Baronets.
Musgrave of Edenhall, 1611. — The Musgraves are descended from the
ancient baronial family of Musgrave in Westmorland. Sir Thomas Musgrave,
who died in 1469 or 1470, married the elder daughter and coheir of Stapleton
of Edenhall. His descendant, Sir Richard, who had been made Knight of
the Bath at the coronation of King James, was created a baronet in 1611;
and was the immediate ancestor of Sir Philip Musgrave, the present
and eighth baronet. The descents have been lineal, except in the
instance of Sir Richard, who died in 1687, leaving an
only daughter and heiress married to Davyson of Blackston,
in Durham, and was succeeded by his next brother. Besides
the coheiress of Stapleton, the Musgraves have married coheiresses of Ward and Cogan.
Arms. — Azure, 6 annulets, three, two, one, Or.
Crest. — Out of a wreath, two arms counter-embowed,
armed and gauntled, Proper, exhibiting an annulet, Or.
Musgrave of Hayton-castle, baronet of Nova Scotia, 1638.—The Musgraves
of Hayton-castle, were descended from Nicholas, third son of Sir Thomas Musgrave, who married the coheiress of Stapleton: this Nicholas, who died in
1500, married the heiress of Colvill, of Hayton-castle, the representative of the
Tilliols: his great-grandson was made baronet of Nova-Scotia, in 1638. Sir
Richard Musgrave, the fifth baronet, bore the name of Hilton, pursuant to
the will of his maternal uncle: his only daughter, Mrs. Joliffe, now possesses the Hayton-estate; the title went to his brother, Sir William, who
died without issue; afterwards, to the late General Sir Thomas Musgrave,
and is now enjoyed by (the ninth baronet in succession,) Sir James, son of
the late Sir James Musgrave of Barnesley-park, in Gloucestershire, who died
in 1814.
The Musgraves of Hayton, since the separation from the Edenhall
branch, have married the coheiresses of Martindale, Sherburne, James, and
Hedworth. (fn. 1)
Arms.—The same as Musgrave of Edenhall, with due difference.
The Musgraves of Crookdake were descended from William, fourth son
of Sir Thomas Musgrave, who married the coheiress of Stapleton; this William married a coheiress of Colvill alias Tilliol. One of the coheiresses of
Musgrave of Crookdake married Sir John Ballantine, of whom Joseph
Dykes Ballantine Dykes, Esq. is the representative.
Graham of Esk and Netherby, 1628 and 1782. — The Grahams of the
borders are supposed to have been descended from John, second son of the
first Earl of Monteith. Richard second son of Fergus Graham of Plump, in
the parish of Kirk-Andrews on Esk, was created a baronet in 1628, being described as Graham of Eske. The second son of Sir Richard Graham having
settled at Norton-Conyers, in Yorkshire, was created a baronet in 1662, and
was ancestor of Sir Bellingham Graham, Bart. Sir George, the second baronet
of Esk, resided at Netherby, the present family seat: his son, Sir Richard,
was in 1680, created Viscount Preston of the kingdom of Scotland; after
the revolution, being apprehended in a boat on the river Thames, as he was
about to leave the kingdom for the purpose of joining the abdicated
monarch, he was tried and found guilty of high treason, but after a time
received a pardon. Upon the death of Charles, the third viscount without
issue in 1739, the title of baronet devolved to Charles, elder son of Dr.
William Graham, some time Dean of Carlisle, fourth son of Sir George,
the second baronet; but it was not, we believe, for some years claimed, nor
is any account of this family inserted in the baronetages of 1741 or 1773.
The title has been claimed, and is now enjoyed by Sir Robert Graham,
the immediate descendant of the above-mentioned Charles, who is engaged
in a mercantile concern, and resides in London. In the year 1782 James
Graham, Esq. whose father, Dr. Robert Graham, second son of the Dean
of Carlisle, had inherited the Netherby estate under the will of Lady
Widdrington, surviving sister and sole heiress of the last Lord Preston,
was created a baronet, and is the present possessor of Netherby. The
first baronet married a coheiress of Musgrave of Cumcatch.
Arms of Graham: — Quarterly, 1 and 4. O. on a chief
Sable, 3 escallops of the field, 2 and 3. Or, a fesse checky,
Arg. and Az. in chief a chevron G. all within a border
engrail'd, Argent.
Crest: — Issuing from a wreath O. and S. a demivol,
Or.
Fletcher of Clea-Hall, 1782. — The Fletcher family are descended from
William Fletcher, a merchant of Cockermouth, who lived in the reign of
Henry VIII.; his great grandson Henry Fletcher, Esq. of Hutton, was
created a baronet in 1640. Sir Thomas, the third baronet, embraced the
Roman Catholic religion, retired into a convent at Douay, and dying
without issue, the title and the male line of the elder branch of the family
became extinct.
Sir Henry Fletcher, who was created a baronet in 1782, was descended
from Philip, third son of Thomas Fletcher of Cockermouth, (grandfather
of the first baronet,) who married the heiress of Musgrave of Clea-Hall,
about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Sir Henry died in 1807,
and was succeeded by his son of the same name, who is
the present baronet.
Arms: — Arg. a cross engrailed Sable, between four
roundles of the second, each charged with a pheon of the
field.
Crest: — An horse's head Argent, charged with a trefoil, Gules.
Fletcher-Vane of Hutton, 1786. — Lionel Wright Vane Fletcher, son
of Walter Vane, Esq. of Hutton, who had taken the name of Fletcher, and
grandson of Lionel Vane, Esq. of Long-Newton, in the county palatine of
Durham, by Catherine, sister of Sir Thomas Fletcher, the
last baronet of the Hutton branch, was created a baronet
in 1786, and was father of Sir Frederic Fletcher Vane, the
present baronet, of Hutton and of Armathwaite.
