Hansby History Updated 2016

David Morley and Family
Melbourne, Australia 2015
Left to right: Back row: David Morley, his father John, his mother Joy (nee Hansby), Luke Morley (their eldest)
Front row: Joshua and Georgia Mills-Morley
Note: David is the Great Great Grandson of Ralph "Joseph" Hansby, the Ship Captain
Photo Contributed by David Morley
Click on the caption link for larger image.

History of the Hansby Family

David Morley
August 2015
Updated May 2017
HansbyChristmasMessage2017

Chapters.

1. Hansbys of New Malton. c.1500-1550.

2. Ralph Hansby (3) of Beverley. Was he ‘King Lear’? c. 1550-1620

3. Sir Ralph Hansby (4) of Tick Hill. “An obscure hanger-on to the skirts of pages and bedchambermen?” c. 1610-1650.

4. Ralphs (5) and (6): The Recusants c.1650- 1720.

5. Ralph Hansby (7) and the journey to Ireland. c.1720-1760

6. The Golden years in Abergavenny c.1800-1870.

7. Branches from Abergavenny:

7a. Mary Isabel Hansby and Richard Williams.

7b. Catherine Hansby and George Russell - doctors, lawyers and sailors.

7c. Louise Clifford Hansby and John Maund - the Mexican and French connections.

7d. On the trail of a painting.

8. Two young boys travel to New Zealand - the spread of the Hansbys to the Antipodes c. 1860-1900.

9. The Hansbys of Sydney c. 1890-1950.

Foreword.

As with any work of history, this text represents only the sum total of the information available to the author to this particular point in time. The quality of this information is in some instances diluted by the intervening passage of time, altered inadvertently by errors in transcription over time, and then colored by the author’s personal viewpoint. As further information comes to hand in the future, opinions contained herein may well prove to be incorrect.

That in the year 2015 I am in possession of this material is thanks to the ‘keepers of the flame’ before me. I suspect Dr. Michael William Hansby has received some documentation of his pedigree handed down to him. This in turn seems to have been passed to Sir Michael William Russell, his grandson, and thence to Joyce Mary Atkinson, his great grand-daughter. In 1955, Joyce’s husband John A.C. Barradale, cognizant at that time that the name Hansby was almost extinct in Britain, brought a copy of the Hansby pedigree to Australia, and it was received by my grandfather Thomas Cyril Hansby.

This work, then, might be regarded as a ‘sixtieth anniversary edition’ of the Hansby tree, as conveyed to the southern hemisphere. Without doubt, had that transfer of knowledge not taken place at that time, the Hansby descendents in the southern hemisphere would surely be ignorant of their fascinating history. With the advent of the internet, tracing and collating one’s genealogy is now a far easier task, and the process of fleshing out the bare bones of the 1955 tree has been relatively straightforward, as compared to the extensive legwork that was required of family history sleuths of previous generations. The combined efforts of family historians since 1955, and more recently, the power of the internet has, however, been able to identify certain errors contained and transmitted in the Barradale documents (which he indeed concedes at that time) and so part of the purpose of this work is to correct and update where necessary the information transmitted in 1955.

It is my hope that the power of the internet will allow the ready dissemination of this history back in the opposite direction, such that Hansby descendents in both hemispheres will be able to receive a detailed overview of their pedigree and forbears, updated to the year 2015. I have certainly identified many ‘orphan’ Hansbys whom I have not been able to definitively attach to the tree thus far, and so I certainly concede that this tree is not complete or exhaustive. I will be most interested to hear from any Hansby family members who are able to trace themselves back to this tree.

It is noted, in particular in Chapter 7, that the lives and fortunes of Hansby daughters are certainly no less interesting than those of the Hansby males. Indeed, in a family where the surname has barely been perpetuated to the present day, the tales of the daughters must rank as equal in significance also. With this in mind, acknowledgement is also made to the husbands and sons of Hansby daughters who have carried the flame. As mentioned already, Sir Michael William Russell and JAC Barradale, and in the present day, Terry O’Connor (NZ) and Bob Sweeney (USA), have added branches and leaves to the Hansby tree. Further thanks to Philip Ward for locating the will of Thomas Hawtcliffe, and to Richard Gravestock (UK) for further recent finds also.

Will of Thomas Hawtcliffe

1. Hansbys of New Malton. c.1500-1550.

Each step of the history of the Hansbys must be regarded in the historical context of the prevailing times. For the earliest Hansbys, this was the turbulent times of the feuding Royal families of the Middle Ages in England.

The Wars of the Roses was the ongoing feud between the two branches of the Plantagenet royal family: the House of Lancaster (the Red Rose) and the House of York (the White Rose). From 1399 the House of Lancaster held the throne, and this included Kings Henry IV-VI. In 1461, Edward IV took the throne for the House of York at the decisive Battle of Towton. After victories in battle in 1471, the Lancastrian heirs were put to death, and a brief time of peace followed.

In this time, Edward IV granted trading privileges to the Hanseatic League of North German trading cities to conduct trade with England. (The Treaty of Utrecht). The German term for the Hanseatic League is ‘Die Hanse’, and in Germany the participant cities are staging a modern revival of this historical union. Trade was of the various commodities of the time - wood, foodstuffs, textiles, steel and so on. A building owned and operated by the Hanseatic League in London was known as the Stahlhof - literally the steel yard. The single surviving Hanseatic building in Britain from this time is the Hanseatic Warehouse at King’s Lynn.

The Hanseatic League also had offices/ warehouses at the eastern seaboard ports of Hull and Yarmouth, and also ‘branch offices’ at Norwich, York and Scarborough - perhaps near to the seat of the House of York, which had granted them favour. It is my presumption that an immigrant trader or Hanseatic official from North Germany found his way to the vicinity of York, and perhaps took an anglicized version of the word ‘hanse’ for his name, which over time became the name Hansby. Around this time, one can find various spellings of the name, or similar names: Hansbe, Hansbie, Hansebie, Hanceby, Hancebie, Hanse, Hanby and so on.

To return now to the historical overlay, Edward IV died suddenly in 1483, leaving his young son Edward V as heir to the throne. His uncle Richard took the throne in Edward’s minority, and there followed the infamous disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, where Richard is believed to have killed his two young nephews Edward and Richard, in order to secure the throne for himself as Richard III.

In 1485, Richard III is slain at Bosworth, and Henry Tudor marries Elizabeth of York, (Edward IV’s daughter) re-uniting the warring Houses. He becomes King Henry VII, and this marks the beginning of the Tudor period. The symbol of this period is the Tudor Rose, which is a merging of a white and a red rose.

In 1509, the great Tudor King Henry VIII ascends. His quest for a male heir will ultimately cause the split from the Catholic church, and the formation of the Protestant Church of England - the ‘Reformation.’

It is in the time of Henry VIII that we see the start of the Visitation Books. Deputies of the king, known as Officers of Arms, visited the houses and castles of all parts of England, and recorded the known pedigrees of the established families, for the purpose of identifying which families had the right to bear arms. Further visitations took place at intervals, to record the births and marriages of subsequent generations. Visitations to Yorkshire took place in 1530 (Tonge), 1552 (Harvey), 1558 (Dalton), 1563, 1575, and 1584 (Flower), 1612 (St. George) and 1665 (Dugdale). By the end of the 17^th century, the nation’s fascination and obsession with heraldry had waned, and the process ceased after 1689.

The first and only Hansby pedigree is in the Visitation Book of 1584 (and updated at 1612) [Editor's Note: See image below], and so this leads us to believe that the Hansby family is not a long-established English family. The title of this pedigree is 'Hans alias Hansby, of Beverley.' This might seem to lend weight to the notion the family took its name from the Hanseatic League. Subsequent to this, the name Hansby only appears in the various Visitation Books as Hansbys marry into other established families, and so it would seem the name Hansby appeared de novo in Yorkshire around the end of the 15^th century, and perhaps not having its origin from the Vikings, as Barradale speculates. This would also be consistent with the relatively small size of the family.

Visitation Book of 1584 and 1612
This document introduced the Hansby name and pedigree to the schedule of titles in Yorkshire. The "Hans" surname as a precursor to "Hansby" may suggest that the family originated in north central Europe with the Hanseatic League, a famous historical commercial network that came to England in the 1400s.
Photo Contributed by Richard Gravestock

* * * * *

The town of New Malton is situated approximately 20 miles to the north-east of York, about halfway to Scarborough, on the River Derwent. It is here that we find the first records of the name Hansby in Britain - the wills of Robert Hansby and John Hansby.

The following are found in Testamenta Eboracensis (literally ‘York Wills’) collated by the Surtees Society, vol.5 p. 118. Both these wills were written in Latin, and are among the few wills in the book written in Latin, again possibly suggesting these Hansbys may not have been ‘locals’. The following is an approximate translation:

1520 - Will of Robert Hansby, burgess of New Malton. “For my mortuary, my best horse and armaments.. to build the bridge at Malton, 10 oak trees .. the chapels of Sts Michael and Leonard.. their guardians to celebrate my funeral annually.. Two (?properties) in Malton for my sons William and John… for my daughter Agnes, my stall in the market at Malton, and 20 marks… each child of Alice Flonders, my sister, 3s4d… Margaret Brignell, my sister, 10s… Rest to Helen my wife, and my children” (Proven 15 Nov 1520)

1522 - Will of John Hansby (Hanceby) of New Malton, valet of the crown of the king of England. “To the guardians of St. Michael’s in New Malton, for the foundation of a chantry, I give three burgages in Malton, and 20 pounds. To William Wildon, my son, and Joanna, his wife, my daughter… Agnes, my wife… 20 marks or 10 pounds. To Gilberto H, the horse named Crukedikes. To Johanna Lokwod, my sister 3s4d. Margaret, my daughter.. Rest to wife, Richard my son and Katherine my daughter, they executors.” (Proven 11 Dec 1522)

From these, it is possible that Robert is the father of John - Robert’s will mentions a son John and a ‘daughter’ Agnes, which may well mean ‘daughter-in-law’ referring to John’s wife Agnes. The salient feature suggesting against this is the close dates of their respective deaths - only two years apart - raising the alternate possibility they may have been cousins of a similar age. This dilemma is discussed further below.

The next reference to the Hansbys of New Malton appears in 1528, in a piece called ‘A Priory Right’, taken from the Malton Priory Notes. It refers to a court case where a parishioner in Malton challenges the right of the Prior (Lord of the Manor) to collect the ‘Mortuary’ - a tax at death of one’s best horse and armaments. [Reference is made to this in Robert Hansby’s will above.] The Bailiff in this case was Richard Hansbe (presumed son of John, above); witnesses included John Hanse (unclear whether related or not) John Hansby (discussed below) and Robert Lokwoode (possibly related to Johanna Lokwod above).

If the ‘father/ son’ hypothesis for the two wills above is the case, then Robert the father would have had to have been very old, perhaps in his seventies or eighties, for his grandson Richard to already be Bailiff of New Malton in 1528, and there must be a different or unrelated John Hansby present in 1528 as a witness, as ‘John-son-of-Robert’ died in 1522. Richard has a son John, but again, for this great-grandson John to be old enough to be witness at a case in 1528, Robert must have died a very old man indeed.

The ‘two cousins’ hypothesis requires some doubled names - John and Agnes, Robert’s son and daughter, and John with his wife Agnes - but this does give a better explanation for the John Hansby as witness at the trial in 1528. As none of the sisters’ names match in either will, it seems unlikely they are brothers from the same family.

It is probable that external events now come to influence the New Malton Hansbys. Although they seemed to have held favour with Henry VIII in the early years of his reign, with John Hansby’s will of 1520 recording him as ‘valet of the crown of the King of England’, and Richard his son presumed the Bailiff of New Malton in 1528, this favour may well have soured in 1534, when Henry VIII declares himself Head of the Church of England. The Hansbys as Catholics and northerners may well have become targets for Henry VIII’s Reformation.

Thomas Cromwell is appointed Vicar General by Henry VIII, and is commissioned to dissolve all the monasteries and seize the assets of the Catholic Church. In 1536, the great northern uprising known as the ‘Pilgrimage of Grace’ opposes this, but nonetheless all the monasteries are ultimately dissolved by 1540.

Around 1540, a List of Debts (reference from UHouston O’Quinn Law Library Image 2210 side f.) records the following:

County - Coventry

Plaintiff - Christopher Waren (Bailiff of Coventry 1537-8)

Defendants - Richard Hansbe, of Malton, Dydale (correctly ‘Ryedale’), Yorkshire; draper

Richard Resson, of Malton; draper

Christopher Waren was a hard-nosed fellow who issued writs against people he didn’t like, particularly following the ‘Trial of the Vicar of St. Michael.’ Assuming this is the same Richard Hansby as the Bailiff of New Malton of 1528, he has now been reduced to a draper, a common enough trade at that time. It is possible that this trade also harks back to the ‘original Hansby’s’ role in the Hanseatic League.

* * * * *

Barradale’s pedigree begins with Richard Hansby, as does the 1584 Visitation. The only other actual published Hansby pedigree is in ‘The History and Topography of the Deanery of Doncaster, vol. 1, p.234, by Rev. Joseph Hunter, published London 1828. (Referred to hereafter as ‘Hunter’s Deanery.’) Barradale’s pedigree appears to incorporate much of Hunter’s, but corrects some of the salient errors it contains. Hunter’s pedigree records the marriage of Richard Hansby to “Beatrix, daughter and coheir of William Hatcliffe of the county of Cumberland, as does the 1584 Visitation before it.”

History records well an earlier Beatrix Hatcliffe, who lived about fifty years before ‘our’ one - she is recorded as the daughter of James Hatcliffe of Grimthorpe in East Yorkshire. She married first Ralph, Baron of Greystock (which is in Cumberland)-this is the likely source of the Cumberland reference). Ralph was an elderly widower with 15 children, and upon his eventual demise, Beatrix married Sir Robert Constable of Flamborough. She had seven children with him, and after his death in 1501, she famously took a vow of chastity. She dies at Sancton in 1505. Her brothers are recorded as Sir William Hatcliffe, and Richard Hatcliffe, described as a ‘prest’ in her will. Further information regarding her father James, her brother Sir William, and indeed any other ‘Hatcliffes of Grimthorpe’, or ‘Hatcliffes of Cumberland’, is scarce, but the recent discovery of the will of Thomas Hawtcliffe of Grimthorpe, which names his sister Beatrice as the wife of Richard Hansbie, and lists their seven children as beneficiaries, has thereby affirmed this as historical fact. It is presumed that Thomas and Beatrice are the children of Beatrix’s brother Sir William Hatcliffe.

The will of Thomas Hawtcliffe makes specific reference to his ‘brother parson’, which is likely Richard Hawtcliffe, elsewhere described as the Rector of Nunburnholme from 1507-52, and Thomas records two parsonages amongst his assets, which might indicate that he was also a Church of England clergyman. One wonders if the two boys have somehow inherited their uncle Richard’s calling. We assume the brother Richard is also childless. The book ‘Nunburnholme - Its History and Antiquities, by Rev. M.C.F. Morris 1907 indicates that Richard Hawtcliffe Rector at Nunburnholme is also the brother of Beatrix Hatcliffe, but this is perhaps chronologically unlikely. The absence of Hawtcliffe heirs in this will, and the absence of further information regarding the ‘Hawtcliffes of Grimthorpe’, seems to suggest that this was ‘the end of the line’ for this family name.

* * * * *

There are two other minor references to property owners in Malton at this time, a Robert Hanse in 1543 and a William and Agnes Hansby in 1550 (possibly the son of Robert Hansby above), but it would seem the Hansbys were laying low at this time. It is also possible that records were either not well kept, or were destroyed during these turbulent times. A marriage of a 'Wal. Hansby' is also recorded in Norfolk in 1550.

At Henry VIII’s death in 1547, his frail son Edward VI becomes a child king until his death from tuberculosis in 1553, then Mary I, Henry’s daughter, takes the throne and reinstates Catholicism. In 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth I ascends, and restores Protestantism. It is under Elizabeth’s long reign as the Virgin Queen that the next chapter of Hansby history takes place.

2. Ralph (3) Hansby of Beverley. Was he ‘King Lear’? c. 1550-1620

From here on, I must assign a number to some individuals, which pertains to the generation to which they belong. This is particularly necessary for the name Ralph, as there is a Ralph Hansby in each generation from 3 to 10.

I have assigned as the index generation John (1) Hansby, who died in 1522, notwithstanding the possibility that Robert may be his father. His wife is Agnes, and, as per his will, his only definite son is Richard (2), and his daughters may include Joanna, Margaret and Katherine.

As above, Richard (2) Hansby is the first Hansby mentioned in the Barradale history. As Thomas Hawtcliffe’s will, which was written in 1549, indicates two of the daughters are already married, the marriage of Richard Hansbie and Beatrix Hawtcliffe must be estimated to be around 1530. This would also seem to suggest these two daughters were the eldest children. While the birth order of their seven children is not clear, the Hawtcliffe will suggests the following:

- Agnes, who was already married to Richard Langley (Longley) as at 1549. Richard Langley was martyred in 1586 for his support of Catholics; their pregnant daughter Isabel was also imprisoned for the same offence, and died in prison not long after. They had four daughters and a son Christopher. They lived at Owsethorpe, possibly in a property bequeathed to them by Thomas Hawtcliffe. An Elizabeth Langley of Pocklington continued to receive 'tithes out of Grimthorpe and Ousethorpe 5L 2s 6d' in the non-conformists' register of 1715.

