The Early Lee's Of Brassington, Derbyshire, England.
On Tuesday, 30th of January
1648, King Charles the First of England awoke from a troubled night's sleep and
bade his man, Herbert, rise and dress him with care.
Today was the day of his execution.
He desired to have two shirts on, as the weather was very cold; for if he
shook, the rogues would think it was through fear.
He observed that he was glad that he had slept at St. James' Palace, as
the walk through the park would warm him. At
ten o'clock the summons came - Colonel Hacker knocked at the door to say they
were ready. Hacker turned pale on
seeing the king come out, and was much affected.
Ten companies of infantry formed a double line on each side of his path,
and a detachment preceded him with banners flying and drums beating.
Bareheaded, the king walked
briskly through the park and said to the guard, "Come, my good fellows,
step on apace." He pointed out
a tree planted by his brother Henry, and on arriving at Whitehall, he ascended
the stairs with a light step, passed through the long gallery, and went to his
chamber, where he remained in religious exercise.
It was past one o'clock before he was summoned to the scaffold, where the
executioner, Brandon, and Hulet, a sergeant appointed to assist him, disguised
in black masks, awaited him. The
scaffold was raised in the street, in front of the Banqueting House at
Whitehall, and he passed through a window which had been taken out, upon it.
All was hung with black cloth, and in the middle of the scaffold stood
the block, with the axe enveloped in black crepe lying on it.
Charles made a speech
condemning Parliament, and he declared that he forgave all his enemies; and yet
when the executioner knelt and begged his forgiveness, he said, "No, I
forgive no subject of mine who comes deliberately to shed my blood".
He said that the nation would never prosper till they placed his son on
the throne; and to the last moment, rooted in his theory of divine right, he
denied that the people ought to have any share in the government - that being a
thing "nothing pertaining to them" - and yet that "he died a
martyr of the people".
Whilst he spoke some one
disturbed the axe, on which he turned and said, "Have a care of the axe; if
the edge be spoiled, it will be the worse for me".
After concluding his speech, he put up his hair under a cap.
"I go", said the king, "from a corruptible crown to an
incorruptible, where no disturbance can take place.
“The king then took off his cloak and laid his head on the block.
The executioner, Brandon, severed it at a single stroke, and Hulet, the
sergeant, holding it up, cried, "Here is the head of a traitor".
Oliver Cromwell's
determination to make Parliament accountable to the people was fulfilled.
The body lay at Whitehall to
be embalmed, till the 7th of February, when it was conveyed to Windsor, and laid
in the vault of St. George's Chapel, near the coffins of Henry 8th, and Jane
Seymour. The day was very snowy,
and the coffin being deposited without any service, was left without any
description except the words, "Carolus Rex, 1648," the letters of
which were cut out of a band of lead by the gentlemen present, with their
penknives, and the lead folded round the coffin.
Unless we knew to the
contrary, most of us would look back at this momentous piece of England's
history and consider it likely that only Kings and Nobles and Men of historical
interest would have their names and deeds recorded.
Had this indeed been the case, then family historians would be few and
far between. Fortunately, there are
in England, vast amounts of deposited records of the ordinary citizens of this
country and if one is fortunate and determined, then it is possible to discover
knowledge of one's family from centuries past.
The earliest known data regarding my own family that I have managed to
unearth was passed on to me by Ron Slack. It
can be found at the Lichfield Joint Record Office at Lichfield in Staffordshire
in a list of Probate documents, and it refers to a John Lee being the appraiser
of goods of Richard Jackson of Brassington.
The date of the document is - 19th October 1637; eleven years before
Charles was executed.
Although I have not been able to confirm conclusively that John Lee was one of my ancestors' family, it is almost certain that I carry many of the same genes within my body that he had in his. The same can also be said of William and George Lea, who, according to the Brassington Manor Court Book A, of 1640, were each fined 2d for absence from court. That same Manor Court Book A, (Derbyshire Record Office D166M), also tells us that on 16th April 1664, George Lea on Suite Roll (List of copyholders). Again in 1664 (6th August), William Lea was in debt to Robert Alsop to the tune of "one pott and one kettle taken a forfeit." And again; 18th June 1666, William Lea, plaintiff, in dispute with George Oulfield -"in consili". (Again, thanks to R.S.)
