a circuit official for over 20 years, and a steward for seven. His grand father was a local preacher in the circuit for a number of years, and the late Charles Farndale upheld the
family tradition by serving for the major period of his life as circuit
official and steward. In the outlying districts of the circuit Mr George
Farndale has worked equally hard, and stands as
Trustee for many of the circuit chapels[151].
George lived for much of his life
with his sister Grace. They both moved to Saltburn by the Sea, where Grace died in 1966. George died on 14 February 1970 and was buried on 18 February 1970 at Saltburn Cemetery[152].
And now dear Farndale, the best of
friends must part,
I bid you and your little Kilton a
long and final farewell.
Time was to all our precious boon,
Time is passing away so soon,
Time knows more about his vast
eternity,
World without end, oceans without
shore[153].
(John Farndale, 1870)
Grace Farndale
George’s sister Grace was brought up at Kilton
Hall Farm and was doing dairywork
there in 1911[154], when she was 31.
|
14 April 1880 to 1 March 1966 Dairywork Kilton, Redcar, Saltburn |
She was chief bridesmaid at a wedding
in 1902[155] where she wore a costume of figured muslin. She regularly
performed at local events including taking part in a series of exhibitions
of living pictures in 1896 in which Miss G Farndale was the exhibitor[156].
She later lived at Kilton Hall farm
with her brother George Farndale, and they both retired to Saltburn in 1940.
A photograph of Grace and her brother
George (sitting), about 1925 (the same image also recreated in colour by AI)
Grace died on 1 March 1966[157] and is buried with her brother, George.
Mary Farndale
Mary Farndale was also doing dairywork at Kilton
Hall Farm into her thirties[158]. She married William Hodge in 1927[159] with the reception at Kilton
Hall when she was 49.
Mary’s wedding at Kilton
Hall
In 1939, she was with the Women’s
Volunteer Service at Saltburn[160]. She died aged 93 in 1971[161].
The Architect
Albert Farndale (1881 to 1918) was born in 1881 and brought up at Kilton Hall Farm[162]. By 1895 he was in charge of the toy
department at the Wesleyan Methodist Bazaar[163].
|
Albert
Farndale 1881 to
19 December 1918 An
architect of Guisborough Kilton,
Guisborough |
By 1901 he was an architect pupil and
in late 1902 he had prepared plans for the new school at Skinningrove. On
Wednesday afternoon the new Sunday School building which has been erected by
the Wesleyan Methodists of Skinningrove were formally opened by Mrs H L Samuel,
wife of the member for the Cleveland Division. The school is situated
immediately behind the chapel, and is built of red
brick with stone dressings in harmony with the chapel. The schoolroom is 30
feet 5 feet long by 20 feet wide, capable of seating 172 scholars. The roof is
vaulted, with a pitch pine ceiling, stained and varnished. On each of the
longer sides, under the corners is a freize,
intersected by continuations of the principal rafters resting on core bells and
so forming squares for the display of texts. The chapel is accessible from the
schoolroom, and at one side of the building there is a vestry and a classroom,
each being connected with the side street by an entrance lobby. In the vestry
there are appliances for public teas. The whole is heated by hot water on the high pressure system. The lighting is good, there being for
Norman windows on the south elevation, and at night incandescent gas will be
the luminant from neat pendants from the roof. The plans were prepared by Mr
Albert Farndale, of Kilton Lodge, now of London, and the contract has been
most efficiently carried out by Messrs Ridsdale brothers, of Skelton. The
contract price was £450, but this does not include the heating apparatus or the
furniture, which have cost about £150 more. At the opening ceremony there was a
large gathering of people, who waited outside the building[164].
On 22 October 1910 thirty
two sets of drawings, sent in competition for the new Town Hall,
markets and municipal buildings for the ancient borough of Denbigh, North
Wales, have just been adjudicated upon. A design by Mr. A Farndale, of Kilton
Lodge, Brotton, was awarded second premium by the assessors, Messrs Leeming and
Leeming, FFRIBO, London. Mr Farndale's plans were recently accepted by the
urban council of South Bank, for their new town hall, markets and council
offices[165].
In 1911 he was living at Stank House,
with his family, pursuing his career as an architect[166].
