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The history of the Fenton and the Anne familiesThe history of the Fenton and the Anne families covers the whole of the Penal Times in this country to recent times. The Penal Times, imposed restrictions on persons professing the Catholic Faith, from the Reformation in the 16th century, through the 17th century and into the 18th century. Indeed it did not really end until the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829. During the Penal period, the Catholics who refused to attend Protestant services, were known as "Recusants" and suffered heavy fines for non-attendance.
It was declared treason for anyone to maintain the power and
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and the penalty for treason was to be
hanged, cut down before one was dead, drawn and quartered. Queen Elizabeth I, wished every Englishman to be united in attending her English Church. She saw in the missionary priests coming in from abroad, the chief threat to this aim. The Anne familyThe estate passed through the families of Gascoinge, West and finally Anne, who have held the lordship of Burghwallis to this century. The Anne family have lived in Burghwallis and Frickley since the 11th or 12th Century. Ralph de Anne was Bailiff to Richard de Hereford in 1266, Sir William de Anne held a wealthy position in the country, having described himself as a "soldier of the King". He had been Attorney in Ireland in 1281 and in 1329, held the Office of Constable of Tickhill Castle in 1315, of Caerphilly in 1329, and of Abergavenny in 1331.They originated from Normandy, where the surname Anne is still in use. They have farmed the surrounding land since the 15th century and have been the major influence in its development and evolution. Without doubt, the Anne family are among the oldest in this district. If not in the whole county, and held Burghwallis for 5 centuries. The Anne family of Frickley and Burghwallis also married into the Cresacre family of the Manor of Barnburgh. The family's contributions to the faith reads like a scroll of honours to martyrdom, starting with the most famous of the Anne family, John Anne who died for his faith. John Anne held the lordship of Burghwallis and Frickley in 1521. The family were well known Catholics, and were in jeopardy during Elizabethan "Anglican" times, and lived constantly in the torment of the possibility of their land being confiscated at any time. Such Catholic families as these were continually being hunted and indeed must have lived in perpetual fear. How bitter it must have been hiding and cowering in one's own private residence away from the rest of the world, simply because of believing in a faith which at this time suffered persecution. This knowledge of public criticism resulted in the hiding of priests and wanted Catholics in secret places within the walls of such great houses, on sight of anyone approaching. Consequently, the Anne family considered it too dangerous to keep documents or records. In 1588 John Anne was hung, drawn and quartered in York. A further William Anne is believed to have taken the surname AMYAS, when he spent time overseas to become a priest. He was martyred near York in 1580, and was beatified as the Blessed John Amyas in 1929. Some of the 16th Century armorial bearings of the Anne family of Frickley were displayed on the ceiling of Haselden Hall, Wakefield, but was demolished in 1957. The Fenton & Anne FamiliesIn 1589 Martin Anne, left directions in his will for Richard Furniss, the last Catholic priest in Frickley (1545 - 1601), to be kept at . Martin's son George Anne married Margaret Fenton, the only child of Richard Fenton. In 1568 Richard Fenton was residing in Doncaster and was elected Mayor that year. In 1577 Richard was held liable to a fine of £10 for non-attendance at church. On 2nd September 1580 he and his wife were presented by a jury at Wakefield for non conformity and on 13th October of the same year Mrs Fenton was presented by the grand jury at the Borough Sessions for not coming to Church and again on 25th of the same month "she absented herself maliciously and disobediently". Her fine was 12 pence for every Sunday over a period of 2 years. In 1581 Richard Fenton had left Doncaster and is described as of "Northleaye" (North Lees) Derbyshire, in a conveyance of land in 1583. Two years later he was fined £25 for sending a letter to Mary Queen of Scots by a servant. Following a search at Padley Manor, Derbyshire on Candlemas day 1588 for Mr John Fitzherbert but wasn't found, Northleaye was searched but found no suspicious persons (missionary priests). Mr Fenton behaved very obediently and went willingly to Haddon where he showed a protection and desireth that it may stand with your Lordship's pleasure to have the benefit thereof for the liberty to be in his own house according by the same: by which it appeared that he hath interest into a bond of £200 to be forthcoming any time within 20 days of warning and if this cannot be granted to him, then his humble request is that he may have respite to go to his own home for a week to order for his things and chiefly to comfort his daughter, Margaret (Mrs. George Anne) who was brought to bed the same morning and seemed amazed at his sudden apprehension." John Manners of Haddon Hall was suffering "ill humour from the gout" passed the instruction on to Roger Columbell, a local magistrate living in Darley Dale, to execute the above order. Care was then passed to Thomas Kniveton, JP of Mercaston, however we he had to move to London the Earl of Shrewsbury related that he himself "was going to Sheffield." Interestingly note that at this point Richard Fenton was related by marriage to Catherine Fitzherbert, the wife of John Fitzherbert, residing at Padley Manor. In 1588 Fenton was imprisoned at the County Gaol in London. The previous year at the Common Council meeting in Doncaster, "it was enacted and henceforth debarred and put out of and from the Company of the Mayor and the Aldermen until he shall reconcile himself to the liking of Her Majesty's officers and the Mayor, Aldermen and Common Council of the town." From this it may be surmised that Richard Fenton had left Northleayes. It is probable he was at Burghwallis Hall. There is no record of a purchase of Burghwallis from the owners, the West family, but after Richard Fenton's death in 1617, the Hall became the Dower House to Frickley Hall. From 1590 onwards, various members of this persevering Catholic family were imprisoned simply because of their faith. Anne Family PapersThe Anne family papers describe the Chapel in the old attic at
