4th Generation

Michael Inman=Elizabeth Darnbrooke

(a. 1639-1691) (a. 1635-1695)

MICHAEL INMAN == ELIZABETH DARNBROOKE

to him of 2 messuages, etc., in Fellbeck only; North Pasture House is near to, but not in Fellbeck. This latter place is in the township of Bishopside, and, in the three last named Hearth Taxes, Michael Inman occurs for 3 Hearths, under Bishopside, in each record; this writer has a complete copy for the township for a. 1672 (24 Car. II.), and also for 26 Car II., and finds that there can be little doubt that the hearths of Michael Inman, from his position in these lists, were in the Fellbeck part of Bishopside. His name does not occur, under Bishopside, in 14 Car. II. (a. 1662/3), but he may have escaped payment, for the Roll for that year contains; only about half the number of hearths named in a. 1672 for this township; his non-appearance (14 Car II.) is by no means sufficient to prove that he then had no estate in Fellbeck, for his lands may have been let, or his hearths unrecorded. No. (15) distinctly shews that property was conveyed to him at Fellbeck; some of the Hearth Tax Rolls point to an occupation there, and it is quite certain that his son, Robert, disposed of land in that place. The father seems to have settled property, More Ing and Collo, with regard to the marriage [a. 1678] of this Robert; from whence he had it has not appeared, but it may have been at or near Fellbeck. The Stadley MSS. mention Michael Inman under the mixed heading, Fellbeck North Pasture (House or Houses), and Bollershaw, a. 1666, 1667, 1668, 1670, and no Call Roll, for his lifetime, later than a. 1670, was found for those places; there is, however, a series of excerpts (Box 4. Parc 26), taken apparently with reference to the above-named places, one of which (citing a Court Roll of 33 Car. II.) shews that Robert Inman [son of Michael] was sworn and served on the Jury for 27 Apr., 33 Car. 11. [a. 1681], and it is very probable that there was actual occupation at North Pasture, or Fellbeck, or possibly both, as late as a. 1681. Michael Inman was described as of Harefield on May 23, a. 1681, and occurs as the Assignee of the Lady Yorke in a. 1679 in a notice of her gift of the Chapel and Chapel Yard at Bewerley (Pateley Bridge Par. Reg.); it may be that he had taken residence at Harefield about the time (Aug. 11, a. 1678) of the marriage of Robert, his son. On Feb. 6, a. 1681/2, Robert and Katherine Inman witness a Fellbeck will, and perhaps they were then living there, or at North Pasture House; in a. 1682, Robt. lnman, gent.., occurs as a juror for the Manor of Bishopside, and is described as of Harefield in a. 1684 (Bishopside Court. Rolls).
   In a.1681, an event happened which was of some consequence to the family, and which seems to be in connexion with the change of residence of Michael and Eliz. Inman from Harefie1d to a place in the township of Bewerley, perhaps in the same year, and, probably, not later than a. 1684; this was the death of Judith, daughter of John Darnbrooke and herself a descendant of Will. Inman. Eliz. Inman [her auny] and Thos. Porter were given as her next heirs* (*See Note C); see the Bishopside Court Roll under a. 1681. John Darnbrooke, of Bewerley, yeoman, made his Will and died in a. 1678/9; he was in pecuniary difficulties at that time. Nevertheless, he had an estate in Bewerley, the freehold in which was perhaps worth about 30 by the year; he also had property in the Manor of Bishopside. In May, a. 1681, administration of his goods, not hitherto administered, was granted to Michael Inman and his wife, and likewise administration (with Will annexed) of the goods of Judith Darnbrooke; Thos. Porter occurs as one of the 'next heirs'* to said Judith, and was, apparently, heir to half of such of the property of John Darnbrooke as was due to the heirs-at-law of a. 1681.
