STANLEY GRANGE

 

Stanley Grange - A History Researched by Simon Hollingworth


Stanley Grange most probably came into the hands of Abbots of Dale Abbey, or to give it the correct title “Eccles S Marie de Parco Stanley”, or the Abbey in the Stanley Park, at the time  when Stanley Park was given to the Premonstratensian Order as an endowment for the Abbey by William Fitz Ralph, Lord of the Manor of Stanley at around 1197AD. William Fitz Ralph had held Stanley Manor, the
village of Stanley and the Park estate for seven years prior to the foundation of the Abbey in Stanley Park.

One of the monks at Dale Abbey, Thomas de Muscam stated, ‘that Stanley Park was given to the last of the Depedale Priories (Dale Abbey), a short lived foundation of about 1185-1192; he knew of no details of the gift, only that one of the Brothers built a Mill in the Park’.

However, in another turn of events I found that the family of William Fitz Ralph is in fact the ancient family of FITZ RANDOLPH, and are believed to have an exact genetic match to the Hollingworth family. This DNA match is currently being undertaken by the Hollingsworth (Valentine descendants) in the
USA. The Fitz Randolphs were the original owners and Lords of Stanley and the Grange.

“A.D. 1227-65. Hugh Fitz-Ralph, for the love of God, and for the health of his soul, and for the souls of Agnes and Idonea, his wives, of Ralph and Hugh, his sons, and for the souls of all his ancestors and successors, gave to God and the Church of the Blessed Mary in Stanley Park, and the canons of the order of the Premonstratenses there serving God, certain lands fully describe; and he likewise confirmed to that monastery, for the same reasons, fourteen bovates of land in Little Halum, in Derbyshire, which the said canons gave him in exchange for ten bovates in Seleston.”

William Fitz Ralph was the son of Ralph Fitz Geremund the protector of the Hermit of Depedale and is recorded as the High Sheriff for
Nottingham and Derby in the Pipe Roles of 1169. He was also a Justice on the King’s Bench and Seneshal of Normandy.

During this time,
Stanley Park would probably have stretched well outside Depedale to include the present estate of Stanley Grange, with the 12th Abbot, Dan William Horsley 1332-1351 stating that a Stone Chamber was built at Stanley Grange.

With the dissolution of the Abbey in Dale in 1538 AD by Henry VIII, the lands were then confiscated by the crown and sold off to the local gentry. Thomas Powtrell of West Hallam purchased Stanley Grange from the crown in 1544AD. The Powtrell family of West Hallam were devout and defiant Roman Catholics, with a strong enough power base to have survived the Tudors and Protestants of the day. As such, the Powtrell maintained Stanley Grange as a secret refuge for the ex Abbot of Dale and at least one of the former Cannons unwilling to accept the Protestant faith. From that time on, Stanley Grange literally became a centre for an underground movement of Papist teachings.

In 1625 Lady Anne Vaux, a Beaument of Grace-Due by birth and daughter of Lord Harrowden under the guise of a tenant farmer on the Powtrell Estate, held a small Jesuit Semenary (College of The Incarnate Conception)  there for the Catholic education of the sons of the local Catholic Gentry of West Hallam. The Chapel and class room I was informed by the present owners was underground in the barn; the remains of the ancient stone chamber of the Abbey. This farm is also report to have had underground escape tunnels built from the barn and house to the outlying fields.

Later betrayed by a former student to the Privy Council the school was broken up in 1635AD when it was raided. Lady Anne Vaux kept the raiders at bay due to the presence of Endymoine Porter, King Charles II life-time friend and member of his
Royal Court. The students made a hasty departure, most likely through the tunnels to the safety of the Powtrells in West Hallam. The Raiders upon entering the house with the authority of the Privy Council found two Chapels prepared for Mass and beds for almost 40 to 50 boys. Also of interest is that in 1637 during the time of Reformation, Stanley Grange was debated in The House of Commons, after which a deputation with the ‘Black Rod’ went to King Charles II seeking permission to raid Stanley Grange again, under the then Raids Bill. This raid and others were made while Charles II was in Derby and led by Captain Gilbert of Locko. During this raid Father Wright and Lady Anne Vaux along with the students, all sons of the local Catholic gentry were taken to London as prisoners. The King eventually exercised his Royal Prerogative and released them all.

Stanley Grange was later raided once more by the ‘Parliamentarian’ Mayor of Derby in
September 15 1642 during the Civil War between the Crown and the Parliament. During the raising of the Royal Standard in Nottingham on August 22 1642, King Charles and his Royal army and supporters marched via Derby leaving stores and weapons in a farm of a ‘Catholic Gentleman near West Hallam’. The Mayor of Derby raided the Stanley Grange late in the night surrounding the property and forcing entry. The Parliamentary Raiders found a secret passage and also a Jesuit Priest disguised as a servant, but no arms, as they had already been dispatched to Nottingham. However, amongst the persons found at Stanley Grange were Endymoin Porter and his son George. As Endymoin was still one of King Charles’ Courtiers, the Mayor thought better of arresting these two powerful people and chose to take away the Jesuit Priest.

