Among the MSS. in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is a lease for twenty-one years, dated 1590, from the Crown to George Mason, of the corn tithes of Heddon-on-the-Wall, Eachwick, &c., also land and houses at Heddon, late the possessions of the monastery of Blanchland.[122]
In 1602, depositions were taken by commission at Newcastle in the suit of Clement Anderson v. Ellen Mitford, respecting "lands, &c. in Heddon-on-the-Wall, and the tithe of the parish leased originally by the monastery of Blanchland to Roger Mitford and Edmund Claxton, left by Roger to his wife Anne, by her to Oswald Mitford defendant's late husband, and left by him to the defendant." [123]
The great tithes of Heddon subsequently came into the possession of the Bewickes of Close House, by whom they have been, for the most part, sold to the owners of the respective lands subject to them, in proportion.
The Proceedings of the Court of High Commission, at Durham,[124] have preserved for us a vivid, though not particularly edifying, picture of William Wilson, vicar of Heddon in 1628. Anthony Todd, then [125] aged 26, deposes that he " never sawe Mr. Wilson weare the surplisse, saveing at Easter last, albeit he hath been curat at Heddon for a yeare or more. Hath seene Mr. Wilson at sundry tymes sweare and utter these wordes when he was in his drinke ' What he was a squire's sonne;' and soe braveing in this manner of his birth, that none there should be
like unto him." Mr. Wilson frequented widow Reed's ale-house, and would sit there drinking her " home-brewed "
for an hour or more,"till he got forward in his drink;" then, if anyone advised him to be civil and temperate, and show some respect to his cloth, he would reply: "I doe not greatly care for my coate; I am a squire's sonne, and soe I respect my birth as much as my coate." It is not surprising that the Dean and Chapter of Durham - the see was vacant - sequestered the living, and gave the charge of it to Thomas Taylor, clerk, and James Carr, gent., of Whitchester. But Wilson openly told Carr in church that he would obey no sequestration. The sequestrators had
indeed to obtain a citation against the parishioners, who kept their tithes back from them, and for all of whom, Wilson boasted he would answer that " none should stirr there feete." Wilson was thereupon suspended and ordered " to publiquely and penitentily acknowledge his offence in his ordinarie apparell;" but on Mr. Taylor showing him this order, he, "in very scornful manner, answered he would obey noe such bible-babies." The consequence was that Robert Mitford, the messenger of the Court, arrested Wilson on 29th January, 1629, and with much difficulty, for " in very stubborne and peremptory manner " he refused to move, brought him down " the towne-gate of Heddon." The noise of their struggle brought Christopher Hopper [126] to the door of his house, and Mitford drawing out the warrant, required his assistance "in his Majestie's name." Instead of answering, Hopper came and took the vicar's cloak, in order that he might escape more easily, and then, leaning against his door, laughed and jeered at the messenger. At last, Mitford proposed to Wilson that he should go to widow Reed's, to which he only too readily assented. Her son, Thomas Reed, gent., aged 21, was bailiff of the town, and Mitford, no doubt, reckoned on his aid, but when he came in he told Mitford that he was no common bailiff, but Lord William Howard's bailiff, and that, as long as he was in the house he would assist him, but "when," he said, "you are gone forth of the doores, I know what I have to do," and, in order that his meaning might be quite clear, added that " it had been well done of the wives of the towne to have joyned together and have stoned Mitford forth of the towne, in regard of his hyndering divine service." Mitford saw his errand was hopeless, so he contented himself with taking a bond for £50 from Wilson that he would put in an appearance at Durham; and in the end, after various fines and sentences of imprisonment, Wilson appears to have got off free, under plea of poverty. Thomas Reed, against whom proceedings were also instituted, submitted at once, but the costs in his case were so heavy that he took to flight, and was heard of in London in 1635. [127]
Thomas Reed, clerk of Heddon-on-tke-Wall, hardly the same person as Lord William Howard's bailiff, prosecuted Isabel Oxley, wife of William Oxley, in 1633-4 for "blasphemous words." She was "accompted a great scoulder;" she had cursed George Fenwick "in verye destestable manner," and greeted Reed with: "Plague light of the and thine beastes, and lett never they nor anie thing thou hast prosper nor doe well !" The penance enjoined led her, it is to be trusted, to mend her ways: time was accorded to do so, as she lived thirty years longer. [128]
William Fenwick, of East Heddon, and his eldest son Cuthbert, were prosecuted for contumacy in connection with the schismatic preaching of Cornelius Glover, [129] at Heddon. On 16th January, 1638, William Fenwick is stated to have 'fled forth of Northumberland.' [130] Notwithstanding this it seems these Fenwicks took the Royalist side
in the Civil War; for, when General Leslie entered Northumberland with the Scots army in 1644, and on the 3rd of February summoned Newcastle to surrender, Colonel Fenwick, in company with Sir Marmaduke Langdale, sallied out of the town early on the Monday following and routed two regiments of Scots horse at Corbridge. On the 22nd of February the main force of the Scots marched from Newcastle to Heddon-on-the-Wall, where they lay all night in the open field. Advancing next day up the Tyne towards Corbridge, they found themselves confronted by the English cavalry, who, however, retreated in the night, leaving behind them only a Scots Major Agnew, Colonel
Fenwick's prisoner, to preserve FenwicKs house, near Heddon, from plunder. [131]
The earliest Church Registers are contained in a little old book evidently kept by the parish clerks, 1656-1771. The entries are scattered up and down, and the book itself is in a very decayed state. The first baptism entered is that of Dorothy Hill, 16th February, 1655/6 the first marriage (curiously enough, a civil one, during the Commonwealth),
that of " Tho. ffenwick and Mary * * * * In Heddon ye Wall, Lawfully married by Justice Delavel, ye 28th * * * 1657;" and the first Burial that of Henry (?) Hopper, in Heddon Church-yard, "ye 9th of May, 1656." In 1663, Thomas Clarke, the first vicar after the Restoration, commenced a neat register in Latin, in a long, parchment book; and this seems to have been continued by some subsequent vicars for their private use. In 1671, a regular register was begun in a
proper book, but several entries were copied out of the two older books so that some appear three times over.
The following entries arranged chronologically may prove of interest:-
" Jo. Salvin, sonne to waiter salvin, scholmaster, of Heddon on ye wall, was baptized by Mr. Dockiy, ye 2th of Decembr. 1656.
" Will. Archer, in Heddon on ye wall, had a daughter baptized by prest Hall, called Margret Archer. March, 1656.
" Barbra Madlen, deprted this life Septr. ye 5th, 1658, and was buryed in Heddon Church garth.
" Tho. Hill and Margret Kell Lawfully publised 3 several Sabaths, and Maryed by Mr. Dockery, mnster of newburn, Jun ye * * 1659.
