SWIFT OF SILKSTONE
John Hobson of Dodworth was married to Ann Swift.[1] Ann was a daughter of John Swift of Silkstone. John Swift’s 1558 will does not mention Ann but from a comparison with the will of Robert Swift of Bradfield, written in 1583, it seems clear that Robert was the son of that name mentioned in John’s will and Robert leaves legacies to “everie of the Children of my sister Anne nowe wife of John Hobson of Dodworth”. The 1617 will of Elizabeth (Hobson) Thornton, daughter of John Hobson, leaves “unto my mother Shirttcliff my Velvett stomacher and best girdle” and “unto my mother Hobson my best Cloth gowne”.[2]
A pedigree in William Monck Mason’s History of the Church of St. Patrick shows Ann (Swift) Hobson’s mother as Ann Stanley, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Harrington) Stanley of Melling, Lancashire.[3] If this was correct, then a descent could be traced for Ann (Swift) Hobson from King Edward III.[4] However, the accuracy of the link is doubtful. It is true that John and Elizabeth (Harrington) Stanley had a daughter Ann who married a John Swift[5] but it is not clear that this was John Swift of Silkstone and in fact it is unlikely on the face of it. There was a Swift family associated with Sefton,[6] near Melling, and members of the Molyneux family of Sefton purchased a share of Elizabeth Harrington’s inheritance from John and Ann Swift in 1520/21.[7] The Sefton family included a John Swift born about 1491[8] who would be of a likely age to marry Ann Stanley.[9] The Silkstone connection has not been ruled out entirely and the Harringtons and Stanleys did have some links with that part of the country.[10] The chronology is possible, if rather long.[11] Nevertheless, it seems more probable that the John Swift married to Ann Stanley belonged to the Sefton family rather than the Silkstone one.
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SWIFT
1 JOHN SWIFT of Silkstone, Yorkshire, yeoman,[12] died in June 1536.[13] He married ELIZABETH.[14]
Child
of John Swift:
2 i JOHN SWIFT (d ca 1559).
2 JOHN SWIFT of the Nabbs, Silkstone, died ca 1559.[15]
Children
of John Swift:
i THOMAS
SWIFT.[16]
ii ROBERT
SWIFT of Bradfield, yeoman, bur 1 Jun 1583, Bradfield;[17] m
MARGARET ( ) COLDWELL.[18]
iii WILLIAM
SWIFT of Silkstone, bur 6 Nov 1599, Silkstone;[19] m
ROSAMUND.[20]
iv ANN
SWIFT;[21] m
JOHN HOBSON[22]
(see here).
v ELIZABETH
SWIFT; m 6 Jun 1563, Silkstone, RICHARD OXLEY.[23]
vi JENNET
SWIFT; m THOMAS DENTON.[24]
[1] Will of John Hobson, dated 2 Jan 1609, proved 9 Jul 1610 (Borthwick Institute); Feet of Fines of the Tudor Period, part 2 (1888), 105; will of Robert Swift of Bradfield, dated 30 May 1583, proved 28 Jun 1583 (Borthwick Institute).
[2] Will dated 13 Oct 1617, proved 2 Dec 1617 (Borthwick Institute). Elizabeth’s “mother Shirttcliff” was her deceased husband Richard Thornton’s mother Beatrice (Tempest) (Thornton) Shirtcliffe.
[3] William Monck Mason, The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St. Patrick, near Dublin (Dublin, 1820), 226. A collection of Yorkshire pedigrees in the possession of Sir William Betham is given as a source.
[4] William Langton, ed., The Visitation of Lancashire and a Part of Cheshire, 1533, part 2 (Manchester, 1882), 166-70; Charles Best Norcliffe, ed., The Visitation of Yorkshire in the Years 1563 and 1564 (London, 1881), 104; G.E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new ed., ed. Vicary Gibbs et al., 14 vols in 15 (London, 1910-59; Stroud, 1998), 3:293, 9:713-14.
