I seem to have missed February with my blog posts - well it is the shortest month!! As I sit here at the computer I can see a pair of blue tits trying out a nest box for size and the newly planted daffodils are flowering - but it is still quite cold so I am not so keen on going outside gardening.
It has been a busy few weeks. Recently I gave a talk at the Boothferry Family and Local History group in Goole about the history of Hook. The village has a long and interesting history and the church is celebrating 800 years this year, having been founded in 1225 when John de Huc was granted permission to have a chantry chapel. Other topics I covered were the Sotheron family, the Ouse Shipbuilding company, the Cleveland oil depot and the Milner family. It was difficult to squash it all in!!
But a couple of weeks before that I gave a talk in the aptly named Scholfield Memorial hall in Skelton about the Scholfield family of Sandhall. I enjoyed researching the family and also giving the talk to a mix of long established residents and newcomers.
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| Sandhall in 1893 |
Here is a quick summary of the family and the part they played in our local history. The Scholfields came to Sandhall as tenants, probably from West Yorkshire.
I have a copy of the inventory of a John Scholfield who died in 1742. Although described as a husbandman he was living in a seeming gentleman's residence- He left possessions worth £900 [almost £170,000 today]- including 52 pewter plates and dishes, clocks, mirrors and tables as well as other furniture.
His son John was born in 1709 and in 1735 had married Deborah Wilberfoss at Skipwith. He bought much property in Skelton and died in 1770. There is a prominent gravestone on the floor of Howden Minster commemorating him and his family.
It was a third John who actually bought Sandhall in 1775. He paid around £13000. He built himself a new house which still has the datestone 1777 over the front door and his initials JS. It is possible that some of the original house was incorporated.
John had married Ellen Whitaker from Howden in 1771, a year after his father's death. They had three sons and a daughter. Their eldest son William inherited Sandhall. Their second son John became a banker and alongside Messrs Clarkson and Clough went bankrupt, damaging a lot of local people who had money in their bank.
John died in 1808. William had married Ann Spofforth in 1797 and they eventually had 10 children. William played a large part in the local life of Howden.
1834 Last week, Wm. Scholfield, Esq., of Sand-hall, near Howden, according to annual custom, distributed amongst his numerous labourers and the poor of Skelton, a large quantity of beef; some receiving from to 3 stone each, and others proportion to their respective families.
In 1851 he built a school/ chapel in Skelton which is still in use as a village hall and where I gave my talk.
When he died in 1854 there were many tributes paid to him in newspapers
August 25 1854 We have to record one of the most distinguished marks of sincere regret and respect, which has ever been paid to the memory of any individual in this neighbourhood. The town of Howden has to deplore the loss of one of its worthiest and best of men. The name of the late Wm Scholfield of Sand Hall, has only to be mentioned, and the expression immediately follows, “There were few men like him,” but death, the common lot of all, has laid him low. In his own immediate circle the loss of a cheerful companion, a sincere friend, and honest upright and conscientious man, will be deeply lamented. Among the poor a sympathising reliever of their wants and sorrows will be deplored, and amongst his own tenantry and the inhabitants of the neighbourhood in which he resided, the affable, kind, and courteous demeanour of the departed gentleman, will not easily be forgotten. He has gone to his grave at a good age, having completed his 80th year
The funeral
On Monday morning, August 14, the day appointed for the interment, the whole of the shops were closed, and everything seemed to wear the aspect of sorrow and of woe – even nature herself appeared to mourn the sad loss. The hearse was met on the road to Sandhall by the Rev. W. Hutchinson and the Rev. W. Sylvester, curates of Howden, and Mr. Gaggs and Mr. England, the surgeon and solicitor for the family-the tenantry following three abreast. Upon the arrival of the mournful procession at the Elm Tree, it was joined by the children of the Skelton School, wearing a black rosette on the left shoulder; then followed by a large number of clergymen, gentlemen, farmers, and tradesmen. The two clubs, of which the late Mr Scholfield was a life member, were represented by their officials, clad in long black cloaks, carrying their insignia. Such a spontaneous demonstration of respect and grief is not easily described; it required to be witnessed to be duly appreciated.
The number of persons attending the funeral. is estimated at about 1,500. Well may the gentry of this and all other neighbourhoods take example from him, whose loss we deplore, since he was one of whom no one could speak but with respect and admiration. His death will be long and sincerely regretted.
After his death his surviving children had the magnificent west window in Howden Minster installed in memory of their parents.
Sandhall then passed into the hands of Robert Scholfield. He never married. But he was well thought of too , like his father and in 1861 local people subscribed to a life sized portrait of him which is still in the hands of his family. It cost £200 guineas then. - about £22000
After his death in 1868 another magnificent [although smaller!] window was placed in the west end of Howden Minster next to the one commemorating his parents.
Sandhall then passed to Robert Stanley Scholfield 1840-1913 who made many improvements to both the house at Sandhall and to his property at Skelton. He married Ada Elizabeth Paget of Welton in 1875 and they had six children.
The eldest Edward Paget Scholfield married Margaret Eleanor Heber Percy.
Evelyn married Mordaunt Gore Booth,
Helen Margaret married Bernard Henry Home Thomson youngest son of William Thomson late archbishop of York,
Alwyn Faber was a well respected Classics scholar and the Cambridge university librarian
Ralph Beckett after a career in the City spent much of his life lecturing as a Christian Scientist travelling around the country and the US. Both his parents were Christian Scientists as were some of the Sandhall staff
Wilfred Stanley lived for a time in Canada and was a fruit farmer.
Edward Paget and Margaret Eleanor had two daughters, Mary and Helen.
Mary, who served at Bletchey Park during the war married her cousin Colum Gore Booth in 1947. They had three children but sadly Colum died in 1959.
After a second marriage to Michael Barker who died in 1982 Mary, now Mrs Barker, died in 2009 and the Sandhall estate was sold
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