Category Archives: Slingsby

1879 Family of Coghill

The Family of Coghill

by

James Henry Coghill, 1879

(transcribed and annotated by Julian D S Lyon, 2001)

The Family of Coghill, 1377 to 1879: with some sketches of their maternal ancestors, the Slingsbys, of Scriven Hall, 1135 to 1879

First published by CAMBRIDGE and Printed at the Riverside Press 1879

PREFACE

Could I have foreseen the difficulties to be encountered, the large outlay of money, and the amount of labor to be expended upon this work, it would probably never have been undertaken by me. But now that it is finished I cannot say that I regret the impulse which first prompted me to engage in it.

When I first entered upon this work it was with no thought of extending my researches beyond the limits of our own country, and with but little hope of tracing the family very far back here. I was fortunate, however, at the beginning, in having the assistance and cooperation of a gentleman (A. R. Micou, Esq., of Tappahannock, Virginia) whose qualifications and position enabled him to render me valuable aid. To his patient and thorough examination of the old and musty records of Essex County, in that State, I am indebted for many links of the family chain; these, and others which came to me through family records and members now living, were, by carefully examining and comparing the different records, put each in its place, and properly connected, forming, when finished, an unbroken chain from 1664 to 1879.

Encouraged by success, I determined to extend my inquiries beyond the seas. This new field was hardly entered, when so many obstacles presented themselves that I was more than once on the point of abandoning the work in despair. I was held to it, however, by the encouragement and assistance given by friends, and, I may add, strangers also, for many kind letters and much valuable information were from persons with whom I had not the pleasure of a personal acquaintance. It is a most pleasant duty to mention and thank them here, as well for their uniform kindness in answering my numerous letters, as for the assistance I received from them.

I am under special obligations to Sir John Jocelyn Coghill, Bart., of Belvedere House, Drumcondra, in the County of Dublin, and Glen Barrahane, Castle Townsend, in the County of Cork, Ireland, for the pedigree of the eldest branch of the family, which was invaluable as a basis of further research, and also for other useful information.

I am hardly less indebted to Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., of Aldenham House, County of Hertford, and of St. Dunstans, Regents Park, London, former Governor of the Bank of England (who is the present representative of the principal estates of the Coghills of Hertfordshire, and the representative of the family of Hucks, through whom these estates descended to him), for records from the family papers now in his possession, and for revising and correcting the pedigree of the junior branch of the family, and also for photographs of the old family portraits of John Coghill, and Sir Thomas, his son, from which their pictures in this book were made.

My thanks are also due to Henry Coghill, Esq., of Brampton Tree House, Newcastle, Staffordshire, England, for much of the information relating to the Scottish branch, a part of which is from a manuscript “History of the County of Caithness,” not yet published, which the author permitted him to use. Other information, referring to the same branch, was given me by Miss Jane Coghill, of Castletown, in the County of Caithness, Scotland, and John Coghill, senior magistrate of Thurso. Miss Martha Coghill, of Ivy House Farm, West Uxbridge, County of Middlesex, and Mr. Anthony Coghill, her uncle, of Notting Hill, London, gave information relating to the unconnected branch.

To my valued friend, Capt. Charles H. Townsend, of New Haven, Connecticut (a cousin of my wife), I am under obligations for copies of records from York, Knaresborough, London, and other places which he visited at no little personal inconvenience, to obtain for me.

I have had the services of professional gentlemen in examining records in each of the countries, and take special pleasure in expressing my thanks to Joseph L. Chester, LL. D., of London, member of the council of the Historical Society of Great Britain, for valuable information, and also for suggestions and advice which were of great service to me.

With the exception of two or three books which had to be obtained from England, most of those consulted were found in the Astor Library of this city.

It may be necessary, in our country, where there is a feeling of real or assumed prejudice against all concern about family descent, to offer an apology for printing a pedigree. I cannot better communicate to my numerous relatives the reasons for so doing, than by the following extracts from Burke’s “Family Vicissitudes:” –

“I am well aware that to many the genealogical tree appears to be little better than a barren trunk, producing no fruits, or none of any value. Such, however, is not my conviction. If it be a natural and laudable feeling for the living to glory in the fame of their dead ancestors – if such recollections seem as a spur to the good, and a check to evil in ourselves – genealogy is a valuable and important science.  Can anyone for a moment doubt the influence, the beneficial influence exercised upon most minds by the noble pride of lineage? If I have not exaggerated – as I trust I have not – the uses to be drawn from genealogical pursuits, little apology will be needed for the following work.”

In such a spirit I would give to the members of the family connection the results of my labor, trusting that they may not be without some benefit, especially to the young. The present moment is ever fleeting, and we all live mainly in the past and the future. May these records of the past stimulate our young kinsmen to seek for themselves a noble future, and in their turn leave a worthy example. J. H. C.

NEW YORK, January, 1879

CONTENTS

PREFACE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4

PART 1 – Knaresborough……………………………………………………………………………………………… 5

Part 2 – The Eldest Branch……………………………………………………………………………………………. 9

ABSTRACTS OF WILLS RECORDED AT THE ARCHDEACONRY OF RICHMOND………………. 18

From Knaresborough Parish Register…………………………………………………………………………. 19

APPENDIX to PART II…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 21

Grant from Marmaduke Coghill to his youngest son John, 1575………………………………… 21

Abstract of Thomas Coghill’s Will, 1624……………………………………………………………………… 22

Marriage Licence – John Coghill, 1639……………………………………………………………………….. 23

Purchase of Crake Manor – Thomas Coghill, 1648…………………………………………………….. 23

Major Kendal Josiah William Coghill (13)……………………………………………………………………. 24

Lieutenant Nevill Josiah Aylmer Coghill (14)………………………………………………………………. 24

Letter of condolence: Maj. Gen. M A Dillon to Sir John Jocelyn Coghill Bt…………………… 26

Poems to the memory of Lieutenants Coghill and Melvill………………………………………….. 26

Part 3 – The Junior Branch of England……………………………………………………………………….. 30

ABSTRACTS OF WILLS, ADMINISTRATIONS, MONUMENTAL AND
TOMB INSCRIPTIONS, ETC…………………………………………………………………………………………. 38

REFERRING TO HENRY COGHILL’S WILL…………………………………………………………………….. 39

ABSTRACT OF HENRY COGHILL’S WILL………………………………………………………………………. 39

ABSTRACT OF ELIZABETH COGHILL’S WILL………………………………………………………………… 39

WILL OF SIR THOMAS COGHILL…………………………………………………………………………………. 40

ALDENHAM, CO. HERTFORD. BAPTISMS……………………………………………………………………. 41

ALDENHAM, CO, HERTFORD. BURIALS………………………………………………………………………. 41

BLECHINGDON, CO. OXFORD. BAPTISMS………………………………………………………………….. 42

BLECHINGDON, CO. OXFORD. BURIALS…………………………………………………………………….. 43

BLECHINGDON CHURCH…………………………………………………………………………………………… 43

PART 4 – The Unconnected Branch of the Family in England……………………………………… 45

Part 5. The Scottish Branch……………………………………………………………………………………….. 49

Part 6. The American Branch…………………………………………………………………………………….. 49

Part 7. The Family of Slingsby……………………………………………………………………………………. 49

SCRIVEN HALL…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 50

The Family of Slingsby………………………………………………………………………………………………. 50

THE FAMILY OF COGHILL

PART 1 – Knaresborough

The ancestors of the Coghill family had their homes in the county of York in England, and are traced back in a direct line to Knaresborough, AD 1378, on the paternal, and AD 1135, on the maternal side.  The name as above written was first assumed there.   It may not then be inappropriate to preface the pedigree and outline history of the family with a few allusions to that county, and a brief historical sketch of Knaresborough.

The section of country comprehended by the present boundaries of Yorkshire was inhabited by Brigantes, the most numerous and powerful of all the British tribes that possessed the island before the Roman Conquest.  In AD 71 they were overpowered and passed under the Roman yoke.  From that period until the abandonment of England by the Romans, AD 426-7, there were occasional revolt, but comparative quiet continued.  Many fine roads, some of which continue to the present time, and other improvements were made.  After the departure of the Romans the country sunk into a state of anarchy; civil discords terminated in the establishment of military tyrannies; “kings appointed, but not by God, who in their turn gave way to men more ferocious than themselves.” [1]  The standards of the Picts and Scots, the Saxons, the Danes, and the Normans were successively carried over its territory, and later those of the barons, the Houses of York and Lancaster; and the Parliament and the royal banners were here raised, and drew around them men of the same country and blood to engage in fraternal strife.

Within the present boundaries of this county some of the world’s rulers have resided: amongst them the Roman Emperors, Adrian (sic), Severus, Caracalla and Geta (sons of the latter, and joint emperors), Constantius, and Constantine the Great.  These all resided in Eboricum, afterwards York.  The Imperial Court of Rome was for three years held at this place by Severus, who died there.  Constantine arrived from Rome in time to be at his father’s deathbed, and was inaugurated emperor there.  Marcus Aurelius Lucius, a British king, said to have been the first crowned head in the world who embraced Christianity, was born there, and also John Wickliff, “the morning star of the Reformation,” in 1324.  In 1160, Henry II held in York the first Parliament mentioned in English history by that name.  In 1298, another Parliament was held there, when the barons attended, and the king’s confirmation of Magna Carta, and also Charta de Foresta, was read to them.  Charles I assembled his great council of all the peers of England in York, and Charles II was proclaimed there.  York in the ninth century was the seat of letters, as well as of trade and commerce.  The library collected by Archbishop Egbert, and placed in the cathedral, ranked among the first in Christendom.

The town of Knaresborough is situated on a rocky eminence on the northeast bank of the river Nidd, which runs here between precipitous banks, and through a romantic valley in the parish of the same name, in the Wapentake of Claro, West Riding, Yorkshire.  It is eighteen miles from York, and two hundred and three from London.  Hargrove supposes its name was derived from its situation, as Knares, in the German language, signifies a hard knot, and, when applied to situation, a rocky mountain.  He also conjectures that this may have been a fortified place of the Romans, as it is easy to trace the remains of a ditch, or ramparts; and numerous Roman coins have been found here, particularly some of the Emperors Claudius and Constantine.  It is one of the ancient burghs that were part of the demesnes of the crown, found under the title of Terra Regis in Doomsday Book and other records, all of which, and the land belonging to them, were held by royal grant.[2]  Littleton observes that burghs are the most ancient towns in England; such situations were chosen by the Saxons, as being already places of strength, to erect their castles upon.

For some centuries after the departure of the Romans this part of the country in particular was dreadfully harassed by contending armies.   Malmesbury states that it was always exposed to the fury of the northern nations, receiving the barbarous shocks of the Danes, and groaning under repeated depredations.  The Saxons finally prevailed, rather by exterminating than subduing the ancient inhabitants, in consequence of which they preserved unaltered all their civil and military institutions.  Whatever may have been the condition and privileges of Knaresborough before the Conquest, we find at that period a complete Saxon manor, that is, one township presiding over ten others.  Knaresborough and its villages suffered in the general devastation made by the ruthless and cruel Norman, who, after the siege of York in the year 1070, laid waste all the country between that city and Durham.  Malmesbury, writing half a century afterwards, says: “Thus the resources of a province, once flourishing, were cut off by fire, slaughter, and devastation; the ground for more than sixty miles, totally uncultivated and unproductive, remains bare to the present day.”

Hume finishes this sad story with these words: “The houses were reduced to ashes, the cattle seized and driven away, and many of the inhabitants perished in the woods from cold and hunger: the lives of one hundred thousand persons were computed to have been sacrificed to this stroke of barbarous policy.”  More than two centuries afterward came the long and bloody struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster, in which more than fourscore princes of the blood royal, and nearly the whole body of the ancient nobility, perished; and later still, the war between Charles I and the parliament, causing cruel disasters to the best families in the realm.  A writer has truly remarked: “York County seemed a land of destiny, echoing on every side with the solution of fearful problems.  What were the assured advantages accruing from so many changes?  What were the promptings of so many sad events?  Why should one portion of a people become so vividly alive to a need of defence from another portion?  It could only have been a strong faith that in the issues involved was a remedy for all social wrong, bad laws, and abuses.  The test of war was a final solution of the political problem.”

At the time of the Conquest, the manor of Knaresborough, which comprehended the town and ten surrounding villages, formed a part of the demesnes of the crown.  The castle, celebrated in history from its very founding to its dismantlement by order of Parliament in 1646, once the ornament and security of the town, and of which the venerable though scanty remains recall the recollection of other times, was built by Serlo de Burg, Baron of Tonesburg, in Normandy, who accompanied the Conqueror into England, and received this, with several other lordships, as a reward for his services.  In 1170, Hugh de Morville, Reginald Fitz-use, William de Tracey, and Richard Brito, the four knights who slew Thomas à Becket, fled to the castle, where they remained shut up for a year, but, submitting to the church, were pardoned, on condition of performing a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  In 1319 the Scots, entering England, burnt both Knaresborough and Skipton.  In 1337 the castle was taken by John de Lilburn, an officer of the great Earl of Lancaster, the chief and most powerful of the discontented barons.  It was, however, soon invested by the king’s troops, and De Lilburn surrendered, after having destroyed all the records, and with them every memorial of the liberties, customs, and privileges of the place.  In 1371 the castle, honour, and manor of the town, with the house and cell of St Robert, were granted by the king (Edward III) to his fourth son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; and from that time they have belonged to the Duchy of Lancaster.  About 1400, Richard II was imprisoned in this castle, as appears from the following lines in Hardyng’s ‘Chronicle’ –

“The Kyng then sent Kyng Richard to Ledis,

There to be kepte surely in privitie;

Fro thens after to Pykering went he nedis,

And to Knaresburgh after led was he,

But to Pontefrete last, where he did de.”

The place of confinement is supposed to have been in that part of the ruins called the “king’s chamber.”  In 1590 the castle was repaired under the direction of Henry Slingsby Esq,. Who held it as barbican, by lease from the queen.  In 1616 it was granted by James I to his son Charles, before that prince ascended the throne of England, ion the troubles of whose unhappy reign the town had a considerable share.  In the early part of the civil wars, till the reduction of York by the Parliamentarians, the royal garrison of Knaresborough, consisting of a great number of horse and foot, was a terror to the surrounding country.  In 1642 Lord Fairfax arranged to place a garrison in the castle, but was prevented from doing so by Sir Henry Slingsby, who occupied and held it until reinforcements arrived.  In November, 1644, after the battle of Marston Moor, Lord Fairfax, with a division of Scotch forces, appeared before the town, and on the 12th of that month began the attack.  The garrison defended their works with spirit, but at last were obliged to retreat within the castle; Lord Fairfax being now master of the town, the castle was closely invested, and bravely defended by the resolute garrison, who prolonged the siege to the 20th of December, when they surrendered upon honourable terms.  Oliver Cromwell was in Knaresborough soon after this and lodged in a house on High Street, which was afterwards rebuilt, but the chamber in which he slept was preserved, as we learn from the “Gentleman’s Magazine” for March 1791.

The castle contained two and a half acres within its walls, which were flanked with eleven towers.  The front room on the ground floor has been from time immemorial the repository of the ancient court records, where Hargrove says they were still preserved in 1798, and the keys were then in the custody of the steward of the honour, and the chief of the Slingsby family.[3]

In 1758 a human skeleton was discovered by a man digging for limestone on Thistle Hill, near the town, which led to the discovery of the murder of Daniel Clark by Eugene Aram, a schoolmaster of Knaresborough, and others, committed fourteen years before.  Aram was tried, convicted and executed.  He employed no counsel, but conducted his own defence, and made a very able and ingenious argument, attacking with great acumen, plausibility ad curious erudition, the doctrine of circumstantial evidence.  His name was afterwards immortalised by that intellectual monarch of fallacious reasoners, Bulwer, who seized upon the strangely opposing elements in the moral character of this curious man, and the facts connected with the murder committed by him, as the text of his “Eugene Aram”, into which story, by his vivid and powerful fancy and capacity, his fine, subtle reasoning and impassioned eloquence, he has so insiduously interwoven his own dark and dangerous views of fate and destiny.  It is a grand and sublime work, so far as language and power of reasoning are concerned; beautiful and plausible, as only a man of his rare powers can make error appear; but, like the fabled Upas-tree, giving poison and death to all who seek rest and repose under its bright and inviting foliage.

A writer near the close of the last century, after describing the ruins of the castle at Knaresborough, says:  “Placed on an eminence projecting into the river, and from its towers commanding all advances into the town, it possesses all the advantages of strength and situation that could be desired before the introduction of artillery; and, even after that period, was found to be a place not easily reduced. From these mouldering remains of pride and dominion the eye is relieved, and the mind cheered, by the romantic beauty of the adjacent vale; a delicious compound of enclosures, woods, and rocks, at the bottom of which a fine river takes its bending course, shaded in many places with hanging wood ; on one side the houses and trees, ranging along the edge of the precipices, with parts of the town, the church, the bridge, and Coghill Hall; on the other side, Bellmont, with its woods and enclosures, the more elevated situation of Belton Hall, with a distant view of Brimham rocks, complete the beautiful scene.”

Hargrove, writing in 1798, remarks: “Considerable manufacture of linen has been carried on here for many ages, and is at present in a flourishing condition.” In that year there were “two hundred looms employed for cotton goods, averaging four hundred pieces each week.”

The population in 1821 was 5,283.

One of the peculiar customs observed in Knaresborough is that on Easter Sunday, the men take off the women’s shoes, which are only to be redeemed by a present on the day following. The women retaliate, and treat the men in like manner by taking their hats. This is supposed to be the remains of a festival called Hoketide, instituted at the sudden death of Hardi-Canute, and the downfall of the Danes, in 1042.[4] There are many places and things of interest in and around Knaresborough, but they cannot be mentioned in this short sketch.

It was once a place of fashionable resort for its mineral springs, but was succeeded by Harrowgate, some two or three miles distant, which, during the summer months, is a great resort of the nobility and gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, who come to drink the waters and to enjoy the pure and healthful air. The waters are chalybeate and sulphur. We spent a night there in September, 1866.

Part 2 – The Eldest Branch

Playfair, in his “British Family Antiquity” vol. vii., page 226, says: “The origin of this name (Coghill) was most probably derived from a place anciently called Cockel-hall,[5]  but now Coghill-Hall, in the hundred of Claro, in the West Riding of Yorkshire; or perhaps from the residence of one of the family on a hill near the river Cock, which runs through a part of that county.”[6]

As the greater part of the English family names were derived from local residences, it is safe to infer that the author of “Family Antiquity” is correct in his conjectures.

The first ancestor, as appears by records formerly in the Castle of Knaresborough, in the same county in which he resided during the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV (1378 to 1413), was –

  1. John Cockill, or Cockhill Esq., Gentleman of Cockhill.  It further appears that either he, or his only son and heir of whom we find any mention, changed the name to Coghill, and that all who have borne this latter name descended from him.  In our researches we find that in all of the baptisms, marriages and burials recorded in Knaresborough Church the name is spelt Coghill.  In the Diocesan Register of York, we find between 1544 and 1650 the wills of Thomas Cockhill, 1549; Edward Cockhill, 1612; Stephen Cockhill; 1618; Thomas Cockhill, 1620; George Cockhill of Leeds, 1635; Grace Cockhill of Lower Hall, 1637; and Henry Coggill, 1637; and in the records of the Archdeaconry of Richmond, where search was made for Coghill only from the earliest period to 1700, but two wills were found (abstracts of which are given at the end of this section), that of Thomas Coghill of Tentergate, in the township of Scriven and parish of Knaresborough, eldest son of Marmaduke Coghill, dated 9th October, 1585, and that of Jane Coghill, daughter of Thomas of Knaresborough (spinster), dated 22nd February, 1626-7.  In the Consistory Court of London, the will of Phoebe Coghill, 1665.  In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, the will of Richard Cockhill, 1582, and a large number of wills and administratorships of Coghill.  In the Consistory Court of Oxford, and in numerous church and parish records in London, Hertforshire, and Oxfordshire we find the name of Coghill; all the persons thus indicated, with three exceptions, can be traced back to the first of that name at Knaresborough.  In the Fairfax Correspondence, Charles I, vol. ii, page 376, we find the following paragraph in a letter written by Thomas Stockdale to Lord Fairfax, dated at Knaresborough, February 25th 1641: “Mr Cockill of London Bridge wrote last week to some friends of his to make way to get himself elected Burgess of Knaresborough; for he writ Dearlove was absolutely rejected by the House, and that a writ would presently come for a new election.” [7]  The person here referred to most probably belonged to, or was a descendant of, the Coghills of Knaresborough.  Mr Stockdale may not have spelt the name correctly, and this is made more probable as we learn from records that there were Coghills living in that part of London about the date of his writing.  The records examined leave it no longer a matter of conjecture, but of certainty, that a part of the family, commencing with the John Cockhill mentioned, or else his son and heir, changed the name to Coghill, which has been borne only by his descendants, while another part adhered to the original.  We have no way of learning why the change was made, but it was probably the result of the great freedom exercised in all matters of orthography at that early period.[8]

The crest indicates that it was adopted by the family prior to the change of name.  The arms of the eldest branch are: Quarterly; 1st and 4th, erm, a chevron, between three cocks, gu. for Coghill; 2nd and 3rd, or, on a chief indented, az, three fleurs-de-lis of the field, a canton er, for Cramer.  Crest on a mount, vert, a cock, wings expanded, or.  Motto, Non dormit qui custodit (the guardian sleepeth not).

