Papers of the Barnard Family of South Cave

The majority of the papers of the Barnard family arrived as two deposits, both of which are largely composed of estate papers and title documents rather than personal family papers. U DDBA is dominated by estate papers for South Cave in the East Riding of Yorkshire, especially for the eighteenth century and nineteenth century, which include records of three manors and Walkington Provost Fee. U DDBA2 comprises similar material, but is richer in wills and contains a reasonable quantity of 19th century correspondence about estate-related matters such as education, charities and the fire at Cave Castle in 1875.

Records in the section for South Cave in U DDBA (1400-1911) include quite a number of papers for the Dunn, Idel (Idle) and Lloyd families. Other papers include the 1581 licence for a fair and market (U DDBA/4/2), some 1633 'particulars' of the parsonage (U DDBA/4/3), an original bundle of papers relating to the rectory in the early modern period and these include papers of Henry Nevill (U DDBA/4/139-157), an original bundle of papers about parliamentary sequestrations in the 1640s (U DDBA/4/105-115), 17th century papers in the dispute between Danby and Washington over title (U DDBA/4/218 - 221) and a number of documents from the mid eighteenth century in particular about tolls, the advowson of the rectory, tithes, rentals and material to do with enclosure including 75 claims at enclosure, 32 requests and 20 objections. There are also 18th century documents about the boundaries of Market Cross properties, as well as the sale documents for Robert Oxtaby's goods and the ploughing up of his land in 1777 to pay rent arrears to the Barnard family. The sale documents of East Hall from the Idel family to the Barnards circa 1748 are in U DDBA, as well as a 1759 plan of the manor and bailiwick of South Cave showing strip fields and the East Hall by Edward Geldart. Plans for the new market cross and school house drawn up in 1796 are in the section for South Cave as is an 1890 inventory of china, water colours and curiosities drawn up by Charles Edward Gee Boldero Barnard. Some inventories and papers of his wife, Sophia Letitia Barnard, are also in the South Cave section of U DDBA.

Marriage settlements for South Cave in U DDBA are those of John Johnson and Mary Sherwood (1635), John Bacchus and Ann Johnson (1661), John Lonsdale and Susanna Briggs (1771) and John Idel and Ann Washington (1720). Wills in this section are as follows: Richard Johnson (1770); John Thorowgood (1657); Samuel Wise (1694); James Sissons (1749); Mary Bayock (1756); John Johnson (1659); Christopher Bacchus (1724); John Lonsdale (1721); John Taylor (1701); Jonathan Eddowes (1744); Thomas Leake (1714); John Leake (1747); Ambrose Leake (1763) and Elizabeth Idel (1727). Other sections in U DDBA are as follows: Ellerker (1658-1828) including submissions to Howden manor court, papers in a Chancery suit 1756-62, rental dues to Leuyns Boldero Barnard and the Bishop of Durham and the will of John Ellerker (1759); North Newbald (1741-1799); Sculcoates (1775-1794); manor and bailiwick of South Cave (East Hall) (1649-1782) comprising manorial records including jury lists; manor of South Cave (West Hall) (1536-1804) comprising court rolls intermittently from 1647 and an original bundle about the West Hall estate of the Lloyd family including a claim of West Hall manor to rights at Wallingfen; manor of Faxfleet in South Cave (1593-1783) including court rolls 1647-1732 and a call roll of 1596; Walkington (1543-1892) including papers about tithes, a plan of Walkington of 1854 and one of Little Wood of 1765, papers of the Nelthorpe family, the verdict of a special court of the manor of Walkington Provost Fee in 1765, rentals of the estate of Henry Liddell and the purchase of Walkington from him in 1765, a schedule of the estate of William Downes in 1781, papers from the 1760s and 1770s about common rights and Liddell's charity and the wills of John Harwood (1720) and Edward Nelthorpe (1718); manor of Walkington Provost Fee (1640-1789) including court rolls from 1640 and the will of Randle Hancock (1776); Wallingfen (1429-1783) including papers about common rights and the claim of Leuyns Boldero Barnard to them in the 1770s and the ancient rules and orders for calling a court.

