Of Knights and Bishops: Part I

From Gillingwood to America

Our family history began with Sir Gilbert de Querton who lived at Lammerside in old Westmoreland County, as noted in previous chapters. However, a more interesting starting point for our family is with Anthony Wharton [1534-1637], who is the ancestor to the Whartons at Gillingwood.

He never lived there—it was purchased by his son, Sir Humphrey Wharton, in 1609. It's only because Sir Anthony's older half-brothers are identified with specific, long-term estates—John III inherited Kirkby Thore and Charles became the ancestor to the Wharton's of Old Park (and eventually Offerton). So, it's only out of convenience we associate Gillingwood with Sir Anthony.

The Whartons of Gillingwood

In the beginning, then, was Sir Anthony Wharton …

¹ Sir Anthony Wharton [1534-1637]
         m. (1) Marye Beane [1534-1608]
         m. (2) Elizabeth Robinson (died childless)

Anthony settled at Reagill Grange, southwest of Kirkby Thore, near Crosby-Ravensworth.

Figure 1—Reagill Grange, Crosby-Ravensworth, 16th Century. [1]

Reagill was not far from Kirkby Thore, falling within the Wharton Golden Triangle of Penrith – Kirkby Stephen – Tebay (Figure 2). Almost all of the early Whartons had settled somewhere in this portion of Old Westmoreland County (now Cumbria County). It was only after they began to spread eastward into Durham, Northumbria, and Yorkshire that they truly began to expand out of this early region.

It was this fact that confounded me in my early genealogical research. Being from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, I suspected that I was somehow related to the Thomas Wharton [1644-1718] who came to the Philadelphia region. He was called "Thomas the Immigrant" and he was from Orton, Westmoreland County. He was the ancestor of the famous industrialist, Thomas Wharton (1707-1776), who founded the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-founded Swarthmore College and the Bethlehem Steel Company.

It wasn't that I wanted to somehow prove my connection to this famous Wharton, it just seemed reasonable that we were related to his ancestor who came to America … since we lived in the same area. This highlights a caution for a lot of amateur genealogical researchers (myself included): never jump to unfounded conclusions. It was only after I learned of the spread of the Whartons across England that I was able to trace my true ancestry back to Gillingwood instead of directly to Westmoreland County.

Figure 2—Old Westmoreland County and the eastern portion settled by Whartons.

² Humphrey [1568-1635] m. Agnes Cleburn [1572-1627]

Humphrey was born in Reagill Grange, but in 1609 bought the manor of Gilling in North Yorkshire and built Gillingwood Hall a mile above the village as his family home (Figure 3).

Figure 3—Gilling West, North Yorksire. [2]

He married Agnes Cleburn and this is where our story gets interesting. If you read the preface, you'll recall I wrote about a family myth my father always told that there were seven brothers, and when the oldest received the family inheritance, all the other brothers left for America. Was it true? Here is where we find out.

Humphrey and Agnes had 10 children: 3 daughters … and 7 sons. Sound familiar? But here is where the family myth falls apart. There were seven bothers, and the oldest (at the time of their father Humprey's death) did receive the inheritance, but the other brothers did not all come to America. They did, in fact, die before they had the chance.

^3a Anthony Wharton [1592-1635]—died the same year as his father.
^3b Charles Wharton [1594-1640]—may have been in line to receive the inheritance, but he died five years after his father where he had settled … at Ravenstonedale. Perhaps he was preparing to move to Gillingwood, but he never got the chance.
^3c Humphrey Wharton, Jr. [1594-1634]—died one year before his father.
^3d Thomas Henry Wharton, Sr. [1504-1641]—Oxford educated, he was the son that received the family inheritance. He was born at Reagill Grange, but died at Gillingwood. He was our direct ancestor, my 9th great grandfather.
^3e George Samuel Wharton Sr.—born at Reagill Hall, but lived at Eppleby … only 6 miles north of Gilling West in Northern Yorkshire. He emigrated with his nephew Thomas Jr. (our ancestor) in 1639, and later died at Assowoman Creek, Virginia, USA. So he was the first, and actually the only brother to come to America, possibly for the very reason stated in our family myth. He may have looked across the ocean to make his fortune. However, he did receive the estate in Eppleby by will, so that may not have been the sole driving force. Its possible there was an additional reason—one due to the spread of recurring disease (see below).
^3f Elizabeth Wharton [1598-1678]
^3g Philip Wharton [1604-1635]
^3h Jemima Wharton [1606-]
³ⁱ William Wharton [1609-1635]
^3j Philadelphia Wharton [1610-1692]

