Evidence for The York Line

The evidential support for constructing the York Line of Farndales as I havge done

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The primary evidence for the structure of the York Line is the evidence which clearly shows that Johannes de Farnedale (FAR00030) was a freeman saddler in York in 1363, Johannes de Farndell (FAR00035) was the son of Johannes de Farndale and a freeman by patrimony in 1397, and Johannnes Fernedill (FAR00048A) was a freeman boucher (butcher) in York in 1408. It is probable that they were father, son and grandson.

It is also likely that the older Johannes de Farnedale (FAR00030) is the person who can be traced to De Johanne de Farendale who paid tax in 1301 in Egton; John de Farndale who was a sub tenant of Thomas in Rosedale in 1314 and Johanne de Farndale who paid tax also in Rosedale in 1327 and 1333; and Johannes de ffarndale who took an £8 loan in Hovingham in 1336.

We can thus build a picture of an individual who left Farndale for Egton and then Rosedale, took a significant loan in 1336 possibly to set up a new business, and by 1363 was an established saddler in York.

The evidence for the line of John Farndales is therefore strong.

It is a reasonable conclusion that William Farndale (FAR00038, variously spelt including Willelmo ffarndall and ffarendall in 1356) and Nicholas de ffarnedale (FAR00038A), both entirely evidenced in Doncaster, were both of this Line, but emigrated at about the time of the Black Death from York to Doncaster, a plausible route for them to take, to form a new line of the family.

The remainder of the assumed family are derived from military records of individuals with names like Farndale, who appear in military records during the later medieval period. For these individuals the assumption of their lineage comes from their names and we don’t benefit from direct evidence of their precise relationships. It must be conceded that these individuals may be from different families, unrelated to the Farndale family. However their names, and the wider circumstances, do suggest their linkage.

It is notable that the spelling of the name of known Farndale individuals in this line of the family corrupted, and more so over time, to a three syllable form far – ne – dale or far – on – dale (variously spelt).

It is therefore a reasonable conclusion that John Farondell, John Farendon, John Farodell and John Farnham, an archer in the Scottish Wars between 1383 and 1385 is Johannnes Fernedill (FAR00048A), the freeman butcher in York in 1408. He served under William Fulthorpe who was a fellow Yorkshireman, born in about 1367 in Thirkelby, near Thirsk. The chronology is consistent and the name spelling, though fluid, consistent with this family. The same John Farnham or Farendon was at Calais in 1386 and a man at arms back in Scotland in 1388 to 1389.

This John Farendon in June 1389 is listed with a Henry Farendon, also a man at arms, and a William Faryndon or Farnham, an archer, all in the same place under the same commanders. It is therefore not unreasonable to conclude that Henry (FAR00035B) and William (FAR00035C) were John’s brothers, and also part of the York Line of the family.

By 1417, a David Farindon appeared at Harfleur during the second phase of Henry V’s campaign, and the variously spelt David or Davy Faryndon, Farendon, Faryndon, Farndon, Farndyn, Farindon and Farundon appears regularly in military records including at Rouen in 1431 to 1432 under the command of Richard Beauchamp, who had responsibility for the trial and execution of Joan of Arc. It is therefore a reasonable deduction that Davy Farndyn (FAR00044A) was the son of one of the brothers who fought together in the Scottish Wars of 1389, and I have chosen to allocate him to John de Farondell (FAR00048A), though we cannot be sure which brother he may have been related to. There was also a Robert Farendon (FAR00044B) at Meulan in 1434, who would also fit this analysis as a brother of Davy.

In fifteenth-century York, and across England, soldiers were primarily recruited through a combination of feudal obligations, contractual agreements, and, increasingly, through voluntary enlistment. Feudal lords were still expected to provide soldiers to the Crown when needed, but by this time, contractual arrangements or indentures between captains and the Crown were becoming more common for raising larger, professional armies.

The wider area of Yorkshire was sometimes hesitant in its provision of troops to support Henry V’s campaigns. During his 1417 recruitment campaign Henry visits the Lancastrian strongholds of Coventry and Leicester, before going to Yorkshire, an area where he has reason to be concerned about general reluctance to provide troops for his campaign (Henry V, Dan Jones, 2024, page 365). However the Farndale family come from the Lancastrian region of Pickering (FAR00015A), and by this time had spread to the loyal Neville heartland of Sheriff Hutton and to York. There had been an assumption that counties north of the Trent would provide troops to resist invasions from Scotland, whilst the southern counties would support the expeditions to France (Later Medieval York, Barrie Dobson, in The History of York, Ed Patrick Nuttgens, 2007, page 110), and this is consistent with the early participation of the identified individuals in the Scottish wars. However by the reign of Henry V the dominant focus was on the war with France. York had been the centre of the significant rebellion against the Lancastrian Henry IV led by their Archbioshop Richard Scrope in 1405. His vicious execution however reminded the people who lived in York to revert to their traditional loyalty to the Crown which lasted through the period of Henry V’s reign (Later Medieval York, Barrie Dobson, in The History of York, Ed Patrick Nuttgens, 2007, page 113).

It is impossible to be sure of the precise relationships of ordinary individuals during this period. However names provide a beacon to follow as best we can, noting patterns, to build a possible line of relationship. The wider circumstances and the likelihood of York as a recruiting ground for the Scottish and then French Wars at various stages, helps us to build up an analysis of the family structure at this time.