However, the Jesuit school survived moving to Holbeach in
Lincolnshire and then finally to Spinkhill in Nottinghamshire in 1733. Now located on the Pole family’s estate at Spinkhill to become the well-known St Mary’s College, in 1829. And as for Stanley Grange, no act by the Privy Council was to change its Catholic loyalties. The Grange remained a centre for local Catholicism in the district, for at the trial of Father Busby of West Hallam in 1681AD, two witnesses stated that they had sent their children to the Chapel at Stanley Grange to be Christened. One witness Thomas Houis stated, “Father Busby did Christen my child and gave her the name Anne”. Another witness referred to Dr Richard Needham who also lived at Stanley Grange, and to Captain Sherbourne of Stanley Grange as very great Papists. It is believed that Captain Sherbourne was another of the Powtrell’s tenants or the husband of a Powtrell heiress.

However, the Powtrell’s ownership of Stanley Grange came to an end in 1666AD after 128 years when the last remaining male heir died leaving seven daughters. One daughter took the Manor of West Hallam and the inherited lands of the Hanloke family, and perhaps another, Stanley Grange with Capt. Sherbourne.

By 1780 AD Stanley Grange was held by Leigh Masters, the largest landowner in
Stanley, and by 1811 AD William Barton is found to be the master tenant for Masters on the estate.

Then in 1780 AD George Draycote, my forefather became the owner of Stanley Grange. George Draycot is decended from a branch of the Draycottes of Loscoe, near Heanor. W. Fowler Carter (1925) believes the Draycots to be descended from the male line of the Malbancs who were for three generations were baronial feudatories of the Palantine Earls of Chester.

John Draycott Gent. of
Stanley Grange
Returning to the Stanley Grange Draycotts, John Draycott son of George is now the head of this infamous estate in 1787. As Head of the House, John is a highly respectable gentleman included in the ‘Member of the Sixteen of Derbyshire’, being sixteen of the best men in Derbyshire.

At the Church in the
village of Stanley at the rear of the Church stands a slate headstone marking the Draycott family plot.

“Mary the wife of John Draycott who died
July 3rd, 1787, aged 30 years.
Also of Elizabeth his second wife who died
March 29th, 1797, aged 31 years.
Also John Draycott who died
April 7th, 1823, aged 82 years.
Also William Draycott his son who died
July 8th, 1812, aged 24 years.
Also of Thomas Draycott his son who died
22nd February 1831, aged 39 years.
Also of John Draycott his son who died
26 June 1845, aged 65 years”

George Draycott was Ann Draycotts father and father-in law to John Hollingworth of Dale.

John and Mary Draycott married
March 12th 1780. WH or DA?



John Hollingworth Gent. of Stanley Grange (1783-1862)
Son of Joseph Hollingworth of Dale Abbey and son-in-law of John Draycott.

John Hollingworth of Dale married Anne Draycott at
St Peters Church in Derby on the 3 February 1815 in the presence of George Draycott and Martha Hollingworth.

Anne Draycott was born
17 April 1794 and christened at St Andrew's church in Stanley, the family parish for the Draycotts of Stanley Grange. Anne died in 1869 and is buried in the Church yard of (?) West Hallam. John too is buried at (?) West Hallam and died on the 29 August 1862.

In 1823, John Draycott left John Hollingworth the estate of Stanley Grange. John Draycott was to live until 1846 and was still listed as the Farmer for Stanley Grange in the Dale Abbey list for Moreleston and Litchurch Hundred directory, suggesting that John Hollingworth was still subordinate to his father-in-law.

The Draycott family reputation in Derbyshire was of the highest order, and John not only benefited from this marriage socially, but financially as well. His fortune was to again increase with the inheritance of the right to tenant Poplass Farm in 1828 from John Hague Esq., a dear friend. And, in honour of his good friend, John Hollingworth had named his fourth child Thomas Hague Angus Hollingworth. In true Derbyshire tradition, this name has remained steadfast in the family with no less than five Thomas Hague Hollingworths.

During the 1841 Census for
Great Britain, John Hollingworth of Stanley Grange is recorded as 67 years of age, wife Ann 56 years of age, son Thomas Hague 29 years, daughter Mary 26 years and daughter Ann 21 years.

Ten years later in 1851, the Census records a much bigger household.
John Hollingworth as head, 67 years of age farmer of 97 acres employing 2 servants;
Ann Hollingworth, wife, 56 years of age;
Thomas Hollingworth, son, unmarried and 29 years of age;
Mary Matilda Hollingworth, daughter, unmarried and 26 years of age;
Ann Hollingworth, daughter, unmarried and 25 years of age;
William Hollingworth, son, unmarried and 23 years of age.

Again, there is no mention of John Hollingworth's eldest son, Hannah the eldest daughter, Joseph the second eldest son or Clara the daughter born in 1831. To date I found no further records of Hannah, Joseph or Clara, suggesting they may have died as infants.

Webmaster's note: After consulting my database I was able to inform Simon that Joseph and Clara did indeed die as children (both in 1833), whilst Hannah married William Canner in 1837 (which may explain the Canner connection to the Grange).

John Hollingworth the eldest son of John Hollingworth had married Eliza Shelton of Mapperley, 14 July in 1839 at Kirk Hallam. After their marriage and up until the time of John’s death in 1861 at Stanley Grange, John (Junior) was farming at Smalley. John (Junior) took on farming the family estate of Stanley Grange, as indicated in the census of 1861 where John Hollingworth is found to be head of the household with 4 children.

John and Eliza’s first child was Joseph Hacker Hollingworth born
1 September 1839 in Kirk Hallam. Their second child was born in Smalley on 1 May 1842 and christened Clara after her Aunt. John and Eliza remained at Stanley Grange until Anne Hollingworth (nee Draycott) passed away in 1869, where the Grange passed into the Canner family. The Canners had previously been at Locko Park.

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