SMITH OF MIDGLEY
A
significant amount of information on this Smith family is provided by the 1605
will of Richard Smith (“late of Midgley and nowe of kirkstall”), along with the
1608 will of his granddaughter Priscilla Banister, which mentions several of
her aunts and uncles.
Before
residing at Midgley, Richard seems to have lived at Warley, which is given as
his residence at the baptism of his daughter Ruth in 1561.
The
nuncupative will of Barnard Smith of Midgley, made in 1599/1600, left £10 to be
shared between Martha, Sarah and Hester Mawde, daughters of Edmund Mawde, late
of Warley, who had owed that sum to Barnard. The testator also left 6s 8d to a
Luke Smith and 12d apiece to “everie one in the house”. All the rest of
Barnard’s estate was left to his son Richard Smith. The 1605 will of Richard
Smith of Kirkstall mentions children of his brother-in-law Edmund Mawde,
deceased, suggesting that Richard was the son of that name mentioned in
Barnard’s will and that Edmund Mawde’s daughters (with whom no relationship is
made explicit in Barnard’s will) were grandchildren of Barnard. It should be
noted that this would require Barnard to be elderly with multiple great-grandchildren
at the time of his death in 1600. However, the chronology is plausible if he
was born about 1515 and his children were born around 1540.
The
Luke Smith mentioned in Barnard’s will may be the Luke who was a son of William
Smith of Northowram. William’s 1558 will appoints as overseers “Edward Mawde of
Southorome Barnard Smyth my brother & Edmund Mawde”.
Another
clue to this family’s origins in Richard Smith’s will is that he leaves an
annuity to his “Cozin Jennett, wiefe of Robert Craven late of Warley deceased”.
Also mentioned are “my Cosin John Smith of Ovenden” and “my Cozin Robert
Smithe”. At the time, this term of relationship often referred to a child of
one’s sibling. However, elsewhere in the will, Richard mentions “John Mawde my
Nephewe”, so “Cozin” may be being used for something more distant in this case.
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SMITH
1 SMITH.
Children of Smith:
2 i BARNARD SMITH (bur 1600); m(1)
MARGARET; m ISABEL WALKER.
ii WILLIAM SMITH of Northowram, Yorkshire,
bur 24 Oct 1558, Halifax;[1]
m 16 Oct 1541, Halifax, MARGARET MAWDE.[2]
2 BARNARD SMITH of Midgley was buried on
22 May 1600 at Halifax.[3]
He married first, MARGARET, who was buried ca 1566 at Halifax.[4]
He married second, on 11 February 1571/72 at Halifax, ISABEL WALKER.[5]
She was buried on 8 December 1590 at Halifax.[6]
Children of Barnard and Margaret Smith:
3 i RICHARD
SMITH (bur 1607); m(1) ;
m(2) ALICE SPEIGHT.
ii MARGARET SMITH; m 3 Jul 1564,
Halifax, EDMUND MAWDE.[7]
3
RICHARD SMITH of Midgley and
Kirkstall was buried on 21 April 1607 at St Peter, Leeds.[8]
He married first, ,
who was buried on 16 August 1587 at Halifax.[9]
He married second, on 11 January 1587/88 at Halifax, ALICE SPEIGHT.[10]
Children of Richard Smith:
i RUTH SMITH, bap 26 Oct 1561,
Halifax,[11]
bur 18 Oct 1596, Halifax;[12]
m 26 Oct 1584, Halifax, HENRY BANISTER[13]
(see here).
ii BATHSHEBA SMITH; m 6 Dec 1585,
Halifax, MARTIN LONGBOTHAM.[14]
iii JUDITH SMITH, bap 17 Mar 1564/65,
Halifax,[15]
bur 1 Jun 1599, Fewston;[16]
m 8 Oct 1588, St Peter, Leeds, MARTIN WARDMAN.[17]
iv LEA SMITH, bap 15 Jan 1569/70,
Halifax;[18] m
30 Jun 1589, Halifax, JOHN ROYD.[19]
v SARAH SMITH, bap 6 Dec 1573,
Halifax;[20]
m(1) 2 Oct 1593, Halifax, MICHAEL BRIGG;[21]
m(2) 23 Aug 1602, Halifax, WILLIAM WADE.[22]
[1] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com); will dated 16 Aug 1558, proved 26 Apr 1559 (Borthwick Institute).
[2] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com). William Smith’s will mentions his wife Margaret and makes Edward Mawde and Edmund Mawde overseers.
[3] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com); nuncupative will made ca 2 Feb 1599/1600, proved 10 Jul 1601 (Borthwick Institute).
[4] The Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com) show the burial of Margaret, wife of Barnard Smith of Midgley, on 9 December 1565, and the burial of Margaret, wife of Barnard Smith, on 9 Nov 1566. I have not found other records to confirm whether there were indeed two different women of this description or if the details have somehow been duplicated.
[5] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[6] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[7] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com). The will of Richard Smith mentions his brother-in-law Edmund Mawde, deceased.
[8] St Peter, Leeds, parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com); will dated 7 Oct 1605, proved 8 Jun 1607 (Borthwick Institute).
[9] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com): “Ux Ric Smythe de mydgley”. She may be the Agnes Fernside who married Richard Smith at Halifax on 6 Oct 1560. However, more than one possible Richard Smith was in the area at the time.
[10] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com). The will of Richard Smith mentions “Alice nowe my wiefe” and refers to indentures made before their marriage between Alice on the one part and Henry Banister and Judith, Richard’s late daughter, on the other part. Alice may have been the widow of Edward Speight of Sowerby whose will, dated 10 Oct 1585 and proved 5 Oct 1587 (Borthwick Institute), names his wife Alice.
[11] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[12] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[13] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[14] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[15] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[16] Fewston parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[17] St Peter, Leeds, parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[18] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[19] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[20] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[21] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).
[22] Halifax parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).