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Detail of Cary's Map of
Cheshire (1789), Showing the Location of Cattenhall (+)
"In the township of Kingsley, on the
left bank of the Weever, opposite Aston, is the estate of
Cattenhall, at a very early period the residence of
Ranulphus Venator . . . ." So says George Ormerod, The History
of the County Palatine and City of Chester, incorporated
with a republication of King's Vale Royal and Leycester's
Cheshire Antiquities, 2nd Ed., revised and enlarged
by Thomas Helsby, Esq., published by George Routledge and
sons, Ludgate Hill, London, 1882.
Ormerod reports that it was John NUTHALL
I who "became seized of Cattenhall" and whose
descendants alienated the estate, during the reign of
Charles I, to Sir Arthur Aston.
Ormerod also reported, on page 99 of The
History of the County Palatine and City of Chester,
that John NUTHALL III was nine years of age in the 29th
year of the reign of Elizabeth I (coronated 15 January
1559 [OS]) and was definitely known to be alive in
Cheshire as late as 1642. Since, by 1640, Sir Arthur
Aston had returned to England from the European
continent, it can be thought that it was between 1640 and
1642 that, from John NUTHALL III, he acquired Cattenhall.
By 16 August 1644, John NUTHALL III and Mary HYDE appear
to have been residing in London. [See note 6 under
G0500A: John NUTHALL IV [of CROSS MANOR] in Antecedents
and Descendants of John Nuthall of Cross Manor (BEF 10
February 1614/15 - July 1667).]
Sir Arthur Aston (ABT 1596, Heton,
Lancashire - 10 September 1649, Drogheda, Ireland), to
whom Cattenhall was alienated, was the older contemporary
of Charles I (19 November 1600, Fife, Scotland - 30
January 1649, Banqueting House, Whitehall, London,
England) and was a Catholic Royalist who opposed
Cromwell. Aston was killed during Cromwell's storming of
Drogheda on 10 September 1649. He was the son of the Sir
Arthur Aston who, as the agent of George CALVERT, the
first Lord Baltimore, was the proprietary governor of
Avalon. For details, see below, George
Ormerod.
Ormerod further reports that Cattenhall
was later acquired by Gilbert GERARD and, afterward, by
Robert HYDE, Esq. who left it to his great nephew, Robert
HYDE.
Cattenhall is today noted on maps under
the name "Catton Hall."
For the association of this estate with
the family NUTHALL, see below, George
Ormerod, and Antecedents and
Descendants of John Nuthall of Cross Manor (1614/15 -
July 1667).
Contemporary Map (2003) Showing
the Location of Catton Hall (Cattenhall) (+)
Relative to Frodsham, Kingsley, and Aston
Contemporary Aerial View (2003)
of Catton Hall (Cattenhall)
From George
Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and
City of Chester, incorporated with a republication of
King's Vale Royal and Leycester's Cheshire Antiquities,
2nd Ed., revised and enlarged by Thomas Helsby, Esq.,
published by George Routledge and sons, Ludgate Hill,
London, 1882, pp. 98 - 99:
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[p. 98] In the township of
Kingsley, on the left bank of the Weever,
opposite Aston, is the estate of Cattenhall, at a
very early period the residence of Ranulphus
Venator; Roger, bishop of Chester, about the
middle of the 13th century, having certified that
this Randle, with his wife and sons, gave
Catenhale, the place of his habitation, to God,
and St. Mary, and Sir Inhela,
the priest, and his successors, for ever,
together with the tenths of the possessions of
his house. [It is not improbable that this
Ranulph Venator was a Kyngeslegh.]
Afterwards the abbot and convent of St.
Werburgh became lords thereof, [as appears by an Inq.
dated 29 Edw. III., which found that the lord of
Kyngeslegh gave quand placeam que vocat'
Katenale to one of the abbots of Chester in
ancient times to find two chaplains to celebrate
divine service for the souls of the faithful
departed, for ever, and that there was
substituted for the service one chaplain; the
value of such substituted service being 4 marks p.
a. It was in the seizin of a subsequent
abbot,] who enfeoffed William GERARD, of
Kingsley, with the same. William GERARD, sen.
obtained it by fine from William GERARD, jun. 10
Edw. II under the denomination of the manor of
Catenhale.b
Inq. p. m. [26 not] 23 Edw.
III. William GERARD held the manor of [Katenale,
or] Cattenhall, in desmesne as of fee, from the
abbot of Chester, in socage, by the [service, or]
payment of xxxs. [p. a.] rent, and by
finding in the same manor two chaplains to
celebrate mass for the souls of the lords of
Kingsley, and for the souls of all the faithful
deceased. The manor is said, in this Inquisition,
to be worth nothing beyond reprisals.
[By an Inq. dated 14 Ric. II., it was
found that Richard, lord of Kyngeslegh, granted
to the abbot and convent of St. Werburg, the town
of Catenhale, parcel of the Fee of Kyngeselgh,
and held of the Earl, in capite, by
knight's service, to find two chaplains to
perform divine service for ever. Val. p. a.
5 marks. Also found that afterwards a certain
abbot of the same convent gave the said town to
one William GERARD, and his heirs for ever,
subject to the finding of the two chaplains; and
that afterwards, one Peter GERARD granted the
same town to Robert Gryffyn and his heirs for
ever. Plea Rolls, 13 Henry IV.]
Robert GRIFFIN, in the time of Edw. III.
purchased the manor from Peter GERARD, of Bryn,
grandson of the last-mentioned William GERARD.
Agnes, daughter and heiress of his great grandson
John GRIFFIN,c
brought it in marriage to John NUTHAL, [who in 22
Eliz. was one of the fee farmers of the manors
and lands of the abbey of Chester, by patent of
Q. Eliz., in Backford, Chorleton, Woodchurch,
Walesey, Elton, Thornton, Manley, Cattenhall,
Hellesby, Frodsham, Northwich, and other places,
excepting, among others the manor of Lee, or Ley,
near Backford. Dugdale's Monasticon.
