The Copeland Manors and their Families - part 2

THE MANORS OF COPELAND

16. The Manor of Eaglesfield:

was at a very early date, in the possession of a family who assumed the local name of de Eaglesfield, one of whom was confessor to Queen Philippa, Consort of Edward III, and founder of Queen's College, Oxford. The manorial rights now belong to Lord Leconfield. The land is principally copyhold, or tenancy subject to a fine of two years' value, at the death of either lord or tenant. The Manor Courts are held at Cockermouth Castle. The Commons were enclosed in 1818.

17. The Manor of Egremont :

The Baron held two separate Courts to oversee his possessions held at the castle in Egremont. The first was the Borough Court responsible for the governance of the township of Egremont.  The second was the Manor Courts that were responsible for all those manors that still held allegiance to the Lord and that were not responsible to another Court process elsewhere in his domain, such as the manors of the Forest of Copeland.

There were really three manor courts :—

        1, The Court Baron 

       2, The Customary Court

       3, The Court Leet.

The Court Baron was the small debt court of the freeholders. The Cus-tomary Court was the court of the customary-hold tenants. The Court Leet was a court of record, a court for the appointment of officers, and a court for the punishment of minor offences. The president of the Manor Court was the Over - Lord, and in his absence his steward presided.

Refs:     Egremont Manor Court    CWAAS   1915  p76 – 89
             Egremont Borough Court  CWAAS   1917  p48 -

18. The Manor of Ennerdale : A portion of the manor was given by Ranulph de Meschien to the priory of St.Bees, and the remainder passed successively to the families of de Harrington then the de Bonville’s and finally the Grey’s. This area was forfeited to the crown in 1554 by Henry Grey the father of Lady Jane Grey. It  was granted by Elizabeth I to its tenants in 1568. The complicated interaction between the Patricksons & the Ennerdale tenants with the Crown is well documented in “Around & About Ennerdale” by Bob Orrell in 1997. Ennerdale is now vested to the Earl of Lonsdale, having been purchased by the family in 1821.

How Hall or Castle How, in Ennerdale, and its estate were anciently the residence and property of the Patricksons, from whom it passed by purchase in the 17th century to Joseph Tiffin, Esq. It was subsequently sold to Joseph Senhouse, Esq., of Calder Abbey, who rebuilt the house, but carefully preserved the antiquities of the old place. On a tablet in the wall is the following inscription:- "This house was built A.D. 1566 by Anthony Patrickson and Frances his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Swynbourne, one of the Privy Council to Henry VIII." How Hall is now a farmstead.

The Chapelry, which also includes the manor of Kinneside, contains 6,155 rateable acres of land, besides many hundred acres of common. Kinniside is separated from Ennerdale by the river Ehen and consists mainly of fell-side with a few scattered farmsteads.  In 1850 Joseph Dickinson, Esq. and Mrs. Hannah Dixon, were the largest landowners. Joseph built a comfortable inn a few years before at the foot of the lake, the Anglers Arms, where boats were kept for the accommodation of anglers & tourists; this Inn was burnt down in 1911. There were also two good inns in the village, where a sheep fair is held on the second Tuesday in September.

19. The Manors of Gosforth:

The de Sevenhous family [ later to become Senhouse ] of Hall Senna in the manor of Bolton, Parish of Gosforth, which they received c.1200 from one Alan de Coupand. In 1528 Thomas Senhouse arranged the marriage of his son John to marry  Elizabeth the elder daughter of the Eaglesfield family of Netherall - in Ellenborough now Maryport. Thus he succeeded to the large family estates upon the death of Gawen Eaglesfield. There were now two Senhouse families, the original of Seascale and second now of Netherall ( Netherhall ). It should be noted that Gosforth area was divided into four Manors. These were Seascale, Bolton, Newton & Gosforth itself.

3a. Seascale Manor was held by the little known de Seascale family, other than the name appeared on more than one charter in the 13th century, until it was absorbed by the Senhouse family and merged with the manor of Newton circa.1600
3b. Bolton Manor was held by the de Waberthwaite family as late as 1272.
3c. Newton Manor belonged to the de Sevenhous family in 1322.
3d. Gosforth Manor: up to the 14th century the Manor of Gosforth was held by various families of that name until one Robert Gosforth died without male issue.

He left five joint heiresses who were:-

1. Mariotte the wife of Adam Caddy;
2. Isabel the wife of Henry Hustock;
3. Joan the wife of John Garth;
4. Ellen the wife of William Kirkby and
5. John Multon the son (and heir) of Agnes Eastholme.

