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The study of a family
name is an interesting one, and to many it has a great fascination.
Who has not wondered at times where his or her own name came from,
and how far back, and what was its origin or significance? Some
more interested than others have made this quite a hobby, and can
trace their genealogical tree three or four hundred years back,
and even more. The Jews, as a people, were very careful in this
matter, and there is quite a number of genealogical tables given
in Holy Writ, the outstanding examples being the two tracing in
one the genealogy of Jesus to Abraham, and the other through another
line to Adam.
The name Gledhill has a very interesting origin and its significance
is worthy of remembrance.
By referring to the old records at the different parish churches
of Yorkshire, the name will be found spelt in many different ways,
and from the pages of these registers an accurate account of the
early life of the Gledhill family is obtained. It was stated by
the verger of the Halifax Church, in 1931, that he could scarcely
turn over a page without coming across the name; but the majority
of names seem to be recorded at the Elland Church, and at the parish
church of St. Peter’s, in Leeds. There are various forms of the
name, such as:-
Gladhill, Gleadall, Gleddall, Gleddale, Gleadhill, Gleddel, Gleddil,
Gledal, Gleddol, Gladall, Gladdell, Gladell, Gledel, Gleadle, Gleaddall,
Gledehill, Gleidhill, del Gledehill, de Gledhill, de Gledehill,
Gleydehyll and Gleydhill.
In an interesting book entitled "The History of Brighouse" is contained
some interesting information regarding the different ways in which
the name is spelt. The earliest reference to the name is that of
Ric de Gledhill in 1359; he was one of a jury at the sitting of
a Court at Brighouse. Further, in Bardsley’s "Book of Sur-names,"
it is recorded that the name "Gledhill" was a well-known Yorkshire
name, dating back to the year 1379, which is as far as the records
go, when a Poll Tax was taken in the West Riding of Yorkshire. On
page 185 of these records appears the name of Ricardus de Gledhill
and Thomas de Gledhill. Bardsley states: "I have not identified
the spot so termed ‘GLEDHILL’; it will, I doubt not, be found in
the West Riding. Probably it means the hill frequented by the Gledes;
gledes are known as kites, ‘Kite Hill’. The Glede is referred to
in the Holy Bible, in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter XIV, v.13,
‘and the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind.’ In
the Biblical Concordance the glede is referred to as probably the
buzzard, there being three kinds in Palestine, the most common being
the large red species resembling a small eagle."
In the Halifax Church Register is found the following entry:-
Dominus Thomas Gleydehill, contrarist in Cantaria Vocat Wylbe, chantre
asquondam vicarius de Cannes berghe, sepuet. 12 Mai, 1541
The aforesaid had been appointed first chaplain of Wylbes Chantry,
situated on the south side of the ancient church of Halifax.
From a glance at the parish registers, which are now a pride and
valuable possession of the grand old Anglican Church, we find the
following information relating to the family:-
1. JOHN GLEDALL, left money for the poor in 1681 for the Parish
of Braithwell, City of York. 2. THOMAS GLEDHILL, Gentleman of Barkisland,
died October 31, 1612. His corpse was dug up on November 27, 1612,
because of accusations of suicide, but was found untouched and unwounded
and replaced in tomb. 3. THOMAS GLEDHILL, also of Barkisland, died
and was buried at Elland Churchyard, 1657, bestowed benefactions
to Ripponden Church by bequeathing the sum of £120 upon lands for
the use of a lawful preaching Minister of the word of God at the
Riponden CHAPPELL that shall be settled there from time to time.
The profits of the same LANDES from YEARE to YEARE to succeeding
ages shall be paid to the Minister in charge. (In commemoration
whereof the Minister was to preach one sermon yearly on the 1st
May, if it be not on the Lord’s Day, and if so, in the week following
at the Minister’s choice. He also set apart £50 to be bestowed in
lands, the profits therefrom to be for the benefit of the poor of
Barkisland.) 4. THOMAS GLEDHILL (1) Sarah Gledhill (2). Thomas endowed
a Grammar School. Sarah bequeathed money for the poor of Barkisland.