The arms of the youngest branches are gules on a chevron; argent, three pellets, a chief, sable.  Crest and motto same as those of the eldest branch.  An engraving of the latter is given on the opposite page.

The only child of John Cockhill that we find any record of was –

  1. Thomas Coghill (once we find it spelt Coughyll), his successor, who married Marjory, daughter of John Slingsby Esq., of Scriven (chief forester of Knaresborough), by his wife Joan, daughter of Walter Calverly Esq., of Calverly.[9]

By this marriage he had issue two sons, besides other children of whom we find no record –

  1. Thomas Coghill
  2. Robert Coghill.  We find no other mention of the latter than his name.

Thomas, the eldest son and heir, was twice married: first to Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Tempest, Knight, of Bracewell in Craven, a descendant of John Tempest, Lord of Bracewell and Waddington, who descended from Roger Tempest, who lived during the reign of Henry I, when his name is subscribed to several charters, cited in the Monasticon.

By this marriage he had issue –

  1. Peter Coghill, who died at the age of twenty-four years.
  2. Catherine Coghill, a nun in Nun-Monkton.
  3. Ellen Coghill, a votaress; and other children of whom we find no mention, probably dying young.

His second wife was Anne, daughter of ? Nettleton, Esq., of Roundegrange (by his wife, who was sister to Sir Robert Suttle, or Sothill, Knight, of Suttle, or Sothill Hall, in Yorkshire), by whom he had issue –

  1. Marmaduke Coghill
  2. Thomas Coghill
  3. Elizabeth Coghill
  4. Margery Coghill

We can find no further mention of the last three than their names.

Marmaduke, eldest son and heir, succeeded his father, and in 1555 rebuilt the present Coghill Hall, near Knaresborough, which was for several centuries the seat of the heads of the family.  The frontispiece in this book was engraved from a photograph of the place taken in 1878.  It shows the south, or river front, and a part of the east, or main entrance front.  The heliotype shows the main front.  The building is of stone.  The following description of the place is taken from Hargrove’s “History of Knaresborough” published in 1798.

CONYNGHAM HOUSE Formerly called COGHILL HALL.

“Situated on a small elevation above the river Nidd; the length of the south front is one hundred and thirty feet, and that of the east eighty feet. In the course of the buildings are five projections, forming so many large bow-windows, from which the Town and Church of Knaresborough, the stately ruins of the Castle, the Bridge over the river, with Belmont wood and Bilton Park, compose a most beautiful landscape.

“The Dining Room is thirty-two feet by eighteen.

“The Drawing Room is thirty-one by twenty-four.

“The music Room is twenty-four by sixteen.

“The Library is twenty by twenty.

“The Lawn falls gently towards the river, on the bank of which a fine gravel walk winds through a thick grove, to a retired and pleasing spot called the Hermitage, where a rustic cell, built of stones and moss, is placed near a natural cascade, which the river forms by falling over a ridge of rocks; from hence the walk is carried up the hill, winding through a variety of flowering shrubs and evergreens, to the front of the house. The meadows, wood, and water, which lie below and opposite the shrubbery, afford some views scarce to be equaled in the extensive lawns of Studley, or amidst the wild and Alpine scenery of Hagfall.”

Coghill Hall, County of York, England – Main Front

This house for several centuries belonged to the Coghill family, but was purchased of Sir John Thomas Coghill, Bart., with fifty-one acres of land, by the Right Honorable the Countess of Conyngham, in the year 1796.[10] Later it came into the possession of Sir Francis Nathaniel Burton, as heir to the Countess of Conyngham, and in 1831 was sold by him to Marcus Worsley Esq., who in 1856 sold it to its present owner, Basil Thomas Woodd Esq., the present MP for Knaresborough.

This Marmaduke married Maude, daughter of John Pullein Esq., of Killinghall, steward of Knaresborough and Ripon, by his wife Jane (daughter of Thomas Roos, Esq., of Ingmanthorp), and Playfair incorrectly states that twenty-one children were the result of this marriage.  He was probably led into the error by including with his issue the children of his son Marmaduke, and possibly those of a grandson bearing the same name.  The will of Thomas Coghill, the eldest son of Marmaduke (an abstract of which may be seen at the end of this section), mentions his brother Marmaduke and his younger brother John (William, another brother, died young).  In entailing his estate at the end of the will, he would certainly have named other brothers if there had been any.  We learn from the records of Knaresborough Parish that one Marmaduke Coghill was buried September 27, 1577, and another April 14, 1607.  We also find on the same records the marriages of three Marmaduke Coghills, one to Jane Alice Thornton, October 22, 1593.  The first was probably a son of Marmaduke and Maude, who may have married twice, and the last was probably his son.

We find reference to only four children of the first Marmaduke –

  1. Thomas Coghill
  2. William Coghill
  3. Marmaduke Coghill
  4. John Coghill

William died young.  John was a merchant in London, and will be referred to under the head of the Junior Branch of the Family in England.  We have no other record of Marmaduke than the mention of him in his brother Thomas’ will, unless it is in the records of marriages and burials referred to.  Thomas, the eldest son, succeeded his father, and in the twenty-second year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1580) married Isabel, daughter of ? Tallentyre Esq., of Carlisle, sister of William Tallentyre, incumbent of Kirby Overblows, in Yorkshire, and Routhbury, in Northumberland.  He had issue two sons and three daughters –

  1. Thomas Coghill (eldest son)
  2. Henry Coghill
  3. Frances Coghill
  4. Mary Coghill
  5. Jane Coghill

Frances must have died young, as no mention is made of her in her father’s will.  Henry was born after the will was executed, and was baptised 8th December 1585, as is seen by parish records.  We have no other record of him than his baptism and that made in his sister Jane’s will.  Mary married Richard Andrews Esq., and had a daughter, Maude Hargrove, mentioned also in Jane’s will.  Jane died unmarried, as will be seen from the extract of her will at the end of this section.

Thomas, who succeeded his father, married Beatrice, daughter of William Halley Esq., of York.  This lady was buried at Knaresborough, July 9, 1623.  They had issue –

  1. John Coghill, baptised at Knaresborough, March 11, 1615
  2. Thomas Coghill, baptised same place, September 18, 1617
  3. Isabella Coghill, baptised same place, February 2, 1619

We find no further record of Thomas than the mention of his name, with that of his brother John and sister Isabella, in the will of his aunt, Jane Coghill.  Isabella married William Mann Esq., of Thorp Hazelwood, York, of a very old and distinguished family.

John, the eldest son, married Lucy, daughter of Charles Tancred Esq., of Whixley, a family both ancient and honourable.  The name was originally Tankred, which ”Le Nerve” says was a great name among the Danes.  There is a full pedigree of the family in Hargrove’s “History of Knaresborough,” taken from a painting on the side of the grand staircase at Whixley Hall, the seat of the family.

Charles Tancred, father of Lucy who married John Coghill, was eleventh in descent from the first in the pedigree.  He died 1644.  Against the wall in the Whixley Church is a monument with the inscription –

“In this Chancel is buried Charles Tancred [the same mentioned above], Sir Richard Tancred, his son, Kn’t, Charles Tancred Esq., his grandson, and Christopher Tancred, Esq., his great grandson, Master of Harriers to King William III, all Lords of the Manor of Whixley.  He was the youngest son of Thomas Tancred Esq., of Boroughbridge, by Jane, co-heir of Mr Paver of Branton, and married Barbara, daughter of William Wyville Esq., by whom he had two sons and four daughters.  Sir Richard, his eldest son, was knighted by Charles I for his services and great sufferings in the Civil wars.  But through his posterity may have found the effects of loyalty by the diminution it made in their fortune, yet it was lost in espousing the Royal Cause.”

This monument and inscription were probably placed there by Christopher Tancred Esq., son of the one last named on the monument.  He died August 1754 unmarried, left Whixley Hall and his estate there for the maintenance of twelve decayed gentlemen, four in each of the learned professions, who must be fifty years of age, or upwards, and unmarried.  A separate apartment is assigned to each, and the whole company, if in health, dine together every day.

Attached to the mansion is a chapel, and an annuity is provided for clergymen who officiate.  In a vault under the chapel, it is said, the noble founder is interred. [11]

We are inclined to the opinion that James Coghill, the first American ancestor, who came over to Virginia in 1664, and died in 1685, was a son of this John Coghill or of his brother Thomas; but about the probable date of his birth the civil war had commenced, and during its continuance and the time of the Commonwealth there is in many parishes a hiatus in the records of baptisms, marriages, and burials, which renders it very difficult to trace and connect pedigrees.  The only issue of John Coghill and Lucy Tancred of whom we fin any record is –

  1. John Coghill, LLD, who succeeded him and died in 1699.  He was Master in the High Court of Chancery in Ireland, and an advocate of the Ecclesiastical Court in that kingdom; was knighted in the Castle of Dublin, June 5, 1686, by Henry, Earl of Clarendon, Lord Lieutenant of that kingdom.  Sir John was probably sent to Ireland by his government, and took up his residence in Dublin, still, however, retaining Coghill Hall.

He and his successors are always mentioned in the various works in which we have seen their names, as of the latter place.  He married Hester, daughter of Tobias Cramer Esq., of Ballyfoile, who for his services in the reduction of Ireland under Cromwell, had the lands of Ballyfoile assigned him, was Sheriff of Dublin in 1653, and died 1655.  He was the eldest son of Belthazar Cramer, a high German born, colonel of a regiment in Ireland, and made a denizen of that country 28th May, 1639.  By this marriage Sir John had issue nine children –

  1. Thomas Coghill
  2. John Coghill
  3. Toby Coghill                         died young
  4. Henry Coghill
  5. Forrard Coghill
  6. Mary Coghill, died unmarried
  7. Hester Coghill
  8. Marmaduke Coghill
  9. James Coghill

We have not the dates of birth of any of the children, and they are probably not mentioned here in their regular order.

Marmaduke, the eldest son and heir, died unmarried in 1739.  The following sketch of him is copied from the “History of the University of Dublin” by WBS Taylor FMA; London edition, p.419.

“Marmaduke Coghill was a native of Dublin, born in the year 1673.  At fifteen years of age he was admitted as a student of the University.  Here he graduated and eventually took the degree of Doctor of Civil Law; soon after which the College elected him to the rank of one of its representatives in Parliament, and this very distinguished honour was continued to Mr Coghill at every general election whilst he lived.  Having filled several important offices in the State, he was in the year 1721 appointed Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer.  This office he held during the remainder of his life.  He died 1738. [12]  In the performance of his public duties he was a man of unwearied diligence and clearness of judgement; he combined the very rare qualities of being an honest Councillor of the Crown and an independent representative of the people.  Among the many many benefits that this learned and excellent man conferred on society is, that being one of the original commissioners of the ‘board of first fruits’ he in a great measure organised that body, and thus became the great and indeed principal cause of the numerous benefits which have arisen to the Established Church of Ireland from this circumstance.  In private life he was greatly esteemed for his benevolence and all the social virtues.  He wrote several able papers on finance, etc., which have been published in the Transactions of the learned Societies.”

In the same work, and on page 222, under the head of “Returns to Parliament”, we find –

“In 1713, Sir Marmaduke Coghill, J.U.D., and John Elwood, J.U.D., were returned.  In 1715, Sir Marmaduke Coghill was again returned, along with Samuel Doping, Esq., LL.D.  In 1727, the Right Honourable Marmaduke Coghill was again returned, along with the Right Honourable Samuel Molyneux.  In 1739, Alexander MacAuley was elected in the room of Mr Coghill, deceased.”

In a letter from Sir Jocelyn Coghill to the compiler of this book, dated January 1878, referring to Marmaduke Coghill, he says: “I have full-length oil painting of him among the family portraits, from which I am forced to the conclusion that any good looks that are to be found in the family were not derived from him. He is a fat, apoplectic-looking old gentleman, clad in Chancellor’s robes, with very short legs and a shorter throat; and the large marble statue of him in Drumcondra Church tells the same story.” James, the brother of Marmaduke, was Doctor of Law and Register Prerogative Court. He died in 1734 having married Anne, daughter of – Pierson, Esq., by whom he had one child, a daughter:-

  1. Hester Coghill. She married first, in 1737 Lord Tullamore, [13] afterwards created Earl of Charleville, who died 1764; and secondly, Major John Mayne, who assumed the name of Coghill by sign-manual, and was created a Baronet in 1781.[14] He died 14th, and was buried at Aldenham Church in Hertfordshire, England, 22nd November, 1785. His wife, as Hester, Countess Dowager of Charleville, died without issue, and was buried in the same church, 1778. She bequeathed her property to her cousin, the issue of Balthazar John Cramer.

Of the two sisters of Marmaduke and James, Mary died unmarried. Hester married Oliver Cramer a cousin, and had three sons:-

  1. Balthazar John, Oliver, and John. Balthazar John married Judith, daughter of Brinsley Butler, Viscount of Lanesborough, and fourth in descent from Lord Abergavenny, who was a Neville(sic), and had three sons and one daughter, – John, Oliver, Marmaduke, and Catherine, who married Ralph Smith. Pursuant to the will of his great uncle, Marmaduke Coghill, Oliver, the second son, was made his heir upon his assuming the name of Coghill, and by so doing he became –
  2. Oliver Coghill. He married first, Anne, daughter of Robert Hucks, Esq., by his wife Sarah, daughter of Henry Coghill, Esq., of Aldenham House, in the county of Hertford, England;[15] She died leaving no issue, after which he married Jane, daughter of – Holl, Esq., by whom he had issue one daughter:-
  3. Jane Coghill who married George Mowbray, Esq., of Ford, County Durham, and Mortimer Co. Bucks. Oliver died in 1774, leaving no male issue, when, in conformity to the conditions of the aforesaid will of Marmaduke Coghill, and the will of his cousin Hester Coghill, Countess of Charleville, John Cramer, the eldest son and heir, became his brother’s successor by assuming the name of Coghill, which he did by sign-manual was made a Baronet and became –
  4. Sir John Coghill.  He married, in 1754, Mary, daughter of Josiah Hort, Archbishop of Tuam (whose wife was the grand-daughter of William, 20th Lord Kerry), and had issue –
  5. John Thomas Coghill
  6. Josiah Coghill
  7. Mary Cramer Coghill, died unmarried
  8. Judith Coghill, married Rev. Dr. W. Forrard
  9. Elizabeth Coghill, married Rev. N. Hinde
  10. Frances Coghill, married E. Sankey Esq
  11. Charlotte Priscilla Coghill, married Rev. – Offley
  12. Sophia Coghill, married Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Doyle
  13. Theodiscia Cramer Coghill, died unmarried

Sir John died in 1790, and was succeeded by Sir John Thomas Coghill, Baronet, his eldest son, who was born in 1766.  We learn from Playfair that he was residing in Coghill Hall in 1789.

From records in the Castle of Knaresborough (extracts of which were furnished us by Messrs. Samuel and Charles Powell, stewards of the castle), we find that in 1796, Coghill Hall was purchased of him by the Right Honourable the Countess of Conyngham, and thus the place which for centuries had been the seat of the heads of the family passed into other hands.  Sir John Thomas never married.  We hear of him some years later as visiting Italy and spending some time in Naples.  While there he purchased a very fine collection of Greek vases, which had been made by M. de Lalo, and afterwards owned by M. le Chevalier de Rossi, who had thirty-nine of the most valuable vases carefully engraved on large plates.  When the collection came into the possession of Sir John Thomas Coghill, he largely augmented it by purchases made in Naples, and added thirteen new plates to the thirty-nine which came to him with the collection.  In 1817 these engravings, with several letters from M. de Rossi and full explanations of the plates, were published in Rome by James Millingen, of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and of the Academy of Archaeology of Rome, in a work entitled “Peintures Antiques des Vases Grecs de la Collection de Sir John Coghill Bart.” (Impl. folio.)  This work is now very rare.  We obtained a copy by advertising for itin London.  Sir John Jocelyn Coghill, in a letter to the compiler, says –

“My uncle, Sir John Thomas, lived principally abroad, and was a great dabbler in art matters.  He spent a large sum in bringing out the work on Grecian and Etruscan vases.  I recollect hearing that after the war my father had a good deal of trouble in getting all my uncle’s art treasures over into England.  My father who was a through sailor of the old school, although one of the finest fellows and most lovable (sic.) of characters, cared little for such matters.  The vases were most of them, if not all, sold to the British Museum, and the marbles and a quantity of the pictures were reserved as heirlooms.  I am sorry to say that in my father’s time these works of art did not receive the fairest of play, but came to me in a very knocked-about condition, statues minus noses, fingers and arms, and pictures with holes in them and paint off.  I have done what I could in the way of judicious restoration, but some of them were as battered and weather-beaten in appearance as the dear old admiral himself.  My uncle, whilse detained in France during the war with the first Napoleon, became acquainted with Lafayette, and through him was induced to purchase a large amount of land at New Orleans.  I believe a large part of that City is now built over this very land and, had my father kept possession of it, I have no doubt that it would now be of immense value, and have added largely to our estate; but he did not foresee what was to happen, and sold it in the full belief that his brother had been well swindled by Lafayette, as in taking possession it was found that at a few spades’ depth there was nothing but water.”

Sir John Thomas died in 1817 without issue, and was succeeded by (12) Sir Josiah Coghill, his brother, vice-admiral in the Royal Navy, – born 1773.  He was twice married, – first in March, 1803, to Sophia, daughter of James Dodson Esq.  This lady died in Normandy in 1817.  By her he had issue three daughters –

  1. Caroline Mary Coghill
  2. Emeline C. E. Coghill, married Rev. Chas. Bushe, 1839
  3. Josephine Coghill, married George de Morgan, 1844

He next married, 27th January, 1819, Anna Maria, eldest daughter of the late Right Honourable Charles Kendal Bushe, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench in Ireland (who died in 1848), by whom he had issue –

  1. John Jocelyn Coghill, born 11th February, 1826
  2. Kendal Josiah William Coghill, born August 1832
  3. Rosanna Louisa Coghill
  4. Sidney Catherine Coghill
  5. Anna Georgiana Coghill
  6. Alice E. Judith Coghill
  7. Adelaide Eliza Coghill
  8. Florence Charlotte Coghill
  9. Sylvia Maria Coghill

Kendal Josiah is an officer in the army.

Rosanna L., married, 1849, to John Harrison Aylmer, Esq,. Of Walworth Castle, County Durham.  Sydney C., married in 1854 to Rev. Samuel Allen Windle.  Anna G., married in 1860 to Rev. William Izon Chevasse.  Alice E. J., married in 1850 to Rev. George Henry Ray.  Adelaide E., married, 1857, to Major Thomas H. Somerville, late 68th Light Infantry.  Sylvia M., married to Thomas Greene Esq.

Sir Josiah died 20th June, 1850, and was succeeded by his eldest son –

(13) Sir John Jocelyn Coghill, present Baronet.  He married, 18th February, 1851, Catherine Frances, second daughter of John, third Lord Plunket, and has issue –

  1. Neville Josiah Aylmer Coghill, born 1852
  2. Egerton Bushe Coghill, born 1853
  3. Gerald Cramer Coghill, born 1854, died 13th July 1873
  4. Ethel Charlotte Coghill
  5. CLAUDE PLUNKET COGHILL
  6. Beatrice Anna Coghill
  7. Violet Alice Penrose Coghill

Neville Josiah Aylmer [16] is a lieutenant in the 24th Regiment, and at the present time (1878) is aid-de-camp to Gen. Sir A. Connynghame at the Cape of Good Hope.