   The 'mind' of the said John was that 'all my goods and Chattells Moveable and Immoveable be praised and sould towards the payment of my debts soe farr as they will extend and the rest of my debts and funeral expenses to be paid by mv Executors forth of the yearly rents arising forth of my lands and leases and the yearly profits issuing and arisinge forth of the same'; his wife, Jane [who remarried in a. 1679/80, and died in a. 1690], to have what was 'her Widdow right by law forthe of my estate after all my debts and funeral expenses he paid'. He desires his executors to pay 'forthe of my lands Leases and Rents', 10 yearly, for life, to his mother 'for and towards her maintenance and in lieu and satisfaction of her Joynture forth of my lands'; it is beyond my power to specify the freehold estate of John Darnbrooke in Bewerley, but it is certain that it did not exactly correspond to the considerable property conveyed there by Michael Inman, Esq., to John Yorke, Esq., in a. 1774, and was probably very much smaller. The capital messuage at Bewerley in which some of the Inmans undoubtedly resided, was the so-called Tudor House, and it is not unlikely that John Darnbrooke had lived there; the seal* (*See Note D) on his Will has some resemblance to the Armorial bearings on the ceiling of one of the rooms in house, Grainge's Nidderdale (a., 1863) calls; the house (The house is near Foss Gil, and I understand that the author of the present Nidderdale [p. 486] designates it with regard to its situation) 'an antique Tudor building said by tradition to have been the priest's house'; he states it was once the property of the family of Darnbrook, afterwards of that of Inman'. There was a cottage, called Priest Chamber, in the the Manor of Bishopside (v. Court Roll), and therefore not in Bewerly, which seems to have been conveyed to Thos.Furnis [probably the local Minister of that name] in a. 1696, subject to a yearly rent to the Curate of Pateley Bridge; it may, however, be that the 'tradition', extant in a. 1863, would venture to ascend to the time before the Reformation, but it is scarcely worth while to attempt to define the statement therefrom. Grainge. Did not indicate the from whence he derived the information about the family of Darnbrook'; the only special evidence, known to me, as to their occupation of the house is that of the likeness between the armorial bearings on the ceiling of one of its rooms and the seal on John Darnbrooke's Will. The Inventory (a. 1737) of the goods, etc,, of Christopher Inman, gent., shews that he lived in this house; it is not, however, clear at what date it was first occupied by any of the family. It does not follow that residence there began in a. 1681, on the supposition that the house had belonged to John Darnbrooke: his Will indicates two annuitants on the estate, and provides for payments from the rents and profits of his 'lands and leases' to meet some of his debts, and the immediate returns to the Inmans out of what may be called the inheritance of a. 1681* (*See Note C) May not have been exactly overwhelming. It would appear from the Will (a. 1690) of Michael Inman that neither he nor his son, Robert, was then living in a house of the aforesaid inheritance, but that each of them occupied a messuage in. the township of Bewerley, in both of which houses Michael Inman seems to have had property±; (±Property other than merely iure uxoris.) this would shew either that neither the father nor son then resided in the so-called Tudor House, or else that the said Michael exercised a disposing power over it by Will or otherwise, and therefore that it was not a Darnbrooke house inherited in a. 1681. In a. 1682, Michael and Eliz. Inman sold land called Kilne Hill, in High Bishopside., which had belonged to Judith. Darnbrooke (Bishopside Court Rolls) ; this conveyance is also recorded in the Feet of Fines (Hil., 35 Car. II., a. 1682/3).
   In the time of this Michael, the family had a small estate at Harefield, in Low Bishopside, but within the Monastery of Fountains; when they acquired it has not appeared. On May 23, a. 1681, Thos. Furnis, clerk, renounced the 'executorship of the Will of Judith Darnbrooke in favour of Michael Inman of Harefield and Elizabeth, his wife; it has been suggested above that entry into Harefield may have been made ahout the time (a. 1678) of the marriage of Robert Inman. It is not unlikely that Harefield was the tenement, rented at 1. 2. 