5. RICHARD S. GLEDHILL, a Gentleman of Barkisland, Captain in the
Royal Army under Sir M. Longdale, was knighted by the Marquis of
Newcastle and slain at Hessay Moor in 1644. 6. JOHN GLEDHILL, a
Gentleman, was married to Sarah Horton by license on October 11,
1636. He was the builder of Barkisland Hall (photo 57k), and was
the son of Thomas Gledhill. On the same day in the same Church of
England at Elland his sister, Elizabeth Gledhill, married William
Horton, Gentleman, of Barkisland. 7. HUGH GLEDHILL, Vicar of Huddersfield,
1567. 8. It is noted from the records of the Foundling Chapel, London,
that the Rev. John William Gledhill, M.A., Fellow of St. Catherine’s,
Cambridge, was for 37 years morning preacher at the abovementioned
chapel. He was born June 1, 1799, and died October 26, 1882.
It is interesting to record that during the 15th and 16th centuries
the approximate numbers of births, marriages and deaths of people
bearing the name of Gledhill in its different forms are as follows:-
15th Century.- Baptisms, 202; Marriages, 82; Deaths, 178 16th Century.-
Baptisms, 173; Marriages, 219; Deaths, 124
The coat of arms of the Gledhill family was first granted to Richard
Gledhill by Norroy, King of Arms, in the year 1612 and confirmed
by Segar, Knight, Garter, King of Arms, in the year 1632. The following
are the particulars:-
Arms: Azure, three lozenges in fesse argent. Crest: A cock proper.
Motto: "Fortiter et Recte" ("Bravely and Rightly").
I will give you some extracts from a peculiar marriage settlement
of John Gledhill, of Barkisland, dated November 20, 1502:-
"Whereas it is agreed that his son Thomas shall take to wife Janet,
daughter of Nicholas Woodhead." and among the provisions of the
settlement are:- 1. His son and his wife to receive an annual rent
of 6/8, issuing out of a property called "Pierce Hey." 2. His son
to have two days in a week in a "Walk Milne," otherwise a fulling
mill at Pierce Hey. 3. On day of marriage to have £8/6/8. 4. Similar
amount within 40 days of wedding. 5. A gift of 40/- in pennies.
6. £6/6/8 in pennies when they shall "goo to hous." 7. His son’s
father-in-law to agree to array his daughter Janet sufficiently
in bed and back and to give meat and lodging to them for 3 years
after marriage. 8. The father-in-law of his son is to provide a
surety of 100 marks that his daughter Janet shall not vex, trouble
or interfere with him (John Gledhill) her father-in-law to be. The
son of the above marriage, who was also named Thomas, was a much
married man. 1st Marriage: Agnes Savile, his cousin, 2 children:
John and Elizabeth. 2nd Marriage: Janet Woodhead, 4 sons: Thomas,
James, George, Richard, and one daughter: Janet. (A marriage settlement
of May 8, 1543, stated that his wedding must be celebrated before
Michaelmas. He inherited from his father and grandsire a new house
in the "nether end" of Barkisland and seven closes of land called
Southey, Tirredore, Karre, Longmytrode, Lyttyll, Alylnrode, Longholme
and Sprying in Barkisland. His father-in-law covenated to give £6
in pennies at the time of their marriage and he promised to honestly
"arraye his daughter of bedde and bakke as beseemeth both for the
deliverer and taker.") 3rd Marriage: Agnes? and by this wife were
two children: Donrel and Susan.
Thomas died, and was buried in the Elland Churchyard on March 25,
1568, and his eldest son and heir, John, of the first wife, now
came into his own, and he:- 1st Marriage: Elizabeth, surname unknown.-Had
a son Thomas (presumably son Michael) and four daughters. His wife
died 1575. 2nd Marriage: Cicily, daughter of John Thornhill, one
son (John) and four daughters. (He died, and was buried at Elland,
December 31, 1594.)
John Gledhill was an extremely wealthy man in those days, and we
find no indication that he was engaged in the staple trade of the
district. We must, therefore, conclude that he was to be numbered
among the comparatively few landed gentry in the parish in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, and undoubtedly he was the most influential
personage in Barkisland township.
This John Gledhill was succeeded by his son Thomas Gledhill, who
kept up the family traditions in regard to marriages. His first
wife was Mary, daughter of Richard Wade. They were married at Halifax,
January 23, 1534-35, and had Thomas, a son, baptised at Elland,
May 7, 1587, and who died in 1607, during his father’s lifetime.
