It is with some trepidation that I approach the task of editing and re-writing this manuscript, a manuscript that is obviously a labour of love and intense research by a very dedicated and knowledgeable man, Mr Charles Alfred Goodricke.  His task was apparently finished in 1913, at which time he passed the torch on to Mr. George Heron Goodricke of Durban South Africa. From what I am able to read into the correspondence and the opening paragraphs of the memorandum, Mr George Goodricke was unable to link and follow the manuscript since he did not have the original Goodricke Memorial printed in 1885 with all of its associated correspondence, inserts and page references.

The following book apparently was written during a convalescence period in 1913 to explain and elaborate on an already exhaustive study to bring to life some of the many characters that have passed through the pages of history and their relationships to each other and to personages of highborn rank. It could be considered as an addendum to the Goodricke Memorial.

To clarify and to explain the course of events and my eventual acquisition of the original "Memorial," I must explain that it came from my grandmother Gwendolyn Cattell who passed it on to me in the late 50,s and there until recently, it has lain dormant and untouched. My grandmother's mother and her mother-in-law were sisters, daughters of John Richardson Goodricke and Charlotte Duncan Waygood of Durban Natal, South Africa.
Caroline Pickering married William Davenal Cattell a staff surgeon in the British Army, later to become Surgeon-General of the British Army. Their last-born son, my grandfather, married his cousin, Gwendolyn Helen Gordon, daughter of Sarah Isabella who married Henry Kennard-Bill. Their only child, my mother, Marguerite, married Miles Archibald Young in 1925, and I was born in New Zealand in 1925.

Skipping and leaving tedious family history behind, my mother immigrated to the United States in 1946 where she remarried. I followed in 1949. My grandmother arrived in 1954 and she died in Lynchburg, Virginia, May 1958. In her possessions were the original Goodricke Memorial and other paraphernalia including over a dozen glass negatives used in the printing of the "Memorial." There was also a bound photo album of many of the South African members of the Family, some identified and some not.

Taking a quantum leap forward, my wife Anne and I were travelling in England in the late 70's looking for Ribston or Ripon Hall, not fully sure of the correct spelling nor of its location and with only a vague memory of having read the "Memorial" several years previously and a sketchy idea of what to look for, as an after-thought on our trip. Fortunately, we were in luck and found Ribston Hall north of Wetherby. The present occupants were away and the house was undergoing a major renovation. The workmen allowed us to look it over on the first floor. Impressed and feeling a little guilty re trespassing, I wrote to Mr Charles Dent the present occupant, expressing regret he was not there, and informing him of our transgressions and our connections with Ribston. I also informed him of the fact that I had the Goodricke Memorial in my possession, a book I started to read again upon my return.

Fortunately, he invited us back again on our next visit to England. He later confessed to me that he thought I was another "bloody" colonial upstart, with an exaggerated opinion of the importance of my book. Believing that my copy was the standard fifty-page book that many family members have.
Returning to England a year or so later, I packed the Goodricke Memorial and visited with the Dents, Annie and Charlie. A truly delightful couple, very hospitable and genuinely interested in the inter-relationship of Goodricke and Dent families as well as the history of the house and it's occupants. It is also where history repeats itself. Like Mr Joseph Dent who, according to the last chapter by Mr Charles Goodricke sustained and helped the surviving Sir Francis Goodricke with a small stipend. He took upon himself to preserve and nurture Ribston Hall acknowledging the previous occupants in all of his efforts. So too does his great grandson Charles Dent. He and his wife, Annie, are extremely interested in providing a depository for all Goodricke memorabilia and assisting in the gathering of it. They have also assisted me in contacting other scattered family members and especially those members who are interested in history and past glories.

It was a surprised Charles Dent, when seeing the Goodricke Memorial, realized the importance and value of the book. I have since left the Goodricke Memorial with him at Ribston Hall for future historians for research and discovery. He in return gave me the copy of Incidents in the Lives of some of the Goodricke`s of Yorkshire. This carbon copy, (written about 1913?) and the realisation of the importance and my own lack of knowledge of our antecedents, stimulated my research and desire to share with those members of the family and interested parties, our inheritance.

The following pages are from that carbon copy, as the authors typed and printed their thoughts, including typographical errors and spelling errors. I have taken the liberty to correct those obvious mistakes but have tried to keep the integrity and intent, as they would have wished. It is my hope that with an updating and the availability of modern technical printing, this manuscript will become more available to all interested parties and will be passed on to future generations. Mr Goodricke was a consummate storyteller and his style is somewhat involved and some of the sentences are quite long according to some grammarian experts. I have not attempted to change and or edit his words. The major change I have attempted other than those stated, is to fix the date of purchase at 1533. Not at 1537, 1539 as some of the text wavers in.

Meanwhile the Goodricke Memorial remains at Ribston Hall for all to see and examine. Along with this manuscript, perhaps a budding author may go into more detail and expansion on the lives of an obviously important family whose lives are intertwined in the history and policy making of England and the Empire.
Again, I am indebted to Annie and Charlie Dent for providing the stimulus to proceed, also for their kind hospitality and encouragement. To my cousins, distant though they may be, Guy Goodricke late Durban, now Walton-on-Thames, David Hunt of Wasperton, and Doreen Parsons, Westville, Natal, and thanks also for the information you have been so generous with, in the pursuit of this project. To Mr. Geoffrey A. Hope M.D. who kindly allowed me to include his article in the chapter on John Goodricke, my thanks.  My thanks to my secretary, Ellen Ford for the typing and extra hours on the job. I would like to thank Gordon Mattox of this city who is my resident computer "Guru" and without whose valuable help and patience much of this updated version would not have it's graphics and pictures that make this version so different.  Finally, to my lovely wife Anne, for all of her encouragement and support, I thank you.

To Mr. Charles A. Goodricke`s narrative events concerning Ribston.

The author of this handsome and carefully prepared book has suggested that I should add some evidence, however slight, by way of introduction. It is true, as he remarks, that in my volumes on Nidderdale, I have written much about Ribston, yet I approach the present task with some reluctance as I find it impossible to present any correction, or indeed, to offer any criticism of a work which it is evident, has been carried out with zeal, care and discretion. What hereafter follows can therefore only be regarded as a slight supplement to these fascinating chapters. 