- Isabell, who was already married to Anthony Hungate in 1549. They lived in Catton, possibly also in a property bequeathed to them by Thomas Hawtcliffe. Their son Thomas was involved in a property dispute with Katherine Constable around 1600, which also involved this bequested property, and Thomas Hawtcliffe’s will formed part of the evidence presented in this case. Anthony Hungate died ‘outlawed’ in 1585, and was prevented from writing a will as such. One wonders if he was ‘outlawed’ (attained) for Catholicism like the Langleys.

- Ralph (3) is likely the eldest son. He receives the largest bequest of all the sons from Thomas Hawtcliffe, his very-well-to-do, but heirless uncle. Ralph (3) is certainly the most ‘famous’ Hansby ancestor, and is known colloquially as ‘Ralph of Beverley’. He fathered four daughters, but he did not father any sons who might carry the Hansby name forward. His public battles with his daughters and their husbands in regard to their inheritances were prominent in their time, and led one modern-day commentator to speculate that these events may have inspired at least in part William Shakespeare’s contemporaneous character of King Lear. It is through one of Ralph of Beverley’s daughters that the Hansby name appears in the pedigree of the current Royal Family, continuing down to the Queen Mother. It is to Ralph (3) Hansby’s legacy that this chapter will be principally directed.

- Robert - Essentially nothing is recorded of him apart from his death in 1577,, which appears to be in Wragby, Lincolnshire.

- Eleanor - married Robert Pierson of Hull.

- Edward, who became a Church of England priest after graduating from St. John’s College, Cambridge. He married Margaret Snawsell, and they had six children, including 3 sons. The youngest son Ralphe also went on to become a Church of England vicar, and this Ralphe had at least one son who may have gone on to father other living Hansbys. Edward dies in 1585, leaving his six children then aged 8 through 2 fatherless. Margaret apparently remarries, to a William Carnaby, of Skipton, co. York.

- John (3) Hansby is possibly the youngest. He apparently lives in or near New Malton his whole life; possibly he inherits the family estate at the death of his father Richard because he is the only one left at home. It should be mentioned that while the will of Thomas Hawtcliff provided generously for the Hansby children, the father Richard Hansby was very specifically excluded as a beneficiary. (Possibly Richard Hansby declined to renounce his Catholic faith in spite of the tide of the Reformation?) This family rift might give an explanation for the Hansby family house apparently passing to the youngest child. John does not father any children until the mid-1580’s, presumably after the deaths of his parents. John is only known link to present-day Hansbys.

    He marries Audrey Lovell from Skelton; she appears to be about 20 years his junior, and at the time, an orphan. Their children include:

- Beatrix, who married Herbert Davy, a mercer from York, in 1606. Following his death, she married Thomas Agar, who served as Lord Mayor of York. No children are recorded from either union. She dies in 1634.

- Ralph (4), first son and heir, is born in late 1587. He is the subject of the next chapter.

- Thomas is mentioned in both the wills of his father and his uncle Ralph, but no further information about him seems to exist.

That John names his children Beatrix for his mother and Thomas possibly for his uncle suggests that he does not perpetuate the enmity between his father and his uncle.

There is a marriage recorded between an Audree Hansby and a Thomas Sotheby of Birdsall in 1619, but this is almost certainly John’s widow re-marrying after John’s death in 1607, rather than a daughter of theirs marrying. Intriguingly, this Thomas Sotheby was named as an executor of John Hansby’s will, and he also seems to have been a very young beneficiary of Thomas Hawtcliffe’s will, apparently receiving 40 shillings at the probate in 1553. His death recorded in 1624 at New Malton also seems to suggest that he moved into Audree Hansby’s house, possibly having ceded the family house at Birdsall to his son-and-heir Robert and his family. Mysteriously, a mortgage from his great-great-grandson Thomas Sotheby is recorded to Michael Hansby (Audrey's great-grandson) in 1719 - a century later.

* * * * *

Ralph (3) Hansby’s marriage to Isabel Daniel is confidently recorded at September 16^th, 1565, at Bishop Burton. Ralph is almost certainly past the age of 21 at this stage, and has therefore received his generous bequest from his uncle Thomas Hawtcliffe. A lease of land is assigned to the newlyweds for 60 pounds in 1567 in Littlethorpe, near modern day Hayton. This lease does not appear to have specifically come from uncle Thomas’ bequest, but the largesse from his rich uncle has almost certainly kindled the impressive business career of Ralph (3) Hansby.

Ralph (3) and Isabel’s first daughter Julyan was born on September 6^th, 1568, their second daughter Catherine in September 1572, then Elizabeth and Isabel in the years after that.

Over the ensuing years Ralph (3) became a very substantial property owner in this district and there are many references to properties and leases and charitable bequests in his name. [The location of Hansby House, a former ‘hospital’ and almshouse, is still marked at the corner of Church Side in Bishop Burton.] On October 10^th 1582, the Hansby coat of arms is granted to him by William Flower, Norroy (The Queen’s Officer of Arms of the North) - “azure, three sheldrakes, closes argent, chief ermine. Crest: a pheon or". At this time, the Hansby pedigree appears in Flower's Visitation of 1584.

It would seem that all of their daughters married relatively young - family trees and pedigrees are well recorded by this time by the various Visitations, and all the daughters marry into prominent local families.

The eldest Julyan marries Sir John Yorke of Gowthwaite, but the couple do not have any children. The lives of Sir John Yorke and his wife are detailed in a book ‘Sir John Yorke of Nidderdale.’ by Christopher Howard, published Sheen and Ward, 1939. They remain conspicuously Catholic, and are imprisoned for a time for staging a Catholic play at Gowthwaite Hall in 1609. [Interestingly, these events have been recreated in a present-day stage play titled “Gouthwaite Hall” by Christine and Nevin Ward, which was performed at the local Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society.]

The second daughter Catherine marries Sir George Wandesforde, son of Sir Christopher Wandesforde and Elizabeth Bowes, in August 1591. They will have four children; the eldest of these is Christopher, born 24 Sept 1592. This Christopher Wandesforde goes on to become Lord Deputy of Ireland, and the family moves to Castlecomer in county Kilkenny, which becomes the seat for the family. All of the family’s records were moved here and kept, and represent a magnificent archive of the family’s history. In 1904, these were collated into a book: “Story of the family of Wandesforde of Kirklington and Castlecomer” ed. H.B. McCall, which is an intriguing account of the family’s affairs. It makes reference to the Hansby family at the time of Catherine’s marriage, and some original documents by the hand of Ralph (3) are held in their manuscript collection. . [The English records from this collection have now been rehoused at the North Yorkshire Archive at Northallerton.] I shall make further discussion later in this chapter regarding issues arising from this work, which I refer to hereafter as the ‘Wandesforde History’. It would seem that Catherine dies around 1597, and that her financially intemperate husband is more-or-less bankrupt at this point. He remarries a Mary Pamplyn (the sister of his brother William’s wife Margaret Pamplyn) and they have a further two children - William, in 1605, and Margaret. He is knighted by James I in 1607. Sir George Wandesforde then dies in 1612, and it would seem that grandpa Ralph (3) takes steps to care for his now-orphaned grandchildren. In spite of these vicissitudes, the descendants of Christopher Wandesforde can be followed through to the Queen Mother, who is, in a further twist of fate, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

The third daughter Elizabeth marries Michael Warton, who became High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1616, and was knighted in 1640. They have one son, Michael Warton, born in 1593, but Elizabeth dies in 1596. It would seem the heir is then raised by his father. Not until 1619 does the father re-marry - his second wife is Evereld Maltby, a widow with three adolescent daughters. The eldest of these is Catherine, and the following year, Catherine Maltby marries the younger Michael Warton - her step-brother. This unusual union yields nine children; the eldest is, unsurprisingly, also named Michael Warton, and all the others seem also to take family names from either side. Michael (b. 1593) goes on to become an MP for Beverley in 1640, and his death is notably recorded in 1645: ‘slain by a cannon bullet at the siege of Scarborough Castle, a Royalist garrison.’ He predeceases his father, who dies in 1655.

The final daughter Isabel married Sir William Hildyard (spelled also as Hildiard and Hildierd), and they had 3 daughters Ann, Elizabeth and Mary.

Ralph (3)’s wife Isabel dies in 1597, and so around this time, he has lost his wife as well as two of his daughters.

* * * * *

The great dilemma for Ralph of Beverley is that he has no male heir. Ordinarily, all his wealth would pass to his sons, but his daughters and their husbands end up squabbling over their would-be inheritance. It is this notion of daughters campaigning for their father’s attention and favour where the comparison to the character of King Lear is drawn. In “Shakespeare’s Tragic Justice” by Charles Jasper Sisson (published London Methuen 1963), p.80, the following is recorded:

“What we cannot do, is to deny the evidence of recorded contemporary events that such actions, not by kings certainly, but by men of great estate, were of frequent occurrence in Shakespeare’s time. Some bear unexpected resemblances to the story of Lear as Shakespeare tells it. There was, for example, the example of the Yorkshireman Ralph Hansby, who divided his great estates among his three (sic) daughters upon their marriage. He had no son, and he abdicated his greatness to continue it only in the advancement of his daughters. Two of them were ungrateful, but the third was his Cordelia, who married Sir John York. The career of Lady Julian Yorke, a steadfast, loyal, obstinate soul, may be followed in state records up to her long imprisonment by King James for recusancy.”

This detailed reference relates unambiguously to Ralph of Beverley. While Ralph Hansby had four daughters who married not three, the marriage of Julyan Hansby to Sir John Yorke is accurately recorded. Sadly, Sisson does not provide a reference for this material - he reports in a footnote that it is “unpublished.” I have located no other commentaries that make the same reference to Ralph of Beverley as a source for the character of King Lear. Sisson was not a widely known Shakespearean commentator, and he is not widely quoted in other commentaries. How he specifically came across material pertaining to Ralph Hansby, in state records or elsewhere, and then made a link to Shakespeare’s character of King Lear is unclear, as I have not yet located any material that draws this inference anywhere else. However, further investigation reveals that this observation by Sisson may indeed have some basis.

Upon reading the text of King Lear, it is this author’s opinion that beyond the abovementioned reference to a man dividing his favour between his daughters, there is no other aspect of the character or story of King Lear that necessarily bears any specific similarity to the life or person of Ralph of Beverley, and that if Shakespeare truly drew from contemporary knowledge of the affairs of Ralph Hansby for the character of King Lear, then this was the extent of it. The question would still remain as to how William Shakespeare might have come to know of the Yorkshireman Ralph Hansby. The link possibly lies in Gray’s Inn.

Gray’s Inn was one of four ‘Inns of Court’ in London in Elizabethan times. These may be essentially regarded as barrister’s clubs - they held the examinations for barristers, and decided who would be admitted to the bar. Gray’s Inn, in particular, was rather more than this, however - it was as much a high society club as a lawyer’s club. Many of its members were lawyers who were not barristers, and there were some high society members who were not lawyers at all. Ralph of Beverley was not admitted to the bar, and it is not clear whether he was officially a lawyer, or simply well-versed in legal process by way of his extensive business dealings. It would seem that Ralph of Beverley dealt directly with Queen Elizabeth I in regard to some of his land holdings, and possibly he held some favour with her, but although he received his Coat of Arms in 1582, he was never knighted.

Records at Gray’s Inn confirm that Ralph Hansby of Bishop Burton, Yorkshire was admitted to Gray’s Inn on March 10, 1601. This was not long after the death of his wife Isabel, and one wonders whether he was kicking up his heels at this time and mixing with London society, or perhaps sharpening his legal skills to deal with the various claims on his fortune. It seems clear that he spent a significant part of his time in London as a widower.

It is elsewhere clear that the playwright of the age William Shakespeare was also making his mark in London in the first years of the seventeenth century, and it is recorded that on at least one occasion Shakespeare and his players actually performed at Gray’s Inn in this time. King Lear was first played around 1608-10, certainly coincident with the time that Ralph Hansby might have been ‘in the news’ for his conflicts with his daughters. One can therefore only speculate whether there may have been any direct personal relationship between Ralph Hansby and William Shakespeare which might have led to the reference, or whether they were simply moving in the same circles, and that Ralph’s story was conspicuous enough at the time for Shakespeare’s theatre-goers to recognize the reference.

In fairness, though, this reference by Sisson is the only contemporary analysis of Shakespeare that I can identify that seems to cite Ralph Hansby in this fashion. How exactly the author has identified the Ralph Hansby material, and then drawn a link to the character of King Lear is unclear, and may indeed reflect pure speculation on his part.

* * * * *

The will of Ralph Hansby of Beverley is a wonderful old document. It is written on a single large sheet of parchment approximately 3’x2’ with quill pens of differing sizes. The top line is the thickest, and is embellished with copious artistic flourishes and doodlings. Various points are indicated with medium script, and the majority is with a fine quill. It is beautifully written, and quite easily readable to the modern eye.

Much as this author might wish or imagine that Ralph fashioned this will by his own hand, it is likely that the documents held at Hull are contemporaneous copies transcribed from the originals, and provided either to the executors, or to a challenger to the will, possibly William Hildyard and Isabella. The main will dated 1616, with a codicil dated February 1618, provide corollary to the various relationships otherwise identified in the family tree, and they are possibly the most pivotal documents in confirming these relationships.

I include the text in full, not only for its historical value, but for the delightful idiosyncratic spellings of the age, and for the unmistakable similarity to any modern will. I have added line numbers to locate references. Underlined are a small number of words of which I am not confident of the translation; xx’s at the end of lines close blank spaces.

The text of the Will provides a useful basis for discussing various aspects of Ralph’s life and relationships, and a detailed discussion follows the text of the Will.

The Last Will and Testament of Ralph Hansby of Beverley.

In the name of god. Amen. The Nyneth day of Julie in the fowertenth yeare of the Reigne

of Soveraigne Lord James by the Grace of God Kinge of England, Franse and Ireland, Defendor of the faith Er: and of Scotland the nyne and fortieth. I Ralph Hansbie of Grayes Inne within the County of Middlesex Esq being god be praysed of good and xx

perfit remembrance do make my last will and testament in maner and forme following. First I give and bequeath my Soule to god Almighty my Saviour and Redemer, through whose merits and passions I verily and fully believe to be saved. And do give

my body to the Earth to be buried in South-burton Church as neare as conveniently may be to my late wife Isabell Hansby deceased if it so please god I dy in Yorkshire. And if it please god I dy in London then to be buried in St. Clements Church

as neare as conveniently may be to the place where Thomas Hautcliffe my uncle late of Grimthorpe in the County of York deceased was buried as appeareth by a blew stone in the said Church wherein is mentoned an inscription of his name xxx

and tyme of his death. And by these present I do fully absolutely and clearly revoake renounce frustrate and utterly make void to all intents constructions and purposes all former wills and testaments whatsoever heretofore by me made. And whereas

by my deed Indented bearing date the fifteenth day of August in the year of our Lord god One thousand Six Hundreth and in the two and fortieth year of the Reigne of our late Soveraigne Lady Queen Elizabeth and by me subscribed sealed and delivered in the

presence of three credible and substantiall witnesses I have already published and declared and by the same deed particularly signified to Sir Willm Ingleby knight and John Hansbie my brother lately deceased my purpose and intention to frustrate and make voide

all the guift grant and estate by me made to Sir Willm Ingleby knight by the name of William Ingleby Esquire, Thomas Doweman Esquire, deceased, William Hildierd of the Citty of York Esquire deceased; William Daniell xx

Esquire deceased and John Hansby my brother lately deceased, in and by one writing Indented made between me the said Ralph Hansbie on the one party and the said Sir William Ingleby by the name of William Ingleby Esquire xx

Thomas Doweman, Willm Hildierd, William Daniell and John Hansbie on the other party. And all estate and estates, deeds and deeds of gift, grants and assurances whatsoever before the date of these present by me made, wherein x

William Hildierd aforesaid is named either by himselfe or wherein he with others is named by what name soever concerning the bestowing giving or disposing of any of my possessions, lands tenements and hereditaments whatsoever or of any of

my leases, goods Chattels plate household stuffs Corne or Cattells or any other goods estate deed or deeds and writings whatsoever. Now for the further declaration and manifestation of my said purpose and intention therein, I do by these present fully clearly and xxx

absolutely frustrate and make void and declare and publish to be frustrate and void to all intents and purposes all and every the same guifts grants estaits assurances, deed or deeds or writings whatsoever heretofore by me made wherein the said Willm Hildierd is named

either by himselfe or with any other concerning the giving or disposing of any of my said possessions lands tenements or hereditaments or of any of my leases goods or Chattells or of other mine estate whatsoever. And as concerning the disposition of those goods and