Inq. p. m. 29 Eliz. Johes
NUTHALL Ar', held in fee two parts of a capital
messuage called le Hall of Cattenhall, situate in
Kingesley, held of the queen, in chief, by serv.
mil. and 30s. p. a. payable to Hugh
Cholmondeley, esq.; also lands and two parts of a
water-mill, in Kingsley; land in Froddesham, and
the reversion of other lands in le Holte at ville
Leonis in Com
Denbighe after the death of Alice NUTTAL widow,
mother of the same John, whose heir he was, and
which Alice was then living at Cattenhall. Also
seized of a messuage called Le Bache, lying in
Bradley juxta ffrodesham; also a
water-mill and lands in Bradley, Kingesley, and
Froddesham; also lands in Isseley and Uchseley in
Com Carn'von. In 28th Eliz.
granted to Elizabeth GRYMESDICH widow, then
living at Grymesdiche, an annuity of £6 12s. 4d.
Also seized of lands in Herithog als
Tirabbe, co. Denbigh; Tedwelliock, co. Carnarvon.
Also held certain leaseholds in Kingesley,
Cattenhall, Bradley, and Frodesham. He gave other
lands to his sons, John in tail, with successive
remainders to Edward and Wyllm. Ricus
NUTTALL pater Willi frater Rico
pater p'd Johis
NUTTALL, cujus frater et heres p'd
Ric' cujus filius et heres p'd
Johes fuit,
was seized in fee of Cattenhall, and 10 Sep. 8
Henry VIII. granted to Ric' Marburye, Willo
Ruttor, Petro GRYMESDICHE, & Johi
GRYMESDICHE, a messuage called Le Hey Bernes in
Kingesley, and certain land, to the use of
Margaret GRYMESDICHE for life, postea ux'
p'fat' Willi
NUTTALL filij p'd
Rici for
life in name of jointure. Ob. 8 Feb.
last, Johes
NUTTALL filius et heires (sic), etatis 9
annor' et 4 mens. This Inq. was traversed 38
Eliz. as to the holding of certain lands.
John NUTTALL, or NUTHALL, gent.
ultimately became seized of Cattenhall, and]
whose descendants alienated it in the time of
Charles the First to Sir Arthur Aston, son of
Arthur,[1] a second son of Sir Thomas Aston,d of Aston,[2] a celebrated military officer.
Sir Arthur Aston was
principally distinguished by his services in the
royal army during the great rebellion, but spent
his early life in continental warfare. Among the
Harl. MSS. (2149, 28 - 32,) are the following
testimonies to his military merits in the service
of foreign princes.
Letters testimonial of
Christopher Radzivil, duke of Birze, great
general of Lithuania, to the valiant behaviour of
Arthur Aston, in all the proceedings of the wars
there, where he commanded three companies of
foot. Dated at Vilna, Jan. 1, 1623.
Grant of a pension of 700
florins per annum, to the same, by
Sigismund, king of Poland, dated at Warsaw, April
23, 1635.
The same king's letters
testimonial to the valour and good conduct of the
same, who was sent to him by the king of England
in the Turkish wars, and advanced to a
lieutenant-colonelcy. Dated at Warsaw, 1630.
A pass from the Russian
emperor, Michael Theodorowitz, for Sir A. Aston,
knt. who arrived in his empire with a number of
other officers and men, sent from king James I.
to serve against their common enemy, Sigismund,
king of Poland, where he performed good service.
Given at Moscow, A. M. 7122, viz. 1614.
Commission from Gustavus
Adolphus, king of Sweden, to colonel A. Aston,
for raising a regiment of English soldiers, and
transporting them into his service. Aug. 19,
1631.
In 1640, Sir Arthur Aston was
appointed colonel-general of one of the brigades
of the royal army, under [p. 99] a commission
from the earl of Strafford, and ten days
afterward was appointed serjeant-major-general of
that part of the army which attended the king's
perwson. He commanded the dragoons at the battle
of Edge Hill, and was afterwards governor of
Reading, in 1643, where he thrice foiled the
attempts of the earl of Essex, but was compelled
to resign his command in consequence of a wound
on the head. This accident, according to
Clarendon, was esteemed a great misfortune to the
king, as there "was not in his army a man of
greater reputation, or one of whom the enemy had
a greater dread."
After his recovery, Sir Arthur
Aston was made governor of Oxford, in which
office he had the misfortune to lose his leg, in
consequence of a fracture occasioned by a fall
from his horse, under which circumstance, his
future services being despaired of, the king
settled on him a pension of 1000l per annum.
Sir Arthur, nevertheless, afterwards served at
Tredagh, in Ireland, where all the royalist
garrison were put to the sword, and he himself
had his brains barbarously beaten out with his
wooden leg. Clarendon observes that he was the
only papist that had a command in the army, and
was a very unpopular though deserving officer.
[His estate was forfeited, and in 1651 Cattenhall
was sold to Gilbert GERARD esq. of Crewood, for
£2441.e]
After some intermediate sales,
subsequent to the death of sir A. Aston [and the
purchase by Mr. GERARD,] Cattenhall was purchased
by Robert HYDE, esq.,f who, dying without issue, left it to
his great nephew Robert HYDE. esq. in reversion,
after the death of his widow; and on the
termination of that family in the malke line, it
passed in marriage, with the heiress, to the late
John Gifford, of Nerquis, esq. and is now [1816]
the property of his daughter Elizabeth.
[From Miss Gifford the estate
subsequently passed, by sale, through several
hands, to the late Mr. Langsdale of Liverpool,
who pulled down the old hall, and erected in its
stead a large and commodious farm house; and a
few years after, sold the property to the late
John Knowles, esq. of Liverpool, in whose
representatives the same afterwards became
vested.]