 Honour

It has been aptly observed that an honourable pedigree, is in all nations, greatly esteemed, and everyone who peruses this book must be impressed by the high sense of honour in upholding technical principles, accompanied by an unflinching valour and devotion to duty, which marks the successive lives of those whom the author has portrayed. It is only when we come to the closing scene in these episodes of distinguished achievement that Fate plays an unfortunate part and we learn with pain and sadness of the severance of the ancient patrimony of a Family so well described in the Royal Patent, quoted, as one

"With ancestral reputation and rectitude of morals."

This apt reference to "ancestral reputation" is assuredly full of significance, as the family of Goodricke has not only earned distinction in affairs of national moment, but by judicious matrimonial alliances, at a time when these were regarded with the utmost solicitude and there are few Houses in Yorkshire with a purer or grander descent. Mr. Goodricke in his carefully- conceived chapter on the 'Earl's Rebellion of 1569, has pointed out that the Family were justly proud of the match that was consummated about the year 1558 between Richard Goodricke of Ribston and a daughter of Richard Norton, of Norton Conyers, whose wife was a Neville. Through the marriage of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmorland, with Joan Beaufort, the Goodricke`s of Ribston claim legitimate descent from more than twenty sovereigns of England, Scotland and France, a mark of hereditary eminence hard to excel. If we go a step further and descend to the time when the Goodricke`s were first settled at Ribston, we find other Royal and illustrious connections, as the following table will show.  

It will be seen that John Neville, who was Richard Norton's brother- in- law, had for wife about ten years, the celebrated Catherine Parr, who in 1543 married the English Sovereign, Henry VIII. The King’ sister, the Princess Mary, was the wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who in 1542, sold Ribston to Henry Goodricke. It is therefore clear that the historic personage, Catherine Parr, herself of Royal descent, was by marriage, aunt to Richard Goodricke, son of the original purchaser of Ribston. The Duke of Suffolk was grand- father of Lady Jane Grey, whose cause was espoused by Baron Parr of Kendal, brother of Catherine, as well as by Bishop Goodricke, a younger brother of the purchaser of Ribston.  It is also noteworthy that these illustrious personages, Henry VIII, Catherine Parr and Richard Goodricke of Ribston were blood relations, having a common ancestor in the first Earl of Westmorland, whose descent from the Earls of Northumbria before the Norman Conquest is too well known to need recapitulation. I may also add that the Portraits of Henry VIII, Catherine Parr, the Duke of Suffolk and Bishop Goodricke were painted by the master Holbein.

Thus by a process of inquiry into the earlier generations of the Goodricke`s it may be possible to discover the true origin or motive for their first settlement at Ribston.  We are told that the name first appears at Ribston in 1533, when Henry Goodricke is recorded as being Steward of the Estate, which some nine years later (1542) he purchased from the Duke of Suffolk.  But whether this sale and purchase of Ribston was a purely adventitious bargain between strangers, or whether it arose through family kinship, is at present difficult to determine, but there is a suspicion of the Royal favour entering into the transaction when we consider the relationship between the several parties concerned.

The frequent differences on matter political and religious, existing between families, otherwise living in perfect unity, is faithfully shown in the case of the Goodricke`s during the troubled time of the Civil War (Chapters VI-VII).   A bitter illustration of such a family severance is exhibited at a later period when, in 1688, the fury of Revolution broke over the land.  The story told of the active participation of Sir Henry Goodricke and his successful manoeuvres on behalf of the Protestant cause during this unhappy period, is almost thrilling in its experience. But realising as all must at this day the benefits that have flowed from this enterprise, one cannot at the same time withhold some sympathy from the unfortunate monarch who had estranged himself from so many of his subjects, and who in his ardour for upholding an inherited faith, had misjudged the character of his people.  Hume says he was

"faithful, sincere and honourable";
on the other hand, it is abundantly shown that he proved false to his trust.
It is, however, a sad reflection on the fate of those in high places that his own child the consort of his opponent - should rise in arms against one who had in the tender years of her childhood, bestowed the fatherly caress and parent's love.  Her spirited spouse, the Prince of Orange, was the son of her own aunt Mary, who had been baptised in the Roman Catholic faith and was sister of James the second.  Their mother was a French Roman Catholic, and by the marriage contract all the children were to be brought up in the teaching of that religion until they were 13 years of age.  Consequently both William and Mary were strongly tinctured by inheritance with Roman Catholicism.  This fact is often forgotten in the zeal of those who would represent King William as the persecutor of the Papists.  But he himself openly declared that that was not his object.  He had come

"To deliver the Protestants but not to persecute the Papists," he said.

It is noteworthy that besides Sir Henry Goodricke there were other leading actors in the cause of William and Protestantism closely identified with the Ribston district.  No less a personage than the celebrated Hero of the terrible Siege of Londonderry, the most memorable of a siege, says Lord McCauley, that ever happened in the British Islands, had many family ties with that portion of the West Riding of Yorkshire.  The father of this hero-priest, the Rev. George Walker, also named George Walker, was a clergyman of some distinction.  He was Rector of Kilmore and Chancellor of Armagh in Ireland, and was nominated Archdeacon of Derry in succession to this brother-in-law, Archdeacon Stanhope  (a Yorkshire man) who died in 1641.  Being a staunch Royalist he fled from Ireland at the outbreak of the Civil War, and under the protection of the Stapleton’s, held the Vicarage of Wignill in Yorkshire from about 1643 to 1650, when he retired to Kirk Deighton (a neighbouring parish to Ribston) upon Cromwell's succession to power.  At Kirk Deighton a daughter was born to him and his wife Ursula, daughter of Sir John Stanhope of Melwood co. Lincoln, and the baptism of this daughter is recorded in the Parish Registers of Kirk Deighton for 20 September 1650.

Ursula Stanhope is conjectured by Mr. J. W. Clay F.S.G. in his Additions to Dugdale's visitation of Yorkshire (1897) to have been baptized at Doncaster, 30 October 1610, but if this is correct she cannot, as is stated by the writer on Governor Walker in the Dictionary of National Biography, be the mother of the Hero of Londonderry, who was born in or about the year 1618.  The probability is she was a second wife of Chancellor George Walker.  She had several brothers and sisters, one of whom, Margaret Stanhope, was baptized at Hooten Pagnell, near Doncaster, 25 March 1607, and was married there in 1629 to Robert Dyneley of Bramhope, near Otley, with whom she lived, according to Heywood, a married life of 59 years (see my "Upper Wharfedale" p. 136).  These and other circumstances connected with the Protestant party at the Revolution point to the district of Ribston being prominently identified with the affairs of that eventful period.

