Dalegarth Hall open day in aid of the Eskdale Mill Trust
Earlier
this year, Margie Foots agreed to succeed her mother, the late Anne
Stanley, as a patron of the Trust. Margie generously responded to
our hydro generator appeal, by offering to open her home and gardens
at Dalegarth Hall. This was a rare opportunity to view Eskdale’s
oldest house, and to learn more about the Stanley family. Eskdale
mill belonged to the Stanleys from at least 1633, but was sold to
Edward Hartley of Miterdalehead in 1737.
The
event on Sunday 9 August was a tremendous success. By paying
for entry and buying tea and cakes, plants, raffle tickets, and some
of Anne Stanley's pictures, locals and visitors together contributed
the magnificent total of £1,597 for the Trust. People enjoyed
themselves in a good cause, and EMHT raised its local profile.
We
are immensely grateful to Margie for allowing all-comers into her
home, laying on a guided tour and enlisting other members of the
Stanley family to assist. Special thanks to John & Diane Bromage
for master-minding and publicising the whole event, with help from
Paddy O’Neill and posters provided by Chris Jones. John also ran
the raffle, with prizes donated by local businesses. Many
thanks also to the gatekeepers, parking attendants (a stressful
task), stall-minders and caterers : Paul and Morag Dean, Bob and
Christine Hoye-Turner, Joan Marlow, Rosey Benn, Damian McSweeney,
Roger and Mu Putnam, Peter and Kate van Zeller, and Len & Denise
Watson, and all the others who helped out. Finally, thanks to
Gill Hart, the new vicar of Eskdale, who by attending with David
ensured that the rain held off for the whole afternoon.
Paul
Pharaoh
A brief history of the Stanley family of Dalegarth by Margie Foots
Nicholas
Austhwaite Stanley (1909-1985) was 25th
in direct line descended from a Noman lord who accompanied William
the Conqueror and was given the manor of Stoneleigh in Cheshire.
Dalegarth Hall became the seat of this Cumbrian branch of the family
in 1345 when Nicholas, son of John Stanley who had moved from
Cheshire to Embleton, married Constance, heiress to the manor of
Austhwaite. He also bought the manor and demesne of Ponsonby from
Adam de Eskdale in 1388.
The
descendants of Nicholas continued to accumulate more property and
gained status by marrying into other notable families and taking on
responsibilities such as becoming High Sheriff, Justice of the Peace
and Members of Parliament.
In
1566 / 1567 Thomas Stanley bought the manor of Birkby for a sum of
£760, and his son Edward was given the property of Brotherilkeld on
the dissolution of Furness Abbey. He was also able to buy the tithes
of Eskdale, Mitredale, Wasdale and Nether Wasdale from St Bees
Priory.
During
the civil war, his son John was an active and zealous royalist and
was heavily fined by Parliament. The family have a portrait of him
and letters from Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax at Dalegarth. He
was succeeded by his son Edward who bought the manor of Birker from
Edward Fletcher of Moresby Hall in 1671 for £212. 5s. He also bought
the rights for the holding of Ravenglass Fair and was High Sheriff
of Cumberland and proclaimed King William 3rd
in 1689.
Edward
was the last Stanley to live in Dalegarth Hall as Lord of the Manor.
His son John bought the Rectory of Ponsonby and moved his family to
Ponsonby Old Hall in 1689 and retained this as the family seat. This
would reflect the beginning of changes in farming practices and the
role of the Lord of the Manor to “Gentleman Farmer”.
John’s
son Edward married Mildred, daughter of Sir George Fleming, Bishop of
Carlisle. He was High Sheriff in 1731 and was on the grand jury at
the trial of the Jacobite prisoners in Carlisle in 1745. When he died
his heir, George Edward, was a young child and his mother organised
the running of the estate till he came of age. There are detailed
records of his schooling and information about the running of the
estate and improvements at a time when land was being enclosed and
properties enfranchised. He built a grand new house, Ponsonby Hall,
now Pelham House, and in Eskdale planted the woods round Dalegarth
and saw to the building of walls as fell-land was being enclosed.
He
died aged 58 in 1806 leaving very generous gifts to his children and
an annual allowance of £600 to his wife. This presented a problem to
his son Edward when he inherited the estate and most of the property
had to be mortgaged. Edward was an MP for 20 years and High Sheriff
in 1823.
His
son William succeeded him and he was followed first by Edward who
sold the whole of the Eskdale estate to Muncaster to cover some of
the debts, and as he and his brother William died unmarried, their
younger brother Philip moved to Ponsonby Hall with his family in
1928. His son Nicholas succeeded him and sold Ponsonby Hall to the
Home Office in 1940 and bought back the manor of Austhwaite. He was
the last High Sheriff of Cumberland. He moved into Dalegarth Hall in
1959 and it is now the home of his daughter Margaret.