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a. "D'no
Inhelo Sacerdoti."
Vernon's MSS, added to the Leger Book of
St. Werburgh, p. 38. b. Williamson's
Evidences.
c. These
GRIFFINs, there can be little doubt,
were descended from the family of
BARTHERTON. The latter held lands in the
neighbourhood. See Acton in Weverham.
Their successors, the NUTHALLS, most
probably branched out of the Lancashire
family of that name seated from early
times near Bury. See also Mr. Ormerod's Parentalia.
A John NUTTOWE, scolar, had in 1490, June
27, a Dispensation for defect of birth - Lichfield
Diocesan Registers - H.
d. Villare
Cestriense. Harl. MSS. 2010. The
grants from Kingsley to St. Werburgh's
abbey, from St. Werburgh's abbey to
William GERARD, and the purchase from
Peter GERARD by Robert GRIFFIN, are
stated in a plea exemplified at the
instance of Richard NUTTALL 24 June, 3
Edw. VI.
e. Copy
Conveyance penes Mr.
Leycester of Toft. - II.
f. Williamson's
Villare Cest.
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Editorial Notes:
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[1] son of
Arthur: That is, the son of
Arthur Aston who was born about 1571 in
Fulham, Middlesex, England. This was the
elder Sir Arthur Aston whose parents were
Sir Thomas Aston and Elizabeth Mainwaring
and who, very briefly, was the
proprietary governor of Avalon
(Ferryland). The family Aston, in
County Cheshire, was Royalist and
Catholic; and it is of great interest
that John NUTHALL III conveyed ownership
of Cattenhall to the son of the
proprietary governor of Avalon
(Ferryland) the history of which is
entangled with that of the Catholic
settlement of Maryland, the province in
which John NUTHALL IV was to realise his
own manorial aspirations.
A brief history of the Province of
Avalon, in Newfoundland, is furnished by
the Terra
Nova Greens, the Newfoundland and
Labrador chapter of the Green Party of
Canada:
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The
colony of Avalon was situated at
a place called Ferryland, on the
south east coast of
Newfoundland's Avalon peninsula. The first recorded
settlers of Ferryland were
followers of the "Pirate
Admiral" Peter Easton who
plied the waters about
Newfoundland (circa
1600-1620).
In 1612, Peter
Easton moved to from Harbour
Grace to Ferryland, Newfoundland.
He built the "Great
House" and settled on
"Fox Hill". However,
he and his pirates were highly
mobile and remained at Ferryland
for only a few years.
In 1616, William Vaughan (1575 -
1641)
purchased a large portion of the
Avalon peninsula. In 1617,
Vaughan had established a small
settlement south of Ferryland at
Renews. The settlement was
comprised, almost exclusively, of
persons who spoke Gaelic.. The
colony was named Cambriola.
Cambriola was abandoned in 1619.
In 1620,
Vaughan gave Sir George CALVERT,
who was to be the first Lord
Baltimore, a tract of land on the
Avalon peninsula. In 1621,
CALVERT founded the colony of
Avalon. Despite settling the
colony in 1621, Calvert did not
receive a Royal Charter for the
land until 1623.
Despite the
harsh climate of Newfoundland,
the depredations of pirates and
buccaneers, and the
ill-preparedness of English
colonists for the environment of
Newfoundland, the Colony of
Avalon was successful.
Masons were
imported to Avalon to build a
stone town based on English
designs, experimental gardens
were planted, and people worked
in the lucrative salt-cod
industry.
In 1632
Cecil CALVERT, the second Lord
Baltimore,was granted a Royal
Charter for the Colony of
Maryland. He appointed governors
to both the colony of Maryland
and the colony of Avalon. But, at
this time, The Colony of Avalon
went into decline. Many of its
settlers immigrated to Maryland
and John Hill was left as
the acting governor.
In 1637, David Kirke (1597-1654) was named co-proprietor
of Newfoundland. He was
Newfoundland's first
governor under a charter granted
to the "Company of
Adventurers."
In 1639, Kirke
took possession of Avalon. He
unceremoniously ousted John Hill
from Lord Baltimore's mansion.
Hill moved a short distance away
to Caplin Cove (now called
Calvert Bay).
In 1651, a
Parliamentarian committee led by
one Mr. Treworgie arrived at
Avalon and arrested Kirke,
returning him to England. This
was because of his Royalist
sympathies during the English
Civil War. Three years later,
Kirke died in an English prison.
Treworgie remained in
Newfoundland for several years as
acting governor for Cromwell's
Parliament.
In 1660, the
legal title to the colony of
Avalon reverted to Cecil CALVERT,
the second Lord Baltimore. He did
not, however, attempt to regain
control of the colony and it
remained in possession of the
Kirke family until its
destruction in 1696.
In 1673, the
pirates returned. Dutch
buccaneers under Captain Jacob
Everson laid seige to the colony
of Avalon at Ferryland and it
appears that they sacked the
settlement.
The Dutch
continued toward St. John's. But
the pirates were destroyed by the
residents of St. John's
who were organized by
Captain Christopher Martin.
At the last, in
1696, the colony of Avalon was
burned and destroyed by French
soldiers and Indian warriors
under the command of Captain
Pierre Le Moyne, sieur
d'Iberville.
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On this
historic map (1663), the Avalon peninsula
is clearly visible:
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James
Yonge's map of Ferryland, ca.
1663
[From Colony of Avalon]
In 1663/1664,
16-year-old James Yonge visited
Ferryland as a surgeon aboard a
ship from Plymouth, England.
During his stay in Newfoundland,
or shortly threreafter, Yonge
sketched a map of
"Feryland" [Ferryland]
within the pages of his journal.
Yonge's map illustrates the prime
location of Ferryland's harbour
which, from the early 1500s,
proved to be a favourite location
for ships participating in the
lucrative Newfoundland migratory
fishery.