It is also interesting to record that when William III succeeded to the throne in 1689, he made Bryan Fairfax, who was born in 1630, at Newton Kyme (near Ribston) one of his equerries, while the Princes Mary, afterwards Queen of William III, was a god-child of Mary Fairfax, Duchess of Buckingham, cousin to this Bryan Fairfax.  Likewise Admiral Robert Fairfax had served on board the Bonadventure off Lough Foyle in 1689 (see Markham's Life of the Great Lord Fairfax, p.p. 94-99)

All these facts and incidents show the friendship that was extended by King William, not only to the family of Governor Walker, but to other supporters of his cause in this part of Yorkshire.  Some of Walker's biographers claim him to be a native of Hingley, in Yorkshire, but I have found no proof of this, and consider it more likely that he was born somewhere in the neighbourhood of Ribston or Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby.  Soon after Walker received the thanks of Parliament and a present of £5,000 he was commanded by King William to prepare a true narrative of his heroic Defence of Derry, and this he did in an octavo pamphlet of 64 pages, printed in London in the autumn of 1689.  In that same year it went through three editions, and a German translation was published at Hamburg, and a Dutch version at Antwerp, as appears by the British Museum Catalogue.

A perusal of that engrossing Chapter VIII on the action taken by Sir Henry Goodricke and his friends in the events of that critical time, leaves no doubt in our minds that it is to such as they and Governor Walker we owe in no small degree our national freedom and the strength of our matchless constitution.
In concluding these fragmentary notes may I express the hope that his charming work, so well written and beautifully adorned, and providing as it does so many moral lessons, will become such a family "Jewell" as is mentioned on page 25 of the book?  And may the example of those gifted lives displayed in its pages prove an incentive to good and righteous deeds, and be a delight to its fortunate owner in time that is to come!

Harry Speight, Bingley, Yorkshire, Xmas, 1913. 
   

The present volume is an enlarged edition of one bearing the same title, which was typewritten from my manuscript ten years ago.
Since then it frequently occurred to me that in the history of the Goodricke`s of Ribston and their times I could readily find many episodes, which, if adequately related form interesting and instructive stories.  I foresaw a little difficulty, however, in undertaking such a work for I realized that, unless the skeleton of historical facts relating to the family which I possessed were sufficiently well clothed, the stories would remain dry and unattractive and entirely fail in their object, and this difficulty appeared to me all the greater because I had set my mind absolutely against the principle of making incursions into the regions of imagination and romance. Honour

after consideration, however, I decided on attempting the task and this book is the result, undertaken and completed during a long period of convalescence from a serious illness.  It has afforded me some occupation and pleasure, and I hope my readers may not consider I am presumptuous in thinking that by my plan of deviating from the well-trodden high roads in everyday history and seeking out the less-known by-paths in that fascinating study I have succeeded in producing a series of readable chapters.
The chief events I have dealt with are: -

The attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne, in which scheme Bishop Goodricke, then Lord Chancellor, was so dangerously implicated; the Earls' Rebellion against Queen Elizabeth in 1569, which ended in the ruin of the Norton’s; Sir John Goodricke`s exploits in the Civil War; and Sir Henry Goodricke`s mission to Spain, and later on the Revolution of 1688 in which he played such a important part in conjunction with Lord Danby and others.  The remaining chapters are devoted to an historical and descriptive account of the domains of Ribston and Bramham Park and to the more personal history of several members of the Ribston family.  In order that my readers may the more easily follow the relationships between the several persons about whom I have written, I have bound up with this volume that chapter in my Goodricke family history - privately printed in 1885 - which deals with the branch seated at Ribston.

I have been careful not to write anything without solid authority, and for such of my readers a desire to test my accuracy, or follow at further length statements which I have of necessity abbreviated, a list is appended of the principal literature and state documents consulted, and references to this are given in the text.  Many other authorities will be found in the text.   I wish, however, to specially mention how greatly I am indebted to Mr. Harry Speight's valuable work " Nidderdale" published in 1906, from which I have taken the liberty of making many extracts, which I have duly acknowledged.  I also desire to mention the works of Mr. Richard Davey, Mr. S.R. Gardiner, and Mr. J. F. Molloy, which have afforded me most valuable historical information of which I have made full use.

The illustrations, which I have added, speak for themselves; the work of collecting them has given me much pleasure.

Like most families which have, through many generations, have maintained a position of importance, the Goodricke`s of Ribston had their periods of prosperity and the reverse, and after perusing these pages I think my readers will grant that a moral of importance can by readily drawn from the narrative.
It is often in vain that we try to analyse the causes of the misfortune of families or of their failure or their ultimate extinction.  The decline of once well-known families is a subject which rarely fails to interest those who delight in "moving accidents", while to minds of another cast such narratives may, and often do, supply something much more solid and profitable than mere interest.  It will be obvious to the reader how the Goodricke`s of Ribston continued for generations in prosperity and importance so long as their lives were lived in the fear of God and employed in honourable service.  When, however, a lower level of morality and conduct was allowed to prevail, nay, became fashionable, when religion became neglected and was finally abandoned altogether, when the family could boast that one of its prominent members, a cleric, Prebendary of York and the pluralist Vicar of Hunsingore was "a gentleman long and well known on the turf, kept many fine racehorses, some of the best now existing which, in respect for his clerical character he always ran in the names of some other gentleman", and when the family could find nothing more edifying to say of this same relative than that "he was reckoned the best whist player in the country",  and when the last Goodricke possessor of Ribston had given himself up to a life of inglorious ease, horse racing, gambling and extravagant living, with self-indulgence and sensual enjoyment as its chief consideration,  then decay followed, the patrimony so proudly held for nearly three hundred years passed away, and the line of inheritance became extinct.

Let us hope, however, that the lives and example of those who spent their years in well-directed and honourable energy and in honest service to the nation, giving of their best, may evoke that spirit of emulation and perseverance which, rightly ordered, under prayer and the blessing of God, so entirely contributes to success and happiness.

Let us remember as well that pride may derive a no less useful lesson from seeing how little stability exists in the gifts of worldly fortune when they are ill-used.