Burghwallis. This was the Chapel in Richard Fenton's time. The original road ran
through the park, and all activities could be easily seen from the chapel
windows, which looked both north and south from high in the attic. There were
watchers from either window lest the persuivants came. The priest although
disguised coming in, Mass was said, then all was hidden away and life went
on. On 3rd August 1599, Queen Elizabeth wrote to Lord Burghley on his appointment to the office of Lord President of York: "You must reform and correct abundant falling away from religion and stir up Ecclesiastical commissioners. It appears that in the last 5 years whole Parishes have grown recusant: not 6 households within 5 miles being found obedient, occasioned by the disobeying of ecclesiastical proceedings. Dangerous recusants, as Fenton being committed, have been liberated by the high command and with the privily of most of the Council." It is of interest to note that the members of the Council were all related by marriage to the recusants! "Meaner persons are called by the hundred a day to the High Commission, whilst the greater are not called or compound privately when non of the Council can tell what becomes of them..." As a result of Her Majesty's orders about "dangerous recusants," Richard Fenton and 50 Catholic gentlemen were imprisoned in York Castle in 1599. They were compelled to attend Protestant sermons in the Castle yard on points of controversy. Sometimes the Archbishop of York preached. On one occasion, the Lord President or the Council called them all "heretics" and at that speech all the company laughed. Mr Fenton said, "We came here to hear your sermons and though you hang us or burn us, we will not hear them." After a brief pause, Mr Fenton stood up again and in the name of himself and his brethren "desired the Lord President that he would allow them, being laymen, the assistance of a learned man of their own persuasion to reply to the preachers." However, it is reported that this reasonable request was ultimately refused. Richard Fenton was eventually released. He died at Burghwallis Hall, nearly 90 years old in 1617. Most of his life was one of fines, persecutions and often imprisonment, nobly borne. His fellow sufferer in most of the fines may be seen in the records as his son-in-law George Anne. As mentioned earlier, the Anne family were true and faithful to their Catholic belief. However, they managed to evade imprisonment at least until 1593, when George Anne and his wife, Margaret Fenton, were seized and imprisoned in York Castle. They were afterwards sent to the loathsome underwater dungeons of the Blockhouses in Hull. They were kept in dungeons without food, when the houses have been overflowed with water at the high tide, so that as they walked the earth was so raw and moist that their shoes would cling to the ground. Out of the 58 recusants imprisoned in the "Blockhouses" 40 died. Small wonder that Margaret Anne, temporally gave way and went to a Protestant service. When released is not known, that is of course, assuming that they were released! The following letter was found in the State Papers of James I,
dated 1608. The Children of George AnneGeorge Anne lived only 3 years longer than his father-in-law Richard Fenton. His eldest son Philip, succeeded to Frickley and Burghwallis in 1620, married Ellen the daughter of Hugh Sherbourne of Stonyhurst. The Annes were loyal to their Faith, now they were to make sacrifices for their King. Philip Anne's lands were forfeited by Cromwell on a sequestering ordinance, but the decree does not appear to have been carried out. Philip's son Michael, fought in defence of Charles I at Pontefract and his grandson another Philip Ann, was one of the party who slew one of Cromwell's Generals in the Angel Inn, Doncaster. Fines for their Faith continued. In 1627 Sir George Crutter complained to the Privy Council that Mr Philip Anne's servants "threw the Privy seals out of the door after him." The delivery of the seals was accompanied by a levy on Papists. George's second and third sons. George and John, both went to the English College, St Omer, where they both took their grandmother's maiden name, Angier as an alias. The Foley Papers state that George Anne, born in 1595, also studied at Valladolid and Rome in 1615. He was ordained on 25th March 1620 and came to England on 6th May 1621. He entered the Society of Jesus about 1622. He served missions in the Yorkshire district. On 24th June 1660 aged 65 years, George Anne a Jesuit Priest, died in York Prison on account of his faith, followed by Elizabeth Anne, a Benedictine Nun, who paid with her life for the faith and died in a French prison in 1791. John Anne, the younger brother of George, stated at the English College in Rome, "My name is Angier, I was born at Frickley in Yorkshire. Both my parents George Anne esquire and Margaret his wife are Catholics. I have 5 brothers and 8 sisters, all Catholics. I studied at home under a private tutor and at St Omer for 4 years." This was 1603 and left Rome in 1625.
