Where
did our ancestors come from?
In October, 2005 fifteen Harlan and Hollingsworth descendents crossed the pond to visit the ancestral homelands. We started in Chester, then moved on to Hollingsworth Hall (demolished during WWII), to St Michael the Archangel church (complete with the HOLLINGWORTH WINDOW) and finally through Hollingworth (a village). During our luncheon layover in Tintwhistle, we saw that an early owner of the pub was a Hollingworth. Talk about drenched in history! It was all perfectly delightful and we were all thrilled to visit the traditional home of our family. Except … it appears it may not be our ancestral home, after all.
I
had understood the DNA project was developed for people who did not have a
clear paper trail for their lineage.
While it is useful to prove family connection in those circumstances, it
also has other applications. The first
step is to develop an ancestral signature by testing people with paper
trails. Then those with “unfounded”
lineage test their DNA to see if they match.
The ancestral signature can also be used to trace connections to earlier
families. Basically, we have
Valentine’s ancestral signature and it does not match the Hollingworth Hall
Hollingsworths. Actually, it does not
match any other lineage.
I
had heard that Henry Hollingsworth, father of Valentine, came to Ireland during
the Ulster Plantation. I thought it
might be beneficial to study that era to develop more hypotheses about our
“ancestral homeland”.
Three
great families ruled Ireland: the
O’Neills, the O’Briens and the O’Connors, with the O’Neills controlling
Ulster. The Rev. George Hill surmises,
“… had Ireland been left to herself, as England and Scotland were, it is
reasonably supposed that she would have risen above her sorrows. …giving up her
provincial kings in succession, until some one of her great families, whether
an O’Neill, an O’Brien, or an O’Connor, would have risen permanently to the
throne.” During the 13th, 14th
and 15th centuries, the English made inroads on the island and
fortified an area around Dublin. It was
known as the “Pale” (from the Latin “palus”, meaning stake) and is the source
of the expression “beyond the Pale”.
From
this foothold on the Irish soil, the English made inroads, increasing their
influence there. The “great families”
gradually lost their influence and finally, in 1607, the O’Neills and the
O’Connors fled for the continent, recognizing the English were indeed rulers of
the country. “The flight of the Earls”,
as it came to be known, left a power vacuum in Ulster, which gave rise to the
idea of plantation.
The Plantation of Ulster’s goal was to pacify and civilize Ulster: the counties of Donegal, Coleraine, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh and Cavan. For James I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, it was a British venture
and at least half the settlers would be Scots.
The Munster Plantation (1580’s) failed since it “planted”
settlers in isolated areas. The Ulster
Plantation was intended reconfigure the population in the six counties to develop
a new community composed of loyal British subjects. To this point, the new landowners were forbidden to take Irish
tenants; they were to bring English or Scottish tenants.
The new landowners were called Undertakers,
wealthy men from England and Scotland who brought tenants from their own
estates. To “plant” their 3000 acres,
they were required to settle 48 adult males—who were both English-speaking and
Protestant. Servitors, veterans of the
Irish wars, lobbied for land grants.
Since they did not have the capital required, they were subsidized.
The Flight of the Earls took place in 1607
and by 1609, the plantation was in
process. According to Wikipedia, there
were 20,000 adult male settlers in Ulster by the 1630s, suggesting perhaps a
total British population of 80,000.
Rev. George Hill’s
series of books, The Conquest of Ireland, reviews the plantation of
Ulster quite thoroughly. Unfortunately,
he does not mention the Hollingsworths.
I decided to tackle the problem from another angle, learning as much as
I could about the Undertakers in the area.
The two clues we have are the name of Valentine’s
townland—Ballyvickrannell—and the appearance of Henry Hollingwort’s name on a
muster roll in 1631. In both instances, our ancesters are tied to County
Armagh, the Barony of Onealand.
According to Hill, the Barony of Onealand fell (by lot) to the
English. It would thus appear unlikely
our Hollingsworths accompanied from Scottish undertakers to Ireland.
Following are 4
undertakers and their consorts;
Sir Maurice Barckley’s
consort: Onealand
or Liffer
Sir Maurice Barckley,
Somerset 4,000 acres
Sir Dudley Digges,
Kent 2,000
acres
Robert Dillon,
Northampton 4,000
acres
Willam Powell, Stafford 2,000 acres
John Dillon,
Stafford
2,000 acres
Edward Russell 2,000
acres
The above Undertaker
requested either Onealand or Liffer. I
include him because William Powell was awarded Ballyvickrannell. He was an equerry in the King’s stable. Hill suggests he received the grant for
arrears of salary. He sold his interest
almost immediately to Michael Obbyns (or O’byns), who died September 26,
1629.
According to Pynnar’s
Survey, done in 1618, Obbyns’ property had 3 freeholders, having 120 acres and
2 freeholders, having 100 acres. There
were also 15 lessees renting between 30 and 100 acres. Was one of them Henry Hollinwort? The 1631 muster roll indicates that Richard
Cope and Mr. Obbins were undertakers of 2,000 acres.
