Nicholas farndaile 1512 to 6 August 1572 (buried) The Doncaster Kirkleatham Skelton Line FAR00059

If you have traced yourself back to here, you can go back still further in time: You can now explore Farndales between 1150 and 1500 to whom we cannot directly trace our lineage, but who are no doubt our ancestors or those who interacted with them. You can then go back even further to the history of the region prior to 1150.

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Headlines of Nicholas Farndale’s life are in brown.

Dates are in red.

Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.

References and citations are in turquoise.

Context and local history are in purple.

All we know about Nicholas Farndale is that he was buried in Kirkleatham on 6 August 1572. But we can piece together a great deal more about him, from the wider evidence.

1512

If he was buried in 1572, then say he was aged 60 when he was buried, then he was born in about 1512.

1537

We also know from Kirkleatham Parish records that Agnes farndaile (FAR00060) was buried in Kirkleatham on 23 January 1586. So it doesn’t seem too much of a leap to suppose that Agnes was Nicholas’ wife. If Agnes was 70 when she was born, then perhaps Agnes was born in about 1516.

I have seen another person’s family tree that refers to Agnes as Agnes Null. I’m not sure if someone has seen evidence that her maiden name might have been Null. I haven’t found any evidence of her maiden name.

If Nicholas was about 25 when they married, and Agnes was about 21, then maybe they married in about 1537.

They may have been married around Doncaster, perhaps Campsall, for reasons which will be explained below.

1539

We have previously linked Nicholas and Agnes to the following siblings:

William Farndale (FAR00063), who may have been born in around 1539 in or around Doncaster. Doncaster Parish records show his marriage in Doncaster in 1564.

Jean Farndale (FAR00064), who may have been born in around 1540 in or around Doncaster. Kirkleatham Parish Records show her marriage in Kirkleatham in 1567.

It seems very likely that Jean was their daughter, given she was married in Kirkleatham ibn 1567, five years before we know that Nicholas died in Kirkleatham.

For the purpose of family continuity, the real question is whether William was also their son. The link to William at first seems a bit tenuous, as the link to Kirkleatham is not obvious. But let’s work at this a bit more.

· We don’t know when William was born, but from the date of his marriage, this was probably about 1539. That would make sense if he was Jean’s sister. We know he married Margaret Atkinson (or possibly Kiddall) in 1564 in Campsall, which is near Doncaster.

· There is a William Farndale who died on 24 January 1606 in Skelton. This might not be the same William, and if it is not, our theory is probably wrong. But dates fit, and it makes a lot of sense of the evidence if it is the same William.

· Skelton and Kirkleatham are about 5 miles apart.

· There are three children who married between 1588 and 1598, two in in Skelton. (1) Jane, married in Skelton in 1588; (2) George who married in Skelton in 1595; and (3) Eln or Eleanore, married at Wilton, near Pickering in 1598 (so she moved across the moors).So if William who married in Campsall is also William who died in or near Skelton, then it is very likely that these are his children, with Margaret.

· So William married near Doncaster in 1564, but was in Skelton for the birth of his first child in 1588. Skelton is about 5 miles from Kirkleatham, so there may be some interchangeability in the records here. He then died in or near Skelton in 1606.

So looking carefully at the records we have regarding Nicholas, his potential children and grandchildren, we can build a timeline. We know that from the second half of the sixteenth century, the Farndale ancestors were predominantly living in the Cleveland area. So this timeline gives an explanation as to how early Farndales left the dale and moved south, with a group living around Doncaster, and how and when the Doncaster Farndales moved to Skelton/Kirkleatham in the mid sixteenth century to establish the lines of Farndales across Cleveland.

Campsall, Doncaster, 1512 to 1564

Nicholas Farndale might have lived in or around Doncaster from when he was born in about 1512.

He met Agnes, who might have come from around Doncaster too (or did she come from Kirkleatham, which explains the long move?). They would have married in about 1537. If so, they probably married around Doncaster, perhaps in the same church in Campsall, where William later married.

William was born in about 1539. Jean was born in about 1540. Let’s assume they were still living around Campsall, Doncaster then.

We then know that William married at the church at Campsall (the same church where Robin Hood is reputed to have married Maid Marion!) in 1564.