Further sections in DDBA are: various townships (1767) comprising one item on the manor of Helperthorpe; Yorkshire, North Riding (1742); miscellaneous (1807-1890) including extracts of the parish registers of St Mary's church and Holy Trinity church in Hull, some South Cave marriage licences and papers of the Reverend Edward William Barnard including his admission as vicar of South Cave and his appointment as private chaplain to the Earl of Stanhope; wills (1678-1815) being those of Samuel Jobson (1678), Edward Barnard (1730), Henry Barnard (1767) Leuyns Boldero Barnard (1778), Henry Boldero Barnard (1811; codicils), William Popplewell (1800) and Elizabeth Popplewell (1809); settlements (1754) being the marriage settlement of Leuyns Boldero Barnard and Ann Popplewell; maps and plans (1855) being ordnance survey maps. U DDBA2 has papers for South Cave (1541-1886) which include a 1785 regulation for the education of eight children, papers about William London and his connections with the Vavasour family, correspondence about the conveyance of South Cave to Leuyns Boldero Barnard, the 1764 account for work done at Cave Mill, an abstract of the title of the Reverend John King 1781-1839, an original bundle about 19th century timber sales and an original bundle of papers about the fire of 1875 including lists of people who assisted, telegrams sent, extinguishing accounts, valuations and restoration costs. The section in U DDBA2 for South Cave also includes marriage settlements for Richard Harrison and Eleanor Lowther (1662), John Idel and Ann Washington (1720), Robert Grassby and Joanna Halliday (1746), Henry Boldero Barnard and Sarah Elizabeth Gee (1788) and Jane Sarah Middleton and Frederick Richard Leacroft (1847). Wills are as follows: Thomas Harrison (1666); Richard Harrison (1681); Henry Washington (1717); John Johnson (with a note of his children, 1659); John Bacchus (1703); Teavill Appleton (1756); William Cade (1797); Robert Leeson (1824); Benjamin Earnshaw (1783); William Todd (1816); Thomas Earnshaw (1816); William Ellerker (1743); John Ellerker (1764); Robert Moore (1782); Timothy Newmarch (1746); Timothy Newmarch (1799); Ralph Frankland (1744) and Mary Rawson (1787). There are also a few marriage and baptism certificates for the Foster, Dearman and Laverack families.

Other sections in U DDBA2 are as follows: Broomfleet (1664-1877) including a memorandum of charitable donations to the poor 1702-3, papers of the Wilson family of South Cave, the marriage settlements of Philip Tomlinson and Frances Bayles (1684), William Mould and Ellen Bayley (1722) and William Mould and Sarah Read (1752) and the wills of Elizabeth Watson (1768), Francis Brown (1757), Edward Blanshard (1788) and Jane Ryley (1788); Ellerker (1736-1782) including papers about the title of Joshua and Richard Waltham and the wills of Elizabeth Waltham (1869); Everthorpe (1838); Hotham (1735); Newbald (1875) being lists of subscriptions to and accounts of church restoration; manor and bailiwick of South Cave (East Hall) (1748-1861) including court rolls, jury lists, pains and minutes; manor of South Cave (West Hall) (1735-1939) including court rolls and minutes, surrenders and admissions; manor of Faxfleet in South Cave (1733-1945) including surrenders and admissions; Walkington (1639-1891) including plans of Littlewood farm, the sale agreement for £12,000 between Henry Liddell and Leuyns Boldero Barnard and the wills of Thomas Todd (1737) and Arthur Maister (extract; 1831); manor of Walkington Provost Fee (1735-1938) including court rolls, call rolls and rentals; Reedness (1724-1828) including an abstract of the title of James Stovin; Scarborough (1875-1879) including a programme of winter entertainments at the Royal Hotel; London (1836-1894) including an inventory of the furniture and effects of Caroline Barnard in 1892; accounts and rentals (1751-1885) including an account book of servants' and gardeners' wages 1864-72, the succession account of Elizabeth Mary Barnard 1872, some tithe accounts of Charles Edward Gee Barnard 1873-80, some gamekeeping books, some 19th century copyhold rentals of manors and the accounts and rentals of Leuyns Boldero Barnard 1751-84; various deeds (1720-1854); various townships (1738-1874) including extracts of the parish registers about the Ayre family and the wills of Charles Leuyns Barnard (1815), William Wilkinson (1775), John Hudson (1856) and William Goodlad (1792); miscellaneous (1786-1881) which includes a lot of material about charities, especially children's charities and also the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