We are indebted to Sir John Jocelyn Coghill for the pedigree of the eldest branch of the family, which has aided us very much in our researches.

In looking at the pedigree of Lord Plunket, we noticed that one of his sons, born before the marriage of his daughter to Sir John Jocelyn Coghill, bore the name of Patrick Henry Coghill.  Sir John, in answer to a letter from us inquiring if there was any relationship between the families before his marriage, writes –

“Patrick Henry Coghill Plunket is my godson and first cousin.  He was christened ‘Coghill’ in compliment to me.  I married my first cousin, Miss Plunket, and my connection with that family is easily explained.  My mother was a Miss Bushe, daughter of the celebrated Chief Justice of that name, and her sister married Mr John Plunket, afterwards Lord Plunket, who was a son of the still more celebrated Lord Plunket, Chancellor of Ireland, and the first possessor of the title.  His eldest son, Bishop of Tuam, died without male issue, and the title went to his second son, John, my father-in-law, from whom it descended to my brother-in-law, the present peer, who is also Bishop of Meath.  On the same day I received your letter, I got another announcing the approaching marriage of the very Patrick henry Coghill Plunket about whom you inquire to a Miss Murray, a match agreeable to all parties.”

Having followed the eldest branch of the family down to the present time, we will close this section of our work by giving the few records of the courts and parishes relating to it which have come directly to us.  Some of them may be of service in any future investigations which may be undertaken.

ABSTRACTS OF WILLS RECORDED AT THE ARCHDEACONRY OF RICHMOND

Thomas Coghill, of Tentergate, in the township of Scriven, in the parish of Knaresborough, Gentleman; dated 9th October, 1585.  To be buried in my parish church, near where my father lyeth.  To Jane and Mary my daughters, and to such child as my wife goeth with, sundry closes of lands, &c. (described in will), when twenty-one years of age, and I appoint my wife and my brother, William Tallentyre,[17] tutors and governors of my said children.  To my wife certain lands, &c. (described).  All my other lands, tenements, &c. to Thomas, my son, when twenty-one years old, and the heirs of his body, and in default thereof, to my said brother Marmaduke, and his heirs male, and in default thereof, to John Coghill my youngest brother, and his heirs, &c.

There is no probate act attached to the will of Thomas Coghill; it was probably a copy deposited in the office for safe keeping.

Jane Coghill, of Knaresborough, County York, spinster; dated 22d February, 1626-7. To be buried in the church-yard among my friends.  To John and Thomas Coghill, sons of my late brother, and to Isabella their sister, each twelve pence. To my brother, Henry Coghill,[18] half a crown; to Maude Hargrove, daughter of my brother Richard Andrews,[19] of Scriven, five pounds.  To Jane Pearson, daughter of John Pearson of the Bond End, in Scriven, twenty shillings.  All the residue of my estate to my brother, Richard Andrews, and Mary his wife, and I appoint them executors.

The will was proved 6th May, 1628, by Richard Andrews, power being reserved to his wife Mary.

From Knaresborough Parish Register.[20]

BAPTISMS

                                               May 24 1563              Richard Coghill

                                                               Sept 14 1584              Maria Coghill

                                                               June 5 1585                Jane Coghill

                                                               Dec 8 1585                 Henry Coghill

                                                               Feb 21 1595               Frances Coghill

                                                               Dec 29 1596               Thomas Coghill

                                                               June 14 1598              Anna Coghill

                                                               July 12 1599               Maria Coghill

                                                               March 1 1600            Jane Coghill

                                                               Nov 12 1603               Thomas Coghill

                                                               April 3, 1605              William Coghill

                                                               March 11, 1615         John Coghill

                                                               Sept 18, 1617             Thomas Coghill

                                                               Feb 2, 1619                Isabella Coghill

MARRIAGES

                         Dec 18, 1564              William Simondson – Jane Coghill

                         June 23, 1565            John Kirkman – Dorothy Coghill

                         Jan 21, 1569               Marmaduke Coghill – Jane Thornton

                         Oct 20, 1578              Marmaduke Coghill – Anna Gervia

                         Oct 22, 1593              Marmaduke Coghill – Alicia Thornton

                         Jan 28, 1605               Richard Andrews – Maria Coghill

                         June 8, 1613               Matthew Gibson – Ellen Coghill

BURIALS

                                                               May 29, 1563             Richard Coghill

                                                               Aug 25, 1565              William Coghill

                                                               Sept 16, 1568             Matilda Coghill

                                                               Sept 27, 1577             Marmaduke Coghill

                                                               Nov 6, 1585                Thomas Coghill

                                                               Dec 31, 1586              Jane Coghill

                                                               Feb 26, 1595              Frances Coghill

                                                               July 18, 1606              Alice Coghill

                                                               April 14, 1607            Marmaduke Coghill

                                                               July 9, 1623                Beatrice Coghill

                                                               Aug 30, 1627              Jane Coghill

                                                               Aug 4, 1665                Thomas Coghill

APPENDIX to PART II

The copies of records and other matter contained in this Appendix were received after Part II had gone through the press.  As they refer exclusively to the eldest branch of the family, we have deemed it best to insert them here, even at the expense of disturbing the uniformity in paging the book.

Grant from Marmaduke Coghill to his youngest son John, [21] 1575

Be yt knowne unto all men to whome this p’sent wryting shall come to be sene harde or Rede that I Marmaduke Coghill of Tentergate within the Towneshipe of Scrivinge in the Countye of Yorke th elder Gentilman, Sendyth greting in our Lorde God ev’lasting.  Knowe ye me the saide Marmaduke th elder for divers causes and consideracions me specially movinge to have closely and absolutelye Geven, granted bargained solde assigned and sett over and by this my present wrytinge doith clerelye fullye and absolutelye geve grannt bargaine sell assigne and sett over unto John Coghill my youngest sonne all that my estait Right Tytle Interest possession tearme of yeres clames and demandes that I the said Marmaduke Coghill th elder nowe hath holdyth or by any weyes or meanes clamyth or of ryght ought to have of and in the several closes and acres of grounde hereafter in this p’sent wryting named and expressed  That is to say, of and inone close of medowe called Sandhills conteynyng fower acres ofLand and medowe scytuate lying and being w’hin the terrytories and feides of fferingbie nowe in the holding and occupacion of Wilton Wreye, m’chant one other close lying and being w’hin the saide field of fferingbie called Symson close, contenying[  ] acres of lande pasture and medowe nowe in the occupacion of Thomas Horner, m’chant two other closes of medowe and pasture ther the one called Netherbutterells contenyng [  ] acres and the other called calfe close contenyng [  ] acres whh two severall closes ar nowe in the occupacion of Thomas Palliser and others, all which said closes and acres of lande ar p’cell of the Quenes matia demaines of her Highnes castle of Knaresburgh  To have and to hold the said closes and all other the premisses with all and singuler th appurtenances unto the said John Coghill his heires and assignes for ever.  Yieldinge and paying to the said Soveraigne Ladye, her heires and successors all suche Rentes as ar yerely paide to her Highnes for the premisses.  In witnes whereof I the saide Marmaduke Coghill to this my p’sent wryting and grannt have putt my seale and subscribed my name the ffyfteynth day of November in the seaventeanth yere of the Rayne of our saide soveraigne Ladye Elizabeth by the grace of [God?] Quene of England France and Ireland defender of the ffayth &c. 1575

Abstract of Thomas Coghill’s Will, 1624

With a facsimile of his signature; original in the possession of Henry Hucks Gibbs Esq.[22]

March 21 22 Jac: 1. 1624  I, Thomas Coghill of Tentergate co: York, doe make this my last will … in manner afor following: … For my personal estate …Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God to bless me with three children viz: two sonnes and one daughter, & since my owne kindred are all for the moste pte for their owne endes & profitts soe as I doe much feare to repose soe greate a truste in them as the care & charge of my children, I have therefore left them to the … care of such worthye… frends as I shall hereafter name.

…I…bequeathe to John Coghill my eldest sonne, all my Mansion House called Coghill Hall… with all other tenements &c lease or copyhold thereunto annciently belonging & descended to me from my ancestors; all freeholds hereunto belonging & all copyholds as I have purchased.  To Thomas Coghill my youngest sonne one capital messuage…called Spittle Crofte…near Knaresborough, and sundry closes of meadow, & a house &  land bought of one Richard Craven of Tentergate.  Also for his better mayntenance and advancement during his mynoritye £100.

I give and bequeathe to my daughter Issabell Coghill £300.

I nomynate and apointe John Coggen & Thomas Coggen,[23] my two sonnes, Executors.

I bequeathe to Henry Coggen my brother the yearely annuitye of twentye nobles p. annum out of the rent of a certayne close called fferribye close & one close called Sandhills.  Then to my hoble and worthye master Sir Richd Hutton, Knt. £10 in memoriall of my dutye & servyse.  Then to my Hoble good lady, £5 in meml [as above] Then unto my worthy ffreinds Sir HyGoodricke Kt and Rd Hutton & John Dawney Esq & Thos Losse, clarke ffeoffers and overseers of this my…will…40p a peece.

Then to … sonne John all my household stuffe…in Coghill Hall and theBooks that were my Grandfathers, & half my other books; & the other half to my sonne Thomas [Said books to be delivered to them on their coming to “full yeares”]

To my daughter Issabell tenne poundes of old gould which…was her mothers.

…Unto Thomas Hutton £5, unto Henry Hutton 40p, unto MrsKatheryne Hutton & to MrsJudith Hutton 40p a peece.

Item I give unto my poore sister Jane Coghill [24] twenty nobles.  Item…unto my sister Mary Andrew fyve […]. Item…unto Maud Andrew daughter of my sister Andrew, tenne poundes whereof her father owes me seaven poundes ten shillinges.

[Legacies to his servants and to the poor of the parishes of Knaresborough and Wythern ffrary [25]]

[signature]

Marriage Licence – John Coghill, 1639

A marriage licence was granted in 1639, by the Ecclesiastical Court of York Minster, to John Coghill, Gent., bachelor, age twenty-four years, of the Parish of Monkton, and Lucy Tancred, spinster, age twenty-three years, of the Parish of Whixley.  H.H. Gibbs Esq., writes:  “I have the marriage settlement of John Coghill of Coghill Hall, and Lucy, daughter of Charles and sister of Richard Tancred, of Whixley, dated September 28, 15th Charles I.

Purchase of Crake Manor – Thomas Coghill, 1648

In looking through Nichols’ “Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica,” which we found at the Astor Library, vol. i., p. 126, we saw that Sir Thomas Waddrington and Thomas Coghill, in March 1648, were the purchasers of the manor of Crake, in the County of Durham, being a part of the lands of the bishopric sequestrated by the Parliament.  Price paid, £1163. 8. 2½ .  And in the same volume, page 290, it is stated that on July 27, 1649, the manor of Howdens, in Yorkshire, being a part of the lands of the Bishpric of Durham, also sequestrated by the Parliament, was purchased by William Underwood, Thomas Coghill, and Matthew Bigg, for £592. 5. 0.

This Thomas Coghill was probably the brother of John, who maried Lucy Tancred, and was spoken of in the early part of this section as possibly being the father of the American ancestor.

We have very recently come into possession of a copy of the “Visitation of Yorkshire” made in 1584-5 by Robert Glover, to which is added the subsequent visitation made in 1612 by Richard St. George, Norroy king of arms, edited by Joseph Foster and privately printed for him in London, 1875.

On page 398 of this work we find the name of Thomas Coghill, Gent., amongst those of the Libertas de Knaresburgh, who, in 1584-5 and 1612, were summoned to appear and enter their pedigrees.

On page 505 we find a partial pedigree of the family, beginning with Thomas Coghill who married Marjory Slingsby, and ending with Thomas who married Beatrice Halley.  Only two of the first Thomas’ children are given in this pedigree, – Thomas and Nicholas.  In our pedigree another son, Robert, is mentioned, but the name of Nicholas does not appear.

We also learn from this work that coats of arms were granted to Thomas Coghill of Knaresborough, and John Coghill of London, his brother, 10th May 612, by Richard St. George, Norroy.  Two different coats are given, one corresponding with that borne by the eldest branch (without the Cramer impaling), the other with that of the younger branches,[26] differing only in the crest of the latter, which is given as a demi lion rampant argent, crowned or, holding a cross crosslet fitchée, and is evidently a mistake, as that crest belongs to the Earl of Essex.  All the branches of the family used the cock as a crest, differing only in position and colour.  Henry Hucks Gibbs Esq., informs us that among the family papers in his possession are deeds sealed with both of these coats.  The portrait of John Coghill, painted in 624 (a heliotype of which may be seen farther on), has in one corner the arms of the junior branch, impaling the arms of Viell, argent, a fesse reguly between three amulets gules.

Major Kendal Josiah William Coghill (13)

We learn from “Hart’s Army List,” 1878, that “Major Coghill, of the 19th Hussars, was appointed Second Lieutenant in 85, Lieutenant in 1855, Captain in 1863 and Major in 1877.

“He served with the 2nd European Bengal Fusileers in Burmah, 1853-55.  Served as Adjutant 2nd E.B. Fusileers throughout the Indian Mutiny campaign of 857-58.  Was present at the battle of Budleekeserai, and storming the heights in front of Delhi on 8th June, 857.  Served throughout the siege of Delhi from 8th June 1857, to its capture.  Present in all the actions in front of the city, including the repulse of the sortie on the 10th; capture of the Metcalf position on the 12th; repeeling sorties 19th and 20th; capture of Subzimundy on 24th; repelling sortie on the 27th and 30th June, and 8th, 9th and 14th July; capture of Pahrypore, under Gen. Sir John Jones; repelling sortie of 30th July, and 1st and 2nd August; present with the storming column during the assault on the Cashmere Bastion breach, and during the capture of Delhi, from 14th to 21st September 1857.

“Served with General Showers’ pursuing column from 1st October to 10th November 1857 and was present at the taking of the forts Rewarrie Jujjher, Ranaude, Furrucknugur, and Bullumbghur, and the capture of the heights of Sonah.  He received a medal with clasp”

Lieutenant Nevill Josiah Aylmer Coghill (14)

FIDELIS AD MORTEM

Of that deed of noble daring,
In its chivalry sublime,
Vivid, grand, historic pages
Shall descend to future ages;
Poets, painters, hoary sages
Shall record it for all time.

The death of this gallant young officer was mentioned at the foot-note of page [  ].  Since that was printed some of the details of the disaster to the British arms at Isandula, and also the particulars of the desperate courage and energy displayed by Lieutenants Coghill and Melvill in cutting their way through the dense lines of savages, and bearing off the colours of the regiment from that bloody field, have reached England and become a part of history.  Every London Journal has given a leading article in praise of that act of heroism, and poets have already woven it into song.  The names of Coghill and Melvill will ever be held in proud and grateful remembrance by their countrymen, and honoured by those of every nationality who respect courage and appreciate noble daring.

Our young kinsman has proved himself no degenerate scion of his house, but added new lustre to the old name.  Before the memory of his gallant deeds we hang our humble wreath of immortelles.

The following sketch of Lieutenant Coghill was at our request sent to us by a member of his family: –

Lieut. Nevill Josiah Aylmer Coghill was born in Dublin, January 25, 1852, and wanted but two days to be twenty-seven years old when he met his death.  He was educated at Hailebury College, in Hertfordshire, England, and passed his examination for the army and received his commission in 1873.  He went through the Gaika and Gallka war in 1877 as aide-de-camp to General Sir Arthur Cunnynghame, Bart., and was mentioned by him in dispatches for efficiency and coolness under fire.  In the spring of 1878 he returned with that general to England, but went out again almost immediately, and on his arrival at the Cape was appointed aide-de-camp to the Lord High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, Bart., and accompanied him to the Transvaal. Upon the declaration of war against the Zulus, at his own request, he was allowed to go to the front as extra aide-de-camp to Colonel Glyn, commanding the column.

A few days before the battle of Isandula he unfortunately twisted his knee, which he had injured some years before at football, so that when Lord Chelmsford marched out of camp on the 22d January, he was obliged to remain behind.

In the afternoon of that day the small force left at the camp were surrounded and attacked on all sides by Cetewayo’s army, and when the ammunition was all expended, and the six or seven hundred were overwhelmed by twenty thousand Zulus, Colonel Pulleyn ordered Melvill, the adjutant, and Lieutenant Coghill (they being mounted officers), to take the colours of the regiment, and endeavour to get through the enemy’s lines and notify the posts in the rear of the disaster.[27]They succeeded in cutting their way through dense masses of the enemy, but were hotly pursued to the banks of the Buffalo River, which at a distance of twelve miles from the battle-field separates Natal from Zululand.  Here they attempted to cross the river, which was in a dangerous state of flood.  Lieutenant Coghill got over in safety, and was breasting the hill on the opposite side, quite out of danger, when he perceived that Melvill’s horse was shot under him in the river; he immediately turned and rode back into the river to his assistance, when unfortunately his horse too was shot.  In this struggle with the swollen river and the Zulus, the colours escaped them.  They managed with difficulty to reach the bank, and, though much exhausted, continued to stagger on for about a quarter of a mile, when they were again attacked by a party of Zulus who had crossed the river, and were both killed; not, however, without one more desperate struggle, for their bodies were found, and around them ten dead Zulus.

On Lieutenant Coghill’s body were found his diamond ring, a small Zulu bangle that he used to wear, and his boots and spurs – everything else had been taken.  The party who discovered their bodies also found the colours which they had died to save, among the bowlders in the river on the Natal side.

We learn from a letter written by Lady Bartle Frere that the articles found on the person of Lieutenant Coghill were forwarded by her to Sir J.J. Coghill, his father.

Letter of condolence: Maj. Gen. M A Dillon to Sir John Jocelyn Coghill Bt.

The following official letter of condolence was sent to Sir John Jocelyn Coghill, after his son’s death –

“SIR – I am directed by the Field Marshal Commanding in Chief to inform you that his Royal Highness perused with melancholy interest the report forwarded to him by Lord Chelmsford from Colonel Glyn, showing how the Queen’s colour of the 1st Battalion 24th Foot would have fallen into the hands of the enemy but for the gallant behaviour of your son, Lieutenant Coghill, and Lieutenant and Adjutant Melvill, of that regiment.  His Royal Highness in communicating this dispatch desires me to assure you of his sincere sympathy with you in the loss of your son, whose gallant death in the successful endeavour to save the colour of his regiment has gained the admiration of the army.  It is gratifying to His Royal Highness to inform you that if your son had survived his noble effort it was her Majesty’s intention to confer upon him the Victoria Cross, and a notification to that effect will be made in the London Gazette.

                                      “I have the honour to be, sir,

                                                                            “Your obedient servant,

                                                                                                                 “M. A. Dillon,

                                                                                                                                “Major General.

“To Sir Joscelyn Coghill, Bart.”

Poems to the memory of Lieutenants Coghill and Melvill

From the many tributes to the memory of Lieutenants Coghill and Melvill now before us, we have selected for preservation with these family records two poems.  The first was written by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, who was one of England’s greatest diplomats some thirty years since.  He is now upwards of ninety years of age.  The other is from “The Battle of Isandula”, a poem of thirteen stanzas, by Robert Buchanan, published in the “Contemporary Review” (London) of April, 1879.

ISANDLANA,[28]  JANUARY 22, 1879

It was a fearful battle, a dread, ill-omen’d day,
When sudden, as by swoop of storm, in the pride of their array,
Full half the gallant Twenty-fourth to a man were swept away.

A brotherhood in arms were they, surpassed in fame by none;
And even on the battlefield, when all but hope was gone,
The beat of the surviving hearts was as the beat of one.

Their blazon’d colours proudly told of many a glorious fight,
And when from thickest of the fray they shed their meteor light,
There was not, and there could not be, a thought of fear or flight.

The column doomed to move apart trod firm a hostile land,
And all at ease the tents were spread, when from his rocky stand
The watcher’s cheery voice declared no enemy at hand.