From
F.N.L. Poynter, ed., The
Journal of James Yonge,
1647-1721, Plymouth Surgeon
(London: Longman, Green & Co.
Ltd., ©1963) Plate 4 A:
"Part of the coast of
Newfoundland, showing
Ferryland", facing 81.
_________________________
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About George CALVERT, the first Lord
Baltimore and the Lord Proprietor of
Avalon and Maryland, the following
account is from the Enoch
Pratt Free Library:
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George CALVERT,
the virtual founder of Maryland,
was born at Kiplin, in the North
Riding of Yorkshire, and grew up
in an age that witnessed the
defeat of the Spainsh Armada, the
exploits of Drake and Raleigh,
and a flowering of literature,
including Spenser and
Shakespeare. After taking the
degree of B. A. at Trinity
College, Oxford, he gained the
notice of Sir Robert Cecil,
minister to King James I, and
entered his employ as secretary. By
his industry and judgement
CALVERT won the confidence of the
King, was knighted in 1617, was
chosen one of James's two
secretaries of state. Meanwhile
he served several terms in
Parliament. His knowledge and
integrity brought him the respect
of all about the court. For these
qualities as well as for his able
and faithful services, King James
and, later, Charles I rewarded
him with substantial grants.
James gave him an annual pension
of £1000 and extensive lands in
Country Longford, Ireland. In
1625, however, CALVERT's career
reached a turning point when he
had announced that he had become
a member of the Roman Catholic
Church, an event that in England
of the seventeenth century was
likely to put an end to political
preferment. In February, CALVERT
resigned his office, whereupon
James created him Baron Baltimore
in the Irish peerage.
CALVERT's zeal for American
colonization was foreshadowed
early in his career when he
became a member of both the
Virginia and the New England
companies. In 1621 he purchased
lands in Newfoundland, where he
soon planted a settlement, later
erected by royal patent into the
province of Avalon. He twice
visited the colony, but in 1629
the severe climate drove him to
ask for lands farther south.
After a journey to Virginia he
returned to England and
petitioned Charles I for a grant
adjacent to that colony. With the
sanction of the King, CALVERT
drew up a charter conveying to
himself broad holdings on both
sides of the Chesapeake Bay, as
far as the fortieth degree of
latitude. Before the instrument
passed the seals CALVERT died,
but it was a document which, when
approved on June 20, 1632, became
the means of translating into
reality the first Lord
Baltimore's dream of American
colonization. In the charter the
name of Maryland ("Terra
Mariae") appeared for the
first time.
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The following paragraph is from Colony
of Avalon:
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Sir George
CALVERT, the first Lord
Baltimore: In 1620, George
CALVERT (1579/80 - 1632)
purchased a parcel of land in
Newfoundland from Sir William
Vaughan. The land extended from
just south of Aquaforte to Caplin
Bay (now Calvert). The following
year, CALVERT's colonists set off
for Ferryland under the
leadership of governor Captain
Edward Wynne. After the colony
had been established, CALVERT
obtained a larger land grant from
King James I of England, who
awarded him "the Province of
Avalon." CALVERT himself
resided at Ferryland for a period
of two years, from the summer of
1627 until the winter of 1628/29.
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By all means, the Catholic settlement
of Avalon anticipated that of Maryland.
Thus, the following paragraphs from Raymond
J. Lahey, since 12 June 2003, the
eighth Catholic Bishop of Antigonish,
Nova Scotia:
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The first known
Roman Catholics to settle the
Island (that is, Newfoundland)
were at the colony established by
Sir George CALVERT, Lord
Baltimore, at Ferryland, in 1621.
CALVERT's initial interest was
probably mercantile. However, the
royal charter granted him in 1623
the "Province of
Avalon" (a name with clear
religious overtones). In 1625,
CALVERT resigned as Principal
Secretary of State, and announced
his conversion to Catholicism.
The same year he sent to the
colony as its new governor Sir
Arthur Aston, a Roman Catholic,
with a party of 15 Catholic
settlers. Prompted by the English
Carmelite, Thomas Doughty (Father
Simon Stock), a confidante of
CALVERT, the newly formed Vatican
Congregation de Propaganda
Fide showed great interest in
the Newfoundland colony, seeing
there a possible base for the
evangelization of North America.
CALVERT himself went to Ferryland
in July, 1627, bringing with him
Father Anthony Pole (alias
Smith), and a second priest,
Thomas Longville, who returned to
England with the proprietor. Pole
stayed in Newfoundland until the
summer of 1629, thus becoming the
first Catholic priest known to
reside in British North America.
Another priest named Hacket
accompanied CALVERT, his family,
and about 40 Catholic settlers
when they took up residence in
Ferryland in 1628, and two
Jesuits (possibly Alexander Baker
and Lawrence Rigby) went to the
colony in 1629. While CALVERT
brought out Catholic colonists,
and the practice of Catholicism
at Ferryland was "in the
ample manner as tis used in
Spayne," the Avalon colony
was not intended only as a haven
for Catholic refugees. CALVERT
also had Church of England
priests there, Richard James in
1622 and Erasmus Stourton in
1627-28, and the deacon Thomas
Walker in 1629. Though Stourton
denounced the idea, it seems
clear that CALVERT foresaw a
colony founded on religious
toleration. In any event the
venture ended with the departure
of the proprietor and his fellow
Catholics in 1629. After a
desperate winter CALVERT turned
his attention southward to what
was to become Maryland.