Arms: — Or, three sinister gauntlets and a canton, Gules.
Crest: — An armed arm, embowed, couped at the shoulder, grasping a sword, all Proper.
The Fletchers of Moresby descended from William, the elder son of
Henry Fletcher of Cockermouth, who lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
became extinct by the death of Thomas Fletcher, Esq. before the middle
of the last century. The Fletchers of Tallantire descended from Lancelot,
third son of Henry Fletcher above-mentioned, became extinct by the
death of Henry Fletcher, Esq. one of whose coheiresses married Partis
of Newcastle.
Briscoe of Crofton, 1782. — This ancient family were originally of
Briscoe, near Carlisle, where they are traced three generations before the
reign of Edward I. Their descendant, John Briscoe, Esq. was created a
baronet in 1782, and was father of Sir Wastell Briscoe, the present baronet.
This family have married the heiresses of Crofton and
Skelton, of Pettril-Wray. By the former they acquired
Crofton, which has long been the seat of the family.
Arms: — Arg. three greyhounds current, in pale,
Sable.
Crest: — A greyhound, current, Sable, seizing a hare,
Proper.
Walsh of Ormathwaite, 1804. — Sir John Benn Walsh, who, in 1794,
took the name of Walsh by the King's sign manual, pursuant to the will of
his wife's uncle, is descended from the Benns of Moor-row, in Cumberland,
and son of William Benn, Esq. who married the grand-daughter of the late
Dr. William Brownrig, of Ormathwaite, near Keswick.
Sir John Benn Walsh is the present proprietor of Ormathwaite, but does not reside in Cumberland.
Arms: — Arg. a fesse, Sable, cottised, wavy, Gul.
between six martlets of the second.
Crest: — A griffin's head erased, per fesse wavy, Arg.
and Erm. beak and ears, Or.
Graham of Edmond Castle, 1808. — Sir James Graham, M.P. descended
from a family who had long possessed a freehold estate in the parish of
Hayton, on which is a mansion, now called Edmond Castle, was created a
baronet in 1808.
Arms: — Per pale, indented, Erminois and Sable, on
a chief, per pale, Sable and Or, three escallops, counterchanged.
Crest: — A castle, from the battlements issuant two
arms embowed in armour, Proper, garnished, Or, the arms
supporting an escallop of the last.
Extinct Baronets.
Radcliffe of Derwentwater, 1619. — See Earl of Derwentwater.
Curwen of Workington, 1626.—This ancient family were descended from
Ivo de Talbois, who married Elgiva, daughter of Ethelred, King of England,
their immediate descent being from Orme, second son of Ketel, grandson
of the said Ivo. Sir Patric Curwen (fn. 2) , the lineal descendant of Orme, was
created a baronet in 1626. The title became extinct by his death in 1664,
but the male line of the family was continued by a younger brother, and
became extinct in 1778, by the death of the late Henry Curwen, Esq. His
only daughter, the last of this ancient family, married her
cousin, John Christian, Esq. of Unerigg, who in 1790 took
the name of Curwen by the King's sign manual, in addition
to his own. This family have married the coheiresses of
Dalston and Selby.
Arms: — Arg. fretty, Gules, a chief, Azure.
Crest: — An unicorn's head erased, Arg. armed, Or.
Dalston of Dalston-hall, 1640.—This ancient family were descended from
a younger brother of Hubert de Vaux, Lord of Gilsland, who took the name
of Dalston, from the place of his residence. His immediate descendant,
Sir William Dalston, a great royalist, was created a baronet in 1640. The
title became extinct in 1765, by the death of Sir George Dalston, the fourth
baronet, who resided in Yorkshire; Sir George left an only daughter,
married to a French gentleman of the name of Dillon. The title was
assumed some time after Sir George's death by Captain John Dalston, who
probably was led to believe that he had a claim to it as heir male of the
Acorn-bank branch of the family, which became extinct by the death of Sir
William Dalston, Knight, about the year 1770, but it could not be well
founded, because the Acorn-bank family branched off long before the Dalstons
became baronets, being descended from a younger son of Thomas Dalston,
Esq. who lived in the reign of Henry VIII. by a second marriage with a
coheiress of Carlisle. Captain Dalston left no male issue, and the family is
supposed to be now entirely extinct. The coheiresses of
Kirkbride, Warcop, and Thomworth, married into the
family of Dalston, of Dalston.
Arms: — Argent, a chevron engrailed between three
daws heads erased, Sable.
Crest: — On a ducal crown, a falcon's head, issuing,
Proper.
Lowther of Whitehaven, 1642, extinct in 1757. — See Lowther, Earl of
Lonsdale.
Lawson of Isel, 1688. — The Lawsons were descended from a family of
considerable antiquity in Yorkshire; they came into Cumberland in consequence of the marriage of Sir Wilfred Lawson, Knight, with the widow
of Thomas Leigh of Isel, by whose gift he became possessed of that estate.
Sir Wilfred the grandson of his brother Gilfred, was created a baronet in
1688. The title became extinct by the death of Sir Wilfred, the eighth
baronet, in 1806. Wilfred, a younger son of Thomas Wybergh, Esq., who inherits the Lawson estates under Sir
Wilfred's will, has taken the name of Lawson.
Arms: — Per pale, Arg. and Sable, a chevron counterchanged.
Crest: — On a wreath, two flexed arms, Arg. supporting
the sun, Proper.