But soon a word of ruder tone throughout th’encampment rang;
”They come, in swarms, they come; our lives on instant action hang.”
Not one but hurries to his post, and, swift as lightning’s flash,
The line is formed and all in place to meet the tempest’s crash.

From the hills
Down, downward pouring,
Streams to sight the swarthy flood,
Dark as clouds,
Which, thunder storing,
O’er a wilder’d city brood.
Alert to fight, athirst to slay,
They shake the dreaded assegai,
And rush with blind and frantic will
On all, when few, whose force is skill.

E’en so; but while they gather strength to strike the fatal blow,
Their front sustains a deadly shock, which lays a thousand low,
Yet thousands more replace the slain, and what can hundreds do,
But bravely face their doom, and die, to fame and duty true?

A whisper! – hark! – The guns, the guns! – No ready voice replies;
But lo! each gun in silence spiked, the captor’s grasp defies;
A brave and meritorious act; alas! who does it dies.

Far, far away, at fearful risk, a nobler charge was moved,
And those in trust right well achieved what more than valour proved;
Both still were young, and firm in minds that ne’er from duty roved.

Quick, quick, they mount the bridled steeds, while near each loyal breast
The colours lie, from ill secured, as in a miser’s chest.
What could be done in haste they did; to faith they gave the rest.

In fast succession forth they passed along the straggling host;
On, gallant youths! ye may not heed the peril or the cost.
Oh! speed them Heav’n! direct their course; what shame if such were lost!

A stare of silent brief surprise, and then a deaf’ning yell;
As if the imprison’d souls below had burst the bonds of hell;
On dash’d the dauntless riders still; who dares to cross them fell.

Soon clear of foemen, side by side, athwart the pathless wild,
Conveyors of a precious charge, by capture ne’er defiled,
On, boldly on, they stretched with speed, by youthful hope beguiled.

Alike through pools of rotten marsh, o’er beds of flint they rode;
They cross’d the dell, they scal’d the hill, they shunn’d the lone abode,
Nor ceased to urge the foaming beasts their weary limbs bestrode.

At length the frontier stream appears; hurrah! What need of more?
Oh fate! They plunge, the waters flash, the rushing waters roar,
Unseated, wounded, all but drown’d, they touch, they clasp the shore.

A few brief hours of calm succeed, they share the joy of those
Who, purpose gained and danger past, from anxious toil repose:
But nature sinks – too great the strain, and wounds are slow to close.

One slept – nor woke again; like him too soon the other slept;
And those who sought and found them dead, the colours near them kept,
In pity – doubt not – stoop’d awhile, and o’er the bodies wept.

MELVILL and COGHILL! honour’d names! ye need no verse of mine
To fix the record of your worth on memory’s faithful shrine;
To you a wreath that may not fade shall England’s praise assign.

Ye crown the list of glorious acts which form our country’s boast,
Ye rescued from the brink of shame what soldiers priz’d the most,
And reached by duty’s path a life beyond the lives ye lost.

                                                               STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE

FROM “THE BATTLE OF ISANDULA”

“Save the colours!” shrieks a dying voice, and lo!

Two horsemen breast the raging ranks, and go. –

                   (In thy sacred list, O Fame!

                   Keep each dear and noble name.)[29]

                       See, they flash upon the foe,

                       Fierce as flame –

                   And one undaunted form

                   Lifts a British banner, warm

With the blood-rain and the storm of Isandula!

“Save the colours!” and amidst a flood of foes,

At gallop, sword in hand, each horseman goes –

                   Around the steeds they stride

                   Cling devils crimson-dyed,

                       But God! through butchering blows,

                       How they ride!

                   Their horses’ hoofs are red

                   With blood of dying and dead,

Trampled down beneath their tread at Isandula!

“Save the colours!” – They are saved – and side by side

The horsemen swim a raging river’s tide –

                   They are safe – they are alone –

                   But one, without a groan,

                       After tottering filmy-eyed,

                       Drops like stone;

                   And before his comrade true

                   Can reach his side he too

Falls, smitten through and through at Isandula! …

Bless the Lord, who in the hollow of his hand,

Kept the remnant of that little British band!

                   But give honour everywhere

                   To the brave who perish’d there,

                       Speak their praise throughout the land

                       With a prayer –

                   More than sorrow they can claim:

                   They have won the crown of Fame!

They have glorified the name of Isandula!

                                                                     ROBERT BUCHANAN

Part 3 – The Junior Branch of England

Having completed the pedigree of the family by descent from the eldest sons, with occasional sketches of some of its members, we next proceed to state what we have been able to learn with reference to the junior branches, confining this section of our history to those of them who remained in England.

It will be remembered that Marmaduke Coghill, fourth in descent, had only four sons of whom we could find any record:  William who died unmarried; Thomas, the eldest surviving son, who succeeded his father; Marmaduke, mentioned in the will of his brother Thomas; and John, a merchant in London, – all of whom were referred to in the preceding section.  If Marmaduke had other children, we have no means of ascertaining why they were not mentioned in the will of his eldest son, or in any of the numerous books we have examined.

  1. John Coghill, the youngest son of Marmaduke, was a merchant in London, and, as we learn from the records of St. Bartholmew’s by the Exchange, London, was married on the 20th January, 1588-9, to Susannah, daughter of Denis Viell, Esq., of Charleval, in Normandy; and the records show that he was buried in the chancel of St. Michael’s Bassishaw, London, 28th March 1625.[30]  He left two sons: –
  2. Henry Coghill, the eldest son [of whom later].
  3. Sir Thomas Coghill, of Blechingdon (a large lordship near Oxford). These two brothers, as will be seen further on, married sisters.  We will refer to Sir Thomas and his descendants first, and then return to Henry.  The records of St. Bartholemew’s the Less, London, show that “Thomas Coghill of this parish, London, Gent.,” and “Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of John Sutton, merchant of the same parish,” and Aldenham, Co. Hertford, youngest son of John Sutton of Horsell, Co. Surrey, and heir to his eldest brother Thomas, were married October 20, 1622.  He was knighted at Woodstock in 1633, and died June 2, 1659.  The records of the Blechingdon church show that he was buried there June 5, 1659.  By this marriage Sir Thomas had eleven children: –
  4. An abortive child, buried May 17, 1623, at St. Bartholemew’s the Less, London
  5. John Coghill, died September 19, 1628
  6. Thomas Coghill, baptized September 17, 1626, at Blechingdon
  7. Elizabeth Coghill, baptized December 28, 1628 at Blechingdon
  8. Susan Coghill, baptized December 26, 1630, at Blechingdon
  9. John Coghill, baptized April 28, 1633, at Blechingdon
  10. Sutton Coghill, baptized July 17, 1634, at Blechingdon
  11. Faith Coghill, baptized March 24, 1636-7, at Blechingdon
  12. Anne Coghill, baptized January 30, 1637-8, at Aldenham
  13. Catherine Coghill, baptized January 20, 1640-1, at Blechingdon
  14. Mary Coghill, baptized January 16, 1644-5, at Blechingdon.

All of these children except the first John and Anne, are named in their father’s will.  He also makes a bequest to his grandchild, Thomas Coghill, who was most probably a son of Thomas.  The records at Blechingdon show that Thomas Coghill, son of Thomas Coghill, Esq., was buried September 19, 1665, and the inference is that this is the grandchild referred to in Sir Thomas’ will.

Susan married George Pudsey, Gent., as we learn from her father’s will, but we find no recored of any of her descendants.

John married, but when, and to whom, we have not been able to learn.  The Blechingdon records show that he was buried there February 20, 1694-5, and the records of the Consistory Court of Oxford, that letters of administration were granted to Mary, relict of John Coghill, November 2, 1695.  Mary, relict of John Coghill, was buried at Blechingdon, as the records there show, February 22, 1702-3.  They had issue two daughters living July 28, 1698: –

  1. Elizabeth Coghill, married John Knapp, Esq.
  2. Mary Coghill, married [-] Hernson Esq., as we learn from their renouncing their father’s estate to his sister, and their aunt, Mary Courtney (John’s widow, Mary, renouncing at the same time).  We find no records of any other children.

Mary (7) married Peter Courtney, Esq., as we find from the records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, where letters of administration were granted to Mary, wife of Peter Courtney, on the estate of her brother, John Coghill, July 28, 1698; and the same records show that she died prior to May 14, 1703, when letters of administration on John Coghill’s estate were granted to his eldest daughter, Elizabeth Knapp, said Mary Courtney (his sister) being dead.

Sutton married, but we could not learn to whom, further than that her name was Jane, and that she lies buried at Blechingdon.  The only issue that we can find any record of are –

  1. Sutton Coghill, eldest son, died May 15, 1708, buried at Blechingdon.
  2. John Coghill, died January 31, 1716, buried at Blechingdon.
  3. Elizabeth Coghill
  4. Thomas Coghill, baptized at Blechingdon July 30, 1681.

Sutton we hear of only once.  Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., writes that “Sutton Coghill the younger was trustee to a post-nuptial settlement of Henry Coghill and Sarah Blythe in 1699,” as he learns from family records and papers now in his possession.  Thomas we have placed as the son of the eldest Sutton, but it is possible that he may have been the son of Sutton the younger.  John we trace by two monuments in Blechingdon Church,[31] one to his grandfather, father and two uncles, his brothers, and his mother and grandmother, and the other to his sister, Elizabeth, who married Charles Collins Esq., of Betterton, in the County of Berks, and died in 1713, as we learn from the monument just referred to, and which bears the following inscription: –

“Elizabeth ux. Charles Collins of Betterton, Co. Berks, only daughter of Sutton Coghill of Blechingdon, died in childbed, 19th October, 1713: Erected by her surviving brother, John Coghill, Esq.”

Faith married Sir Christopher Wren (the celebrated architect of St. Paul’s, London) December 7, 1669; she died, and was buried September 4, 1675, at St. Martin’s in the Fields, leaving an only son, Christopher Wren, born 1675.  (After her death Sir Christopher married, in February, 1676-7, Jane, daughter of Viscount Fitzwilliam, by whom he had other children.)  Christopher, the son, was a member of Parliament for Windsor from 1712 to 1714.  He wrote the memoirs of his family, entitled “Parentalia,” and also several other works, which are mentioned in Allibone’s “Dictionary of Authors.”  In 1710 the topmost stone of St. Paul’s, London, was with fitting ceremonies laid by him. He died in 1747, leaving one son.

Of the other children of Sir Thomas, or any of their descendants except those mentioned, we know nothing definitely.  We shall insert at the end of this section the baptisms and burials at Blechingdon and Aldenham, so far as we have been able to obtain them.  Most of those of the name who were buried at Blechingdon, and some few at Aldenham, were doubtless his descendants.  The authorities consulted state that the male line has been extinct for more than a century.  A copy of Sir Thomas’s will may be seen at the end of this section.

We now return to Henry Coghill, Esq. (6), of Aldenham (eldest son of John and brother of Sir Thomas). He was born in London in 1589; was first a merchant in that city, but afterwards resided at Bushey, and later at Aldenham, both in the County of Hertford, and in 1632 was sheriff of that county.  There is some uncertainty as to whether he resided at the older house which once stood on the land still called Penne’s Place, [32] [33] and the foundations and moat of which are still visible, or at another place, called Wigbournes.  Chauncy speaks of a “fair house of brick built by H. Coghill.”  It is not quite clear whether this was the old house of Penne’s Place, perhaps modernised by him about 1630 under the name Aldenham Hall, or the conversion of this house of Wigbournes (which dated from the previous century, and was inherited by Henry Coghill from his father-in-law, John Sutton) into the shape in which it came to its present owner.  Penne’s Place was apparently the chief seat of this branch of the family for two or three generations.  It is spoken of as a mansion apparently still existing, in the will of Sarah Coghill, 1767, but had sunk to a mere parcel of land in the deed of partition made by her great-grand-daughters in 1815.  Aldenham House, under its former name of Wigbournes, belonged to Faith, wife of Henry Coghill.  In 1734 we find it in possession of Thomas, a younger and surviving brother of the third Henry Coghill, and from him descended to his niece, Sarah Hucks.  Thomas made his will June 2, 1784, proved P.C.C., 24th of the following month.[34]

We learn from the records of St. Bartholemew’s the Less, London, that he, Henry (6) married Faith, daughter and co-heiress of John Sutton, merchant of the same parish, January 16, 1620.  This lady died 31st May, 1670, and was buried in the south chancel of Aldenham Church.  Her husband died August 20, 1672, and was buried by her side.  The inscriptions on both monuments may be seen among the monumental inscriptions in Aldenham and Blechingdon Churches at the end of this section.  By this marriage he had issue –

  1. Elizabeth Coghill, baptised in London, at St. Bartholemew’s the Less, May 15, 1623; died August 20, 1628.
  2. John Coghill, baptised in London, June 23, 1624; died young.
  3. Thomas Coghill, baptised in Blechingdon, July 10, 1625; died August 18, 1628.
  4. Faith Coghill, baptised in Blechingdon, September 30, 1626; died May 3, 1630.
  5. Elizabeth Coghill, baptised in Aldenham, October 29, 1629.
  6. Henry Coghill, baptised in Aldenham, February 13, 1633-4.
  7. John Coghill, baptised in Blechingdon, July 2, 1637; born same day.

It will be observed that the first four children died young.  Elizabeth never married, as may be seen by an abstract of her will at the end of this section.  John Coghill, of Bentley, the youngest son, married Debora, daughter of William Dudley, Esq., of Ellstree.  She died August 31, 1714, and John Coghill, her husband, October 13, 1714; both she and her husband were buried in Aldenham Church, where their monuments are still to be seen.  A full description of them, and also of one to Mrs Coghill’s mother, Lucy Dudley, may be found at the end of this section.

They had issue –

  1. John Coghill, baptised at Aldenham, November 24, 1669; died following December, and was buried in south chancel of Aldenham Church.
  2. Lucy Coghill, died young.
  3. Thomas Coghill.
  4. Lucy Coghill.

            There were other children who died in infancy.

Lucy was living October 26, 1676, as may be seen by a bequest in the will of her aunt Elizabeth, daughter (7) of Henry Coghill, Esq., an abstract o which is given at the end of this section.  Thomas, the only surviving son, was an officer in the army.  He was with the army which marched under the Duke of Marlborough from Flanders up into Germany, and was slain in the battle of Donawert, 2d July, 1704, in the twenty-second year of his age.  This sanguinary battle was long remembered by many English families.  The French and Bavarian armies were posted in an almost impregnable entrenched camp, earth-works with the town of Donawert. The allied army, after a hard day’s march, reached the base of the hill late in the afternoon, and notwithstanding the fatigue of his troops, Marlborough gave his orders to storm the works.  It was in that terrible charge against a pitiless storm of lead, in many respects so closely resembling the one made on the same day of the same month, and about the same hour of the day, one hundred and fifty-nine years later, by a division of General Lee’s army on the Federal position at Gettysburg, that along with more than five thousand of his comrades in arms, this young officer fell, the last male descendant of John Coghill of Bentley.

Returning now to Henry Coghill (7), of Aldenham Hall, alias Penne’s Place, as his house was called in his marriage settlement (the eldest son of Henry), we find that he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Blythe, of the family of Blythes in Elferrat, in Yorkshire.  She was buried in linen[35] at Aldenham, 3d March, 1723-4; and he, 24th June, 1709, having been high sheriff of the county in 1673.  They had issue –

  1. Elizabeth Coghill, baptised 23d April, 1674.
  2. Henry Coghill, baptised 24th March, 1675-6.
  3. John Coghill, baptised 29th January, 1678-9.
  4. Thomas Coghill, baptised 13th May, 1684.
  5. Charles Coghill, baptised 2d December, 1686.

We find no other record of John than his baptism and burial.  Thomas was buried in linen at Aldenham, 2d February, 1734-5, and devised the manor of Bentley (now called Bentley Priory[36]), as we learn from Lyson’s “Environs of London”, to his nephew (grand), Thomas Wittewronge, grandson of his sister Elizabeth; and his other lands, left him by his brother Henry, and coming to the latter from their uncle John, descended to his nephew, Henry Coghill; and from him to Sarah, his sister.  We find no other mention of Charles than his baptism. Elizabeth was twice married; first, as we learn from the records of St. Andrew’s, Holborn, on 14th February, 1693-4, to Jacob Wittewronge, of Lincoln (Son of James and grandson of Sir John Wittewronge).  He was born in 1671, and was fourth in descent from James Wittewronge, a native of Ghent, in Flanders, who fled from that country during the time of the Protestant persecution under Philip II. of Spain, and settled in England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.  He (Jacob) died, leaving one son, Jacob, who married, 9th May, 1719, Anne, widow of – Hale, Esq., of Coventry, and died 26th and was buried 30th June, 1727, at Harpenden.  He left issue, James; Jacob, baptised 16th October, 1722, and died the following December; Thomas, baptised 16th October, 1723, and died 14th June, 1763; Elizabeth, died infant, and buried 16th April, 1729.

James married Martha, daughter of Sir John Strange, Knight and Master of the Rolls, and died 1748, leaving no issue.  Thomas was the nephew to whom the manor of Bentley was bequeathed by his great-uncle, Thomas Coghill, in 1734.  He died without issue, and was buried at Harpenden, 14th June, 1763; and, being the last of the male line, bequeathed his estate to John, the grandson of Thomas Bennet, Esq., who married his great-aunt. Elizabeth Wittewronge, after the death of her husband, married, in May, 1700, Anthony Ettrick, Esq., of High Barnes, County Durham, a widower with one daughter.  They had issue, William, baptised at Aldenham, December 29, 1701; Walter, baptised at Aldenham, November 17, 1706; Sarah, baptised at Aldenham, November 6, 1707; Helen, baptised at Aldenham, May 7, 1710; Henry, baptised at Aldenham, December 25, 1711.

We know nothing of the four younger children; but the eldest, William, married Isabella Langley, of Higham-Gobion, County Bedford, and left a son,William, baptised at Harpenden, County Hertford, May 16, 1726; married at St. Nicholas, Durham, January 27, 1752; died, February 22, 1808, and was buried at Bishop’s Wearmouth.  His wife was Catherine Whorton, of Old Park, Durham; she was buried at High Barnes, November 24, 1794.  Their son, Rev. William Ettrick, was baptised at St. Nocholas, Durham, May 15, 1757; was admitted to certain copyholds in Hertfordshire, on the death of Sarah Noyes, as customary heir to her grandmother, Sarah Hucks, born Coghill.

We go back now to Henry Coghill (8), of Aldenham House (formerly called Wigbournes).  He married Anne, daughter of Robert Nicoll, Esq., of St. Michael’s, County Hertford, and was buried at Aldenham, 2d August, 1728.

They had issue –

  1. Sarah Coghill, baptised at Aldenham, Aug. 3, 1705.
  2. Mary Coghill.
  3. Henry Coghill.
  4. Anne Coghill.
  5. John Coghill.
  6. Thomas Coghill.
  7. Lucy Coghill.

In the pedigree sent by Sir John Jocelyn Coghill, all of these children, except Sarah, are said to have died young; but Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., writes that both Henry and John lived to be of age.  John, the younger son, he writes, was married; his wife’s name was Anne, and she was buried at Aldenham, January 9, 1725, and her will was proved on the 26th of the same month, leaving her property to her husband, who himself died the following year, and was buried August 30th, at Aldenham.  Another Ann Coghill was witness to her will; this may have been the wife of Henry, her father-in-law, born Ann Nicoll, and who was buried at Aldenham, August 3, 1739, as “Ann Coghill, widow, from London.”

Henry Coghill, the eldest son, and last male of the family, inherited the main estates of his father, and also some lands which belonged to John, his younger brother.  He died unmarried, and was buried at Aldenham, August 2, 1728, and administration was granted in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, to his sister –

Sarah,[37] who married, December 22, 1730, Robert, only son of William Hucks, Esq., of Bloomsbury, M.P. for Wallingford; and died February 25, 1771.  Her husband died in 1745, in the forty-fifth year of his age.  Both are buried in Aldenham Church, where their monument still remains.  A full description is given of it at the end of this section.

Mr Hucks was a Member of Parliament for Abbingdon [sic], and recorder of Wallingford.

They had issue –

  1. Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary and William Hucks, who died infants.
  2. Anne Hucks, baptised December 2, 1731.
  3. Harriet Hucks, baptised August 7, 1736.
  4. Sarah Hucks, baptised January 3, 1738.
  5. Robert Hucks, baptised November 8, 1742, at St. George’s Bloomsbury.