A section of correspondence in U DDBA2 (1812-1890) includes letters to Henry Gee Barnard about the estate of his aunt; letters of Elizabeth Mary Barnard largely about educational foundations including a girls' school and charities; letters to Charles Edward Gee Boldero Barnard on such topics as charities, the installation of gas at Cave Castle in 1873 and the fire in 1875; letters of Crust Todd and Mills about the Barnard estate. Wills in DDBA2 are those of: Thomas Ingaram (1729); William Ingaram (1788); Robert Wilson (1803); Henry Boldero Barnard (1811); Charles Leuyns Barnard (1815); Henry Gee Barnard (1855); George Beckett (1867); William Waudby (1870); Elizabeth Mary Barnard (1871); John Dennis (1878); William Henry Harrison Broadley (1890); Thomas Reynolds (1891); Caroline Barnard (1882); Rosamund Barnard (1882) and Leuyns Boldero Barnard (1778).

The papers relate to the branch of the family headed by Leuyns Boldero Barnard who began building up a landed estate centred on South Cave in the mid-eighteenth century. His inherited ancestry was that of a family of Hull merchants who can be traced back to William and Elizabeth Barnard in the late sixteenth century. Their son, William Barnard, became mayor of Hull and died in 1614. Of his seven sons, two of them also served time as mayor of Hull, including the sixth son, Henry Barnard (d.1661), through whose direct descendants Leuyns Boldero Barnard was eventually destined to succeed (Hall, A history of South Cave, p.27).

Henry Barnard, who was married to Frances Spurrier, had a son and a daughter. His daughter, Frances, married William Thompson MP of Humbleton and his son, Edward Barnard, who lived at North Dalton, was recorder of Hull and Beverley from the early 1660s until 1686, the year he died. He and his wife Margaret, who was also from the Thompson family, had at least seven children, the eldest of whom, Edward Barnard (d.1714), had five children some of whom died without issue and some of whom had only female heirs. The second son, William Barnard (d.1718) married Mary Perrot, the daughter of a York alderman, but they had no children. The third son, Henry Barnard (will at U DDBA/14/3), married Eleanor Lowther, but he also died, in 1769 at the age of 94, without issue (Hall, A history of South Cave, p.28).

From the death of Henry Barnard in 1769 the family inheritance moved laterally. His sister Margaret, who had died in 1753, had married twice, the second time to William Leuyns of Eske. Two of their daughters had died without issue, but their third daughter, Mary, who had died in the same year as her mother, 1753, had married Edward Gale Boldero (d.1761) of Cornborough and had four sons and three daughters. Their eldest son, Leuyns Boldero (b.1708), inherited from his great uncle in 1769 and changed his name to Leuyns Boldero Barnard. A wealthy and successful lawyer practising in his wife's home town of Pontefract, Leuyns Boldero had begun buying land in the East Riding before his uncle died. In 1737 he bought land in Walkington outside Beverley and in 1748 he bought the East Hall manor of South Cave where the family estates became centred. He continued to expand these estates, buying Faxfleet in 1750. He began a rigorous programme of enclosure (Hall, A history of South Cave, pp.28-9).