In April 1911 the Local Government
Board Inspector on Tuesday held an inquiry at South Bank into the application
of the Council for sanction to borrow £7,000 in order to erect a new town hall,
market hall etc on the site of the present buildings... Competitive designs
were then requested for a complete scheme in which to do away with the present
buildings altogether, and eventually a selection was made, the plans of Mr A
Farndale, Brotton, being successful, and application to borrow £7,000 to
cover those plans was made to the Local Government Board[167].
In December 1911 reported the
Carlin How and Skinningrove District has grown very rapidly during the last few
years, and, in order to cope with the increasing
demand for accommodation, the friends of the Wesleyan body have decided to
build a new Wesleyan Church at Carlin How. The cost of the church will be £850,
£500 of which has already been raised or promised. Mr T C Hutchinson, managing
director of the Skinningrove iron works, has generously given the site. The
buildings will be of brick, and will accommodate about
250 people. Mr. A Farndale is the architect, and Mr J K Wilson is
superintending the work of erection. The foundation stone laying ceremony took
place on Wednesday, in the presence of a good company. The Rev W Powell, Loftus
conducted the ceremony, and stones were placed by Mrs M Moore, Westfield, Loftus,… C Farndale …. M Farndale, Craggs Hall... Mr E
Lofthouse laid a stone in memory of the late Mr. A Murray weather, a prominent
Brotton Wesleyan. The Rev J C Adelard (Saltburn) gave an address
and a public tea took place in the preaching room, which has, for many years,
done duty as a place of worship, but is now totally inadequate to meet the
demands made-up on it[168].
In March 1912 at a special meeting
of the Spennymoor Urban Council on Thursday week plans from 23 competitors were
considered for the erection of a market, market shops, council room, offices
and public hall, which scheme is to cost about £15,000. The first prize was awarded
the plans of Mr George T Welburn, ARIBA, of Middlesbrough and Redcar; the
second to Messrs Clark and Moscrop, FRIBA,
Darlington; and third to Mr. A Farndale, Kilton Lodge, Brotton. Mr Welburn's
plans were accepted by the Council[169].
He joined in the Cleveland hunt from
time to time. On 4 November 1912 considerable interest was yesterday taken
in the opening meet of the Cleveland Hounds at Skelton Castle, the residence of
the popular master and huntsman, Mr W H A Wharton, and a large crowd gathered
on the lawn. Bright sunshine prevailed and there was every prospect of an
excellent day's sport. Among those who were present at the meet were Mr. A
Farndale, Kilton Lodge[170].
Extract from a scrapbook in 1912,
perhaps the image of a man haunted by life
Then tragedy struck in 1918, when the
pressures of Albert’s architectural career seem to have become too much for him.
He killed himself aged 37 and was buried at St Peter, Brotton, on 23 December 1918.
Albert Farndale, 37, son of a farmer,
of Kilton Lodge, Brotton, died under tragic circumstances, yesterday. Missing
from his home some hours a search was made, and his body was found in one of
the outbuildings on the farm. His head was shattered, and
nearby was a double barreled
gun. Appearances went to show that Farndale had first fixed the gun in a vice,
and after placing the muzzle in his mouth, had pushed the trigger with a piece
of iron about two feet in length. About 9 or 10 years ago deceased was an architect
at South Bank, but since that time has been engaged in agricultural pursuits[171].
On Thursday afternoon, last week,
Albert Farndale, Kilton Lodge, left home for the purpose of wild duck shooting,
and was not seen again alive by any of the family. As he had not returned home
late in the evening, search was made, and he was discovered in an outbuilding
of the farm, quite dead, having apparently died a few hours previous. An
inquest was conducted by Mr W Richardson, the Cleveland Coroner, at Kilton
Lodge, on Saturday, and evidence was given by Mr G Farndale, brother of the deceased. The witness said his brother was 37 years of age, and lived at home. He described the finding of the body
about 10 o’clock on the previous Thursday evening. His gun was near him, and
there was a wound on the side of his face and head. By profession his brother
was an architect, though of late years he had worked on farm. About 10 years
ago he was depressed, having been disappointed at not obtaining a position in
his profession. He recovered from his depression, and
became quite cheerful. There was no financial or other trouble at all. The Coroner, who sat without a jury, returned a verdict of
suicide whilst in an unsound state of mind. The funeral took place on Monday
afternoon, at Brotton, the first part of the service being held in the Wesleyan
Church, and was conducted by the Rev W Rex, Loftus, and the Rev H Mortimer,
Staithes[172].