Chattells wch the Lord of his great mercy hath bestowed upon me. First I give to the poore of Bishopburton within the said county of York twenty pounds of lawfull English mony to be distributed amongst them the said poore by mine executor hereafter xxx

named, upon the day of my funeral if it please god I dy in Yorkshire, And if I dy els-where the same to be distributed amongst them within three months next after my decease. And if I dy elsewhere than in Yorkshire then I give also tenne pounds to

be distributed on the day of my funerall amongst the poore of that parish where I shall be buried. Item I give to the repair of Bishopburton Church five pounds. To the poore in Lairgate in Beverley fourty shillings. To the rest of the poore in Beverley

towne three pounds. To the mending of the high wayes in Beverley westward towards Bishopburton three poundes. Towards the amendment of the high wayes betwene Hulbridge and Tyckton, where most need is other three pounds. And five pounds

towards the repairing of Kexby Lane. All which said severall Summs my will and mind is shalbe paid within one yeare next after my death. Item I give to my grandchilde Anne Wandesford the full Sume of One thousand marks of lawfull English

money, which, my will and minde is shall, within three years’ next after my decease be by my Executor with the consent and allowance of my Supervisors or the Survivors or Survivor of them put forth and imployed to and for the use and benefit

of the said Anne Wandesford upon good security for repaymt thereof, and not above seaven pounds in the hundred to be taken for the lone and forbearance thereof for one yeare. And in any case speciall care to be taken for good security for the same. And x

the same Sum of one thousand marks, with the increase and profit thereof to be paid to the said Anne Wandesford within forty dayes next after her day of marriage or age of one and twenty yeares, which shall first happen, and after reasonable request

in that behalfe made. Item I give to my grandchildren John Wandesford, Michael Wandesford, and William Wandesford to each of them one hundred marks wch my will is shall by mine executor with the like allowance and concern

of my … (lost in fold)… within three yeares next after my decease upon good security for repayment thereof. And I will that there be not taken for the lone

or forbearance thereof above the rate of seaven pounds for one hundred for one year and aspeciall care to be taken for good and safe security. And when they shall severally accomplish the age of twenty and five yeares, then my will and minde x

is that their said severall portions with the increase and profit thereof shalbe severally paid unto them within forty days next after reasonable request in that behalfe made. And if the said John, Michael and William Wandesford or any

of them shall happen to dy, before they or any of them shall severally accomplish the said age of twenty and five yeares, then I will that the part and portion of the said partye or partyes so deceasing together with the increase thereof shalbe

and remayne unto the said Anne Wandesford. Also I give to the said John Wandesford, Michael Wandesford and William Wandesford to each of them ten pounds to be paid within six months next after my decease therewith to provide them bookes and

other necessaries. Also I give to my grandchildren Anne Hildierd and Elizabeth Hildierd and Mary Hildierd to each of them fower hundreth pounds to be paid unto them within three yeares after my decease. Item I give to my daughter xx

Dame Isabell Hildierd my Coatch together with my Coatch-horses and all furniture therunto belonging. And I will that every of the foresaid sums of mony before herein given or bequeathed by me to any of my grandchildren shall be paid

afor in the South porch of the parish Church of Bishopburton aforesaid. Also I give and bequeath to my loving Cosin Thomas Hungate of Bulmer within the said county of York the full sum of fower hundreth pounds of lawfull

mony of England to be paid within three yeares next after my decease, at or in the South-porch of the parish Church of Bishop-burton aforesaid. Also I give and bequeath unto my servants John Clarke and Margret his wife

and to the survivor of them, the full sum of three hundreth pounds of lawfull mony of England to be paid unto them or the survivor of them within one year next after my decease at or in the Comon Dyning hall of Grayes Inne aforesaid. And

I give unto my Cosins William Hansbie and Ralph Hansbie sonns of my brother Edward Hansbie deceased either of them fifty pounds to be paid within one year next after my decease. Item I give to my Cosin Isabell Richardson x

twenty pounds. To the children of my Cosin Katherine Conyers deceased twenty pounds to be equally divided amongst them. To my Cosins Audree Hogge, Maud Smith, John Constable, Francis Constable, Richard Leven the younger, Richard Langley, Anne xx

Hodgson, Maud Bayne, and Margret Longley, to every of them three pounds of lawfull English mony. To Ralph Constable twenty pounds, To Beatrice the wife of my Cosin Herbert Davie of York fifty pounds. To my nephew Thomas xx

Hansbie fifty pounds. To the threshhers at Bishopburton Parsonage amongst them ten shillings. To my sister Audree Hansbie twenty shillings. Item I give to Ralph Briggs my old servant twenty pounds of lawfull money of England. All and every

the said sums of mony for which no tyme of payment is before herein particularly lymitted to be paid within twelve months next after my decease. Item I will and devise all my lease interest estait and tearme of yeares of and in the Crofts in Beverley x

comonly called St. Hollies Crofts unto my daughter Dame Julian Yorke and to my grandchilde Christopher Wandesford to be equally divided betwene them. Item I will and bequeath to and amongst all my servants (John Clarke and Margret his wife

only excepted) which shall dwell with me at the time of my decease equally to be divided amongst them the full sum of twenty pounds, the same to be paid within twenty dayes next after my decease. Also I do give and bequeath unto Raphe xxx

Hansbie my nephew, sonne and heire of my late brother John Hansby deceased whom I make my sole executor of this my last will and testamt. All my mony, plate jewells, household stuffe goods Chattells Leases and other my Estate whatsoever, not xx

otherwise before in these presents given or bequeathed, upon Conditon that he the said Raphe Hansbie my nephew within fowerscore days next after my death upon reasonable request in that behalfe made become bound to Thomas Sothebie of Birdsall at

Bridesall within the County of York Esquire Marmaduke Constable of Kexby within the same county Esq and to the said Thomas Hungate gen or to the survivors or survivor of them, or to the executors and administrators of the survivor of them, in

and by one writing obligatory in the nature of a Statute Staple in the full sum of Ten thousand pounds with a defeazance thereupon to be made that he the said Raphe Hansby my nephew his heirs executors or administrators shall well and truly satisfie and pay

according to the purport and true meaning of this my last will and testament all and singular the guifts legacies and bequests given or bequeathed by me unto any of my grandchildren or to the said Thomas Hungaite or to John Clarke and Margret his wife. And

I do will and require my said Executor that he will not after my decease give or bestow any blacke cloth or other mourning apparrell but shall only provide for my burial in Decent and comly maner without pompe or show, with that respect to the xx

poore which I have Before set downe in this my last will. And I do make the said Thomas Sothebie and Marmaduke Constable Esquires and Thomas Hungaite gent supervisors of this my last will and testament requiring them according

to my speciall trust and confidence reposed in them to see this my last will and testament in all points to be performed according to my true intent and meaning therein declared. And I do give to the said Thomas Sotheby and Marmaduke Constable to each

of them twenty pounds to buy them getonys withall for their pains to be taken therein. Item I do give unto the said Raphe Hansbie myne executor all my copiehold lands and tenements wheresoever within this Realme of England, to have

and to hold to him his heirs and assignes forever. In witnes whereof I have hereunto set my hand, seale, and do publish this my last will and testament the day and yeare first abovewritten. 1616. Raphe Hansbie. Signed sealed and

published in the presence of. Edw Masley, Walt. Daniell. John Wright. Rowland Brograve. J Holman. Roger Richardson. Wil Hookeridge. Tho. Brograve Robert Moore. John Clarke.

* * * * *

Memorandum that this xxiii th of February 1618. My xx

further will and pleasure is that this Codicill shalbe annexed to this my last will and testament, before written and subscribed with my owne hand bearing Date the Nyneth day of xx

Julie in the xiiii th yeare of his ma’ties Reigne that now is, and to stand as a part of my last will and testament. And whereas by the said will I have given all my copiehold lands

within the Realme of England to Ralph Hansby therein named my Executor, now my will is that my copie hold lands in Southburton ats Bishop-burton vizt all my capitall mesuage

and fine exegauge of land arrable, and certaine land called outfall Land Crofts with all and singular their appurtents in Southburton ats Bishop-burton aforesaid shalbe and xxx

remayne to the use of my servant Ralph Briggs and his sonne John Briggs and their assignes for tearme of their Lives naturall Propriety, and the said Ralph Briggs to

have it first for his life, wch lands are passed by surrender to Sir Willm Gee knight, Lord of the said Manor by copie, bearing date the second of May in the fowerth xx

year of his ma’ties reigne that now is, to such uses as shalbe expressed in my last will, wch my mynde and will is to these uses before set downe in this Codicill. And after x

their decease, to the right heires of me the said Ralph Hansby for ever. Item I further give and bequeath to my daughter Dame Isabell Hildierd wife to Sir Willm xx

Hildierd and her heirs for ever my woods at Bishopwilton and my pastures there with their appurtents called the mountaines , which I bought of her ma’tie. Item I x

give to John Wilson my servant five pounds in money. Item I give to Thomas Foster and John Mayson my servants ether of them five pounds. Item I give to x

Margret my servant wife of John Clarke the bed I lye in with all the furniture also one brasse pott and one gowne lyned with brown furre. Item I give to my

grandchilde Anne Hildierd all my plate. Item I give to my Cosin Mr Francis Cobb my chaize that runns upon wheeles. Item I give to Honour Surte my xxxx

servant iii L vi s viii d, and to Thomas Thorpe my footman iii L vi s viii d, and to the kitchen boy called Thomas Walker xl s. And to Aennet Cowsden iii L vi s viii d. Item to

John

Clarke my servant one bay mare with a bald face. Item I give to Thomas Holter more one gray nagge called preasto. Item I give more to my servant John Mason

the suit of cloths I weare. Item more to John Wilson one old gowne. Item to John Clarke my servant more 6 pewther dishes. And my minde is that if god move

me at any tyme hereafter to revoke this will, Codicill and otherwise to dispose of any thing here given, that then the guifts herein given, not shalbe otherwise disposed of x

shalbe void, and to stand as I shall after this give the same. I further give to John Levens xl s. Item more I give to Julian the wife of Ralph Briggs v L (5 pounds) and

one great brasse pott. Item I give to John Wilsons wife xx s. Item to Leonard Robinson iii L. And I do ratifie and confirme this additon or Codicill written this xxx

xxxiii th of February, 1618 as part of my former will written the nyneth of Julie aforesaid, which together I do publish and deliver as my last will and testament. In

witnes whereof I have subscribed my hand the said xxiii th of February In the pnce of Laurence Stephenson Robert Johnson. Willm Moore and Thomas Lacy Ser.

Ralph Hansbie.

* * * * *

This extraordinarily detailed, and indeed verbose document, is probably the single best source of contemporaneous information clarifying and confirming Hansby relationships at the time of Ralph’s death, which seems to have occurred in 1619. I shall now discuss, point by point, some of the relationships illustrated in this document, using line numbers as references.

Line 5. His ‘uncle Thomas Hautcliffe.’ The recent discovery of Thomas Hawtcliffe’s will gives a fascinating insight into the likely scenario that a bequest from a rich heirless uncle was the catalyst for the stellar career of Ralph (3) Hansby. In turn, Ralph (3)’s will tells us that the Yorkshireman Thomas Hawtcliffe was finally buried in St. Clement’s Church in London, presumably a reward for his service to the Church of England. That Ralph (3) still contemplates interrment next to his uncle more than sixty years after his death is perhaps testimony to the esteem in which he held his late uncle.

8. Sir William Ingleby: Sir John Yorke’s mother is recorded as Elizabeth Ingleby, and Sir William Ingleby is her eldest brother. He would be the heir to the Ingilby castle at Ripley, but in spite of having two wives, his death is recorded in January 1618, without an heir. Poetically, his estate also passes to his nephew, the son of his younger brother, who also happens to share his uncle’s name… One wonders if the gentler tone of Ralph’s memorandum dated February 1618, is in response to this event.

9. Thomas Doweman (Dowman) was another nephew of Thomas Hawtcliff, and the main executor of his will, and he held Ralph’s bequest on trust until he attained the age of 21.

“William Hildierd of the Citty of York Esquire deceased” - William Hildierd the husband of Ralph’s daughter Isabel, is recorded as dying on October 6^th, 1632, and so one must infer that Ralph also had a dispute with William’s father, also named William. A pedigree in Dugdale’s visitation suggests he was a Recorder in York in 1581-2, and an MP in 1586, and that he died in August 1608.

William Daniell is presumed Ralph’s late wife’s brother, whose death is recorded at August 17^th, 1600 at St. Crux, York, which curiously is only two days after the written deed referred to in the will. This William Daniel’s second son is named Ingleby Daniel, and Ingleby’s second son is the Yorkshire poet George Daniel. This George Daniel’s sister Catherine Daniel married John Yorke, the nephew of Julyan Hansby’s husband Sir John Yorke….

It may already be evident, but Ralph (3) has outlived nearly everybody - his wife, two of his daughters, one of his sons-in-law, all of his siblings, and many of his friends, and indeed, enemies. In short, he is running out of people to give things to…

10. Ralph (3)’s brother John died in 1607, leaving a modest estate. In John’s will, he specifically leaves his son Ralph (4) to the care of his uncle.

12. The lingering venom towards Isabel’s husband William Hildierd is clear. It would appear Sir William continued to contest this will after Ralph (3)’s death. It is interesting to note that Sir William Hildyard had three daughters but no male heir, and so seems to have inherited the same dilemma as his father-in-law.

20-29. The Wandesfordes. As mentioned earlier, their family history is intricately recorded in the ‘Wandesforde History’, and so I will endeavour not to recapitulate this work. I will seek only to address certain points it raises in relation to the Hansby history.

Catherine Hansby married George Wandesforde in 1591; he was heir to the family manor at Kirklington. By their biographer’s account, this George lacked the business and personal acumen possessed by his father Sir Christopher, and eventually by his son Christopher. Around the time of Catherine’s death in 1597, George writes his own will, in which he leaves his affairs entirely in the hands of his younger brother William, to whom he is substantially in debt. George further indicates he intends imminently to sail to Spain with the Earl of Essex, in obvious disregard of his four young children now motherless. It is unclear whether he makes this journey or not, but by 1605, he has married Mary Pamplyn, the sister of his brother William’s wife Margaret Pamplyn. George and Mary have two further children, curiously also named William and Margaret for their uncle and aunt. It should be noted here, then, that William Wandesforde, whom Ralph describes as one of his grandchildren, is not the son of Catherine, but is a ‘step-grandson.’ No mention seems to be made of Margaret Wandesforde in the will.

Sir George Wandesforde is recorded as dying in September 1612, aged 40, and so he, too, has predeceased Ralph. As noted, Ralph’s four grandchildren are now orphans, and their father has essentially bankrupted their estate. While the Hansbys were prominent in the ‘Wandesforde History’ at the time of George and Catherine’s marriage, they more-or-less ‘disappear’ until after George’s death. There is no direct record of Catherine’s death in the ‘Wandesforde History.’ The will of George Wandesforde proven in 1612 is the same one he wrote in 1597, and so there has been no improvement in his personal fortunes since that time - even in spite of his knighthood from King James in 1607. Although heir-apparent Christopher is nearly 20 years old at his father’s death, he is still a ‘minor’ until he turns 21, and so under a standard law of the time, the estate of a minor defaults to the Crown - he becomes a ‘ward’ - and the Crown may choose to ‘marry off’ the ward to whomever the Crown pleases. [Of interest, the Wandesforde History records that the father died whilst the heir was still a minor in six consecutive generations of Wandesfordes, including Sir Christopher, Sir George, and Christopher.] In the ‘Wandesforde History’, it is recorded that Ralph Hansby paid £900 in November 1612 to ‘buy’ the wardship of his grandson Christopher Wandesforde. Further, in 1613, the widow Mary Pamplyn renounces her share of the estate to her step-son Christopher Wandesforde.

On September 19^th, 1614, Christopher Wandesforde marries Alice Osborne - obviously difficult to tell if this was a “love match,” or whether it was set up by doting grandpa Ralph. Either way, the couple had six children, of whom the eventual heir Christopher would be counted amongst the antecedents of the present Queen. As mentioned, Ralph’s grandson Christopher would restore the fortunes of the Wandesforde family, eventually becoming Lord Deputy of Ireland, and retaining the manors at Kirklington and Castlecomer.

Anne Wandesforde is the only daughter of Ralph’s daughter Catherine, and presumably Ralph’s eldest and most favoured granddaughter. In 1621, she marries Mauger Norton, from another prominent local family. Their daughter Mary will go on to marry John Yorke, the grand-nephew of Sir John Yorke of Gowthwaite…

Conspicuous at this point is the absence of any mention of the name Warton. In documents recorded in the Wandesforde History, Ralph mentions ‘his grandson Michael Warton’, at exactly the time his will was written, but this grandson is not mentioned at all in his will. Clearly Michael’s father is still alive, and the son would be heir to his estate, but in view of the token amounts given to so many others by Ralph, surely his grandson might receive something?

30-31. Ralph seems to remain in some way on good terms with his daughter Isabel and her 3 daughters in spite of the falling out with Sir William Hildyard. Of note is Ralph’s bequest to Isabel of ‘his woods at Bishop Wilton..’ - Sir William’s memorial is at St. Edith’s, Bishop Wilton, as are the memorials of his two elder daughters and their families. Sir William freely declares his wife as the daughter and coheir of Ralph Hansby, and so this bequest has still set up the Hildyard heirs for generations in spite of previous enmity.

