read" before the House of Commons "it was resolved-that the name of Sir Charles Howard, of Haltwhisle, be inserted into the bill"; and accordingly the name of Sir Charles Howard, of Plenmeller, near Haltwhistle, occurs in a long list of his offending neighbours, who were put into the bill of November 2nd, 1652, for the sale of several lands and estates forfeited to the commonwealth for treason." Accordingly the estate was put up for sale, and the following document belongs to this date. It is endorsed thus:

'A DESCRIPTION OF HALTWHISTLE BOUNDARIES TAKEN BY COMMISSIONERS FOR THE SALE OF FORFEITED ESTATES IN THE YEAR 1653. No. 6. Boundery of Haltwhistle Lordship Beginneth at the South East Corner of the Falling in of Tippat Burn into the River of South Tyne; And from thence Northwest up the said Burn to the Foot of Pansdale Sike, then North the said Sike to the Sandiefords. And so to the Wall Town Mosse; And then East thro' the said Mosse to the Mear Poole And so along the Meare Steand to the Cawburn And from thence North East to the Roman Wall, And North beyond the said Wall up the Cawburn by the Summer Yards to an Old Double Dike And So along the said Dike to the Caw Gap And So South Over the Roman Wall to the Staving Stone And So South by the West End of the Christy Cragg And so still South by the Shudders (gy. Struthers) to the River Tyne And then West up the said River to Tippat Foot where the Bounder begun.'

From the proceedings in connection with this forfeiture and subsequent sale we learn that Lord William Howard by a deed dated 8th October, 1638, had settled Plenmeller and Haltwhistle first on himself and his then wife with remainder to Sir Charles Howard his son, and with further remainder to William Howard son of Sir Charles. But in April, 1651, Nicholas Ridley and others stated in a petition that Capt. Thomas Howard and Sir Charles Howard papists in arms held the land until the Scots invasion when they fled leaving the lands waste,' and thereon the petitioners returned to their lands from which they had been formerly expelled by Lord William Howard and had held them for eight years paying rent, but the County Committee having sequestered Sir Charles Howard's estates had let their tenements. They stated also that their ancestors had long held these lands paying rent to the crown but Lord William Howard purchased the royalties of king James. Roger Harbottle, on June 11th, states

204.

Hodgson's Northumberland, i. II. p. 80, quoting Commons Journal, vii. 154,

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in a counter petition that the estate was sequestered seven years ago, and that Sir Charles being very aged and unable to prosecute these trespassers, Sir A. Haselrigg and the Northern Commissioners had let the premises to himself at an improved value of £55, and yet the others go on ploughing and sowing. The dispute was concluded by a resequestration of the estate on June 4th, 1652, and it was sold on November 10th, 1653, to Philip Purefoy, of whom nothing seems to be known and who within ten years had parted with his purchase. This order of the trustees for the sale specifies :

'All those the Mannours Lordshipps and Towneshipps of Haltwhistle Haltlebourne Plenmeller and Ferrysheilds with the Lands Tenements Rents Royalties Rights members and appurtenances thereof And also all that Water Corne Milne and a Fulling Milne or Walke Milne with the Appurtenances unto them belonging in Haltwhistle aforesaid And also all that Dying house together with the Coalery Coale Mynes or Seams of Coales lying and being in Haltwhistle aforesaid and belonging to the said Mannours with the appurtenances And also of all other the Messuages and Tenements with the Lands and appurtenances thereunto belonging lying and being within the said Mannours by what name or names soever they are called.'

The next owner was William Pearson who is said to have lived at Haltwhistle Spital, now part of the Blenkinsop estate, where his initials W. P. were cut in the stone over the door of the house. In the valuation of the county of the year 1663 William Pearson is assessed for Haltwhistle town at £140 and for the mills at £20.7 In 1672 we find George Pearson coupled with William in a note for the calling of the Fair, but in 1713 we find Mr.' William Pearson alone described as lord of the manor, and a John Pearson who is recognised as entitled to a share in the division of the common. At this time both William Pearson and John Pearson are described as of 'S. Gyles Hospital als Hexham Spital.' John is an infant who acts by his mother Margaret. As William Pearson's daughters was married as late as 1728, it would appear that we have at least two if not three generations of Pearsons.

