Camden is no doubt right in deriving the name of the Eure
family from the
village of Eure in Buckinghamshire, which was granted by King
Richard I. to John
de Fitz-Robert. The Eures of Ingleby were descended from a
younger branch of
the barons of Warkworth. John de Fitz-Robert, 3rd baron of
Warkworth, was the
first member of his family who was connected with Ingleby,
inasmuch as he
obtained it along with Stokesley on his marriage with Ada, dau.
of Hugh, grandson
of Bernard de Balliol. She was sister to John de Balliol, the
founder (1263) of
Balliol College, Oxford, and aunt to John de Balliol, King of
Scotland. In 1223-4
John de Eure obtained a charter for a fair to be held at
Stokesley on the eve and
day of St. Thomas the martyr. He was sheriff of Northumberland
1224-7.
Apparently in the life-time of her husband Ada de Eure conveyed
the manorhouse
of Stokesley, with half of that barony, and the advowson of
fifteen churches,
and half of the forest of Basedale, to her son Sir Hugh de Eure,
and his heirs
lawfully begotten, with a remainder to his brother, Sir Robert
de Eure. The
residuary portion of the barony probably remained vested in her
husband, and after
his death was granted to his sons Hugh and Robert. In 1290 King
Ed. I. confirmed
to Sir Hugh de Eure the manors of Stokesley and Ingleby. He was
one of the
executors of the will of John de Balliol, founder of Balliol
College, Oxford.
Sir Hugh was succeeded by his son Sir John de Eure of Stokesley
and Ingleby.
In 1304 he "granted, remised, and wholly quit-claimed, for
himself and his heirs for
ever, to the abbey of St. Hilda at Whitby, the Church of Kirkeby
in Cleveland, and
all its appurtenances."* In 1306 he obtained a grant of free
warren in his manor of
Easby in Cleveland. In 1309 he was sheriff of Yorkshire, and in
1315 was certified
as lord of the manors of Stokesley, Ingleby, Easby, Battersby
and Kirby in
Cleveland.
Sir John de Eure, who died in 1393, was one of the principal
warriors of his
time, and at his death was constable of Dover Castle, and Lord
Steward of the
king's house.1
His son. Sir Ralph, held the appointments of sheriff of
Northumberland,
governor of the castle of Newcastle upon Tyne, sheriff of
Yorkshire, and constable
of York Castle. In 1410 Langley, Bishop of Durham, gave him a
licence to fortify
his castle at Witton.
Sir William Eure was married in 1411, at the age of 15, to
Matilda, dau. of
Henry, Lord Fitzhugh, of Ravensworth. Sir Ralph, his son, was
sheriff of
Yorkshire in 1445, and was killed at Towton Field in 1461. He
married Eleanor,
dau. of Ralph, baron of Greystoke.
The next holder of the estates. Sir William Eure, was sheriff of
York in 1483.
In 1497 he obtained a dispensation for his marriage to his
second wife, Constance,
widow of Sir Henry Percy, of Bamborough, to whom he was twice
related in the
third degree.
Sir Ralph Eure was sheriff of Northumberland in 1504, and of
Yorkshire in
1506 and 1510. His son, Sir William, was Sheriff of
Northumberland in 1527,
captain of the town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1538,
and was created
Lord Eure of Witton in 1543.
His son. Sir Ralph Eure, was constable of Scarborough castle in
1537, in which
year he defended it with his household servants only against the
rebels in the
Pilgrimage of Grace, living for nearly 20 days on little more
than bread and water.
In return for these services he was made Warden of the Marches,
" and," says Mr.
Grose, " did so many vahant exploits against the Scots in
Teviotdale that the king
gave him a grant of all lands he could win from them." Upon the
dissolution of
Whitby Abbey the Rectorial rights of Ingleby were granted to
him. He was M.P.
for Scarborough 1542-5. He married Margery, dau. of Sir Ralph
Bowes of
*In this year he also quit-claimed to Johanna {aot John as
stated by Ord, and at page xx ante)
de Percy, Prioress of Basedale, lands, &c. at Ingleby Greenhow,
&c.
XLIV INGLEBY GREENHOW REGISTERS.
Streatlam. He was slain by the Scots at Halidon Hill in 1545,
and was buried in
Melrose Abbey.
William, who succeeded his grandfather as the 2nd Lord Eure, was
born Feb.