Surely, the sorrowful spectacle of the life abandoned extravagance and ill-judged sport to which I have alluded in chapters 12 and 14 and which was led by the last Goodricke who possessed Ribston, and his total disregard of the example of this worthy ancestors would not be contemplated without feelings full of regret and sadness.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
end us farther than to day.

Lives of great men all remind us
we can make our lives sublime,
and, departing, leave behind us
footprints on the sands of time; -

Footprints that perhaps another,

seeing, shall take heart again.
 Charles A. Goodricke
 Hampstead,
 March 1913.

 LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS AND AUTHORITIES CONSULTED IN WRITING THIS VOLUME

 "Nidderdale" . . . . . . . . ..H. Speight. 1906  Edition. . . .  .      . .    .  .Nidd.

"History of the Church of England" . . . .   18A.H.Hore .   . . . . . . . .Hore.

"Notes on English Church History" . . . . .  C.A.Lane .  . . . . . . . . . . . .Lane.

"History of the Goodricke Family"  . . . .   .1897 Edition. . . .  . Goodricke.

"The Nine Day's Queen "  . . . . . .  .Richard Davey, 1909. .       . . . Queen.

"The Tower of London " . . . .Richard Davey, 1910. . .  . . . . . . . . . Davey.

 
"Country Life" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10th February 1906 Page 198, etc.

 
"History of Knaresborough       . . . . . E. Hargrove .  . . . . . . . . . . Hargrove.

 
"Ralph Thoresby's Diary "  1832.           Vol. II . . . .. . . . .  . . .  Thoresby.

 
"Dictionary of National Biography".

"Historical Scenes in Durham Cathedral" .I . L. Low. . . . . . . . . . . . .Low.

"Vicissitudes of Families" . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Burke. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .Burke.

"History of Durham". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Surtees. . .  . . . . . . .  Surtees.

"History of Durham" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . Hutchinson. . . . .Hutchinson.

"Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569". I .. Bowyer. . . . . .. . . . . . Bowyer .

" History and Antique of Masham" . . . . . .John Fisher.. . . . . . . . . . . Fisher.

" History and Antique of Craven" . . . . . . . .J.D.Whitaker    . .  .Whitaker.

 
"State Papers. Domestic Series". .  . . . . .Charles I  .     . . . . . . . . . . State.

 
"Fairfax Correspondence" . . . . .  . . G.W.Johnson   1848 . . . .. . . Fairfax.

 
"History of the Civil War" . . . . . .. . . S.R . Gardiner  1894  . . .  Gardiner.

 
"Royalist Composition Papers" . .Records Office  Record Series Vol IV

 
"Additional Manuscripts" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .British Museum Library

 
"Close Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Record Office

"State Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . John Thurloe . . . . . . . . . . .Thurloe

"Royalty Restored" . . . . . . . . . . . . J.F. Molloy. 1887 . . . . .. . . . . Molloy.

 
"Signet Rolls" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Record Office.

"Memoirs of Sir John Reresby "1634-1689  I. I. Cartwright.1875 Reresby.

 
"Grainger's Biographical Dictionary" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grainger.

Reports of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts
Lord Dandy’s letters published in 1710.

"Ribston and the Knights Templar"    R.V.Taylor     . . . . . . . . . . .Taylor.

     York  A&T Journal Vol 8 p.p. 260-299  printed 1884     . . . . . Taylor.

"The Encyclopaedia Britannica"  . . . . . . .. . 11th Ed 1911

Several authorities not listed above are specially mentioned in the text.

Ribston Magna, or Great Ribston, was twenty years before the Conquest acquired by Ralph Paganel and from this early owner we are able to trace its history steadily forward through all the stirring vicissitudes of its semi-military reclusory to the dissolution about 1535.

The successor to Ralph Paganel who held Ribston in 1086 was Galfridus, or Geoffrey, Julius Pagani. His son William, surnamed Trussebut, had three sons and three daughters.  but the sons dying without issue, the Trussebut property came into the hands of the three daughters Roesia, Hyllaria and Agatha.

By the marriage of Rose Trussebut the lands at Ribston were inherited by the powerful family of De Ros.

Rossia Trussebut married Everard De Ros in the reign of Henry II, about 1170. The family of De Ros was settled in Normandy and joined the Conqueror in his invasion of England. Everard De Ros had issue by his wife Rossia Trussebut a son, Robert De Ros who, in the year 1217 gave: -
 

"To god and the Blessed Mary and the Brethren of the Knighthood of the Temple of my manor of Ribston with the advowson of the church of the same village and the hamlet of Walesford with the mills of the same hamlet etc."
He married in 1191 Isabella, daughter of William the Lion, King of Scotland, and widow of Robert Bruce, and was one of twenty-five Barons appointed to enforce the decrees of the Magna Charta.

  Ribston thus became the property of the Knights Templars in 1217 and remained in their possession until the beginning of the fourteenth century when it reverted to the Crown due to forfeiture of all Templars Properties in 1307. It was then held by Edward II for several years. In 1324 by an Act of Parliament, the whole of the properties lately belonging to the Templars in England became the vested in the order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. This Act was confirmed by statute in 1334. Ribston was held by the Knights of St. John from 1324 to the dissolution of religious houses in the time of Henry VIII. In 1535 the Papal Supremacy was abolished, and the Royal Supremacy re-asserted. King Henry loved power, he liked governing, through Parliament, so long as it did what he wanted, but as if Parliament opposed him, he would manage without it! But if there was one thing he loved more it was money, and an easy mode of obtaining this now presented itself to his mind. The monasteries were considered immensely rich and had long been regarded as a fair field for plunder. Kings had seized their revenues to help them in their wars and it was only taking one step further to utilize them to his own purpose.

 Henry's first act as Supreme Head was to appoint Cromwell as his Vicar-General; he made him supreme over Archbishops and Bishops with the power to reform abuses and specially to hold a general visitation of Church and Monasteries. A general visitation was consequently commenced in October 1535, the jurisdiction of the Bishops being meanwhile suspended. Henry declared it to be his intention to devote the property of all the religious houses which might be dissolved, to more useful objects such as schools, etc., as is now again pretended by the dissenting promoters of the present infamous Bill before Parliament for the disestablishment and

disendowment of the Church in Wales. The visitation of the smaller houses, of which Ribston was one, was commenced first. (1536)

 Three hundred and seventy-six houses were dissolved in the country and their property, with annual revenue of £32,000 beside £100,000 worth of plate and jewels (sums representing more than a million in modern currency) was handed over to the King. By this one act, some ten thousand persons were thrown on the world deprived of the means of subsistence some at an advanced age, others to swell the ranks of sturdy beggars, at a time, too, when acts of vagrancy were punishable with death.