By a second marriage with Edith, daughter of John Harrison, of Leeds,
he had: John, Elizabeth, Thomas, Richard and Judith. John, the eldest
son, was the builder of Barkisland Hall, as we know it to-day
. In the year 1922, Mr. Hugh P. Kendall read a paper before the
Halifax Antiquarian Society, entitled: "Barkisland Hall and the
Family of Gledhill," from which we note that Barkisland Hall is
a beautiful mansion, which stands at the foot of the village which
bears the same name. It is a stately building, entered by a three-decker
porch, surmounted by a rose window. Over the doorway of this is
the date 1638, with the initials J.G.-S.G., those of John Gledhill
and his wife Sarah. This building is still standing to-day, but
unfortunately not in the hands of the family.
Barkisland Hall was the centre of social life, for opposite the
entrance gates are some cottages, which were once the kennels of
Barkisland in the days when the Gledhills hunted the surrounding
country. The Hall is situated close to the road and can be seen
by all who pass through the village. John Gledhill might have had
some premonition of the end of his line, when he caused to be cut
over a doorway the following: Nunc mea, mox hujus, postea nescio
cujus (Once his, now mine, but I know not whose afterwards).
John Gledhill was buried at Elland, May 28, 1656, and it was his
desire to be laid to rest in the chapel at Elland "amongst his ancestors."
The end of this branch of the Gledhill family came with great suddenness,
as father and son had departed this life in the short space of about
ten months, and within a year after, the daughter of the last survivor
followed, and Barkisland Hall knew them no longer. This daughter,
Sarah Gledhill, was known for her benevolence, as will be noted
from some extracts from her will:-
I do give and bequeath the sum of £200 unto the use of a schoolmaster,
for teaching such poor children of the township of Barkisland whose
parents are not able to bring them up in learning, and I do will
that my executors hereafter named bestow the said sum of £200 in
some convenient place in the purchase of lands, and put the same
into feoffees estate, the profits whereof to be yearly gathered
by such feoffees and their heirs to succeeding generations for ever,
and paid to such schoolmaster or schoolmasters as shall be by them
in their discretion placed or appointed in the town or township
aforesaid, for which said yearly profit the said schoolmaster shall
teach such children to read English and to write or cast account,
or further learning as the said feoffees shall think meet and convenient,
and as the moneys so raised will extend.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries we note that the Gledhills
lived in the following towns and villages of Yorkshire: Huddersfield,
Woodhouse, Churchyard, Halifax, Hunslet, Bathroyd, Littlehaven,
Warley, Elland, Stainland, Sowerby, Baytenge, Rishworth, Rastrick,
Barkisland, Auldlynley, and Brighouse.
The Gledhills, therefore, are a very old Yorkshire family, about
which little has been published. If we turn to the pages of Mr.
Watson’s "History of Halifax," we shall find the copy of a pedigree
of the family of Gledhill, as collected from ancient deeds, etc.,
and confirmed by William Segar, Knt., Garter King of Arms in the
year 1632.
In searching the records of the world to-day, we note that the family
of Gledhill has spread far and wide the world over and is increasing
as the years roll by. The name is perpetuated as follows:- 1. Gledhill
Yard, Leeds, Yorkshire. 2. Gledhill Street, Footscray, Melbourne,
Victoria, named after William Gledhill. 3. Steamship "Gledhill."
The following are the particulars taken from Lloyd’s Register of
1927: - No. 20,808, Gledhill, ex Taywood, N.G.H.G. Well Deck Steel,
505 tons, 155 ft. long, 26 ft. 8 inches breadth, 11 ft. 7 inches
depth, built 1894, Registered Newcastle, British, J. Geddes, Robinson,
Brown & Co., Managers.
Mr Geddes named the ship "Gledhill," after a farm called Gledhill,
in Morayshire, near Garmouth on Spey, Scotland.
As we read in this article these simple records, we cannot help
but feel that there is a deep significance behind the fact of the
name of Gledhill, that the members of the family were servants of
the Lord and helped along the work of God and His Church amongst
all classes of people. Centuries have rolled by, and still to-day
we find scattered all over the world many of those who bear the
name actively engaged in the work of the Lord.
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