Sir William Hildyard Memorial
At St. Edith's in Bishop Wilton
Mentioning Ralph Hansby
Dated 1632
Photo Contributed by David Morley
Click on photo for larger image.

32. His ‘loving Cosin Thomas Hungate’ is almost certainly the son of Isabella and Anthony Hungate, as mentioned above, and therefore a nephew. He is the subject of the lawsuit to which Thomas Hawtcliffe’s will is connected.

34. That Ralph stipulates these two servants be paid in the dining hall at Gray’s Inn seems to suggest they are based in London, and therefore that he may have had a house in London as well as in Bishop Burton.

35. Edward Hansby’s death is recorded at March 1585. William and Ralph are his two younger sons, and so the fates of the elder children - two sons and a daughter, are unclear. Their father died leaving a young family, but as Edward chose a career as a Protestant, he may well have been out of favour with the rest of his Catholic family. Ralph (3)’s inconsistencies in the use of relationship terms makes assigning relationships difficult throughout the will - clearly William and Ralph are his nephews.

36-37. Richard Langley and Margaret Longley are probably Ralph’s sister Agnes’s grandchildren. Beatrice is John (3)’s daughter, recorded as marrying Herbert Davy in 1606. Thomas Hansby is John (3)’s son. He may have living descendants.

38. “To my sister Audree Hansbie twenty shillings.” This is almost certainly the widow of Ralph’s brother John. As indicated earlier, there is a marriage recorded between Thomas Sotheby and Audree Hansbie in November 1619, and it is strongly suspected that this marriage is between Audree Hansby the widow of John Hansby and Thomas Sotheby of Birdsall, who is also the supervisor of this will mentioned at line 43.

As already observed, there is a high degree of intermarrying between the local families of this area. Thomas Sotheby is noted as being the son of Robert Sotheby of Birdsall and Grace Vavasour, who had nine children in total. After Grace’s death in 1559, Robert Sotheby married Elizabeth Smethley, the widow of William Daniel of Beswick, father of Isabel Daniel (Ralph (3)’ wife). At William Daniel’s death in 1557, he and Elizabeth had six children, and so the union of Robert Sotheby and Elizabeth Smethley would appear to have brought together up to fifteen children at the manor house at Birdsall. Further, Thomas Sotheby’s sister Agnes becomes the wife of the younger William Daniel above, and so we find another marriage between a step-brother and step-sister.

40. ‘St. Hollies’ Crofts’. These are elsewhere referred to as Molescroft, and it would seem they were sold off not long after Ralph’s passing. The shared title between Julyan Hansby and Christopher Wandesforde was presumably unworkable. Sir John and Lady Julyan Yorke were quite comfortable at Gowthwaite Hall, and had no children, so it is perhaps not surprising that they did not figure prominently in Ralph’s will. Molescroft is now a residential area to the north of Beverley.

* * * * *

Vexingly, the Wandesforde History contains a deed (number 148 in their calendar of documents) apparently written by Ralph (3), which states the following:

“He (Ralph the elder) made diverse deeds… wherein he was induced by the wickedness of Ralph Hansby the younger, his nephew, whom he trusted to have such deeds drawn by competent advice, but who had thought fit to have inserted in each deed a clause whereby the estate would fall not as intended, but to the said Ralph Hansby the younger himself…”

This deed seems to make reference to Ralph (3)’s will above. As this will above is the proven will, and seems still to convey the lion’s share of Ralph (3)’s estate to his nephew, as well as appointing him executor, it would seem that if such a document were discovered to be fraudulent or tampered with by Ralph the elder whilst he was still alive, that he would destroy the document and replace it. One might also assume that such a breach of trust would see Ralph the younger excised from the will, and yet this is clearly not the case. One can only wonder whether somehow the other family members, especially the Wandesfordes, had gotten wind of Ralph’s intention to bequeath his fortune to his nephew, and Ralph has had to douse the speculation in some fashion, even if by some ‘white-lying’.

Even more sensationally, the book ‘History of Richmondshire’ by Thomas Dunham Whitaker, published in 1823, contains the following (vol. 2, p.154):

“Sir Robert Hansby (sic) determined to divide up (his estate) among his four daughters, reserving £100 per annum for Ralph Hansby, a nephew whom he had brought up. The uncle was now nearly blind, and the nephew… procured the foul copy of a deed of settlement, which was read to the old man and approved… the young man substituted an absolute conveyance to himself in the place of the intended settlement… this bad man threatened to turn his uncle out of his own house… the poor knight withdrew to the houses of his daughters…”

This reference also seems to draw from material derived from the house of Wandesforde, and the insinuations that the elder Ralph was nearly blind, and that the younger Ralph evicted him from his own home seem to be rather fantastical embellishments to the Wandesforde version of history.

It is this author’s opinion that Ralph Hansby of Beverley would not be so ill-astute as to allow his nephew to create fraudulent documents in his name. That the proven will of Ralph Hansby of Beverley directs that the majority of his estate fall to his nephew indicates that this was his intention. I can only presume that the documents held in the Wandesforde collection were used as some form of challenge to the will, presumably after Ralph (3)’s death. Quite possibly the Wandesfordes were expecting that Ralph might bequeathe his fortune to Christopher, his eldest grandson, even though he did not carry the Hansby name.

Ralph (3)’s death was presumably not long after the date of the codicil in 1618. The import of his will remains the transfer of the majority of his lands and assets to his nephew Ralph, whom he makes his executor. One might presume this will was kept secret from other family members until after Ralph (3)’s death, and one can only imagine the surprise at the proving of the will. Or perhaps not - after all the campaigns for munificence from his daughters, their husbands, and possibly his grandchildren, perhaps Ralph (3) bequeathing his fortune to his nephew was inevitable, either in accordance with contemporary practice of bequeathing assets to male lineage family members where they existed, or as a final posthumous ‘poke in the eye’ from an old man who was weary of his squabbling family. One also cannot fail to notice the precedent of uncle Thomas Hawtcliffe, whose bequest to his young nephew Ralph Hansby was likely the seed for the latter’s great success. Surely the now ‘heirless’ uncle Ralph (3) might wish to carry forward the tradition by nurturing his Hansby nephew? Either way, law suits quickly ensued between the young Ralph (4) as executor, and his disenfranchised cousins, following the proving of the will.

We are led then to the final question of what was the nature of the relationship between uncle and nephew in the early years of the seventeenth century. One certainly infers that the young Ralph (4) Hansby, as the heir apparent to the Hansby name, is taken under his namesake uncle’s wing early, and introduced to the big league in London society. A succession plan may well have long been in train for the protégé nephew Ralph to take the reins for the Hansby family, with its culmination being the transfer of all the eggs into the basket of the young Ralph at the elder one’s passing. Indeed, by 1587, the year of Ralph (4)’s birth, Ralph (3) had already had all his daughters, and was considerably well off. That Ralph (3)’s brother John named his first-born son Ralph and not John may well have been the first deliberate step in this process. This leads us to the next chapter of the Hansby history - Tick Hill Castle.

3. Sir Ralph (4) Hansby of Tick Hill. “An obscure hanger-on to the skirts of pages and bedchambermen?” c. 1610-1650.

“The Story of Lord Bacon’s Life” is a detailed biography of the life of the great Sir Francis Bacon, written by W. Hepworth Dixon in 1862. In 1618, Bacon had ‘got the Seals’ to become Lord Chancellor to King James I. Like many great men, Bacon’s path to attaining this high post had been chequered, and he had made powerful enemies along the way, who now sought to unseat him. On page 372 of the biography, the following appears:

“Seeking fresh accusers in the kennels and the jails, among those underlings of the royal household whom a word from Buckingham (The Duke of Buckingham - George Villiers, James I’s right-hand man) might blast, they found two, Ralph Hansby and Sir George Reynell, who might be of use to them…. Hansby, Surveyor of the Stables, an obscure hanger-on to the skirts of pages and bedchambermen, had by thrift and cunning grown rich. Soon after Bacon got the Seals, he (Hansby) filed a bill in Chancery on the disputed title to an estate, and, the court having pronounced a judgment in his favour, he paid to Tobie Mathews, son of the Archbishop of York and the proper officer of court, his fee. That fee was now to make Hansby’s fortune… Hansby not only obtained from the Crown, with others, a grant of the several royal and lucrative offices of Constable and Porter of Nottingham Castle, and those of Steward and Guardian of Sherwood Forest, but was introduced by his new patrons to the King, and to add dignity to virtue, was dubbed Sir Ralph.”

It would appear that the bill filed in Chancery pertained to Ralph (4)’s inheritance from his uncle. According to Dixon, the fee paid to the agent of the court was proper. [Perhaps predictably, the Wandesforde History gives the alternate account - it reports that Ralph (4) had indeed paid a five hundred pound bribe to Bacon, and Wandesforde was then propositioned by Bacon’s men to ‘up the offer.’ Wandesforde declined, and so the decision went to Hansby.] Bacon’s enemies sought to make the case that Bacon was in the habit of accepting fees from litigants pendente lite - essentially as bribes to come to a certain finding. It would seem that Ralph (4) Hansby had been a willing participant in the unseating of Francis Bacon as Lord Chancellor, presumably testifying that he paid the 500 pound fee as a bribe to receive a favourable hearing, and in return for this, received favours from Bacon’s enemies. It is elsewhere recorded that “Ralph Hansby of County Lincoln (Tick Hill Castle, Yorkshire)” was knighted by James I on August 12, 1619 at Nottingham. It is further recorded that on April 24^th, 1620, that George Manners, Thomas Savage and Ralph Hansby were jointly granted the offices of Constable and Porter of Nottingham Castle and Steward and Guardian of Sherwood Forest &c, county Notts, for life. (Ralph’s first wife Jane’s grandfather Sir Thomas Manners had previously held this office around 1580.) Ultimately, Sir Francis Bacon was unseated as Lord Chancellor in 1621, and died heirless and in ignominy in 1626. King James I died in 1625, and was succeeded by his son King Charles I.

This reference from Dixon gives a fascinating insight into the path by which the first-born son of John (3) Hansby, born in November 1587, and named Ralph presumably in honor of his wealthy uncle, rose from obscurity to become knighted by King James I at the age of 31. As noted earlier, though, actions and deeds must be regarded in the context of the prevailing history of the times. The later years of the reign of James I were a very corrupt time, with the king gratuitously using public assets and knighthoods to reward his allies. Historians certainly equivocate on the character of Francis Bacon: while Dixon stands squarely in Bacon’s court, insisting that payments from litigants were part-and-parcel of the income stream attached to these high offices, it is clear enough that dirty dealings were no less prevalent in the corridors of power then as today.

The will of Ralph (4)’s father John, written and proven in 1607, gives some clue as to relationships at this time. John was not a wealthy man by any measure, and while he leaves his house to his son Ralph (4), he stipulates that his widow Audrey shall have the use of it. Further, the following clause is clearly stated: “Also I give my son Raphe Hansby unto my brother Raphe Hansby with his person until he come to the age of xxiii yeares.” This would seem to confirm the ‘succession plan’ for the Hansby name. As Audrey was about 20 years younger than John, she might well be occupying the house for a long time (and she does not marry Thomas Sotheby until after Ralph (3)’s death in 1619) and so a young heir apparent will surely need his own pad in which to propagate the family line. Perhaps a rich uncle and his protégé nephew go ‘house-hunting’…?

On February 13, 1611, lease of honour of Tick Hill Castle for 41 years was granted by King James I to Ralph Hansby Esq. It is unclear whether this grant was made to the senior or junior Ralph, but ultimately the castle came into the younger Ralph’s possession. The newly-granted Hansby coat of arms can still be found carved into the stonework at Tick Hill castle, and so although the castle site dates to pre-Norman times, it is likely that the new young tenant added this feature.*
* Editor's Note: We are grateful to Richard Gravestock for providing us with a copy of a Hansby Pedigree document, originally created about 1650, then included in the Spencer Stanhope materials at the Bradford Archives in the 18th century. It is unknown how the document got there. However, David Morely observes that following the ending of visitations in the 17th century, those families who felt they had a position in Society needed to continue to record their ancestry for posterity. This impulse eventually culminated in the Victorian fascination with all things genealogical/antiquarian. This image also refers to "Lame Soldiers". Late in the reign of Elizabeth I, an act was passed requiring all parishes to contribute annually to a fund that was distributed (presumably by the Treasurer) to all worthy old soldiers, not only the lame, but widows as well. It was still in force, post the Civil War in the 1660s and is likely what is referred to in the image below.

Hansby Pedigree
Spencer Stanhope Collection
Bradford Archives
Dated About 1650
Photo Contributed by Richard Gravestock
Click on photo for larger image.

Here we show a photo of the actual Hansby Coat of Arms, embedded in the wall of Tick Hill Castle. We also show an image of the Hansby Crest and associated caption which was passed down to Kevin Hansby of Auckland, New Zealand, from his grandfather Cyril Hansby, a son of William Michael Joseph Hansby, who settled in New Zealand [see his story toward the end of this history].

Actua Hansby Crest
Embedded in Interior Wall of Tick Hill Castle
June 13, 2016
Photo Contributed by David Morley
Click on photo for larger image.

Hansby Crest
Passed from Cyril Hansby to His Grandson Kevin Hansby
Likely a Creation of William Michael Hansby or William Michael Russell
Introduced at Some Time in the 19th Century
Photo Contributed by Kevin Hansby
Click on photo for larger image.

Hansby Crest Caption
Passed from Cyril Hansby to His Grandson Kevin Hansby
This imaginative document contains several inaccurate claims and suppositions about the Hansby lineage as explained in the following note.*
Photo Contributed by Kevin Hansby
Click on photo for larger image.

* Editor's Note: David Morley remarks about the crest and its caption as follows:
"This Coat of Arms is very 'unofficial'. I am not sure who 'had it done' in the past - it may have been Michael William Hansby or Michael William Russell, or may even be more recent than that, perhaps William Michael Joseph Hansby. It seems to have been drawn up from the same information forwarded by Barradale in his historical research, and the 'exaggerations' in this information have been incorporated into the 'Armorial Bearing' as I believe the caption has been called. Our recent research has fairly definitively confirmed that we are not related to or descended from the Morgans of Llanternum/ Tredegar, the MacCarthy's of Tipperary, or the Calverts--including Lord Baltimore. So the incorporation of any of these Coats of Arms with ours is simply incorrect. The only official Coat of Arms was assigned in 1582 to Ralph Hansby with the three sheldrakes. Even these have subsequently been misdescribed as 'cleck geese' on the pedigree we recently received, and I have seen them called 'shovelers' elsewhere also."

At the time of the Bacon incident, Ralph (4) held the position of Surveyor of the King’s Stables, and so while not a glamourous position necessarily, one might also infer the influence of uncle Ralph in the little-known young Ralph being assigned this royal role. Curiously, the Wandesforde History contains a record of the deed of Commission of Ralph Hansby as the Surveyor of the Queen’s Stables, which appears to date to 1602. Here, too, it is unclear which Ralph Hansby was commissioned - the elder, looking for a retirement career in the Palace, or the younger, as a lush first job, conjured via his uncle’s connections. Here, too, it is possible that the elder received the commission initially, and then passed it to his protégé.

Furthermore, around this time, the young Ralph marries Jane Vavasour, daughter of William Vavasour, from the prominent Yorkshire family based at Hazlewood Castle. A connection is already noted above between Ralph (3)’s family and the Vavasours, and one certainly wonders if this match, too, may have been overseen by uncle Ralph. Sadly, however, Jane’s death is recorded on 22 July 1617, at the age of 23, with a monument at the south side of the chancel of St. Leonard’s church in Shoreditch recording the following quote: “to whose blessed memory her deare husband has dedicated this sad monument, to signifie that with her his joy lies here interred.”

Regardless of how much joy he may have interred with his first wife, the young Ralph wastes no time in locating a new one. In May 1618, in the same church, he marries Etheldred Gerrard, daughter of William Gerrard of Somerset. It seems noteworthy that in spite of his residence being in Tick Hill in Yorkshire, Ralph both buries his first wife and then finds his second wife in London. It is also difficult to ascertain how much contact the younger Ralph continued to have with his uncle, who was presumably declining in health by this time. One might infer that Ralph (4)’s haste in remarrying at this time was to fulfil his dying uncle’s expectation that he would continue the Hansby name by having heirs, and there may have been a silent understanding that his large inheritance might depend upon this matter.

Either way, by the time of his uncle’s death in 1619, the young Ralph is remarried. This, his 32^nd year, is surely the zenith of Ralph’s arc, with a new bride, his large inheritance and his knighthood. History will certainly also equivocate on the character of the young Sir Ralph, and the degree of treachery that he may have employed to attain these things. Doubtless the new couple set about making Hansby heirs, but it slowly emerges that Sir Ralph’s quest for male heirs will be no less perilous than his late uncle’s.

