
Jack Priestley’s Family History
This site is a work-in-progress. There is a massive amount to cover. I have included both male and female lines. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from Jack’s as (1)
RICHARD NICHOLSON and MARGARET (10)
RICHARD NICHOLSON. In April 1698, Richard Nicholson brought his daughter Mary to St Oswald’s church in Askrigg to be christened. His earliest known child was born early in 1695. This gives him a likely birth date in the later 1660s. This is too early for the surviving Askrigg registers and does not appear in the Bishops Transcripts.
By the 1670s, the Nicholsons were well established in Askrigg. Anthony, John and Thomas Nicholson were all having children baptised there, followed in the 1680s by James.
Their surname was often spelt Nichalson.
We find the first mention of a Richard Nicholson in a document of 1687.[1]
16th December 1687.
Memorandum that John Duckett late of Worton in the Chaplrey of Askrigg of the Archdeaconry of Richmond and diocese of Chester deceased on or about the second day of February last past being indisposed and finding himself very ill in health did call for one Richard Nicholson his next neigour and whoe lived under the same roofe with him and desired him to send for one John Scarr wch he did and when he came she said John Duckett being then of perfect minde & soud disposing memory and haveing a minde then to side or dispose of estate he had did nuncupatively declare his last will and minde in these or the like words in effect following vizt I give to George Hutchinson his [then] youngest childe Mathew the sum of five pounds Item he gave unto Richard Nicholson the house where he lived for three years and to his daughter Jane one Coffer And all the rest of his personall estate he did give and except his brothers children came which said will or words or to the like effect were spoken and declared in the presence of the said Richard Nicholson and others then present. Richard Nicholson Jur
A noncupative will was one which was not drawn up in the legal form, but was nevertheless held to express the wishes of the deceased. Richard Nicholson made this declaration, which was witnessed by others.
What we do not know is whether this is Mary’s father, or an older Richard Nicholson.
Worton is a hamlet a mile SE of Askrigg.
Askrigg was a chapelry in the parish of Aysgarth in North Yorkshire. It lies in the centre of Wensleydale, on the northern bank of the River Ure. Nearby are the spectacular waterfalls of Millgill Force and Whitfield’s Force.
“A great part of this is mountainous and rugged land, and dairy-farming is the most flourishing department of agriculture. ‘Wensedale and the Soile about is very Hilly, and berith little Corne, but norisith many Bestes,’ said Leland[2], and an inhabitant described it later as ‘very mountainous with nothing to live on but the increase of cattle and sheep.’
This description applies more particularly to that part of the valley above Bainbridge known for centuries as the Forest of Wensleydale.
Askrigg lies on the north bank of the River Ure, east of the Forest of Wensleydale. It is situated on irregular ground overlooking low-lying meadows. The houses are of stone. The market place with its cross is at the west end of the town, with the church on its western side.
Notable occupations were clockmaking (from the late 17th century) and knitting.
It had a free Grammar School from Elizabethan times.
MARGARET. We do not have a marriage for Richard Nicholson and the early register does not give the mother’s name. We know Margaret’s baptismal name only from her burial.
We have the following baptisms for children of Richard Nicholson:
Baptisms. St Oswald, Askrigg.
1694/5 Mar 4 Elizabeth daughter of Rich Nicolson
1698 Apr 17 Mary daughter of Richard Nicholson
1702 Nov John son of Richard Nichalson of Buse.
In the same month we have:
Burial. St Oswald, Askrigg.
1702 Nov 22 Margaret wife of Richard Nichalson of Buse.
It would appear that Margaret died in childbirth.
We have been unable to find the location of Buse.
John was buried on 12 Apr 1704 aged one. The family were still living at Buse.
There may have been other children born in the late 17th century. We have the parish registers only from 1701. Before that, there are only incomplete Bishops Transcripts.
The baptisms continue:
1704 Jun 11 Margaret daughter of Richard Nichalson of Baynbridge.
1707 Jul 31 son of Richard Nichalson of Baynbridge. The corner of the page with his name is missing.
This raises the question of whether the first Richard Nicholson married again and moved from Buse to Baynbridge, or whether this is another Richard. The fact that the next child is called Margaret may be a tribute to his dead wife.
Whether this is the same Richard, or another one, we do not have a record of his marriage.
Bainbridge is a hamlet also in the parish of Aysgarth, a mile SW of Askrigg, where the River Ure was crossed by a fine stone bridge with three arches.
We have been unable to find Richard’s occupation. If he is the same Richard Nicholson who was left a house by John Duckett, then he was confidently literate, so evidently more than an agricultural labourer.
Burial. St Oswald, Askrigg.
1722 May 19 Richard Nichalson of Worton householder.
Worton is where we find Richard Nicholson being left the house of John Duckett in 1687.
It is not certain whether this is the father of the children listed, or an older man.
We have found no other burials for Richard Nicholson in or around Askrigg, but parts of the parish register are in poor condition.
Nor have we found a burial for Richard’s second wife (or the wife of Richard of Baynbridge, if he was different from the Richard of Buse). If she died after Richard, she would not be named as his wife in the register. There are many Nicholson women buried after 1722 who could be her.
[1] Yorkshire Dales History. https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/33-26-john-duckett-worton-1687.pdf
[2] Leland, John and Thomas Hearne, The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary. Leland’s manuscript 1535-1545, Hearne’s edition 1770.
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