STOCKTON WARD 



NORTON 



Thomas Blakiston died in 1483, having made various 

 dispositions of his lands ; he had conveyed one parcel 

 of land in Blakiston to trustees in 1470, and in 148: 

 had granted a rent from it ; in 1483 he had conveyed 

 certain land there to his brother, Robert Killinghall 

 His heir was a son William, aged eighteen.-'' Jane 

 the widow of Thomas had assignment of dower.'' 

 William Blakiston died in or about 1533 holding the 

 manors of Blakiston and Coxhoe, with other lands ; 

 his heir was his son Thomas.-^ Agnes, the widow, 

 received her dower.'' Thomas Blakiston in 1559 

 was succeeded by his son John, aged twenty-two.-'^ 

 In January i 562-3 John succeeded his uncle, William 

 Blakiston, in the manor of Coxhoe.-' John Blakiston 

 recorded a pedigree in 1575, but this, as printed, 

 confuses his father Thom.is with his gre.it-grandfather 

 of the same name.-' He did homage for the manor 

 of Blakiston in 1578 and took the oath of supremacy.^" 

 He died in 1587. The inquisition after his death 

 shows that in I 58 1, when his son William married 

 Alice daughter and eventual co-heir of William Claxton 

 of Wynyard in Grindon parish, he made a settlement 

 of Blakiston and other estates.'^ His will has been 

 printed.^' William Blakiston had licence to enter on 

 his father's lands in 1589.'^ He appears to have 

 been reconciled to the Roman Church before 1598, 

 and in 1600 bond was given for his appearance before 

 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.^^ Hence two-thirds 

 of the manor of Blakiston and other estates were 

 sequestered by the Crown and given in February 

 1598-g to Henry Sanderson, and, after revocation 

 of this grant, in March 1600- 1 to Marmaduke 

 Blakiston, '* perhaps his brother, rector of Redmarshall 

 and prebendary of Durham. The consequent fines 

 may account for various sales of their estates made by 

 William Blakiston and his wife,^** as well as for a 

 seizure of nearly a hundred of his stock — horses, 

 cows, &c. — made by bailiffs in 1607, when 

 Sir William himself vainly attempted a rescue by 

 force.'' His confinement to his manor-house 

 in 1608 was also, no doubt, due to his religion.'^ 

 James I, however, had at the beginning of his 

 reign made him a knight. '^ He was living in 

 161 2,'"' but probably died soon afterwards. His son 

 Thomas was in May 1615 made a baronet^' and 

 in June was knighted.'" Soon afterwards a spy re- 

 ported that ' meetingsof papists are held at SirThomas 

 Blakiston's house.' ^' In the same year he conveyed 



the manor of Blakiston to Alexander Davison, a 

 merchant of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the sale being 

 completed in 1630." 



The new lord of the manor was made a knight in 

 1639,*' and showed himself a zealous Royalist during 

 the Civil War, taking part in the defence of New- 

 castle in 1644, in spite of his great age of nearly 

 eighty years, and losing his life on 1 1 November 

 when that town was stormed by the Scots.^*" His 

 eldest son and heir Thomas was also a Royalist, being 

 a lieutenant-colonel under the Earl of Newcastle from 

 April 1643 to October 1644 when he surrendered ; 

 he took the oath and covenant in Gray's Inn Chapel, 

 being a member of the inn. The family estates 

 had been sequestered by the Parliament, and Blakiston 

 was said to be worth ;^2 5o a year. The fine 

 was fixed at ^^ 1,1 16, to which ;^312 18/. was 

 added later, but these sums appear to have been 

 reduced. ''' Thomas Davison had a licence to travel 

 to London in 1658, to consummate his marriage,** 

 and on the Restoration in 1660 was made a knight.*' 

 He recorded a pedigree in 1666, when his eldest son 

 Alexander was thirty years of age and had a son John, 

 aged two years. ^^ Sir Thomas made his will in 

 February 1666-7, and died shortly afterwards"; 



Hamilton. Gutei 

 three cin^oih ermine. 