" Jean Laidler, daughter to William Laidler clarke, off Heddon one the wall, was born in Newton Hall, in ye Parish of Bywell Peter, and was baptised Jun ya 12 day, 1662, and dwelt there three years after.
"Georgius filius Edwardi Birkly Molindinarius (sic) baptizatus erat Julii 30, 1665.
" Hi Quorum sequuntur nomina sepulti fuerunt a lege condita vulgo dicta 'an act for burying in woolen' [132] "Nicholaus filius francisci Bowmer de Eachwich sepult, legal, 23 Julii, 1679. Jurat-Barbara Crowfoot et Franciscus Bowmar 30 Julii.
"Anna Rea sepulta erat intra Templum 15 Julii, 1696.
"April ye 20th, 1697. Memdm. yt Anthony Creswell paid Roger Heaton, Church Warden, 4s. for Thos. Fenwick's and his wife's Lair-stones,[133] and yt Luke Rea paid 2s. for his wife.
"Anne, Daughter to James Tweddal, in the Queen's Service, and Ursula his wife, Baptised October the 2nd, 1709.
"Henry, son to John and Alice Glendinning of Houghton-Cragg House, baptized 19 Aug., 1711.
" of East Heddon, a spinnsr, was buried Aug. 9th, 1719.
" Mrs. Phoebe Martin, buried in the chancel, just without the Rails, and close to the South Wall, 31 March, 1731.
" William Brown, weaver, formerly of this town, buried 4 May, 1731.
William, son to Edward and Margaret Tate. of Roman Wall house, of Whitchester, baptized 12 July, 1730.
"Thomas, son of Thomas Conyers, Baptized July 9th, 1738.
"Jan. 21, 1741. Buried in the Church-yard, att the east end of the Chancel, a stranger who called himself John Penny, and died att Eachwick, and said he came from Staffordshire.
There seems to have been very great distress about 1700:-
"Isabella, dau. of Richard and Marjory Peel, baptised ; a poor Collyer, ran away next day, 5 June, 1698.
"Thomas, son to Charolinus Campbel, a Scotch man, a Beggar, and a Cripple, and Ann, his wife, was baptized in ye Church, feb. ye 10th, 1698/9.
"William, son to William and Jennet Greeve, a wandring Scotch Collier, baptized 2 Ap., 1699.
"John Dodd, of Wall, a poor Beggar, dyed in Collin's fold, sepult Ap. 3, 1699.
"James, son to Issabel Hogge, a poor Begging Widdow, of Allnick parish, sep. 5 May, 1699.
" A poor Beggar woman dyed in John Barkas house, came from Hexham, 28 May, 1699.
" John Swir, a poor begging Collier, late of Benwell, buried Aug. 26, 1699.
" Nicholas Lingley, of West Heddon, an old Beggar, bur. 26 Oct. 1699.
" Thomas Thompson, bur. 2 Feb., 170y, a poor old soldjer.
"Martin, son. and Isabel, Daughter to William Jameson, of East Heddon, a poor Scotch-Man, were baptized 5 May, 1701.
"July ye 19th, 1703, old Issabel Ladler was poorly buried.
" Old John Bitson sepult. May ye 10th, 1706, very poor.
The number of fashionable weddings from a distance that took place at one time in Heddon Church is astonishing:
" Mr. Johannes Nelson et Mra. Philadelphia Bellamy de Durham nupt. fuere in ecclesia nostra parochiali p. licent. Aug. 29, 1685.
" Mr. Ralph Anderson and Mrs. Ann Anderson of Newcastle, married by Miles Birkett, vicar, 1702.
"April ye 8th, 1703. Mr. Philip Philipson of the Parish of St. Nicholas in Newcastle-upon-Tine, and Mrs. Mary Addison of the Parish of Ovingham were marryed (having obtain'd a license ye day before) by M. Birkett, vicar.
" Oct. ye 10th, 1703. Mr. John Newby and Mrs. Anne Hunter of ye Parish of Houghton in ye spring, were marryed by License.
" Mr. Matthew Wallas and Mrs. Mary Simpson of Benwell, 18 Mar., 1708.
"Henry Woodruffe and Sarah Otterington of St. John's, Newcastle, 13 May, 1711.
" Mr. Ralph Snawdon of All Saints, Newcastle, and Mrs. Grace Milburn of St. Nicholas, 2 Nov., 1714.
" Mr. Thomas Hall and Mrs. Mary Mitford both of Elsdon parish, 11 Aug. 1715.
" Mr. Michael Dawson of St. Andrew's, Newcastle, and Mrs. Barbara Trewhit of South Shields, 18 Oct., 1715.
"Mr. Richard Wilkinson of Durham and Mrs. Hannah Sutton of South Shields, 10 Sept., 1716.
" Mr. Thomas Slater of All Saints. Newcastle, and Mrs. Christian Blacket of Ovingham, 7 May, 1722.
" Mr. George Sureties of Gateshead, and Mrs. Isebel Slator of Newcastle, 16 Ap., 1723.
" Mr. Thomas Valentine of Warkworth, and Mrs. Anne Dawson of All Saints, Newcastle, 12 Mar., 1723.
" Thomas Clennel, Esq., of the Parish of Allenton, and Mrs. Philadelphia Robinson of this parish, 7 July, 1724.
" Mr. Michael Dawson and Mrs. Frances Armorer, both of Newcastle, 23 Sept., 1725.
" Mr. John Gee and Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson, both of Newcastle, 5 Dec., 1725.
" Utrick Whitfield, Esq., and Mrs. Mary Eden of St. John's Chappelry in Newcastle, Sept. 21, 1738."
The Parish Books begin in 1671. There is a list of churchwardens from that year to 1703. The first collection mentioned is one in the former year for the people of Halton, who had suffered grievously from fire ; the following
"collections to briefs," curious in their way, were probably made also in most other parishes:
"18 Mar. 1677. Collected to a brief for those of Eaton, near Windsor, that suffered by fire, ye sume of three shilings and a pennye.
"7, 8, 9, &c. Oct., 1678. For building of St. Paul's church in London, ye sum of one pound two shillings and elevenpence.
" 29 Sept. 1678. A brief for the towne of Wem was published and nothing collected. ye day being ill and few at church and ye brief almost out.
" Collected to a brief for ye ffrench Protestants ye sum of eighteen shillings and two pence on ye week days next after ytf Lord's day whereon it was published and that was ye 20th day of May, 1683, it not coming to hand here till ye Tuesday before, which was ye 15th day of ye same month.
"Sept. 21, 1684. Collected to a brief (the last among several) for New Market, 4s. 10d. All these briefs were granted by Kg. Charles 2d. Ye last was publisht as if uppermost. [184]
" Oct. 22, 1700. Collected for the captives at Machanes, £1, Os. 10d.