Sir Francis Anderson’s
consort: Onealand
Sir Francis Anderson,
Bedford 2,000l. per
annum
Sir William Powell,
Kent 2,000
acres
John Fish, Bedford 2,000
acres
John Allin, Bedford
Edmund Anderson,
Bedford 1,000
acres
Francis Sachinwell,
Leicester 2,000
acres
John Brownlowe,
Nottingham 2,000
acres
Sir William Monson’s
consort: Onealand
Sir William Monson 1,000
acres
John Barnewall, Gray’s
Inn 1,000
acres
Matthew Southwell, in
behalf of Thomas St. Law 2,000 acres
Richard Dawtry,
Suffolk 2,000 acres
James Matchett, clerk
and preacher 1,000 acres
William Brower,
Suffolk
1,000 acres
Nicholas Howarde,
Suffolk 1,000
acres
Edward Rivett, merchant,
Suffolk 1,000 acres
Richard Wright,
merchant, London 1,000
acres
Lord Saye’s consort: Onealand only
Lord Saye 4,000 acres Edward
Warde, Suffolk
1,000 acres
William Stanhowe, and
Henry his son, Norfolk 2,000 acres
Joseph Warde,
Norfolk
2,000 acres
William Warde,
goldsmith, London 1,000
acres
Michael Saltforde, for
himself and Nicholas Whiting 1,000
acres
James Matchett,
Norfolk
1,000 acres
Jeffrey Money,
Norfolk
1,000 acres
Richard Matchett,
Norfolk
1,000 acres
Williams Banister,
Southwarke, Grocer, London 1,000 acres
Edmund Caston,
London
1,000 acres
Sir Anthony Cope
received 3,000 acres from Lord Say, the first patentee. Upon his death, around 1630, he was
succeeded by his son Henry, then by Anthony, who then died in 1642. The only mention I find of Richard Cope is
in connection with John Dillon, listed as part of Sir Maurice Barckley’s
consort.
I don’t know who
“planted” the grant that Powell received.
It seems he had no interest in it, so the “planter” would be
Obbyns. Where did his tenants come
from? The Copes as a family were very active in the plantation—where did
they come from? And how active were
they in the Hollingsworth’s world?
Another line of inquiry
is County Down. There is a
Hollingsworth family there, even now, but apparently there is no DNA
match. County Down was not part
of the Ulster Plantation, but it might be worth seeing what it has to
offer. Someone suggested I look at the
familes that Valentine’s wives came from, to see where their home lay. I found nothing on the Calverts, but I did
see that Rea is considered a County Down name.
There are those who
believe that Henry Hollingwort was born in Ireland—around 1600, which would
imply he was not brought over for the Ulster Plantation. I have no opinion on that, at the
moment. I do note that the Harlan
genealogical group says the Harlans spent two generations in Ireland before
emigrating to the U.S. We have some
historical parallels with that family—is this another one?
Jo
Hollingsworth
June
2007
Two comments
1.
The descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth do match one other family
genetically--those of counties Wexford/Wicklow. You may want to change the
wording of your report to say that they do not match any other family in
England.
2.
The following is an e mail that I received on 6/4/07 from Simon Hollingworth,
genetic kin of the descendants of the "Old Hall" at Mottram, opening
the possibility that some of the Irish family might be descendants of the
family at the "Nearer Hall". I don't think that this is a serious
possibility, at least as far as Valentine's line is concerned, but it probably
means that we have to keep using all of the appropriate "may be" and
"possibly" words.
Doug
Hollingsworth
Hi
Doug,
The
Nearer Hall family were a junior branch of the Hollingworths of
Old Hall until Hugh de Holynworth. Please note it is the 'original'
Mottram Hall (DNA) line that we find represented in Manchester until
at least 1650.
I have evidence that proves that until 1440, the Hollingworths of Old
Hall, the Hollingworths of Nearer Mottram Hall and the Hollingworths
of Manchester were all the same bloodline. HOWEVER, I believe that
'Old' Hugh de Holynworth of the Nearer Hall left the estate to a
possible nephew (or surrogate son) called Alexander Hepworth de
Holynworth, who upon inheriting the estate took the family name:
Alexander de Holynworth de Hollingworth, son in-law to Sir John
Radcliffe of Ordsall Hall.
In short, I do believe that the 'modern' Mottram Hall line do
represent a completely different DNA to John M and myself.
Please note: I have found another distant arm to our family line in
Standon Massey in Essex. It appears that another Reinold de
Hollingsworth was Lord of the manor there, with the estate finally
ending up in the ownership of William Bird by way of John
Hollingworth Gent. (m. Phillip Angels) of Hollingworth Hall.
I have managed to work out many of the Hollingworth Hall connections
with my family in Spondon, and it would appear the connection is with
the brothers of John Hollingworth de Hollingworth who married Anne
Greene de Thurgaland. Anyway, I will write all of this up at some time.
Best wishes with your hunt Doug. Any more I can help you with do let
me know.
Cheers
Simon
(2) Descendants related to
the lineage of THOMAS de HOLYNWORTH b. c1200's of the HOLLINGSWORTH HALL
lineage.
John M. Hollingworth of the Hollingworth Hall
lineage of Cheshire, England descendant of Thomas de Holynworth b. c1200's (37
markers) assumed ancestral signature.
Simon Hollingworth descendant of Joseph
Hollingworth (b. 1748) of Dale Abbey, Derby, of William Hollingworth (b. 1705)
moved to Dale Abby, of William Hollingworth, Jr. (b. 1668) of Breadsall Old Hall, of William Hollingworth, Sr.
(b. c1640/45) of Breadsall Old Hall, England (12/12) (23/25) (35/37).