RussiLl.. ArgrnI 

 fwo chei'eront benveen 

 three croislets /itchy 'with 

 a cin^oil hefween the 

 ehcveront all sable. 



his son Alexander died in 1669.'- After the 

 Revolution, in 1689, John Davison required a pass 

 to go to Blakiston.^' He died the year following," 

 and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who married 

 Anne daughter of Sir John Bland of Kippax (co. 

 York). Thomas Davison died in 1748, his son 

 Thomas in 1756,'' and his son, another Thomas, in 



" Dur. Rcc. cl. 3, no. +, fol. 81. 

 " Def. Kttfer'i Rep. xxxv, App. 146. 

 ^ Dur. Rcc. cl. 3, file 177, no. S ; 

 Dep. Keeper's Rep, xxxvii, App. 18. 

 '' Dur. Rec. cl. 3, file 177, no. 14. 

 -^a Ibid, file 178, no. 20. 

 "* Ibid. vol. 6, fol. II. 

 " Foiter, Dur. I'isit. Fed. 19. 

 •" Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvii, App. 



ICO. 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, file 178, no. 50. 



" By Surtces ; also Dur. ffills and In- 

 ■vent. (Surt. Soc), ii, 145. 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 86, m. 5. 



" Ibid. 131; Eich. Dep. Eait. 4 Jas. I, 

 no. I. 



*^ Exch. Dep. East. 4 Jas. I, no. i ; 

 Pat. 43 Eliz. pt. vi, m. 34. A thiid of 

 the manors of Dinsdale and Wynyard, 

 &c., were included. In 1591 he granted 

 an annuity of j^zo from his lands here 

 to Robert Blakiston, his brother (Dur. 

 Rec. cl. 3, R. 102, m. 8 d.). 



" See Great Chilton, Seaton Carew, &c. 



*' Surtees, op. cit. iii, 418. 



^^ Ibid. 159 (from the parish register). 

 Ralph Blakiston in 1612 had two-thirds 

 of his close called Barrickheld in Blakis- 

 ton sequestered for his recusancy (Pat. 

 to Jas. I, pt. xiii). In 1608 he owed 

 William Lambton of Lambton ^240 

 (Lans. MS. 902, fol. 178 d.}. 



''^ Shaw, Knights of Engl, ii, 120 ; July 

 1663, before the Coronation. 



<" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 94, m. 49. 



*' G.E.C. Complete Baronetage^ i, 107. 



" Shaw, op. cit. ii, 156. 



*■* Foley, Rec. of Soc. Jesus, Iii, 119. 



** Surtees, op. cit. iii, 160 ; Dur. Rec, 

 cl. 12, no. 4 (2), bis. For Sir Thomas's 

 disputes see Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. 

 301, no. 4 J bdle. 575, no. I ; bdle. 409, 

 no. 57- In 1622 he conveyed the manor 

 and some 1,100 acres of arable, meadow 

 pasture, &c , to Marma^iuke Blakiston, 

 clerk (Dur. Rec. cl. 12, no. 3 [2]). 



** Shaw, op. cit. ii, 2o6, where he ii 

 dcicribcd as * of Blakiston.* 



*^ Foster, Dur. J'iiit. Ped. 95 ; Rec, Ce^.. 

 for Comp. (Surt. Soc), i8on. A ioq 

 Joseph was also killed in the stonning. 

 Sec M.I. to Alexander Davison in New- 

 castle Cathedral. 



*" Rec, Com. for Comf: (Surt. Soc), 13, 

 15, 178-81. 



« Cal. S. P. Dom. 1658-9, p. 89. 



** Shaw, op. cit. ii, 230, 



*** Foster, op. cit. 95. 



*' Thornley D. {penes CanoQ Grcen- 

 welt), no. 98 ; Monumeat ia Norton 

 Church. 



^' The later details are from the pedi- 

 gree in Surtees, op. cit. iii, 166. For 

 Lady Davison's death see Frankland- 

 RusitU-Atdey MSS, (Hist. MSS. Com.), 



** Cal. S. P. Dom. 1689—90, p, 109. 

 ^* Monument in Norton Church. 

 » Ibid. 