 The visitation continued throughout the year 1538 when Canterbury was plundered by order of the King and in 1539 a yearly revenue rated at £131,607 with movables valued at £400,000 accrued to him. Twelve mitred Abbots were executed upon the most frivolous charges and it is unnecessary for us to be reminded of the immense amount of misery, which followed the dissolution of the religious houses and hospitals. As many as seventy two thousand persons are said to have died at the hands of the executioner during the reign of Henry VIII. (Hore, p.249)  So much for Protestant reforming zeal!

 To return to Ribston. As we have seen it was, at the time of the dissolution, was the property of the Knights Hospitallers of St., John of Jerusalem whose headquarters in England, was the great priory church at Clerkenwell in London, Sir William Weston being Prior of the Order in England with Sir John Rawson as Prior of Kilmainham, the headquarters in Ireland.

 There are still two Court Rolls of the Manor of Walshford existing at Ribston dated respectively June 28th of 22nd Henry VIII (1530) and October

2nd 25th Henry VIII (1533) both of which are signed by "John Rawson, Prior of Kyllmaynam," which makes it probable that at that date Sir John Rawson was the resident at the Commandery of Ribston. This appears the more probable as the name Sir John Rawson is stated as of the Commandery in the  "Valor Eccles". 26th Henry VIII (1534).

 Henry Goodricke, brother of the Bishop of Ely Dr Thomas Goodricke, appears to have been in possession of Ribston and acting steward of the receiver-general of the estate in 1533.   (Nidd.106).

 Dr. Edwin Freshfield, the present Registrar of the New Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, says that just before the dissolution of the English branch of the Order, the Knights were in the habit of letting the Commandery on lease, very often to a Knight. This would appear to have been the case at Ribston, for at the dissolution, Sir John accepted the Royal Supremacy and was afterwards in 1541, created Viscount Clontarf  (Memoir of Sir I.R. Gent’s Mag. August 1856 p.179) and Henry Goodricke is entered in the Court Rolls as being a tenant of the Knights of St. John for a lease of 90 years, in consideration of money which he had expended  "circa Tympill Ribstayne." This is the first mention of the Goodricke family in connection with the Ribston Estate.

We now pass over eight years, to 1542, when, by letters patent of 9th of February in that year the,  "Manor or mansion of Ribston Hall in the parish of Hunsingore with the late scyte and circuited of the said manor or late Commandery with all other houses, edifices and buildings etc., late in the occupancy of Henry Goderyck," were granted to that remarkable historic personage, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who had married the Lady Mary, sister of King Henry VIII and widow of Louis XII, King of France. (Lane says that Charles Brandon's dukedom was enriched at this time by no less than thirty dissolved religious houses:  Lane p. 53)

 It would be profitless for me to dwell on the enormities of the King and his courtiers in relation to the dissolution of the monasteries and other religious houses. That is a theme, which has occupied the attention and pens of thousands of able-persons for centuries and will, doubtless, long continue to be one full of the deepest interest in all serious students. For my present purpose it must suffice to relate that in the same year (1542) in which the King made the grant of Ribston to the Duke of Suffolk, that nobleman sold and conveyed the same property to the said Henry Goodricke for the price of  £1,000.

 "Payable at the Feast of Pentecost at the Fount in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul between the hours one of the clock and five in the afternoon."

 The property was to be held of the King by the Knight's service that is to say, the tenth part of a knight's fee, and a rent of £2 .6 .8.  Four tenths. (Nidd.p.107).

It may be convenient to say that by letters' patent dated 28th August 1545, the King granted to Henry Goodricke the Manor and Rectory Church of Hunsingore, Co. York, with the rights etc. in the late Priory or Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, the advowson and right of patronage of the Church of Hunsingore, together with sundry lands in Hunsingore, Walshford etc. The purchase price paid by Henry Goodricke for this property was  £699. 9. 2.  (Nidd, p.84.)

 We have now arrived at the time when Ribston and Hunsingore with several other properties in that neighbourhood became the possession of the Goodricke’s, Ribston and Hunsingore being chosen as the principal family seats.   I have not found any evidence to show whether or not Henry Goodricke resided continuously at Ribston from 1534 to 1542, but be this as it may it is certain that in the latter year he was permanently settled there as its owner by purchase and it would be fruitless, at this long distance of time - nearly four centuries - to enter into a dissertation on the merits and demerits which surrounded the very interesting but exceedingly difficult and thorny controversial subject of the dissolution of the monasteries.

 It may be helpful here to state that Henry Goodricke's second wife was Margaret, daughter and eventually co-heiress of Sir Christopher Rawson, of London, Knight, and a niece of Sir John Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham afterwards Viscount Clontarf.  The Rawson`s were a Yorkshire family seated at Fryston.  (Vide Memoir of Sir John Rawson by G. R.C. Gentleman's Magazine for August 1856 page 179.  Also my "Goodricke Memorials".  1888. page 307 and App. 5.)

 For the information of those of my readers who may be interested in the subject I may mention that a succinct sketch of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and his five wives is contained in the recently published work "The Nine Days' Queen,” by Richard Davey, 1909.  Charles Brandon was the bosom friend of Henry VIII.  In appearance the King and his comrade were singularly alike and in youth they were equally skilful and agile in sport and pastimes.

  Brandon was more intellectually gifted than Henry, but there was little to choose between them as regards their execrable ideas of moral responsibilities and their laxity in respect of their marriage vows.  Although King Henry highly approved of his intimate and constant companion's conduct his subjects held Brandon to be an arrant rascal and his treatment of his beautiful royal wife (Mary Tudor the King's sister) was on a par with his low conception of his moral obligations.  His health failed him completely soon after his return from France with the King, October 1544, and he seems to have suffered from a complication of disorders not unlike those which afflicted his brother-in-law the King.  He died at Guildford in 1546, after a long illness and was buried with great pomp in St. George's Chapel Windsor.  His eldest granddaughter was the unhappy Lady Jane Grey, daughter of Henry Grey Marques of Dorset and afterwards created Duke of Suffolk by his wife Lady Frances Brandon, Marchioness of Dorset and Duchess of Suffolk, one of Charles Brandon's daughters.