Anne, in 1757, married Oliver Coghill, of Coghill Hall, who was Oliver Cramer, but in pursuance of the will of Marmaduke Coghill, his great-uncle, assumed the name of Coghill by sign-manual, and became his heir as well as heir to his cousin Hester (daughter of James Coghill), Countess of Charleville.  Anne died leaving no issue, and Oliver Coghill afterwards married Jane, daughter of – Holl, Esq., by whom he had one daughter, Jane. (See Part II.)

Sarah married Thomas Buckeridge Noyes, Esq., of Southcote in Reading, who died 1797, and had issue –

  1. Sarah Noyes, died April, 1842.
  2. Anne Noyes, died December, 1841.

Robert Hucks died June 8, 1814, and his will, dated July 4, 1771, was proved on the 29th July of that year. He was declared a lunatic in 1792, and so continued till his death. His nieces, Sarah and Anne Noyes, succeeded to his estates as heirs-at-law; and executed a deed of partition in April, 1815, whereby the Oxfordshire and Berkshire estates, which came from the Hucks family, and the land in Lambeth, fell to Anne, and the Hertfordshire, Middlesex, and Cambridgeshire estates, which came from the Coghills, fell to Sarah. On her death intestate, as to, her real estate, the freehold portion of these estates passed to her heir ex parte malerna, George Henry Gibbs, Esq., of London, representative through his mother of Joseph Hucks, of Bloomsbury, next brother of “William Hucks first before mentioned. Such of her copyhold estates as had descended from the Coghills to Sarah, wife of Robert Hucks, passed to the Rev. William Ettrick, eldest representative of Elizabeth Coghill by her second husband (from which we may conclude that the descendants of her first husband, Jacob Wittewronge, were wholly extinct), and such as came to her from the Nicolls descended to John Smith, a clerk in the India Office, who was admitted to them as next heir of Anne Nicoll, the wife of Henry Coghill, and mother of the said Sarah Hucks, as sixth in descent from her grandfather, Robert Nicoll, of Hendon~ County Middlesex. Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., of Aldenham House, and of London, late Governor of the Bank of England, the eldest son of the above named George Henry Gibbs, Esq., is the present representative of the Hucks family, and of the principal estates of the family of Coghill.

ABSTRACTS OF WILLS, ADMINISTRATIONS, MONUMENTAL AND TOMB INSCRIPTIONS, ETC.

The records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, London, refer to five Coghills whose names are not mentioned in this pedigree. These records furnish the only information we have been able to obtain concerning them; first, –

John Coghill, of Lincoln, whose estate was administered upon in 1639-40.

Susanna Coghill, of the parish of Leonard, Eastcheap, London, whose will was probated August 28, 1657.

Thomas Coghill, of the parish of Leonard, Eastcheap, London, husband of Susanna, whose estate was administered upon October 27, 1657, by Henry Bonner and John Spencer, who were also appointed guardians to Thomas Coghill, a minor, the only child of the deceased.

Thomas Coghill, a minor, son of Thomas and Susanna mentioned above, late of the parish of Leonard, Eastcheap, London, whose estate was administered upon by John Cogbill, the nephew by the brother and next of kin, March 14, 1666.

Thomas Coghill, of Knaresborough, County of York, whose estate was administered upon by John Coghill, the cousin and next of kin, February 14, 1665-6.

Recorded in the same court is the WILL of Susanna Coghill (referred to above), wife of Thomas Coghill, of the parish of Leonard, Eastcheap, and mother of Thomas, his son, who was, when she married Mr. Coghill, the widow of the late Brandon Wetherill, of London. After giving several small legacies to her relations, and to Sir Thomas Trevor and “My Ladie Trevor,” she bequeathes the residue of the property which she held in her own right to her husband and their son. Sir Thomas Trevor is sole executor. The will is dated 12th May, 1655. witnesses: Ed. Owen, Ann House, and Thomas Barber. Proved 28th August, 1657.

The records of St. Michael’s, Bassishaw, London, show that Thomas Coghill, son of John Coghill, Barber-Surgeon,[38] was baptized January 29, 1603-4. We can find no mention of this John anywhere else.

Thomas, the son, was most probably the husband of Susanna just before mentioned, who died in the parish of Leonard, Eastcheap, in 1657.

REFERRING TO HENRY COGHILL’S WILL.

Henry Coghill, of Aldenham, must have made provision for his two youngest children, John and Elizabeth, during his life, as by his will he bequeathed only twenty shillings each, to them. John, it is known, was a gentleman of wealth, and Elizabeth, who died unmarried six years after her father, as will be seen by her will, after leaving, including annuity, some sixteen hundred pounds to various persons, gave the remainder of her property, “personall and reall” (which was probably much the larger part), to her eldest brother, Henry.

ABSTRACT OF HENRY COGHILL’S WILL.

“I, Henry Coghill of Aldenham in the County of Hertford, Esqr,” – “to the poore of the parish of Aldenham Five pounds ” – ” to each of such servants that shall be dwelling with mee att the time of my decease a yeares wages over and above what they ought to have and receive for theire service” – ” to my maid servant Anne Miillington ” an Annuity of £5 for life to be paid “att or in the now dwelling house of mee the said Henry Coghill, called Wigbournes situate in Aldenham aforesaid “

– “unto my God daughter, Elizabeth Downing” “£10 per annum – to my sonne Jolin and my daughter Elizabeth Coghill, to each of them twenty shi1lings” – “my son Henry Coghill sole Exectr and to him all my Goods and Chattels whatsoever.” – Dated 8 May, 1672. – Witnesses: John Nicoll and George Smith. – Proved 20 November, 1672.

ABSTRACT OF ELIZABETH COGHILL’S WILL.

“I, Elizabeth Coghill of Aldenham in the Conntie of Hertford, Spinster” – “unto .Anne Millington my Servant ” an Annuity of £ 15 for life charged on property in Aldenham and to be paid ” at or in the now dwelling house of Henry Coghill, esq. in Alden ham aforesaid” – “to my loving Brother John Coghill of Bentley, gent, and Deborah his wife fiftie pounds a peece” – “to Lucy Coghill, Daughter of the said John Coghill £100 ” – “to my loving Sister in Law, Sarah Coghill, now wife of Henry Coghill of Aldenham aforesaid esqr £100 ” – “to Elizabeth Coghill, daughter of the said Henry Coghill £500 ” – “to Henry Coghill, SONNE of the said Henry £500 ” – ” my loving Brother, the said Henry Coghill, sole Exe., to whom after payment of my legacies and funeral expenses I give and bequeath all my personall and Reall Estate whatsoever.” -Dated 26 October, 1676. – Witnesses: John Nicholl, Bithiah Nicholl, and Margaret Russell. – Proved 1 December, 1677.

WILL OF SIR THOMAS COGHILL.

“I, Sir Thomas Coghill of Bletchingdon in the County of Oxford, Knight” – “to be buried in the Chancell of the Church of Bletchingdon ” – Testator revokes a Conveyance made upon certain Trusts to Vincent Barry, the younger, of Tame in the said Co. of Oxford, Gent., Ralph Deane of Princes Risborough in Bucks, Gent., and John Dixon of Rowleright in said Co. Oxford, Gent., by Indenture dated 18 July, 1656, of “All those Mannors called or known by the name of Poures Mannor and Adderburges Mannors, with their appurtenances and of divers messuages, lands, Tenements, and hereditaments lying and being in Bletchingdon aforesaid and in Hampton Poell to the said Mannor or one of them belonging,” and devises as follows : ”all my lands unsould and conteyned in the said Lease are Assigned” ” To my deare and loveing wife, Dame Elizabeth Coghill” for life, remainder “to such person and persons to whom I shall hereby give and dispose of the inheritance or Fee Simple of the several lands therein conteyned unto.” – “unto my second sonne, John Coghill and his heires, the Inheritance and Fee Simple of all that Messuage or Tenement with all and Singular the lands,” &c. belonging thereto in Bletchingdon, now in the possession of John Edgerly, Gent. my Messe or Tenet, with the lands, &c. now in my possession, and heretofore in that of William Hawkins, all those four Cottages, &c., now in the possession of– Goodwife, George Goodwife, Stiles Goodwife, Gyles and Goodman Falconer, the Messe where I live and now dwell, with the gardens, that Messe or Tenet with the lands now in the possession of William Anyson, otherwise Daker with the appurte (except Chitsnell meade ), that Messe or Tenet, with the Close adjoining, now in the possession of Robert Munchion. One Messe or Tenet, with the lands now or late in the possession of Fra Brathwayt that Messe or Tenet now or late in the possession of Richard Prickett, and all that Messe or Tenet now or late in the possession of Edward Silversides, all that Messe or Tenet now or late in the possession of John Spindler, that Messe or Tenet now or late in the possession of Hester Buckley, and all those several Messes or Tenets now or late in the several possessions or occupations of Richard Kent, Richard Parratt, William Greene, John Bidwell and Thomas Judge, and also the house called the Towne house – “unto my sonne, Sutton Coghill, and his heires” All that Messe or Tenet, with the Lands, &c., heretofore in the possession of Mary Bowden, widow deceased, and now in the possession of me or my assigns, my Messe or Tenet and Lands now or late in the possession of Henry Verney, all that Messe or Tenet and Lands, now or late in the possession of Richard Dennett, that Messe or Tenet and Lands now or late in the possession of –Mathews, and all those Cottages now in the possession of “‘Widdow Dodur, Tho. Drake, Rice Evans, Rich. Gibbs, Widdow Kent and Richard Munchion, and also all that my Coppice, called the Lynch – “unto my Deare Wife, Dame Elizabeth Coghill; Vincent Barry the elder, of Tame, Esquire, and Vincent Barry, the younger, his sonne,” certain Messes, Tenets, Lands, &c., in Trust to sell same, ant1 pay thereout “unto my said Sonne John Coghill,” £800, to “my said Sonne Sutton,” £800, to “my daughter Faith Coghill” £1,000, to “my Daughter Catherine Coghill” £800, to “my daughter Mary Coghill” £800, to “my GRANDCHILD Thomas Coghill” £500, unto my daughter Elizabeth Coghill £50 to buy her a Ring and same sum to my daughter Susan for a like purpose, to my son Thomas Coghill £100 to buy him a Ring, and to my “loving friend and Counsellor, S. William Moreton” £5 to buy him a Ring – All my books, wheresoever they are, to my Sonne John Coghill; to my daughter Susan Pudsey, wife of John Pudsey Esquire – ” Residue of my lands in Blechingdon herein and hereby not disposed of, given or bequeathed, together with the said Two Mannors, called Poures Mannor and Aderburyes Mannor” “unto my said Sonne John Coghill and his heires after the decease of Dame Elizabeth my wife, whom I doe hereby make, &c., sole Exector, to her all my Leases, Goods, Plate, Household Stuff and Personal Estate whatsoever” – “my very loving friends, Sir Robert Croke Knt. and my Cosen Jo Dixon” Overseers. – Dated 26 May, 1659. – Witnesses: “‘William Norton, William Wansbrough, and Lawrence Bruer.

By Codicil, dated 1 June, 1659, and witnessed by William Marton, Christopher Barry, and Nicholas Gawdy, Testator revokes his bequest to his sd son John Coghill, of the Inheritance and Fee Simple of the Messe or Tenet and lands in Blechingdon, in the possession of John Edgerly, Gent, and the Messes Lands &c. or Cottages in the occupation of William Hawkins Goodwife, George Goodwife, Stiles Goodwife, Giles and Goodman Falconer, and gives the same to his deare and loving Wife, Dame Elizabeth Coghill, to be disposed of as she shall think fit. Proved December, 1659.

ALDENHAM, CO. HERTFORD. BAPTISMS.

1629, Oct. 29. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Coghill, Esq.

1633-4, Feb. 3. Henry, son of same.

1637-8, Jan. 30. Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Coghill, Knt., and

Dame Elizabeth.

1669, Dec. 7. John, son of John and Mrs. Debora Coghill, born 24

Nov.

1674, April 23. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Coghill.

1675-6, Mar. 24. Henry, son of Henry Coghill, Esq., and Sarah.

1678-9, Jan. 29. John, son of same.

1684, May 13. Thomas, son of same.

1686, Dec. 2. Charles, son of same.

1705, Aug. 3. Sarah, daughter of Mr. Henry Coghill and Anne.

ALDENHAM, CO, HERTFORD. BURIALS.

[Records of Burials from 1678 to 1700 are lost.]

1669, Dec. 7. John, ye child of Mr. John Coghill, in South Chancel.

1670, June 4. Mrs. Faith, wife of Henry Coghill, Esq., in South Chancel, her grandchild, John Coghill, being taken up and laid in the same grave.

1672, Aug. 26.  Henry Coghill, Esq., in South Chancel, by his wife.

1676, April 3.  Mrs. Elizabeth Coghill, in South Aisle.

1709, June 24.  Henry Coghill, Esq., in linen.[39]

1714, Sept. 3.  Madam Debora, wife of John Coghill, Esq.

1714, Oct. 18.  John Coghill, Esq., age seventy-eight.

1716, Aug. 18.  Henry Coghill, Esq., of Aldenham Wood, in linen, died 13th.

1723-4, Mar. 3. Mrs. Sarah Coghill, widow, in linen.

1724-5, Jan. 9. Mrs. Anne Coghill.

1726, Oct. 30. Mr. John Coghill.

1728, Aug. 2. Henry Coghill, Esq.

1734-5, Feb. 2. Mr. Thomas Coghill, in linen.

1739, Aug. 3. Mrs. Ann Coghill, widow, from London.

1785, Nov. 22. Sir John Coghill, Bart., from London.[40]

BLECHINGDON, CO. OXFORD. BAPTISMS.

1625, July 10. Thomas, son of Henry Coghill.

1626, Sept. 17. Thomas, son of Thomas Coghill.

1626, Sept. 30. Faith, daughter of Henry Coghill.

1628, Dec. 28. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Coghill.

1630, Dec. 26. Susan, daughter of same.

1633, April 28. John, son of same.

1634, July 17. Sutton, son of same, born 3d.

1636-7, Mar. 24. Faith, daughter of Sir Thomas Coghill, Knt.

1637, July 2. John, son of Henry Coghill, Esq., born same day.

1640-1, Jan. 20. Catherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Coghill, Knt.

1644-5, Jan. 16. Mary, daughter of same.

1681, July 30. Thomas, son of Sutton Coghill, Gent.

BLECHINGDON, CO. OXFORD. BURIALS.

1659, June 5. Sir Thomas Coghill, Knt.

1665, Sept. 19. Thomas, son of Thomas Coghill, Esq.

1694, May 17. Thomas Coghill, Esq., died 12th.

1694-5, Feb. 20. Johan Coghill.

1702-3, Feb. 22. Mary, relict of John Coghill.

1706, Dec. 10. Thomas Coghill, Lord of the Manor.

1713, Oct. 22. Elizabeth, daughter of Sutton Coghill, Esq., and

wife of Charles Collins of Betterton, Co. Berks.

1716-7, Feb. 3. John Coghill, Esq., Lord of the Manor.

BLECHINGDON CHURCH.

On the north wall of the chancel is a monument with the following inscriptions:-

THOMAS, son and heir of Henry Coghill, of Aldenham, Herts, Esq.,
age 3 years, died 18 Aug., 1628.

ELIZABETH, eldest daughter of same,
age 5 years, died 20 Aug., 1628.

JOHN, eldest son of Thomas Coghill
of Blechingdon, Esq., age 4 years,
died 19 September, 1628.

Also, FAITH, second daughter of sd Henry Coghill,
age 4 years, died 3 May, 1 G30.

ALDENHAM CHURCH.[41]

Aldenham Church, in which are the monuments and inscriptions following this, is situated in the parish of that name, in the County of Hertford. It is built almost entirely of flints, and has a handsome square embattled tower at its west end, surmounted by a short spire, a nave with side aisles covered with lead, and a chancel, tiled.

ON THE FLOOR, ON THE NORTH SIDE, are the following inscriptions: –

Arms: Gules, on a chevron three pellets, Coghill: empaling, a chevron between three bulls passant guardant, Sutton, with the crest of Coghill.

“Here lyeth interred the body of

Mrs. FAITH COGHILL,
wife of Henry Coghill, Esqr., and daughter and co-heir of John Sutton, Esqr., who departed this life upon the 31st day of May, Anno Domini 1670, at 75 years of age. She left issue behind her, two sons, Henry and John, and one daughter named Elizabeth. By her son John, who married Deborah Dudley, daughter of William Dudley, of Elstree, Esqr.,  she had two grandchildren, John and Lucy, both of which are buried under this stone.”

“HENRY COGHILL, Esqr., deceased the 22nd of August, 1672, aged 83 years.”

”Here lieth the body of the pious and truly religious gentlewoman
MRS. LUCY DUDLEY,
relict of William Dudley, Esqr., who lived to the 80th year of her age, and departed this life the first of March, Anno Domini, 1684-5. She left issue only one daughter, Debora, the wife of John Coghill of Bentley, Gent. In the same grave lyes burried three children of the said Coghills, viz.: one daughter and two sons, who died young.”

ON THE SAME SIDE is an altar-tomb of white marble, on which are the figures of a gentleman and lady, with these arms and inscriptions: –

Arms: Gules, on a chevron three pellets, a chief Sable, Coghill, empaling, or, two lions passant azure; Dudley. Crest, on a wreath, Argent and Gules, a cock crowing ermine, crested and winged, or.

“Here lyeth the body of
JOHN COGHILL,
late of Bentley, in this county, Gent, younger son of Henry Coghill, heretofore of Aldenham, Esq., who died October 13th 1714, in the 79 year of his age.

“ALSO DEBORAH, his wife (only daughter of “William Dudley, Esq.), who dyed August 3lst, 1714, in the 73rd year of her age.

“Their only son, Thomas Coghill, who lived to about the age of twentytwo years, in commission in the army which marched under the Duke of Marlborongh from Flanders, up into Germany, was unfortunately slain at the attack of Donawert, An° 1704.”

Against the wall, on the south side of the chancel, is a marble monument, the upper part of which consists of a sarcophagus of Sienna marble, in front of which, carved in relief, is a medallion, with a male and female head, beneath which is a tablet, between two pillars of the Ionic order, with this inscription : –

“Sacred to the memory of
ROBERT HUCKS, Esqr., and of
Sarah, his wife;

he was the only son of William Hucks, Esqr., of wallingford, in Berkshire, who served for that Borough in four successive parliaments, by Mary Selwood, his wife. He was a tender and affectionate husband, a fond parent, a warm and firm friend, a kind and generous landlord, an indulgent master. No man was more beloved by his friends, or more esteemed and trusted by all that knew him. It was his constant object to live well with every one, and every office to his neighbours, was a gratification to himself; his benevolent heart was warm in the interest of all mankind, and of this nation and Government in particular. He served for the Borough of Abbingdon, in Berkshire, in several Parliaments, respected and approved by his constituents; the good of his country was the unerring rule of his conduct; it was difficult to mislead, impossible to corrupt him; he looked back on his past life with humble diffidence, and was only confident in that Gospel that offereth mercy and peace to all men. He died after a long and painful illness, which he bore with manly fortitude and Christian resignation, in the prime and strength of his days, in the 45th year of his age, lamented by his friends and forever to be lamented by his family. Sarah, his wife, was the only surviving child of Henry Coghill, Esqr., of Wigbourns, in this Parish, by his wife Ann Nicoll, daughter of Robert Nicoll, Esqr.; she survived her husband many years, ever regretting his loss ; her long widowhood fully evinced she merited the confidence he placed in her; with ample means to have formed a second connection at a time when the temptations of health and pleasure were in their strength, she rejected every offer; and, as a never-ceasing testimony of her affection for him, devoted her life to the care of their children. She died after a short illness, February 25th 1771, in the 65th year of her age. They had issue: Ann, married Oliver Cramer Coghill, Esqr., of Coghill-Hall, in Yorkshire, who died without children; Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, and William, who died infants, and Harriet, Sarah, and Robert, now living; the last of whom, out of respect and gratitude to the best of parents, erected this monument, a small tribute of filial duty to preserve their memory in this world; but their virtues are written in the eternal records, and will remain in lasting characters when this marble shall be mouldered into dust.”