'Hodgson's Northumberland, I. iii. 318.

8 Mr. Thos. J. Leadbitter has kindly supplied the following note on Wm. Pearson :

'My ancestor, Matthew Leadbitter, of Wharnley and Warden (the grandfather of my great grandfather) succeeded to the Warden property in 1682 on his father's death.

His eldest son succeeded him as owner of Warden.

His 2nd son, Matthew Leadbitter, of Wharnley, purchased Haltwhistle Spital in 1726, and he was buried at Warden on 10 June, 1751. His 3rd wife

VOL. XVI.

V

In 1713, an agreement was made for the division of certain parts. of Haltwhistle Common which were known by the names of The ffoulding Steads Walkers Hill the Pike Horsley Radstones Greenholes Irdon Hill lyeing on the East side of Haltwhistle Burne Broomshaw hill Williah head the Kemb Hill Little Painsdale Great Painsdale the Hard riggs the Lees the Inner Lees hole the Outer Lees Hole the ffeild head lyeing & being on the West Side of Haltwhistle Burne and all that parcell of Ground lyeing and being at the Head of Hardriggs.' The parties to the agreement were William Pearson of St. Gyles Hospital also Hexham Spittle, lord of the manor, of the one part, and of the other Robert Coatsworth (of Unthank), Bartholomew Coulson, Matthew Henderson (of Akieknow), Albany Glenwright, John Johnson (of Elwick, Co. Durham), Cuthbert Lethart, Roger Pigg (Dyer), William Armstrong, John Newton (of Horse Close), James Armstrong, George Johnson, Thomas Pratt (Smith, of Whittington), Christopher Bell (of Old Sheels), Hugh Ridley, Matthew Ridley, Thomas Crawford (of West Renton, Co. Durham), Thomas Jackson, Thomas Bell, Thomas Waugh, John Waugh (of Bitchellgate), Thirlwell ( Nicholas Havelock (of Cawfield), Thomas Pate (Vicar), John Mowbray (of the City of Durham, gentleman), Thomas Marshall (of Walltown), Joseph Bell (Glover), John Nixon, Dorothy Hankin, Henry Hankin (of Newcastle, Barber Chyrurgion), Teasdale Mowbray (infant by his father for lands, late John Winter's Mason and also late Thomas. Neven's), John Pearson (of Haltwhistle Spittle by his mother Margaret Pearson), Christopher Armstrong, John Routledge, William Whitfield, John Blenkinsopp, Dorothy Snawdon, Mary Routledge, Richard Blenkinsopp, all of Haltwhistle and yeomen, unless otherwise described. The land divided amounted to 518 acres 2 roods of which 50 acres were allotted to the lord of the manor for his demesne lands and two detached acres in right of two cottages. The 50 acres included the Lees, The Inner Lees, and Lees hope bounded by the burn. The largest allottees

.),

was Mary, daughter of William Pearson, of Hexham Spital, to whom he was married on 20 June, 1728. They had issue an only daur., Margt., who was living and unmarried in 1760. (The above is extracted from Hodgson's Northumberland, Part II. Vol iii. p. 410.) I have the portrait of colonel Pearson who fought in 1715 at Preston, and was a colonel in the Jacobite army. He was very nearly taken prisoner, and was said to have been a very resolute and powerful man. He is said to have lived at the Spital, Hexham, and, no doubt, was the Wm. Pearson of Hexham Spital, and lord of the manor of Haltwhistle, party to the agreement of 1713 for division of Haltwhistle Common.'

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were the Mowbrays who received 140 acres to be divided by themselves into portions of 90 to one and 50 to the other.

In 1714 the manor was sold to Thomas Carr of Hexham, gentleman, for £1,100, and the deeds show that it had been previously mortgaged to John Bacon, esquire, of Staward, for nearly its full value. Thomas Carr had married Ann, the daughter of Thomas Burrell of Broom park, and his son John Carr in his will dated 14th April, 1738, left his landed property at Hexham and Haltwhistle to his dear brother James Carr'9 with remainder, in default of issue, to George Cuthbertson who had married his aunt Mary Burrell, and to his heirs male in strict entail.

