The Woodhall Freeholds

Reedy identified three Woodhalls who were freeholders in the 1470s: Jenkyn Woodhall of Ullock; Thomas Woodhall of Clifton; and Thomas Woodhall of Dean (meaning, in this case, the village of Dean rather than the parish). At least two of these freeholds were still in Woodhall hands in 1535.

Reedy developed a pedigree for each freehold from the court rolls and inquisitions (a very complex task) but missed one vital piece of evidence - the 'Feet of Fines' land sales. These show who owned which freehold in 1571, and challenge Reedy's family reconstructions.

Fortunately, these very early years aren't part of my brief in this account, so I'm not going to get into complex arguments here. Suffice it to say that the picture presented below is how I see things, not how Reedy did. But I could be wrong.

Note - though I am calling all of these 'freehold' that does not mean that all the land sold or owned was freehold. Parts could have been customary.

Woodhall

'Woodhall' and 'Ullock' were described in the 1578 Percy survey as separate areas within the parish of Dean. That usage appears not to have survived much beyond 1571, when the freeholds were sold.

A house named Woodhall, together with outbuildings and land, existed somewhere close to the villages of Dean and Ullock. A ridge named Woodhall Brow survives as a geographical feature north of the village of Dean.

In 1571, Woodhall was purchased by George Porter of Weary Hall in Bolton. At his death in 1587, he left the property to either his son Lancelot or his son George; and ownership remained in that family until 1697. It would have been mortgaged or rented out - a Bowman was in occupation in 1633.

Joseph Marshall of Branthwaite Edge bought Woodhall for £500 in 1697 from Joseph and Isabel Porter of Weary Gate in Bolton. In 1720, the Marshall heirs sold out to Henry Fearon of Calva in Dean and he to John Peile of Ullock a year later.

Reedy assumed that 'Woodhall' belonged to the Woodhall of Ullock family. It seems though to have belonged to the Woodhall of Dean family.

The Clifton Freehold

Thomas Woodhall appeared regularly in Cockermouth records between 1473 and 1503, when he was described as of Clifton. He died before 1505. [Reedy]

His heir was James Woodhall, described in the Harleian Pedigree as of Cockermouth. James had moved to Walden in Essex by 1510. His descendant Mary Woodhall married her cousin William Woodhall of Ullock. [Reedy & Harleian]

It may well be that James sold his freehold to the Woodhalls of Ullock in or before 1505. The possession of a freehold in Little Clifton provides a marker separating them from the Woodhalls of Dean. [Me]

The Ullock Freehold

Jenkyn Woodhall was described as a free tenant in 1473 and 1487, serving on court juries between those dates; but was dead by 1499. He was, in 1476, described as of Ullock. In 1508, a Christopher Woodhall was described as Jenkyn's son. [Reedy]

The inquest of William Woodhall, who died in 1505, showed that he was in possession of lands in Ullock, Clyfton, Deynscales and Pardyshaw; and that he had a 12-year old son John. [Reedy]

William, thus, is clearly defined as a former owner of the freehold (which included Ullock, Clifton, Deanscales and Pardshaw) sold in 1571 by William and Mary Woodhall for £80. [Me]

This, however, creates a problem - William (died 1505) isn't on the Harleian tree at all. Either he was omitted or there is an error in the chart. The answer may lie in a comment by Waters, who had looked at the original MS and noted that a correction had been made - 'William Woodhall' had been written first, in the same ink as the rest of the pedigree, and 'John Woodhall' written over it in a blacker ink. This apparently applied to the John who married Elizabeth Grindal, and probably simply means that the writer looked ahead to the next generation. However, it may suggest a general dose of confusion. After all, the informant appears to have been William Burrows, son-in-law of the William and Mary who sold Ullock, living more than one hundred years after the event he was describing.

If one places William Woodhall (-1505) of Ullock at the top of the tree instead of John Woodhall of Ulbeck [sic - Ullock], then everything is resolved. All the dates fit perfectly. It would also imply that William was the eldest son of Jenkyn Woodhall and elder brother of Christopher.

The Dean Freehold

The Dean freehold probably contained Woodhall. In 1571, this freehold consisted of tenements in both Dean and Cockermouth, according to the 'Feet of Fines'. The 1578 and 1587 evidence would suggest that the Dean tenenents included property in Pardshaw and Deanscales, but not in Clifton like the Woodhall of Ullock inheritance.

John Woodhall appears to have held Woodhall (or part of it) in 1535. Thomas Woodhall, apparently his brother, held Woodhall (or part of it) until his death in 1570 (buried 13-05-1570 in Dean). At Thomas' death, his property passed to John's son William, and the whole inheritance was sold within the year.

William Woodhall als Unedale [sic - Uvedale] was already living at Chingford in Essex. He had married Mary, sister and co-heiress of Sir John Branch, who held the manor there. The Cumberland estate was probably something of a nuisance.

William, according to a later source, had a story about the origin of the name Uvedale which, though romantic, has a vague ring of truth about it [see the insert]. Charged with murder, and possibly on the run, it would have made sense for his father John to change his name; even better, to take on the name of John Uvedale (c1480-1549), Secretary to the Council of the North [ODNB biography]. Uvedale may already have had a connection with the Woodhalls of Ullock, and was known to spell his name 'indifferently' - Uvedale, Vuedale, or Woodall - according to a contemporary report.

William sold the freehold to George Porter. The Percy Survey of 1578 listed the lands then held by him and Thomas Porter. His 1587 will implies that all his Dean property came from the Woodhall purchase.

Later History

George's widow, Ann, later supplemented the purchase by two of her own from Lancelot Skelton, armiger, and his wife Katherine. These were in Dean, Deanscales, Ullock and 'Whynnymore' [Whillimoor?].

A small part of the family estate appears to have wandered down to George Porter's illegitimate son Henry, who died and left a will in 1626. He was an owner of a property in Ullock.

This Porter history fits in with some other families in Ullock and Branthwaite, whom I don't know enough about to write an account now; but may appear in this 'Marron' section later.

NB This may be very misleading. I need to look at the original Percy Survey transcript, which I haven't yet done.