Orgate Farm in Swaledale
October 11, 2018
“ORGATE, a farm house in the township and parish of Marske; 1 mile NW. of Marske, 5 miles from Reeth, 7 from Richmond.”
In the chapter ‘The Story’s End’ in the book ‘In the Palm of a Dale’ by David Morgan Rees, it states “Originally linked to lead mining in the area, the house at Orgate, which dates from the early eighteenth century and was probably thatched at one time, is pretty basic.”
This, however must only be speaking of the present structure since, as we’ll see, I have discovered referrals to Orgate in books and articles as far back as the 15th century!
My interest in Orgate Farm began when my family history research led me to a Marske Parish record for the baptism in 1639 of my 7th great grandfather, Simon, the son of Ralph Ward of Orgate March 8,1639. So, you can see that, with Simon’s birth record, Orgate, as a family home, already takes us back to the early 17th century! But it goes a lot further back than that… have a look!
Orgate Through the Centuries
23 July, 16 Hen. VI (1438)., Alianora widow of Thomas de Cleseby (Lord of Marske), grants seizin (legal possession of a feudal fiefdom or fee, that is to say an estate in land) to Ralph Pudsay, Esq., of Colynhall and Orgate. I understand this to mean Ralph Pudsay, Esq. was given legal possession of Colynhall (haven’t found anything about this place yet) and Orgate by Alianora. It’s not clear why. This Ralph Pudsay/Pudsey, must be the one who later became ‘Sir’ Ralph Pudsay’, heir of the manors of Barforth (near Forcett) & the manor of Bolton by Bowland (about 15…Read More
On 24 Mar. 35 Hen. VI. (1457) Sir Ralph Pudsay and Henry his son release to him (William Conyers 1435-1495) and his wife (Elizabeth Cleseby) their interest in Marske. (which would include Orgate as per above 1438 entry)
1 March 16 Edward IV (1476) “he ( William Conyers, Esq) enfeoffs her (his second wife Anne) of Collinghall, Hermite Close & Orgate…for life.” After William dies in 1495 Ann remarries to Thomas Hardy, but her son and heir of her first husband, William, gives her Collinghall for life, but not Orgate.
William Conyers, Lord of Marske, among a list of items in his will, leaves to his son and heir William Conyers, his farm called ‘Orgate’.
The above William dies only 4 years after his father and his only heir is his young daughter Joan Conyers. She becomes the wife of Arthur Philip of Brignall in 1559.
On the 7th of March, 39th Eliz., (1597) Arthur Phillip of Marske, Esq., and Francis Phillip his son and heir apparent, Talbott Bowes of Richmond, Esq., and Anth. Besson of Graie’s Inn, gent., sell the demesne of Marske for 3,000L. to Timothy Hutton, Esq. Arthur Phillip dies later the same year in October.
In the Marske parish register for 1635 is this entry: Anthony Coates baptized, son of Richard Coates of Orgate. Thus Richard Coates is likely the one who was renting Orgate from Timothy Hutton.
In the Marske parish records there is the baptism of Simon Ward my 7x great grandfather, son of “Ralph Warde de Orgate”. Ralph married Eden Coates in 1638 so it seems likely that Eden was a sister of the Richard Coates mentioned above in 1635. Did Richard move out and his sister Eden move in with her new husband Ralph Ward? Or did Ralph just move in with Eden and her family? Or was there more than one dwelling at Orgate back then?
Lancelot Moore dies at Orgate, but the April 13, 1730 Marrick Parish record only states “Lancelot Moore, jager, buried.” This is interesting in the aspect of his occupation ‘jager’. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, a jager is the “man in charge of horses carrying ore from the mine to the smelting-mill” However, his will is what places him at Orgate prior to his death. It begins “I, Lance Moore of Orgate House…. give to my loving wife ye ould huse att marsk.” So he leaves ‘ye old house at Marske’ to his wife…Read More
Lancelot Moore’s son John Moore must have inherited the house from his mother Barbara (Coates) Moore because he dies at Orgate, age 59 in 1758.