James Carr had no issue, and consequently the property descended to George Cuthbertson. The entail was broken when the younger George Cuthbertson came of age, and the property was resettled on his marriage, with remainder to his wife if she survived him, and then to his children.

George Cuthbertson the elder and George Cuthbertson the younger were successively town clerks of Newcastle. The son, however, died before his father and thus never came into possession of Haltwhistle. The elder George Cuthbertson died in 1767, and his grandson, another George, on coming of age was admitted to the Hexham property, but his mother was lady of the manor of Haltwhistle from 1767 until her death in 1796 when she was succeeded by her only surviving child Elizabeth, in accordance with the settlement.

Mrs. Cuthbertson was the daughter of Leonard Bower of Scorton, Yorkshire. She only enjoyed married life for about five years, her husband dying in 1756 at the early age of 26. She has left behind her a beautifully written book of daily expenses, 10 and the court rolls and presentments for this period are still preserved.

Miss Elizabeth Cuthbertson, locally known as lady Cuthbertson and the eccentric Miss Cuthbertson, lived at Haltwhistle in the new manor house, rebuilt in 1800, and at one time known as the 'Griffin inn.' At first she kept up considerable state but afterwards (report says in consequence of an unrequited attachment) she became very eccentric. She was very tenacious of her manorial rights. She kept a

James Carr son of Thomas Carr of Hexham, gent., University Coll., matriculated 10 Mar. 1736-7, aged 18. Foster's Alumni Oxonienses. 10 See Proceedings, Vol. V. p. 248.

gamekeeper to preserve the 'fowling' on the manor.

She was continually quarrelling with her tenants. At the time of her death, the whole property (with the exception of two houses then lately built) was in a complete state of ruin, according to a report made by Mr. John Adamson to her successors in the manor.

She died in 183611 intestate, and the manor therefore passed in 'moieties' to her cousins Robert Bower and Frances and Charlotte Heron. The former represented her aunt Philadelphia whose marriage is thus announced in the Newcastle Journal for 14th July, 1759:— '1759, July, married John Bower of Bolton Yorks at St. John's Church N.C. to Miss Cuthbertson dau: to Geo: Cuthbertson Clerk of the Peace for North an amiable and polite young lady with a handsome fortune.' The ladies represented Anne Cuthbertson of whose marriage there is no record, the bride having eloped with Mr. Heron to (it is supposed) Gretna Green. Mr. and Mrs. Heron had a large family, but the only survivors at the death of Miss Cuthbertson were two of the younger children, Frances and Charlotte. These ladies were descended from one Thomas Heron of Heron's Hill near Corbridge, and he is understood to have been closely connected with the baronets of Chipchase. Thus by a curious coincidence the manor of Haltwhistle came into the possession of descendants of its ancient owners, Margaret, daughter of Sir Edward Musgrave by his first wife Alice, having married John Heron of Chipchase in the last years of Henry VIII.

111836. Dec. 17. Died at Haltwhistle at the advanced age of 82 years Elizabeth Cuthbertson a maiden lady. She chose for her abode the second storey of a miserable abode in Haltwhistle, the door of which was nearly constantly locked and many of the windows bricked up to shut out the gaze of inquisitive people. Here she lived alone, and the wealth with which she was blessed, and which might have been a source of blessing to all around her, was allowed to accumulate, as she invariably refused all applications to improve the estate or render those around her more comfortable. For the latter part of her life her exclusiveness became more strict and her solitude more remarkable. She kept no steward or servant or any one to look after her affairs or manage her property, and consequently much inconvenience was sustained by all the neighbourhood. Towards her tenants she behaved in a very peculiar manner. It is said that there were some who had not paid any rent for a great number of years, there were others who paid a portion of the rent due only, and both these descriptions of tenants she allowed to live upon the respective tenures they occupied because they owed her money, but those who paid the whole of their rents she immediately discharged. It is said by those who had occasional access to her that she had a fine intelligent countenance but it was clouded with austerity, and a little more cleanliness would have made it more agreeable. During the last few years of her life she declined transacting any business in the most positive manner, and no inducements or persuasions could prevail upon her to abandon her system of non-intercourse with the world.'—Local Papers, Richardson's Table Book.