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About the elder Sir Arthur Aston, the
father of him who acquired Cattenhall,
information is scanty. The following
paragraph is from Government
House: The Governorship of Newfoundland
and Labrador:
| |
Aston,
Sir Arthur
Governor of
Province of Avalon, c. 1625-1627
| |
|
| |
Around 1625, Sir
Arthur Aston was named to
the post of governor of
the Province of Avalon
by George CALVERT. Little
information exists on the
life and government of
Aston; in fact, there is
much debate as to
precisely when he arrived
at Ferryland. One
researcher, who says that
Aston was a devout
Catholic and had been
recommended by a Catholic
priest, puts the year of
his arrival at 1625.
Other researchers claim
that Aston came to
Newfoundland in 1626 or
even as late as 1627. It
is possible that Aston
returned to England in
the spring of 1627 and
joined the Duke of
Buckingham's company in
France, only to die there
the same year. |
|
And the following note is from Colony
of Avalon:
| |
Aston, Sir
Arthur:
| |
|
| |
Second governor of
Ferryland; replaced
Edward Wynne in 1625; 15
Catholics were to
accompany Aston, himself
a Catholic, to Ferryland
in 1625; left in 1628
with Fathers Smith and
Longville. |
|
That, however, Sir Arthur Aston was
actually resident in Avalon is not
doubtful:
| |
Documents Relating to
Ferryland: 1597 to 1726 29
March 1652; Robert Allward
Examination [in Baltimore vs.
Kirke]
Great Britain,
PRO, High Court of Admiralty, HCA
13/65, n.p.
MHA 16-B-5-002;
extract published in Gillian T.
Cell ,ed., Newfoundland
Discovered, English Attempts at
Colonization, 1610-1630,
Hakluyt Society 2nd series, no.
160, (London: Hakluyt Society,
©1982) 300. Revised with further
transcription by P.E. Pope.
| |
The Lord
Baltimore against
Sir
David Kirke
29 March 1652Examined
upon the foresaid libel
Robert Allward, of
Kingswear near Dartmouth
in the County of Devon,
mariner, aged 60 years or
thereabouts, sworne and
examined.
To the third, fourth,
seventh, eighth, ninth
and tenth articles of the
libel aforesaid, he
deposeth that he hath by
times as master and
mariner used the trade of
Newfoundland for these
forty years last or
thereabouts, and thereby
well knoweth that there
is a place or bay called
Fermeuse in Newfoundland
and another place,
harbour, or bay therein
called Petit Harbour
[Petty Harbour], and that
between the aforesaid
harbours, place, or bays
of Fermeuse and Petit
Harbour there are situate
and being these places or
bays ensuing, that is to
say, Aquafort Harbour,
Ferryland Harbour, Caplin
Bay, Cape Broyle, Isle
Despear [Isles of Spear,
near Tors Cove],
Mounteapple Bay,
Wittlesea Bay [Witless
May], and Bay of Bulls
[Bay Bulls], all which
harbours are lying and
being on the eastern sea
of Newfoundland. And he
further saith that Sir
George CALVERT, late Lord
Baltimore (by such as he
employed herein) built
the chief Mansion House
at Ferryland, within the
Province of Avalon in
Newfoundland in the parts
of America, and that this
deponent knew Captain
Edward Wynne, who was
sent thither as agent or
deputy for the said Sir
George CALVERT, late Lord
Baltimore, about thirty
years since, and there
resided as his agent for
diverse years. And this
deponent also knew Sir
Arthur ASTON, who also
resided there for diverse
years, as agent likewise
for the said Sir George
CALVERT, late Lord
Baltimore. And deposeth
that the said Sir George
CALVERT, Lord Baltimore,
was afterwards there also
himself, with his wife,
children, and family, all
which he knoweth because
he, this deponent, was
there present, the
respective persons there,
in the qualities and
employment aforesaid. And
he well knoweth, as he
saith that the said Sir
George CALVERT, late Lord
Baltimore, was at great
costs and charges in
making forts and
platforms and providing
of ordnances and
ammunition for them,
within the time
predeposed there, and
also in making provision
for diverse people or
persons by him
transported thither to
settle a plantation. And
he further deposeth that
after the death of the
said Sir George CALVERT,
late Lord Baltimore, one
Captain William Hill came
over thither and did live
in the great Mansion
House aforesaid, in the
summertime 1638, and in
said summertime, viz. in
the month of June, July
or thereabouts of the
said year, Sir David
Kirke came there.
Moreover he saith that in
the said year, 1638, and
after the coming thither
of the said Sir David
Kirke, the said deponent
was master of a ship
named the HAMILTON, sent
over by the said Sir
David, under the command
of his brother Sir Lewis
Kirke, to go for the Bay
of Bulls [Bay Bulls] in
Newfoundland aforesaid,
to depart there and take
the imposition or return
of fishing of the vessels
as were fishing there or
trading there; and
thereof which the said
Sir Lewis Kirke received
and took imposition of
fish, after the rate of
five in the hundred, from
a Holland [Dutch] Ship in
the harbour, and which
fish, of the deponent's
certain knowledge, as the
said Holland ship
aforesaid was of about
140 tons burthen, and
would (after the burthen)
carry two thousand
quintals or thereabouts
of Newfoundland dried
fish, and he believing
the previous then fully
laden, and that the
imposition so then
received by the said Sir
Lewis Kirke amounted to
£ 50 sterling or
thereabouts. And
otherwise he cannot
depose.
Upon whereof he is not
examined by direction of
the Lord Baltimore.
To the second
Interview
To the first, he was
not required by the Lord
Baltimore to testify
truly in his business,
wherein therewith was
there never mystery, nor
will it be any profit or
damage him not, should
either side prevail, and
them he favoureth him
indifferently and hath
known the second Lord
Baltimore [Cecil CALVERT]
about half a year last,
and Sir David Kirke about
fourteen years last and
otherwise he cannot
answer him as aforesaid.
To the second, he
saith in reply of those
in his cause against Sir
David Kirke for wages,
and otherwise he
answereth negatively.
To the third, he saith
he never to his knowledge
knew the now Lord
Baltimore [Cecil CALVERT]
at Newfoundland. And
otherwise he cannot
depose, saving as
aforesaid.