[5] Lancashire Archives, catalogue entries for DDM/18/20 and DDM/18/22; William Farrer and J. Brownbill, eds, The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster, vol. 3 (London, 1907), 101; National Archives, CP 40/1076.
[7] William Farrer and J. Brownbill, eds, The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster, vol. 3 (London, 1907), 210-11; William Farrer, ed., Final Concords of the County of Lancaster, part 4 (1910), 7.
[8] William Farrer and J. Brownbill, eds, The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster, vol. 3 (London, 1907), 283-84. This John Swift had a brother called Arthur Swift who was chaplain to Lord Strange, a member of the Stanley family.
[9] Elizabeth Harrington was born about 1456 and married John Stanley no later than 1485: Joseph Hunter, South Yorkshire, 2 vols (London, 1828-31), 2:402-03; Gordon McKelvie, ed., Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1483-1485 (Woodbridge and London, 2021), 120.
[10] There were links with Shafton and Brierley in Felkirk, and the residence of Elizabeth (Harrington) Stanley’s second husband Richard Beaumont was at Whitley in Kirkheaton: National Archives, CP 40/1076; James Raine, ed., Testamenta Eboracensia, vol. 3 (Durham, London and Edinburgh, 1865), 363; A.S. Ellis, “Dodsworth’s Yorkshire Notes”, The Yorkshire Archæological and Topographical Journal, 8(1884):481-522, at 505-06.
[11] John Stanley and Elizabeth Harrington were already married by 1485. The will of John Swift of Silkstone indicates that he had two daughters who were still under age in 1558. Moreover, Ann (Stanley) Swift is stated to be the eldest daughter and coheir of Elizabeth. See Gordon McKelvie, ed., Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1483-1485 (Woodbridge and London, 2021), 120; Joseph Hunter, South Yorkshire, 2 vols (London, 1828-31), 2:404. A John Swift of Silkstone, husbandman, was aged about 52 in 1555 (York cause papers, CP.G.3539, Borthwick Institute) but it is not clear if this is the John whose will was dated 1558. Others mentioned in the case include Nicholas Swift, rector of Thrybergh, and Lionel Reresby, which suggests a connection with the Swifts of Rotherham: Joseph Hunter, Hallamshire, new ed., ed. Alfred Gatty (London, 1875), 364; A. Hamilton Thompson and Charles Travis Clay, eds, Fasti Parochiales, vol. 2, part 2 (Leeds, 1943), 85.
[12] He is named in an agreement of 1528 along with his son John: Barnsley Archives, catalogue entry for SpSt/51/22.
[13] Will dated 6 Jun 1536, proved 16 Jun 1536 (Borthwick Institute).
[14] Will of John Swift, dated 6 Jun 1536, proved 16 Jun 1536 (Borthwick Institute).
[15] Will dated 4 Sep 1558, proved 18 May 1559 (Borthwick Institute).
[16] The 1536 will of John Swift includes legacies “to Thomas Swyfte to Robert and to William children of John Swifte”.
[17] Bradfield parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk); will dated 30 May 1583, proved 28 Jun 1583 (Borthwick Institute).
[18] Will of Robert Swift, dated 30 May 1583, proved 28 Jun 1583 (Borthwick Institute).
[20] Joseph Hunter, Familiae Minorum Gentium, ed. John W. Clay, 4 vols (London, 1894-96), 3:900; William Monck Mason, The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St. Patrick, near Dublin (Dublin, 1820), 226.
[22] Will of John Hobson, dated 2 Jan 1609, proved 9 Jul 1610 (Borthwick Institute); Feet of Fines of the Tudor Period, part 2 (1888), 105; will of Robert Swift, dated 30 May 1583, proved 28 Jun 1583 (Borthwick Institute); will of John Swift, dated 4 Sep 1558, proved 18 May 1559 (Borthwick Institute).
[23] Silkstone parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com); will of Robert Swift, dated 30 May 1583, proved 28 Jun 1583 (Borthwick Institute).
[24] Will of Robert Swift, dated 30 May 1583, proved 28 Jun 1583 (Borthwick Institute).