I have considered it a more convenient plan, on the whole, to give some description of the Ribston Estate before proceeding to the episodes in the lives of its owners and other members of the Goodricke family, which it is my intention to relate.  Although this course has some apparent disadvantages it will have the effect of making the account of the Mansion and grounds a more connected one than it would otherwise have been.  Naturally, my information is largely derived from local histories, etc., and I am rendering it more interesting by the addition of views taken from paintings and engravings

Of the precise character and dimensions of the original house of the old Knights there does not appear to be any record, but old evidences show that the house contained numerous apartments and was adapted for the accommodation of many guests because it

 "Lay on the road to Scotland."

It is spoken of as a hall in the time of Henry VIII, and was rebuilt, as will be shown later on, by Sir Henry Goodricke, Bart. in 1674.  All that now remains of the old house is a small room or portion of a room, now part of a closet, which has panelled walls and a low ceiling, around which runs a moulding, containing a monogram in its pattern.  (Nidd).

The oldest existing reference to the old hall is contained in the Diary of Dr. Johnstone of Pontefract, which is preserved among the M.S.S. of Mr. F. Bacon Frank, Campsall Hall, and Doncaster. Dr. Johnstone made an extended tour in the neighbourhood, visiting Ribston on October 19th, 1669.  He made careful and comprehensive notes and sketches of what he saw.  He describes his reception at Ribston by Sir John Goodricke in the "fair square parlour" of the old house, and made sketches of the stained glass armorial windows in that room.  These were  in a bay window, Goodricke Coat of Arms with Crest and Mantling and the Motto "Me memo mor" (Me Mindful of Death) below in another window, a quartered coat of arms, 1, Savile; 2, Copley; 3, Rishworth; 4, Copley; with Savile crest.  The Savile coat would appear to indicate that these two windows were comparatively modern at the time of Dr. Johnston’s visit.

He goes on to describe the various coats of arms in the chapel windows and painted on the roof.  The windows are described as "The East Window"; "The South Window"; "The West Window"; "The 1st window from the West on the North side"; "The 2nd West window"; "The North window."  Among the armorial bearings of which there appear to have been about thirty in these windows, the most prominent were Savile; Vavasour; Eure; Roos; Tunstall; and Jenkins; and others not easily distinguishable in the Diary sketches.  There were several shields painted on the woodwork of the roof prominent among which were Fitzhugh; Roos; Scroope; Clifford, Goodricke.  The Goodricke Coat of Arms was hung up on the north side of the Choir.  Dr. Johnstone goes on to describe, with accompanying sketches, the arms and Latin inscription on the tablet of white marble erected in 1652 by Sir John Goodricke (of which shown here an illustration by Michael B Goodrick from his collection of Goodricke Heraldry 2003)

 Inscription For Goodricke white marble wall tablet Ribston Chapel

(*All remaining that is ancient 4)

                                                                          M S

                                                      IN HAC ECCLESIA SEPVLTA

JACENT CORRORA RICH: GOODRICKE ARMIG: FILIJ

HEN: GOODRICKE AR: ET DNAE CLARAE NORTON UXORIS EIUSDEM RICHARDI FILIJO EORUM VNICI RICH GOODRICKE ARMIG: QUI UXORE HABUIT DNAM MERIOLAM EVRE FILIAM GUILMI BARONIS DE EURE. EX QUA NUMEROSAM SUSCEPIT VTRISSQ SEXUS PROLEM EORN PRIMOGENITVS D. HEN GOODRICKE MILES, VARIJS REIPUB. MUNERIBUS SUMA CUM EQUITATE ET MO= DESTIA FUNCTUS. POST VITAM PIE EXACTAM DEBI= TUM NATVRAE ANNO AETAT. SUAE 61o SOLVIT. ET IN CHORO HUJUS. ECCLES: SEPULTUS EST. HIC UXOREM

DUXIT JANAM SAVILE FILIAM JOAN: SAVILE MIL:

UNIUS BARON: SCACCARIJ. FOEMINAM SELECTISSIMAM PIAM. PRUDENTIQ REI FAMILIARIS ADMINISTRATIONE INSIGNEM QUAE PARITER HIC SEPULTA JACET. FILIJ EX HOC CONIVGO. FILIAEQ 12m NUMERANTUR.E QVI= BUS MARIA PRIMOGENITA NUPTA, RICH: HAWKESWORTH

MIL: HENRICUS. ET ELIZABETHA TENA HUJUS ECCLE= SIAE TEGUNTUR: SAVILIUS VERO POST PERAGRATAM MAGNA EUROPAE ET ORIENTIS PARTEM VIENNAE AUSTRIAE OCCUBUIT & SEPULTUS EST. JOANNES ET FRANCISCUS FRATRES SUPERSTITES PRO= AVIS AVIS PARENTIBUS FRATRIBUS ET SORORIBUS BENE MERENTIBUS. P.PP. ANNO DNI: 1652 IDEM JOANNES MEMORIAE UXORIS CHARISS: DNAE KATHARINAE NORCLIFFE PIE DEFUNCTAE ATQ HIC SEPULTAE CONSVLENS EJUS NOMEN HUIQ MARMORI INSCRIBENDUM CURAVIT.

 “In this Church lie interred, the bodies of Richard Goodricke; and Clare Norton, his wife; he was the son of Richard Goodrick, Esq. who had also by his wife, a daughter called Meriola Eure daughter of the Right Honourable William, Lord Eure. He had numerous issue, of both sexes, the fifth born of whom was Henry Goodricke, Knight; he discharged various offices of the state with the greatest integrity and modesty; and after a life spent in piety the dept of nature in the 61^st year of his age, and lies buried in the choir of this church. He married Jane the daughter of John Savile, Knight, one of the Barons of the Exchequer a prudent woman, pious, and remarkable for the regular government of her household, who is also buried here. They left twelve children, the eldest daughter was married to Richard Hawkesworth, Knight; Henry and Elizabeth are interred in this CHURCH. Savile, after he had travelled over the great part of Europe and the East, died and was buried at Vienna, in Austria.

John and Francis the surviving brethren, caused this monument to be erected at their own expense, to the memory of they’re worthy ancestors, in the year of our Lord 1652. The same John, in memory of his dear wife Catharine Norcliffe, caused, her name to be inscribed upon this marble”.      