The first three new Hansbys to appear seem to be female. Mary, Ann and Frances Hansby seem to be born in the early years of the marriage; there is the slight possibility that one or more of these may have been born of Jane Vavasour rather than Etheldred Gerrard. Perhaps by now Ralph is sweating on the prospect of male-heir-lessness as faced by his uncle. Tantalisingly, there is a single record of the death of a Raph Hansby, son of Raph Hansby, on June 17, 1630 at Tick Hill, St. Mary, though there is no record of the age of this child. Perhaps this death spurred the couple into a renewed effort at baby-making, and so finally, Sir Ralph’s son and heir was born around September 1632. Unsurprisingly, he too was named Ralph, but it had taken fourteen years from the date of the marriage to the eventual birth of the male heir. Surely Sir Ralph had spent much of this protracted interval fearing he had also inherited the curse of heirlessness from his uncle Ralph, in addition to his generous estates.

Further tragedy would strike the family not long after, with the death of Etheldred Gerrard recorded at Tick Hill Castle on Jan 30, 1635, leaving their infant son barely 2 years old. The death of daughter Mary also occurs around this time.

Sir Ralph takes his third wife soon after - Elizabeth Bulkeley was the widow of George Shillito. George was the son of Francis Shillito (Shellitoe), an attorney of the Star Chamber, and he purchased the estate of Seacroft near Leeds. He had no children, and so the estate passed to Elizabeth. A record of local gentry compiled at the time by Walter Vavasour (Jane's great-nephew; documented in Cartwright's History of Yorkshire) describes Sir Ralph Hansby as the 'owner' of Seacroft, but it is presumed Elizabeth moved into Tick Hill Castle to help with raising Sir Ralph’s children.

In and around this time, the activities of Sir Ralph Hansby are well documented in the local history of Tick Hill. In 1636, Sir Ralph notoriously drains the fish ponds of Tickhill and converts the area into a coney (rabbit) warren - much to the dismay of the townsfolk. In light of the tragedies befalling his personal life, it is perhaps understandable that the aging Sir Ralph might be taking a devil-may-care attitude towards his constituency.

Furthermore, the historical overlay of the 1630’s is the so-called ‘Eleven Years’ Tyranny’ of the ‘personal rule’ of Charles I, in which he ruled the country by his own hand, without summoning Parliament. As a Royalist and Catholic, Sir Ralph Hansby was likely taking his autocratic lead from the monarch at the time. On Nov 4, 1640, Sir Ralph is granted lease on ‘the tolls, piccages and stallages of the markets of Tick Hill…etc etc’ , worth 18s6d per year, and so his loyalty to the King is clear. One source states that in 1639-1641, Sir Ralph is a member of King Charles I’s Parliament, however, Parliamentary records do not seem to confirm this. These are ominous times, and in 1641, it is recorded that the “…gathering of horses and fodder for the Civil War threatens the milling and malting economy at Tickhill.”

In 1642, the Civil war between the Royalists of Charles I and the Parliamentary Army erupts, and on Nov 2, 1643, the death of Sir Ralph Hansby of Tickhill is recorded. The exact circumstances of his death are not known, but in time Major Monckton is set in charge of Tick Hill Castle. Finally, the castle is surrendered to the Earl of Manchester. Family legend whispers that the Royalist Sir Ralph was hung from the gates of Tick Hill Castle by the advancing Parliamentary forces, but the recent discovery of Sir Ralph’s probate would seem to put that fable to rest.

Probate of Sir Ralph Hansby of Tick Hill Castle.

In the name of God Amen: the first day of December one thousand six hundred forty three./ I Sr Ralph Hansby of Tickhill Castle in the County of Yorke Knight sick in body but as perfect in remembrance thanked be God do briefely declare this my last will and testament following. And first I bequeath my soul into the hands of God my Creator and Saviour. And my body to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of mine executors. And as touching my personall Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to endow me Leaving my lands and reall Estate to descend to my son Ralph Hansby I give and bequeath it as followeth. And first I give and bequeath unto my welbeloved wife Elizabeth one full third part thereof in full satisfaction of what she may clayme out of my said goods. And the other two parts my other Legacies and funerall expenses deducted I give and bequeath to Frances Hansby my youngest daughter in part of her filiall portion. And it is my firm intent and meaning that if the said two parts of my personall Estate shall not amount to the full sum of fifteen hundred pounds that my said executors shall receive and take so much of the rents and proffitts of my lands during my said son’s minoritie as shall make up the full sum of fifteen hundred pounds for my said daughter’s portion. Item. I give to my daughter Ann now wife of Mr. John Cansfeild the sum of one hundred pounds. And I do now constitute and apoint my loving freinds Mr. William Saunderson and his sonn Robert Saunderson Executors of this my last will and testament onely and ? in trust and confidence for the use and benefitt of my said son Ralph Hansby during his minority. Witnesses hereof F Lound 11.1.41. Math Feneson. Lawrence Hanson.

* * * * *

Firstly, it should be noted that this version of the probate was located at Canterbury, and not at York as might be expected. It was also dated 1648, suggesting a considerable delay in lodging the document, perhaps on account of the intervening Parliamentary War, or, possibly more likely, that this version arose after some challenge to the Will. The date at the top of the document is considered to be that of the initial proving of the will, shortly after the death of Sir Ralph, and the date of the witnesses in 1641 is considered to be the likely date of the will itself.

Compared to the loquacious and flamboyant will of Ralph of Beverley, this document is far briefer and more modest. The seemingly enormous bequest to Sir Ralph would appear to have diminished over the course of his lifetime, and the beneficiaries now extend only to Sir Ralph’s immediate family. Crucially, Sir Ralph describes himself as sick in body, and so it would seem he is putting his affairs in order on the basis of his failing health, rather than the advancing Parliamentary armies. His chief purpose seems to be setting aside fifteen hundred pounds for his daughter Frances’ filial portion. His wife Elizabeth presumably has considerable assets from her first marriage, and his daughter Ann is already married. This document would appear to definitively resolve the standing issue of which Hansby female was married to John Cansfield - the Barradale documents seem to contain a degree of error and embellishment in both this and the next generation of Hansbys. Finally, provision is made for the administration of Sir Ralph’s estate for his young son during his minority.

The eventual marriage of Frances Hansby to Richard Gerard of Ince, co. Lancashire is well recorded, and this Will would seem to date it at somewhere during or soon after 1641. Sadly, the deaths of Frances and her infant son are recorded not long after that. Richard Gerard then goes on to marry Judith Stewart. There does not appear to be a family connection between the Gerrards of Somerset and the Gerards of Lancashire.

Thus, Sir Ralph’s son Ralph (5) is orphaned at age 11 and presumably cared for by his stepmother Elizabeth. One account states that the young Ralph (5) fought in the defence of Tick Hill castle, though only a boy of 13. In 1648, the Journal of the House of Commons records the ‘…taking off the Sequestration of Sir Ralph Hansby, Knight, and that Commissary Lyonell Copley Esq enjoy.. the lands of Ralph Hansby, son and heir of Sir Ralph, during his Minority…’ This date appears to coincide with the date of the Canterbury probate, but is just short of the original 41 year lease.

In 1649, King Charles I is executed, and Parliamentary rule under Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector commences. It is not clear where Lady Elizabeth Bulkeley raised her step-son, whether still at Tick Hill Castle, or possibly at her previous family home Seacroft Hall. She sold this estate to the Nelthorpes around 1656, and Ralph (5) married at around this time, to continue the very tenuous line of the Hansby name.

4. Ralphs (5) and (6): The Recusants c.1650- 1720.

Through the turbulent times of the English Civil War, our entire cohort remains Catholic and Royalist. Christopher Wandesforde mentioned above briefly attains the role of Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1640, when his friend and predecessor Thomas Wentworth, the First Earl of Strafford, is summoned back to England by James I. Strafford has become one of James’ most trusted advisors, but for this he is impeached by the Parliament, and eventually executed. Wandesford is left to deal with the rising discontent in Ireland, and his health rapidly fails, and he dies in December 1640.

As mentioned, Michael Warton, son of Sir Michael Warton and Elizabeth Hansby was slain by a cannon shot at Scarborough Castle in 1645 while fighting for the king.

Richard Gerard of Ince, who first married Frances Hansby, Sir Ralph’s daughter, fought with King Charles at Oxford in 1642, and then apparently attended the exiled Queen Henrietta Maria in France, and was her cup-bearer upon the Restoration in 1660. By the same account, John Cansfield, presumed husband of Anne Hansby, fought valouriously for the King at the Second Battle of Newbury.

One would therefore infer that times would have been difficult for these families during the rule of the Puritan Oliver Cromwell, but upon Cromwell’s death in 1658, and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, a period of relative calm for our Catholic family ensued.

Records pertaining to the Hansbys are sparse over this time. It seems fairly clear Ralph (5) married a lady named Winifred during the 1650’s, and her maiden name was likely Morgan. The Barradale documents claim a link to the Morgans of Llantarnum and Tredegar, but I have not found confirmation of this. Indeed, the Winifred Morgan of that family is recorded as marrying a Percy Enderby, rather than a Hansby. The pedigree in ‘Hunter’s Deanery’ indicates that Ralph (5) married the ‘daughter of Sir John Cansfield’, but assuming this is the same John Cansfield as married his aunt Ann, the inference would be that he married his cousin.

There is a record of a law suit between Ralph Hansby and a Sanderson in 1654, and it is presumed this is Ralph (5) seeking to regain control of Tick Hill Castle, having attained his Majority. (‘Sanderson’ may well be Saunderson, named as executor by Sir Ralph in his will.) The family remained stoically Catholic, even as the tides of history ebbed and flowed, and the most conspicuous record of this family is in the List of Suspected Popish Recusants, published in 1680, shortly after the Popish plot, showing:

“Tick Hill - Ralph Hansby Esq and his wife, his son Ralph 20 years of age, Frances above 16 years, Walter about 9 years.”

This gives us the birth of the eldest son Ralph (6) at about 1660, and there are various records of the other children. It is possible that the couple had up to ten children. Some of the births are recorded at Tick Hill, and it is presumed that Ralph (5) has regained the use of the castle that he perhaps fought to defend as a boy. The Hearth Tax records of 1672 indicate that Ralph Hansby Esq of Tickhill Town had 24 hearths at this time, so he was thus a not insubstantial property owner in the district.

Gray’s Inn records the admission of another Ralph Hansby in 1671. It is uncertain whether this is the father, pursuing a late-life legal career, or the son being enrolled at the tender age of 10 or 11 for legal training.

The eldest son Ralph (6) appears to marry twice, firstly to Elizabeth Eason in 1688, then to Catherine Stockham in 1699. Both marriages are in London, and so it is possible that the younger Ralph is at Gray’s Inn. Both Ralph (6) and Catherine die around 1714; there seems to be no children from either marriage.

Frances’ birth is documented early in 1660; she is recorded as a spinster, and dies in York in 1740.

There is possibly a further 3 daughters who go on to become Nuns in Brussels - Margaret, Isabella and Mary, but it is hard to tell which are real names and which are names assumed by the nuns. Further births recorded include William in 1666, Catherine in 1669, and possibly Walter around 1671 as above.

Morgan Hansby (quite possibly receiving his mother’s maiden name) was born in 1673 and became a Father in the Dominican Order. An intriguing report of his discovery whilst concealed with a family at Lower Cheam is recorded in the London Evening Post of Dec 1745. He died in 1750.

Michael Hansby appears to be the youngest child of Ralph (5) and Winifred. The following record of him appears in ‘Hunter’s Deanery’: ‘Born in 1674, and brother of Frances H… His brother Ralph of Tick Hill Castle, by will dated 1712, bequeathed to him “100 guineas, which are behind the books in the press in the lobby, and also the books.”’

Ralph (5) Hansby is elsewhere referred to as a Roman Catholic Justice as at 1688, and so it may well be he who was the 1671 admission to Gray’s Inn. The fleeting zenith of his career seems to have occurred in 1688, during the final throes of King James II’s brief reign. John Wainwright, in his 1829 work ‘Yorkshire: An Historical and Topographical Introduction to a knowledge of the Ancient State of the Wapentake of Strafford and Tick Hill’, records the following: “The King, however, resolute and imperious and indiscreet, punished their arrogance by removing the mayor from his office, and appointing in his stead, Ralph Hansby Esq of Tick Hill.*”

With the changing tide of the ‘Glorious Revolution’, the Catholic insert was quickly removed from this office, and John Elleker was elected mayor on December 8^th, 1688, with Ralph holding the position for only 4 months.

[As an aside, the asterisk above refers to a footnote by Wainwright which mentions a ‘Hugh Hansby’ ostensibly referred to in the Wilson manuscript collection held at Leeds Library. Examination of this manuscript reveals this ‘Hugh Hansby’ to be a mis-transcription of the name Ralph Hansby, and there is thus no such person as ‘Hugh Hansby’. Hunter in particular, re-cites this misquote. Such are the vagaries of genealogical research.]

The country was now firmly Protestant, and it was no longer a good place to be Catholic. It was presumably about this time that several of Ralph (5)’s elder children, now young adults, fled to Europe to join convents and monasteries. Ralph (5)’s death is recorded in London in January 1696. His address at the time was ‘over against ye George Tavern, Whitefriars North, Fleet St’ and he is buried in St. Bride’s, Fleet Street.

In 1699 Ralph (6) marries his second wife Catherine Stockham at St. Anne’s in Soho, Westminster, and it seems they move back to Tick Hill Castle. In 1700 a permit is issued for ‘Ralph Hansby Esq., of Tick Hill Castle, to travel with his 6 horses.. about 5 miles to his habitation, about his necessary affairs’, so Catholics need a permit to own horses at this time… Winifred Morgan’s death is recorded at October 1704 at Tick Hill. In 1708, the lease of Tickhill castle and land is sold by Ralph (6) to George Saunderson (Viscount Castleton) for 5000 pounds. (Unclear again whether this is a relation to the Saundersons who were executors of Ralph (4)’s will.) Further, in an article in the Saturday Magazine dated August 31^st, 1844, upon the history of Tick Hill Castle, ‘the castle and its demesne lands were leased in 1719 for fourteen years to William Lord Fitz-William..’

Various payments are made by Ralph (6) for the keeping of the ‘exiled’ Catholic Hansbys in European convents. Somewhere around 1714 is the death of Ralph (6) in York. He has had no children, and has ultimately had to sell off all the family’s holdings, presumably as Catholics remain out of favour. The Tickhill and District Local History Society website makes reference to the will of Catherine Hansby (nee Stockham), written in February 1714, two years before her death, and which declares her to be already the widow of Ralph (6) Hansby. It appears to record the only items conveyed by her to Michael Hansby was some furniture ‘in the room up two pairs of stairs in my house at Tick Hill where (he) lived.’

It would therefore seem that to this point, the youngest son Michael Hansby had been staying with his eldest brother Ralph (6), and then following his death, at the grace of his sister-in-law until to her death, presumably in 1716. With his eldest brother now dead and heirless, and all his elder siblings practicing as devoted Catholic Fathers and nuns, and he now 42 years old, with only a handful of chattels to his name, it would seem that the gravity of his awareness became that the future of the Hansby name lay solely with him, and so he goes swiftly about finding himself a wife.

5. Ralph (7) Hansby and the journey to Ireland. c1720-1760

Barradale records Michael's new wife as Judith, daughter of John Calvert, and descended from the Lords of Baltimore in Ireland. Inspection of the history of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, however, suggests there were almost certainly no local descendants of any of his thirteen children. Further investigation of the (numerous) Calverts of north Yorkshire shows the birth of a family of Calverts at least six in number - including a Judith around 1700 - in Aldborough, to a John Calvert, and so again, Barradale's attributions would seem to be somewhat embellished. This John Calvert's father appears to be Francis Calvert, once a bailiff in the town of Boroughbridge. Francis would seem to have had his origins in the area of Aysgarth/ skrigg in North Yorkshire, and by 1650 was married to Anne, and their children were born in Aldborough. Francis' will of 1694 details his extensive assets, including leases on property and bridge and ferry tolls, which he distributes chiefly to his sons James and John. The will lists no children of John as at 1694, but from 1696 he has possibly 9 children with his wife Anne. The first six are recorded in Aldborough up to 1702, but the next three have no birth record. In 1701, John has begun selling the assets of his inheritance, in a trajectory that will lead to his eventual bankruptcy.

The register of names of Roman Catholics who refused to take oaths to the late King George, dated 1715, records Michael Hansbie as the owner of an estate in Thixendale or Burdall valued at 165 pounds per annum, of which 40 pounds goes to his brother Morgan (who is recorded as living at St. James Co. Middlesex in the same register) Edgar Estcourt and John O. Payne published a volume of genealogical notes pertaining to all these 'nonjurors' in 1885, and it describes Michael Hansbie as 'of Givendale, Esq.' In the same register is a 'John Calvert of Givendale', and we wonder if the husband-to-be and the father of the bride are already somehow acquainted. John Calvert's only recorded asset here is a cottage in Aysgarth - likely a vestige of his inheritance - with the modest annual value of 3 pounds. Considering the very substantial legacy left to him by his father barely 20 years before, it would seem fortune has not favoured our John Calvert. Whether the persisting national animosity towards Catholics has been the cause of his downfall, or a tragedy of a more personal nature, he is completely bankrupt and alone at his death around 1722.

