12. EARLY NICHOLSONS

Riley Tree

EARLY NICHOLSONS (12)

 

We have traced Jack Priestley’s Nicholson ancestors back to the village of Askrigg in Wensleydale in the latter 17^th century. The earliest known ancestor is Richard Nicholson, who was the beneficiary of a will in 1687.[1]

Wensleydale is the only Yorkshire Dale that is not named for a river. Wensley is a town on the River Ure that flows through it. Askrigg lies some ten miles higher up, in Upper Wensleydale.

It was a chapelry in the large parish of Aysgarth. Its church of St Oswald dates back 1466, but there was a church here at least as early as 1180. The dedication is to an 7^th-century Northumbrian king, who was converted to Christianity by the monks of Iona while he was in exile as a boy. He returned to take Northumbria back form the Mercians. He gave St Aidan the tidal island of Lindisfarne, to found a monastery as much like Iona as possible. He later lost his life fighting against the invading Mercians.

The registers of St Oswald’s church in Askrigg have only survived in full from 1701, with fragments of Bishops Transcripts before that.

But there were Nicholsons in Askrigg much earlier. The oldest record we have is the will of John Nycolson of Worton in 1557. [2]Worton is a hamlet SE of Askrigg, where we also find our Richardn Nicholson living in 1687.

Among his legacies, John Nycolson leaves a cow to his sister Ezabell, and a calf to his niece Elezabeth Metcalf. There are household items to Margaret. Nycolson, and also a legacy to George Metcalfe. Wylliam Nycolson, Christofer Nycholson and Margarete, receive half of all his goods, and he makes them his executors. The rest of his goods, after expenses, go to Margaret Nycolson, his brother’s daughter.
The witnesses include Thomas Nycolson and Rycharde Nycolson.
The inventory shows that Thos Nycolson owes John ixs.
John Nycolson appears to be a well-to-do farmer, with a number  cattle, sheep and hogs, as well as a store of wool.

Then in 1588 there is the will of William Nycolson, also of Worton.[3]
He leaves his sister Margaret Twhayt, her daughters Elizabeth and Agnes 6s 8d each
His son Anthony is to pay his youngest son Edmund £20 for his agreement on William’s messuage and tenement. His wife Helen is made Edmund’s guardian. He leaves her his messuage and tenement for the next six years. The rest of his goods, movable or immovable, go to Helen, whom he makes his executor.
The witnesses include James Nycolson and Alexander Metcalfe.
James Nycolson is also one of the overseers of William’s inventory.
In contrast to the previous will, William’s inventory included only four animals, including “one old hors”.

We move away from Worton to Askrigg for the will of Margaret Nicholson in 1610.[4]
She makes four men, including John Fawcett, her executors and leaves them all her goods, debts, etc.
She wishes them to pay her brother William Nycholson £4 a year. William is evidently a problem. This annuity is to be withdrawn if he “do not use him [self] honestly & well & keepe good company & be advised by them”.
Legacies include £7 to James Fawcett, and10s to Sisly Nycholson widow, formerky Story.
Margaret signs with her mark.
The legacy to James Fawcett is interesting. Nearly a century later, another James Fawcett married Mary Nicholson in Askrigg. Evidently, there was a long-running closeness between these families.
The frequent occurrence of Metcalfes in these wills is also of interest. Two or our Fawcett ancestors married Metcalfe brides.

We have no records of the family during the Civil War of the 1640s, when the country split between King and Parliament. We should have been able to see the adult male population of Askrigg in the Protestion Return of 1642, when people were asked to pledge their loyalty to the crown and the Protestant religion. Sadly, the return for Askrigg has not survived.
The North Riding was fought over, but the royalists controlled most of the county their catastrophic defeat at Marston Moor in 1644. Thereafter, the royalist garrisons in local castles fell, with Skipton one of the last.
High up in the Dales, Askrigg is unlikely to have been greatly touched.

After Margaret’s will 1610, we have marriages for Ellin and Margaret Nicholson in 1624, and then a spate of Nicholson baptisms from the 1670s onwards. There will have been many others in the years before the surviving registers start. Among them will probably be our Richard Nicholson’s baptism and those of his children, and also, if we are right that he married a local girl, his wedding.

We move on to more wills, and back to Worton, with the will of Edward Nicholson of Worton in 1671.[5] This is within the lifetime of our Richard Nicholson, who was probably a child then.
Edward is a yeoman. He appoints his cousin Edward Nicholson as one of his executors, Legacies include £1 to his cousin Anne Metcalfe, £2 to his cousin Anthony Nichalson, 10s each to his cousins Ingram Nickalson and William Nickalson. His brother Thomsas’s children share £2 between them when they reach 21.
Admin was granted to two executors, including Edward Nicholson of Worton yeoman.
The inventory included a hive of bees.

In 1674, we have the inventory, but not the will, of William Nicholson of Worton.[6] This lists his household stuff. It bears the names of George Metcalfe and Ingrame Nicklson, among others.

Ingram Nicholson’s will is next, in 1707.[7] He, too, is of Worton, and is a yeoman.
He gives £3 to his niece Jane Nicholson and half his household goods. There is £5 each for his nephews William and Thomas, sons of William Nicholson, to be paid by his brother Anthony Nicholson, who receives the close called Parrock. He makes his wife Ann his executrix. Ingerham Nicholson makes his mark.

Most of these early Nicholsons seem to be yeomen farmers. But this may be because labourers, with little to leave, were less likely to go to the expense of having a will drawn up.

Somewhere among all these, are likely to be some of Richard Nicholson’s ancestors, but we have no indication who they are.

The picture we have is of a large extended family that has been in Askrigg for many years before the records start.

We also get an impression of a close-knit group of families who interacted and intermarried with each other, including the Nicholsons, the Metcalfes and the Fawcetts.

 

 

[1] https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/33-26-john-duckett-worton-1687.pdf
[2] https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/worton-and-cubeck/
[3] https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/worton-and-cubeck/
[4] https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/65-100-margaret-nicholson-askrigg-1610.pdf
[5] https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/worton-and-cubeck/
[6][6] https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/worton-and-cubeck/
[7] https://yorkshiredaleshistory.wordpress.com/worton-and-cubeck/