Beneath this inscription are two shields, with these arms: Dexter, argent, a chevron between three owls, azure. Hucks. An escutcheon gules, on a chevron argent, three pellets, a chief sable. Coghill. Sinister, the arms of Coghill.

PART 4 – The Unconnected Branch of the Family in England

THE following pedigree was furnished by Mr. Anthony Gogliill, of 9 Prince Road, Notting Hill, London, and Miss Martha Coghill, daughter of Mr. Daniel Coghill, of Ivy House Farm, Ichenham, W. Uxbridge, in Middlesex.

They are both of the opinion that they descended from Sir Thomas Coghill, of Blechingdon, and the fact of Anthony Coghill, their ancestor, having been a resident of Oxfordshire, would seem to favor their supposition. On the other hand, the descendants of Sir Thomas Coghill are all said to be extinct in the pedigree sent to us by Sir John Jocelyn Coghill, and further, if the first Anthony in the pedigree which follows had been a descendant of Sir Thomas, he would in all probability have inherited some of his estates. Joseph L. Chester, LL. D., of London, who has had a long experience in genealogical researches, and whose opinion is considered authority, is positive that they did not descend from Sir Thomas.

We give the pedigree and leave it for others who may feel inclined to pursue the investigations.

  1. ANTHONY COGHILL, farmer, resided at Worminghall, near Oxford, and died, and was buried at that place March 1, 1779; age, sixty-eight years. The only issue that we know of was a son, –
  1. THOMAS COGHILL, born October 10, 1736, and died January 27, 1804. He was parish clerk and schoolmaster at Stanton for over forty years, and was buried there. He married, and his wife Katharine died December 5, 1806 ; age, seventy-three years. He had issue –
  2. THOMAS COGHILL.
  3. KATHARINE COGHILL.
  4. ELIZABETH COGHILL.
  5. ANTHONY COGHILL, born 1768.

Thomas married, and had one son, who died single. Katharine married R. Bradford, and had two sons. Elizabeth married Thomas Ray, and had one daughter.

Anthony married Elizabeth Neighbour in 1788, who died 29th March, 1840; age, seventy-three years. He was a farmer, and held the same farms that the first Anthony held at Worminghall, and also the following places: Wadelsdon and Homage farm, Chelton farm, both in Bucks County; also Lobbs farm, Great Haseley, in Oxfordshire, at which place he died June 1, 1841, and was buried at Worminghall Church, Buckinghamshire. He had issue twelve children: –

  1. ANTHONY COGHILL, born 18th March, 1789; died December, 1802.
  2. ELIZABETH COGHILL, born 10th May, 1790.
  3. THOMAS COGHILL, born 7th October, 1791.
  4. KATHARINE COGHILL, born 15th January, 1793 ; died 20th June, 1793.
  5. WILLIAM COGHILL, born 25th April, 1794; died 1849.
  6. JOHN COGHILL, born 17th November, 1796; died 3d June, 1810.
  7. JAMES COGIIILL, born 14th August, 1798.
  8. DANIEL COGHILL, born 12th October, 1800.
  9. MARY COGHILL, born 3d December, 1802 ; died 1st July, 1876.
  10. ANTHONY COGHILL, second, born 10th May, 1805.
  11. KATHARINE COGHILL, second, born 20th September, 1808.
  12. JOHN COGHILL, second, born 5th February, 1812.

Elizabeth married James Garner, and died leaving seven children. Thomas was apprenticed on board a merchant ship, and, in the war between England and America in 1812, was pressed into service on board a man-of-war (family tradition says the “Bellerophon “), and when the war was over he left the navy. He sailed in the American brig” Mary,” Captain Thorndyke, in 1816, and was never heard of afterwards; a brig answering the description of the “Mary” was captured off the Malay coast, the captain and mate murdered, and the crew made prisoners.

William was a farmer and resided at Tetsworth, Oxon. He married Martha Lovejoy, 6th January, 1825; and died May 14, 1840, and had issue –

  1. THOMAS COGHILL, born 12th October, 1825; died 24th February, 1839.
  2. WILLIAM COGHILL, born 4th June, 1827.
  3. ANN COGHILL, born 17th March, 1830; died 6th April, 1854.
  4. ELLEN ELIZABETH COGHILL, born 30th January, 1832.

Ellen E. married Robert Pratt, of Lynham, Oxon, farmer, and had one son, Freeman, now living.

William married Rachael Jones (widow, maiden name Hardwick), June 4, 1850, at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London. He died 26th August, 1872. Rachel, his wife, died 22d August, 1876 ; both buried at Kensal-green Cemetery. He left issue eight children : –

  1. E. ELIZABETH COGHILL, born 2d February, 1851; now living single.
  2. SARAH HUSS COGHILL, born 20th February, 1853; living and single.
  3. DRUCILLA ADELAIDE COGHILL, born 2d May, 1854.
  4. WILLIAM ANTHONY COGHILL, born 22d May, 1855; died 7th July, 1856.
  5. ALICE MARTHA COGHILL, born 10th March, 1857; living and single.
  6. LYDIA LOUISE COGHILL, born 14th December, 1858; died 19th August, 1859.
  7. JESSIE AGNES COGHILL, born 11th August, 1860; 30th December, 1860.
  8. ANTHONY ·WILLIAM COGHILL, born 2d November, 1862; died 19th December, 1862.

Drucilla Adelaide married William Anthony French, 8th December, 1874, and has one son, Arthur William, born 3d February, 1876.

James (4) married Elizabeth Emmerton. He was a surveyor and resided at Long Crendon, Buckingham; died 9th February, 1851, and was buried at Ickford in the same county. He had issue –

  1. ELLEN COGHILL, not living.
  2. HARRIET COGHILL, married.

And one son who died in infancy.

Daniel (4), of Ivy House Farm, near Ichenham, in Middlesex, married his cousin Elizabeth Burnard, at Thane Church, 23d December, 1830, and in 1852 removed from Thane, Oxon, to his present residence. He is a farmer, and both he and his wife are living. He had issue –

  1. MARTHA COGHILL, born 24th December, 1831; unmarried.
  2. HORATIO COGHILL, born 26th September, 1834; died 30th April, 1835.
  3. ANTHONY COGHILL, born 28th March, 1837; died 6th April, 1841.

Mary (4) married Joseph Wheeler, and died January 1, 1876, leaving one son and one daughter.

Anthony (4) was married three times: first, to Alice Edmunds; second, to Mary Ann Buckle; and last, to Sarah Mason. All of the children by the first two wives are dead. There are now living by the last marriage nine children: –

  1. ELIZABETH COGHILL, unmarried.
  2. THOMAS COGHILL.
  3. ANTHONY COGHILL.
  4. MARY COGHILL.
  5. SARAH COGHILL, unmarried.
  6. WILLIAM COGHILL.
  7. SUSANNAH ALMA COGHILL, unmarried.
  8. ALICE COGHILL, unmarried.
  9. AGNES COGHILL, unmarried.

Thomas is living at Warwick, Queensland. Anthony is married and resides at Portland Road, South Norwood, London; has no issue. Mary married Mr. W. T. Martin, and has two children, Frederick Chandos and William Thomas Coghill. She resides at 18 High Street, Hampstead.

William married and resides at 16 Queen’s Road, Notting Hill, W. London, and has three sons: –

  1. WILLIAM ANTHONY COGHILL.
  2. THOMAS EDWARD COGHILL.
  3. HENRY COGHILL.

Katharine (4) married Robert Cunning, and had two children. John ( 4) married Miss Corbett, and removed to Canada, and resided near Toronto, where he died, leaving two sons: –

  1. ANTHONY COGHILL.
  2. SIDNEY COGHILL.

Both of them are farmers, living near Toronto.

Joseph L. Chester, LL. D., of London, very kindly sent us the following monumental inscriptions and parish records, from a volume of collections which he was having indexed.

“On a stone on the floor of the nave of the CHURCH AT STANTON ST. JOHN, Oxfordshire: –

“‘In memory of Elizabeth, the wife of Anty Coghill, who died 5th April, 1753, aged 89 years. Also of Eliz., the wife of Thomas Gilbert, who died 29th May, 1761, aged 75 years. Also of Anty Coghill, who died lst March, 1779, aged 68 years.’

“In the parish register of Stanton St. John these persons are thus described in the burials : –

“‘1753 April 9 Elizabeth Cockle.

“‘1761June1 Elizth wife of Thos Gilbert.

“‘1779 March 3 Anthony Coghill of Wormall,[42] Co. Bucks.’

“I should say the last two were son and daughter of the first.”

This Elizabeth Cockle, or Coghill, is the earliest member of this branch of the family that we hear of. We find no record of her husband’s death. It is possible that the name may have been changed by the descendants from Cockle, as entered on the parish register, to Coghill, and, if so, that of Elizabeth may have been included in the change to conform to her son’s name. These inscriptions were not made until after the death of Anthony, some twenty-six years later than that of Elizabeth.

Part 5. The Scottish Branch

(not transcribed)

Part 6. The American Branch

(not transcribed)

Part 7. The Family of Slingsby

THE FAMILY OF SLINGSBY OF SCRIVEN HALL.

THE ANCESTORS OF THE COGHILLS ON THE MATERNAL SIDE.

SCRIVEN HALL.

“A SEAT of the ancient family of the Slingsbys,[43] pleasantly situated in the park on the right of the road leading from Knaresborough to Ripley.

It has undergone many alterations. Some additions were made to it in the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and a full suite of rooms then finished were first occupied by Thomas, the seventh Earl of Northumberland, brother to Lady Mary Slingsby. The new front was added, with many other improvements, and the road made through the park,[44] by Sir Henry Slingsby, about the year 1730. A winding walk, near a mile in extent, leads from the west side of the house through a very fine wood of elm and beech trees, whose foliage meeting above forms a most pleasing solitary shade, rendered still more agreeable by the distant clamor of the rookery, and the soft notes of the plaintive stock-doves.” – Hargrove’ s History of Knaresborough.

The Family of Slingsby.

THE family of Slingsby is, to a greater or less extent, identified with English history for a long period. Its members intermarried at an early date with the Percys, the heads of which house were successively the earls of Northumberland; and, later, with several other noble families. Many of them held high positions under their government, and some were the recipients of special honors from their sovereigns. One, from deliberately matured convictions of duty, the sublimest of all promptings, suffered the loss of his fortune and his head, for his loyalty to his king ; and one, from the impulse of a noble and generous nature, lost his own life in trying to save that of his servant. The descendants from such men, who do not look back with noble pride of lineage, can hardly be expected to emulate their virtues, or to bequeath to posterity like laudable examples.

As the Coghills were all descended on the maternal side from the Slingsbys by the marriage of Thomas Coghill Esq., son and heir of John Cockhill, Gentleman, the first ancestor of whom we find any record, with Margery, daughter of John Slingsby, Esq., of Scriven, that family belongs also to our ancestry; and to make our pedigree more full and complete, we propose to add to it a part of theirs, together with some sketches of the more prominent members of the family.

The Slingsbys are, as we learn from various authors, a very ancient and famous family, being descended on the maternal side from one Gamel, the king’s forester, who settled near Knaresborough soon after the Conquest. He had a confirmation of his lands in Scriven by Henry I. (A. D. 1100 to 1135). He was the first of his house who enjoyed the feudal honor of capital or chief forester of the forests and parks of Knaresborough. The posterity of this Gamel took the name of Scriven from their habitation.

Joanna de Scriven, the fourth in descent from Gamel, and daughter of Henry de Scriven by his wife Alice, daughter of Richard de Caperon, of Scotton, was heiress to her father’s estates, and carried the manor of Scriven, with several others, and also the dignity of capital forester of the forests and parks of Knaresborough, into· the family of Slingsby, by intermarrying with William de Slingsby of Studley, in 1357. This William de Slingsby of Studley, in whose issue the families of Slingsby and Scriven were thus united, was son of John de Slingsby (greatgrandson of William de Selingisbye, of Selingisbye, in the North Riding of Yorkshire), by his wife Agnes, daughter of William de Stodleigh (Studley), and heir to her brother William. By this marriage he had issue: –

Richard Slingsby, who died without issue, in the thirty-first year of the reign of Edward III., and

Gilbert Slingsby, who married a daughter of William Calverly, Esq., and had issue:-

William Slingsby, who married the daughter of Thomas Banks, Esq., of Whixley, and had issue :-

Richard Slingsby, who married Anne, daughter and coheiress of John Nesfield, by whom he had the manors of Scotton, Brereton, and Thorp ; and had issue :-

William Slingsby, living in the twentieth year of Henry VI., who married Joan, daughter of Sir Robert Plompton, of Plompton, Knight, and had issue, William, John, Robert, Thomas, and Agnes, who married Thomas Knaresborough.

William Slingsby, Esq., of Scriven, son and heir, married Janet, daughter of Sir John Melton, of Afton, Knight, and had issue : –

John Slingsby, of Scriven, son and heir, chief forester of Knaresborough, who married Joan, daughter of Walter Calverly, Esq., of Calverly, and had issue: –

John; Jane, prioress of Nun-Monkton ; Margery, wife of Thomas Coghill, Esq ., of Coghill Hall, and Margaret, wife of William Tancred, Esq.

John Slingsby, Esq., son and heir, married Margery, daughter of Simon Pooley, of Badley, in Suffolk. He was mortally wounded at the battle of Flodden-field, September 9, 1513, and died four days after. He had issue,

Thomas, John, Marmaduke, Peter, Simon, Anne, Margery, wife of Walter Pullein, Esq., of Scotton, and Isabel.

John and Marmaduke died without issue. Peter married, and had issue, one daughter. Simon married, and had issue, Christopher, Robert, and Peter, which Peter was the father of Sir Anthony Slingsby, Governor of Zutphen, in the Low Countries, who was advanced to the degree of an English baronet, October 23, 1628, but as he died without issue, in 1630, the title in this branch became extinct. Anne and Isabel both married.

Thomas Slingsby, Esq., of Scriven, eldest son and heir, married Joan, daughter of Sir John Mallory, Knight, of Studley, and had issue : –

Francis, Marmaduke, Christopher, William, Peter, Thomas, Elizabeth, Dorothy, Anne, Joanna.

Marmaduke married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Mallory, of Studley.

Christopher married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Tancred, of Pannall. William, Peter, and Thomas died without issue; the daughters all married.

Francis Slingsby, of Scriven, eldest son and heir, married Mary, only sister of Thomas and Henry Percy, who were successively Earls of Northumberland.[45] This lady died in 1508, aged sixty-six years, and Francis died in 1600.

They were both buried in the Slingsby family chapel, on the north side of the choir, in Knaresborough Church.

On an altar tomb are placed fine and full-length figures of each. The knight is in complete armor, except helmet, which is placed under his head; ·a small frill encircles the upper part of the neck, his beard flowing gracefully in ringlets over his breast. On his left side is his sword, and on his right, at some distance, lies his dagger; his hands are elevated, and at his feet lies a lion, the crest of the family.

The lady is habited in a long white robe, her head resting on a pillow; on her right side, upon the skirt of her robe, are the arms of Percy and Brabant; one foot rests against a crescent, as the other, now broken off, formerly did against a lion passant, both crests of the Percys. The inscriptions are in Latin, and of great length, covering two pages in the “History of Knaresborough.”

In the same chapel is a full-length figure of Sir William Slingsby, son of Francis, born in 1562, died in 1624. It stands in a niche. His head reclines a little on one hand, the elbow resting on the guard of his sword; the other hand hangs down and holds a shield with family arms. Pennant, in his “Tour from Alston Moor to Harrowgate,” says of this figure, after having minutely described it, “It is one of the best sculptures I have seen in any of our churches.” There is also a very long Latin inscription on this monument.

Francis had nine sons and three daughters, namely:

(1) Thomas, drowned in the river Nidd while endeavouring to save his servant, in 1581, in the twenty-eighth year of his age; (2) Francis and (3) Henry, both died young; (4) Sir Henry; (5) Arthur, who died without issue; (6) Charles, who was a clergyman, married and had issue; (7) Sir William; (8) Sir Guilford; (9) Sir Francis. The three daughters were Eleanor, Anne, who died young, and Elizabeth.

Sir William, whose monument is referred to above, was the founder of the Kippax branch, and was made Commissioner General in 1595, Cibicida Honorarius to Anne Queen Consort, in 1603, and one of the deputy lieutenants of Middlesex in 1617. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Stephen Board, of Sussex, and had issue,

William, died young; Elizabeth, married John Villiers, Viscount Purbeck, eldest brother of George, first Duke of Buckingham by that name; Henry, Master of the Mint to King Charles II., and as such said to be the author of that notable motto on British coins,” Decus et Tutamen.” He married a daughter of Sir — Cage, and had issue,

Henry, who married Katherine, daughter of Sir William Lowther, and died without issue, 1695; and Anthony, who died unmarried, April 3, 16 97; when the male issue of Sir William became extinct.

Sir Guilford (8) was comptroller of the navy in the reign of James I. He married Margaret, daughter of William Water, Alderman of York, and had issue twelve children:

Guilford,[46] Robert, Percie, Walter, George, Francis, Arthur, William, and four daughters, Dorothy, Margaret, Maria, and Anne. Robert and Walter were colonels in the king’s army, and were at the siege of Bristol, in 1645, where they were of Prince Rupert’s Council of War. Whitlock’s “Memorials,” p.460, relates that July 9, 1650, “an act passed for the trial of Walter Slingsby” and others, “by an high court of justice.”

Arthur was created a baronet at Bruges, October 9, 1657.

Sir Francis,[47] (9) Knight, of Kilmore, near Cork, was Constable of Haulboline, and of the Royal Council of the Province of Munster. He married in 1605, and had issue two sons, Francis and Henry, and five daughters.

Henry was knighted ; one of the daughters was mother of the celebrated Henry Dodwell. She is said, in the “Biographia Britannica,” to have died at the house of her brother, Sir Henry.

Sir Henry, fourth but eldest surviving son of Francis and Mary Slingsby, succeeded to the representation of the family. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and held sundry offices under the Duchy of Lancaster; was one of the Council of the North, and several times vicepresident.

He married Frances, daughter of William Vavasour, Esq., of Weston (by his wife, daughter and heir of Sir Leonard Beckwith, of Selby, Knight, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter and co-heir of Sir Robert Cholmeley, Knight, Chief Justice of England). He had issue, William, killed at Florence, 1617;[48] Henry, of whom presently; Thomas (said in the printed pedigrees to have died in France in 1617), who was a colonel in the King’s army during the rebellion, was at the siege of York, and “had a fine set for his loyalty in 1646,” died without issue in February, 1670, and was buried on the 11th of that month at Knaresborough; Elizabeth, wife of Sir Thomas Metcalf; Mary, wife of Sir Walter Bethel ; Catherine, wife of Sir John Fenwick; Alice, wife of Thomas Waterton, Esq. ; Anne, died unmarried ; Frances, wife of Bryan Stapleton, Esq., and Eleanor, wife of Sir Arthur Ingram. Sir Henry died 17th, and was buried at Knaresborough Church, 28th December, 1634. Sir Henry Slingsby, of Scriven, eldest surviving son and heir, was born in 1601.

He was at school under Mr. Otby, parson of Foston, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. In January, 1618, he was entered a Fellow-Commoner of Queen’s College, Cambridge, where he resided till 1621, at which time, in company with his tutor, he made a tour of the Continent.

From this period until his marriage, his time seems to have been spent between Yorkshire and London, in which city his father possessed considerable property.[49] He was created Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I., 1638, as may be seen by the original letters patent, under the great seal of Scotland, now remaining at Scriven: “Apud

Striveling secundo die mensis Martij, Anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo trigesimo octavo, et anno regni nri decimo tertio.”

The king had a short time previously (1633) honoured him with a visit to the Red. House.[50] The bed on which the royal guest slept is still preserved.