Therefore, one can only conjecture whether the meeting between Michael and Judith was a conspiracy between recusant Catholic families, or whether Judith was compelled to marry out of financial hardship. Either way, their first son Ralph (7) is born in 1720, and they appear to have several more children, some of whose burials are recorded in Bishophill in York. Eventually, all their children either die young or are female and die childless. Once again, the continuation of the Hansby name falls to a single member of the family - the eldest son.

For reasons which are unclear, Ralph (7) relocates to Ireland in 1737. Barradale records Ralph (7) as apprenticed to a man named Marlin in Dublin at this time. In 1743 Ralph (7) marries Penelope Bellew in county Meath, and in 1745 their daughter Anna is born. It seems this Anna remains in Ireland, and marries a Patrick D’Arcy in 1776. Ralph (7) and Penelope have two sons who die in infancy, and it seems that Penelope also dies in childbirth at this time. Ralph’s second marriage to Catherine McCarthy is in St Michans, Dublin, Ireland in 1748, and on April 21, 1750, Michael Joseph (8) Hansby is born in Dublin, Ireland. It is here that the fashion of the middle name appears to commence. Here are copies of the respective documents for the marriage of Ralph and Catherine and the birth of their son, Michael Joseph. The marriage entry is at the top of the right column; the birth entry is the fourth item in the left column.

* Marriage Record: Ralph Hansby and Catherine McCarthy 1748
* Birth Record: Michael Joseph Hansby 1750
Source: Irish Genealogy Online Records

On July 1^st 1751 Charles Zaverius Hansby is baptized in Dublin, and there seems also to be a Ralph (8) born in 1753, but both of these boys die in infancy. There seems to be a Clare or Clarinda Hansby born around 1755, who dies unmarried in Bristol in 1817. But in June 1761, the death of Ralph (7) Hansby is recorded in St. Bartholomews in London, and it would seem that the care of the young Michael Joseph and his sister Clare falls to their mother Catherine, and again the future of the Hansby name hangs in the balance.

Michael Hansby's will is dated 1753 and his decease seems to be in 1754. His will only mentions Judith and his 3 living daughters, and it describes him as living in York. It would seem therefore that contact between father and son had been lost by that time. There is also no suggestion that the family ever traveled with Ralph (7) to Ireland, or that Ralph (7) had any pre-existing connections in Ireland with "Irish Baltimore Calverts."

Michael's three living daughters received 400 pounds each in his will, and Judith received the residue of his estate including the furniture of his house, but the ownership of the house is not ascertained. They all survive a further 35 years or so and are buried in churches in York around 1790. Frances lived at Grape Lane in York prior to her death in 1788 aged 67.

6. The Golden years in Abergavenny c.1800-1870.

The next reference to surface for the Hansby line is the marriage of Michael Joseph Hansby to Catherine James, daughter of Edward James of Bristol, at St. Augustine’s the Less in Bristol on June 22^nd, 1795. Here is the Marriage License. The death of Michael (8)’s mother is not recorded, nor how he came to Bristol. The only trace of him in this time is two letters to the 3rd Duke of Portland in April 1783. His address at that time was 26 Greek St, Soho Square, London, and he was applying for the position of Comptroller of the island of Montserrat in the West Indies, newly re-acquired from France in the Treaty of Versailles. Perhaps fortunately for the future generations of Hansbys, he did not receive this posting…

In the same vein as his grandfather whose name he shares, Michael (8) finds himself in his forties with the future of the Hansby name on his shoulders alone. His new wife Catherine shares his mother’s name, and she is not young either - she seems to be 36 years old at their marriage.

It seems they move to Westcombe in Somerset, to the south-west of Bristol. Their first son Ralph (9) is born in 1799, then Michael William in 1802, and then a daughter Eliza Anne in 1803. After generations of the Hansby name being kept alive down a single thread, this family would be the nidus of the greatest Hansby expansion since Yorkshire in the 1500’s.

In 1816, Ralph commences his Articles in Law under Robert Welsh in Wells, Somerset. His father is signatory to his Articles of Clerkship, and is living at Shepton Mallet in Somerset at this time. Hot on his brother’s heels in the career stakes, Michael William Hansby is to be found at Guy’s Hospital in London as a medical graduate in 1823. A short distance from Guy’s Hospital in Camberwell, Southwark, Mary Anne Sharp is growing up, the eldest daughter of a well-to-do shipwright, George Sharp.

In 1805, George Sharp has married Mary Powditch, and in September 1807, their first son George William Sharp is born. They then have two daughters, Mary Anne, born in March 1809, and Rosa Anne born in 1810, and another son John, born in May 1811. Tragedy then strikes, and the eldest son George dies in June 1812. To mark the tragedy, the parents commission a local portrait artist, possibly Thomas Lawrence, to paint a nearly full-sized portrait of the mother Mary Sharp with her infant son John, now the Sharp heir. The tale of this painting will be pursued in a later chapter of this work.

Skip forward now to July 9^th, 1828, and the wedding of Dr. Michael William Hansby to Mary Anne Sharp. It is presumed they have met in London, but they have now found their way to Raglan in Monmouthshire, Wales - just across the Bristol Channel from Bristol and Somerset. They must have two weddings - one to be recognized, in a Church of England, and a separate one in a Catholic church, for their faith. In 1830, their first daughter in born in Raglan, and is named Eliza Rose, presumably Eliza for Michael’s sister, and Rose for Mary’s sister. Eliza Anne Hansby has married a fellow named Thomas Davies in Abergavenny, Wales in 1822, and so it is quite possibly she who has blazed the trail to Monmouthshire for her family. Here is their Marriage License.

Sure enough, in September 1830, Ralph Hansby marries Rosa Anne Sharp, and so now the two brothers have married two sisters. In October 1831, Ralph (9) has a son Ralph (10) in Abergavenny, and in July 1832 Michael William has a daughter Mary Isabel in Abergavenny, so it would seem all three siblings have moved here by this time. Michael Joseph Hansby was buried in Abergavenny in November 1829, aged 79, and even George Sharp seemed to have moved here prior to his death and burial in Abergavenny in April 1834, aged 57. Catherine Hansby (nee James) dies here in 1844.Here are their wills:

Will of Michael Joseph Hansby
Will of Catherine (James) Hansby

Eliza Anne Hansby does not have any children, and it would seem Thomas Davies dies around 1836, and Eliza Anne now marries George Overton, ten years her junior. He will go on to be a prominent local figure, later becoming Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant and Coroner, but they do not have any children either. Instead, it seems, Eliza Anne goes on to be the caring aunty for her two brothers’ expanding broods.

In 1836 Michael William Hansby, surgeon, is appointed to the position of Medical officer to the Vale District of the Abergavenny Union, a position he holds for the remainder of his career. The 1834 Poor Laws Act decreed that recipients of charity must now be housed in ‘workhouses’, and so the new district workhouse, or Union House, was built at Abergavenny in 1837-8, and Dr. Hansby was the visiting doctor appointed to this site. His exploits regularly appear in the local paper, the Hereford Journal/ Times, and they make reference to his patients at the Union House. Around this time, he is living at the ‘Castle’ in Abergavenny - a relatively modern building built in 1818 as a ‘hunting lodge’, adjacent to the ruins of the former Norman Abergavenny Castle. His initials ‘MH’ appear carved into a stone pathway near a door to this building. It is not clear whether this prestigious address came with the role of Union medical officer, or whether he acquired the property in his own right. Meanwhile, his brother Ralph works as the town’s solicitor, and his name regularly appears in the legal affairs of the townsfolk.

Michael Hansby Monograph
At Abergavenny Castle
Dated About 1840
Photo Contributed by David Morley
Click on photo for larger image.

Both brothers are breeding prolifically - Michael and Mary Anne have 12 children between 1830 and 1852, and Ralph and Rosa have 10 over a similar time frame. However, in spite of Michael William being the town doctor, four of his children die in infancy, and then tragically, his wife Mary Anne dies also shortly after the birth of their 12^th child in 1852. At this time, Michael William is left with the care of Eliza Rose, now 22, Mary Isabel, 20, Catherine, 14, Louisa 12, Clara 10, Florence 7, Ralph Joseph 5, and William Michael Joseph, aged 4.

Conspicuously, the eldest six are daughters, and presumably the elder ones assist with caring for the younger children. Eliza Rose never marries, and her role is unclear. On the 1861 census she appears both at her aunt Eliza Anne’s farm at Ty Mawr, and also on her father’s entry, which is now no longer at the Castle but in more modest Frogmore St. Her father lists her ‘out of order’ - not at the head of her sisters but as the last entry, even below the household servants, although she is now 31 years old. One cannot help but feel that she may be an invalid in some fashion.

The next daughters successively reach marrying age, and marry off to prominent local men. Mary Isabel marries Richard Wyndham Williams in 1855, Catherine marries George Russell, the town doctor from nearby Merthyr Tydfil in 1857, and Louisa marries John Maund, the High Sheriff of Breconshire, in 1860. Each of these families has an interesting tale in their own right, and these will be pursued in the next chapter. Clara and Florence never marry; they will take up domestic roles in other households.

And so, in Michael William’s family, the role of carrying the Hansby name forward will fall to the two young boys, Ralph Joseph and Michael William Joseph. However, for reasons unknown, the two boys will end up leaving the family home. Ralph Joseph has left by 1861 - he is not recorded at the family home in the census of that year. He will take up a life at sea, and the first record of him on a seafaring vessel is in 1862, on the barque ‘Dragon’, headed for Sydney, Australia, as an able seaman. While only a boy of 15 at best, his age is falsely recorded as ‘30’ on the crew list of this ship. He discards the name Ralph early on, and goes only by the name of Joseph Hansby for the remainder of his life. His brother William Michael Joseph soon follows in his footsteps, leaving Wales in 1869. The exploits of these two in carrying the Hansby name to the Antipodes will also be followed in a later chapter.

Returning now to the family of Ralph (9) and Rosa, of their 10 children, five will die before reaching childrearing age. By 1861, they have moved from Abergavenny to Salford in Lancashire for reasons unclear, and over the years, much of their family follows them here. Their eldest son Ralph (10) becomes a land surveyor and never marries. He dies in Lancashire in 1906. Their daughter Rosa Anne dies in Salford in 1861 aged 25. Another daughter Monica dies here in 1863 aged 13.

The only child of 10 to have any children is the next son Dominic. He marries Catherine Lynch in Ireland in 1865, then they have 2 children in Ireland, then migrate to Lancashire, where they have a further six children. Of their eight children, six die in infancy, a son Edward migrates to the USA and has no children, and the youngest daughter Agnes marries James Patterson. They have four children, and the youngest son born in 1923 is given the name Ralph Hansby Patterson, presumably also in realization that the name Hansby was all but extinct in the United Kingdom. This Ralph Hansby-Patterson gave the hyphenated surname to his children, creating a number of present day Hansby-Pattersons, mostly around Norfolk.

Ralph and Rosa’s other 3 adult daughters remained single or childless. Ralph (9) dies in 1870, and Rosa in 1884, both in Lancashire. Back in Abergavenny, Michael William Hansby dies in August 1869, his eldest daughter Eliza Rose dies in 1870, aged 40 and unmarried. The Williams’ have moved to Parc, Llanishen in Wales. George Russell, husband of Catherine Hansby, has died in Merthyr Tydfil in 1867, leaving Catherine with five small children. Louisa has had 5 children with John Maund, but in 1871 they are separated, and John is living in London with the younger 3 children, and Louisa is staying with her aunt Eliza Anne, with the elder 2 daughters.

Thus, by 1871, there is no-one left in Abergavenny who will directly carry the name Hansby. From the golden days of the 1830’s with the three siblings living there and married, and in spite of the prolific breeding of the 1840’s, fate slowly undoes the dynasty of the Hansbys of Abergavenny.

7. Branches from Abergavenny:

With the Hansby women, the stories of the families they marry into are often just as interesting as the story of the Hansby paternal line. In this chapter we will explore the families of three of the daughters of Michael William Hansby, and follow the trail of a lost painting.

7a. Mary Isabel Hansby and Richard Williams.

As indicated above, in July 1855, Mary Isabel Hansby wed Richard Wyndham Williams, a solicitor from Parc, Llanishen in Glamorganshire, and moved there. They had two sons: Lawrence Gardner Williams, born in 1861, and Wyndham Ivor Williams, born in 1865.

MIH died in 1874, aged 42, and left the care of their 2 young sons, aged 13 and 9, to their father. The relatively short life spans of many of the Welsh Hansbys remains conspicuous. LGW also became a solicitor, and married Harriet Edmoudes (?Edmondes) in 1895. They had two sons: Charles Lawrence Wyndham Williams b. 1896 and Herbert Wyndham Williams b. 1897. CLWW was killed on active naval service in 1916. I have no further information on HWW.

WIW died of typhoid fever in St. George, Queensland, Australia in 1900.

7b. Catherine Hansby and George Russell - doctors, lawyers and sailors.

In 1851, Merthyr Tydfil was the most populous town in Wales, as it was home to a very productive ironworks. A surgeon of that town was named George Russell, and in 1832, his first son was born, also to be named George Russell, and who would also go on to become a doctor in the town.

In July 1857, then, Catherine Hansby, the daughter of the town surgeon of Abergavenny married the son of the town surgeon of Merthyr Tydfil, George Russell. For reasons unknown, it seems this couple moved to the town of Bawtry, near Doncaster in Yorkshire, and a stone’s throw from Tick Hill. George’s brother John and sister Frances were also present here with them at the 1861 census, at 2 South Parade. George Russell Senior had died in 1840, leaving the three children fatherless, and so this may be the basis for them sticking together. It is unknown whether any ancient Hansby connection had led them all specifically to this place. They stayed here for a small number of years and had two sons and a daughter. George Hansby Russell was born in 1859, Michael William Russell was born in 1860, and Clara Emily in 1862. It would seem the family then moved back to Wales, to Aberdare, a small town near Merthyr Tydfil. Florence Russell was born there in 1865, and Mary Frances in 1867, then tragically their father died in September 1867, leaving Catherine Hansby with 5 small children. It is not clear where this family went after this time - while Louisa and her daughters were with their aunt Eliza in 1871, Catherine was not here. Clara Emily dies in 1872 in Merthyr Tydfil, aged 10. Catherine’s death is recorded in 1878 in Merthyr Tydfil, and again, while premature death was a fact of life in these difficult times, one cannot help but feel that growing up in the shadow of the iron works may have inadvertently shortened the lives of these Merthyr Tydfil residents.

It is not clear where the two young orphan girls, Florence aged 14 and Mary aged 12, went following this time. In his will of 1883, their great uncle George Overton bequeathes to ‘the children of my niece Catherine Russell, deceased, one hundred pounds per annum’, so they are not wholly without resources. We will return to Florence’s story shortly; Mary Frances Russell never marries.

The lives of the two sons are quite interesting. George Hansby Russell went to South Africa and fought in several of the wars there. By 1894 he was blinded, and seems to have returned to Devon to become an author, writing several novels set mainly in South Africa. In 1903 he marries Alice Lockwood - she 43 years old and he 44, and they have one son George Lockwood Hansby Russell born later that same year. In a fascinating recapitulation of history he becomes a Catholic monk in the Benedictine Order, and takes the name ‘Ralph’. Details such as this seem to suggest that the family may well have been in possession of some form of pedigree which has been handed down from earlier generations.

Michael William Russell has received the name of his maternal grandfather, and in his footsteps, as well as those of his father and his paternal grandfather, he studies Medicine. In 1881 he is a medical student in London, in 1882 he gains his MRCS (Eng.), and in 1884 he is RMO at Royal United Hospital in Bristol. He joins the Army in 1885, and is posted to Soudan in 1885-6. In the time from 1889 to 1893, he was stationed in India, mostly in Bengal. In 1892 he marries Mary Augusta Julia Plowden, the daughter of a former Colonel in the Indian Army. The marriage, and the births of his two children seem to have occurred overseas, and records of these have proved elusive. His son Oswald also became a soldier, and he was killed in an heroic firefight at a railway siding in Iraq in 1920. It seems he may have been recommended for a posthumous Victoria Cross, but was not awarded one. MWR’s daughter Dorothy Clara Russell married Montagu Griffin and they had six children.

Michael William Russell went on to serve in South Africa in 1899-1902, and Malta in 1914. He rose to the rank of Major General, and was Surgeon General of the British Army from 1914-17. He was retired at this time under age regulations; in 1918, he was knighted, becoming KCMG, CB. He lived until the age of 89.

Florence Russell is rather inconspicuous until her marriage to George Louis Atkinson in 1898. He is a doctor, and seems also to have been in the Royal Army Medical Corps, so one assumes they met through Michael William Russell in some fashion. Florence and George were married in Plymouth in Devon, and one wonders if this was somehow connected to George Hansby Russell being in Devon at this time. They had their three children in fairly quick time - Gerald, Geoffrey and Joyce in 1899, 1900 and 1901 respectively. Gerald has no children, Geoffrey has a daughter Helen, and Joyce becomes a prominent English equestrienne. As a result, she marries quite late, marrying John Alfred Crease Barradale in 1940. Nonetheless, they have two children, Sonia born in 1941 and Christopher born in 1943. JAC Barradale is a London solicitor, and he has been married twice already, but had no children by either previous marriage. As it was he who brought the Hansby history to Australia, I will take the liberty of exploring his own history and family tree briefly, particularly as the line through his mother is quite interesting.