It was a tragic story, which perhaps
illustrates the trauma as the family started to turn from an agricultural life
which had provided the security of an extended family for two millennia, to the
risk and challenges of new professions and lifestyles.
The Performer
The youngest of the family was Sophia Farndale, born in 1884[173].
At local events in Kilton she seems to have been the
entertainer. Miss S Farndale was accompanist. Songs, duets and recitations were
rendered by Miss Farndale. For the entertainment to visitors there was Mrs
Jolly’s waxwork, tableaux vivants by the Misses
Farndale and others, a ping pong tournament and a concert by the Loftus spring
band[174].
She married Maxwell Foster, a corn
merchant[175] and they settled in Stockton[176], the once home of her grandfather, John Farndale, where they had a large family of eight. She eventually lived in a house
there which was called Kilton on The Drive at Stockton[177], the name of the house reminding her of a bygone age.
Maxwell died in 1947[178] and Sophia died in Hartlepool in 1971[179].
Scene 7 - The Kilton Wanderers
We now turn to the Farndales who left
Kilton during the transition from a bustling rural village, through the
industrial revolution, to the smaller enterprise of concentrated farming, the
monstre farm. Inevitably that meant that members
of the family began to peel off, and seek new
opportunities. As we have already learnt from the fate of Albert Farndale, this
was not an easy process.
We now follow the fate of George
Farndale, who needed support from his brothers, as he and his family marked out
new paths to follow.
George Farndale’s family
You will recall that George Farndale of the fourth generation of Kilton Farndales, left Kilton and his family made new lives for
themselves away from Kilton. So whilst the branch of the family we have met above continued to live
at Kilton
until 1940, George’s family was one of those to have
left Kilton
by about 1816. Since George was my great x3 grandfather, his family are the Kilton offshoots from which my part of the
family descend.
|
1 December 1789 to 8 May 1858 Married Mary Armstrong on 22
November 1816 Agricultural labourer of Brotton after living at Richmond (Easby) and Middlesborough (Marton) and who was
born and died at Kilton Kilton, Easby, Stokesley,
Middlesborough (Marton), Brotton |
In 1816 William Farndale had taken a farm at Easby for George who married Mary Armstrong that year[180] and they had seven sons.
George farmed in Easby near Stokesley after his marriage in 1816 until about 1825, and eventually moving back
to Kilton
by 1841, by which time he was working on the farm and
supported by his brother. He died aged 68 years, at Kilton
on 8 May 1858 of pneumonia and effusion of fluid in the
ventricle of the brain[181].
George and Mary’s fifth son, John Farndale had died at the age of only one, and the rest of his family by then had
dispersed across Cleveland.
Finding Work
In Victorian Cleveland, the most
obvious employment for those who left the security of generations of living
from the land, was agricultural work elsewhere; ironstone mining; work on the
railways or perhaps more generally in construction. We will return to the
impact of ironstone mining in Act 18. As they left the protection of the
generational community at Kilton, George’s family had picked up what work
they could, as miners and labourers. This was a time of large Victorian
families; growing farms that could only provide work for one principal farmer;
and an agricultural depression in the 1870s largely caused by imperial
expansion meeting new sources of food.
William Farndale (1817 to 1891) was George and Mary’s eldest son, born at Easby on 30 June 1817[182]. He married Margaret Chapman, whose daughter he adopted, in 1839 at
Scarborough[183]. By 1841, the family lived at Filey where William took work as an
agricultural labourer[184]. By 1861, William supported his family with work on the railways. He was
a plate layer, laying and maintaining track, in 1861 and a railway worker in
1871, by which time Mary also worked as a laundress[185]. William died, aged 73, in 1891[186].
Plate Layers
George’s third son George Farndale (1820 to 1891), was a servant at Tilesheads,
Marton by 1845, where he met Mary Bell, a servant in the same household and
they married on 27 September 1845[187]. By 1851 he was working as a labourer at Stranton, West Hartlepool[188] and by 1861 he was working as an ironstone miner in Middlesbrough [189]. Ten years later he was a brickmaker there, working as a brickie for the
next twenty years before retiring by 1891[190]. He died of hemiplegia or a stroke, in 1891 in the same year as his
brother William[191].
