Re: Cartularies and other 13c Sources

What about Thicket Priory:

Ellerton Priory, or simply Ellerton, is a parish and township lying on the east bank of the river Derwent. It extends over an area of 2,552 acres, and had in 1891 a population of 263 - a decrease of 20 since the previous census. There are 2,472 acres under assessment, of which the rateable value is £2,684. The soil is of a mixed nature, part sand and part clay, and the chief crops are wheat, potatoes, turnips, and clover. The Ings are laid down in meadow. The land belongs to several proprietors, of whom the most extensive are James Lund, Esq., J.P., D.L., of Malsis Hall, Cross Hills, Keighley; J. J. Dunnington-Jefferson, Esq., Thicket Priory; Captain George Henry Bridges, Northcote House, Clifton Park; George Wake, Ellerton; Francis Stephenson, Esq., Pontefract; Robert Watson and John Watson, Ellerton; and Alfred Jackson, of Acomb, York.
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ERY/Ellerton/Ellerton92.html



Wibs wrote:
I am researching the Blanshard family in the East Riding, and have been
doing for 30 years now. I have a confirmed line to 1642, and an unproven
line back to 1534.

My interest in cartularies is this: The Blanchard family appears in the
Linconshire portion of Domesday, where they had several manors, and Blancard
was described as Roger of Poitou's man (the name was later spelt as Blaunchard
then Blanchard). They have remained in that area, even until today. However, in
his Biographical Notes on the Yorkshire Tenants named in Domesday Book, by
A.S Ellis, printed in The Yorkshire Archaeological and Topographical Journal,
Volume IV, pages 233-236.Ellis theorised that the East Riding Blanshard were
no doubt of the Lincolnshire stock, who crossed the Humber, and are all probably
descended from Adam Blanchard of North Duffield in 1377.

I doubted this theory, as the 1377 reference was from the Poll Tax returns
of that year, but there were 6 other Blanchard families in Yorkshire on the
same Poll Tax return, although I accepted that it was a possibility that they
migrated across the Humber at some point.

A recent DNA program established that the East Riding Blanshards (and this
is how they predominately spell the name in the East Riding) were NOT of the
same stock as the Lincolnshire Blanchards (so they came in via Hull
perhaps?).

While researching in York Minster Archives, I was waiting for some
manuscripts to be produced, when I noticed on the shelf behind me a complete
run of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series volumes. Now, a
few years ago I extracted all the Blanchards from their indexes for an
article in our Blanchard One-Name Society Journal, Adversaria. But since
then, a few more volumes had been published, so I glanced at the indexes to
these. One of them, "Charters of the Vicars Choral of York Minster Vol. 2."
had some Blanchard entries, and were for the parish that I am researching,
Bubwith (www.bubwith.net). Imagine my surprise and joy at finding that a
meagre tenement, in the parish of Bubwith, was granted to the Vicars Choral
in 1261, and was witnessed by Hugh Blanchard, and others of the parish!

This immediately disproved the Adam Blanchard of N. Duffield in 1377 theory,
as the Blanchards were in the Bubwith area, over 100 years prior to Adam.

So, the question I have on the origins of the Blanchard family in the East
Riding, is when exactly did they arrive in the County? I am hoping that
charter and deed witness lists may take the earliest date back further
(nothing in the Pipe Rolls, I'm afraid). So, I need to know what religious
houses were in the vicinity, of a foundation of the 12th to early 13th
century, such as Selby, Ellerton Priory, Warter (but what else??) then find
if their cartularies have been published, ensure from their notes that
witness lists are given in full (not a, b, c and others), and see if
Blanchards witnessed any of them. Other than the Pipe Rolls and Witness
Lists, I cannot think of any other sources that cover the East Riding, prior
to 1261. But please feel free to suggest other sources.

I am in no rush for this info, and I doubt if I would be able to get a line
back to these early Blanchard anyway, but a chapter on the earliest known
Blanchards in the County would be a very useful addition to an eventual book
on the family. So, 1261 is the current earliest benchmark.

Thanks

Colin Blanshard Withers


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