This event in the 14th.century in effect put an end both to the Manor and the Gosforth family name.

20. The Manor of Greysouthen :

Crakesothen, as the name is written in old documents, was one of the "five towns" belonging to the honour of Cockermouth, and was given, soon after the Conquest, to Waltheof, son of Gospatric, by William de Meschines, and has descended, like the barony, through various families by the marriage of heiresses. Today, 1910, it is held by Lord Leconfield, as baron of Egremont and Cockermouth. The commons were enclosed in 1828, and an allotment of 15 acres was appropriated for the education of the poor of Greysouthen.

21. The Manor of Haile:

The manor was granted soon after the Conquest to Thomas Multon of Gilsland. It was subsequently possessed by a family who took their name from the place where they lived, and in the reign of Henry III, was held by Alexander de Hale, Agnes one of his co-heiresses brought her moiety to the Ponsonby family by her marriage in 1305. They in turn eventually became possessors of the whole of the Manor. The Ponsonby’s were another enduring Copeland family as Lady Ponsonby was resident at Haile Hall until her death in April 2003, then aged 101 years.

22. The Manor of Harrington:

was granted soon after the Conquest to the family of de Talebois, barons of Kendal, and held by them of the fee of Workington. The name in ancient documents is variously written Haverington and Haveringham, and presumably impressed itself upon the possessors of the manor, the Harringtons. There were several branches of this family; one was resident at Beaumont, in this county; another at Witherslack, in Westmorland; a third at Aldingham, in Furness; and two other branches in the counties of Rutland and Lincoln. In the early period of our history the barons of Harrington appear to have held a position of consequence and importance among the English nobility. The first of this family who held Harrington married the heiress of Seaton, in Camerton. The next upon record is Robert de Harrington, who married the heiress of William de Cauncefield, whose father had married Alice, heiress of Sir Michael le Fleming. Several of the early Harringtons were summoned to Parliament; and one, Sir Robert, received the honour of knighthood at the coronation of Richard II.

The estates subsequently became the property of Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, by his marriage with the heiress of the Harringtons. Henry, his grandson, third earl, married Frances, daughter and co-heir of the Duke of Suffolk, by Mary, sister of Henry VIII, and dowager Queen of France. Henry was afterwards created Duke of Suffolk, and in the reign of Queen Mary he was convicted and attainted of high treason, for his attempt to place the Lady Jane Grey, his daughter, on the throne at the death of Edward VI. He was beheaded, and likewise the unfortunate Lady Jane, and his estates forfeited to the Crown. Philip and Mary, in the third year of their reign, by letters patent, granted the manor of Harrington to Henry Curwen, Esq., valued at that time at £18 14s. 8d. The manor has since continued to be held by the Curwen family. The demesne is within the enclosure of Workington Park, which bounds the parish on the north. In 1910 Alan Curwen, Esq., is the lord of the manor.

23. The Manor of Hensingham:

 seems to have passed through various families since the 12th. century. The earliest recorded possessor is one Gillesbeuth. The Moresby family also appear to have held land here, and in the reign of Edward I a moiety was owned by the Braithwaites. From the last named family it descended to the Whitriggs, lords of Little Bampton. It next passed by marriage to the Skeltons, from whom it was purchased by the Salkelds, whose co-heiresses, about the year 1688, sold it to Sir Wilfrid Lawson. It continued in this family till the year 1748, when it was purchased by Anthony Benn, Esq., but subsequently became the property of the Lowther family, and has since been held by the successive Earls of Lonsdale.

24. The Manor of Huthwaite:

is a small manor  which gave name to the family who possessed it at an early date. The manor is now held by Lieutenant-Colonel A. Green-Thompson, but the most extensive proprietor is T.A. Hoskins Esq. Huthwaite Hall, formerly the residence of the lords of the manor, is now occupied as a farmhouse.

25. The Manor of Irton:

The de Irton family held this manor from the time of one Adam de Yrton, a Knights Templar, and who went on the first Crusade to Jerusalem. The last the Irton male, Samuel Irton, died in 1866 when his wife, a member of the Senhouse family, sold the property. The Manor ended up in 1896 with the Brocklebank family of the P&O shipping line.

26. The Manor of Lamplugh:

In the 12th. century it belonged to William de Lancaster, baron of Kendal, who gave it, with Workington, in exchange for Middleton in Lonsdale, to Gospatric, son of Orme, lord of Seaton, in Derwent Ward. After the death of Gospatric, his son Thomas gave Lamplugh to Robert de Lamplugh and his heir, on condition of their "paying yearly a pair of gilt spurs to the lord of Workington." This Robert died in the reign of Henry II, and is the first of the family recorded in the pedigree, which was certified by John Lamplugh, Esq., in 1665, to which year he traced twenty-four descents. The last direct heir male of this family, the Rev. Thomas Lamplugh, of Lamplugh, died at Copgrove, in Yorkshire, in 1783, and the manor descended to his nephew, John Raper, Esq., the son of his sister Anne. In 1910 the present lord of the manor of Lamplugh and Murton is W.L. Brooksbank, formerly of Lamplugh Hall, now of Penrith; but the respective landowners, in 1718, purchased their freedom from customary rents, and the right to work the minerals in their own estates. The Manor Hall is now used as a farmstead. On the entrance gate are the arms of the family of Lamplugh and the date 1595.

27. The Manor of Lorton:

The whole of the civil parish belongs to the Honor of Cockermouth, as a parcel of the manor of Derwent Fells, except a small customary manor, which belongs to the dean and chapter of Carlisle, to whose court here their tenants in this neighbourhood are amenable.
It has been claimed that “In the reign of Henry VIII it was held in severalty by three persons, Winder, Sands, and Huddleston; but we do not find how they derived their title."

28. The Manor of Loweswater:

was an ancient demesne of Egremont; but by partition between the two daughters of Richard de Lucy, it fell to the share of Alan and Alice de Multon, as the twentieth part of the barony of Egremont. It again reverted to the de Lucys, and was given by Maud to her second husband, the Earl of Northumberland, whose descendant, the sixth Earl, lost it to Henry VIII, from whom it was sold to Richard Robinson. John Robinson sold the manor to Thomas Stanley, Esq., whose daughter and heir conveyed it in marriage to Sir Edward Herbert. By this couple it was sold to Anthony Patrickson, Esq. It then passed by sale successively to the Lawsons, Braggs, and finally to John Marshall, Esq., and in 1910 is the property of William Hibbert Marshall, Esq.
The Manor of Mockerkin and Sosgill is also in this township, and is held by Lord Leconfield.

29. Manor of Moresby:

The first recorded possessor of the manor was one Maurice or Morris, who settled here at an early period after the Conquest, and has left his lasting memento behind in the name Mauriceby, Moresby, i.e., Maurice's town or dwelling. The manor continued in the possession of this family until 1499, when Sir Christopher Moresby, the last male heir, died, leaving behind him an only daughter, who conveyed it, upon her marriage, to Sir James Pickering, the representative of a Westmorland family. After two descents, the male line of the Pickerings also became extinct, and their domains were carried by an heiress, to Sir Henry Knevett. From the Knevetts the manor passed by purchase to William Fletcher, Esq., of Cockermouth. In 1720, Moresby was sold under a decree in Chancery, to John Brougham, Esq. , of Scales, by whom it was conveyed, in 1737, to Sir James Lowther, of Whitehaven, ancestor of the present noble owner, the Earl of Lonsdale [1910].

30. The Manor of Mosser:

was formerly held by the Salkelds, one of whom, Thomas Salkeld, of Corby, in 1544, held it of the king, through the Baron of Egremont.The name of the parish has been variously written Mosser, Mosergh, and Mosier.

31. The Manor of Ponsonby:

Little is known concerning the original lords of Ponsonby. The first mention of the Ponsonby family was a John de Ponsonby who died in 1177 and was thought to be the son of the first member of that family. It is also believed that he held the position of “Barber & Surgeon” at the Court of Henry II. He was followed at Ponsonby by his son Richard who granted the church of Ponsonby to Conishead Priory, near Cartmel-in-Furness. Then in turn he was followed by his own son Alexander who travelled to Rome on behalf of the King, then finally William de Ponsonby whose name appears in two deeds dating from 1286. He married into the local de Hale family - when he took in marriage the heiress daughter of Alexander de Hale circa 1300. Upon the death of Alexander the family left Ponsonby Hall for Haile Hall and the lordship of Haile, leaving the Ponsonby Manor vacant.

The Austhwaite branch of the Stanley family left the Eskdale valley for Ponsonby, when Nicholas Stanley the then Lord Austhwaite, purchased the Manor of Ponsonby from Adam de Eskdale in 1388. The Stanley’s were a very successful family as they have lived on at Ponsonby into the present day; and in fact one member of this family has moved back to Dalegarth Hall having purchased the estate back from the Muncaster estates.

32. The Manor of Rottington:

 In the 12th century it was held by a family to whom it gave its name. From the de Rottingtons it passed in marriage to the Sands or Sandys, originally of Burgh-by-Sands. By this family it was sold to the Curwens for £700. It was afterwards devised to Henry Pelham, Esq., from whom it was purchased in 1692 by Sir James Lowther, created Earl of Lonsdale, and still belongs to that noble family.

33. The Manor of Salter & Eskett:

The demesne of Salter was given by Gospatric, son of Orme, son of Ketel, to the Abbey of St. Mary, at York, and was subsequently consigned to the priory of St. Bees. After the suppression of religious houses it was purchased by Dr. Leigh, one of the visitors appointed by Henry VIII for the inspection of monasteries previous to their suppression, and was sold by his grandson to the Salkelds, of Whitehall, from whom it passed to the families of Patrickson, Robertson, Fryer, and Dickinson to the present owner.
Salter Hall is one of the oldest houses in this part of the county, having been built by Thomas Salkeld in 1586, as appears from an inscription over the kitchen door. There is here a very ancient staircase of carved oak. Unlike most old houses, Salter Hall is both commodious and comfortable. It is now a farmstead.

34. The Manor of Setmurthy:

is a parcel of the Manor of the Five Towns included in the honour of Cockermouth, and its manorial rights and privileges are accordingly vested in Lord Leconfield as the Baron of Cockermouth.

35. The Manor of St.Bees:

Nothing is known of the early history of St. Bees until the time of William de Meschines, the Norman grantee under his brother, Ranulph de Meschines, who at an early date after the Conquest restored the monastic buildings, and gave them to the celebrated Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary of York. According to the charter of foundation the grantor "gave to God, St. Mary of York, and St. Bega, and monks serving God there, all the wood within their boundaries, and everything within the same, except hart and hind, boar and hawk; and all liberties within their bounds, which he himself had in Copeland, as well on land as on water, both salt and fresh." The convent at this time consisted of a prior and six monks; and William further enriched them by a grant of seven carucates of land; the chapel of Egremont, the tithes of his demesne of Copeland, and of his men there; the tithes of his fisheries, hogs, venison, pannage and vaccaries throughout Copeland; and the manor of Ennerdale.

In 1553 Edward VI, granted to Sir Thomas Challoner, Knight, the manor, rectory, and cell of St. Bees, with all its rights and possessions (not granted away by the Crown before), to be holden by him and his heirs "in fee farm rent of the King as of his manor of Sheriff Hutton, in Yorkshire, in free and common soccage by fealty only, and not in capite, paying to the Crown yearly the fee farm rent of £143 16s. 2½d." His successor, Mary, in conjunction with her husband Philip, attempted to restore to the church some of the confiscated property.
The Wyberghs succeeded the Challoners in the ownership of the manor; but having been sufferers for their loyalty in the civil wars of Charles I, they mortgaged St. Bees to the Lowther family.

Obviously the family was not able to keep up the necessary payments and in 1663 Sir John Lowther, of Whitehaven, foreclosed, and the estate passed to him and his heirs, in which family it has since continued, and now forms part of the possessions of the Earl of Lonsdale, who, in 1910, is lord of the manor, and patron and impropriator of the benefice. Thus the principal landowner is the Earl of Lonsdale, but the manorial rights are vested in the governors of St. Bees Grammar School.

36. The Manor of Ulpha:

 is said to have derived its name from Ulf, son of Evard, whose decendants enjoyed it till the time of Henry III, after which it passed to the Huddlestons, Lords of Millom, by whom a portion of land was enclosed for deer, and is still known as Ulpha Park. It continued a demesne of Millom until it was sold by Sir Hedworth Williamson and his wife (heiress of the Huddlestons) & to a Mr. Singleton, of Drigg. It has since passed through various hands, including Mr. George Harrison of Linethwaite, and in 1910 is the property of the Earl of Lonsdale, the present lord of the manor.

37. The Manor of Waberthwaite: was held in ancient times by a family bearing the name of Wyberg. John Wyberg (1150-1202) obtained it in 1174 by reason of his marriage with Matilda (1155-1215) the daughter of Arthur Boyville, the third Lord of Millom. Whether the manor gave name to the family, or the Wybergs impressed their name on the manor is not clear. The latter seems the most probable hypothesis, and its name would thus be Wybergthwaite, which has now become Waberthwaite. The Wybergs subsequently removed from this parish into Westmorland, and fixed their abode at Isell in that county. The manor afterwards passed to the Penningtons of Muncaster, but whether by marriage or purchase is not known. The Pennington family held the manor in 1608 and it is possible it was with the de Kirkby family before that. The manorial rights and privileges are now vested in Lord Muncaster.