To the fourth and
fifth, answereth himself
to his previous
deposition and otherwise
cannot say other than as
aforesaid.
[signed] Robert
Allward
|
|
In a very curious volume, The
Golden Fleece (1626), Sir
William Vaughan provided the elder
Sir Arthur Aston with something
resembling an honourable mention. The
"golden fleece" to which
Vaughan referred is the plantations and
fisheries of Newfoundland. The book,
which is said to have been written to
promote settlement in Vaughan's colony of
New Cambriol, is an example of high
satire, furnishing a critique of English
politics and English religion:
| |
T H
E
G O L D E N
F L E E C E
Diuided
into three Parts,
Vnder which are
discouered the Errours
of Religion,
the Vices and Decayes
of the King-
dome, and
lastly the wayes to get
wealth, and to
restore
Trading so much com-
playned of.
TRANSPORTED
FROM
Cambrioll Colchos,
out of the Southermost
Part of the Iland, commonly
called the
NEWFOVNDLAND,
By Orpheus
Iunior,
For the generall and
perpetuall Good of
Great BRITAINE.
______________________________
LONDON,
Printed for Francis
Williams, and are to
bee sold
at his Shop at the signe of the Globe,
ouer
against the Royall Exchange,
1626.
THE
THIRD PART
OF
The
Golden Fleece.
CHAP.
3.
Apollo calls an Assembly of
the Company, for the
Plantation of
Newfoundland, where Mr.
Slany, Mr. Guy, and others,
meeting by his Maiesties Commandement,
Captain Iohn Mason is willed
to disclose, whether the
Golden Fleece be there, where
Orpheus Iunior alleadged it to
be. Captaine Mason auerreth
it to be in the same Iland more
abundantly then in any other
place.
Apollo hauing with
acute iudgment, and mature
deliberation resolued to
countenance and continue the Plantation
of the Iland commonly
called the Newfoundland,
afer his Maiestie had by
publike proclamation commanded
the same to be hereafter called Britannioll,
& to be diuided into three
parts, as Great-Britaine
was at the first planting by the Troians,
or as others affirme by the
valiant Cimbrians, hee
assembled all those expert gentlemen,
which had either aduentured their
fortunes or persons in that
hopefull Countrey. And in the
magnificent Hall of the Delphicke
Palace, there appeared the
noble minded Iohn Slany
Treasurer of the society for
that Plantation, Humphrey
Slany his brother, &
others of the Corporation out of London
and Bristow; Then entred Iohn
Guy Alderman of Bristow, who
was the first Christian,
that planted and wintered in that
Iland, establishing an English
Colony at Cuperts Coue
within the Bay of Conception,
about 13 years past. After him,
came Captaine Iohn Mason,
who dwelt in that Country sixe
yeares. Next to these, many
others out of Bristow and Wales
succeeded, who had spent some few
yeares in that Land. And
particularly, one Captaine
Winne a Cambro-Britan was
much noted in this Assembly for
his personall abode and painefull
care in setling the Plantation at
Feriland in the South part
of this Coast, where for the
space of 4 yeares hee did more
good for my Lord
Baltimore,
then others had done in double
the time.
Apollo not mindfull,
that there were any more
Aduenturers & Planters of
eminency then these, which he
beheld there present, was about
to frame a speech vnto them, when
the Lady Mnemosyne Princesse
of Memory whispered his Maiestie
in the eare, that there were
other Noble Britaines,
which had likewise aduanced this
glorious enterprize. And why said
Apollo, doe they absent
themselues from this Assembly?
They haue reason for it, answered
the Lady Pallas; For if
they repaire hither to your Maiesties
Court, and their Enemies
watching that opportunity should
enter into their charge, the
remedies which you consult vpon
at this present, will fall out to
bee applyed, as Physicke to a
dead Coarse; Some of the Dunkirkes
may take their progesse into your
Britanniol, to solace
themselues there with your Nimphs,
and to glut their greedy throats
with Cods-heads. In what a case
thinke you will your Iasons
bee with their Fishing for the Golden
Fleece, if some of these
Raggamuffins make hauocke of
their Ships, Mariners, Goods, and
Plantations? Before you borrow
the personal presence of those
Gentlemen who are here wanting,
it were fit your tooke some order
to secure that Coast from
Piraticall rouers. The Lord
Vicount Falkland looketh vnto
his great Gouernement in Ireland,
to see the same well fortified
and guarded. The Lord
Baltimore is likewise busie
in supplying his Colony at Feriland.
Sir William Alexander
attends on the valiant King of Great
Britaine, night and day,
taking care by what meanes he may
most commodiously transport his Scottish
Colonies into those parts. Sir
Francis Tanfield, and Sir
Arthur Aston,
two generous Knights,
which to their immortall glory,
doe imploy their times in
building and manuring that new
ground, cannot be spared from
their Plantations, lest the wild
Boares breake into their Gardens.
I thinke, said Apollo, I
must send for Hercules
from his starry Spheare, or get
another Medusa, whose very
sight shall turne these Dunkirkes
into stones, before my vertuous
followers shall endure the least
affront at the hands of malicious
Erynnis, that Patronesse
of barbarous Pirates. In the mean
time we will thinke on some
conuenient course to restraine
these threatned thunders and
blustering blasts.
And seeing that you my
deare seruants, are here
assembled at this time, I must
haue you to satisfie the wauering
world, whether the Golden
Fleece be in greater plenty
and abundance in this Iland
or in New England, Virginia,
the Summer Iles, or in
some other forraigne Coast, which
your Nation may easily possesse.
At these words, there was much
muttering among the English
and Scottish. For some
contended on the behalfe of Virginia;
others contested for New
England. Euery man had his
opinion according to his
imaginary obiect, wherein most
preferred priuate fantasies,
before the intellectual facultie.