³ Thomas Henry Wharton. Sr. [1630-1695] m. Susannah Hoyle [1591-1646]

Thomas Sr. and Susannah had four children:

^4a Humphrey Wharton [1626-1694]
^4a Barbara Wharton [1628-1670]
^4a Thomas Wharton Jr. [1628-1695]
^4a Martha Wharton [1632-]

⁴ Thomas Wharton. Jr. [1630-1695]

Thomas Jr. was only 9 years old when his uncle George Sr. took him to America in 1639. Certainly his older brother, another Humphrey Wharton [b.1626], was destined to receive Gillingwood from their father, but why leave at such a young age? One possibility lay in the infectious diseases of the time.

Recurring Epidemics

While researching this family, I found it odd that four brothers from the same generation (Anthony, Humphrey Jr., Philip, William), as well as their father, died within one year of each other, during the years 1634-1635. In addition, Charles died in 1640 and Thomas Sr. in 1641. The only reason I could find for this was the possible recurrence of the Bubonic Plague that afflicted the British Isles during those years.

Most people think the Bubonic Plague tore through Europe in the 1500s killing two-thirds of the population, and that was the end of it. Certainly, the most severe damage occurred with that first onslaught, but that was not the end of the Plague. In fact, it spiked frequently from the 1500s all the way through the 1700s, each time causing severe epidemics.

In England, there were actually six epidemics between 1563 and 1665, with one besetting London in 1636. However, London was not the only location affected—there were localized outbreaks at different times throughout the country, even reaching northern England.[3] While not as severe as experienced by larger cities like London and even York, spatial data shows epidemics occurred even in lower population areas (Figure 4).

Could a localized outbreak have arrived at Gilling West in 1634-1535? Or could it have been the precursor to the one that hit London in 1636?

Figure 4—Spatial distribution of plague outbreaks in England, 1347–1760 AD. [4]

It seems certainly a possibility. Ir might have seemed the only viable reason Thomas Henry Wharton Sr. would have had to send his son to America at such a young age while he remained behind. The desire to find a good life for his son who would not have received any inheritance still remains another good possibility, but one cannot discount running away from disease as a motivating factor. Perhaps Thomas Sr. may have thought enough Whartons had died from the Plague, it was time to save at least one son.

Yet, there was still another possible reason. A story my father told was that our branch of the Whartons were Quakers, known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. They were a religious sect of Protestant Christians that arose in mid-17th century England, along with other dissenting Protestant groups. These sects broke away from the established Church of England. The term Quaker began as a way of ridiculing their admonition to tremble at the word of the Lord.

Quakers still exist today, whose members are generally united by a belief in each human's ability to experience the light within—that God is in every person. They were one of the first religious groups to oppose slavery. In addition, they refuse to pick up arms, wear plain dress, do not swear oaths, and practice alcoholic abstinence.

The Quakers were heavily persecuted for their views and many left England for the Americas. Once again, to understand the motivations of our ancestors, its imperative to understand the times in which they lived.

Religious Turmoil

England had wavered between Catholicism and Protestantism for many years. It all began when Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church in 1527 because the Pope refused to grant him a divorce. This break was solidified when Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy in 1534, making the king head of the Church of England—an unlikely amalgamation of Catholicism and the newly emerging Protestantism brought about by Martin Luther in Germany.

Catholics began to be persecuted under Henry VIII, but when his reign was followed by Edward VI, the persecution intensified. That all reversed itself when Mary I, Queen of Scots, came to the throne. She reinstated catholicism as the state religion and suddenly protestants began to be persecuted. The kingdom was literally being torn apart until, finally, Elizabeth I came to power. She ushered in an period of more religious tolerance through the Religious Settlement Act of 1559.