27, !53t. In 1541, while he was still only ten years old, he was
married at Ensham,
near Oxford, to Mary, dau. of Lord D'Arcy, a child of four years
of age. The
marriage entered upon at so early a period of life did not turn
out happily ; and in
1554, when he was 24 and she 17, a divorce was decreed between
them at Durham
He afterwards married Margaret, dau. of Sir Edward Dymock of
Scrivelsby, co.
Line, and champion of England. In 1552 he was warden of the
Middle Marches,
and was afterwards captain of Ber^vick upon Tweed. By his will,
dated Dec. 22,
1592, he bequeathed ;^1500 to his son to build a house at Jarrow
upon Tyne. He
was buried at Ingleby in 1593, his wife Margaret having been
buried there two years
previously. In the " North Riding Records " his name occurs as
chairman of
Quarter Sessions in Yorkshire in 1586, his son Ralph being at
the same time upon
the bench.
Ralph, the 3rd Lord Eure, was born in Berwick Castle, Sept. 24,
1558. He was
warden of the Middle Marches in 1586, Sheriff of Yorkshire in
1593, Lord President
of the Council in the Principality of Wales in 1607, ambassador
to the Emperor
Rudolph II., and to the King of Denmark in 1603. He sold Ingleby
to Sir David
Foulis in 1609, and died April 1, 1617. He married, 1st, about
1577, Mary dau. of
Sir John Dawnay of Sessay, and 2nd, in 1612, Elizabeth dau. of
Sir John Spencer
and widow of Lord Hunsdon, who died about a month before him,
and was buried
at Westminster. His brother, Sir Francis, was Chief Justice of
North Wales about
1610, and Sir William was M.P. for Scarborough in 1601.
After the sale of Ingleby the Eure family continued to live at
Stokesley. They
had also a house at Easby. In the list of Recusants presented at
the Quarter
Sessions in April 1611 occurs the following entry :—" Stokesley.
Sir William Eure,
Knt., and his ladie [R. 3 mo.] "*
In the record of the Sessions of July 9th in the same year there
is the following
entry :—" Stokesley. Sir Will. Eure (40), and Dame Kath. his
wife (30) have not
repaired unto their parishe church, nor, to our knowledge, to
any other church,
chappell, or usual place of Common Prayer to heare Divine
Service, according &c.,
for the space of 12 monethes, Marg* , dau*^ of the said Sir
Will. (9), Margery Tare
(24), servant to the said Lady Eure, Will. Vanderhay (40),
servant to the said Sir
Will. Eure."* Again in the account of the Sessions held at
Helmsley on July 8,
1614, we have the following " Sir William Eure, about 44, and
Lady Katherin his
wife, 40, each Rec. 7 years." On this last occasion the name of
Sir William Eure
occurs as Chairman of the Sessions. Under date July 9, 1616,
there is a similar
entry.
f
William Eure, son of the fourth Lord Eure, was a colonel in the
army of
Charles I, and was killed at the battle of Marston Moor in 1645.
The following extract from Thoresby's Diary is printed in Ord's
" History of
Cleveland."^ " Oct. 22. Afternoon at aunt Syke's. Had the
opportunity of perusing
* " North Riding Records," Vol. III., pp. 68, 76. t Ibid. Vol.
II., p. I4t. J P. 397.
several papers of her uncle, the last Lord Eure. By the
extinction of the elder line of
this ancient family, the barony of Eure descended to the
posterity of Sir Francis Eure,
who died in 1621. This branch had become reduced; and it appears
b}' one of
De Neuve's MSS. at the Museum, that Sampson and Ralph Eure were
woolendrapers
in London. Ralph succeeded to the title, which became extinct at
his
death, 29th April, 1707."
In Stokesley Church is the following inscription :—" Near this
place lyeth the
body of Elizabeth Hornb}^ daughter of Richard Hornby, who was
granddaughter of
Mrs. Elizabeth Walker of Easby, who was one of the co-heiresses
of the Right
Hon. Lord Ralph Eure, Baron Eure, of Witton in Durham. She died
the 26th of
August, 1739, aged 12 years and 8 months."
Several entries respecting the family of Eure will be found in
the register
between the dates of 1574 and 1602.
1 This paragraph appears to be mistakenly based upon a confusion beteen Sir John de Eure and Sir John Devereux.