9, in the tenure of John Hodgeson, 'on the bank of the Nidde', late in the tenure of John Ploumelande, which is returned under Bishopside in an account of lands formerly of Fountains Abbey (Min. Acc., 35-36 Hen. VIII., say, a. 1544); the same tenant was still there in a. 1557, and at the same rent (Min. Act., 3-5 Ph. and Mary). In a. 1570. Christopher Hardcastell, of Heayrfeald, of the Chappelrye of Patelabrige, mentions his lease of Hearfeild, which he holds of John Beckwythe, gent. [probably of Scough, par. Fewston]; the Feet of Fines (a. 1598) point to a conveyance to a Christopher Hardcastle, and others, of messuages and lands 'in Bishopside, 'Pateley Bridge, and Netherdale', with proviso to warrant against the heirs of John Beckwith, deceased, in a. 1627, Anna Hardcastle is described in her Will (York Reg.) as of the Hairfeeld; it is very unlikely that the Inmans had an interest here before this date, and it, of course, does not follow that the Harefield they owned was exactly coincident with the tenement 'on the bank of the Nidde', supposing that they have been rightly connected.. Harefield was in the township, but not in the manor of Bishopside; it had belonged to the Monastery, and should he represented in the Fountains Calls, under Pateley Bridge. There are Calls, naming Pateley Bridge, for a. 1667, 1668, 1750, and onwards,. but the name Inman does not seem to occur for Harefield till the Call Roll for a.. 1720-1723; then, at the end of the Fellbeck district entries, occurs a note, afterwards crossed out, Hairfield, Mr. Chris. Inman, adm. It is, notwithstanding, fairly clear that the family owned the estate from c.a. 1681 to a. 1790; the fact that the name of Inman does not appear under Pateley Bridge in a. 1667, 1668, is no positive proof of non-ownership at those dates and I rather incline to suppose that Michael Inman bought a freehold estate at Harefield after his father's' death (early in a. 1662) and not later than a. 1681. In a Bishopside Court Roll, Robert lnman is described as of Harefleld in a. 1684, and the Par. Reg. of P. B. mentions one seat on the north of the 'Quire' erected by Mr. Michael Inman for Harefield House; these, with other facts, are in favour of ownership in the 17th c. It is most unlikely that Harefield was part of the inheritance of a. 1681*; (*See Note C) it is not openly mentioned in the Will of John Darnbrooke (or in that of his father), nor is his name in the Fountains Calls, a. 1667, 1668, under Pateley Bridge. Judith Dambrooke was yet in life on April 18, a. 1681,at which date Michael Inman was probably living at, and owner of, Harefleld; at any rate, he was described as of Harefield, yeoman, in the next month.
   Something maybe said as to the chronology of migrations of the family in the last quarter of the 17th c.; it would appear that Michael Inman was still at or near North Pasture in a. 1676, and that, in that year, or probably a little later, he removed to Harelield, which he seems to have purchased in a. 1662-1681 This change of residence may have been due to the marriage (a. 1678) of his son, Robert, who appears to have been living at North Pasture House or at Fellbeck as late as a. 1681/2. About this time, and, at any rate, suppose not later than a. 1684, Michael inman and his wit~ removed to a place in the township of Bewerley, and Robert and Katherine Inman went to Harefield; in a. 1690 both father and son were living in Bewerley township, neither of them residing in a Darnbrooke house which had been inherited in a. 1681.
   It would appear that, in a. 1690, Michael Inman had 'lands and tenements' in the township of Bewerley, leasehold or leasehold and freehold, over which he could and did exercise disposing power; his name does not occur in a copy from the record of the Bewerley Court Leet of Lady Mary Yorke, held Apr.19, a. 1675, and it is not likely that he had any estate in this Manor before a. 1681. It is certain that, in a 1690, he would have had no power to dispose of his wife's Bewerley freeholds by Will; he might, perhaps, have reduced her leaseholds into possession, and have dealt with them. There is, however, no ascertained proof that she had transferred them to her husband, or, indeed, that she had any leases in Bewerley or elsewhere; there is no abstract reason why Michael Inman might not have acquired property, leasehold or leasehold and freehold, in this township, quite independently of his wife. John Darnbrooke had 'leases' somewhere, and his daughter, Judith, names her 'tenements holden by Lease'; any residue of her leaseholds not disposed of by her Testament, or not employed in meeting lawful charges upon them, ought, ni failor, to have gone to her next of kin, her grandmother, if living, and, if not, presumably (in this case) to such of the brothers and sisters of her father and mother as were alive at her own death, whether of the whole or of the half-blood, and not, in particular, to that one of them who alone was named amongst her 'next heirs '.