And the monumental arms of Richard Goodricke impaling Norton (1582), which, according to this account, was, then at the East End of the Choir.

(of which shown here an illustration by Michael B Goodrick from his collection of Goodricke Heraldry 2000) Dr. Johnstone also mentions that Sir John Goodricke was contemplating the complete re-building of the residence.  From Dr. Johnston’s description of the window it would appear that at that time the chapel stood apart from the house with windows looking north.  (Nidd. 125 and Goodricke 14; 17; and App. 14).

The Hall was entirely re-built in 1674 by Sir Henry Goodricke, 2nd Baronet, but notwithstanding this drastic change the Chapel was in part preserved, and made a portion (the south-west corner) of the new mansion.  While writing about the Chapel I may mention that none of the ancient armorial glass or paintings on the roof now exist.  All remaining that is ancient are: -

1.  The two grave slabs on the floor on either side of the Altar from which, however, the brasses have long since been removed, and which Hargrove thought cover the remains of two Knights Templar (Nidd. 130).
2.  The Font,
3.  Monumental Arms of Richard Goodricke, circa 1582.
4.  White Marble tablet erected 1652 (*All remaining that is ancient).
5.  Monument to Sir Henry Goodricke, 4th Bart. 1738.
6.  Tablet erected by Sir Henry Goodricke, 2nd Bart. 1703.
I will refer again to these tablets when writing about the personages to whose memory they were erected.
I cannot do better than give here some extracts from recently written accounts of Ribston Hall and Park, which convey a very accurate idea of the place and its surroundings.  A writer in  "Country Life" of 10th February 1906 p.198 says: -
 

"Well known to most visitors to Knaresborough, that most picturesque old town of Yorkshire, and in a beautiful part of the valley of the winding Nidd, before it flows out into the open plain, stands the historic house of Ribston.  The region is one of great natural beauties and of high historic interest, and within the walls of Ribston Hall secret discussions have been held which have had their influence upon English history.  Here, in ancient times, in the parish of Hunsingore, was founded by Robert de Ros or Roos a Commandery of the Knights of Solomon's Temple, and in September, 1444, the Bishop of Philippi dedicated and re-consecrated the chapel at Ribston.  When the Dissolution came, Ribston fell into the hands of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, the King's brother-in-law, much enriched with the spoils of many monastic possessions.  But the Duke could not retain all his vast landed estates, and in 1542 he sold the manor of Ribston, with other possessions in that part of England, to Henry Goodricke of Wisbeach in the Isle of Ely, second son of William Goodricke of East Kirby, and brother of Thomas Goodricke, Bishop of Ely and Lord Chancellor in the time of Edward VI.  The Goodricke’s converted the ecclesiastical possession at Ribston into a residential domain, and there was built a manor house in which they dwelt, more than a century before the present edifice arose upon the site.  The situation must have been tempting to one who wished to establish himself in that romantic part of England, for there was much of wood and water, a winding river, a healthful situation, a fishery, and much opportunity for sport.  The fine eminence upon which the house stands is more than half encompassed by the river Nidd, and the estate and park are widely extended, and have been developed, in the course of centuries, and in the hands of many eminent men, into a seat which ranks among the most important in Yorkshire."

 The re-building of the Mansion, which Sir John Goodricke informed Dr. Johnstone he contemplated carrying out was completed by his son Sir Henry, the second Baronet in 1674.  "The main frontage of the new (present) building is without remarkable features.  It is an elegant and typical illustration of the newer spirit in English domestic architecture which was tending to displace the last elements of the earlier forms."  The date 1674 is above the saloon-door which has Ionic pillars, also the Goodricke cipher, as depicted later which was used by Sir Henry Goodricke on one of his seals (vide an example Stowe H.S. Brit:  Mus: 745, p. 109).   Surmounting the whole was a shield containing the Goodricke Coat impaling that of Legge, but this had almost entirely perished through age when I last saw it in the summer of 1904.
 

 The great saloon which is 44 feet long by 31 feet wide is very handsomely decorated in the Renaissance style and is said to have been completed in Sir Henry's time.  The library also bears evidence of the great care devoted to the beautifying of the place, and has some admirable carving by Grinling Gibbons (here illustrated) including hanging birds, fruit, leaves and flowers, all in the best style of the master."

The present house above handsome as it is, falls short of the spacious and imposing

Mansion delineated in Kip's engraving published below dated 1707 of which a reduced size copy is here given. 

This shows "the long frontage of the house, with its central (saloon) door, many windowed wall, cornice, and characteristic roofs.  Buildings are depicted behind forming a quadrangle and stable quarters, with bell cupola and an open space and gates are seen beyond.  In front of the house is shown an enclosed space of turf, with vases on pedestals, (and statuary) and at the inner angles are seen handsome garden-houses.  To this terrace there is a handsome balustrade or edging, with a noble descent to a lower garden, which overlooks the river from the boundary wall.  This latter is a remarkable feature in Kip's drawing, for it seems to surround the place, and to be constructed almost as a fortified enceinte, with angle bastions, quite appropriate, it might be said, to the home of The Lieutenant-General of the Ordinance.  The house and garden are depicted as standing high above the river, and there are gardens and orchards both inside the wall and on the river bank on the right side of the house; on the left is another enclosed garden in formal manner, with sentinel-like yews and garden houses, while outside in the park are herds of deer and distant woods."  (Nidd).

Such was the Mansion as rebuilt in 1674.  The late Mr. John Dent questioned it whether the arrangement of the outer buildings, and particularly of the outer walls surrounding the gardens, really ever existed, as shown in Kip's view, as not a vestige of the walls now remains.  Since Mr. Dent raised this question in conversation with me in 1884, the point as to the walls has been decided favourably to Kip by the publication a few years ago of a letter written 29th September 1688, by Charles Bertie to Lord Dartmouth, Sir Henry Goodricke's brother-in-law.
 

"Lord Danby, Lord Dunblane and he are all at Ribston one of the most charming seats he has yet seen in the North, both in respect of its noble structure and the lovely country about it.  What would yet more particularly please his Lordship is that Sir Henry Goodricke is environing his gardens with a kind of fortification, and has already finished 2 bastions and hopes when Lord Dartmouth visits the northern forts he will please to reckon this among the number.  Then when Lord Danby drinks the sulphur waters they remember his Lordship's health and the prosperity of his family in most serene Florence, (sic) and in a sort of liquor called Walshford Ale, which transcends all that ever was named, and is the smoothest and best natural drink in the world and cannot fail withal to carry an Election, though Sir Harry and his Lady are so generally beloved and esteemed that they need no southern artifice to secure the affection of their neighbours to them."  (Dartmouth Papers, p. 138).