Leuyns Boldero (Barnard) married Ann Popplewell and had two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Henry Boldero Barnard (b.1755), succeeded to his father's estates on his death in 1783. The younger son settled in Walkington. Henry Boldero Barnard was educated at Harrow and Trinity College Cambridge and followed his father into law, becoming a member of Lincoln's Inn. Immediately his father died, Henry Boldero Barnard began expanding the estates further, buying the West Hall estate of South Cave in 1784 together with the rectory and advowson of South Cave and he took up where his father had left off in pursuing an enclosure policy that was not always very popular. In 1787 he built the gothic style Cave Castle, where he then lived with his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Gee, coheiress of Roger Gee of Bishop Burton, and their four children - Henry Gee Barnard (1789-1858), Charles Leuyns Barnard (1790-1815), Edward William Barnard (1791-1828) and Sarah Ellinor Barnard (1810-1852). The second son was killed at Waterloo. Edward William Barnard was vicar of South Cave and a minor poet (Hall, A history of South Cave, pp.28-9; Alec-Smith, 'Cave Castle', pp.53-4).

Henry Gee Barnard succeeded his father on his death in 1815. He was married to Elizabeth Mary Barnard but they had no children. A number of papers in the collection relate to this generation. Henry Gee Barnard was a captain in the Scot's Grey and after he died in 1858 his wife remained at Cave Castle until her own death in 1872. She was actively involved in local education and various charities. When she died the estate passed to her nephew, Charles Edward Gee Boldero Barnard (b.1822), the son of Edward William Barnard and his wife, Philadelphia Wrangham. He immediately began restoration of Cave Castle including putting in gas. He married Sophia Letitia Barnard (see entry for U DDCV[2]/54), the daughter of Andrew Godfrey Stuart of Lisdhu, County Tyrone, the younger son of the Earl of Castlestuart. Charles Edward Gee Boldero Barnard's two surviving sisters went to London to live together where they wrote wills together in 1882 and died in the same year as each other in 1893 (Hall, A history of South Cave, pp.29-30; Alec-Smith, 'Cave Castle', pp.55-6).

Charles Edward Gee Boldero Barnard and Sophia Letitia Barnard had three children: Sophia Isabel who was born and died on 14 January 1867, a son who was born and died on 25 April 1868 and Ursula Mary Florence who was born on 4 July 1869. Charles Barnard died in 1894 and Sophia Letitia Barnard died in 1910. She left her estate in the hands of trustees for her sole surviving daughter, Ursula, who lived at Cave Castle with her mother until that time. Ursula Barnard went on living there with a relative, Miss Stuart, but moved to Bournemouth in 1925, trying to sell the South Cave estate at that time. It eventually sold in 1938 when she herself died, the last in the Barnard line. The trustees sold all the art works, furniture and objets d'arts, just leaving Cave Castle to transfer into new hands. It has since had several owners and is now a hotel (Hall, A history of South Cave, pp.30, 34-5, 37; Alec-Smith, 'Cave Castle', pp.55-60).

More than perhaps any other East Riding landed family the Barnards transformed the rural landscape into which they bought. Cave Castle is a determinedly unique piece of architecture being baronial on a grand scale. In the late 1790s Henry Boldero Barnard left his mark by designing and building a Market Hall in the Market Place with a school above it. A systematic programme of rebuilding in one half of South Cave turned the village there into a mock-Tudor, almost model-village with very distinctive half-timbered houses which still exist today (Pevsner & Neave, York and the East Riding, pp.700-1).

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Entry in Landed family and estate papers subject guide

Deposited in 1974 by Crust Todd and Mills. Donated via Donald Carrick, on the authority of Sandersons Solicitors (successor to Crust, Todd and Mills), June 1999.

Papers of Sophia Letitia Barnard [U DDCV2/54]

U DDEV/5/4; U DDSY(3)/4/1; U DDSY/101/51; U DDCV/142/3; U DDCV/208/18-19; U DDCB/12/13-14

• Alec-Smith, R A, 'Cave Castle', Transactions of the Georgian Society for East Yorkshire, 4 (1956-8)
• Hall, John George, A history of South Cave and of other parishes in the East Riding of the county of York (1892)
• Pevsner, Nikolaus & Neave, David, The buildings of England: York and the East Riding (1995)