The new Protestant churches—the Anglican Church (the old Church of England) and the Lutheran Church (formed by the followers of Martin Luther) began to spread (Figure 1). Meanwhile, a new force arose on the scene: Calvinism. The followers of John Calvin of Geneva quickly spread their concept of Protestant reformation to Switzerland, France (Reformed Church), the Netherlands (the Huguenots), and was carried to Scotland largely though the efforts of John Knox (Presbyterians).

Figure 5—The early spread of Protestant sects throughout Europe. [5]

At the same time, minor Protestant sects seemed to be exploding onto the scene throughout England and Europe. The Anabaptist movement, that began in Switzerland, split into the Amish (followers of Jakob Ammann), Mennonites (followers of Meno Simons) in the Netherlands, and Bretheren in Germany. Separatists from the Anglican Church led to Baptists, Puritans, and a whole slew of nonconformist dissenting sects like Quakers, Shakers, Diggers, and Levellers. Many of these were politically motivated and therefore became enemies of the State.

Because of the objections to these religions by those wielding political power in various countries, persecution forced the offenders to leave. England became the nexus for an onslaught of religious refugees. There had been many changes in the climate of religious tolerance that, for a time, distinguished England. So, people fleeing Europe often came through England first, seeking that tolerance, which unfortunately evaporated. Religious persecution would continue until the 1660s.

Its my belief that the Whartons of Gillingwood were not Quakers, and so was not the reason that Thomas Wharton came to America. I never found any mention of their religious preference in the records. That doesn't discount the fact that they may have been, only that it was never recorded for any of our ancestors in England.

However, we must remember that they were landed gentry. As such, they were tied closely to the official religion of England—the Anglican Church. Those that broke away from the official religion tended to be of the poorer classes. Any Quakerism, then, must have arisen after Thomas Jr. and his uncle came to America.

Whatever the reason for coming to America, we can say with some degree of certainty that the family myth is half true. There were, indeed, seven brothers, but only one (and the son of another) left for America. Yet, where they ended up surprised me. Both Thomas and his uncle died in the Virginia Colony.

I say surprised because I still clung to the belief that our family MUST have immigrated directly to the Philadelphia region. It was not only a major immigration port, but the Philadelphia region—in fact, all of southeastern Pennsylvania—was the nucleus of William Penn's colony. He was of the Quaker faith and had instituted his colony as a haven for his (and other) beliefs. If my father was correct about our Quaker beliefs, Pennsylvania was the place to come.

The fact remains, though, that George Sr. and Thomas Jr. settled in Virginia. George died at Assawoman Creek, VA and Thomas Jr. died at Accomac, VA. But the exactly location of these places perhaps give a clue about how we ended up in Pennsylvania. The journey of our ancestors beginning with Thomas Jr, then, is the subject of the next chapter.

However, before leaving Gillingwood behind, its worth mentioning that in 1750, on St. Stephen's Day, the entire house was destroyed by fire. Furniture, deeds and most of the family records were lost, so no good picture of the old hall survived. The present house was built on the same site and is now rented as a farm (Figure 6), although Wharton heirs still own the Gilling estates, held by a family trust. [6]

Figure 6—Gillingwood Hall Farm from Old Hall Lane (hall on left).

There are fragments of the old hall remaining around the area and some of these can be clearly seen when passing close to the farm. The original gateposts are preserved in the approach from the High Street to St. Agathas in Gilling West Village (Figure 7).

Figure 7—Gillingwood gateposts at entrance to St. Agatha's Church.

What of the Whartons that remained behind at Gillingwood? We know that after Thomas Sr. died, the estate went to his oldest son Humphrey, who had three children.