Marske register has the following entry: October 8th 1771 John son to James & Eliz. Haseltine of Orgate baptized. A marriage is registered in Marske for this couple, James Haseltine and Elizabeth Catchasides 11 July 1770.
Marske register has the following entry: November 22, 1772 Dorothy dr to George & Emma Coates of Orgate bapt. George’s wife Emma was the sister to Elizabeth (Catchasides) Haseltine above. Possibly coincidental or possibly not, George Coates is a direct descendent of the above-mentioned Richard Coates’ brother Ralph Coates.
Marske register has the following entry: January 12th 1774 Eliza: Daughter to James & Eliz: Haseltine of Orgate bapt.
Marske register has the following entry: February 9th 1775 – “Elizabeth, wife to James Haseltine of Orgate buried.” Some time after the death of Elizabeth, James moved to Gilling by Richmond and in 1779 married a widow named Jane Furnish. Her maiden name was Jane Harker.
Marske register has an entry June 6, 1779 for “Will’m and Mary, twin children of John and Marg’t Wilson of Orgate baptized” This John & Margaret previously lived at Skelton. There was a long line of Wilsons at neighbouring Telfit, Feldom and Helwith. Sadly, these twins both died within 2 months of each other at age 14/15. October 21 1784: Nanny, daughter to John and Margaret Wilson of Orgate, baptized. Pauper April 6th 1788: Dorothy, daughter to John and Margaret Wilson of Orgate, baptized. Pauper By 1793 John and Margaret Wilson have moved to Birk House and have 2 more…Read More
During the time the Wilsons lived at Orgate, this sad mention of Orgate appeared in the Marske register: 1786. May 8. A child of Chr. Tideman’s, just removed from Jinglepot to Orgate, between 3 and 4 years old, stray’d from his father’s house and was found dead on Marske moore. – The child followed its father to the moors and was lost. They searched in vain all night, and found it dead next morning. The poor child had taken its clogs off and tried to go to sleep. Mr. Hutton remembers the incident.
We find in 1815 a baptism at Marske for Francis Place, son of John and Mary (nee Outhwaite) of Orgate.
The Marske register of June 27th 1830 records the baptism of Margaret, daughter of John and Eleanor Wilkinson (late Metcalfe). Abode Orgate Occupation ‘farmer’s man’
Parish register of Marrick for May 29th, 1831 records the baptism of “John, son of Thomas and Sarah Regan (late Crawford), Orgate, labourer
1st household: Thomas Metcalfe age 65, farmer living at Orgate with his daughter Mary, age 25, and Isabella Hodgson, age 17 (Isabella is a daughter of neighbour Thomas Hodgson of Lummas House, Holgate); and grandson James Cansick, 8. 2nd household: William Hodgson, agricultural labourer age 33; wife Ann, 35; daughter Margaret, 8; daughter Elizabeth, 3; son William, 1.
1st household: William Hodgson, agricultural labourer age 43 and his wife Ann age 45 and children Elizabeth, 14, William, 11, Alice, 9, Hannah, 6, and Ann, 8. This family likely lived in a separate building for the workers. 2nd household: Thomas Metcalfe, farmer of 120, employing 1 man, and family consisting of daughter Mary A. Metcalfe, 35; niece Margaret Wilkinson, 20; and a young man Joseph Pickard, farm servant.
Birth of James Hodgson, illegitimate son of Margaret Hodgson (Margaret is the 20 year old daughter of William Hodgson above). In 1851 census Margaret was working as a servant in the household of William and Mary Milner at Hollings Farm in Marske.
In the 1861 census, living at Orgate are John Wilkinson and wife Eleanor (Metcalfe along with their children Mary, 24, Thomas, 22, and Ann, 16.). Eleanor’s father Thomas Metcalfe is also in the household, listed as ‘widower, retired farmer’, age 87. He dies a year later in February 1862. His Marske burial record notes his abode as ‘Coxwold’. Since his daughter Eleanor dies a year before him in March 1861, maybe he went to live with another relative who lived in Coxwold.