The Bishop Auckland Farndales
George’s fourth son, Thomas Farndale (1822 to 1854) was born on 17 February 1822[192] and by 1841, aged 15, he was working for his uncle Matthew on the farm
at Kilton[193]. Then, on 25 May 1850, he married William Bowes, the daughter of a
labourer, at Bishop Auckland[194], which town became the family home. By that time
he had started working as a pitman at St Helen. By 1851, Thomas was working as
a coalminer, and they had a 2 week old son, William[195]. Their daughter, Mary Ann Farndale, was born on 17 March 1853[196].
Thomas died of phthisis, later called tuberculosis at the age of 32, on 28 March 1854[197], the year after his daughter’s birth.
|
The descendants of William Farndale |
Thomas’s son William Farndale worked as a general labourer[198], as a colliery labourer[199], the caretaker of a church institute[200],
and later worked in a wine vault at Firby, near Bedale[201]. By 1871, William’s sister, Mary Ann
Farndale, was 18 and working as a dressmaker[202] in Bishop Auckland.
By 1881, William and Mary Ann Farndale both lived at Low Willington,
County Durham[203]. Mary
Ann was always referred to as Aunty Farndale or Aunty. Her brother William was not very strong and Mary Ann looked after him until his death in
1919, at this time my mother was a toddler and unable to remember him
herself. Mary Ann died aged 74 when my
mother was 10 in 1927. Their parents were Thomas Farndale & Isabella Bowes.
Thomas died in his early 30’s and Isabella had a hard life bringing up 2 young
children as a single parent.[204]
Mary Ann Farndale was an excellent needlewoman. She did not drink alcohol
but offered spirits to visitors who she met in the front room of the Dun
Cow where she knew the landlady. Mary Ann visited Bishop Auckland each
Thursday for market day and to meet other family members. She was strict but extremely kind and was
only ever spoken of in terms of great respect and affection. She knew that she
came from a huge extended family but did not know many of them. Her adopted
daughter Nora had vivid memories of holidays at Cragg Hall Farm with the family of her adoptive cousin, Matthew Farndale. She was adamant that she knew it is
Cragg and not Craggs. Matthew, affectionately called Mattha by Mary
Ann, was an elderly widower by then and he appeared to enjoy her fussing over
him. Mary Ann and Nora remembered a
beautiful rose garden hidden at the back of the farm at Craggs, seen only by
those at the farm, with fruit bushes dripping with berries, and she remembers
taking the farmworkers lunches out to the fields at midday, and being allowed
to go shopping on her own to Carlin How or Brotton when she was only 5 or 6 at the time. She remembered
reading Pilgrims Progress in the rarely used front room at
Craggs. A special treat was to be taken for rides in the side car of Herbert Farndale’s motor bike. Herbert, Matthews’ son was presumably running
Craggs farm by this stage.[205]
William and Mary Ann adopted Nora
Bovill in about 1892, who had been born on 25 December 1885 in County Durham.
William died in 1919, aged 66[206] and Mary Ann died in 1927[207].
Nora later married Rupert Evans at
Newcastle in 1916.
The Coatham Farndales
George’s son, Matthew Farndale (1827 to 1905) was born at Marton-in-Cleveland on 27 June 1827[208]. By the age of 12, he was working on the farm of his uncle, the author
to be, John Farndale at Long Newton[209]. He won a prize in the ploughing match at Marton in 1850[210], where he worked as a farm labourer, probably as a ploughman, for the
Wray family[211]. Then, on 20 October 1855, he married Ann Readman of Coatham, a joiner’s
daughter[212], and there he settled, their family growing to three daughters and three
sons.
|
Matthew Farndale’s family |
The growing family
initially lived with his new parents in law, as Job Readman built a carpentry
business[213]. Matthew
continued to get work on farms. Then, by 1871, the family lived in their own
house, an Matthew was a foreman labourer at Sandbanks,
the coastline adjacent to Coatham. In 1870 at Coatham near Redcar, the Coatham
Hydro, later the Coatham Hotel, was being constructed. It was a grand ambition
as part of a new spa resort, cashing in on the growing seaside tourism, but its
construction ran out of funds before completion, leaving an impressive shell on
the sands. This may have been the project on which Matthew was working as a
foreman. Only one wing and the main entrance were completed. Coatham Ironworks was established in 1873 and the Victoria Pier was completed in 1875.
