This fourth part looks at the
descendants of Ellen one of the five sisters of Alexander de Neville (III) who
died in 1252.
Please note that many of the
dates are estimated and that the pedigree of Mirfield is conjectured. There
could well be a generation missing, but it is the ‘best fit’ to the
contemporary (rather than secondary) records.
1.
Ellen de Neville (c. 1244-aft.
1281)
At the time of the death of
Alexander, son of Alexander de Neville in 1252, his sister Ellen was in the
custody of her mother Mateleon
. Sometime
in or before 1260, Ellen married William de Pontefract.
In or about 1260, there was an
exchange of land between Nicholas de Neville and Margery his wife and William
de Pontefract and Ellen his wife whereby Nicholas and Margery gave to William
and Ellen and their heirs, all their land in Mirfield and Hopton paying 18s. per
year and William and Ellen his wife granted to Nicholas and Margery all their
land in the town of Redbourne in Lindsey
. This is
the only notice that seems to exist for William de Pontefract and I am unable
to give any more details about him.
William de Pontefract died before
1271 when Ellen had married secondly, Henry le Tyas. In 1271-2, Robert le
Gardiner sued Robert Wacelyn and others concerning two bovates of land in
Redbourne. Robert Wacelyn and (the others) vouched to warranty Thomas son of
John de Heton, who was under age, Nicholas de Neville and Margery his wife,
Henry le Tyas and Ellen his wife, Ingram Folenfaunt and Juliana his wife, and
Adam de Novo Mercato and Cecilia his wife, by a charter of Alexander Crevequer,
ancestor of the said Thomas and the others, which they proffer., and which
witnesses that the said Alexander confirmed to William Wacelyn, ancestor of the
said Robert Wacelyn, the said tenements. Because Thomas was under age the suit
was without a day until his age
.
Henry le Tyas is said by
Dodsworth to have been the son of Sir Franco le Tyas (or Teutonicus) of Farnley
Tyas in Yorkshire. In Dodsworth’s pedigree of the family, he gives Ellen and
Henry le Tyas four sons; Baldwin, Francis, Richard and John
. I have
been unable to find any contemporary evidence to confirm this pedigree, and because
Ellen’s heir for her Neville lands was her son by her first marriage to William
de Pontefract, I have not considered them further.
Ellen and Henry were still alive
in November 1280, when Henry le Tyas and Ellen his wife granted 80 acres of
land in Hopton (in the parish of Mirfield) to Thomas de Hopton
2.
Adam de Pontefract (c. 1260 –
aft. 1307)
The lands in Mirfield that Ellen
inherited from her brother Alexander de Neville were inherited by her son Adam
de Pontefract. In 1302-3, the return of knight's fees in Yorkshire records that
John de Heton, Adam de Pontefract, John rector of Mirfield and Adam de
Everingham were holding 2 carucates and 6 bovates in Mirfield
. Adam de
Everingham was probably one of the heirs of Swain fitz Ailric. The other part
of Mirfield had been Alexander de Neville’s holding and was now split three
ways. John rector of Mirfield was a son of Sir John de Heton, but he may well have
been holding the land in trust for one of the other heirs, possibly Cecily de
Neville. A few years later, Mirfield appears to have been held jointly by the
Mirfields and the Hoptons.
Adam de Pontefract was still
alive in August 1307, when he made an agreement with Adam son of Robert de
Neufmarché concerning land in Mirfield and Hopton
.
3.
John de Pontefract / Mirfield (c. 1300 – 1346)
Adam de Pontefract was succeeded
by John de Pontefract who changed the family name from Pontefract to Mirfield.
In fact we can almost pinpoint the date when the change occurred. On 27 July
1326, he witnessed a deed in Mirfield as John de Pontefracto of Mirfeld
. One
year later on 14 July 1327 he witnessed another deed as John de Mirfeld
.
John de Mirfield married Avice,
grand-daughter and heiress of Henry de Dighton. In Hilary Term 1338-9, John de
Mirfield and Avice his wife claimed 7 acres of land in Huddersfield in right of
Avice, which John son of John de Dighton had unjustly disseised Henry de
Dighton, whose grand-daughter and heir was Avice
. In Hilary
Term 1344-5, John de Mirfield was one of the sureties for Peter de Kirketon,
John de Brereley of Saxton, Nicholas de Kirkby, and many others, against whom
an accusation had been laid by John Giffard, Master of St. Leonard's Hospital,
York
.
4.
Sir William de Mirfield (c. 1325 – 1380)
John de Mirfield was succeeded by
his son William de Mirfield. On 24 July 1347, William de Mirfield promised to
support John de Heton in the presentation he had made of his brother William de
Heton to the church of Mirfeld and afterwards the presentation was to belong to
William de Mirfield
. William
de Mirfield was one of those pardoned on 4 July 1348 for holding jousts at
Wakefield
.
On 6 July 1351 he was one of those ordered to arrest the murderers of Sir John
de Elland and John his son
.
Flower’s visitation pedigree says that William de Mirfield married
Isabel, daughter of John de Elland
. If
this was the case, then she died young, because William de Mirfield married,
before 1354, Agnes, daughter of Sir Robert de Beaumont of Crosland (said
to have been murdered by Sir John de Elland). On 4 May 1354, Sir John de
Beaumont, knight, granted land in Huddersfield to William de Mirfield and Agnes
his (John’s) sister by a fine at Westminster
. On 26
March 1361, William de Mirfeld was appointed as one of the custodians of the
lands of Henry Earl of Lancaster in Yorkshire
. On 5
April 1362, Robert son of Sir John de Beaumont, knight, quitclaimed all his
right in the reversion of lands and tenements in Huddersfield, then held for
life by Agnes wife of John Dayville, which Sir John Beaumont his father, had
granted to William de Mirfeld and Agnes his sister
. On 28
December 1367, William de Mirfeld was going on a pilgrimage beyond seas by the
king's licence
.