* (*See Note C) But there is no proof that there was any such residue of leaseholds, or that the next of kin, as such, had aught to receive; the testatrix herself mentions abatement, and, as this occurred with respect to a charitable bequest for which Trustees had been appointed, it may fairly be held that there was nothing to which the next of kin, as such, had lawful claim. Judith Darnbrooke arranges as to her 'own proper debts' and funeral expenses, and desires that her 'Uncles John Oddy and William Darnbrooke [her father's uncle] be kept harmless and indemnifyed of whatsoever debts by them or either of them undertaken or paid as trustees' for her late brother, Francis, during his minority, 'which sometime were ye proper debts of my late deare father John Darnbrooke together with funeral expenses and reasonable charges allowed them for their troubles therein' ; she gives 3 to said William which he owed to my father John Darnbrooke if he the said William upon lawful demand made do quietly & peaceably deliver unto the hands of my Executor hereafter named all such deeds Leases Conveyances and Manuscripts whatsoever he hath or at anytime had' from John Darnbrooke, 'or since his decease anyway concerning his estate whether lands Leasing or otherwise without l[o]nger keeping or cancelling or defacing the same or any part thereof'. She gives the annual rent of 1 for 750 years for local educational purposes, and, in default of payment as directed, the Trustees, etc., of her Charity might 'make any reasonable distress upon any of my tenements holden by Lease which is hot otherwise necessarily imployed for the due payments of my debts & for the better securing of the said John Oddy and William Darnbrooke as aforesaid Always provided. And it is the full intent and meaning of this my present last will and testament that if after my laufull debts and funeral expenses be discharged and the said John Oddy & William Darnbrooke secured and saved harmless as aforesaid That then it shall happen that the residue of all my goods and Chattells real & personal Lands Leasings & tenements whatsoever will not amount to the full discharging of ye above given legacies with reasonable charges allowed to my executor besides the above named household goods and linnen before herein particularly given That then there shall be an abatement made of and from every legacy and bequest in money ye proportion to be proportioned in like manner'; she appoints her 'cousin Thomas Furnis Clerk' [the Pateley Bridge Curate] her sole executor. The latter endorsed the original Will with his renunciation of the execution in favour of Michael and Elizabeth Inman, and the Pateley Bridge Par. Reg. [suppose, Thos. Furnis himself], after recording the burial of' Judith Darnbrooke, noted that the gift of 20 [which seems to have been considered an equivalent for 1 p. a. for 750 years] was contracted to 8, which was paid by her Administrator, and it [say, he] might quite truthfully have added that the Curate, to whom the largest legacy in, money was left, and who was appointed a Trustee, for the time being, of the Charity, had declined the executorship of the Testament of the benefactress; it is evident that the 8 was accepted, abatement being made. It is clear that Judith Darnbrooke was not old enough to make a WiIl of lands [freehold or copyhold], but that she was of age to make a Testament of Goods arid Chattels [which include leaseholds]; she is referred to as impubes in the Tuition of' a. 1678/9, and, had she been twenty-one when she made her 'Will', she could have exercised disposing power on the Bewerley freeholds, and charged 'every legacy and bequest in money' upon them. John Darnbrooke (a. 1678/9) named two executors in his Will, one of' whom renounced, the other, his own son Francis, being a minor, so that there was a limited grant of administration (during the minor age of said Francis) to John Oddy (husband of the maternal aunt of the minor) and Will. Darnbrooke, who were also appointed Curators of the two liberi impuberes, Judith and Francis; the son died within a year of the death of John Darnbrooke, his father. It has not appeared whether John Oddy and Will. Darnbrooke continued to act till the death of John Darnebrooke's daughter, Judith; the executor she appointed, Thos. Furnis, the Curate at Pateley Bridge, declined to undertake the onus of her affairs. Six or seven residents in the townships of Bewerley and Bishopside had a monetary interest in the testamentary dispositions of Judith Darnbrooke, and Trustees were appointed by her for her Charity, so that there can be little doubt that her legacies and bequest would attract local attention; her grandmother Darnbrooke was alive in a. 1678/9 and, ni fallor, would, if living at the date of her grand daughter's death, have been her only next of kin. But she may have been dead; it so, I cannot give an exact list of all Judith Darnebrooke's next of kin, but it is quite against the evidence to suppose that her Testament left room for any residue to which they, as such, could have had lawful claim, for her intentions would be to be carried out before there could be any proper surplus to them as next of kin.