This letter would show that although the house was built in 1674 as indicated by that date over the saloon door, the surrounding walls were not completed until fourteen years later.  I must not omit to mention the paintings in the saloon.  They are fixtures and are part of Sir Henry's original work.  Chief among these are - "The Virgin at work attended by Angels" copied by Pietro Angdetti from Guido; "The descent from the Cross" copied by Sig. Lud. Sterne from Dan: de Volterra;  "The rape of Helen," Guido; "The Death of Dido," Guercino; these last two are the works of Sig. Francesco Smuglandients;  "Bacchus and Ariadne," Guido; A copy of the "Aurora" by Guido; A copy of the Aldobrandini marriage; the marriage of Helen and Paris.  In the library, which is next to the chapel, and has two windows in the front of the house, there is a large collection of valuable books, including some works dating back to the Bishop's time, also many which belonged to Sir John Goodricke, 1st Bart. and which have his autograph signature in them.  Amongst the most interesting of the books is the French Bible printed in 1622 which was bought at Tours by Sir John in 1638 as a present for his father (Goodricke, 20) (Nidd, 128) and two Goodricke Family Bibles purchased for the Chapel by Sir Henry Goodricke 4th Bart. in January 1706 in which there are voluminous entries of Births - Marriages and Deaths, which occurred in the Goodricke family from 1706-7 up to 1833 (Goodricke App. 30).   As recorded on the tablets in the chapel there must have been many burials in the vaults beneath it.  In the small burial ground adjoining the chapel there were also many interments as the remains of about twelve adult persons were found there some years ago.  The last of the Goodricke’s to be buried at Ribston was Sir Henry the 4th Bart.  His son, Sir John, 6th Bart. built a family vault at Hunsingore Church where all burials from his time took place.

An interesting visit was paid to Ribston on 8th June 1710 by Ralph Thoresby the eminent Yorkshire Antiquary and Historian.  This visit was made in response to an invitation from Sir Henry Goodricke and the particulars of it are recorded in Thoresby's Diary thus: -
 

"June 8th 1710 Rode with Mr. R.P. to Wetherby; then alone to Parson Froget's who obliged me with his company to Ribston, where most courteously received by Sir Henry Goodricke, who showed me several curiosities, ancient writing from King John and others, relating to the Templars Commandery there of old; the Chapel is yet in being, and accommodated for present use; there are two modern inscriptions relating to the family of the Goodricke’s, which, though but here since the Reformation, yet is of good antiquity in Lincolnshire.  I was the pedigree of nine descents before that in Mr. Hopkinson, s M.S., several of which have been very eminent.  I was best pleased with that of Sir John Goodricke, who gave the tithes worth better than £100 per annum to the Church of Hunsingore.  He wrote also a Latin History of this nation in a large folio: (The title page of this is now in the M.S.S. Department of the British Museum).  I saw the autograph and some original surveys of Christopher Saxton's; took notice of the family pictures since the Reformation, but was troubled that the famous Bishop's, who was also Lord Chancellor, was not there, but he gave his Estate etc. to the elder branch, this being the second. There is also a good library, though I had not time to view it; only took notice of a Common Prayer Book, 1552; but I durst not stay for fear of missing my company at Wetherby, with whom I returned by way of Thorner; transcribed Sir John Seville’s Epitaph from his monument lately erected there, and got well home."

(The Prayer Book of 1552 was in the Library at the time of the purchase of Ribston by Mr, Joseph Dent in 1836, but it was stolen and Mr. John Dent always believed that a copy of the 1552 book which was sold at an auction in London recently was the Ribston copy - and this would seem to be quite probable.)

Many changes have passed over Ribston Hall since 1674, but it still remains as a fine place and the trees, which were then and subsequently planted, have now grown to great size.  The beautiful park and gardens are thrown open to visitors on Tuesdays during the summer months.  The gardens cover about twenty-four acres and are very tastefully and attractively laid out with a numerous assortment of trees and shrubs many of which are most deservedly celebrated for their rarity or exceptional growth.  The late Mr. John Dent told me that the presence of these is due to Sir Henry Goodricke, 4th Bart. (died 1738).  Sir Henry had a fine taste and a discriminating eye and spent much time in the improvement of his Estate.  He was especially fond of trees, which is shown in an interesting letter written by him to Sir Hans Sloane, the great naturalist, now in the Brit. Mus. (Nidd, 132).  It may be suitable here to allude to one matter, which has given fame to Ribston Hall.  Here it was that the famous Ribston Pippin was first grown.  The origin of the Pippin and its introduction into England are related in a letter written by Miss Clough who was a great granddaughter of Sir Henry Goodricke and who spent much of her youth at Ribston.  Miss Clough wrote-
 

"These pippins were sent to Sir Henry Goodricke (4th Bart.) from Normandy about the year 1709, only one of them succeeded, and from that all the Ribston Pippins have descended.  The Ribston Pippin came from Normandy about the beginning of last century; my great grand-father Sir Henry Goodricke, had a friend abroad who sent him three pippins in a letter, which being sown two came to nothing; the present old tree at Ribston is the produce of the third of these pippins, and have been transplanted into all parts."

                                     (This letter is at Ribston)

The original tree at Ribston, the parent of the numerous families of Pippins in this country produced six bushels of fruit in 1787.  The tree was blown down during a great storm in 1810 but fortunately the lower portion of it was left standing and from this remnant by-and-by new shoots were put forth and the tree continued to produce fruit until 1835, when it began to show signs of decay. 

The present tree (pictured above in 1987 picture by Michael B Goodrick and the present quality very good) is an offshoot from the original stem, it has produced a few apples annually but they are of no particular quality.  (Nidd 135).
Much more might easily be written about Ribston and its beautiful park and grounds but my account of it has already become long and I must refer those of my readers who desire extended information of the valuable work, "Nidderdale" 1906 by Mr, H. Speight pages 101 to 139 and to my illustrations.
Before progressing to the next chapter it will be useful here to give a sketch of the Goodricke genealogy.  This pedigree is amplified in my history of the family, which will be found at the end of this chapter.

  PEDIGREE