Moving north, between 1564 and 1567

Between 1564 and 1567, the family moved to the Skelton/Kirkleatham area. One possibility is that Agnes came from there. For whatever reason, they moved to Kirkleatham.

Kirkleatham, 1567 to 1586

In 1567, Jean married Richard Fairly at Kirkleatham (where we know Nicholas and Agnes both died). Richard Fairley had a bit of a pedigree. So perhaps another reason for the move north is that Jean moved to the neighbourhood of her new husband, and the whole family moved north at about the same time.

They then lived in Kirkleatham, which was perhaps more the Fairly home than the Farndale home before then.

William’s three children were born in Kirkleatham between 1568 and 1573.

We then know that Nicholas died in Kirkleatham in 1572, and Agnes died there in 1586.

William died in Skelton in 1606 and was buried there.

Going back further from Nicholas

If this theory is correct (and it all fits pretty neatly), then this places the direct known relatives of certainly most, and probably all Farndales today to the Doncaster/Campsall area between about 1512 and 1564.

Almost all Farndales are certainly related to each other – the only quandary I have is that I’ve not been able to link the Ampleforth Line (and the Lines that trace from it) back from 1733 when Elias was born, so I can’t be sure that the Ampleforth line is related to the other Farndale lines. I have a strong suspicion that the Ampleforth Line will link in to everyone else, I just can’t evidence that yet.

That is exciting because we then know that Sir William Farndale (FAR00038)(about 1335 to about 1420), was the Vicar of Doncaster cathedral between 1396 and 1402. ‘Sir’ is simply the title used by vicars at the time. We have guessed he might have lived between about 1335-1420. He owned land for a period at Lovershall just south of Doncaster. Of course the span between 1402 and 1512 means that there must have been some generations between, but could this have been the same family. Could the family from which all living Farndales have descended have been this group living in or around Doncaster from about 1396 to 1564?

If so, then we might be able to follow up some more links:

· Could the Doncaster Farndales have been related to the Sheriff Hutton Line (1332 to 1388) or to the York 1 Line (1275 to 1448) or the York Southcliffe Line (from 1507)?

· Could the ecclesiastical link with Sir William Farndale of Doncaster have some link to Walter de Farndale (FAR0000041A)(about 1300 to about 1370) who links to Turvey Church in Bedfordshire and St Margaret’s Church in Chelmsford, London? Could Walter have been William’s father, and they were travelling about in their ecclesiastical roles?

· There is also a William Farndale of Caleys who was pardoned in 1370. It is possible this is the same person as Sir William Farndale, but probably not as we know he was already a chaplain at Doncaster by 1355, and it doesn’t seem likely he would have needed a pardon and then gone on to become the vicar! It is possible though that this is William Farndale (FAR00036)(1332 to 1397) of the Sheriff Hutton Line. Caleys might mean Calais, which widens our imagination to campaigns in France, but it might have been a misspelling of a more local place.

Regardless, these must be the descendants of the group of folk who lived in Farndale and then moved out and about as explored in detail in Volume 1 of the Farndale Directory.

So maybe the common ancestry of all those modern folk who are descended from the Farndale family is:

1. Villeins moved into Farndale the place in about 1230;

2. Individual people started to move out of Farndale and use the name Farndale;

3. Families started to emerge using the name of Farndale (increasingly without the ‘de’) more permanently including the Sheriff Hutton Line and the York 1 Line – these might well have included our direct ancestors (the probability increases as the information improves);

4. The direct line to modern Farndales focused around Doncaster from at least 1335 to about 1564;

5. Between 1564 and 1567, the family moved to the Skelton area in Cleveland, either because Agnes came from there or because Jean’s husband Richard Fairly came from there;

6. From 1512, and certainly from 1570, we know beyond doubt who our ancestors were;

7. Cleveland, and particularly the areas of Skelton, Kirkleatham, Moorsholm, Loftus, Brotton and eventually Kilton become the home of the Farndales from 1564 to the Victorian age.