Clarendon, referring to him in his “History of the Rebellion,” says:-

“Sir Henry Slingsby was in the first rank of the gentlemen of Yorkshire, and was returned to serve as a member in the Parliament that continued so many years, where he sat till the troubles began, and having no relation to or dependence upon the Court, he was swayed duly by his conscience to detest the violent and undutiful behavior of that Parliament. He was a gentleman of good understanding, but of a melancholic nature, and of very few words; and when he could stay no longer with a good conscience in their councils, he returned to the country, and joined with the first who took up arms for the King, and when the war was ended, he remained still in his own house, prepared and disposed to run the fortunes of the Crown in any other attempt, and having a good fortune, and a general reputation, he had a greater influence upon the people than they who talked more and louder, and was known to be irreconcilable to the new government, and was therefore cut off. He, with John Mordaunt, and Dr. Hewet, an earnest preacher in London, were the first brought before the High Court of Justice (?), of which John Lisle, who gave his vote in the King’s blood, and continued an entire confidant and instrument of Cromwell, was president.

“Mordaunt escaped by bribing some of the judges; Sir Henry and Dr. Hewet were less fortunate, and their blood was the more thirsted after, for the other’s indemnity. The former had been two years in prison, in Hull, and was brought now up to the Tower, for fear they might not discover enough of any new plot to make so many formidable examples as the present conjuncture required. The charge against him was that he had contracted with some officers in Hull, two years before, for the delivery of one of the Block Houses to him for the King’s service. He did not care to defend himself against the accusation, but rather acknowledged and justified his affection, and owned his loyalty to the King, with very little compliment or ceremony to the present power.

Notwithstanding very great intercession to preserve him, for he was uncle to Lord Falconberg, who engaged his wife and alI his new allies to intercede for him, he was condemned and beheaded. ‘When he was brought to die, he spent very little time in discourse, but told them he was to die for being an honest man, of which he was glad.”

Playfair says of him : –

”He did and suffered much for Charles I.; having a large estate, he spent the greater part of it in the King’s service, and for doing so, the Parliament sequestered the rest; he brought six hundred men, horse and foot, into the field, to assist the Prince, and did more real service than any other gentleman in Yorkshire, being constantly in action, until he was overpowered and taken prisoner.”

Burke remarks : –

”Sir Henry adhered to the King through all his troubles, had his estates sequestered and sold,[51] and lived a ruined man, till 1658, when for an attempt, unhappily for him, a little too early made, to restore his Majesty, Charles II., he was beheaded after a mock trial, before a pretended Court, 8th June, 1658, on Tower Hill, being the time and place also of the execution of the eminent Dr. Hewet.”

Hargrove’s “Knaresborough” contains a full pedigree of the Slingsby family, and referring to Sir Henry, says :

“He was a man of deeds, rather than words; he said very little upon his trial, and as little upon the scaffold, persisting in his loyalty, and told the people he died for being an honest man.”

The opinion of the republican General Ludlow, on the trial and sentence of Sir Henry, is a valuable record of the general impression which they made on the minds of a party very unfriendly to him, and to all loyalty : –

“Sir Henry Slingsby was called to the bar, and the witnesses on each side being heard, he was pronounced guilty, though in the opinion of many men he had very hard measure. For it appeared that he was a prisoner at the time when he was charged to have practiced against the government; that he was a declared enemy, and therefore by the laws of war, free to make any such attempt: Besides it was alleged that the persons whom he was accused of having endeavoured to corrupt, had trapan’d him by their promises to serve the King in delivering Hull, if he would give them a commission to act for him. But all this being not thought sufficient to excuse him he was adjudged to die.” -Memoirs, vol. i., p. 606.

In one of the rooms in the Public Library of Boston is Copley’s historical painting of “King Charles I. demanding, in the House of Commons, the five impeached members,” A.D. 1641-42. There are fifty-eight portraits in this picture, and among them, one of Sir Henry Slingsby. The descriptive pamphlet says: –

“Of the other party in this group is Sir Henry Slingsby; he stands behind Whitlocke, a little raised above the level of the floor, his eyes steadfastly fixed upon the countenance of Charles. His temper was inclined to sorrow and melancholy; he opposed, from the beginning, the measures of the republicans, and at length terminated on the scaffold a close confinement of two years in the common prison of Hull.”

We have at this writing received from London a book ordered some time since, entitled “The Diary of Sir Henry Slingsby, of Scriven, Bart., now first published entire from the MS. A reprint of ‘Sir Henry Slingsby’s Trial.’ His rare tract, ‘A Father’s Legacy.’ Extracts from Family Correspondence, etc.” By Rev. Daniel Parsons, M.A. London, 1836. The editor, in his preface, says:-

“And had it so happened that Sir Henry Slingsby was to be spoken of merely as a link in a chain of respectable ancestry, it would have been scarcely possible to avoid feeling, that in such times, a chivalrous and loyal character might have been expected in him: but we find him rather exceeding the high standard of the patriotism of his day, than falling short of it, and throwing into the shade his unblemished descent by the lustre of his personal history.”

The “Diary” commences in 1638 and ends in 1648, the last entry being in reference to the execution of the King! At this crisis, Sir Henry, with characteristic loyalty, gives up all notice of public events. The lack of space restricts us to a few quotations from the “Diary,” “Trial,” and “A Father’s Legacy;” the latter contains more sound advice for young men than is often found in so small a compass. In the “Correspondence” are very many interesting letters, not only from members of the family, but also from many of the most prominent men of the times, among whom were Bryan and Thomas Fairfax, of the same family as the Fairfaxes of America.

There are also in the work facsimile autographs of twenty-seven distinguished persons, including Charles I., Sir Henry Slingsby, and the Duke of Buckingham. It must be remembered that Sir Henry’s writings are in the style of the middle of the seventeenth century, a period when there were few, if any, examples of what would now be considered elegant writing, and a diary is the last place where carefulness of expression is to be looked for.

The “Diary” furnishes a detail of many of the events of those calamitous years, and gives information as to the manner of life of a country gentleman of that day, and enables us to form a correct estimate of the character of the writer himself The editor, after deducing from his diary that he was a gentleman whose disposition and tastes would lead him to the leisure and employments of a country life, and who was rather fitted for serving the public interest by filling the stations to which in the common course of things he would be appointed in his county, than in taking a lead in state policy or in war, says : –

“But when the new kind of circumstances in which he found himself placed by the breaking out of the rebellion forced him, like the majority of that class in his day, to follow the path of duty in very different courses, he addressed himself to his altered condition of life, with the energy and consistency of a man who had one great and honest end in view – the preservation of his country. Nor can we fail to be impressed with the conviction, that whatever he did was under the correction of higher motives than those of human expediency; and that he owed his firmness to the support of sober and sincere religion.”

No one who has carefully examined into all the circumstances connected with his arrest, imprisonment, and trial, and who has studied the character of the man, can for a moment question his patriotism and honesty of purpose, or doubt that he fell a victim to a long preconcerted plot, by which he was entrapped into conduct exactly such as it was known his loyalty would lead to under the circumstances. He had been arraigned and sentenced before an officer of the army and a commission at York, as one of the “late plotters,” as may be seen by a letter written by Col. Robert Lilburn to the Protector in 1655, his estates sequestered, and he sent to Hull as a prisoner, where he was held until his removal to the Tower of London in 1658. It was during his imprisonment at Hull that he was entrapped by Cromwell’s decoys.

The following extracts from his diary will throw some light upon his arrest, and show that the articles of surrender were violated by the Parliamentarians, which was in keeping with their general conduct. He commences his diary, which, during his two years of active service in the army, had been suspended, as follows :-

“Now I will tell my own story, where I have been ever since I marched out of York [July16, 1644] until ye 7 of May [1646]; for I have now good leisure in ye solitariness wherein I live; & ye setting down ye places & times wherein I spent my two years’ peregrination, & ye taking & review thereof will serve to put off ye tediousness of my close retirement; for ever since my coming out of Newark[52] (wch this day is 27 weeks & 2 days) I have for ye most part kept wth in my bottle; but since they came for me, I have escap’d ym ; & I betake myself to one room in my house, scarce known to my servants, where I spend my days in great sylence, scarce daring to speak or walk, but with great heed taken least I be discovered. Et jam veniet tacito curva senecta pede: & why I should be thus aim’d at I know not, if my neighborhood to York makes them not more quarrelsome. As acerima proximorum odia, so, beat and cold if they meet in a cloud produceth thunder. My own disposition is to love quietness, & since ye King will’d me to go home wn I parted from him at Topcliff…

“I resolved to keep at home, if my Lord Mayor & Alderman Watson would have permitted me quietly to live there; but they would not suffer me to have ye benefit of ye articles of Newark, which gave us liberty 3 months to live at home undisturbed;[53] but from York they send to take me wth in ye first month; & all is to try me wth ye Negative oath & national Covenant. The one makes me renounce my allegiance, ye other my religion. For ye oath, why it should be impos’d on us not to assist ye King wn all means is taken from us whereby we might assist him, and to assist in this warr wch is now come to an end & nothing in all England held for ye King, I see no manner of reason, unless they would have us do a wicked act, & they the authors, out of greater spite to wound both soul & body. For now ye not taking of it cannot much prejudice prejudice ym, and ye taking of ye oath will much prejudice us, being contrary to former oaths wch we have taken; & against civil justice, wch as it abhors neutrality, so it will not admit a man should falsify ye trust wch he hath given.”

In referring further on to the oaths which they required him to take, he says:-

“I should be convinced of ye lawfulness of it before I take it & not urged, as ye Mahometans do their disciples, by force & not by reason….. By this new religion wch is impos’d yon make every man yt takes it up guilty, either of having no religion, & so become an Atheist, or else a religion put off or on, as he doth his hat, to every one he meets; but you would have me conform to ye faith or the definition of faith & religion wch you have made! but wth all see how impartiall you are, for mutato nomine de te fabula narratur; where in former times it was thought grievous that conformity should be impos’d by ye bishopps wn ye scruple should be only a Cap or a Sirples, you scrupled at ye out branches only, but we scruple to have root & branch plucked up; therefore judge of our scruple by your own.”

When all had turned out to the wish of the usurper, and he had ample proofs against Sir Henry of what would have been treason, if he had been lawful king, still so little could he rely upon the ordinary course of legal procedure, that he denied Sir Henry, and Dr. Hewet and Mr. Mordaunt, his fellow-prisoners, their right of trial by jury, and bad them arraigned before an unlawful body, called a high court of justice, constituted for the occasion, and composed exclusively of his creatures, with the infamous Lisle as president. Sir Henry knew that his conviction was a foregone conclusion. In his letter to “Persons of Quality and Others,” he says, “I insisted not much upon my defense, nor vindication of mine innocence, for I understood it was effectless.” He insisted upon his right to be tried by a jury. We make the following extracts from his trial : –

“Lord President. Thou here standest charged for high treason; this court requires that thou give a positive answer, whether guilty or not guilty.

”Sir Henry S. I desire to have counsel assigned me.

“Lord Pres. There is matter of fact laid to your charge, which amounts to treason, and there is no law allowed in matters of fact.

“Sir Henry S. There is also matter of law; and I desire to be tried by a jury, which is according to the law of the land.

“Lord Pres. We are all here your jury as well as your judges; we are the number of two or three juries, and your jury is well known, for they are chosen by the Parliament; you are to plead to your indictment…..

“Sir Henry S. If it be by the laws of the land that the trial should be by a jury, I desire I may have that privilege.

“Lord Pres. Acts of Parliament make justice and law; they are both; they think fit to change the custom of trials that have been in former times, and all persons must submit to it. And the Parliament hath thought fit to make this court both jury and judges ; and therefore I require that you answer, whether guilty or not guilty.

“Sir Henry S. I desire that the Act of Parliament may be read.

“Lord Pres… Parliament has appointed this court, and his Highness hath appointed you to be tried by us; you ought, therefore, to plead to your indictment.

“Sir Henry S. The law gives liberty in case of juries to the party accused, to make his exceptions against the jury, which he cannot do here, where you are both judge and jury.

“Lord Pres. If you have any particular exception to any man you may make it. You were, sir, of the Parliament when this Act was made.

“Sir Henry S. I was a prisoner at the same time.

“Lord Pres. Although a prisoner, yet yon are bound by Act of Parliament.

“Sir Henry S. I am, my lord, of an opinion (though you may count it a paradox) that I cannot trespass against your laws because I did not submit to them.

“Lord Pres. All the people of England must submit to the laws of England – to the authorities of England; all must submit to my Lord Protector and Acts of Parliament …..

“Sir Henry S. The laws have been so uncertain with me that I could not well know them, and when I was a prisoner, I could not take notice of them. I could have no benefit by your laws, because that is no law to me which does not give me interest and property to what I have. It is the benefit of laws that they do distinguish between meum and tuum; but when you take all from me, in my case it is not so.”

When asked what he had to say why the court should not proceed to judgment, he replied: –

“My lord, I humbly desire I may be tried by a jury, for I must say you ‘are my enemies’ (pardon the expression); if not so why did you sequester me, and sell my whole estate? and why did you deny me the act of oblivion? There is no man would willingly appeal to his adversaries; there are some among you that have been instrumental in my sequestration, and in the selling of my estate, for which they gave me no reason but this, that I would not compound, when I thought not fit so to do, when there was no establishment or settled peace; if I had compounded, I had not been sure whether I might not have compounded over again; my estate hath been sequestered, and sold; now to be my judge and jury. I humbly pray, being a commoner, I may be tried by commoners.”

This just and lawful right was of course denied, and the lord president proceeded to make a speech, which was characteristic of many of the hypocritical, canting creatures of the ambitious and bigoted, if not hypocritical, Cromwell:-

“Sir,” said he, “was it not a great aggravation of the sins of the Egyptians, that when God had declared Himself with so many signs in behalf of the Israelites, that notwithstanding, they would still pursue Moses and Israel? Who is so great a stranger in this nation as to be ignorant what God has done amongst us, by a series of wonderful providences so many years together, against that very party who are still hatching treason and rebellions amongst us? It grieves my soul to think of it, that after so many signal providences, wherein God seems to declare Himself (as it were by signs and wonders), that your heart still should be hardened, I may say, more hardened than the very hearts of the Egyptians, for they did not only see, but confessed, that the Lord fought against them; hut you, oh, that you would confess and give glory to God.”

After much more of the same sort of cant, and expressing great sorrow for Sir Henry, because “he, being a Protestant, should assist such a confederacy as this,” this devout Christian closes by informing the prisoner “that he shall never have done praying for him as long as he is alive,” and then “ordered the judgment of the court to be read.” The following is a copy of that humane and Christian (of the Cromwell kind) sentence:-

“That SIR HENRY SLYNGSBY, as a false Traytor, to his said Highness the Lord Protector and this Commonwealth, shall be conveyed back again to the Tower of London, and from thence through the middle of the city of London, directly shall be drawn unto the Gallows at Tibourn, and upon the said Gallows there shall be hanged, and being alive, shall be cut down to the ground, and his Entrails taken out of his Belly, and, he living, be burnt before him; and that his head shall be cut off, and that his body shall be divided into four quarters,” etc.

“His Highness” the Lord Protector, who was the author of the murder of Sir Henry, and of that eminent Episcopal divine, Dr. Hewet, was “graciously pleased” to change their sentence to beheading.

Sir Henry was beheaded 8th June, 1658, and by permission of the usurper his remains were privately taken to Yorkshire, and buried in the Slingsby Chapel in Knaresborough Church. His tombstone is of black marble removed from St. Robert’s Chapel, in Knaresborough, belonging to the family, and bears the following inscription:[54]

SANCTI ROBERTI

Huc Saxum advertum est sub eodemq; nunc Jacet hic Henricus Slingesby Henrici filius cui e Parliamento Ejecto & ex plebiscito bonis omnibus exuto nihil aliud supererat.

Quam ut vellet Animam suam salvam esse passus est Anno Etatis suoe LVII. Sexto Idus Junias, annoq; Christi 1658. Fidei in Regem Legesque patrias causa : Non perjit, sed ad Meliores Sedes translates est a Tyranno Cromwellio Capite Mulctatus; posuit Thomas Slingesby Baronetus. Non Degener Nepos.

Anno Aerae Christi 1693.

If this work was being prepared for general circulation we should consider it almost a duty to embody in it “A Father’s Legacy to his Children” entire, for, as before stated, we have rarely met with more sound and practical advice than is contained in this dying legacy of a Christian father. We shall, however, give only a few quotations, – just enough to enable the reader to get an idea of the general character of the paper. After cautioning his sons against religious controversies and their barren results, he says: –

“How fruitlessly bestowed are those empty hours, that are employed with what subtilty of arguments they may dispute, but never with what purity they may live. Polite orators, but profane professors. Such sophisters are but titular Christians. Believe it, there ought to be no controversie, but conference among the servants of Christ, which being discreetly seasoned with meekness and mildness, beget more converts to God’s honour, than a thousand fiery spirits shall ever do by speaking in thunder.”

In reference to the choice of company, he says: –

“Good acquaintance will improve both your knowledge and demean; by your conversing with these, you shall every day get by heart some new lesson, that may season and accommodate you, whereas our debauched gallantry (the greatest impostor of youth) would by their society quickly deprave you. Now to apply a Remedy to so dangerous and infectious a malady, be tender of your Honour; beware with whom you consort. Be known to many, but familiar with few ….. Make ever choice of such for your companions of whom you retain this grounded opinion, that you have either hope to improve them, or be improved by them.”

Referring to the value of time, he says: –

“And great pity it is, that our youth, even in the most eminent extractions, should make so light an estimate of time; as to hold no consorts fitter for their concerns nor corresponding with their tempers, than such who only study a fruitless expense of time; making no other account of hours, than harbingers of pleasure….. In private and retired hours consult with the dead,· being the best means to make men wise; make devout Books your discreet consorts: they will tell you what you are to do without fear of censure ….. Let it be the lowest of your scorn to suffer your thoughts to be depressed with inferior objects.”

“In the carriage of public affairs appear cautious. Many by putting themselves upon numerous employments have lost themselves; though in neighborly offices to be modestly active, manifests signal arguments of piety. But in all concerns appear just. This will beget you a good report among men; and acceptance before the throne of grace. All justice is comprehended in this Word Innocence, all injustice reprehended.

“As for your hours of recreation, let them never so overtake you as to make your thoughts strangers in what most concerns you, and make choice of suitable consorts in these. For though precepts induce, examples draw, and more danger there is in a personal example, than any Doctrinal motive.

“I could challenge from many descents, but my thoughts have ever been estranged from titular arrogance; holding only Fame to be the strongest continuer of family, being borne up with such an impregnable arch as it needed no groundling buttresses to preserve it, nor any secondaries to prevent an untimely ruin ….. After a troublesome voyage, encountered with many cross winds and adverse billows, I am now arriving in a safe Harbour; and I hope without touch of Dishonour…. Prefer your fame before all fortunes; it is that sweet odour which will perfume you living and embalm you dying….. My peace I hope is made with God: having in these solitary hours of my retirement made this my constant ejaculation: O, how can we choose but begin to love him whom we have offended; or how should we but begin to grieve that we have offended him whom we love! …. Be zealous in your service of God; ever recommending in the prime hour of the day, all your ensuing actions designed and addressed for that day, to his gracious protection.

Be constant in your Resolves, ever grounded on a religious Fear that they may be seconded by God’s favour. Be serious in your studies: and with all humility crave the assistance of others, for your better proficiency.

Be affable to all, familiar with few. Be provident and discreetly frugal, in your expense: never spending where honest Providence bids you spare; neither sparing where reputation invites you to spend. Continue firm in brotherly unity; as you are near in blood be dear in your affection….

“I find myself now, through the apprehension of my approaching summons, which I shall entertain with a cheerful admittance, breathing homeward: the eye of my body is fixt on you; the eye of my Soul on Heaven. Think on me as your natural Father, and of Earth as your common mother. Thither am I going, where by course of nature, though not in the same manner, yon must follow, I am to act my last scene on a stage; you in a turbulent state. Value earth as it is; that when you shall pass from Earth, yon may enjoy what earth cannot afford you; to which happiness your dying Father, hastening to his dear spouse and your virtuous mother, faithfully commends you.”

HIS EPITAPH. WRITTEN WHILE IN PRISON.

Dead unto Earth before I past from thence.
Dead unto Life, alive to conscience.
Just, and by justice doom’d ; impeached by those
Whom Semblance writ my Friends, their witness Foes.
My Silence in reply impli’d no guilt.