"July 26th, 1709. Collected on a Brief for Cannongate in North Britain, £1, 0s. 71/2d
" Collected in this parish for George Wood of Heddon-on-the-Wall, who had his house and all his household goods burnt by a sudden and accidental fire, Sept. 30th, 1709.
" Nov. 24th and 25th, 1709. Collected from house to house upon a Brief for the relief of the poor Palatines, 10s. 41/2d.
" 18th June, 1710. For the protestant church of Mittau in Courland, 3s.
In "good King Charles' golden days" ecclesiastical discipline was strenuously upheld. "About ye latter end of November, 1681, from ye Archdeacon's court, held att Newcastle," writes vicar Eayne, " I received notice from Mr. Slagge yt George Barkas of Eachwick, was absolved from excommunication;" and "October ye 2nd, 1681, an excommunication was publisht against Matthew Robson, William Patterson and wife, Thomas Spouer land Samuell Spouer, who were likewise excommunic. before. Feb. 24th, 1683/4, Excom: was denounced by order from ye Bshop, against Thomas Spouer, Matthew Robson, Wm. Patterson, Thomas Robson, Wm. Robson, Hannah Robson, Margaret Kell, and Isabell Laidler."
There is a quaintness about the following note accidentally preserved among the Registers:-
" ffor Mr. Brecket, Minister at Heddon-upon-the-Wall, These
Sir, This may certifie you that ye banns of marriage betwixt John Morpeth, of ours, and Hannah Barkas, of yours, were thrice published according to ye canon, nemine contradicente, witness my hand this 8th of June, 1698.
Tho. Jones,
Curate in Hexham."
Full lists of the communicants are preserved from Easter 1694 to Easter 1711. Among them vicar Birkett mentions " my deare spouse and my mother Cowling." At Easter, 1738, there were about 86 communicants, more than a ninth of the population, and yet people of the present day talk of the torpor of the Church in the 18th century!
In 1704, the bell was re-cast at the cost of 4 10s. Od., and the church repaired; "all which was done at the request of Mr. Birkett, vicar and the Instigation of Robt. Bewicke, Esq." In 1 724, £23 16s. 8d. was expended in "new roofing the south Isle of the church." The road from the Vicarage to the Church was repaired in 1715, at the expense of the parish, but it was expressly provided that this should form no precedent against it being maintained for the future by the township.
Vicar Armstrong, in 1754, remarks with evident satisfaction, that in the parish, "at this time, there was not so much as one Papist, [135] nor a Dissenter of any other Denomination, but Presbyterian." He has left us a list of " the Exact number of souls" for that year:
In 1602, depositions were taken by commission at Newcastle in the suit of Clement Anderson v. Ellen Mitford, respecting "lands, &c. in Heddon-on-the-Wall, and the tithe of the parish leased originally by the monastery of Blanchland to Roger Mitford and Edmund Claxton, left by Roger to his wife Anne, by her to Oswald Mitford defendant's late husband, and left by him to the defendant." [123]
The great tithes of Heddon subsequently came into the possession of the Bewickes of Close House, by whom they have been, for the most part, sold to the owners of the respective lands subject to them, in proportion.
The Proceedings of the Court of High Commission, at Durham,[124] have preserved for us a vivid, though not particularly edifying, picture of William Wilson, vicar of Heddon in 1628. Anthony Todd, then [125] aged 26, deposes that he " never sawe Mr. Wilson weare the surplisse, saveing at Easter last, albeit he hath been curat at Heddon for a yeare or more. Hath seene Mr. Wilson at sundry tymes sweare and utter these wordes when he was in his drinke ' What he was a squire's sonne;' and soe braveing in this manner of his birth, that none there should be
like unto him." Mr. Wilson frequented widow Reed's ale-house, and would sit there drinking her " home-brewed "
for an hour or more,"till he got forward in his drink;" then, if anyone advised him to be civil and temperate, and show some respect to his cloth, he would reply: "I doe not greatly care for my coate; I am a squire's sonne, and soe I respect my birth as much as my coate." It is not surprising that the Dean and Chapter of Durham - the see was vacant - sequestered the living, and gave the charge of it to Thomas Taylor, clerk, and James Carr, gent., of Whitchester. But Wilson openly told Carr in church that he would obey no sequestration. The sequestrators had
indeed to obtain a citation against the parishioners, who kept their tithes back from them, and for all of whom, Wilson boasted he would answer that " none should stirr there feete." Wilson was thereupon suspended and ordered " to publiquely and penitentily acknowledge his offence in his ordinarie apparell;" but on Mr. Taylor showing him this order, he, "in very scornful manner, answered he would obey noe such bible-babies." The consequence was that Robert Mitford, the messenger of the Court, arrested Wilson on 29th January, 1629, and with much difficulty, for " in very stubborne and peremptory manner " he refused to move, brought him down " the towne-gate of Heddon." The noise of their struggle brought Christopher Hopper [126] to the door of his house, and Mitford drawing out the warrant, required his assistance "in his Majestie's name." Instead of answering, Hopper came and took the vicar's cloak, in order that he might escape more easily, and then, leaning against his door, laughed and jeered at the messenger. At last, Mitford proposed to Wilson that he should go to widow Reed's, to which he only too readily assented. Her son, Thomas Reed, gent., aged 21, was bailiff of the town, and Mitford, no doubt, reckoned on his aid, but when he came in he told Mitford that he was no common bailiff, but Lord William Howard's bailiff, and that, as long as he was in the house he would assist him, but "when," he said, "you are gone forth of the doores, I know what I have to do," and, in order that his meaning might be quite clear, added that " it had been well done of the wives of the towne to have joyned together and have stoned Mitford forth of the towne, in regard of his hyndering divine service." Mitford saw his errand was hopeless, so he contented himself with taking a bond for £50 from Wilson that he would put in an appearance at Durham; and in the end, after various fines and sentences of imprisonment, Wilson appears to have got off free, under plea of poverty. Thomas Reed, against whom proceedings were also instituted, submitted at once, but the costs in his case were so heavy that he took to flight, and was heard of in London in 1635. [127]
Thomas Reed, clerk of Heddon-on-tke-Wall, hardly the same person as Lord William Howard's bailiff, prosecuted Isabel Oxley, wife of William Oxley, in 1633-4 for "blasphemous words." She was "accompted a great scoulder;" she had cursed George Fenwick "in verye destestable manner," and greeted Reed with: "Plague light of the and thine beastes, and lett never they nor anie thing thou hast prosper nor doe well !" The penance enjoined led her, it is to be trusted, to mend her ways: time was accorded to do so, as she lived thirty years longer. [128]
William Fenwick, of East Heddon, and his eldest son Cuthbert, were prosecuted for contumacy in connection with the schismatic preaching of Cornelius Glover, [129] at Heddon. On 16th January, 1638, William Fenwick is stated to have 'fled forth of Northumberland.' [130] Notwithstanding this it seems these Fenwicks took the Royalist side
in the Civil War; for, when General Leslie entered Northumberland with the Scots army in 1644, and on the 3rd of February summoned Newcastle to surrender, Colonel Fenwick, in company with Sir Marmaduke Langdale, sallied out of the town early on the Monday following and routed two regiments of Scots horse at Corbridge. On the 22nd of February the main force of the Scots marched from Newcastle to Heddon-on-the-Wall, where they lay all night in the open field. Advancing next day up the Tyne towards Corbridge, they found themselves confronted by the English cavalry, who, however, retreated in the night, leaving behind them only a Scots Major Agnew, Colonel
Fenwick's prisoner, to preserve FenwicKs house, near Heddon, from plunder. [131]
The earliest Church Registers are contained in a little old book evidently kept by the parish clerks, 1656-1771. The entries are scattered up and down, and the book itself is in a very decayed state. The first baptism entered is that of Dorothy Hill, 16th February, 1655/6 the first marriage (curiously enough, a civil one, during the Commonwealth),
that of " Tho. ffenwick and Mary * * * * In Heddon ye Wall, Lawfully married by Justice Delavel, ye 28th * * * 1657;" and the first Burial that of Henry (?) Hopper, in Heddon Church-yard, "ye 9th of May, 1656." In 1663, Thomas Clarke, the first vicar after the Restoration, commenced a neat register in Latin, in a long, parchment book; and this seems to have been continued by some subsequent vicars for their private use. In 1671, a regular register was begun in a
proper book, but several entries were copied out of the two older books so that some appear three times over.