By 1873, Ann Farndale had opened a
Temperance Hotel and Refreshment Rooms at the new Saltburn-by-the-Sea[214]. In the 1870s, Temperance Hotels were flourishing as alcohol-free establishments, offering lodging and
meals without spirits, appealing to the growing Temperance Movement driven by
religious and social concerns over Victorian drunkenness, providing a safe,
sober alternative to pubs for travellers, workers, and families. In 1874 her
Temperance Hotel became the meeting place of striking miners[215].
However by 1881 Matthew was working as a general labourer[216] and in 1881, Ann Farndale was admitted to Clifton Hospital asylum, and wasn’t discharged until 1889[217]. Matthew was working on the land again in 1891[218] and Ann died in 1898[219]. Matthew was still working as a general labourer at the age of 73 in
1901[220]. He died at the age of 77 on 7 January 1905[221].
The daughters were laundresses and
dressmakers[222], working in Coatham.
His son George Farndale was a successful footballer[223] in the Redcar Crusaders team, who worked as a pipe layer for the
waterboard[224].
George Farndale
George’s son Richard George’s son,
George William
His son John Thomas Farndale was an
estate land drainer[225] and didn’t marry. His youngest son worked as a labourer and hanged
himself on 19 September 1908 at the age of 40[226].
George’s son was Richard Farndale who
enlisted into the Yorkshire Regiment in 1915[227]. He died at the 21st Casualty Clearing Station at La
Neuville of broncho-pneumonia on 25 February
1917[228]. His parents received a pension[229]. By then he was serving with the Princess of Wales’
Own Yorkshire Regiment and was probably wounded at Hexham Road, Genercourt or Proyart.
George’s eldest son was George William Farndale, and he emigrated to the United States of America in 1913. We will pick
up his story in Act 28.
The Londoner
The youngest son of George and Mary
Farndale was Robert Farndale (1830 to 1875). He continued to live at Kilton Hall Farm with his grandfather William Farndale until 1841[230] and he seems to have been favoured by his grandfather who bequeathed his
silver watch and £20 to pay for his apprenticeship when William died in 1846[231]. By 1851 Robert left Kilton for Loftus, where he was an apprentice joiner
and cartwright with John Walker[232]. He then moved to London, where he worked as a gardener. His son Robert Farndale (c1850 to c 1888), worked as a carpenter, and married Caroline Lester in
1869 in Putney[233]. Robert Senior died at the age of 47, working himself as a carpenter, at
Providence Cottage, Cooper’s Arms Lane, Putney, on 21 December 1877[234].
Robert Junior worked as a carpenter
and joiner in Putney, Brentford and Wandsworth[235]. He died in about 1888, and his wife Caroline worked as a laundress to
keep the family together. By that time their daughter Annie Farndale worked as a domestic cook and Edith Farndale was a domestic housemaid[236]. Their younger daughter, Theresa Farndale, worked as a domestic help in Wandsworth at the age of 14[237]. Caroline died in 1908[238] and Annie continued to work as a domestic cook In Tunbridge Wells and
later Bramley[239]. Edith married a waiter, Harry Stilwell, and lived in Putney and
Wandsworth[240]. She lived until 1960 and died at the age of 90 in Bromley, Kent[241].
The Farmer of Fogga
Farm
Martin Farndale (1818 to 1862) was the second son of
George and Mary Farndale, and the website author’s great great
grandfather. Martin was born in 1818 and baptised on 17 December 1818 at Great Ayton[242]. By 1841, he was working on the farm of Michael Dixon at Skelton[243].
Martin married Elizabeth Taylor at Skelton, on 27 February 1842[244]. Elizabeth was the granddaughter of John Andrew, the notorious smuggler chief of Old Saltburn. Her mother was Ann Andrew, John
Andrew’s daughter. The Andrews and the Farndales had after all, been working
side by side in the old fishing village at Saltburn, since the eighteenth
century.
|
A family tree of our smuggler ancestors |
|
A narrative history
of Elizabeth’s ancestors. |
|
1759 to 1835 The King of Smugglers Kincardineshire, Saltburn |
|
|
Martin and Elizabeth, known as Bessie, had four sons. The oldest was William Farndale who was born on 16 December 1842[245], but died aged only 11 from inflammation of the chest in 1852[246].