JAC Barradale was born on January 14^th 1903, the son of Alfred William Barradale and Dorothy Melita Mary Crease. AWB was also a solicitor, based in Dudley, Worcestershire, which is more or less a suburb of Birmingham. He was born in 1857, the son of William Barradale, a legal clerk from Birmingham. AWB appears also to have left marriage and fatherhood rather late: he marries DMMC in August 1901, he 44 years old, his bride half his age at 22.

DMMC was the daughter of John Frederick Crease and Frances Mary Domvile. They were married in 1877, and were also relatively late-in-life parents. JFC was at least 40 years old, and FMD had already had 3 children by her first marriage; when DMMC was born in 1879, her mother was 38 years old, and when their next child Marjorie Henry Gordon Crease was born in 1885, she was 44. Both of these parents came from families with conspicuous naval and legal forbears.

JFC was a naval officer who rose to the rank of Major General of the Royal Marine Artillery, and also received the title of Knight Commander, Order of the Bath in 1902. His father Captain Henry Crease was a naval captain in the times of the Napoleanic wars, and his brother Henry Pelling Perrew Crease was a barrister who traveled to Vancouver Island in British Columbia to become the colony’s first practicing barrister, and he rose to be a judge in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The family’s ancestral home is Ince Castle in Saltash, Cornwall.

Frances Mary Domvile’s father Henry Barry Domvile was also a barrister, her brother Sir Compton Edward Domvile was an Admiral, and her brother Barry Francis Domvile was a Lieutenant Colonel. Presumably Frances met her second husband through these naval connections.

The strong tradition of maintaining family names in both families is apparent. Dorothy and her sister Marjorie were both born on Portsea Island in Hampshire, presumably close to naval headquarters. One could speculate that Marjorie was given two boys’ names as middle names in her father’s vain wish she were a boy, but John Frederick Crease would have no male heir. One can also only speculate how a middle-aged Birmingham solicitor came to meet and marry the young daughter of a naval major general, but history tells us that it happened. In a further twist of history and fate, Dorothy Melita Mary Crease died shortly after the birth of their only son, and so this middle-aged Birmingham solicitor was now left with the care of his tiny infant son.

The Census of 1911 shows the eight year old JAC Barradale living with the Perowne family - the mother Helena is the eldest of FMD’s three children by her first marriage. She has married Arthur Perowne, a Church of England clergyman, and they have three sons who might be playmates for the young JACB. He attends Haileybury Boarding School with the Perowne boys, then studies Law at Cambridge in the early 1920’s. Notably in 1924 he is President of the Cambridge Footlights - the University’s amateur dramatic society, and a springboard for many luminaries of the British entertainment industry. This same year he marries his first wife, with a name very similar to his late mother’s - Dorothy M. Barker.

In 1931, he remarries, to a singer named Esme Marshall, and in 1932, they travel to Portugal on the ‘Flandria’ - presumably a holiday. By 1940, he has met and married Joyce Atkinson. He works as a private solicitor in London in partnership with H. McDouall Small. During the 1950’s he travels extensively, including to New York at least four times, and obviously to Sydney in 1955. In 1958 he dissolves his partnership with Small, and his marriage to Joyce Atkinson also breaks down. He dies in 1970.

In keeping with their family’s heritage, daughter Sonia is a judge of international sailing races, and son Christopher is a lawyer.

7c. Louise Clifford Hansby and John Maund - the Mexican and French connections.

Louisa Clifford Hansby (b. 1840) was the fifth daughter of Michael William Hansby, and in April 1860, she married John Maund (b. 1831). This John Maund is at least the third in a line of John Maunds, and as there are many John Maunds around, it is quite difficult to track any individual one. Our ones live in Ty Mawr, which is their family estate in Breconshire, Wales. They are fairly entrepreneurial, selling their cattle at cattle sales, renting properties; they appear to be attached to a fanciful venture around 1845 called the Great Eastern and Western Railway, intended to stretch from Swansea in Wales to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, but this does not come to anything.

John Maund (b. 1831) is the son of John Maund (b. 1796) and Mary Monkhouse. He attends Winchester College for his schooling, and then Brasenose College at Oxford. He hold the titles of Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant (J.P., D.L.). At the seemingly young age of 28, he is appointed High Sheriff of Breconshire in the year 1859. In April 1860, he marries Louisa.

This is certainly the ‘best of times’ for John Maund. In the census of 1861, he is proudly recorded as “J.P., D.L., Captain of the Volunteers, and farmer of 200 acres, employing 9 men and five boys.” They live on a farm next to George and Eliza Anne Overton’s, and both families have several maids and servants. The birth of his first daughter Mary is also recorded here.

The first 3 children of John Maund and LCH are clear enough: Mary, or May as she became known, born Feb 1861, Louisa (b. Apr 1862) and John Hansby Maund (b. Sept 1863). The next two are a little less clear: Elizabeth (b. 1864) and William (b. 1866). William is recorded as born in Weston Super Mare, Somerset, not in Wales, and this seems to mark the change in the tide for the Maunds. Previously, they had appeared frequently in the Hereford Times with their activities, but by the late 1860’s, references to them are few. In 1867, John Maund is recorded as agent to Mr. Charles Gibson, wine merchant.

Tellingly, in the 1871 Census, John and Louisa are recorded at separate addresses. John is at 3 Crescent Road, South Norwood Park, Croydon, Surrey. His profession is more humbly ‘J.P. and wine merchant’, and with him are John (7) Elizabeth (6) and William (5). Louisa is at Watton Mount, the home of George and Eliza Overton, in Brecon, with Mary (10) and Louisa (8).

Intriguingly, the next we hear of John Maund is a bankruptcy notice for wine merchants John Maund and CC Shirreff in Oct 1871, and then the death of John Maund, not in England, but at 16 Rue de Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer in France, on May 6^th, 1876, aged just 45. Louise is listed as his widow and executor, and is also listed at this same address, so it does not appear that he has run off with another woman, but perhaps been the victim of what we might nowadays call a ‘mid-life crisis.’ His assets are less than one thousand pounds.

And so against this sad episode, we follow now the courses of his children and their descendents, each with their own unique story.

May’s is arguably the most interesting. In 1889 she marries Nicholas Wiseman Lonergan (b. 1856). His lineage is mixed - his mother Selina is Belgian, his father’s father is Irish, and his father’s mother is Spanish. His father James is recorded as a merchant to Mexico in the 1881 Census, and his own occupation is as a commercial clerk. In this census, James (64), Selina (62), Nicholas (25, unmarried) and his sister Ismena (28, unmarried) are all staying at a boarding house in Kensington.

May and NWL marry at Paddington, London. The next we see of them is on a passenger list in New York in October 1892. NWL (35) is an accountant, and Mary (30) are mysteriously accompanied by ‘R.S. Lonergan, 3 years old, female’ and ‘Harry Lonergan, 10 months, male.’ All are destined for the port of Vera Cruz in Mexico. I have found no further convincing records for Harry.

R.S. Lonergan is Ronald Stanley, and so is not female. He enlisted for the British Army in 1916. In 1929 he was living in Trindad as a merchant, but returns to live in England. He dies in London in 1962, apparently single.

Their further children are born in Mexico: Hilda Mary (4 Dec 1892), Carmen (11 Oct 1896) Louisa Mary (b.1899) and Anthony (b.1900). We will follow each of these now.

Hilda apparently marries an Ernest Harker in 1916 in Mexico. She then marries Frederick Stanley Stevens (b. 12 Nov 1888 in Quebec, Canada - presumably went south looking for warmer weather) in the early 1920’s. They had 3 sons: Alexander Charles (1924-1992), William Frederick (1926-2012), and Paul Stanley (1928-2007). Alex and Paul apparently lived and died in Mexico, William died recently in Alabama. A census in Mexico in 1930 shows this family living in Guadalajara, along with May (Mary Lonergan, 69). F.S. Stevens is recorded as ‘Agente - Seguro de Vida’, which I assume is life insurance agent.

Shortly after this, May dies in Guadalajara in 1931. NWL’s death is recorded in Mexico in 1913. I have no record of NWL ever returning to England between 1892 and 1913. The shipping records give us the clues as to what the rest of their children did.

In July 1905, May returns to England with Hilda (13) Carmen (8) Louisa (6) and Anthony (3). In June 1909, May is again returning to England, but only with Louisa (9) and Anthony (7). Presumably the elder two were left at Boarding School. In 1911, Carmen is at Boarding School in London, aged 14.

In 1916, Carmen is now Carmen Palmer: she has married Sydney Charles Palmer (b. 1880). He is variously listed as an accountant and an oil operator for the Anglo Mexican Petroleum Company. I am not certain whether they met/married in England or Mexico, but in 1916, they travel from Mexico to England. The contact address on the shipping list for Mary Lonergan looks like 3a Dinamaria 50, Mexico City.

In October 1920, the following travel from England to Mexico: SCP (40), CP (24), Joan May Palmer (2 ½), Victoria Hilda Palmer (1), and Louisa Lonergan (21).

In June 1923, the following travel from Cuba to England: SCP (43), CP (27), JMP (6), VHP (4), and Peter Charles Palmer (2).

In Dec 1926, Mary Lonergan (65) travels alone from Mexico to England to visit ‘Mrs. Palmer. 7 Highcroft Gardens, Golders Green, London.’ and she returns alone to Mexico in Nov 1927. This is her last trip to England.

SCP dies in Golders Green in 1941, CP dies in Middlesex in 1979. I have no further information on the Palmer children.

Louisa Mary Lonergan marries Thomas Francis Reilly on 29 May 1923 in Mexico. TFR is an Irishman, b. 2 Aug 1892, from a large family in Cavan. I presume he also went looking for warmer weather. They have 3 children: Nicholas John Reilly (1925-1996), Frank Myles Reilly (1927-1962) - he married Sheila Taylor in London in 1947 and had 2 children, but died in Queensland, Australia. The third is a daughter who married John Bufton. TFR died in London in 1946 and LML died in London in 1965, so some or all of the family had returned to England over time. There is a Reilly family tree on ancestry.com.

Anthony Lonergan apparently died in Mexico in 1942, I have no further information on him.

* * * * *

The next of the Maund children is Louisa. The only record I have of her is marrying a Ferdinand Adolphe D’Or in Boulogne-Sur-Mer in or before 1880, and having a daughter Henriette Elizabeth in 1883. It is possible that some or all of the Maund family may have been living together in France at and/or after the time of John Maund’s death in 1876, and Louisa may have either stayed on, or returned to France at a later time to marry the Frenchman.

John Hansby Maund followed in his maternal grandfather’s footsteps and became a doctor. In 1890 he was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons. He lived in Newmarket, Cambridgeshire. In 1898 in London he married Clare Antonia Noding (b. 1866 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, a British subject - I presume she had returned to England). Their four children are recorded in the censuses: John Anthony Hansby Maund (b. 30 Dec 1898), Frances Edward Hansby Maund (b. 1901), Ruth Clare Hansby Maund (b. Apr 1902) and Gwynith Iseult Maund (b. 1905). Although the first 3 all receive Hansby as a middle name, all seem to go by the surname Maund only. JHM dies in St. Albans, Hertfordshire in 1944, CAN dies in Uxbridge in 1951.

JAHM is recorded as a civil servant. He married Sheila Julia Dillon (b. 1918 Ireland) in 1940, and had 2 sons: John Hansby Maund (b. 1945 London) and Roger Hansby Maund (b. 1946 London). JHM (1945) married Miss Garratty in 1973 in London and Roger married Miss Moran in London in 1968. I am not sure whether either had children, or how many, but there are some people listed at present officially using the surname Hansby-Maund, and I believe it is the children of either of these brothers.

FEHM traveled to South Africa in 1927. His address is recorded as Heath Cottage, Newmarket, he is traveling to Durban as a ‘sugar planter’, and he states his intended future permanent residence as Natal. He is married in 1948 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, to Mildred Mary Heron Heathcote Castle (1912-1999) and dies in Bridport, Dorset in 1961. I do not believe he had children.

RCHM marries Mr. Henderson in London in 1928; I know no further of her.

GIM is variously reported as marrying an Evans, a Gelling, and a Harper; she dies in Essex in 1993.

The last two of the Maund children are a mystery. As with John Maunds, there are a lot of Elizabeth Maunds and William Maunds about, so it is hard to track them. William Maund is specifically mentioned as a beneficiary in George Overton’s will, to receive several hundred pounds when he turns 21. There seems to be some legal contest about this in the late 1880’s. There is a single reference to a William Hansby Maund in a legal document about 1914, but I have no further evidence that a person of this name existed.

The last thread of the tale is Louisa Clifford Maund. She dies 7 Sep 1891 in Lyme Regis, Dorset, and leaves her probate of 1100 pounds to Richard Baker Gabb, a solicitor in Abergavenny. Why Louisa does not leave her assets to her children, but to a distant childhood connection, is not clear. This time apparently coincides with the departure of May for Mexico, and of JHM’s registration as a doctor; Louisa is presumably in France, and William and Elizabeth are not to be found.

In 1911, George Hansby Russell is in Lyme Regis, but this is 20 years apart, and a mere coincidence I presume. On reflection, I have yet to find any specific document that puts Louisa Clifford Maund in the same place as any of her children between John Maund’s death in 1876, and her own death in 1891.

7d. On the trail of a painting.

Earlier I described a portrait of Mary Sharp holding her infant son John, painted in about 1812. In Barradale’s letter of 1955, he indicated he had a photograph this painting. As part of my research, I was able to make contact with his daughter Sonia, who was fortunately still able to locate this photograph. As indicated in her father’s letter, this photograph has a Mexican address stamped on the back: ‘La Rochester, Mexico D.F.’ This La Rochester was a photographic studio operating in Mexico City around 1910, which would seem to suggest that the original painting had gone to Mexico with May Maund, and that May had had photographs taken of it to distribute to other family members.

This in turn would seem to suggest that at MWH’s death in 1869, the painting came into Louisa Clifford Maund’s possession. In 1871, she was staying with George and Eliza Anne Overton at Watton Mount in Brecon, and perhaps the painting is kept there. Mary (May) is also there at this time. Louisa has likely been close with Eliza Anne - they lived on adjacent properties in 1861, and their husbands presumably worked together as J.P., D.L’s. In 1883, the year both Eliza Anne and George die, either Louisa or Mary must have taken possession of the painting that had remained at Watton Mount. Perhaps Mary, as the namesake of Mary Sharp (nee Powditch) had a special tie to the painting. By 1883, Mary Isabel and Catherine have died, so the two elder sisters who might have laid claim to the painting are no longer with us. It is unclear at this time where Louisa Clifford Maund was - she may still have been in France with her daughter Louisa, she may have returned to Wales, or she may be in self-imposed exile in Devon. May Maund was now 22, and she may well have remained in contact with Eliza Anne Overton, particularly in the few months between George Overton’s death and Eliza Anne’s, during which time she might have been conveyed custody of the painting. One would have to assume that no-one else in the family had an especial interest in the painting, and so when May Maund emigrated to Mexico in 1892, the painting had nowhere else to go but with her.

Presumably, then, May had the photographs taken of the original painting, and brought a photograph copy back to England on one of her return visits, possibly making contact with her cousin Florence Atkinson (nee Russell) in London to convey the copy now held by Sonia Mayes (nee Barradale).

Intriguingly, a further photograph copy has been located in the United States. Hansby descendant and researcher Bob Sweeney made contact with Rose Stevens, the widow of William Frederick Stevens, the son of Hilda Mary Lonergan.

Rose writes in an email: “Bob, I have a black and white photograph of that painting framed and hanging on the staircase in my house. On the back is a note written in Hilda Lonergan Stevens’ handwriting that says: ‘Copy of the painting in our family. May have been painted by Lawrence in the late 18^th century. She is my mother’s great, great, great aunt, Mrs. Sharpe, the boy John.’”

This collateral discovery of a copy of the photograph in the Americas would seem to add weight to the notion that the painting went to Mexico. The 1930 census for Guadalajara in Mexico places Mary Lonergan (nee Maund) with Hilda Mary Stevens (nee Lonergan) a year prior to her death, so one would think that Mary died with her daughter Hilda. As Hilda appears only to hold a photograph of the painting, this would seem to suggest that she is not the custodian of the painting, and that Rose does not know its whereabouts, would seem to indicate that it did not pass to the Stevens branch of the family.

In terms of the location of the painting, then, there would seem to be three possibilities. Firstly, that the painting is still held by a descendant of Mary Lonergan (Maund), presumably somewhere in Mexico. Secondly, that the painting was returned to England during one of Mary Lonergan’s return voyages, and passed on to one of her descendants in England (including her children Ronald Stanley, Carmen or Louisa) or to another Hansby descendant. And thirdly, of course, that the painting might be lost to the family altogether.

