| Conyers baronets | |
|---|---|
 Escutcheon of the Conyers baronets of Horden | |
| Creation date | 1628 [1] |
| Status | extinct |
| Extinction date | 1810 [2] |
| Seat(s) | Horden Hall |
| Arms | azure, a maunch or [2] |
The baronetcy of Conyers of Horden was created in the Baronetage of England on 14 July 1628 for John Conyers of Horden, County Durham.
Between 1099 and 1133 the then Bishop of Durham, Ralph Flambard, granted lands at Sockburn, in County Durham and Hutton, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, to a Roger de Conyers. By the end of the 12th century the lands were divided between two branches of the Conyers family. The elder branch resided at Hutton Conyers, which passed to the Mallory family in 1347 after a Conyers daughter married a Mallory. [3] The other branch was well established at Sockburn. Sockburn Hall was the family seat. The last male Conyers at Sockburn died in 1635, and his granddaughter sold the manor of Sockburn. [4]
In the 16th century Richard Conyers of Hornby, a descendant of Sir Christopher Conyers of Sockburn, married the heiress of the Horden estate near Peterlee, County Durham, and Horden Hall became the family seat. [5] In 1810, Horden Hall estate consisted of around 500 acres. [6]
The 2nd Baronet, Sir Christopher Conyers married Elizabeth Langhorne, heiress to an estate at Charlton, Kent. His second wife was Julia, daughter of Richard Lumley, 1st Viscount Lumley. [7] The son of Sir Christopher and his wife Elizabeth – the 3rd Baronet – inherited that estate in 1714. The 3rd Baronet had, however, married the Baldwin heiress whose family had an estate at Great Stoughton, Huntingdonshire. Thus, in 1675 the Baronet moved the family seat there.
Sir Baldwin Conyers, 4th Baronet died without a male heir and the Horden estate was sold. The Charlton estate passed by entail out of the immediate family. The baronetcy passed to his cousin, Ralph Conyers of Chester le Street, who was a great-grandson of the first Baronet. He married Jane Blakiston (d.1774) on 11 June 1719 at Durham Cathedral [8] – Jane being a scion of the "opulent House of Gibside", near Rowlands Gill. [9] This alliance of the family with the Gibside-Bowes further "elevated their position and grandeur". [10] The sons of Sir Ralph and Lady Conyers succeeded as the 6th and 7th Baronets, their grandson George as the 8th Baronet who upon his death, left the baronetcy to be inherited by Thomas, their third son; Sir Thomas was the 9th and last Baronet. [11]
Sir Thomas, the 9th Baronet, seems to have retained his bearing as a gentleman; he is described as "gentleman" at his marriage in 1754 and as "esquire" in the baptismal entries of his daughters. According to Burke's Vicissitudes of Families, Durham historian Robert Surtees called on him at a Durham workhouse and, distressed at his plight, offered to raise an appeal to alleviate his circumstances. Sir Thomas replied: "I am no beggar, Sir; I won't accept any such offers." His pride extended to the rejection of financial aid from his family. [13] Although on 10 May 1800, he had attended Westminster Abbey for the funeral of his Gibside heiress cousin, Mary Eleanor Bowes [14] [15] – acknowledged as the wealthiest woman in England [16] – he accepted no aid from his relatives at Gibside, the coal-rich estate in the Derwent Valley, County Durham, that his ancestor, Sir William Blakiston had owned.
Robert Surtees wrote in February 1810 that although Sir Thomas Conyers had a number of "patrons" who helped him financially, it was only from his relative, "the late George Lumley-Saunderson, 5th Earl of Scarbrough", that the baronet experienced "kindness" during his final years of hardship. Surtees was modestly successful in his appeal for funds and Sir Thomas, "now in his 72nd year", was moved to more comfortable accommodation in a private house on 1 March 1810. [17]
The fate of Sir Thomas' brother was, according to the 1809 Gentleman's Magazine , somewhat better; Sir Blakiston Conyers (d.1791), was the "heir of two ancient titles, from which he derived little more than his name". But whereas the acceptance of the "generous patronage" of his Gibside relatives, the Bowes-Lyon family, had ensured that Sir Blakiston's situation was considerably more comfortable, his brother, Sir Thomas, died a pauper on 15 April 1810, only months after having been rescued from the workhouse by his gentry friends. [18]
Sir Thomas Blakiston Conyers, [19] the great-great-grandson of the first Baronet Conyers, failed to sire a surviving male heir and had only three daughters : Jane, Elizabeth and Dorothy.
Sir Bernard Burke, in his 1861 work "Vicissitudes of Families", presents a chapter entitled "The Fall of Conyers" which concludes with the following: "Magni stat nominis umbra! The poor Baronet left three daughters, married in very humble life: Jane, to William Hardy; Elizabeth, to Joseph Hutchinson; and Dorothy, to Joseph Barker, all working men in the little town of Chester-le-Street. A time may yet come, perchance, when a descendant of one of these simple artizans may arise, not unworthy of the Conyers' ancient renown; and it will be a gratifying discovery to some future genealogist, when he succeeds in tracing in the quarterings of such a descendant the unsullied bearing of Conyers of Durham." [20]
The baronetcy of Conyers of Horden became extinct in 1810. Sir Thomas's great-great-granddaughter, Jane Harrison (née Liddle; c.1839–1881) is the great-grandmother of Dorothy Goldsmith (née Harrison; 1935–2006), mother of Carole Middleton. [21] [22] [18] [23]
The title Marquess of Halifax was created in the Peerage of England in 1682 for the George Savile, 1st Earl of Halifax.