The following entries arranged chronologically may prove of interest:-
" Jo. Salvin, sonne to waiter salvin, scholmaster, of Heddon on ye wall, was baptized by Mr. Dockiy, ye 2th of Decembr. 1656.
" Will. Archer, in Heddon on ye wall, had a daughter baptized by prest Hall, called Margret Archer. March, 1656.
" Barbra Madlen, deprted this life Septr. ye 5th, 1658, and was buryed in Heddon Church garth.
" Tho. Hill and Margret Kell Lawfully publised 3 several Sabaths, and Maryed by Mr. Dockery, mnster of newburn, Jun ye * * 1659.
" Jean Laidler, daughter to William Laidler clarke, off Heddon one the wall, was born in Newton Hall, in ye Parish of Bywell Peter, and was baptised Jun ya 12 day, 1662, and dwelt there three years after.
"Georgius filius Edwardi Birkly Molindinarius (sic) baptizatus erat Julii 30, 1665.
" Hi Quorum sequuntur nomina sepulti fuerunt a lege condita vulgo dicta 'an act for burying in woolen' [132] "Nicholaus filius francisci Bowmer de Eachwich sepult, legal, 23 Julii, 1679. Jurat-Barbara Crowfoot et Franciscus Bowmar 30 Julii.
"Anna Rea sepulta erat intra Templum 15 Julii, 1696.
"April ye 20th, 1697. Memdm. yt Anthony Creswell paid Roger Heaton, Church Warden, 4s. for Thos. Fenwick's and his wife's Lair-stones,[133] and yt Luke Rea paid 2s. for his wife.
"Anne, Daughter to James Tweddal, in the Queen's Service, and Ursula his wife, Baptised October the 2nd, 1709.
"Henry, son to John and Alice Glendinning of Houghton-Cragg House, baptized 19 Aug., 1711.
" of East Heddon, a spinnsr, was buried Aug. 9th, 1719.
" Mrs. Phoebe Martin, buried in the chancel, just without the Rails, and close to the South Wall, 31 March, 1731.
" William Brown, weaver, formerly of this town, buried 4 May, 1731.
William, son to Edward and Margaret Tate. of Roman Wall house, of Whitchester, baptized 12 July, 1730.
"Thomas, son of Thomas Conyers, Baptized July 9th, 1738.
"Jan. 21, 1741. Buried in the Church-yard, att the east end of the Chancel, a stranger who called himself John Penny, and died att Eachwick, and said he came from Staffordshire.
There seems to have been very great distress about 1700:-
"Isabella, dau. of Richard and Marjory Peel, baptised ; a poor Collyer, ran away next day, 5 June, 1698.
"Thomas, son to Charolinus Campbel, a Scotch man, a Beggar, and a Cripple, and Ann, his wife, was baptized in ye Church, feb. ye 10th, 1698/9.
"William, son to William and Jennet Greeve, a wandring Scotch Collier, baptized 2 Ap., 1699.
"John Dodd, of Wall, a poor Beggar, dyed in Collin's fold, sepult Ap. 3, 1699.
"James, son to Issabel Hogge, a poor Begging Widdow, of Allnick parish, sep. 5 May, 1699.
" A poor Beggar woman dyed in John Barkas house, came from Hexham, 28 May, 1699.
" John Swir, a poor begging Collier, late of Benwell, buried Aug. 26, 1699.
" Nicholas Lingley, of West Heddon, an old Beggar, bur. 26 Oct. 1699.
" Thomas Thompson, bur. 2 Feb., 170y, a poor old soldjer.
"Martin, son. and Isabel, Daughter to William Jameson, of East Heddon, a poor Scotch-Man, were baptized 5 May, 1701.
"July ye 19th, 1703, old Issabel Ladler was poorly buried.
" Old John Bitson sepult. May ye 10th, 1706, very poor.
The number of fashionable weddings from a distance that took place at one time in Heddon Church is astonishing:
" Mr. Johannes Nelson et Mra. Philadelphia Bellamy de Durham nupt. fuere in ecclesia nostra parochiali p. licent. Aug. 29, 1685.
" Mr. Ralph Anderson and Mrs. Ann Anderson of Newcastle, married by Miles Birkett, vicar, 1702.
"April ye 8th, 1703. Mr. Philip Philipson of the Parish of St. Nicholas in Newcastle-upon-Tine, and Mrs. Mary Addison of the Parish of Ovingham were marryed (having obtain'd a license ye day before) by M. Birkett, vicar.
" Oct. ye 10th, 1703. Mr. John Newby and Mrs. Anne Hunter of ye Parish of Houghton in ye spring, were marryed by License.
" Mr. Matthew Wallas and Mrs. Mary Simpson of Benwell, 18 Mar., 1708.
"Henry Woodruffe and Sarah Otterington of St. John's, Newcastle, 13 May, 1711.
" Mr. Ralph Snawdon of All Saints, Newcastle, and Mrs. Grace Milburn of St. Nicholas, 2 Nov., 1714.
" Mr. Thomas Hall and Mrs. Mary Mitford both of Elsdon parish, 11 Aug. 1715.
" Mr. Michael Dawson of St. Andrew's, Newcastle, and Mrs. Barbara Trewhit of South Shields, 18 Oct., 1715.