Small snippets of
information that, singly, tell us very little. However, one thing we can be
certain of is that there were a family of Lee's living in Brassington around the
turn of the seventeenth century. To
arrive at that conclusion, we must first of all reasonably accept that these
three men were part of an extended family already living in the area. It is
highly unlikely that three strangers carrying settlement certificates would have
been allowed to enter the parish ad hoc.
It is to the parish records of the church of St. James that we must turn to begin the task of sorting the wheat from the chaff. Unfortunately, the original register, which is deposited at the Derbyshire Record Office at Matlock, is not easily legible and also only goes back to 1716. However, the Bishop's transcripts of the register date back to around 1670 and these are in excellent condition. The transcripts are kept at the Lichfield Joint Record Office. We must also combine the information from the wills of George Lea, drawn up 22nd Feb. 1683/4 and proved on 30th November 1731, and that of John Lea "the Elder" which was signed on the 2nd May 1741 and proved on 17th October 1752.
From the information in these documents we are provided with the base on which we can build a history of a Lee family from those early years until the present day. But for now, let us start with the earliest known ancestor who records show as being George Lee who married Mary. There are no records to show us when they were born or the date and place of marriage, or even Mary's surname. To arrive at the approximate dates of these events it is necessary to study closely the will and probate documents of George Lee. Here is a transcript of that will.
Signed 22nd February, 1683/4
Proved 30th November 1731.
Probate - John Lee, son, renounced his rights of administration in favour of his sons. John and George, Yeomen of Brassington, Derbyshire.
John..X...his mark.
George...signed.
Witnesses..Robert Allsop and William Kirk. (both signed)
[Parchment will]
Georger Lee the elder of Brassington, Yeoman.
To wife Mary, houses, cottages,outhouses and other buildings, gardens, yards, croftes, landes, tenements, heriditaments in the Lordship of Brassington.
To son Richard on Mary's death or remarriage, the dwellinghouse Richard is now living in, with a 'garden place as it is now measured and set forth', adjoining the house on the south and abutting East and South on 'a way set forth and allowed for the use of all my children to go from one of their houses to another at their pleasure' and Westward on a garden belonging to William Buckley.
To second son George, the house he is now living in and a garden adjoining two little gardens now occupied by George Godbelieve and Robert Lane.
To youngest son John, the house he is now living in, with a garden lying between George's garden and one given to testators daughter, Margaret.
To daughter, Margaret, testators house and a garden adjoining the 'South part of the said house' abutting Southward on John's garden, Westward on the said way, and Eastward on the land of Richard Buxton of Brassington, Gent.
If any die without issue, their property to pass to the sons in order of birth.
After Margaret's death, her heirs to exchange houses with George and his heirs.
The hedge growing in the South side of the way to remain in the use of George and John.
The four children to pay 3d per chief rent to the 'chief lord of the fee and fees hereof at Martlemass.
To wife, Mary, testators monies and mine tools wherever they are'within the county of Darby' for life; Mary is not to sell or lease the mines or to lose them 'for want of workmanship', but may give them to John or Margaret; the mines to go to John and Margaret after Mary's death.
To grandchildren, 1/- each.
To Mary, goods, chattels and cattle.
Mary Executrix.
George Lee X (his mark) 1683.
Witnesses..Andrew Lane, William Lane, John Ruddiard. (All signed)
From this document we can roughly
calculate the age of George Lee who married Mary.
We can presume that, at the date of drawing up the will, George would be
a man in his advancing years. We
know that he was a grandfather from comments in the will.
Therefore, an educated guess would put him at sixty years of age when he
commissioned the will. That would
give us a birthdate of circa 1625. Let
us presume that his wife was of a similar age, therefore, for the purpose of our
records, we shall call her Mary, born circa 1625. We can also assume that George
would be about 25 when he married Mary, which would take us to 1650.
We can also assume that the four children of the marriage would have been
born in the following few years and, therefore, our search of the records should
have us looking for George's grandchildren after the year 1675, if our
calculations of the twenty five year cycle are correct.
When we look at the Bishop's Transcripts of St. James', Brassington, we find the following entries.