Words not believ’d resemble Water spilt
Upon the parched surface of the floor,
No sooner dropt, than heat dries up the Showre.
To plead for life when ears are prepossest,
Sounds but like airy Eccho’s at the best.
The Hatchet acted what the court decreed,
Who would not for his Head, lay down his head?
Branches have their dependance on the Vine,
And Subjects on their Princes, so had mine.
The Native Vine cut down her cyenes wither,
Let them then grow or perish both together.
Thus liv’d I, thus I dy’d, my Faith the wing
That mounts my Kingly zeal to th’ Highest King.

These extracts, it will be borne in mind, are from the writings of a leading Cavalier, and show that our Puritan friends did not possess all of the religion and morality of that period.

Sir Henry was married July 7, 1631, at Kensington Church, London, to Barbara, daughter of Thomas Bellasyse, first Viscount Falconberg (a lady who seems to have been as pious as she was naturally amiable; she died 3lst December, 1641), and by her had issue: –

Thomas, born 15th June, 1636.

Henry, born 14th and baptized 29th January, 1638, in chapel of Red House. He was one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber to King Charles II.

Barbara, born 14th May, 1633; married Sir John Talbot.

Sir Henry was succeeded by his eldest son, – Sir Thomas Slingsby, who was Member of Parliament for Knaresborough from 1678 to 1681, and for Scarborough in 1685. He married Dorothy, daughter and co-heiress of George Cradock, Esq., of Caversall Castle, County Stafford (who died 24th January and was buried 2d February, 1673, in the Slingsby Chapel in Knaresborough Church), by whom he had issue:-

Henry.

Thomas.

George.

Eliza.

Dorothy. ·

Barbara, thrice married: first, to Sir Richard Mauleverer, of Alberton Mauleverer, County York; second, to John, Lord Arundel, of Trerice; and third, to Thomas, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, –

Sir Henry Slingsby, Member of Parliament for Knaresborough, who died without issue in 1692, and was succeeded by his brother, Sir Thomas Slingsby, who married, 1602, Sarah, daughter of John Savile, Esq., of Methley, County York, and had issue eight children: –

  1. Henry.
  2. Thomas.
  3. Savile.
  4. Charles, who dying before his last elder brother, never succeeded to the title. He married Miss Turner in 1738, and by her had issue: –

Thomas Turner, who succeeded as eighth baronet.

Sarah, died without issue.

  1. Mary, maid of honor to Queen Anne, married, 18th August, 1714, at Moor-Monkton, to Thomas Duncombe, Esq., of Helmsley, of which marriage the first Lord Feversham is the lineal descendant.
  2. Sarah.
  3. Barbara.
  4. Jane, died without issue.

Sir Thomas was succeeded by his eldest son,

Sir Henry Slingsby, Member of Parliament for Knaresborough in the last parliament of Queen Anne and the first of George I., who married a daughter of John Ainslie, Esq., of Studley, Chancellor of the Exchequer (who died 3lst May, 1736), by whom he had no issue, and, dying in 1763, was succeeded by his brother, –

Sir Thomas Slingsby, who died without issue 1765, and was succeeded by his brother, –

Sir Savile Slingsby, who died without issue 1780, when the title devolved on his nephew, –

Sir Thomas Turner Slingsby; he married, first, his cousin, Catherine Turner Buckley, and second, a natural daughter of his uncle, Sir Henry, by whom he had no issue. He died in 1806, leaving issue by his first wife : –

Thomas.

Charles, of Loftus Hall, who, dying before his eldest brother, never succeeded to the title. He married, October 1, 1823, Emma Margaret, daughter of John Atkinson, Esq., by whom he had issue: –

Charles, born 1824, the tenth baronet.

Emma Louisa Catherine, born 1829; married 19th July, 1860, to Captain Leslie, Royal Horse Guards, son of Charles Powell Leslie, born 1826.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, –

Sir Thomas Slingsby, who died without issue February, 1835, and was succeeded by his nephew, –

Sir Charles Slingsby, who was drowned in the river Ure, opposite to Newby Hall, the residence of Lady Mary Vyner, near Ripon, in Yorkshire, on the 11th of February, 1869, while hunting, he being master of the York and Ainsty Fox Hounds.[55] Sir Charles was never married: he was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Thomas Leslie, Esq., who, in 1869, assumed the name of Slingsby and became Sir Thomas Slingsby, the eleventh baronet. He has no issue, and in default of issue, the property and title will go to Sir Charles’ maternal uncle, Rev. Thomas Atkinson, and his son.

Our first intention was only to give a condensed pedigree, with a few sketches, of some of the members of the family. We have, however, been led on, almost imperceptibly, into writing a synopsis of its history. It will be readily seen that what we have written is only a compilation.

This was a necessity, as our information was mostly obtained from published works.

[1] Turner’s History of the Anglo-Saxons

[2] Brady on Burghs

[3] The present stewards are Messrs. Samuel and Charles Powell – one of whom, for the time being, as Bailiff of the borough, is the returning office of the members of the borough to Parliament.  We are under obligations to these gentlemen for copies of records and other valuable information.

[4] Hargrove

[5] We learn from The Book of Family Crests, tenth edition, London, 1862, that there was once living in England a family of Cockell, whose arms were “on a mural coronet, or a cock; gules, sémé of roundles, resting on the dexter claw on an escallop shell; and in the beak a sprig of laurel.

[6] On Teasdale’s map of Yorkshire, which we received from London after these sketches were written, and on which are all the principal family seats in the county, we find a place situated about seven miles from York, and one mile from the Red House (one of the seats of the Slingsbys, a description of which will be given in the last section of this book), called Cock Hill.  This was most probably the residence of some member of this family, – possibly of John, prior to his going to Knaresborough.  It is eight to ten miles in a straight line from the river Cock, a small rivulet, in most places about twelve feet wide.

[7] In 1641, Sir Henry Slingsby, like the rest of the loyal party, finding that he could no longer perform his legislative duties in Parliament with safety to his life, was compelled to absent himself.  His seat was declared vacant, and at an election held at Knaresborough in 1641, William Dearlove was chosen in his place; but the election was contested as illegal by Sir William Constable, his opponent on the grounds of his being deputy steward and judge of the court, and therefore the “burghers durst not give their voices for fear of him.”  Instead of another election, we learn from the Journal of the House of Commons, under date March 19, 1642, that William Dearlove’s election was decided void and Sir William Constable was duly elected.

[8] In a Gazetteer and Directory of Yorkshire, published in 1822, we find the names of one Cockell, four Cockills, three Cockhills and but one Coghill – Richard Coghill, gentleman, residing in York.

[9] By this intermarriage the Slingsbys became the ancestors of all who have borne the name Coghill; this Thomas Coghill being the first who presents the name as it is now spelled.  We shall devote some space in the latter part of the book to a notice of the distinguished family of Slingsby.

[10] Various other properties in Yorkshire, belonging to the Coghill estate, were sold about the same time.

[11] Allen’s History of Yorkshire

[12] Musgrave’s Obituary gives his death as 11th March, 1739, which is probably correct.

[13] Charles Moore,  a descendant of the Moores, Earls and Marquesses of Drogheda

[14] Sir John Coghill purchased of the Duke of Northumberland Richings Park, in Buckinghamshire, where he afterwards resided.

[15] Referred to in part III, Junior Branch

[16] We had barely finished reading the printer’s proof of this very page, when the news of the death of Lieutenant Coghill reached us.  He fell on the 22nd January 1879 in the disastrous engagement between a column of the British army, numbering eight or nine hundred men, and twenty thousand Zulus, at the village of Isandula, near the Buffalo River, in South Africa.

Referring to a letter received from his father in June last, we find the following mention of him:  “my eldest boy has just come back to us on a short leave from the Kaffre war, where he has been serving as aid-de-camp to the general, and at which he has the good fortune to be mentioned in dispatches.

“It seems to have agreed with him wonderfully, and he looks brown and hardy.  He expects that the war will not close without a sharp battle with the Zulus on the Transvaal border, who are a much more warlike nation, and will show better fight than the other Kaffre tribes; but he thinks it the intention of the government to make this war a final one, and settle the black question for once and for all.  My son will probably be off there again by the next draft of troops.”

[17] William Tallentyre was Thomas’ brother-in-law.

[18] Henry was the unborn child referred to in his father’s will.

[19] her brother-in-law, husband to her sister Mary

[20] “Church registers were first enjoined to be kept by Cromwell, the king’s vicegerent in spiritual affairs, in 1538, just upon the dissolution of religious houses.  In 1547, Edward VI enjoined the same; as did Elizabeth in 1559; from which last period these parochial records were generally kept with tolerable regularity; and since the abolition of inquisitions post mortem, by Charles II, are the best evidence of family descents.” (Cullum’s Hawsted and Hardwick, page 73, note.)  These records were obtained from the parish clerk, who probably made a loose examination, and omitted a number of names, as there must have been many more under each head than are given here.  We wrote on two occasions, asking him to make a more thorough search, but could get no reply.

[21] The London merchant whose portrait appears in this work.

[22] [This will with numerous other family papers was passed to the compiler by Henry Hucks Gibbs during a visit to Aldenham House in July 1880 – according to pencil note in a copy of the Book]

[23] Evidently an error of the scribe.

[24] The same whose will is on page [ ]

[25] We find no such parish as Wythern ffrary in the County of York.  The Priory of Wythernfey was founded in the seventeenth year of the reign of King John (1216)

[26] These arms are given on page [  ]

[27] Mr Young, who escaped, described how, when looking back, he saw these two officers with the colours, trying to force their way through the ring of yelling savages.  Coghill, he said, was wounded, and he saw no chance of escape for him; but the gallant young fellow cut his way through, and crossed the river in safety; but on looking back and seeing his companion disabled, true to the instincts of a noble and unselfish nature, he returned to rescue or to die with him – Compiler.

[28] Spelt Isandlana, Isandusana and Isandula; the last has been adopted by the press.

[29] Lieut. Nevill Josiah Aylmer Coghill (24th Regiment), Lieut. Teignmouth Melvill (24th Regiment), both killed while escaping with the colours, January 22, 1879.

[30] Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., writes under date of October 23, 1878, from his country seat, Aldenham House, County Hertford (once the residence of Henry Coghill Esq., son of John, and which descended to Mr Gibbs through the family of Hucks; Robert Hucks, Esq., having married Sarah Coghill, a great-granddaughter of Henry Coghill Esq.): “I have a portrait of this John Coghill, in a panel in the hall, with an inscription saying that he was seventy years old in 1624.  Also the portrait of Denis Viell, his father-in-law. I have portraits of his two sons, Henry and Sir Thomas Coghill, and their respective wives.”

[31] See reference to these monuments in Appendix to Part III

[32] Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., in a letter to the compiler, says: “Penne’s Place is always spoken of in our title deeds in the same terms as are used to describe it in the deed of conveyance from Fitzwilliam Coningsby to Henry Coghill, of the 27th November, 1640, namely, ‘the Site of the Mannor or Capitall Messuage commonly called Aldenham Hall alias Penne’s Place, together with all houses, edifices, buildings, barnes, stables, outhouses, cottages, dovehouses, gardens, orchards, fishponds, courts, yards, and folds to the said Site or Capitall Messuage belonging or in any wise appertaining;’ so that it is possible that even in those early days the manor-house was not in existence, mention being always made of the site; but, on the other hand, the buildings, etc,. should be the house, and it seems most probable that it was for some generations at least the chief residence of the family.

[33] [Henry Hucks Gibbs continued:] “The house in which I am now writing is distant about a furlong from Pennes Place, and is now and was in 1815 known by the name of Aldenham House, but was, when it descended to Henry Coghill in 1614, called Wigbournes, and bore that name even in the days of his great-granddaughter. (See monument of Robert Hucks in Aldenham Church.)  At one time this house also seems to have borne the name of Pennes Place; for my friend Baron Dinsdale, of Essendon, in this county, has a drawing of it made about one hundred and fifty years ago, when the trees in the avenue were yet young, and at the bottom of the drawing is the name Pennes Place.  The Coghill arms are still in the pediment of the west front of the building.”

[from Haberdashers’ Aske’s School Web-site: –

“Although the school only moved to its present location in 1961, the estate dates back 700 years when in about 1250, a certain Reginald de la Penne built a moated manor house near the present site of the North Gate [presumably Pennes Place]

.  Aldenham House itself dates back to the British Civil War, and eventually passed into the hands of Henry Hucks Gibbs [Director and Governor of the Bank of England] (later Lord Aldenham) in 1843.  The grounds akin to the house stretch far and wide, and the school’s grounds include 108 acres of land.

The present Lord Aldenham lives close to the school.  Since the 17th Century very little has changed in the structure of the house, although parts of the house were damaged in the two World Wars.  Some surrounding woodland has been cleared to make way for school buildings.”

Aldenham House, now Haberdashers’ Aske’s School]

[34] We are indebted to Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., for these particulars.

[35] See explanation of “buried in linen” in note at the end of this section.

[36] RAF Fighter Command Base during World War II – especially the Battle of Britain:

[37] Sarah was the last of the Hertfordshire Coghills.  Henry Hucks Gibbs, Esq., writes: “I have a full-length portrait of him [Robert Hucks], and a half-length of his father and wife, all by James Vanderbank.  I have also another portrait of his wife, taken at a later period of life.”

[38] In reply to an inquiry made by the compiler, Joseph L. Chester, LL. D., of London, writes: “In olden times in London there was a company of Barbers and a company of Surgeons. These two companies were united in the year 1540, and continued as the company of Barber-Surgeons, until 1745, when they dissolved ; you know, I presume, the nature and character of these old city companies; all of them were of great respectability, though some ranked higher than others. It is supposed that at the time of the union the Barbers were not very strong, and so sought an alliance with the Surgeons.

The combination seems to us in modern times a strange one, but in old times the Barbers were always called in to bleed patients, it being beneath the dignity of the Surgeons to do so. The probability is, that in this company the Surgeons predominated; but I must also add that a man might become a member of the company without being either a Barber or a Surgeon. The Earl of Beaconsfield and the Marquis of Salisbury were the other day admitted into the Merchant Taylors Company, and the late Prince Consort was a member of the Fisher Mongers Company. I have little doubt, from the position of the family in London and England, that John Coghill was a regular professional man.”

[39] In 1679 an act of Parliament was passed, directing that henceforth no persons should be buried in linen shrouds, but in woolen. The object of this was, according to the act, “for the lessening of the importation of linen from beyond the seas, and the encouragement of the woolen and paper manufactures of this Kingdom.” The penalty for burying in linen was five pounds. Those who preferred this mode followed it by paying the penalty.

[40] This was Major John Mayne who married Hester Coghill, Countess of Charleville, and assumed the name of Coghill by sign-manual.

[41] These inscriptions are taken from Clutterbuck’s History and Antiquities of the County of Hertford.

[42] Worminghall

[43] See a description of the Red House, another seat of the heads of the Slingsby family

[44] Anciently styled Heal Park (heal, Saxon, hall), q. d., Hall Park.

[45] 1 This Henry Percy was the father of Captain Percy, who succeeded Captain

Smith as President of the Virginia Colony (1609). “Percy, who succeeded

Smith as president, came over in the first fleet; he was brother to the Earl of Northumberland [his father had died, and his eldest brother Henry had succeeded him. – Compiler], and was esteemed for honor, courage, and industry; he had been, for some time, in bad health, and had taken his passage for England ; but when Smith was disabled, and advised to return to England, he yielded to the solicitations of the people and took upon himself the government of the Colony.” – Southern Literary :Messenger, vol. ii., p. 352.

[46] Guilford was M. A. of St. Andrews, and was incorporated in Oxford, November 14, 1629. He was Secretary to the Earl of Strafford, and by him was made lieutenant of the ordnance, and Vice-Admiral of Munster. At the earl’s trial, he managed his papers for him, and gave evidence in his behalf.

During the parliamentary war, he levied a regiment in York, was defeated in an engagement with Sir Hugh Cholmley, badly wounded, and taken prisoner.

Both legs were amputated in order to save his life, but he survived the operation only three days. He was buried in York Minster.” -Appendix to Diary of Sir H. Slingsby.

[47] For several extraordinary instances of this gentleman’s military prowess, see Stafford’s Pacata Hibernia.

[48] In ” Instructions for Mr. Snell, for the guidance of his pupil, William Slingsby” (during his travels on the Continent), dated 31st March, 1610, Sir Henry directs him to “send all letters to London, to Mr. Philip Bourlemache, near the Exchange, and from thence to be sent to Mr. John Coghill, near Blackwell-hall, and from thence to Thomas Scoley, at Wafefeilde.” This John Coghill was probably the son of Marmaduke.

[49] Family papers

[50] The Red House, situated on the southern bank of the river Onse, about seven miles northwest of York, was formerly the seat of the Oughtreds, one of whom granted to William Fairfax, Esq., and his heirs, “free liberty to hunt, hawk, and fish in his manor; rendering, for all, one red rose at midsummer. In the year 1562, Francis Slingsby, Esq., purchased the Red House and Scagglethorp, of Robert Oughtred, Esq., and the house was built. by Sir Henry Slingsby, in the reign of Charles I., except the chapel, which was built by his father.” It is still in the Slings by family. On the south front of the house is inscribed, – “PRO TERMINO VITAE, SIC NOS, NON NOBIS”. On the west front, – “PAULISPER ET RELUCEBIS, ET IPSE M.R. 29, 1652”. Under which is the figure of a setting sun.

In the room called the Star-Chamber are four shields of arms, beautifully stained on glass: first, Slingsby and Mallory; second, Slingsby and Percy; third, Slingsby and Vavasour; and fourth, Slingsby and Bellasyse. In this room also are the figures of Truth, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude, supporting a carved chimney-piece; in the divisions of which are symbolical representations of the five senses, well executed. The great staircase is thus described in the Memoirs of Sir Henry Slingsby: “The staircase is above five feet within the rails in width, the posts eight inches square; upon every post a crest is set, of some one of my especial friends, and of my brothers-in-law; and upon that post that bears up the half-pace, that leads into the painted chamber, there sits a blackamoor (cast in lead, by Andrew Karne), with a candlestick in each hand, to set a candle in, to give light to the staircase.”

Among the crests set in the posts are those of the Earl of Pembroke, Sir Walter Vavasour, who married a daughter of Lord Falconberg, and therefore brother-in-law to Lady Slingsby, Bryan Stapleton, Thomas Watterton, Thomas Ingram, Sir Walter Bethel, Sir Thomas Metcalf, Sir John Fenwick (whose son, Colonel John, was slain at Marston Moor), all brothers-in-law to Sir Henry; Thomas, Viscount of Falconberg, Lady Slingsby’s father, Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, Sir Williarn Savile, Algernon Percy, tenth Earl of Northumberland, Lord Ferdinand Fairfax, and Sir Charles Slingsby, Knight, a relation of Sir Henry who was slain at Marston Moor, and buried in York Minster. On the 24th of August, 1665, the Duke of York, afterwards James II., honored Sir Thomas Slingsby with his and his duchess’ company, at the Red House.

The chapel is a neat building paved with black and white marble. The seats and pulpit arc oak, embellished with Gothic ornaments. In the east window, above the communion table, are the following paintings on glass: the arms of Thomas Morton, Bishop of Litchfield, who consecrated the chapel; the arms of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In the centre of the window are the Slingsby arms, with fifteen quarterings, and a margin round the shield, whereon are inscribed the marriages of some of the ancestors of that family. On the south side of the chapel are two windows. In one are the heads of five of the Apostles, and in the other, the figures of Faith, Charity, and Justice; also the arms of the King of England and the Prince of Wales.

The Red House is about two miles from Marston Moor. It ceased to be the family residence about the middle of the last century. Sir Thomas, son of Sir Thomas Turner Slingsby, caused the greater part of it to be pulled down. Two pillars of a gateway were removed, and now stand at the entrance gateway into Scriven Park. – Hargrove.

[51] They were bought in for him by Mr. Stapleton and Mr. Slingsby Bethell, whom he mentions in the Father’s Legacy as his “friendly trustees.”

[52] Newark was surrendered May 8, 1646

[53] Article third of the surrender of Newark fully confirms this statement. It is given by Rushworth, pp. 638-9, 40, part 3, vol. ii.

[54] There are a few mistakes in spelling and punctuation which the Latin scholar can easily correct.

[55] At the same time were also drowned, while crossing the river in a ferryboat, Mr. E. Lloyd, of Lingeroft, near York, Mr. Edmund Robinson, of York, William Oveys (first whip), C. Warrener (gardener at Newby Hall), and J.Warrener, his son.