"Mr. Richard Wilkinson of Durham and Mrs. Hannah Sutton of South Shields, 10 Sept., 1716.
" Mr. Thomas Slater of All Saints. Newcastle, and Mrs. Christian Blacket of Ovingham, 7 May, 1722.
" Mr. George Sureties of Gateshead, and Mrs. Isebel Slator of Newcastle, 16 Ap., 1723.
" Mr. Thomas Valentine of Warkworth, and Mrs. Anne Dawson of All Saints, Newcastle, 12 Mar., 1723.
" Thomas Clennel, Esq., of the Parish of Allenton, and Mrs. Philadelphia Robinson of this parish, 7 July, 1724.
" Mr. Michael Dawson and Mrs. Frances Armorer, both of Newcastle, 23 Sept., 1725.
" Mr. John Gee and Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson, both of Newcastle, 5 Dec., 1725.
" Utrick Whitfield, Esq., and Mrs. Mary Eden of St. John's Chappelry in Newcastle, Sept. 21, 1738."
The Parish Books begin in 1671. There is a list of churchwardens from that year to 1703. The first collection mentioned is one in the former year for the people of Halton, who had suffered grievously from fire ; the following
"collections to briefs," curious in their way, were probably made also in most other parishes:
"18 Mar. 1677. Collected to a brief for those of Eaton, near Windsor, that suffered by fire, ye sume of three shilings and a pennye.
"7, 8, 9, &c. Oct., 1678. For building of St. Paul's church in London, ye sum of one pound two shillings and elevenpence.
" 29 Sept. 1678. A brief for the towne of Wem was published and nothing collected. ye day being ill and few at church and ye brief almost out.
" Collected to a brief for ye ffrench Protestants ye sum of eighteen shillings and two pence on ye week days next after ytf Lord's day whereon it was published and that was ye 20th day of May, 1683, it not coming to hand here till ye Tuesday before, which was ye 15th day of ye same month.
"Sept. 21, 1684. Collected to a brief (the last among several) for New Market, 4s. 10d. All these briefs were granted by Kg. Charles 2d. Ye last was publisht as if uppermost. [184]
" Oct. 22, 1700. Collected for the captives at Machanes, £1, Os. 10d.
"July 26th, 1709. Collected on a Brief for Cannongate in North Britain, £1, 0s. 71/2d
" Collected in this parish for George Wood of Heddon-on-the-Wall, who had his house and all his household goods burnt by a sudden and accidental fire, Sept. 30th, 1709.
" Nov. 24th and 25th, 1709. Collected from house to house upon a Brief for the relief of the poor Palatines, 10s. 41/2d.
" 18th June, 1710. For the protestant church of Mittau in Courland, 3s.
In "good King Charles' golden days" ecclesiastical discipline was strenuously upheld. "About ye latter end of November, 1681, from ye Archdeacon's court, held att Newcastle," writes vicar Eayne, " I received notice from Mr. Slagge yt George Barkas of Eachwick, was absolved from excommunication;" and "October ye 2nd, 1681, an excommunication was publisht against Matthew Robson, William Patterson and wife, Thomas Spouer land Samuell Spouer, who were likewise excommunic. before. Feb. 24th, 1683/4, Excom: was denounced by order from ye Bshop, against Thomas Spouer, Matthew Robson, Wm. Patterson, Thomas Robson, Wm. Robson, Hannah Robson, Margaret Kell, and Isabell Laidler."
There is a quaintness about the following note accidentally preserved among the Registers:-
" ffor Mr. Brecket, Minister at Heddon-upon-the-Wall, These
Sir, This may certifie you that ye banns of marriage betwixt John Morpeth, of ours, and Hannah Barkas, of yours, were thrice published according to ye canon, nemine contradicente, witness my hand this 8th of June, 1698.
Tho. Jones,
Curate in Hexham."
Full lists of the communicants are preserved from Easter 1694 to Easter 1711. Among them vicar Birkett mentions " my deare spouse and my mother Cowling." At Easter, 1738, there were about 86 communicants, more than a ninth of the population, and yet people of the present day talk of the torpor of the Church in the 18th century!
In 1704, the bell was re-cast at the cost of 4 10s. Od., and the church repaired; "all which was done at the request of Mr. Birkett, vicar and the Instigation of Robt. Bewicke, Esq." In 1 724, £23 16s. 8d. was expended in "new roofing the south Isle of the church." The road from the Vicarage to the Church was repaired in 1715, at the expense of the parish, but it was expressly provided that this should form no precedent against it being maintained for the future by the township.
Vicar Armstrong, in 1754, remarks with evident satisfaction, that in the parish, "at this time, there was not so much as one Papist, [135] nor a Dissenter of any other Denomination, but Presbyterian." He has left us a list of " the Exact number of souls" for that year:
About this time, he adds, 'one year with another ' there were 5 marriages, 18 baptisms, and 10 burials.
There are no such details afforded again till the Rev. J. A. Blackett became vicar in 1830, and composed a most elaborate speculum gregis.
Although the inquest after the death of Lord William Howard, taken at Carlisle, 22nd April, 1642, states that he died seized of the manor of Heddon-on-the-Wall as part of the barony of Morpeth, [136] half the manor appears to have passed into the hands of Sir Eobert Wingfield of Upton, co Northampton, M.P. for Stamford, probably as a grant from the Crown, obtained through the influence of his uncle William Cecil, Lord Burghley, the celebrated minister of Queen Elizabeth. At any rate, on the 29th April, 1631, Sir Robert Wingfield sold to Henry Deth of Stamford, Esq., for £600, (a moiety of) the manor of Heddon-upon-the-Wall with messuages, mills, coalmines, &c., suits, services, courts, courts leet, courts baron, views of frank-pledge, &c., the advowson of the church (sic), and the 5th part of the Rectory or parsonage, appropriate with the tithes belonging to such part. [137] All this Deth immediately sold, on the 27th January following, to Ralph Carr of Darwentcoate, co. Durham, gent., for £620. Carr was fortunate enough to obtain £720 on 28th April, 1635, from Reynold Horseley of Milburn, gent., and Richard Pearson of Newcastle, gent., trustees of James Metham of London, Esq., for the manor, &c., but with the reservation to himself of the coal-mines, &c. From a fine, wherein Metham and Pearson were the plaintiffs, and Carr and Dorothy, his wife, the deforcants, we learn that the appurtenances of this portion of Heddon Manor were then 7 messuages, 6 cottages, 1 water corn mill, 300 acres of (ploughed) land, 100 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture, and 50 acres of furze and heath. Reynold Horseley of High Callerton, gent., the surviving trustee, and Tobias Pearson of Durham Moor House, gent., son and heir of Richard Pearson, conveyed the moiety of the manor, &c., in 1659, to James Metham of Newcastle, gent., cousin and heir to James Metham, deceased. In 1661, this James Metham sold it for £800 to Julian Dent of Newcastle, widow. [138] Julian Dent died intestate in 1689, leaving two daughters (Isabel, wife of William Bigge, attorney-at-law of Newcastle, and Julian, wife of John Hindmarsh, gent., of Little Benton), who consequently each became possessed of a quarter of themanor.[139]
On 28th Sept., 1717, the lands of the manor were partitioned by award between Thomas Bigge of Little Benton, gent., and his aunt, Julian Hindmarsh, and the Earl of Carlisle, who owned the other moiety. The whole lands contained 1,020 acres, or thereabouts : 504 acres on the west side of the township were assigned to Lord Carlisle; 260 acres, the north-east part, to Mrs. Hindmarsh ; and 256 acres, the south-east part, to Mr. Bigge; 13 acres of glebe being given to the vicar on the south-side of the Roman Wall in lieu of the stints claimed by him, and the mill and the stone [140] under the common left undivided. The houses occupied by the tenants too were excepted from this division. But on 25th February, 1731, a further award separated those of the Bigge and Hindmarsh quarter. John Cresswell and William and Anthony Barkas, yeomen, were the principal tenants of
the former.[141]
In 1810 Mr. Chas. Wm. Bigge sold his estate to Mr.George Bates of Aydon, and about the same time Lord Carlisle's interest was acquired by the Clayton family. [142] The mining rights reserved in 1635 were sold by Francis Carr, Esq., son and heir of Ralph Carr, to Henry Widdrington, Esq. of Black Heddon, and by him 'bargained and sold, Jan. 26, 1654, to the Hon. Charles Howard of Naworth Castle.' These rights being specifically defined as the winning of coal, heap room, wayleave, and liberty to build 'cottages, lodges, hovels, and shields,' Mr. George Grey, to whom a dispute between Mr. Slater, the lessee of Lord Carlisle's colliery, and Mr. Hindmarsh, the owner of the surface, was submitted in 1730, held that Lord Carlisle and his tenant had no right to throw the water drawn out of the pit on Mr. Hindmarsh's ground, nor to dig a trench for its conveyance, but that the water might be carried off underground.[143] Subsequently the coal was leased by Lord Carlisle to Mr. Barkas, who employed William Brown as his overman. Brown was a remarkably able man, and when afterwards Mr. Barkas threw up his
lease owing to the bad state of trade, the story goes that in buying some flannel for his pit clothes from Mr. Bell, a wealthy draper in Newcastle, he happened to mention what a pity it was that the Heddon pits should be laid in, and the partnership of Bell and Brown was consequently formed to work them, [144] and the adjacent royalty of Throckley. William Brown removed to a house at Throckley Fell, and should be gratefully remembered by antiquaries from the fact of his having saved the Hercules of VINDOBALA from further injury.[145]
Messrs. Bell and Brown built a row of houses for their workmen fronting the Carlisle road, at the east boundary of Heddon parish. These houses standing empty at the time of the French Revolution, were prepared for the reception of the refugee clergy. "They presented," says Mackenzie, "a pleasing spectacle to the passing traveller. The entrance to the apartments on the second story was by a flight of steps on the outside, which landed on a gallery that ran nearly the whole length of the building. In the front were plots of ground for gardens, which were kept in excellent order by the respective possessors. This society of strangers frequently experienced the hospitality and benevolence of the neighbouring gentry. They erected a large sun-dial with an inscription upon it expressive of their gratitude to the English nation."[146] These houses, since known as Frenchman's Row, were at that time dignified with the name of Heddon Square. In the Church Register we find, under the year 1799 :-
" The Revd. James Bricquebec, of Heddon Square, French Clergyman, Died May llth; Buried May 12th. Age 72 years.
" The Revd. John Lewis Anthony Dufresne, of Heddon Square. French Clergyman, Died April 21st ; Buried April 22nd. Age 69.
" The Revd. John Foucard, of Heddon Square, Died June 5th : Buried June 6th. Age 39.
In his answers to the Visitation questions propounded by the Bishop of Durham (Shute Barrington) in 1801, Vicar Allason wrote: " There are no Papists in the Parish, natives of this Kingdom - But there are Thirty-eight Emigrant Priests, who assemble at stated times, in a Room set apart for the purpose of public Worship, agreeable to
the Romish Ritual."[147] It seems these emigrants also cultivated a field or two in Throckley township, and there are those still alive who can remember the strange sight of the ecclesiastics digging in their long robes. Their
home was afterwards turned into a poor-house for the Castle Ward Union, and, on this being removed to Ponteland, let out into tenements. In 1883 the whole was thoroughly repaired, with the gardens replaced in front, instead of the high walls of the workhouse yard. The plaster had crumbled nearly all off the face of the huge dial,
but this is now to be restored in accordance with the few traces of thefigures and border left. As an appropriate motto, the old Frenchadage has been suggested :
LE TEMPS PASSE, LE SOUVENIR RESTE.
There are no such details afforded again till the Rev. J. A. Blackett became vicar in 1830, and composed a most elaborate speculum gregis.
Although the inquest after the death of Lord William Howard, taken at Carlisle, 22nd April, 1642, states that he died seized of the manor of Heddon-on-the-Wall as part of the barony of Morpeth, [136] half the manor appears to have passed into the hands of Sir Eobert Wingfield of Upton, co Northampton, M.P. for Stamford, probably as a grant from the Crown, obtained through the influence of his uncle William Cecil, Lord Burghley, the celebrated minister of Queen Elizabeth. At any rate, on the 29th April, 1631, Sir Robert Wingfield sold to Henry Deth of Stamford, Esq., for £600, (a moiety of) the manor of Heddon-upon-the-Wall with messuages, mills, coalmines, &c., suits, services, courts, courts leet, courts baron, views of frank-pledge, &c., the advowson of the church (sic), and the 5th part of the Rectory or parsonage, appropriate with the tithes belonging to such part. [137] All this Deth immediately sold, on the 27th January following, to Ralph Carr of Darwentcoate, co. Durham, gent., for £620. Carr was fortunate enough to obtain £720 on 28th April, 1635, from Reynold Horseley of Milburn, gent., and Richard Pearson of Newcastle, gent., trustees of James Metham of London, Esq., for the manor, &c., but with the reservation to himself of the coal-mines, &c. From a fine, wherein Metham and Pearson were the plaintiffs, and Carr and Dorothy, his wife, the deforcants, we learn that the appurtenances of this portion of Heddon Manor were then 7 messuages, 6 cottages, 1 water corn mill, 300 acres of (ploughed) land, 100 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture, and 50 acres of furze and heath. Reynold Horseley of High Callerton, gent., the surviving trustee, and Tobias Pearson of Durham Moor House, gent., son and heir of Richard Pearson, conveyed the moiety of the manor, &c., in 1659, to James Metham of Newcastle, gent., cousin and heir to James Metham, deceased. In 1661, this James Metham sold it for £800 to Julian Dent of Newcastle, widow. [138] Julian Dent died intestate in 1689, leaving two daughters (Isabel, wife of William Bigge, attorney-at-law of Newcastle, and Julian, wife of John Hindmarsh, gent., of Little Benton), who consequently each became possessed of a quarter of themanor.[139]
On 28th Sept., 1717, the lands of the manor were partitioned by award between Thomas Bigge of Little Benton, gent., and his aunt, Julian Hindmarsh, and the Earl of Carlisle, who owned the other moiety. The whole lands contained 1,020 acres, or thereabouts : 504 acres on the west side of the township were assigned to Lord Carlisle; 260 acres, the north-east part, to Mrs. Hindmarsh ; and 256 acres, the south-east part, to Mr. Bigge; 13 acres of glebe being given to the vicar on the south-side of the Roman Wall in lieu of the stints claimed by him, and the mill and the stone [140] under the common left undivided. The houses occupied by the tenants too were excepted from this division. But on 25th February, 1731, a further award separated those of the Bigge and Hindmarsh quarter. John Cresswell and William and Anthony Barkas, yeomen, were the principal tenants of
the former.[141]
In 1810 Mr. Chas. Wm. Bigge sold his estate to Mr.George Bates of Aydon, and about the same time Lord Carlisle's interest was acquired by the Clayton family. [142] The mining rights reserved in 1635 were sold by Francis Carr, Esq., son and heir of Ralph Carr, to Henry Widdrington, Esq. of Black Heddon, and by him 'bargained and sold, Jan. 26, 1654, to the Hon. Charles Howard of Naworth Castle.' These rights being specifically defined as the winning of coal, heap room, wayleave, and liberty to build 'cottages, lodges, hovels, and shields,' Mr. George Grey, to whom a dispute between Mr. Slater, the lessee of Lord Carlisle's colliery, and Mr. Hindmarsh, the owner of the surface, was submitted in 1730, held that Lord Carlisle and his tenant had no right to throw the water drawn out of the pit on Mr. Hindmarsh's ground, nor to dig a trench for its conveyance, but that the water might be carried off underground.[143] Subsequently the coal was leased by Lord Carlisle to Mr. Barkas, who employed William Brown as his overman. Brown was a remarkably able man, and when afterwards Mr. Barkas threw up his
lease owing to the bad state of trade, the story goes that in buying some flannel for his pit clothes from Mr. Bell, a wealthy draper in Newcastle, he happened to mention what a pity it was that the Heddon pits should be laid in, and the partnership of Bell and Brown was consequently formed to work them, [144] and the adjacent royalty of Throckley. William Brown removed to a house at Throckley Fell, and should be gratefully remembered by antiquaries from the fact of his having saved the Hercules of VINDOBALA from further injury.[145]
Messrs. Bell and Brown built a row of houses for their workmen fronting the Carlisle road, at the east boundary of Heddon parish. These houses standing empty at the time of the French Revolution, were prepared for the reception of the refugee clergy. "They presented," says Mackenzie, "a pleasing spectacle to the passing traveller. The entrance to the apartments on the second story was by a flight of steps on the outside, which landed on a gallery that ran nearly the whole length of the building. In the front were plots of ground for gardens, which were kept in excellent order by the respective possessors. This society of strangers frequently experienced the hospitality and benevolence of the neighbouring gentry. They erected a large sun-dial with an inscription upon it expressive of their gratitude to the English nation."[146] These houses, since known as Frenchman's Row, were at that time dignified with the name of Heddon Square. In the Church Register we find, under the year 1799 :-
" The Revd. James Bricquebec, of Heddon Square, French Clergyman, Died May llth; Buried May 12th. Age 72 years.
" The Revd. John Lewis Anthony Dufresne, of Heddon Square. French Clergyman, Died April 21st ; Buried April 22nd. Age 69.
" The Revd. John Foucard, of Heddon Square, Died June 5th : Buried June 6th. Age 39.
In his answers to the Visitation questions propounded by the Bishop of Durham (Shute Barrington) in 1801, Vicar Allason wrote: " There are no Papists in the Parish, natives of this Kingdom - But there are Thirty-eight Emigrant Priests, who assemble at stated times, in a Room set apart for the purpose of public Worship, agreeable to
the Romish Ritual."[147] It seems these emigrants also cultivated a field or two in Throckley township, and there are those still alive who can remember the strange sight of the ecclesiastics digging in their long robes. Their
home was afterwards turned into a poor-house for the Castle Ward Union, and, on this being removed to Ponteland, let out into tenements. In 1883 the whole was thoroughly repaired, with the gardens replaced in front, instead of the high walls of the workhouse yard. The plaster had crumbled nearly all off the face of the huge dial,
but this is now to be restored in accordance with the few traces of thefigures and border left. As an appropriate motto, the old Frenchadage has been suggested :
LE TEMPS PASSE, LE SOUVENIR RESTE.
122 See Appendix D.
123 38th Report Dep. Keep. Publ. Rec., p. 439. There is at Durham the will of Oswald Mitforth, of Stamfordham, proved in 1589. The history of the Mitfords, who afterwards settled at Ovingham and Hexham, and came to berepresented by the talented Mary Russell Mitford, requires elucidation.
124 Surtees Soc. Pub., vol. 34, p. 8.
125 ' Bella Todd, wife to Anthony Todd, smith, in Heddon ye Wall, depted this life, Aprill ye 9th, 1657.' ' Anthony Todd, depted this life, Jany. ye 29th, 1657/8 Hed. Reg.
126 'Christopher Hopper, depted this life, twenty-fourth day of May, 1657.' Hed. Reg.
127 Surtees Soc., 34, pp. 18-19. John Reede, of West Heddon, gent., was likewise proceeded against for abusing Thomas Taylor, clerk. Ibid. p. 15.
128 Surt. Soc., 34, p. 73. ' Isabella Oxley, wife of William Oxley, bur. Dec. 12, 1666.' Hed. Reg.
129 Surt. Soc., 34, p. 111.
130 Ibid. 34, p. 110.
131 Sykes's Local Records, I., pp. 94-95
132 30 Car., II., cap. i., by which burying in any shroud, etc., not made of sheep's wool was prohibited under a penalty of £5; an affidavit to this purpose was to be made either to a magistrate or the officiating minister.
133 i.e. Flat grave-stones on the church floor.
134 A curious instance of the Merry Monarch's partiality for Newmarket.
135 On September 3, 1780, Vicar Armstrong returned three men and three women in the parish as Papists, or reputed Papists, to the Bishop of Durham, in a letter sealed with his arms : gu., three dexter arms vambraced, ppr. - Original in possession of Mr. Blair.