Elizabeth came from Fogga, which is near the location of North Skelton today. Fogga Farm was referred to in an old will of 1718[247] and its location appears on the ordnance survey map of 1856. Fogga Farm was located in present day North Skelton where the Ironstone
Mine was later opened in 1872. It was also known as Old Fogga.
By
1913, Fogga was described as being
part of North Skelton[248]. North
Skelton is confusingly named, since it lies to the east of the town and the
castle. The reason is that an ironstone mine was developed at a site north of
Skelton near Marske in 1865 on land leased from the Squire Wharton. However a
greater density of ironstone was then identified further south, but the
original name of North Skelton stuck. The ironstone mine was commissioned in
1872, shortly after Martin’s death. The mine was most productive between 1875
and 1920, but as the deepest of the Cleveland mines, it was the last to close
in 1964. Martin and his family were thus
farming at Fogga in the last days before the area was
subsumed into ironstone mining.
Ordnance Survey Map of 1856
By 1845, when
Martin
Farndale, my great
grandfather, was born[249], Martin
Senior was farming at Fogga. Martin later settled at Tidkinhow, and his
story will be told in Act 25.
Martin Senior was presumably sharing an interest with his father
in law, James Taylor and was variously described as the farmer in his
own right and a labourer, presumably working for or with James Taylor.
The third son
was John Farndale, was born in 1848[250] and later
became a railwayman. The fourth son was Matthew
Farndale, born in
1850[251], who later
took a farm at Craggs Hill. Their stories are told in separate narratives.
|
The story of John Farndale and his family who moved to Loftus |
|
The story of
Matthew Farndale and his family of Craggs Hall Farm |
By 1851, Martin was a farmer of 70 acres at Fogga Farm in Skelton[252]. These were still during the days before the ironstone mine opened.
By 1861 Martin had left Fogga Farm, and worked as a labourer, having moved with
Elizabeth, John and Matthew, to Hutton Lowcross, immediately to the south of Guisborough[253]. They lived at Galey Hill, originally known as Galowehill,
now a primary school and leisure centre, known today as Galley Hill. It is
close to Farndale Drive.
Martin died on 11 July 1862 aged only 43 in the parish of Guisborough from empyema. Elizabeth Farndale was
present at the death[254]. There is a family story that Martin was kicked by a horse. Empyema is the medical term for pockets of pus
that have collected inside a body cavity. They can form if a bacterial
infection is left untreated, or if it fails to fully respond to treatment. The
term empyema is most commonly used to refer to
pus-filled pockets that develop in the pleural space.
Elizabeth Farndale, Bessie,
the widow of Martin Farndale, farmer, aged 83, died of influenza and sirgultas
on 21 March 1894 at Craggs Hall Farm[255], the farm of her son, Matthew Farndale. She was buried with Martin.
Martin and Bessie’s grave is just to
the right of the white gate as you enter into Old
Skelton Churchyard.
In loving memory of Martin Farndale
of Skelton who died 11th July 1862 aged 43 years also Elizabeth wife of the
above who died at Craggs Hall Farm on 21st March 1894 in her 84th year. Also William son of the above who died 29th June 1852 aged 11
years
Martin and Bessie lie in the same
group of monuments as the Andrews. John Andrew, who died in 1835, is buried
just behind him.
And so, having followed the paths of
the Kilton Farndales, who dominated a rural idyll, now lost to time, and then
those members of the family who left the net of Kilton to encounter a dangerous
new world, we end at a place which links us back to Old Saltburn, the
swashbuckling adventures of the smugglers, and the heart of the world of Old
Johnny Farndale, and his son William.
Go Straight to Act 14 –
Spreading out from Brotton and Loftus
or
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This
is a new experiment. Using Google’s Notebook LM, listen to an AI powered
podcast summarising this page. This should only be treated as an
introduction, and the AI generation sometimes gets the nuance a bit wrong.
There are a some instances in this podcast where
there are mistakes about the exact relationships and an overlap of
generations. However it does provide
an introduction to the themes of this page, which are dealt with in
more depth below. Listen to the podcast for an overview, but it doesn’t
replace the text below, which provides the accurate historical record. |
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