Sockburn is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Neasham, in the Darlington district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is situated at the apex of a meander of the River Tees, to the south of Darlington, known locally as the Sockburn Peninsula. Today, all that remains of the village is an early nineteenth-century mansion, a ruined church and a farmhouse built in the late eighteenth century.
Gibside is an estate in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is located in the valley of the River Derwent on the border with County Durham, between Rowlands Gill and Burnopfield. The estate is the surviving part of a Georgian landscaped park, primarily created under the ownership of Sir George Bowes (1701–1760) and designed in large part by Stephen Switzer and William Joyce.
Sir William Bowes was a British landowner and M.P.
Three baronetcies have been created in the Baronetage of England for members of the Littleton or Lyttelton family. All three lines are descended from Thomas de Littleton, a noted 15th-century jurist. Despite differences in the spelling of the title, the names of all three lines were spelt in many varied ways in the early modern period, without distinction between the different branches of the family. This can be confusing, as the range of forenames in use was very limited.
There have been three baronetcies created for members of the Blakiston family of Blakiston, County Durham, two in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. One creation is extant as of 2008.
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This is a list of the High Sheriffs of County Durham, England.
There have been three baronetcies created for descendants of the ancient Norman family of Molyneux who were granted extensive estates in Lancashire after the Norman Conquest.
The Baronetcy of Goodricke of Ribston was created in the Baronetage of England by King Charles I on 14 August 1641 for his loyal supporter John Goodricke of Ribston, Yorkshire. He represented Yorkshire in the Cavalier Parliament from 1661 to his death.
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The Tempest family was an English recusant family that originated in western Yorkshire in the 12th century.
Sir Thomas Leigh was an English merchant and Lord Mayor of London in 1558-59. He served as a City Alderman from 1552 until 1571.
Captain Sir Thomas Liddell, 1st Baronet (1578–1652) was an English politician, a member of the Liddell family which monopolized the local government of the North of England during the 16th and 17th centuries. He was one of the leading supporters of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.
Carole Elizabeth Middleton is a British businesswoman. She is the mother of Catherine, Princess of Wales, Philippa Matthews, and James Middleton.
Sir Christopher Conyers, 2nd Baronet (1621–1693), was one of the Conyers baronets and Lord Lieutenant of Durham. He married, firstly Elizabeth Langhorne and secondly, Julia Lumley, the daughter of Richard Lumley, 1st Viscount Lumley.
The Lyttelton family is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Lyttelton family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Lyttelton family include the viscountcies of Cobham and Chandos, as well as the Lyttelton barony and Lyttelton baronetcy. Several other members of the family have also risen to prominence, particularly in the field of cricket.
Richard Lumley, 1st Viscount Lumley was an English royalist and military commander. He was the grandfather of Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough.
Gary Christopher Goldsmith is a British businessman and entrepreneur who is known for his work in IT recruitment. He is the brother of Carole Middleton and the maternal uncle of Catherine, Princess of Wales. In March 2024, he became the first housemate to be evicted on the twenty-third series of Celebrity Big Brother.
It is thought to. have been the burial place of the Conyers, an old family formerly occupying Horden Hall.
...Horden Hall, 400–500 acres...
sir ralph conyers eventual heiress jane blakiston burkes.
But another branch of the Blakison family would eventually wind its way down to Sir Thomas Blakiston Conyers, himself a descendent of King Edward IV, and the great-great-grandfather of Jane Liddle, herself the great-great-grandmother of Kate's mother, Carole Middleton [and her brother Gary]...
Kate's direct ancestor, Sir Thomas Blakiston Conyers, also attended the funeral of his Gibside cousin Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
...It was on the 26th February, 1810, that Mr. Surtees proceeded to the workhouse. His own grey head uncovered, he accosted Sir Thomas with cordiality and respect, simply stating the purport of his visit....The late generous [George Lumley-Saunderson, 5th] Earl of Scarbrough [died 1807], the only patron whose kindness Sir Thomas ever experienced, proposed to solicit for him the place of a poor knight of Windsor...On the 1st of March (although the proposed amount of the subscrip-tion was not then filled) Sir Thomas was removed to a situation of ease and comfort, which he was destined to enjoy but a short time...
Kate's direct ancestor, Sir Thomas Blakiston Conyers...
But another branch of the Blakison family would eventually wind its way down to Sir Thomas Blakiston Conyers, himself a descendent of King Edward IV, and the great-great-grandfather of Jane Liddle, herself the great-great-grandmother of Kate's mother, Carole Middleton [and her brother Gary]...
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