If that is right, then we trace our ancestry directly back to 1512, have some pretty good guesses about links to folk coming out of Farndale from about 1330, and then know that they in turn descended from the villeins put into Farndale to assart and clear the land to farm from about 1230. Before that our ancestors were plucked from the cauldron and primeval mass of Bronze Age Beaker Folk, Iron Age Settlers, Brigantes, Romans, Vikings, Angles and Saxons that had roamed the moors and Dales of Yorkshire since about 9,000 years BCE.

1572

Nicholas farndaile was buried at Kirkleatham on 6 August 1572 (Kirkleatham Parish Records). Nicholas Farndaile - died about 1572 and buried at Kirkleatham, Yorkshire on 6 August 1572 at the age of 60 (Extracted from the Yorkshire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1837 (Parish Register of Kirkleatham, 1559-1812, Vol 59; Author: Transcr & Ed: J Charlesworth; Publication Year: 1917)

. That is the only sure fact we know about Nicholas. Everything else is an assessment of the wider evidence to attempt to ascertain the most likely circumstances on a balance of probabilities.

We also know that Agnes Farnedaile, was buried 23 January 1586 at Kirkleatham (England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991; England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991)

They were both buried at St Cuthbert Church, Kirkleatham.

St Cuthbert’s Church in the village of Kirkleatham was built in 1763 on the site of a much earlier church, thought to have dated from 800 AD. The site of the church is believed to have been used as a resting place for the body of St Cuthbert on its journey to Durham, his final resting place. The Turner Mausoleum, attached to the earlier church, was built in 1740, by the renowned architect James Gibbs. St Cuthbert’s Church is a Grade I listed building.

Our common ancestor

If we are correct in the analysis above, then although there are some educated guesses in linking Nicholas to his descendants, it seems a fair conclusion that Nicholas is the person to whom most Farndales (and probably all) today can directly trace their ancestry. It is probable that there is some link further back to William of Doncaster.

I believe that many Farndales today will be able to follow their lineage back to Nicholas. I believe that most or all Farndales will be able to link into the lineage chart below at some point.

The primordial sludge of Yorkshire prehistory.

The earliest inhabitants of the area around Farndale (FAR00001)

The serfs of Farndale (FAR00002) from about 1230

Walter de Farndale of Clayton (FAR000014A), about 1275 to 1328, Murdered by Hugh de Faulkes of Lebreston who was required to fight to Scots in recompense

?

Walter de Farndale (FAR00015), 1300 to about 1370, Vicar of Haltwhistle, Lazonby, Illis- haghe hospital, Upmeadon, Chemlsford

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William Farndale, Vicar of Doncaster Parish (FAR00038), about 1335 to 1420

?

……. (Doncaster family) There is a strong possibility that our ancestry before the time of parish records follows the sort of path suggested, but further research might change the current working theory

?

Nicholas Farndaile (FAR00059) of Doncaster and Kirkleatham, 1512 to 1572 and Agnes Farndale (FAR00060), 1516 to 1586 It is probable that Nicholas and Agnes Farndale were William’s father and mother.

William Farndale, (FAR00063), 1539 to 1606 of Skelton. It is very likely that William Farndale was George’s father.

George Ffarndayle, (FAR00067), of Moorsholm and Skelton, 1570 to 1606. Clear records put the ancestry back to this point beyond doubt.

Georgins Ffarndayle, (FAR00073), 1602 to 1693, of Liverton and Moorsholm.

Nicholas Farndale, (FAR00082), 1634 to 1693 of Liverton.

John Farndale, (FAR00116), 1680 to 1757 of Kilton.

John Farndale ("Old Farndale" of Kilton), (FAR00143), 1724 to 1807

William Farndale, (FAR00183) of Kilton, 1760 to 1846

George Farndale, (FAR00215), 1790 to 1858 of Kilton and Easby.

Martin Farndale (of Fogga, Skelton), (FAR00264), 1818-1862

Martin Farndale (of Tidkinhow), (FAR00364), 1845-1928

Alfred Farndale, (FAR00683), 1897-1987 and Margaret Louisa Farndale (nee Baker) (BAK00002)

Martin Baker Farndale, (FAR00911), 1929-2000

Richard Martin Farndale (FAR01122), b 1963

James Martin Richard Farndale (FAR01317), b 1994

Once you have established your ancestor somewhere in this line, you will then be able to trace yourself back to Nicholas.

Nicholas is probably my Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather.