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THE MANORIAL FAMILIES.
THE BARRYS.
When the Tollerton estate was sold in 1873 it was described as “Formerly the seat of Pendock Barry Barry, Esquire, deceased, whose ancestors have, it is believed, been seated at Tollerton from nearly the date of the Conquest.” This was no flight of fancy, but in accordance with fact. The family of Barry claim to descend from a Norman noble who joined the Conqueror at the invasion of England. It is said that they lived at La Barre in the Cotentin, Normandy, and took their name from that place; but it is more probable that the name de Barre or de Barri, as it was first spelt, was derived from the island of Barry which was part of the South Wales estates bestowed upon this family by the Conqueror. The curious claim of Pendock Barry Barry that the island was named after the family, is an inversion of fact. The island name came from its being the abode of a Celtic Saint Baroche.
It was a family tradition that the Nottinghamshire Barrys were closely akin to those of Glamorganshire and Pembrokeshire, and the tradition seems to be sound. In the early annals of Lenton Priory we meet with the names of de Insula,1 de Glamorgan, and de Barri in close association. These different names appear to describe members of the same family—-de Insula, which means “of the island,” speaking of the island home; de Glamorgan, of the county where their lands chiefly lay, and to which the island was adjacent; and de Barri, from the island's name. Here again, we have the family claim that the de Insulas were Barrys.
The Nottinghamshire Barrys came to the county at an early date. One Galfridus de Barri, or de Insula, held a manor in Teversal at the time of the Doomsday Survey, which they held until it passed by marriage to the Greenhalghes.
It is quite possible that Ranulphus de Insula, the first of the Barry kindred who is mentioned in connection with Tollerton, was the younger son of Galfridus of Teversal, but how he came to be possessed of this place, we do not know.
Thoroton, Burke, and others agree in stating that the Barrys of Teversal and Tollerton had a common origin, but they are unable to say when they came to this place. Some say2 it was in Stephen’s reign, in 1140, when Ralf Barry held Teversal and probably also Tollerton, but this date seems to be too late by a generation.
Some interesting names in the family roll arc the following, although they cannot all be said to belong to the Tollerton branch.
Richard Barry.
When Henry II sought to make peace with the Pope after the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket, he sent an embassy to Rome in 1170 including the Archbishop of Rouen, the Bishops of Evreux and Worcester (Roger, son of the Earl of Gloucester), and several clerks and others attached to his court. Foremost among these clerks was Richard Barre. On arriving in Italy Richard Barre was sent forward to Rome, “and, after much danger and suffering arrived first at the court of our lord the pope." So, the mission reported to the King, and added that when with difficulty they joined him “we found Richard Barre very anxious to maintain your honour, and exerting himself with much prudence and industry for your profit. But he was in great distress and dismay, as he had neither been admitted to an interview with the lord Pope, nor had others shown any kindness or civility to him.”
In 1188, the last year of the life of Henry II, he and the King of France “took the cross” to go forth in crusade against Saladin. Richard Barre, now archdeacon of Lisieux, was sent as, ambassador to the Emperors of Rome and Constantinople respecting a free passage for the Kings of England and France. This mission, so far as concerned the English king, was in vain; for Henry died and was buried while on his journey through France.
This important ambassador may be one of the many sons of William Barre or Barri of Manorbier Castle, Pembrokeshire, some of whom took a prominent part alike in Church and State under Henry II.
Gerald de Barri.
One of the most famous of the Barrys is Gerald, who chose to be known as Giraldus Cambrensis, Gerald of Wales. He was the sixth son of Sir William de Barri of Manorbier Castle,3 and, if we are right in our identification, a younger brother of Robert Barre the Ambassador of Henry II. The pseudonym of Gerald denotes a strong patriotism, which calls for explanation. His mother was Angharad, the daughter of Gerald de Windsor by his wife, the famous beauty Princess Nesta, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr, the last independent Prince of South Wales. Although Gerald’s father was wholly Norman and his mother half Saxon, he was so imbued with Welsh traditions that he became more Welsh than the full-blooded Welshman—hence his chosen name.
Gerald was born at Manorbier Castle in 1147. Here he was brought up. Throughout his life he retained the deepest affection for this spot which he deemed the dearest place on earth, “the sweetest spot in Wales.” By his father’s wish, which was in harmony with his own, Gerald was educated with a view to holy orders. After a brilliant career as student and tutor at the University of Paris—then world-famous—he was ordained. He found promotion ready to his hand, and became a very prince of pluralists. He held four livings, two prebends and a canonry, and when only twenty-eight became Archdeacon of Brecon. In the following year, 1176, the Bishop of St. David’s died, and Gerald, among others, was nominated by the Chapter to the King for the bishoprick. It had long been his ambition to hold this office, and restore the Welsh Church to a position of independence of Canterbury. The King, Henry II, was not without knowledge of Gerald’s ambition, but feared the result of such an appointment. He had made Gerald’s cousin, the Lord Rhys, justiciar in South Wales; and he saw the risk of placing another of the race in this most important bishoprick.
By way of compensation the King made Gerald one of his chaplains, and entrusted to him the education of his youngest son, Prince John. Nothing however atoned for a thwarted ambition, and a growing coolness arose between king and subject. Gerald sought consolation in literary work, of which the best known is his Topography of Ireland, the Conquest of Ireland, the Itinerary of Wales, and his Description of Wales.
When the strained relationship with the King reached danger point, Gerald withdrew to Lincoln to be near his friend the saintly Bishop Hugh; occupying himself in revising those writings through which he hoped for lasting fame.
A longing for his beloved Welsh home at length impelled him to return; and it is said that he died where he was born, at Manorbier Castle, in 1223.
If he had but written an Itinerary of his journey to and from Lincoln, we should doubtless have heard of a sojourn at Lenton Priory, so closely associated with his family, and possibly of a visit to his relations at Tollerton and Teversal. Gerald won the fame he desired, for his works are still read. Freeman described him as “the universal scholar,” a tribute to his knowledge of Welsh, English, Irish, French, German, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Another said that he was “the cleverest critic of the life of his time.” There is little doubt that, but for the accident of high birth which impeded promotion, he would have gained as great fame as an ecclesiastic as he did by his literary works.
The Barrys of Tollerton were proud to number Gerald among their kinsmen.
The Irish Families of Barry.
It would unduly extend this history to trace the Irish branches of the Barry family. When Henry II determined on the conquest of Ireland he found no abler lieutenants than the sons of Sir William Barry, whose deeds Giraldus Cambrensis has recorded. They were consequently enriched with large grants of Irish lands, and afterwards ennobled; their name being still well known in Ireland.
The following story seems to indicate that the family connection of the Nottinghamshire and Irish Barrys was not forgotten in the 18th century. Henry Barry, fourth and last Lord Santry, stabbed a man in a Palmerston inn in 1739. He was tried for murder by his peers, and sentenced to be beheaded. The King, yielding to a strong recommendation to mercy attached to the sentence, granted a pardon, but Lord Santry’s estates were made forfeit for two years, and he was deprived of his title. He withdrew to Nottingham with his young wife, where she died in 1742. The choice of Nottingham seems to be connected with the nearness of the Barry kindred at Tollerton; unless Lady Barry, whose maiden name was Thornton, herself had family connections with this town. The first alternative seems to be most likely in view of later happenings. Henry Barry married as second wife Elizabeth Shore of Derby. The marriage took place at Flawford—the last marriage to be celebrated in that church—and was conducted by the vicar, who was also rector of Tollerton, and a connection of the squire of that place. It seems to be more than a coincidence that the marriage took place under these circumstances. The Ruddington register records “A.D. 1750. The Rt. Hon. Henry Barry Esq., late Ld. Santry of the Parish of St. Peters in Nottm. and Miss Elizabeth Shore of the Parish of St. Nicholas ibid, were married Nov. 7th p. licence. Job Falkner, Vicar.”
Henry Barry died at Nottingham in 1751, and was buried in St. Nicholas’ Church on March 22nd.
Sir William Barry, Knight.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Edward I, 1286-7, the king raised an army to go into Wales to put down Rhesus, son of Mereduc, who attempted to throw off the English yoke.
Among the forces was a contingent of two hundred and eighty men from the counties of Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham; brought thither by knights of these shires.
In the accounts of the payments made to the soldiers engaged in this fighting, the name of William Barry frequently occurs. We hear of him gallantly leading his men, riding upon an armour-clad horse, and gaining great distinction for bravery.
If Sir William Barry had led the men from this county we should have had no hesitation in claiming him as belonging to the Barrys of Nottinghamshire, but it is expressly stated that he was in command of a hundred men of Ewyas, a district in mid-Wales near the Black Mountains. This fact makes the claim hazardous; but we see nothing unlikely in the choice of an English knight of Welsh origin to lead the men of Wales.
The Teversal Barrys certainly had a contemporary Sir William, and in the Tollerton pedigree of that period the name William Fitz Ralf Barry occurs. We may at least claim that one of these may be the gallant soldier of Edward I.
Sir John Barry, Knight.
If doubt attaches to the claim that Sir William Barry may have been of this place, there is none as to Sir John Barry who served as soldier and civilian under Edward II and Edward III. He was the son of Richard Barry and Amicia Frescheville his wife, and held the manor of Tollerton for nearly half a century. The Barrys claim4 that Sir John’s brother Henry, Earl de Barre, married a sister of Edward II and thus brought their family into closest ties with the royal family. Sir John is described5 as “lord of Basingfield, Gamelston, Clipston,” as well as of “Torlaston.”
This knight fought under Edward II, in the disastrous battle of Bannockburn near Stirling when “a crowd of knights and twenty barons were slain, and nearly all the rest taken captive.” In the battle array, Sir Nicholas Hains says, “his field equipage moved next to the Royal in consequence of the near family alliance.” Sir John was present at the Great Council of Westminster in 1324 as man at arms, and in the following year answered the summons to present himself with his men at Portsmouth to pass into Guyenne under the command of the Earl of Waranne. In 1334 John of Oxford, Sheriff of Nottinghamshire summoned Sir John Barry and others with their servants who were “able and knowing in arms” to be “in the parts of Scotland by the 20th day of the Birth of our Lord, in the retinue of the lord Edward (III) King of England, in whatever part he may happen to be on that day, with horses and arms and victuals for 15 days.” This invasion of Scotland by the King was made in concert with Baliol, in August, 1335. In the subsequent fighting Sir John with his Tollerton and other dependents played a notable part, and he was specially mentioned for his services at the siege of Caerlaverock in 1341. Sir John served in Parliament as knight of the shire in 1321-2, 1325-6 and 1340.
Alice Barry.
In the Close Rolls of the first and second years of the reign of Henry IV two grants are mentioned to a lady of the Barry family. The King granted to Alice Barry, on Nov. 12th, 1399, “such livery as other damsels of the household of her estate take at the wardrobe;” and at the same time two pipes of wine.
On March 29th of the following year there is an instruction “To the sheriffs of London, to set free Alice Barry if taken at suit of the King and Richard Coggleshale for leaving Rd. Coggleshale’s service before the term agreed.”
Another entry in the Rolls at this time makes it probable that this lady was a member of our local family—Joan Bredon of the county of Nottinghamshire “one of the damsels of Queen Philippa’s bedchamber” was granted a pension of £10 a year for life in recognition of her services to the king’s grandmother. The services of the Barry family to Edward III, and their kinship with the royal house, would naturally be recognized by the king, and may have been shewn in the appointment of Alice Barry to a household appointment. If so, one Nottinghamshire lady succeeded another.
THE PENDOCKS.
By the failure of heirs male, with the death of John Barry, the manor of Tollerton passed to Richard Pendock or Pendocke as it was then spelt, on his marriage with Matilda the daughter of Thomas Barry and his eventual heiress.
The Pendocks took their name from the village Pendock in the extreme south of Worcestershire where they lived at Pendock Court for a long period, moving eventually to Gotherington in the parish of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire. This ancient and honourable family had of their number Andrew Pendock, High Bailiff, who represented the City of Gloucester in Parliament at the time of the murder of Edward II. He took an active part in the king’s funeral with the abbot of Gloucester, when the monasteries of Renham, Bristol, and Malmesbury refused to give burial to the royal corpse or receive it for fear of the anger of Queen Isabel and her paramour Mortimer.7 This grant of burial to Edward II caused Edward III and others to make great benefactions to Gloucester, and this accounts for the present magnificence of the Cathedral. It is interesting to know that a Pendock was unconsciously instrumental in bringing about this enrichment of the monastic building.
The Pendock family became connected with Tollerton by this marriage of Richard son of William Pendock of Gotherington with Maud who was the heiress of the Barrys after the death of her brother John in 1545, and of his children.
Note.—There is an entry in the Tollerton register—the first entry in the oldest volume—which is, to say the least, unusual in form; “1558 Winyfryd ye Daughter of Mary Pendock was baptized ye 20th January.” Mary must be of the parent stock.
John Pendock, 1577-1643.
“John Pendock, gentleman,” would have escaped notice had it not been for his many money troubles. He was son and heir of William Pendock by his first wife Eleanor Lovett of Lipscombe in Buckinghamshire, and was born in 1577. He married, it is said, on Sept. 9th, 1594, Frances, daughter of Richard Parkyns of Bunney, and settled at Bassetts Manor House in Tollerton. If these dates are correct, John Pendock was little more than seventeen at the time of his marriage; and, if so, it is easy to see how his financial difficulties began. There were at least six children of this marriage, five sons and a daughter. If we may judge from his father’s will he had no margin of income for his son’s needs.
By 1611 John Pendock was so deeply involved that he mortgaged part of his estate to a well-to-do farmer of Tollerton. The terms of the mortgage are, “Final Agreement between William Barker, plaintiff, and John Pendocke Esqr. deforcer of 1 messuage, 1 garden, 1 orchard, 70 acres of arable land, 20 acres of meadow, 12 acres of pasture, and common of pasture . . . in Torlaston, alias Tollerton. For this grant surrender warrant fine and agreement . . . William gave John £80 sterling.”
F.F., Notts., Easter, 9 Jas. I.
About the same time John borrowed money from William Barker’s brother Richard, for when Richard Barker made his will in 1619 a sum of £10 was still owing, which the testator ventured to assign to his children.
Having borrowed from these Tollerton tenants, John Pendock now turned to some of his neighbours for the large sum of £600. Among the Nottinghamshire Fines is this: “Final agreement between Philip Lord Stanhope, George Perkyns, knight, Thomas Gilbert Esqr., and George Savadge Esqr., plaintiffs, and John Pendocke gent., deforcer, concerning the manor of Tollerton alias Torlaston, and of 8 messuages, 6 cottages, 1 windmill, 2 dovecotes, 14 gardens, 14 orchards, 600 acres of arable land, 200 acres of meadow, 200 acres of pasture, 400 acres of sedge and heath, 20s. of rent, view of frankpledge, and common pasture for all beasts in Tollerton alias Torlaston, and the advowson of the Church of Tollerton.” Philip et. al. gave to John £600.
F.F., Mich. 16 Jas. I.
Lord Stanhope was John’s overlord, and George Perkyns was his wife’s grandfather.
In the following year, 1619, Robert Abbott and Henry Butler sued John Pendock in the King’s Bench for debt.
The desperate borrower turned again to Mr. George Savage for a further loan of £140. This was arranged at Bingham on June 20th, 1621. At the time for repayment, the money was not forthcoming. The case was taken to court, and judgment given, with costs, against the debtor. In spite of this, payment was not made, and John Pendock was committed to the Marshalsea prison for debtors. George Savage followed this up and asked for delivery of “all the goods of the same John in co. Notts, except plough oxen and horses, and half of all his lands and tenements as a freehold to himself and his assigns until he shall have levied the debt and damages.” A writ "was granted, and on Sept. 24th, 1623, an inquisition was held at Bingham to discover the estate, and allot a portion to Savage in satisfaction of his dues.
Coram Rege Roll, Hil., 19 Jas. I, roll 415.
The jury find “that John Pendock gentleman is seised for the term of his life of a chief messuage in Tollerton called Bassetts Manor House of the annual value of £14 10. 0., a windmill in Tollerton now in the occupation of Richard Pendocke gentleman of the annual value of £2 10. 0., a close in Tollerton called the Signett Yard in the occupation of Robert Kirkeby and Thomas Fillingham of the annual value of 80 shillings, a close in Tollerton called the Ox Close now in the occupation of John Pare, Clerk, of the annual value of 40s., a messuage or tenement in Tollerton in the occupation of Robert Kirkebye of the annual value of £8, a messuage or tenement in Tollerton in the occupation of George Ward of the value of £7, a cottage or tenement in Tollerton in the occupation of Nicholas Baldocke of the annual value of 6s. 8d., a cottage in the occupation of William Lovat of the annual value of 6s. 8d., a cottage in T. in the occupation of Thomas Henson of the annual value of 6s. 8d., a cottage in T. in the occupation of William Wilson of the annual value of 6s. 8d., a cottage in Tollerton of the annual value of 6s. 8d. in the occupation of Richard Howard, a close in T. called the Bridge Close in the occupation of Thomas Henson, William Goadbye and John Fillingham of the annual value of 30s., a close in T. called Pease Closse in the occupation of Hellene Milner widow, Nicholas Baldocke, and Gabriel Ragsdale of the annual value of 53s. 4d., a close in T. called the Little hoppe close now in the occupation of Robert Baldocke of the annual value of 10s. And the said Jurors say that John Pendocke has no other lands to their knowledge.”
The jury assigned, and the sheriff delivered to George Savage “The messuage called Bassetts Manor House the three closes called the little hoppe closse, the pease closse, and the ox closse and the said mill . . . as one half the premises . . . as his freehold until the debt and damages are levied.”
In this same year, 1623, John’s father died, and he entered upon his inheritance. William Pendock’s will reveals a dire state of poverty, and his heir received just twice the proverbial shilling of the child who is “cut off.”
William Pendocke’s Will.
The will of William Pendocke of Tollerton in the County of Nottingham, Esquire.
York, Vol. 36, fol. 722.
Desires to be buried in the chancel of the Church of Torlaston.
Bequests:
To John Pendocke my sonn of Tollerton, gent, ii s. and to every one of his children 12d. a piece.
To Robert Goodall8 of Holly well co. Lincs., Gent., 20s.
To George Vincent of Edoulton Nott. Gent. 2s. and to each of his children 12d.
The residue of my goods I give to Agnes Pendocke my wife whom I make executrix.
Supervisor: Robert Goodall.
Witnesses: John Richmond,9 George Story, Robert Simpson.
Dated, 17 Sept., 1619. Proved, 16 May, 1622, by Agnes the relict and executrix.
The Lay Subsidy Rolls shew that John Pendock was assessed at £3 in goods in 1621, and £3 in lands in 1629.
On November 1st, 1631, his wife Frances was buried at Tollerton. He afterwards married Jane, whom Thoroton says was also a Parkyns. John died in 1643, and his widow in 1648. In the exemption of his daughter from the Hearth Tax, and perhaps in the benefactions of John Allsopp the rector in 1683, we have indications that this much harassed man had little to bestow on his children. His sons found employment under the Parliament in the Civil War.
Philip Pendock.
It is fitting that the name of the restorer of the fortunes of the Pendocks should follow that of him who brought them so low. Philip, the grandson of the hapless and impecunious John, followed him in possession of the estate at only a very brief interval. Philip’s father, Richard, who entered upon heavily-charged property, died after two years tenure, having had little chance of improving the family fortune.
In 1645 Philip inherited the Tollerton estate, and in spite of the troublous times in which he lived, succeeded in restoring the family to something like its old prosperity. He purchased various, holdings in Tollerton, notably that of the Hatfields, and at his death was owner of the greater part of the parish.
His will, which is appended, does not disclose any large fortune; but it led to litigation between his children, because the eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who married Francis Moult, alleged that her father had left a considerable personal property and that she had been deprived of a due share of it.
Abstract of the Will of Philip Pendock.
He desired to be interred in the Chancel of the Church of Tollerton near the body of Jane his wife. He gave
To his daughter Elizabeth Moult wife of Francis Moult the yearly rent of £20 to be paid each December 25th during her life, chargeable upon Wards Farm, Tollerton.
To his son Thomas his heirs and assigns for ever “All my lands, tenements and hereditaments within the Realm of England or elsewhere ...”
To his daughter Eliz’th Moult the sum of £300 over and above the £20 p.a.
To his sister Mary Chadwick £10.
To his sister Katherine Mortlock £10.
To his household servants ten shillings each.
To Michael Kettleburne and John Sheepsides £2 each.
To the poor of Tollerton £5 divided at the discretion of the minister of Tollerton and the executrices.
The residue of personal estate, goods, chatties, clothes, etc., to his daughters Anne Pendock and Mary Pendock whom he makes executrices.
Witnesses: John Allsopp, Thos. Smith, Nich. Miller, Michael Kettleburn.
Dated May 4th, 1682. Proved Dec. 6th, 1682.
Litigation followed immediately after the proving of the will. In 1683 Francis Moult and his wife Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Philip, claimed that the will was contrary to the custom of the province of York; that the children of any person living within this province ought, after their father’s death, to have their reasonable share of their father’s goods where no widow was left. They say that Philip possessed “a great personal estate in ready money, plate, jewels, household stuffe, corne, hay, oxen, cowes, horses, sheepe, swyne, booke debts, bills, bonds, leases for years and other goods and personal estate to the value of 5,000 pounds.”
Chancery Proc., 9/419/154.
The complainants assert further that the daughters Anne and Mary and “one John Alsoppe of Tollerton, clerke, their great freind and confident with designe to worke and effect their owne private interests and designes” persuaded the testator to make a will appointing Anne and Mary executrices, who had proved this will and made themselves possessed of most of the personal estate— their brother Thomas having recently died. Francis and Elizabeth also say that Anne and Mary each had £500 settled upon them out of the real estate, and that Elizabeth ought to have her £300 legacy paid out of the other “moiety called the death or executors part;” and they further charge Anne and Mary with concealment of the financial position.
They ask, finally, for a writ of sub-poena against Anne and Mary and John Alsoppe the rector, causing them to appear before the Court of Chancery.
THE NEALES.
When Thomas, only son of Philip Pendock, died, the manor of Tollerton after a brief period of division amongst his three sisters, came to the Neales.
This family, it is said, is of Irish origin and identical with the O’Neils who descended from Richard O’Nigel Earl of Ulster. Be that as it may, Richard Neale—to give the English form of the name—came from Ireland with William Henry Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, as his lawyer, early in the 17th century. He settled at Mansfield Woodhouse, and his family amassed a considerable fortune, and became possessed of a large estate there and in Leicestershire.
Richard’s son John married Anne, second daughter of Philip Pendock, and was able to buy out the other two co-heiresses, and thus became sole owner of the Tollerton lands.
It is peculiarly interesting to find that John Mason Neale, the famous hymn writer and liturgiologist, was a great-grandson of this John Neale, and that his son Pendock might have inherited this family estate after the death of Pendock Barry Barry had he not been drowned at sea. Through this tragedy the succession passed to
the children of Elizabeth Neale, the granddaughter of John Neale, who married George James Bruere, Governor of Bermuda.
Pendock Neale.
PENDOCK BARRY
From a Portrait by F. C. Cooper.
When Pendock, son of John Neale, died in 1773, the Tollerton and other estates passed to his nephew, Pendock, son of the Revd. John Neale, then a minor of 16 years of age. The estate was heavily encumbered. A contemporary note by Sir Richard Kaye, Dean of Lincoln,10 says, “Mr. Neale’s Father of Tollerton, had £2,300 a year. The son had allowed him 7 or 800 £. Now there is not remaining more than £70. He (the first-named Pendock) married his cousin. The estate is entailed on the clergyman’s son.” The property was carefully managed, during the five years of the minority, and when Pendock Neale came of age the condition of affairs was greatly improved.
The young squire’s education was entrusted to “Parson Hardy” of Harby, who prepared him for Harrow, whence he passed to Magdalen College, Oxford. Here he took his degree. The only distinction recorded of his university career was the reputation for owning the highest phaeton at Oxford. His fame was such that a caricature was published shewing him driving down the High Street in the company of his boon companion, Sir John Ladd.
In 1780 Pendock Neale married his cousin Susanna, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Neale, who had succeeded Pendock’s father as rector of Tollerton.
Soon after this time the young squire’s name is mentioned in an extraordinary case of High Treason. In the Home Office Papers there is an
“Account of Disbursements and Losses sustained by Wm. Harrison through his intercepting the treasonable despatches of the late David Tyrie, executed as a traitor in August 1782 ”
“To amount of David Tyrie’s Bond £250.
To David’s Draft on Pendock Neal 19. 19. 0.
To Ditto on Ditto 14. 13. 0.”
David Tyrie was a native of Leith who came to London as a servant, and afterwards became clerk to Mr. Vowell, a stationer. He embarked later on a mercantile business, which failed. He next obtained a clerkship in the Navy Office at Portsmouth, and became a trafficker in naval secrets.
William Harrison, mentioned above, was a captain in the mercantile marine, through whom some of Tyrie’s dealings with the French were brought to light.
Tyrie was tried at the Winchester Assizes on August 17th, 1782. The evidence against him was clear. Documents in his handwriting, which was identified by Mr. Vowell, were produced in which were lists of British warships, their station and condition; descriptions of Portsmouth, Plymouth and other docks; and information of the sailing of frigates to intercept a fleet of French transports. The prisoner was sentenced by Mr. Justice Heath to “be drawn upon a hurdle to the place of execution where he should be hanged by the neck; to be cut down while yet alive; to be dismembered, his bowels to be taken out before his face, his head severed from his body, and his body to be quartered and to be disposed of as his Majesty shall direct.”
This brutal sentence was heard by the prisoner with unconcern, the reason for which was manifest when the gaoler discovered a razor hidden beneath his kneeband. A week later the sentence was carried out in the presence of 20,000 people, without the omission of any one of the horrible details. A full account of the trial and execution may be found in Farley’s Bristol Journal for August 17th and 31st, 1782.
How Pendock Neale came to give these drafts is a mystery, unless it was in a transaction for wine, in which Tyrie traded, or professed to trade.
In 1784 Pendock Neale was nominated High Sheriff of the County and proceeded to the D.C.L. degree. It so happened that on the same day this degree was conferred by the University upon Warren Hastings, the famous Governor of India.
An amusing story is told of the young High Sheriff. He was in attendance on Judge Willows at the Assizes, and, being seated next to him on the Bench, was toying with his long gold-headed cane,11 when by mischance it slipped from his hands and fell on the judge’s cheek. There was laughter in the court, and embarrassment on the Bench.
Another story concerns the squire’s purchase of the Dodson’s house at Tollerton.12 Having no use for the house, he purposed to convert it into an icehouse to provide at all seasons for his wine cooler. To this end he caused an excavation to be made ten feet square, which was bricked and cemented. When winter came the tank was filled with ice from the lake; but to his disappointment, the ice thawed. The experiment was repeated with no better results. A new scheme was evolved, to use it as a stew tank for fish. The lake was netted, and the tank stocked with fish; but this too was to no purpose, for the fish turned-turtle and died. The squire, disgusted with the failures, ordered the tank to be filled, and no one to-day even knows the site of these queer adventures.
Pendock Neale’s crowning act of folly was the erection of new entrance gates in The Plat, a field south of the Park, on the line of a proposed new road to Normanton; so sure was he, that what the squire of Tollerton willed, would be done. He anticipated the future by driving his coach across the park and through the gates; but anticipations were not fulfilled, and he was left with a monument of folly in the midst of his fields. An illustration of this castellated gateway with its wings can be seen in the Report of Barry v. Butlin Trial; the incident being used as evidence of an unbalanced mind.
It is still told, how the old squire would betake himself to the summer house by the south lodge gate armed with a horsewhip, wherewith to flick the people of the village who passed by on their way to the local meeting-houses.
Susanna Neale, the squire’s wife, died on April 20th, 1811, and was buried in the new family vault in the mausoleum. A speedy re-marriage followed, according to this notice in the Nottingham Review of January 17th, 1812. “His Royal Highness the Prince Regent has been pleased to grant unto Pendocke Neale of Tollerton Hall Esqr. and Maud his wife, the sole heir of Thomas Barry of Tollerton Esqr. his Majesty’s Royal Licence and authority that he and his issue may take and use the surname, and bear the armorial ensigns of Barry of Tollerton.” The official announcement of this change of name was made on November 20th, 1811.13 This second marriage, like the first, appears to have been a cousinly affair.
No other reference to this marriage has been found, and it is possible that this is a mistake; and the ground for the change of name—descent from Maud daughter of Thomas Barry of the 16th century—described as a marriage.
Georgian days were days of hard-drinking, and consequently large wine bills. The squire’s wine bills were dragged into light to strengthen the plea of his disinherited son, that his father was not a responsible person. It was known that he entertained but little, but the evidence shewed that wine parties in the butler’s apartment greatly aided consumption. Here is one wine bill : —
| London, | |||
| P. Barry Esqr. | No. 29 Soho Square | ||
| To George Lumley | |||
| 1818, Aug. 9th. | |||
| To 2 Pipes14 old port wine 120 gs. | 252 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 pipe E. India Madeira 189gs. (sic) | 189 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 doz. old port 72s. | 43 | 4 | 0 |
| (Certain small supplies of various wines etc.) | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| £492 | 8 | 0 | |
Another bill for wines in 1820 amounted to £436 2s. 3d.
It is scarcely matter for wonder that on occasions, as a witness at the Trial said, that the squire’s garments were occasionally retrieved by his valet, from the lawn beneath his bedroom windows.
Two portraits of “the old squire” were painted by a Nottingham artist, F. C. Cooper, a son of the proprietor of the Union Inn near the Trent Bridge, who was said to be related to the first Lord Holland. Cooper received £5. 5. for a profile, and £25 for a half-length full face portrait. This half-length portrait was bequeathed to his butler Whitehead, from whom it passed to the Tollerton family of Russell, with whom it remains. A full length portrait of Pendock Neale passed with other heirlooms to Mr. William Otter-Barry of Horkesley Hall, Colchester.
John Duke gave a description of the old squire in his Recollections. “Small and thin and delicate-looking” in marked contrast to his lady who was reputed to weigh 26 stones. Fastidious in dress, he was often seen in a blue coat with gilt buttons, and white buckskin breeches, carrying his gold-headed walking stick. He carefully avoided passing through the village, disliking observation. “He always used to ride from the Hall through the Park by way of the field called the Old Yard . . . attended by Cornelius Russell as coachman, and my father as groom; also occasionally by Whitehead the butler.”
Duke says that he was ever late to bed and late to rise—a habit which the old servant describes as “a family complaint.”
Late hours led to strange alarms; and it is said that the squire had man-traps set on the lawn near his windows, for protection from night attacks in the lonely small hours.
The old man’s latter days were full of sadness. Bereft of wife and daughter, and alienated from his only son, he withdrew from general society. On March 13th, 1833, he died, in the 75th year of his age. He left instructions that he was to be buried in Newark Parish Church. This remarkable decision may be accounted for by a fear of reprisals after death, for the disendowment of his alienated son.
In the south of the Chancel of Newark Church15 a floor stone of slate marks the place of his burial, with a small brass inscribed:—
Pendock Barry Esquire.
Died March 13th, 1833.
Aged 75 years.
On the wall of the Chancel is a tablet which bears this inscription: —
To the Memory of
Pendock Barry of Roclaveston Manor in the County of
Nottingham, Esquire, Doctor of Civil Laws of the
University of Oxford, one of His Majesty’s Justices of
the Peace for the County and High Sheriff in the year
1784, who departed this life March 13th, 1833, in the
75th year of his age. Having directed his remains to be
invaulted in this Church.
He was a kind master, a sincere friend, and died much
respected.
This monument is elected to his memory by his friend
and sole executor : James Butlin Esquire of Nottingham.
Pendock Barry Neale.
The last of the long line of Barrys, Pendocks, and Neales, in direct issue was Pendock Barry, the second child and only son of Pendock and Susanna Neale. He was born at Tollerton Rectory, the home of his grandparents, on May 6th, 1783, and baptized on the following day. The two family names bestowed on him makes a strange prelude to the extinction of the family.
Nothing is told of young Pendock until his entrance at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he took his B.A. degree, proceeding in after years to that of M.A.
His return from Oxford was unhappily marked by a participation in a family dispute. The cousins at the Hall and Rectory, although so closely related, were at bitter enmity. The origin of the trouble is not clear, but we know of disputes over the position of the glebe under the Enclosure, and about a small plot of land which the Hall people alleged was wrongly claimed by the Rector. This trouble coincided with the return of the squire’s son from the University. From this time forward any and everything proved to be fuel for the fire, and young Neale found occupation in baiting his parson uncle.
The long suffering rector bore patiently with the midnight ringing of the entrance gate bell opposite the rectory, and wild warwhoops under his windows at all hours of the night; but when his nephew’s acts took more violent forms, he had recourse to the courts. On one occasion young Barry, annoyed that the rector’s pigeons perched on the Hall, shot a large number of them. He was summoned before the county magistrates and charged with shooting forty pigeons. His reply was, “The parson’s conscientious, I shot forty of ’em, and there’s the money” with which he tossed down £40, adding, ungenerously, that he had intended giving that sum to the poor at Christmas “Now I shant give them any; so now worthy bench of magistrates, good morning.”
A still more serious charge was laid against him. In the dead of night he fired a gun into the rector’s bedroom window, and with a rake broke the rectory windows on the ground floor. When he was before the magistrates on this charge, he was offered an opportunity for apology, but, prompted by his father, he refused to make it. The magistrates bound him over to keep the peace, in £2,000, and his father (the ex-High Sheriff!) in £1,000. This, at length, had a restraining effect.
Young Neale figured more honourably when he served as Major in the Loyal Bunney Volunteers, a company which was raised at the time of the Napoleonic scare. We hear too of peace offerings at this time to his aunt, the rector’s wife, which do him credit. The words of a relative should be given in partial excuse, “He was a spoilt child from his cradle, and I have heard that from the time he was able to speak he knew and felt his power over his infatuated parents"—and “Barry drunk and Barry sober are two different persons.”
It is needless to draw aside the veil which hides the unhappiness within the Hall. It is sufficient to give the abstract of the old squire’s will in which his son is not so much as mentioned, and which is so drawn as to reduce to the utmost the benefit of succession.
The Will.
James Butlin of Nottingham sole executor.
His body to be “invaulted” in the parish Church of Newark near the great south window attended by his executor, the minister of Tollerton, Henry Percy of Nottingham and his “trusty servant Samuel Whitehead.” His remains to be wrapped in a flannel sheet without a shroud and put in a leaden coffin well soldered down on which a large plain plate be affixed inscribed “Pendock Barry Esquire of Rocleston Manor in the County of Nottingham” with his age and date of death. This to be enclosed in another coffin of the best mahogany covered with crimson velvet with brass handles similar to the coffin of Mrs. Neale16 and engraven with “the family coat of arms properly emblazoned as I now bear them” and the coffin inscribed “Pendock Barry Doctor of Civil Laws of the University of Oxford and one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Nottingham” with age etc.—with a plume of black feathers on the coffin when carried to the vault. He directs that his body be conveyed in a Hearse drawn by six horses, that two coaches (not his private carriages) drawn by four horses to convey those named to the funeral—the pulpit and reading desk at Newark to be draped in black cloth and a Hatchment put up there.
£10 10. each to the clergyman of Newark and Tollerton.
To Samuel Whitehead his wearing apparel, “my Portrait in a Gold frame lately taken of me, my striking clock and the bracket used therewith, and £3,000.”
To his housekeeper Mrs. Whitehead wife of above £300.
To each domestic a suit of mouring and a years wages, excepting the Whiteheads.
To Wm. Dyson his house joiner six months wages.
To John Duke his gardener the same.
To his executor £21 for mourning rings for friends of deceased.
To Henry Percy £3,000.
To James Butlin £2,000 and “all the rest residue and remainder of my ready money, securities for money, money in the Public Funds, goods, chattels, personal estate and effects” after payment of all dues. He further directs that “the sum of £10,000 which now stands charged upon the Manor of Tollerton, advowson, farms, lands, etc.” dated 5 June 1804 between him and Susanna his late wife and Pendock Barry Barry (then Neale) . . . “being the sum or portion which my late daughter Susanna Falkner Neale deceased would have been entitled . . . which I have caused to be raised for my benefit as next of kin” to remain charged in exoneration of his personal estate . . .
Dated 24 Sept. 1827.
Witnesses : L. Chapman17
J. Mitchell Davidson, M.D.
The publication of this will roused the anger of the deprived son. Without counting the cost, he embarked on a fruitless law suit to upset the will on the grounds of incapacity and undue influence, which only impoverished him the more. It was poor consolation that the chief beneficiary was put to great expense; the more so because many things were revealed at the trial which were better left in the dark. It is said that the plaintiff’s costs amounted to about £3,000, and those of the defendant barely £1,000 less.
The folio report of the trial, Barry v. Butlin is happily scarce.
It is a quaint commentary on the things related, that Mr. Barry Barry was made a Justice of the Peace for Nottinghamshire, and sat on the Bench before which he had made two appearances as defendant. Oxford was less kind than his country : and when he sought to proceed to the degree of D.C.L., he was refused— as it is said, at the instigation of his uncle Dr. Hutton, Fellow of Magdalen College.
In his latter days Mr. Barry lived in much retirement. He was greatly attached to his neighbour Mr. Ward, the rector, who was a permanent invalid, with whom he carried on an active correspondence on matters theological and national. During alterations to the rectory in 1918 mouse-eaten fragments of these letters were found in the hollow walls, where Mr. Ward’s mischievous boys had thrust them. Mr. Barry marked his devotion to the rector by building for his remains, the unsightly tomb at the west end of the churchyard.
In a letter dated July 25th, 1846, he says, “I am both old and blind. I cannot see without double glasses.” His end came suddenly; one Saturday in July 1847, about 6 o’clock, when his valet William Russell was with him, he quietly passed away. His body was laid in the mausoleum, alongside the remains of his mother and sister. A by no means pleasing life-size portrait of Mr. Barry hangs or hung until recently, in the Hall.
THE FAMILY OF THE DE TORLAVISTUNES.
We have seen that from early times the family who called themselves after the village held one of the two manors. Who were these de Torlavistunes? It seems impossible with the slender evidence which we have, to give a definite answer. The adoption of the village name appears like a claim to priority of position; and if this is so in fact, we may regard them as Walkelins, possibly kindred of the first Norman owners.
There are reasons for thinking this family to be connected with the Barrys. When first mentioned, they are found to be acting in close association with that family; and from time to time we have some member of the Barry family claiming property which was held by the de Asloctons, the successors of the de Torlavistunes. For instance, in 1323 and 1329 John Barry sought to recover lands of the de Aslacton Manor on the ground that his ancestor held them in 1189.
Serlo is the first member of this family who is brought to our notice, and the introduction is given in an unfortunate way. He is charged with a murder in 1166,18 and paid 10 marks for his “deraignment,” that his denial of the murder might be accepted if anyone took action against him in this matter within a year and a day. Guilty or not, he escaped more serious penalties, for in 118319 we find a new charge against him, of retaining goods of outlaws. These arraignments may have been means whereby that rapacious monarch Henry II exacted money from his subjects. A little later than this, Serlo gave his moiety of the Church of Tollerton to Lenton Priory, and it is possible that the gift was an atonement for the murder with which he was charged.
Little is told us of the de Torlavistunes. Among the references to them are the following :—
Robert fil Serlo20 held lands in Tollerton in 1205 and paid scutage.21
Hugh de Turlaveston “was a witness to a deed of concord” between William Butler and Pagan de Vilers who held a fee in Newbolt 1236-7; and earlier, Thomas de Turlaviston and his son Ralf fil Thomas are mentioned in 1226.
In 1275-6 we have Simon, son of Robert Thorlaston or Turlaveston who with his wife Alice enters a plea against John Barry concerning land at Tollerton. In 1272 Robert, son of Hugh de Thorlaston, nominated a clerk to the benefice of Tollerton. In 1280 we have a Beatrice de Turlaviston, who had a son Roger; and in 1286 Robert fil Robert, who had two daughters, Amice and Alice, the latter married to Ralph le Bower or Bowyer. This Robert must be the “considerable man in the time of Henry III” mentioned by Thoroton (I., 236) who was a contemporary of John Barry, and with him witnessed a deed at Carcolston. The last of the name we have met with is Henry de Torlaxton who held several parcels of land at Owthorpe under Thurgarton Priory in 1328.
About the time when we lose sight of this family in Tollerton and the country round, we meet with the name in the annals of Nottingham. We cannot be sure that this is the same family, but the coincidence of dates gives probability to the identification.
The first of the Nottingham de Torlatons we have met with, is William de Torlaton who had an interest in the tolls of Merriel Bridge in 1315.
Nottingham Bor. Rec. I, 87.
In the Borough Records there is a plea, dated 19 Dec. 1330, arising out of the vexatious system of purveyance, or commandeering in the king’s name. The king (Edw. III) was moving north from Leicester, and transport had to be found by Nottingham. The sub-bailiff took among others the cart of Thos. de Hinkley who delivered it to John de Torlaton to carry the victuals of the king at Loughborough; and when this was done, to lead it back and deliver it to its owner. The cart was delivered on Sept. 27th, 1330, but was not returned, so Thos. de Hinckley sued John de Torlaton for the return of the “cart bound with iron, of the value of 13s. 4d." and damages of 20s. for loss of use since Sept. 30th., when it ought to have been returned.
John denies that he detains the cart and offers proof; but a jury finds that he does detain it, but they value it more modestly at 8s., and estimate the damages at 2s. John de Torlaton is ordered to return the cart or its price.
N.B.R., I, p. 119.