Other children of George and Margaret, of whom there are
records, are as follows: Accession of James II 1685The accession of James II brought immediate relief to the Catholics of England. Six gentlemen of the Ridings of Yorkshire were appointed JPs, amongst whom was Michael Anne, great grandson of George and Margaret. William of Orange, following the "Glorious Revolution," offered to remove the Penal Laws against Catholics if they would disown James II. In fact, he required help from the yeomen and gentry, particularly in the High Peak of Derbyshire, where the "old Faith" was strong, hence the Chapel at Hathersage being built at this time. Toleration may have been the first principle of the House of Orange, yet in so far as support for James II was concerned, proceedings against Catholics were inevitable. However, these were political not religious actions, civil not bloody proceedings. Those, in 1668, who refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, were not hurried to gaol or the gallows but were penalised in many ways, e.g. denied a vote, not allowed the possessions of arms, banished from the Legal Professions... In 1700, the death penalty for priesthood was abolished in favour of life imprisonment. £100 was given to any informer who would locate a priest or his harbourers. Hence the destruction of the Catholic Chapel at Hathersage, within months of its opening in 1692. The Chapel at North Lees was destroyed at the same time, presumably by the same mob. Catholics had to register ownership of land and were made incapable of buying or inheriting land. Lands registered under Catholic ownership were subjected to a tax of two-thirds of its value. Hence North Lees went out of the Fenton-Anne family. Smaller landowners such as the Furniss family paid their fines and "held onto" their land and land given to the Chapel at Hathersage by means of "conveying" through "spiritual wills" (Furniss family papers in the Arundel MSS) Frickley Hall was let to a Mr Plumpton about this period. The last Squire of Frickley and Burghwallis was Marmaduke Anne who died in 1722. Marmaduke's son, another George, succeeded to Burghwallis, not as Squire but as a householder. His first wife was Elizabeth Walton of Windermere, whilst his second wife was Mary Needham. It was at the time of the marriage that the south west wing was built at Burghwallis c 1797 (Miller's History of Doncaster.) The Tasburgh Anne'sGeorge's second son Michael, succeeded at Burghwallis. He married a triple heiress, Maria Augusta Rosarii, daughter of George Carthorne of Crathorne. His mother was Barbara Fitzherbert, daughter of Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton. Michael changed his name on his marriage to Michael Tasburgh Anne, because Maria had inherited the estate of the Tasburghs, a Norfolk Catholic family. Maria Augusta Rosarii was born in Nice in 1772. Mrs Maria Fitzherbert, wife of George IV, was her godmother. At the outbreak of the French Revolution, she was in the care of the Augustinian nuns, with whom she fled to the coast. As the nuns were about to board the first available ship, they discovered that they had non papers for Maria. Matters were serious until one of the sisters died suddenly. She was promptly buried in France and Maria was placed in her coffin. Thus she escaped to England. She was often called the "Little Resurrectionalist," in memory of this gruesome escape. Maria was only 17 when she was married to Michael Anne. He was 15 years her senior and very austere in his manner. Michael and Maria divided their time between Crathorne and Tasburgh, only rarely visiting Burghwallis. Michael Tasburgh-Anne died during the 19th century, had one son George Tasburgh Anne who never married, the last of the family in the male line died in 1854. Maria Tasburgh Anne's considerable fortune went as dowries to their 3 daughters. The eldest Mary, married Charles Fairfax of Gilling Castle, but they had no children. The second daughter Frances Anne married George Heneage, of Hainton Hall, whose father had renounced the old Faith for political reasons. George, although brought up a Protestant, built a beautiful Catholic Church and priest's house at Hainton, so that his wife could attend Mass. Of the third and youngest daughter, a more intriguing story can be told. This daughter, Barbara married William Henry Charlton, of Hesleyside. They were both very young and were not able to obtain their parents' consent to be married - so they eloped to Gretna Green. Their midnight escape was arranged. Barbara tied her bed sheets together and climbed down from her bedroom window, near the chapel, and into the rear yard, where William waited. A post chaise took them to Gretna Green, and were married first by a blacksmith, next by a Protestant Clergyman; and finally by a Catholic Priest!! They had three sons and three daughters. George Anne (the last of the Anne's) left Burghwallis to his nephew, Ernest Charlton, on condition he took the surname Anne. Hence the Charlton Anne family. His eldest son, the last Major George Charlton Anne, was the last resident of the Hall, and sold the house in 1941 to the Bishop of Leeds, for the nominal sum of £1000. A condition of sale by Major Anne was that Mass would be said regularly and that the Catholics of the area would always have access to worship in the Chapel. ConclusionThe Fenton and Anne families are only two of the many such families especially in Yorkshire and the Peak District of Derbyshire who, by their loyalty to the Old Faith, were synonymous with Religion (Religare to bind, to tie down). The recusants were bound down by the Penal Laws, yet remained true to the Anne motto "Let us rejoice in the Lord". These people kept joy in their hearts as they suffered for the Faith. They were "tied" to the true Church of their fathers. The house was later acquired (1946) by the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Good and Perpetual Succour, who took it over as a Rest Home for elderly ladies.
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