   Michael Inman is described as gent, in the Feet of Fines, in a Studley MS. (in 6.41), and in the P. B. Par. Reg., but as yeoman in No. 14 (see Ro. Inman), and in the Renunciation of Thos. Furius ; there are other notices of him, which have been omitted here. In his Will, his 'will and mind' is that his wife 'shall have in liew of her widow right out of all my lands and tenements All the mean profitta of all my lands & Tenem^ts within Bewerley (without any impeachm^t of wast on her part) for and during her life naturall only in case shee shall and will quit all her claym of Widow right to all the rest of my estate allways excepting the now dwellinghouse of my son Robert Inman with the Kitchin and two Stables a peat house, a helme with a garden and a Croft thereunto adjoining'; I give to my wellbeloved grandchild Katherine Inman her Exec^rs Adm^rs & assignes from & after the decease of my said Wife all the house wherein I now live with a garden & peat house now injoyed therewith'. The testator names the hired servants of his son and his own maid servant, those who should be such at the time of his death; he makes divers gifts, but only his wife, grandchild, and son are mentioned in connexion with lands, tenements, and houses. Finally, he gives to his said son (Robert) 'all the rest of my estate as well real as personall and in case my s^d grandchild Katherin shall happen to dy without issue then my will and minde is that the above given house & premises shall revert to the use of my s^d Son R^t his Exor Adm^rs and Assigns'; the grandchild was married to John Homer, and left issue at her death. This particular messuage, as it seems, was only held for a term of years, and the Will describes Michael Inman as 'of Bewerley'; the precise meaning of 'all my Lands and Tenem^ts within Bewerley' is not very clear to me. At any rate, it is likely that, on the death (a. 1695) of his mother, the son, Robrrt Inman, attained to all. those lands and tenements within Bewerley which his father had set aside for her benefit 'during her life natural', except the house and premises above excepted; as the mother made no Will, it is probable that the said Robert inherited, at her death, all or part or those Bewerley freeholds which had belonged to John Darnbrooke in a. 1678/9. It is likely that the 'mean profitts' in Bewerley which Michael Inman left to his wife for life, if she would accept of them etc., did not exceed her legal estate as his widow; she would have had a right to be endowed from freeholds, and, by the then custom of the Province of York, she could have had a share of his goods. When the said Michael made his Will, he apparently had freeholds at Harefield and Fellbeck; he had 'lands and tenements' within Bewerley, but whether leasehold, or leasehold and freehold, I cannot venture to state. It may, however, be observed that the gift to his wife was expressed as for 'her life naturall', and not as for the remainder of a term if she live so long; theoretically, this might perhaps shew that Michael Inman had a freehold estate in Bewerley township. He then or formerly had property at North Pasture House, perhaps including all or part of Collo Hill (in the township of Hartwith); it appears to have been held for a term of years, and his Will would have passed it to his son, Robert, if the latter was not already the lessee. Perhaps Michael Inman had lands elsewhere, held by one or more tenures; 'all the rest of my estate as well real as personall' is not very informing. As to Collo in Low Bishopside, and More Ing (surrounded by Bishopside Common), both of which, ni fallor, had pertained to the Monastery of Fountains; apparently, they were freehold, and seem to have been settled by Michael Inman on his son, Robert, and Katherine [Lowson-Inman], for life, and to the survivor of them, and then to their issue in tail. At any rate, in a. 1717, Robert and Katherine Inman, and Christopher, the son & heir apparent, conveyed them to uses to the Skaifes, as may be seen under FELLBECK in the account of said Robert, where references for these places are given; I am unable to state definitely that it is correct to describe either or both of them as in Fellbeck. It may be that,. in a. 1690, HarefieId belonged to Michael Inman's son, and not to himself; this being uncertain, it has been included in the father's possessions. Robert, his son, purchased a messuage called Shepherd Land, and lands and appts. at Collar Stoops, in Fellbeck, in a. 1684 (Bishopside Court Rolls, a 1684, 1722, 1761, 1763); he appears to have held it independently of his father amongst whose belongings it has not been estimated.
   The latter had two sons, Owen, who died in infancy, and Robert; whether he had a daughter is uncertain. In the Life of Archdeacon Blackburne (by his son, a. 1804 or a. 1805), it is stated that Francis Blackburne married Mrs. Jane Inman of Bewerley; Misc. Gen. et Herald. (re Blackburne) gives a footnote to the effect that Michael Inman of Bowthwaite Grange wedded Elizabeth Darnbrooke, heiress of Bewerley. But the entry of the baptism of a Jane, daughter of Michael Inman, has not occurred, nor does the latter mention any daughter in his Will; I do not know the authority for the footnote named above. Under 'Some account of the author' (Works of Francis Blackburne, Vol.1., a. 1805), it is shewn that the grandfather of the Archdeacon entered into trade at Richmond, in which, 'by his own prudence and industry, and the encouragement of Lady Yorke (whose relation, Mrs. Jane Inman, of Bewerley, near Ripon, he married), and of Thomas Yorke, Esq., her son, he acquired a handsome fortune'; the. Blackburnes descended from Robt. Blackburne of Marrick. Now if' 'Mrs. Jane Inman' was of any very near kin to the Lady Yorke (dau. of Maulger Norton, 'of St. Nicholas, near Richmond'), she is not likely to have been the daughter of Michael Inman; further, she was married by a. 1680, and the family were not then living at Bewerley.

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