Baptisms
1676 July 31st. Hugo, son of George and Helen Lea.
1677 July 31st. George, son of George and Helen Lea.
1683 Sep. 9th. Richard son of Richard and Helen Lea.
1684 Aug. 3rd. Margaret daughter of John and Mary Lea.
1684 June 27th. Ann daughter of Richard Lea.
1685 July 19th. Robert son of Richard and Helen Lea.
1686 Jan. 15th. John son of George Lea.
1691 Dec. 23rd. John son of John and Mary Lee. [note name change]
1694 Oct. 18th. Elizabeth daughter of John Ley. [note name change]
1697 Jan ? Frances daughter of John Ley.
Marriages;
1683 July 22nd. John Lea and Mary Briddon.
Burials;
1675 March 14th Sarah Lea died.
1676 May 14th. Elizabeth Lea buried.
1684 Aug 13th. Richard son of Richard Lea buried.
1691 Aug. 6th. Ruth daughter of Richard and Helen Lea buried.
1691 Sep. 24th. Bridgid Lee, widow, buried.
1698 Feb. 4th. Dorothy wife of William Lee buried.
From this information, I have constructed the following family trees.
Tree 1.
GEORGE LEE
bap. circa 1625.
died circa 1685 at Brassington.
Married MARY? circa 1650.
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| | | |
RICHARD GEORGE JOHN MARGARET
(see tree 3) (see tree 2) b.circa
1660.
d. 1741
at Brassington
(M)
MARY BRIDDON
22nd July 1683 at Brassington.
This is my own family line
Tree2
GEORGE LEE b. circa 1650
Married HELEN circa 1675.
_______________|_______________________
| | |
HUGO GEORGE JOHN
b.31/7/1676 b.31/7/1677 b.15/1/1686
Brsn. Brsn. Brsn.
Tree 3
RICHARD LEE
b.23/12/1691 Brsn.
Married HANNAH BURTON on
14/8/1725 at Brsn.
|
ROBERT b.11/8/1734 at Brsn.
Married ANN TURNER
on 7/3/1758 at Brsn.
My concern is that of the family of George
and Mary 1625 and, in particular, their third child, John born circa 1660, who
married Mary Briddon on 22nd of July, 1683, for it is from this line that our own
family of Lee's descended. The Briddons were a well established family in
Brassington and the surrounding areas and remained so for a long time.
I'm sure that if any interested reader wished to pursue the "Briddon
line", there is much success to be had in that venture.
Before we proceed
with the lineage of the family it would perhaps be prudent to take stock of the
status of the family up to the date of the commissioning of the will in 1683.
Looking at the
will, we can see that George 1625, has managed to build up a number of assets,
not least being some lead mines, as the statement, "to wife Mary, testators
mines and mine tools wherever they are within the county of Darby" would
testify. He was also a Yeoman which
was a position afforded to those who had managed to climb some way up the social
ladder without attaining the title of Gentleman.
Looking at the returns for the infamous Hearth Tax, (a tax on the number
of hearths one had in the home), we note that he was taxed on one hearth for the
years; 1662, 1664, 1670 and 1672. During
this last assessment, his son Richard was also paying on one hearth.
These statistics, plus the fact that George was able to leave four houses
and numerous gardens to his descendants would suggest that George was a middle
of the road member of the community. He
was, most probably, a well established citizen of the village.
Consequently, his immediate family would probably be considered as
worthwhile marriage partners for other aspiring families.
However, we must
not consider their position as being compatible with a middle class citizen of
today. The world they lived in was
a much harder and hostile environment than the one we inhabit.
Their homes were primitive one up and one down houses with no lavatories
or kitchens. In the main room, in
the wintertime, not only would the family gather around the hearth but they
would also have their precious stock animals tethered in the room to protect
them from the fierce moorland winters. The
bedroom had to provide for every member of the household irrespective of age or
sex. Altogether, a harsh
environment which was surely calculated to enable only the fittest and most able
members of that society to prosper. In
those days, the unfortunate poor people, or the less well able, fell by the
wayside - literally in many cases. However,
our own bloodline seemed to have a remarkable ability to succeed and we are the
result of that propensity to overcome difficulties.