Person:John Rawlinson (1)

THE name of Rawlinson is not found amongst the free homagers of Furness, and it does not appear that any one of that name ever held any manor within the lordship ; yet, as Curwen Rawlinson was honoured by marriage with Elizabeth Monk, daughter of Nicholas Monk, lord bishop of Hereford, it is thought proper to introduce an account of that branch of the Rawlinsons into this Synopsis.

The Rawlinsons are of a long standing in High Furness, and were very numerous in the parish of Hawkshead and Colton. Alexander, the immediate predecessor of the last abbot of Furness, was of that name. The well-known Curwen Rawlinson has left a pedigree of his family from the reign of king Hen. VII. down to his own time; which is as follows.^‡

"John Rawlinson, in the time of Henry VII. was seised of a capital messuage and tenement, in Colton, called Greenhead, of the yearly rent of xxxvis. xid. and of Colton Mill, of the yearly value of vis. viiid. who had issue William Rawlinson, ...."

‡ The original is in the possession of Mr. T. Atkinson, of Dalton.

—taken from: The Antiquities of Furness by Thomas West. A new edition with additions by William Close. Published in 1805—^S1

East Coulton—The old hall, supposed to be Coulton Hall, is recorded as a mansion and tenement, exempted from the custom of tenant right in the decree of 8 Elizabeth, by which bloomeries of High Furness were abolished. About 1660 it was the residence of Adam Sandys, probably the 'benefactor' to the church. Near the church, which is in this division, is Greenhead, now a farm-house, but anciently the dwelling of the Rawlinsons ; of whom, John Rawlinson, "in the time of Henry VII., was seised of a capital messuage and tenement, in Colton, called Greenhead, of the yearly value of 36s. lld., and of Colton mill, of the yearly value of 6s. 8d." ....

—taken from: History of The County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster by Edward Baines. Published in 1836—^S2

Note

Both of these publications above have quoted from the same source - only identified in the first of these, The Antiquities of Furness (1805 edition), as coming from a pedigree that was drawn up by Curwen Rawlinson (1641-1689) and which had later passed into the hands of one 'Mr. T. Atkinson, of Dalton.' There is an earlier edition of this work by Thomas West dated 1774 – and without the additions by William Close. But I do not yet know whether this contains the same article on 'Rawlinson, of Greenhead, in Colton' quoting the pedigree of Curwen Rawlinson. In fact there are quite a lot of other publications — particularly those of John Burke — which have also quoted extensively from it. But, as far as I can tell, none of them have credited it to Curwen Rawlinson.

It should also be noted that a little later in this same work (on page 321), under 'Sandys, of Furness', there is a footnote referring to this Pedigree by Curwen Rawlinson, which states:

"Curwen Rawlinson, of Cark Hall, well acquainted with the Sandys, wrote the pedigree about 1656."

The "about 1656" is dubious considering that if that were accurate, Curwen Rawlinson drew up his pedigree when he was only about fifteen years old! He is recorded as having been born on 3 June, 1641; and there is a register of a christening at the parish church of Cartmell:

"Anno D^~ni 1641. ... Curwen son of Robert Rawlinson of Nether Carke gentlema^~ . . . 6 June"

See the 'Person page' for Curwen Rawlinson. —R.C.A.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 The Antiquities of Furness. Illustrated with Engravings. By Thomas West. A new edition with additions by William Close. Printed and sold by George Ashburner, … 1805
   pp. 317-318.

   Accessed on 16 Aug 2013 at: books.google.co.uk

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 History of The County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, by Edward Baines, Esq. M.P. The Biographical Department by W.R. Whatton, Esq., F.S.A., Vol. IV. Fisher, Son, & Co., London, Paris, and New York. MDCCCXXXVI. (1836)
   p. 701.

   Accessed on 16 Aug 2013 at: books.google.co.uk

3. ↑ wikipedia:'Furness'.

   « Furness was a detached part of the historic county of Lancashire bordering Cumberland to the north-west and Westmorland to the north-east (see Three Shire Stone). It has been previously known as "Lancashire beyond the sands [of Morecambe Bay]" or "north of the sands" or "over the sands" as in Grange-over-Sands. The area formed the northern part of the hundred of Lonsdale. »
   Accessed on 19 Aug 2013 at: wikipedia.org

4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 'The parish of Colton', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 8 (1914), pp. 383-387.

   « COLTON (fn. 1)
   Coleton, 1202. Coulton was the usual spelling until about 1850. Colton, Finsthwaite, Haverthwaite, Rolesland (Rusland), Bouth and Neburthwayt (Nibthwaite), 1336.
   This parish occupies the lower part of Furness Fells, lying between the southern ends of Windermere and Coniston Water, and their outlets the Leven and Crake. The scenery is fine, diversified with hills and valleys and richly wooded, especially along the Leven. The hills are divided into two main clusters by the Rusland Beck, which flows south to join the Leven near Haverthwaite; the western side has the highest point, over 1,000 ft. above the sea, Green Hows and Yewbarrow on the east attaining 745 ft. and 795 ft. respectively. ...
   ...
   Colton Hall, or the Old Hall at Bouth, at one time held by a branch of the Sandys family, (fn. 19) is a totally uninteresting three-story structure, now modernized and used as cottages. (fn. 20) Rusland Hall belonged to the Rawlinsons of Graythwaite. (fn. 21) It is a plain stone building, three stories in height, of late 17th or early 18th-century date, with tall sash windows and a central doorway. In modern times two wings have been added, one on either side of the original house, and the road, which formerly was in front, now runs behind it. (fn. 22) Greenhead, near Colton Church, is supposed to have been the original seat of the Rawlinsons; they have been noticed at Cark Hall in Cartmel. (fn. 23) Tottlebank also belonged to Rawlinsons. (fn. 24) »
   « fn.1 For parish map see Hawkshead, ante.
   ...
   fn.19 Cowper, op. cit. 58. Captain Adam Sandys of Old Hall or Bouth Hall, as appears below, left an endowment for the church and school. His niece and heir married Thomas Chapman; Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), 508.
   fn. 20 Cowper, op. cit. 164.
   fn. 21 See the account of Graythwaite. From the Rawlinson family 'in or about 1760 it was purchased by the Walkers, from whom it descended to the present [1899] family of Archibald'; Cowper, op. cit. 60. For pedigree see Burke, Landed Gentrv.
   fn. 22 Cowper, op. cit. 60–1. An old picture preserved at Rusland shows the house as it was with the road in front, from which it was separated by a low fence wall with tall gate piers. The picture is reproduced in Hawkshead, 255.
   fn. 23 See the account of Holker.
   fn. 24 William Rawlinson of Greenhead, temp. Hen. VIII, is said to have had two sons, John and William, between whom he divided his estate, William receiving Tottlebank; West, op. cit. From a pleading of 1564 it appears that William Rawlinson mortgaged Tottltbank; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 295. Other Rawlinsons occur at Longmire in Colton; ibid, iii, 341, 405. The Baptist meeting was established in 1669 at the house of William Rawlinson of Tottlebank; Cowper, op. cit. 122. In 1672 licence for a Congregationalist meeting in the house of William Rawlinson in Furness Fells was granted; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1672, p. 578. »
   Accessed on 19 Aug 2013 at: british-history.ac.uk

5. ↑ in the time of Henry VII