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From the History of Strangeways, Lancashire
The Strangeways family of Strangeways persisted through the medieval period and after, making occasional appearances in documents and deeds, until the elder line of the family died out and the estate was purchased by John Hartley, a successful merchant of Manchester, in 1624 (Query on date or birth date - since John seems to be only age 15). The founder of the family fortunes appears to have been his father Nicholas Hartley a Manchester linen draper who died in 1609. John was born in 1609, and rose as successful merchant to take on various offices, being at various times Constable and Boroughreeve of Manchester, and High Sheriff for the county of Lancaster. His success had been marked in material form by the purchase of Strangeways Hall, and it is due to him that the fine map was drawn by Richard Martincroft in 1641 of the Strangeways estate.
"Strangwayes, the story of a Yorkshire Family, of Royalty, Norman Earls and Feudal Barons" - book published in September 2002 by Paul Lister (contact piggleston@aol.com or via web page http://www.members.aol.com/piggleston/ancestralresearch/ ) Added June 2003
Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire of 1890
In the township of Alne there are 2,203 acres of land under assessment, of which the rateable value is £6,301. The principal landowners are John S. Strangwayes, Esq., J.P. and D.L., Alne Hall; ......
Near the village ... is Alne Hall, the seat of John Swainston Strangwayes, Esq., J.P. and D.L. It is a large brick mansion, built on the site of an ancient monastic cell, some parts of which have been incorporated in the present structure. One of these old walls is five feet thick, with a passage within it, wherein, according to local gossip, the treasures of Byland Abbey, to which the cell belonged, are hidden. The hall is pleasantly situated amidst woodland scenery, and has been much improved by the present owner. Within the grounds is an ancient well, the water of which is said to be somewhat similar to that of Harrogate, but less strong. Close by may be seen the foundations of baths.
The family of Strangwayes is of considerable antiquity. The earliest member of whom any record has been found was Henry Strangwish, of Strangwish Hall, near Manchester, the site of which is now occupied by Strangeways gaol, in that town. This Henry was the common ancestor of the several families bearing the name. John Strangwayes, who settled at Alne in the early part of last century, was the son of John Strangwayes, of Well. He left an only child Frances, who married Allan Swainston, M.D., of York, The eldest surviving son of this marriage, Edward Swainston, assumed the additional surname and arms of Strangwayes on succeeding to the property. The present representative of the family is his grandson.
YOULTON is a township of 780 acres .... the principal landowners are J. S. Strangwayes, Esq., Alne Hall; ......."
.... The hall subsequently came into the possession of a family named Ellerker, from whom it was purchased by the Strangwayes.
This parish is situated between the river Swale and Leeming Lane, and includes the village of Fleetham, and the hamlets of Great and Little Fencote....... E. H. Courage, Esq. is the principal landowner and lord of the manor, and the following are also proprietors:- ..... Messrs. Edward and Thomas Strangwayes .......
Middlesbrough priory ....... remained in the hands of the Crown for some twenty-four years, when, about the birth of Shakspere, Queen Elizabeth granted it, with the lands at Middlesbrough and Newham, given to it nearly four centuries and a half before, by its founder, to Thomas Reeve, Esq. How it became a possession of the ancient and illustrious family of Strangwayes, a branch of which is said at one time to have resided there; how, by one of the inter-marriages of the Strangwayes with the Boyntons, it came to those ancient lords of Acklam and Rousby; and how Sir Matthew Boynton ....
In 1456, Sir James Strangwayes obtained leave to appropriate the church of Deighton to Robert, prior of Mount Grace.
The Percys were the earliest owners of Ormesby, of whom we have any record. From this family the estate passed by marriage, about the year 1360, to Sir Robert Conyers, of Hornby; and an heiress of this line marrying a son of Sir James Strangwayes, of Whorlton Castle, Ormesby came into the possession of that family.
Upsall was formerly owned in succession by the Percys, Conyers, and Strangwayes...
Well Hall, an ancient building, now a farmhouse, was the seat and property of John Strangwayes, Esq., about the year 1700, and was sold by his descendant to Mark Milbank, Esq., in 1820. Holly Hill is a castellated building near the village, the residence of Miss Edith D. Milbank, second daughter of the late Mark William Vane Milbank, Esq. It was formerly the property of the Strangwayes.
Werleton, or Wiruelton, ... was, at the period of the Conquest, within the soke, or soc, of Hutton. The manor was in the possession of the Meynells as early as the reign of Henry I..... It continued in the possession of the Darcy line about a century, when Philip Darcy died, leaving two daughters, co-heiresses, between whom the estates were divided. Elizabeth, the eldest, married Sir James Strangwayes, knight, of Harlsey Castle, and received the manor of Whorlton and other lands as her share; and Margery, the younger, married Sir John Conyers, of Hornby. Whorlton subsequently passed, in the reign of Henry VIII., from the Strangwayes to the Crown; but in what manner has not been ascertained. It remained in the royal hands until the time of Charles I.
The Castle, of which a few fragments still remain, is supposed to have been erected in the time of Richard II. Leland thus briefly notices it: "Whorlton, in Cliveland, was the principal house of the Lord Menell, which sence came to Master Strangwayes in particion."
POTTO, formerly Potthowe, township .... in the olden time belonged to the Meynills, from whom it passed to the Darcys, thence to the Strangwayes, lords of Whorlton.