⁴ Humphrey Wharton [1626-1694] m. Mary Byerley (or Briely)

^5a Anne [-1714]
^5b Anthony
Anthony inherited Gillingwood, but was also able to buy the estates at Kirkby Thore, keeping the old homestead in the family and uniting it with the lands at Gillingwood. He had no sons, so I'm uncertain where the inheritance ended up—possibly in the hands of his brother Robert. However, his daughter Anne ended up, through marriage, the progenitor of the Whartons of Skelton Castle, though there were legitimately no Whartons who ever owned it (see below).
^5c Robert [1651-]

Skelton Castle

Skelton Castle has a rather odd connection to the Whartons, because they never really owned it. The Wharton name would actually be carried on through a series of name changes rather than through any real pedigree.

It was built by Robert de Brus in 1140, and then passed down to the families of Fauconberg and then Conyers, at which time it was said to be in ruins. From there, It went to the families of Trotter and finally Hall.

Figure 10—Skelton Castle, Yorkshire.

The Wharton connection came through Anthony Wharton of Gillingwood and Kirkby Thore (5b above) who had a daughter named Ann.

^5b Anthony Wharton m. Margaret Hicks
         ^6a Mary Wharton
         ^6b Margaret Wharton [1697-]
         ^6c Ann Wharton [1695-] m. Ambrose Stevenson
                    ⁷ Ann Stevenson m. John Hall (Stevenson) of Skelton Castle

When John Hall married Anne Stevenson, instead of giving his name to his wife, he added her name to his, making it John Hall Stevenson. He was a bit on the wild side and formed the "Demoniacs Club" who met in the ruins of the castle for drinking bouts.

                    ⁸ Joseph William Hall Stevenson
                             ^9a Join Hall Stevenson (Wharton)—died childless
                             ^9b Rev. William Hall Stevenson (Wharton)

John and William, the heirs of the family, in 1788 changed their last names to Wharton because they had inherited a considerable sum from their great-great aunts, Margaret and Mary Wharton (6a and 6b above). John, now John Hall Wharton, spent most of it demolishing and rebuilding the castle.

                             ¹⁰ John Thomas Wharton
                             ¹¹ William Henry Anthony Wharton
                             ¹² Margaret Winsome Wharton
                                       m. Christopher Ringrose (Ringrose-Wharton)

Rev. William Hall Wharton, vicar of Gilling, passed his inheritance to his oldest son, John Thomas Wharton, and then to William Henry Anthony Wharton, High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1925, and his death in 1938, to his daughter Margaret Winsome Wharton.

She married Christopher Hildyard Ringrose, a Royal Navy captain, who chose to add the additional surname of Wharton to his (so Ringrose-Wharton). Because, why not? Everyone else had.

Mrs Ringrose Wharton was a very highly respected lady in the village. She took an active part in running the estate and supported many activities in the local community. She lived there until at least 1986, by which time a relative ran the estate because of her age.

There were no children from her marriage and so the estate passed to Anthony Charles Philip Wharton (b. 1946). He is the son of Lawrence Humphrey Wharton, grandson of Philip Thomas Wharton, great-grandson of James Charles Wharton who was a brother of John Thomas Wharton (10 above) and is the current owner of Skelton Castle.

Confused? The thing is, they were all really of the Hall family, but I suppose you could say it was Wharton money that bought the name that became associated with Skelton Castle. Yet, there was never any real Wharton by birth who lived in the castle.

———————

FOOTNOTES

[1] Photo courtesy of the Institute of Historical Research. British History Online, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in Westmoreland: Houses  . Accessed 30 March 2022.

[2] Photo Courtesy of Mike Garratt. Geograph: NZ1804. Gilling West  Accessed 30 March 2022.

[3] Harding, Vanessa. The Dead and the Living in Paris and London, 1500-1670 Cambridge University Press, p. 24   Accessed 30 March 2022.

[4] Yue, Ricci P.H.; Lee H.F.' and Wu, C.Y. Navigable rivers facilitated the spread and recurrence of plague in pre-industrial Europe   Sci Rep. 2016;6:34867. Accessed 30 March 2022.

[5] Map courtesy of Fairfax County Public Schools. World Religions  , Accessed 30 March 2022.

[6] Geni. Humphrey Wharton, of Gillingwood  . MyHeritage Ltd. Accessed 30 March 2022. Original source: <http://www.gillingwest.org.uk/Walks/Walk2.htm> [link no longer exists]

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