His Maiestie hauing
patiently awayted for their
vnanimous resolution, like
Brethren of the same Iland,
borne vnder the same Prince,
Religion and Gouernement, and
seeing no end of their disputes,
hee willed Captaine Mason
to breake the Ice, in respect he
had beene sixe yeares acquainted
with ice and frosts at Cupert
Coue, one of the coldest
places of those Countries, and
boldly without partiality, feare,
or sinister regard, to disclose
the secrets of the Soile, the
benefits of the Land, and whether
this Plantation were such
an inestimable iewell as Orpheus
Iunior had deliuered, or to
be had in more estimation then
any other place.
NOTE: This
document was transcribed from the
original The Golden Fleece
published in 1626 and contained
in the Centre for Newfoundland
Studies, Queen Elizabeth II
Library, Memorial University of
Newfoundland. No effort has been
undertaken to emend or correct
the source text. For further
information please contact Dr. Hans Rollmann at h r o l l m a n @ m
o r g a n . u c s . m u n . c a
[The Golden Fleece]
|
About Sir William Vaughan, the
following is from Newfoundland
and Labrador Heritage:
| |
William
Vaughan and New Cambriol
| |
|
| |
Sir William Vaughan
(1575-1641) was a Welsh
lawyer, scholar and poet.
Deeply concerned about
poor economic conditions
in Wales, he became
interested in overseas
colonization. He decided
to try and plant a colony
in Newfoundland because
it was easily accessible
and possessed an
established fishery. In
1616 he purchased from
the Newfoundland Company
the Avalon Peninsula
south of a line from
Caplin Bay (now Calvert)
across to Placentia Bay.
He called the area
"New Cambriol"
- a "little
Wales" in the New
World.
The following year he
sent out a few
ill-prepared colonists to
the harbour of Aquaforte,
where they spent the
winter huddled in cabins
built by migratory
fishermen for summer use.
In 1618 Vaughan hired the
experienced fishing
master Richard Whitbourne
to bring colonists and
provisions to the
precarious settlement,
and appointed him
governor. Whitbourne did
his best to reorganize
the colony by moving it
to better quarters in
Renews. Unfortunately, he
had to deal with a
piratical attack on one
of his ships by deserters
from Sir Walter Raleigh's
Guiana fleet. In the end
only six colonists spent
the winter of 1619 at
Renews and they abandoned
the settlement the
following year.
Vaughan retained his
property south of Renews,
after selling off the
Ferryland area to Sir
George Calvert and the
Fermeuse lot to Henry
Cary, Lord Falkland.
There is no evidence that
he made any further
attempts at colonization,
though some sources claim
he set up a short-lived
settlement near
Trepassey.
Vaughan promoted
Newfoundland settlement
in an unusual, fanciful
book, The Golden
Fleece (1626). He
purports to have written
it in Newfoundland, but
it is doubtful that he
was ever actually on the
island. In the end the
Welsh poet produced more
publications than
colonies. His governor,
Whitbourne, was also a
writer, and in 1620
published the useful and
detailed Discourse and
Discovery of Newfoundland.
|
|
[2] Sir
Thomas Aston, of Aston: Sir
Thomas Aston was born about 1547 in
Aston, Runcorn, County Cheshire, England
and died there 4 August 1613. He was
first married to Mary Unton and second
married to Elizabeth Mainwaring (ABT
1548, Ightfield, Shropshire, England - 9
August 1601, Aston, Runcorn, County
Cheshire, England) about 1565 in
Ightfield, Shropshire. He was the father
of Sir Arthur Aston, the proprietary
governor - as the agent of George CALVERT
- of Avalon, and thus the grandfather of
the Sir Arthur Aston to whom John NUTHALL
alienated Cattenhall. Sir Thomas Aston
was also the father of John Aston (ABT
1572 - 13 May 1615), the steward to Queen
Anne, consort of James I. John Aston, in
turn, was the father of the younger Sir
Thomas Aston (29 September 1600,
Shropshire, England - 24 March 1645,
Stafford, Staffordshire, England), the
outspoken Royalist, who - in Middlewich -
suffered defeat at the hands of Sir
William Brereton.
Northwich, on the Weever, is located
not far to the southeast of Cattenhall.
Middlewich is to the southeast of
Northwich and it was there that the
younger Sir Thomas Aston, the outspoken
Royalist, suffered defeat at the hands of
Sir William Brereton:
| |
Northwich History
The
Civil War
Mid-Cheshire
could not escape the devastating
effects of the Civil War.
Initially Cheshire was Royalist
but, following the defeat of
Royalist forces at Nantwich on 25
January 1643, Northwich became a
Parliamentarian stronghold.
The
Royalists under Sir Thomas Aston
fled to Middlewich where they
positioned their cannons in the
churchyard. Captain Spotswood and
a group of Royalist dragoons took
control of Northwich, but were
forced to retreat by Sir William
Brereton, who garrisoned
Northwich for Parliament.
From
there on 13 March 1643, he
attacked Middlewich at dawn. At
the same time the foot regiments
marched from Nantwich. The
Royalists tried to re-position
the cannon, causing alarm among
their own men, who did not trust
their aim. Major Lothian of the
Nantwich foot, shot the door open
and those inside surrendered.
Brereton
was appointed Commander-in-Chief
of Parliamentarian forces in
Cheshire, constructing a
fortification overlooking Town
Bridge by Winnington Hill. He
suppressed all local opposition
from there.
On
18 August 1644 Colonel John
Marrow headed a Royalist cavalry
regiment from Chester to take
Northwich. The garrison met them
at Hartford. Before retreating
they took 15 Northwich men
prisoner. Marrow was 'shott in
Sandiwaye by one lying under a
hedge' and died the following day
in Chester.