Margaret Ann Fryer, daughter of Joseph Fryer and Elizabeth Wilkinson dies at Orgate, March 1, 1861. Eleanor Wilkinson, daughter of John and Eleanor (Metcalfe) Wilkinson dies at Orgate, March 7, 1861. Eleanor (Metcalfe) Wilkinson, wife of John Wilkinson dies at Orgate September 27, 1861 June 14 1862 Mary Wilkinson, spinster, daughter of John and Eleanor has an illegitimate son at Orgate named Joseph.
Marrick parish records show twin sisters Eleanor and Mary Place, daughters of John and Ann Place ‘of Orgate’ baptized in 1867. This Ann is the daughter of John and Eleanor Wilkinson listed above in the 1861 census at Orgate. John Place was the son of Joseph Place at neighbouring Gingle Pot. Here is the marriage document for John Place and Ann Wilkinson:
July 11, 1868 Mary Wilkinson, daughter of John and Eleanor Wilkinson dies at Orgate December 15, 1868 her father John Wilkinson re-marries to his housekeeper Elizabeth (Barker) Hodgson, 30 years his junior. John Wilkinson dies at Orgate December 21, 1868 only 6 days after his marriage.
John Iveson – born 1827 Carlton, YKS. (This would be Carlton near Leyburn since all John Iveson’s children are born in Melmerby and his wife Jane in Newbiggin, all close to Leyburn.) Farmer of 151 acres. Children are Annie, 10; Mary, 6; Isabella, 3; and John, 1. The family obviously had just recently moved to Orgate since the 1 year old son was born in Melmerby. Also in the household is a general servant, Margaret White, age 19, born Feetham, Swaledale. Perhaps the Ivesons responded to this ad posted in the Teesdale Mercury in 1871 GRAZING FARM. TO BE LET…Read More
Still the John and Jane Iveson family (still farmer of 151 acres) listed with the same children. Anne, 20; Mary Ellen, 17; Isabel, 14; and John G M D, 11. (Son John’s full name is John George Metcalfe Dent Iveson)
By 1891 John Iveson is listed as a widower and living in the household are daughter Isabella J. Iveson, housekeeper; and son John G., farmer’s son. John’s wife Jane died in January of 1891, her burial record states her abode as ‘Orgate, Marske’.
By 1901, John Iveson, widower is 73 years old, still a farmer and employer. His son John G., age 31 is married to a Mary A. born in Hurst (this would be Mary Ann Thompson), age 31. They have an infant daughter, Jane A. age 7 months. There is a John Thompson, visitor, age 24 and a shepherd named Thomas Coates Thompson, age 18, both likely brothers of Mary Ann Thompson. By 1911 John Iveson is 85 and has moved to Gingle Pot along with his son John George Metcalfe Dent Iveson and wife.
Living at Orgate in 1911 is James Chapman Brown, 48, farmer. He had lived at Green House, Marrick at the time of his marriage in 1886 to Mary Jane Peacock (daughter of George Peacock of Healaugh, lead miner). Mary Jane was living at Bushy Park, Marske at the time of marriage, possibly as a servant. In 1891 they were living at Greenhurst, Marrick. In a story about Orgate in the Marske Millennium book called ‘In the Palm of a Dale’ there is this picture with the caption “Orgate Farm in 1908 with Edward and Alice Brown, children of the tennants,…Read More
When James Roger Peacock married Jane Elizabeth Hodgson in 1913 his residence was ‘Orgate, Marske’. Then, they both appear in the 1939 census at Orgate. Jane Elizabeth Hodgson was the niece of William Hodgson who married Isabel Jane Iveson the one who grew up at Orgate (see 1871 – 1901 above). Before Jane Elizabeth and James Roger Peacock married, she was living with her mother Margaret and stepfather Charles Alderson at Telfit Farm, just a short way up the lane from Orgate. James Roger Peacock, although born in Bolton cum Redmire, had roots in Swaledale, as his great great grandfather,…Read More
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