He was knighted before 27 January 1370
. In
1370 he was steward of the honour of Pontefract
. On 4
March 1377, William de Mirfeld, 'chivaler' was one of those appointed to
collect a tax of a tenth and a fifteenth in the West Riding
. William
de Mirfeld, 'chivaler', was escheator in Yorkshire between 26 November 1378 and
5 November 1379
.
On 4 March 1380, he was one of those appointed to collect a tax of a tenth and
a fifteenth in the West Riding
. He
probably died shortly after this date.
He had a son Adam, possibly a
daughter Alice, married to Sir William de Finchden (Fynchenden), sometime
steward of the honour of Pontefract and chief justice of the common pleas, and
possibly a son William who was parson of Bradford.
5. Adam de Mirfield (c.
1360 - 1428)
Sir William de
Mirfield was succeeded by his son, Adam de Mirfield. Apparently Adam was
granted the manor of Howley in the parish of Batley, Yorkshire by his aunt
Alice de Finchden who died without heirs. From his time, the Mirfields resided in Howley
Hall, Batley. The name of Adam’s wife is unknown.
On 1 December 1401,
Adam de Mirfield was one of those appointed to collect an aid in the West
Riding .
In the 1401-2, return of fees in the honour of Pontefract, Adam de Mirfield and
John de Heton were holding 2 knight's fees minus a fifth part in Mirfield,
Lepton, etc. once held by Thomas de Heton and Adam de Pontefract .
I last find him appearing as witness to a deed in April 1428, so he must have
lived to a great age .
As well as his son
and heir William, he also had at least two daughters; Joan who was the second
wife of Thomas Wombwell of Wombwell (died 1452). She mentions her brother
William in her will dated 10 July 1454 ;
and Alice who married Oliver Woodruffe of Woolley (died 1430), she survived her
husband .
6. William Mirfield (c.
1395 – aft. 1454)
Adam Mirfield was
succeeded by his son William Mirfield, esquire, who first appears as a witness
to a deed in September 1419 .
William, his father Adam, and his uncle, Oliver Woodruffe were granted land in
Chevet, Yorkshire in June 1424 .
Oliver Woodruffe left a cup to William Mirfield in his will dated 11 November
1430 and appointed him as one of his executors .
The name of William’s wife is unknown.
William had three
sons;
-
John who died in his father’s lifetime. On 22nd
May 1450, administration of the estate of John Mirfield son of William Mirfield
was granted to William Mirfield .
-
Oliver, his son and heir.
-
Robert who married in 1441, Margaret Tong,
daughter and heiress of Hugh Tong of Tong.
William also had a
daughter Elizabeth, who married Richard Thorold, of Marston, Lincolnshire who
died in York in August 1439. His will mentions John Mirfield, his wife’s
brother, who he had enfeoffed with his lands in Lincolnshire and
Nottinghamshire, and Agnes Mirfield his sister, who must have been another
daughter of William .
There was possibly another daughter named Alice, a nun, mentioned in the will
of Oliver Woodruffe’s sister Elizabeth .
7. Oliver Mirfield (c. 1425 - 1462)
Oliver son of
William Mirfield is said in Flower’s visitation to have married Isabel,
daughter of Sir John Saville by his wife Alice, daughter of Sir William Gascoigne
.
He made his will on 7 January 1462. He mentions his underage son William, to
whom he leaves his estates, his cousin Robert Neville (of Liversedge?) and his
brother John Sothill the elder .
I can’t work out these relationships. As well as his son, he also left a
daughter Jane, not mentioned in his will, who married Thomas Wentworth of North
Elmsall .
Oliver’s widow
Isabel married secondly (or fourthly according to some sources), Sir John
Ashton. John and Isabel were living at Howley Hall on 6 November 1470 when it
was attacked by 200 armed men, led by John Mirfield (of Tong?) and Richard
Leeds of Pontefract .
The attack may have been incited by William Mirfield to get his mother and her
husband to move out of the family home! Isabel died in 1488. It is said that
there was once an inscription in Wakefield church “Hic jacet Dom. Isabella
Asheton, vidua Joh. Asheton, militis et Mater Gulielmi Mirfield, militis, quae
ob. 6 die Maii 1488” .
Administration of her estate was granted on 22 November 1488 to William
Mirfield of Howley in the parish of Batley, armiger, and Thomas Wentworth of
Elmsall in the parish of Kirkby .
8.
Sir William Mirfield (c. 1450 - 1508)
Sir William Mirfield of
Howley, succeeded his father, and married Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Fitzwilliam
of Aldwark. In February 1484, he was king’s esquire and appointed as custodian
of Porchester castle and governor of Portsmouth for life .
He was knighted before 14 February 1485 .
The will of Sir William Mirfield, knight, was dated 28 May 1508 was proved on
17 August 1508 .
9.
William Mirfield (c. 1475 -1520)
William Mirfield married
Katherine, daughter of Sir James Harrington. He died in 1520, and his will was
proved on 19 December 1520. He left no issue and the Mirfields of Mirfield and Howley
became extinct. Their estates passed to Thomas Wentworth of North Elmsall, the
next heir, and great-grandson of Oliver Mirfield .