136 In the Feodary's Book, 1568, Lord Dacre appears as seized of only the mediety of the ' ville de Heddon. super murum.'- Hodgson's Northd., III., iii., Pref., p. Ixii.
137 From deeds at Heddon. C. J. B.
138 Ibid.
139 In Hodgson's Northumberland, II., i., p. 98, there is given a much elaborated pedigree of the Bigge family, which, however is inaccurate as regards the Heddon property.
140 Belted Will had the stone, carved with his arms above the great gateway at Naworth. brought from Heddon in 1626. Surt. Soc. Pub. 68, p. 238.
141 From deeds at Heddon. C. J. B.
142 The Hindmarsh quarter of Heddon-on-the-Wall township was left by Thomas Hindmarsh to Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Leonard Shafto, rector of Gateshead (d. 1731), and wife of the Rev. Thomas Orde [see Burke's Landed Gentry OKDE of WEETWOOD], whose daughter, Elizabeth Orde, married 1775 Thomas Shadforth, master mariner, of Newcastle, and left three sons and a daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Captain John Button. The whole property was
held in undivided eighteenths among Sarah Shafto's descendants, and naturally neglected. The Orde and Shadforth shares having been ultimately purchased by Mr. Clayton, and the Button share by Mr. Bates in 1867, a division has since been carried out.
143 MSS. Thos. Bates, to whom this was communicated by Mr. Woodman. The Court Rolls of Heddon Manor, which should contain much curious rural history, are supposed to be at Castle Howard.
144 Heddon was the first place where coals were screened to separate the ' round ' from the ' small.' The practice was begun in 1784.
145 Lapidarium Septentrionale, p. 48, No. 82. Outside the east end of the south aisle of Heddon Church is a tablet with : 'Hie reponuntur cineres spe beatae Resurrectionis Johannis et Agnis Liberorum Gulielmi Brown de Throckley Fell. Johannes obiit decimo nono Die Januarii 1748 Anno setatis tertio, Agnes obiit die secundo Feb. 1748 JStat. dec. mense. Quales fuere dies ille supremus indicabit.' On a flat stone beneath is, ' The Family Burial Place of William Brown, Esq.,' with the conventional arms of : On a plain bend cotised three lions passant, and the motto ' Suivez Raison,' which is still used by the DIXON-BBOWNS. of Unthank. For an account of the older grave-stones in the churchyard see Appendix E.
146 Mackenzie's Northumberland, Vol. II., p. 375,
147 Original in possession of Mr. Blair.
123 38th Report Dep. Keep. Publ. Rec., p. 439. There is at Durham the will of Oswald Mitforth, of Stamfordham, proved in 1589. The history of the Mitfords, who afterwards settled at Ovingham and Hexham, and came to berepresented by the talented Mary Russell Mitford, requires elucidation.
124 Surtees Soc. Pub., vol. 34, p. 8.
125 ' Bella Todd, wife to Anthony Todd, smith, in Heddon ye Wall, depted this life, Aprill ye 9th, 1657.' ' Anthony Todd, depted this life, Jany. ye 29th, 1657/8 Hed. Reg.
126 'Christopher Hopper, depted this life, twenty-fourth day of May, 1657.' Hed. Reg.
127 Surtees Soc., 34, pp. 18-19. John Reede, of West Heddon, gent., was likewise proceeded against for abusing Thomas Taylor, clerk. Ibid. p. 15.
128 Surt. Soc., 34, p. 73. ' Isabella Oxley, wife of William Oxley, bur. Dec. 12, 1666.' Hed. Reg.
129 Surt. Soc., 34, p. 111.
130 Ibid. 34, p. 110.
131 Sykes's Local Records, I., pp. 94-95
132 30 Car., II., cap. i., by which burying in any shroud, etc., not made of sheep's wool was prohibited under a penalty of £5; an affidavit to this purpose was to be made either to a magistrate or the officiating minister.
133 i.e. Flat grave-stones on the church floor.
134 A curious instance of the Merry Monarch's partiality for Newmarket.
135 On September 3, 1780, Vicar Armstrong returned three men and three women in the parish as Papists, or reputed Papists, to the Bishop of Durham, in a letter sealed with his arms : gu., three dexter arms vambraced, ppr. - Original in possession of Mr. Blair.
136 In the Feodary's Book, 1568, Lord Dacre appears as seized of only the mediety of the ' ville de Heddon. super murum.'- Hodgson's Northd., III., iii., Pref., p. Ixii.
137 From deeds at Heddon. C. J. B.
138 Ibid.
139 In Hodgson's Northumberland, II., i., p. 98, there is given a much elaborated pedigree of the Bigge family, which, however is inaccurate as regards the Heddon property.
140 Belted Will had the stone, carved with his arms above the great gateway at Naworth. brought from Heddon in 1626. Surt. Soc. Pub. 68, p. 238.
141 From deeds at Heddon. C. J. B.
142 The Hindmarsh quarter of Heddon-on-the-Wall township was left by Thomas Hindmarsh to Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Leonard Shafto, rector of Gateshead (d. 1731), and wife of the Rev. Thomas Orde [see Burke's Landed Gentry OKDE of WEETWOOD], whose daughter, Elizabeth Orde, married 1775 Thomas Shadforth, master mariner, of Newcastle, and left three sons and a daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Captain John Button. The whole property was
held in undivided eighteenths among Sarah Shafto's descendants, and naturally neglected. The Orde and Shadforth shares having been ultimately purchased by Mr. Clayton, and the Button share by Mr. Bates in 1867, a division has since been carried out.
143 MSS. Thos. Bates, to whom this was communicated by Mr. Woodman. The Court Rolls of Heddon Manor, which should contain much curious rural history, are supposed to be at Castle Howard.
144 Heddon was the first place where coals were screened to separate the ' round ' from the ' small.' The practice was begun in 1784.
145 Lapidarium Septentrionale, p. 48, No. 82. Outside the east end of the south aisle of Heddon Church is a tablet with : 'Hie reponuntur cineres spe beatae Resurrectionis Johannis et Agnis Liberorum Gulielmi Brown de Throckley Fell. Johannes obiit decimo nono Die Januarii 1748 Anno setatis tertio, Agnes obiit die secundo Feb. 1748 JStat. dec. mense. Quales fuere dies ille supremus indicabit.' On a flat stone beneath is, ' The Family Burial Place of William Brown, Esq.,' with the conventional arms of : On a plain bend cotised three lions passant, and the motto ' Suivez Raison,' which is still used by the DIXON-BBOWNS. of Unthank. For an account of the older grave-stones in the churchyard see Appendix E.
146 Mackenzie's Northumberland, Vol. II., p. 375,
147 Original in possession of Mr. Blair.
