9. BISHOP-IVESON

Riley Tree

THOMAS BISHOP and ANNE IVESON (9)

 

THOMAS BISHOP. Thomas and Anne were cousins, born in the Yorkshire town of Skipton in the mid-17^th century..

Baptism. Skipton.
1656 Jul 20  Thomas the sonne of George Bishopp of Skipton.
His mother was Jane Ivesonne. She was the elder sister of Anne’s father, Thomas Iveson.
Thomas was the youngest of four children.

 

ANNE IVESON. Anne was five years older than Thomas.

Baptism. Skipton.
1650/1 Feb 16  Anne the daughter of Thomas Iveson of Skipton.
“Of Skipton” means that they lived in the town, not in a rural part of the parish.
Her mother was Grace Pate.
Anne was the younger of two daughters.

She was only one year old when her mother died. Two years later, her older sister died too, aged four, leaving Anne an only child.
This may be why her father was keen to go into business with his son-in-law and nephew, having no son to succeed him.

Both Anne and Thomas were born in the Commonwealth republic after the execution of Charles I. By the time they married, the monarchy had been restored under Charles II.

 Marriage. Kildwick.
1678 Jun 24  Thomas Bishop and Anna Iveson of Skipton.

Marriages usually took place in the bride’s parish. Kildwick is a village where the Skipton-Keighley road crosses the River Aire 4m south of Skipton. But we have found no other Anne Iveson who could be Thomas’s bride. She may have been looked after there by relatives after her mother died, or gone there to find work.

The couple raised their family in Skipton.

Baptisms. Skipton.
1679 Apr 27  Lanclitt
1681 Aug 7  Grace
1683 Jan 20  Jane. She was buried the same day.
1686 Dec 7  Thomas
1689 Oct 7  Anne

In 1686 we have evidence that Thomas Bishop was in partnership with his uncle and father-in-law Thomas Iveson. They were renting a fulling mill from Lady Anne Clifford of Skipton Castle. “All that fulling mill situate, standing, and being below Skipton Mill-bridge, upon the Eller-beck, on the west side of the towne of Skipton.”[1]

Fulling was a process of cleansing woollen cloth to remove oil and dirt. The cloth was pounded with hands, feet or wooden paddles to produce a dense fabric that would repel rain.
Such mills were also known as walking or tucking mills.
We are told that in 1686: “The mill was then in the occupation of Thomas Iveson and Thomas Bishop, and was said to be in very bad repair, wherefore the rent was reduced.”

The younger Thomas died five years later in 1691.

Burials. Skipton.
1691 Dec 1 Thomas Byshopp of Skipton.
He was only 35.

He left no will, but his relict Anne was granted administration of his estate.

The inventory is hard to read, because there are inky fingerprints on it. It appears to say:

The Purse and Apparel                                                                  £01.00.00
Eight ?Heffers                                                                                £22.00.00
One Close called oddin:kers for ye remainder of 3000 years       £50.00.00
8 days plowing of oats                                                                   £4.00.00
                                                                                                       £77.00.00

The second and third items are particularly difficult to decipher, but. 3000 years is the traditional length of a long lease.

It appears that Thomas had some involvement in farming, although he lived in the town.

Anne’s youngest child, 20-year-old Thomas junior, died in 1706.

Anne survived her husband by nearly 26 years, living on into the next century and the first Hanoverian King George I.

Burial. Skipton.
1717 Oct 17  Anne Bishop (Widow) of Skipton.
She was 66.

 

[1] W, Harbutt Dawson, History of Skipton, 1882
[2] Fulling- Wikipedia