The information on the back of Rose Stevens’ copy of the photograph is certain the best clue as to the nature of the painting, but it does raise some queries as to the exact identity of the subjects. My presumption is that the subjects are Mary Sharp (nee Powditch) and her infant son John, mainly because I have proof that both these people existed, and that they were mother and son, and if the infant John were 1-2 years old, as would seem to be the case from the photo, that would date the painting to about 1812. Further, the death in June 1812 of the young George William Sharp, would seem to give a basis for the painting of the portrait with the young John Sharp as the new Sharp heir apparent.

However, the note on the back suggests the painting was from the late 18^th century, rather than the early 19^th, and the relationship to Hilda Lonergan Stevens is also incorrect - Mary Sharp (nee Powditch) is her mother’s great grandmother, not her thrice great aunt. Therefore, there is still the possibility that the painting is of a different family from an earlier generation, indeed in the late 18^th century.

Thomas Lawrence was one of the pre-eminent portrait artists of his generation. He held the post of President of the Royal Academy, and was the preferred painter of King George IV. His works extend from approximately 1790 to 1830. Stylistically there are certainly similarities between the work depicted in the photograph and some of the known works of Thomas Lawrence. By 1812, however, Thomas Lawrence was in very high demand, including by the King, and so one wonders if he would have found time to have done a sitting for a Southwark shipwright’s family. In regard to the quality of the work, it is this author’s opinion that the quality of the ‘Mrs. Sharp’ painting is inferior to the general quality of the works of Thomas Lawrence from a similar timeframe.

Barradale opines in his documents that the work might have been painted by Angelika Kauffmann, but contact with Bettina Baumgartel of the Angelika Kauffmann Research Project indicates that the work is not typical of a Kauffmann, and that the work likely dates to 1790-1800, which is after the period Kauffmann was painting in (approximately 1760-1790).

Possibilities for the work therefore include that the subjects are earlier than Mary Sharp (nee Powditch) and her son John, and may have been painted by Thomas Lawrence as an early work. If the subjects are indeed Mary Sharp (nee Powditch) and her son John, painted in 1812, then they may be by another artist, or possibly by a ‘studio assistant’ of Thomas Lawrence. If this painting were a genuine Thomas Lawrence, it would surely be a valuable work indeed.

* * * * *

Just as the most valuable Hansby family heirloom had left the shores of Great Britain, so, too, had the only two Hansby sons who would carry the Hansby line to the present day. The two little brothers of the six elder Hansby sisters would take the centre of gravity of the Hansby family to the southern hemisphere.

8. Two young boys travel to New Zealand - the spread of the Hansbys to the Antipodes c. 1860-1900.

In the previous chapter, we have followed the lives of Michael William Hansby’s daughters and their families. Now we return again to the perilous trail of the Hansby patrilineage. As noted already, certain Hansby descendants seem to have identified the Hansby patrilineage as extinct in the United Kingdom, with some incorporating the surname into hybrid names in order to perpetuate the name.

When William Michael Joseph Hansby followed in his seafaring brother’s footsteps, then, and left South Wales in 1869, he took from Great Britain the last known remnant of the Hansby patrilineage that would continue to the present day.

WMJ Hansby arrived in Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia on January 30^th, 1870, aboard the Ilione. He then made his way to New Zealand, presumably on the recommendation of his brother. Just as their father Michael William and his brother Ralph had found their way together to Abergavenny in Wales to revive the Hansby fortunes, so these two brothers now held the future of the Hansby patrilineage between them. However, whilst both would have reasonable broods, they would not maintain quite as close ties as their father and uncle had, and they did not marry sisters.

As mentioned already, Ralph Joseph had chosen a life at sea, and had left the family home as early as age 14. He discards the name Ralph early on, and uses only the name Joseph Hansby, and so he will be referred to as Joseph Hansby from here on. Our family is in possession of his Testimonial Record, which documents his seafaring career.
Editor's Note: You can see photos of his actual Master's Certificate as a ship captain below. The originals are in the possession of David Morley.

Year                Rank                Ship                 Route

1864-65           Midshipman    Cassipore         London - NZ - Java - London

1865-70           Third Officer   Golden Sea     London - Australia route

(Receives his Second Mate’s Certificate from the English Board of Trade in 1868.)

1870-71           Second Officer s.s. Kangaroo Laying cable Singapore to Hong Kong

1871-72                “            “             “             London - India - London

1873                Third Officer   s.s. Victoria     London - Sydney

1873                Second Mate   Golden Sea     Sydney - London - Quebec - London

(First Mate’s Certificate January 1874.)

1874                Chief Officer Mera                London - Melbourne

1875-77           Chief Officer s.s. Easby        Australia - New Zealand route.

(Master’s Certificate, Wellington NZ, s.s. Easby, January 1877.)

1878-80           Chief Officer s.s. Hawea       Union Steamship Company of NZ.

1881-88           Master             (various ships of the Union Steamship Co.)

Master's Certificate
For Joseph Hansby
Issued at Wellington, New Zealand
January 1, 1877
Photos Contributed by David Morley
Click on photos for larger images.

What is clear enough is that the life of a seaman is not terribly conducive to family life. Whilst WMJH may have traveled to Australia at his brother’s suggestion, he did not travel there on his brother’s ship, and once there, his brother would not have been around very much for companionship. I am not certain at what point WMJH moved to New Zealand, nor where he lived exactly from 1870-1876.

In Sydney on Dec 1^st 1874, Joseph Hansby marries Eliza Annie Read. She had come to Sydney from Warwickshire with her family in 1853; possibly Joseph had met her on his visit to Sydney in 1873. At this point, he switches to the more ‘local’ New Zealand route, presumably to have less time away from his new wife. His wife shares his great aunt’s name, and when they have their first daughter in 1877, he gives her the name of his next eldest sister - Florence. Sadly, this little girl dies in her first year. Her burial record remembers her by her second name Ida. By the time their second daughter is born in 1879, the family has moved to Port Chalmers near Dunedin in New Zealand. This is the base of the Union Steamship Company, and presumably the company has offered Captain Hansby local coastal routes around New Zealand, so that he can be less distant from his young family. Their daughter receives another of her aunt’s names - Louise Clifford. Violet Maud is born there in 1881, and William George Hoskins in 1883.

As testament to the dangerous nature of seafaring, a letter is recorded amongst Captain Hansby’s testimonials in June 1883 of a gale between Napier and Wellington in which a passenger is lost. The letter absolves the captain of any blame, and is signed by a number of the passengers.

Joseph and Eliza’s last child Cyril Joseph was born on November 13^th, 1885 at Port Chalmers. From here, Captain Hansby’s fortunes turn ill. As captain of the s.s. Hawea, on June 12^th, 1888, having completed a voyage from Manukau to New Plymouth, the vessel struck an uncharted rock whilst docking at New Plymouth, and sank. All the passengers and their luggage were safely landed, but under the company’s policy, a captain who loses a ship must be dismissed.

It was at this time, in order to secure a new position as a captain with another company, that Captain Hansby had his Testimonials typed up and bound into a small booklet. This booklet also contains letters from the company and from other passengers which record that the loss of the Hawea was not his fault. The decision to return to Sydney is obviously made at this point, and the arrival of Mrs. Hansby and her four children in Sydney from Wellington on the s.s. Waihora is recorded in July 1888. Captain Hansby seems to have secured a position sailing the coastal routes from Sydney, and he obtains his Pilot’s Certificates for Sydney, Newcastle and for Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne) in October 1888.

The following appears in a Sydney newspaper on August 6^th, 1889: “At 10 minutes after 10 o’clock (last night), Captain Hansby of the steamer Jubilee, attempted to jump onto a Paddington tram just as it had crossed King Street. He missed his footing and fell between the two cars. He then rolled under the footboard and was severely crushed… the unfortunate man died… from a hemorrhage of the lungs. ”

Yet again in the Hansby family history, the tragic and untimely death of a parent would leave a young family to be cared for by the single remaining parent. Their four surviving children, aged from ten down to four years would be cared for by their mother Eliza Annie, possibly with the assistance of her mother Eliza, now a widow in her sixties. We will follow their tale in the next chapter.

* * * * *

Let us return now to William Michael Joseph Hansby. When his elder brother left the family home to go to sea, possibly as early as 1861, WMJH is the only remaining male child in the household. The three of his sisters who will marry are already married, and his father is nearly 60 years old. Perhaps spurred by the departure of his elder son, Dr. Michael William Hansby makes as great an investment in his youngest son as he will make for any of his children, and sends WMJ for Pharmacy training in Belgium. While the dates that he was on the Continent are not known, it would seem that he had completed his training by the time of his father’s death in August 1869, and we must infer that he left for Australia very soon after learning of his father’s death. He has surely only had minimal contact with his seafaring brother since Joseph’s exodus eight years ago, and yet he follows in his trail directly, to arrive in Australia in early 1870. Possibly around the time that his brother picks up the New Zealand route, WMJH migrates to New Zealand, and by 1876 he has arrived in Greymouth, which is a small town on the South Island. It is on the northwest coast of the island, quite literally on the opposite side of the island to Dunedin, where Joseph Hansby moves to. It is possible that the brothers might have met up if Joseph was in port at Greymouth.

In 1876 he is working as a chemist in Greymouth. On February 4^th, 1877, WMJ Hansby marries Annie Courtney in Reefton, a small gold mining town inland from Greymouth. She is the daughter of John and Mary Courtney, who seem to have originated from Kyneton, a town in country Victoria. They seem to have been living in New Zealand for some years prior to their daughter’s marriage, and I find no evidence that they had met WMJH in Victoria before they all moved to New Zealand.
Editor's Note: A chemist in those days performed the duties of what we would call a pharmacist today, but often did much more than that. For example, he seems to have practiced dentistry. The "chemist" part involved concocting one's own medications and brands as well. You can see two examples in the advetisements he ran in the Inanguahua Times, a regional newspaper in the western south island of New Zealand in the late nineteenth century. The first ad ran continually every week from 1896 through 1900, at least. The second, relating to his dental work, ran several times in 1895 in a part of the paper set aside for sailing notices. We surmise that those going on a ship might care about how their teeth looked when they arrived!

Advertisements for William Michael Hansby
For Chemist and Dentist
Inanguahua Times, Reefton, New Zealand
Photos Contributed by David Morley

Annie is ten years younger than WMJ Hansby, and they start their family quickly. There is no delay in his having a son and heir - Joseph Patrick Hansby is born on March 5^th, 1878. Perhaps he is named for WMJ’s brother who goes by the name of Joseph, just as Joseph names his first son William a few years later. It may well be that there is still good blood between these two brothers, even though they have been mostly separated over the recent years.

Over the next 22 years, WMJ and Annie Hansby will complete the largest Hansby family in history, eclipsing WMJ’s own family of 12 offspring. They will have no less than 17 children, of whom 16 will reach adulthood. Twelve, including the first six, are boys, surely guaranteeing the continuation of the Hansby patrilineage. The first five are born in Greymouth up to 1883, and then the family moves to Reefton for the remainder. WMJ, a doctor’s son, works as a chemist for his entire career.

To write the stories of the descendant families of all of these offspring would constitute a separate volume in itself, and I will not attempt this here. I include only a brief summary of the 17 known children.

Name                                       Birth    Brief Summary

Joseph Patrick                         1878    Moved to Sydney, had 3 boys and a girl.

William Charles John (‘Bill’) 1879    Survived by 3 boys, 3 girls, moved to Melbourne.

Leo John                                 1880    Painter. Married Catherine Hughes. ?no children.

Alva Mary Stephen                 1882    Rugby player. Unmarried. Died Westport 1913.

Ignatius Courtney (‘Nash’)     1883    Served WW1. Unmarried. Died Gisborne 1940.

Francis McHugh (‘Frank’)      1884    Served WW1. Married Mary Rogan, ?no kids.

Marie Joseph                           1885    Died Reefton aged 7 weeks.

Ralph Hillary                           1887    Tailor. Married Teresa Shaw. 5 girls, 3 boys.

Mary Joseph (‘Molly’)            1888    Married Walter Winkleman. Died 1914, no kids.

Aloysius John (‘Jack’) 1889    WW1: KIA at Passchendale October 12^th, 1917.

Ellen Ann (‘Nell’)                   1890    Married Bernard Hughes, 6 children. Wellington.

Clara Florence                         1892    Married Patrick Ryan, 2 children, died 1925.

Louis Joseph                           1893    Hairdresser. Married Annie Coley. 3 girls.

Michael Joseph (‘Mick’)         1894    Married Agnes Hughes, had 4 boys and a girl.

Cyril Thomas                           1896    Barber. Married Muriel Boyce. 1 boy, Donald.

Anthony Basil                         1898    Married Daisy Fox. 2 boys, 4 girls.

Alice Bernadine (“Bernie’)     1900    Married Tame Patete, ? 7 children.

It is notable that Leo, Nell and Mick all marry Hughes’s - they are indeed siblings. The parents move to Wellington in 1919 to live with daughter Nell. Their golden anniversary is announced in the Wellington papers in February 1927. Around this time, the Duke and Duchess of York (later to become King George VI and the Queen Mother) visit Wellington, and although WMJ and Annie were living only a few minutes’ walk from the port at Wellington, there is no official record of any meeting taking place between the Royals and the golden anniversary couple. Had they met, WMJH might well have been able to point out to the Duchess their shared ancestor Ralph Hansby of Beverley…

Annie dies shortly after, in August 1927, and WMJ in November 1930. Their prodigious brood has surely gone on to create hundreds of present day descendants, including all the New Zealand Hansbys.
Editor's Note: You can read in more detail about some of the New Zealand Hansbys and their relatives by marriage, the Hughes family, at Bob Sweeney's A War Bride Comes to Pennsylvania. Bob is the grandson of Bernard and Nellie (Hansby) Hughes. The story is written around his mother Teresa Alva (Hughes) Sweeney and her move to the United States to marry at the end of World War Two. Bob's site also has copies of the death certificates for WMJ and his wife Annie, and BEranrd and Ellen Hughes, as well as photos and a map of their grave markers at Karori Cemetery in Wellington, courtesy of Anthony Patete, another Hansby cousin.

Here also are a photo of the actual reading glasses worn by WMJ and Annie, which were given to Bob Sweeney by his mother Teresa just before her death in 2015:

The Personal Reading Glasses of William Michael Joseph Hansby (top) and Annie (Courtney) Hansby
Photos Contributed by Bob Sweeney
Click on the Photo for an Expanded View

As my own branch of the Hansby tree is Joseph’s, I will explore this in my final chapter. For me, the irony lies in Joseph Hansby being born in old South Wales, and dying in New South Wales.

9. The Hansbys of Sydney c. 1890- 1950.

When Captain Joseph Hansby missed his footing stepping onto a moving tram at the corner of King and Elizabeth Streets in Sydney late one winter’s night in 1889, he was just shy of 42 years old, and had barely been living in Sydney a year since having to relocate from New Zealand in some disgrace. Perhaps he had just returned to port, and was hurrying to catch the last tram home, perhaps the tramcar was slippery with winter rain, but the inescapable ignominy was that a ship’s captain, who had sailed and survived the stormy oceans of the world for the last quarter of a century, should meet his worldly end under a Sydney tramcar.

As noted, he left four young children of ages four through ten, to the care of his widow Eliza Annie. Newspaper reports of the captain were that he was very much liked and respected, and that his untimely passing was much grieved on both sides of the Tasman.

Louise Clifford Hansby became a secretary in Sydney, and retired to a convent in Ashfield.

Violet Maud Hansby married Herbert Cummins, and they had 2 girls and a boy.

William George Hoskins Hansby married relatively late, firstly to an Edith MacCann at age 37, then to Millie Edna Belfield at age 47. She was 18 years his junior, and they had 3 daughters. Both William and their middle daughter Barbara died in 1940.

The only one of Joseph’s children to perpetuate the Hansby line in New South Wales was his youngest Cyril Joseph. In 1911, he married Jessie Cluny Brooks in Rockdale, in Sydney’s inner south. They had 3 children - Thomas Cyril Hoskin in 1912, Frank Sydney in 1915, and Amy in 1917. The family then moved to Manly, a seaside suburb to the north of Sydney, and Cyril Joseph bought a hardware shop here. Perhaps he had some premonition of his health failing, because he sold this shop prior to his premature death in 1925, aged just 39, and once again, a Hansby widow would have to take the reins of her young family.

Thomas Cyril Hoskin would go on to become a bank manager. He marries Ellen Grace Cates in Manly in 1937, and they raise their 3 children there - Graham, Barbara and Joy.

Frank Sydney marries Joyce Maie Brewer in 1943. They are unable to have their own children, and they adopt Ross and Heather.

There is a family photograph of Amy Hansby - a fit and well young lady in a summer dress, surely not less than 18 years old, but alone and with a pensive face. Perhaps she knows already that she is pregnant out of wedlock, and is faced with an impossible decision. Terribly, the coroner’s report states that she died in February 1936, aged just 18, from septicaemia following an abortion, presumably performed by an unqualified ‘back yard’ operator. Just as Hansby women from generations before had died in the process of childbirth, tragically this young Hansby woman’s life would end prematurely, though through the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy in this instance. She had grown up seeing her father grow ill and die, and was then raised by her single mother. Even in the brave new world of the 20^th century, life was still difficult and dangerous.