In 1378 the Prior of Lenton accused Agnes de Torlaton of Nottingham of being possessed of a messuage in that town which belonged by right to the Church of the Holy Trinity of Lenton. Agnes did not appear, and the messuage was adjudged to the Prior. The court, suspecting a fraudulent understanding between Agnes and the Prior to evade the statute of Mortmain, enacted 1279, (which required the permission of the donor’s overlord to grants of lands to the Church), ordered the Sheriff to summon a jury of the neighbourhood to enquire into the right of the Prior to this messuage.
This Agnes appears to have been the wife of William de Torlaton, an advocate. A domestic incident concerning their household recorded in the Borough Records of 1396 is of some interest; the constables charging Agnes, servant of William de Torlaton with “an affray made without blood” and “entering the house of Robert Brinklow against his will, and there nearly strangled the wife of the aforesaid Robert. Agnes placed herself upon the favour of the Mayor, and paid 6d, (about £1 at to-day’s value), which appears to have been the price of a common assault.
On April 18th, 1408, soon after the death of Agnes “John de Heath, executor of the will of Agnes, sometime the wife of Wm. de Torlaton, and John Lichfield supervisor of the said testament” complain that Wm. de Kingston had wrongfully removed certain fixtures. They say that Wm. de Torlaton lately bequeathed to his daughter Cecily “a messuage with divers fittings . . . in Castelgat’ in Nottingham”; and Agnes had put them in charge of it, and also of Cecily, for her sustentation. On April 9th, 1408, Wm. de Kingston entered and took from the house “a lead furnace of the price of 10s.; a pair of querns, of the price of 6s. 8d.; a door with doorposts of the cellar of the price of 40d. . . . Whereby Cecily is injured and has damages to the value of 100 shillings.”
William replied claiming these as his own goods, but judgment was given for the plaintiffs.
John Torlaton was sued in 1399 by Henry Chetwin on a plea of debt of 2s. 6d. for the Gild of the Holy Trinity which he ought to have paid him at the Feast of the Holy Trinity. John answered that he had paid the money to John Lichfield, Alderman of the Gild, and asks for an enquiry. An enquiry was held, and John Torlaton is called on to pay his dues.
Nottm. Bor. Rec., I, 359.
A very interesting “Rental of the Common Lands of the Town,” in old English, dated 1435 ends with a memorandum in which Robert Barcroft’s property is mentioned, which includes lands near “ye Fleshuse” or Shambles which had been purchased at some earlier time from “John Torlaton and of Ser Thomas Plumptre.” The collocation of names derived from neighbouring parishes is remarkable.
Nottm. Bor. Rec., II, 355-362.
Robert Tollerton, a freeholder of Nottingham, was involved in 1480 with his son Roger in an act of violence.22
“Robert Torlaton and Roger his son, servaunt to Lord Gray, accompanied with ii other persons with bill axe staves breke open the dore of ii stabels and tentures (tenements) of xvi shillings rent lying in Nottingham and so continued by the mayntenanse of Lord Gray the which stabels and tenturs belongeth to the Chaunterie of Sent Antonie.” “The sworn evidence of Syr Henre Belshaw Chaunterie priest of Sent Antonie att Wollaton.”
Roger was still regarded as a troublesome fellow in 1495, in which year he was “presented” as being retained, contrary to the statute, to serve Henry Lord Grey, knight, and take his part against all persons. He is described as “barber.”
Roger died about 1513, leaving 22d. to the Grey Friars at Nottingham. In 1515 his widow Agnes, now Spendlove, granted a messuage and garden on Middle Pavement and a curtilage called le Tayntre Yard in Nether Pavement lying next to le Vawte Lane, with a garden to Alderman Thomas Mellers.
Nottm. Bor. Rec., III, 37.
Robert Tollerton, brother of the monastery of St. Bartholomew, West Smithfield, received the assent of King Edward IV in 1480 to his election as prior of that monastery. He died 1484.
Patent Rolls.
In 1535 “Sir Hugh Torleton” was “Prest of the Chauntre in the Parysch Churche of Saynt Maryez of Nottingham.” He was the last priest of this chantry.
Nottm. Bor. Rec., Ill, 443.
With the passing of the 16th century, the family name disappears.
1. This name appears in Welsh Charters,
2. Test. Ebor. vi, 229 n.
3. This estate remained with the Barrys until cir. 1400. In 1484 Richd. Ill granted it to Rd. Williams for his good service against the rebels.
5. Letter of P. B. Barry to Archdeacon Bruere, 1846.
6. Feudal Aids.
7. “Archives of Gloucester” by Thos. Rudge, B.D.
8. Robert Goodhall married Elizabeth, daughter of the testator.
9. The Richmonds were a yeoman family of Tollerton and Keyworth. In 1618-19 Gervase Richmond, yeoman, of Tollerman was sued together with John Bond of Bradmere, husbandman, for debt by Thomas James and John Chantrey.“Mr. Willyam Richmond” was “Registar” of this parish at his death in 1685.
10. British Museum. “Notes on Notts.” by Sir Richd. Kaye
(ob. 1809).
11. This cost the extravagant sum of £47 5.
12. The Plumtree Register:—“Mr. Thos. Dodson of Tollerton and Catherine Parkyns of Normanton” were married by licence at Plumtree, 3rd July, 1809. Their son Thos. Parkyns
became Vicar of Wysall, his father being patron.
13. Phillimore. “Changes of Name.”
14. A Pipe usually 126 gallons.
15. Dickinson’s “Newark ” says that formerly the arms of Barry of Torlaston were emblazoned in a window of this aisle of the chancel of Newark Church.
16. His first wife, Susanna, who died April 20th, 1811.
17. Leonard Chapman, whose brogue led the old squire to call him “a northern light.” He was Vicar of Wysall 1796-1832, Curate of Edwalton 1804-1832. Buried at Edwalton December 11th, 1832, aged 68 years. His place of abode is given as Nottingham.
18. “Pipe Roll,” No. 13, 13 Hen. H.
19. lb., No. 29, 29 Hen. II.
20. “Pipe Roll,” No. 51.
21. Stenton’s “Danelaw,” p. 336.
22. Wollaton MSS., p. 119.