Tradition
says that Cromwell shot a cross
from the tower of Witton Church,
putting his foot on a fragment of
a (Roman?) column which survives
on Highfield Hill. Cromwell never
came to Northwich.
The
registers of Witton Church state
that no entries were recorded at
that time because of the 'Flying
[fleeing] of clerks'. Marks on
the south of the tower are said
to be caused by musket balls.
Their position suggests they may
have been caused by a firing
squad.
Parliamentarian
troops under General Lambert
attacked Vale Royal in 1644,
burning the south wing. It was
claimed that the only things left
behind were silver plate bidden
in a secret drawer and the
children's pony, hidden behind
panelling!
The
final battle between Royalist and
Roundhead took place in 1659 at
Winnington Bridge. George Booth
raised the rebellion. His
intention was not primarily to
restore the Monarchy. He sat in
the Long Parliament, fought for
Parliament in the Civil War and
served in Cromwell's Parliament.
Like others; he became
dissatisfied and disillusioned
after the death of Oliver
Cromwell the year previously, as
Cromwell's son was easily
manipulated by the army.
Booth,
with other Cheshire gentlemen,
intended to take Chester and
march on London. They could not
occupy Chester for, although the
Mayor had Royalist sympathies,
the Castle was held by a strong
force of Parliamentarians who
smuggled out a request for
reinforcements. Booth's forces
withdrew to Northwich, where they
spent the night of 18 August.
General Lambert, with
professional forces of Cromwell's
New Model Army, marched from
Nantwich, camping at Weaverham.
Booth's forces crossed Town
Bridge on the morning of 19
August and met Lambert's at
Hartford Beach.
The
rebels were forced back to the
river at Winnington. Pressed by
the pursuing Model Army they
crowded onto the narrow bridge.
Gentlemen on horseback and
untrained men on foot tried to
force their way over to regroup
and defend the crossing. It was
hopeless! Some were forced into
the river and others tried to
escape by scrambling up the banks
to Barnton. Lambert allowed those
on foot to make their way home
but pursued the horsemen to
Frodsham, Warrington and
Manchester. The Royalists lost
thirty men, Lambert just one.
A
week later an inn keeper in
Buckinghamshire became suspicious
of 'Mistress Dorothy', who
arrived without any women in her
retinue. She was tall, with large
shoes and a manly walk. He
notified the authorities when the
men tried to buy the barber's
razor. The'Mistress' was George
Booth, who was sent to the Tower
but was released a few months
later. The following year
Parliament invited Charles II to
return.
The
decision to head for Northwich
could have been influenced by
Brereton's defences. Lord Derby
and Thomas Cholmondeley of Vale
Royal, in Booth's band with local
contacts, would have made them
expect help and shelter. Derby
was arrested after the rebellion,
dressed as a serving man. His
father was a leading Royalist who
held the Isle of Man and mounted
a revolt from there. He was
defeated at Wigan, sentenced at
Chester and beheaded at Bolton in
1651.
Sometimes
the battle is wrongly described
as the last battle of the Civil
War. It was, however, the last
time Roundhead and Royalist met
in battle.
|
The following, about the younger Sir
Thomas Aston, is from Rylands:
The Newsletter of the Special Collections
Division of the John Rylands University
Library of Manchester (Spring 2002,
issue no. 3):
| |
Broadside
Petition for Episcopacy in
Cheshire
Sir Thomas
Aston (1600-45), A Petition
Delivered in to the Lords
Spiritual and Temporall, by Sir
Thomas Aston, Baronet, from the
County Palatine of Chester
concerning Episcopacie.
[London] Printed, Anno Dom.,
1641. The
Royalist Sir Thomas Aston was
born on 29 September 1600, the
heir to an ancient Cheshire
family. His father, John Aston,
had been sewer to the wife of
James I. Educated at Brasenose
College, Oxford, Thomas was made
a baronet in 1628. He served as
High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1635,
and as MP for Cheshire in the
Short Parliament of 1640.
Sir Thomas
was a staunch churchman who
loathed the rise of
nonconformism. When the Cheshire
petitions against episcopacy were
in circulation in the early
1640s, Sir Thomas and his friends
initiated a counter-petition. The
broadside entreats that the
institution of bishops dates back
to the time of the Apostles, and
urges that ‘such dangerous
discontents amongst the common
people’ should be
suppressed. The petition is
subscribed by ‘Foure
Noblemen. Knight Baronets,
Knights and Esquires, fourescore
and odde. Divines, threescore and
ten. Gentlemen, three hundred and
odde. Free-holders and other
Inhabitants, above six
thousand’, all of the county
of Cheshire. Wing records only
two other copies of this edition.
Sir Thomas
is perhaps best known for his
brave but undistinguished role in
the Civil War. He commanded the
Royalist army that was defeated
by Sir William Brereton at
Middlewich on 13 March 1643, and
later suffered defeats at
Macclesfield and in
Staffordshire. He died from a
fever, brought on by his war
wounds, on 24 March 1645.
|
The younger Sir Thomas Aston also
published The Short Parliament
(1640): Diary of Sir Thomas Aston,
edited by Judith D. Maltby, London, The
Royal Historical Society, Camden fourth
series, volume 35, 1988. The younger Sir
Thomas Aston also published The Short
Parliament (1640): Diary of Sir Thomas
Aston, edited by Judith D. Maltby,
London, The Royal Historical Society,
Camden fourth series, volume 35, 1988.
The Short Parliament was in session from
13 April to 5 May 1640.
|
|
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Valuable information has been contributed to this web
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Family History Society, and by Ms. Sherry Frisk.
Persons contributing to this web page are not
responsible for the use which its author has made of
their information or points of view. All such errors as
may be found herein are entirely the fault of the author
of this web page.
RETURN: Antecedents
and Descendants of John Nuthall of Cross Manor (1614/15 -
July 1667)
GENEALOGICAL NOTES AND
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