38. Manor of Whicham:

Originally it was held as a fee of Millom, and is said to have received its name from one Wyche, its possessor in the reign of Henry I. In the time of Henry III, Ralph de Bethern held land in Whicham. In 1315 the manor appears to have been transferred to another but unknown family. It was subsequently divided into severalties, and passed through many hands, but all account of these transfers appears to have been lost. The estate was eventually purchased by Sir James Lowther until he sold Whicham and Silecroft to the Earl of Lonsdale who is still the Lord of the Manor in 1910.

39. The Manor of Whinfell:

 is a parcel of the honour of Cockermouth and has descended with that barony to Lord Leconfield. In the reign of Henry VIII, it was held conjointly by Christopher Curwen, J. Eaglesfield, and Ambrose Middleton. Eaglesfield's portion passed to Anthony Barwise, who held the same on the payment of one halfpenny per annum. The manor was afterwards the property of the Wharton family, and, being sold to the Seymours, has descended through the Earls of Egremont to the present owner. A moiety of the manor was enfranchised at the enclosure of the common in 1828; it was formerly held by. Lieut.-Col. Thompson, and is now in 1910 the property of A.J.S. Dixon, Esq.

40. Manor of Whitbeck: Little is known of the early history of the Manor of Whitbeck. It appears to have been held by Sir William Morthing, who gave it by fine to Conishead Priory, in Furness. The Morthings were a family of considerable importance in the locality as early as the reign of Henry III. The manor continued in the possession of the priory until the dissolution of that house by Henry VIII, when it was seized by the Crown. Some years subsequently it was granted to a Mr. Lawrence Parke, a resident of the parish, and it continued in the possession of his descendants until 1797, when it was sold by Charles Parke, Esq., to Lord Lonsdale.

41. The Manor of Workington :

 "The ancient and knightly family of the Curwens," says Camden, "derive their descent from Gospatrick, Earl of Northumberland, and took their surname by agreement from Culwen, a family of Galloway, whose heir they married. This ancient family can trace their descent to Ivo de Talebois, who came to England with the Conqueror, and was the first lord of the Barony of Kendal. Ketel the grandson of Ivo had two sons, - Gilbert, father of William de Lancaster and Orme, from whom descended the Curwens. William de Lancaster **, having received from William de Meschines a grant of the Manors of Workington, Salter, Kelton & Stockhow, gave the parish church of the former place, along with two carucates of land and a mill there, to St. Mary's Abbey of York. William de Talebois took the  name Lancaster from time that he served as governor of Lancaster Castle. Since that time the Curwen family has held Workington, whilst living at Workington Hall.

Situated among the trees of Curwen Park are the compelling 14th century ruins of Workington Hall. The large quadrangular structure, began as a crenellated fortress built around a Pele tower, its license granted by Richard II in 1379 to Sir Gilbert de Culwen. It was embellished several times over the centuries, especially in the 18th century by John Christian Curwen. But, in 1929, the Curwen family vacated the Hall and left it stood empty - neglected it fell into decay and soon became a ruin. In 1970's the ruins were made safe for visitors.

** Thus there is a conflict within the historical sources as to who received the grant from William Meschien – was it Ketel de Talebois (1130-1170) or his grandson William de Lancaster.

42. The Manor of Wythop:

In the 12th century it belonged to the de Lucys; from them it descended to the Lowthers about the year 1314. This family continued to possess the manor until 1606, when Sir Richard Lowther sold it to Richard Fletcher, whose grandfather had the honour of entertaining Mary Queen of Scots, when on her way from Workington to Carlisle. This Richard received the honour of knighthood when James ascended the throne. Sir Henry Fletcher, Bart., one of his descendants, embraced the Catholic faith, and, becoming weary of the world and its frivolities, he entered a monastery of English monks at Douay, in Flanders, where he died in the early part of the last century. Previous to entering the cloister, he settled the estate upon Thomas Fletcher, with remainder to Henry Fletcher Vane, his nephew, and son of Mr. Vane, of Long Newton, Durham; and in 1910 the manor is still held by that family.

Note: The information contained came from various sorces but mainly from the County Directories  of 1850 & 1910

Nev.Ramsden November 2012