2. Thomas, of Shekelands, who m. his cousin, Mary, daughter of Thomas Earle, esq. and had issue. 3. Mary, m. to Arthur Heywood, esq. of Larkhill. Sarah, m. to the Hon. and Rev. John Stanley, rector of Winwick, in the county of Lancaster, and brother of Edward, eleventh Earl of Derby. The eldest surviving son, RALPH EARLE, esq. assumed, upon inheriting, 28th August, 1788, the Willis estates, in pursuance of the will of Daniell Willis, esq. of Halsnead and of Hall o' th' Hill, the surname and arms of that family. He espoused Dorothy, second daughter and heiress of Richard Aldersey, esq. of Liverpool, a branch of the Alderseys, of Aldersey, in Cheshire, and had issue, RICHARD, present proprietor. SHAFTO, OF WHITWORTH. SHAFTO, ROBERT EDEN-DUNCOMBE, esq. of Whitworth Park, in the county palatine of Durham, b. 23rd March, 1776, m. in November, 1803, Catherine, third daughter of Sir John Eden, bart. of Windlestone, and has had issue, ROBERT-DUNCOMBE, b. in London, 7th April, 1806. Frederick-William-Duncombe, b. 18th July, 1812, and d. in 1820. Slingsby-Duncombe, b. 11th August, 1811. Catherine, m. 17th May, 1827, to William-Charles Har- Maria-Georgiana. Mr. Shafto, who represented the City of Durham in parliament, in 1804, succeeded his brother in July, 1802. Lineage. The family of SHAFTO is of great antiquity in the north of England. Some little incidental proof of the rank which the old lords of Shafto held on the border may be gathered from song and tradition. At the "Raid of the Redswire," in 1575, a hostile meeting between the Scotch and English Wardens, one of the war-cries of the latter was, "A Schaftan and a Fenwick." The Scots had the honour of the day, and amongst the many English who were taken prisoners or wounded, "Young Henry Schaftan he is hurt, A souldier shot him with a bow." CUTHBERT FOLLIOTT, second or younger son of Sir John Folliott, had issue, THOMAS FOLLIOTT, who is said to have first assumed the surname of SHAFTO, from his residence at Shafto-Crag, in Northumberland. From him sprung, sixth in descent, WILLIAM SHAFTO, esq. who left by his wife -, heiress of Bavington, in Northumberland, a son and successor, EDWARD SHAFTO, esq. of Bavington, who m. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Swinburne, esq. of Nafferton, in the county of Northumberland, and had, with other issue, CUTHBERT, who s. at Bavington, and marrying Isabel, daughter and co-heir of Roger Bertram, esq. was ancestor to the Shaftos of Bavington, now represented by ROBERT-INGRAM SHAFTO, esq. of Alexander, who m. Anne, daughter of MARK, of whom presently. The third son, MARK SHAFTO, esq. of Newcastle-uponTyne, served the office of mayor of that city in 1548. He m. Margaret Riddell, and had issue, EDWARD, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,mer- Mark, alderman of Newcastle, who Elizabeth, m.to William Greenwell, esq. The third son, NINIAN SHAFTO, esq. of Newcastle, m. Anne, daughter of Henry Brandling, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and dying in 1581, was s. by his eldest son, ROBERT SHAFTO, esq. alderman and sheriff of Newcastle in 1607, who m. Jane, daughter of Robert Eden, esq. of that place, and had surviving issue, ROBERT, to whom his father devised Benwell Tower, in the county of Northumberland, ancestor of the SHAFTOS OF BENWELL. Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. ROBERT (Sir), his successor. Thomas, a Hamburgh merchant. Mark Shafto d. 25th February, 1659, and was s. by his eldest son, SIR ROBERT SHAFTO, knt. of Whitworth, in the county of Durham, barrister-at-law, who, being appointed recorder of Newcastle in 1660, received the honour of knighthood at Whitehall, 26th June, 1670. He was constituted serjeant-at-law in 1674, and in 1685 resigned the recordership, to which situation he was a second time chosen, at the Revolution in 1688. He m. in 1661, Catherine, daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Widdrington, knt. of Cheeseburn Grange, in the county of Northumberland, serjeantat-law (by Frances, his wife, daughter of Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax, of Cameron), and left at his decease 21st May, 1705, an only son and successor, MARK SHAFTO, esq. of Whitworth, b. in 1662, who served the office of high sheriff (by patent) of the county of Durham in 1709. He m. Catherine, eldest daughter of Sir John Ingleby, of Ripley, bart. and eventually co-heir in blood of her nephew, Sir John Ingleby, bart. and had issue, ROBERT, his heir. JOHN, successor to his brother, Catherine, m. 31st January, 1715, to Sir John Eden, of Windlestone, bart. and left issue. Mr. Shafto d. 28th December, 1723, and was s. by his elder son, ROBERT SHAFTO, esq. of Whitworth, M. P. for the city of Durham, 1st GEORGE I. who m. Dorothy, fifth daughter of Henry Dawney, second Lord Viscount Downe, by whom (who married after his decease, Rev. Thomas Eden, D. D. Prebendary of Durham, fourth son of Sir Robert Eden, of Windlestone) leaving no issue, the estates devolved upon his only brother, JOHN SHAFTO, esq. of Whitworth, M.P. for the city of Durham, from 1729 to 1742. This gentleman m. Mary, daughter and heiress of Thomas Jackson, esq. of Nunnington, in the county of York, town clerk of the city of London, by whom (who remarried after his decease Wynne, esq. and d. in 1768) he had issue, ROBERT, his successor. Thomas-Goodfellow, D. D. Rector of Brancepeth and Canon Residentiary of Christ Church, Oxford, d. unmarried 17th October, 1797, and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral. Dorothy, m. 19th April, 1763, to Wilmot Vaughan, Earl of Lisburne, and d. in 1805. Margaret, d. unmarried, in 1818. Thomas, b. 23rd August, 1777. This gentleman, who represented the county of Durham in parliament from 1760 until 1768, and subsequently the borough of Downton, for several years, d. 24th November, 1797, and was s. by his eldest son, JOHN SHAFTO, esq. of Whitworth, at whose decease, unmarried, in July, 1802, the family estates devolved upon his next brother, ROBERT-EDEN-DUNCOMBE SHAFTO, esq. present representative of this branch of the family. Arms-Gu. on a bend arg. three mullets az. Crest-A salamander reguardant vert, in the middle of flames ppr. Estates-At Whitworth, Bishop's Close, Byer's Green, North Bedburn, Bitchburn, Mr. Shafto d. 3rd April, 1742, and was s. by and Witton-le-Wear, in the county of Dur SHIRLEY, EVELYN-JOHN, esq. of Eatington Park, in the county of Warwick, b. in 1788, m. in 1810, Eliza, daughter of Arthur Stanhope, esq. cousin to the Earl of Chesterfield, and has issue, EVELYN-PHILIP, b. in 1812. Arthur, b. in 1813. Sewallis, b. in 1816. George-Edward, b. in 1817. Walter-Devereux, b. in 1829. Selina. Louisa. Mr. Shirley, who represented the county of Monaghan for sometime in parliament, and who is a trustee of Rugby school, inherited the estates upon the demise of his father, 17th May, 1810. Lineage. This is a branch of the noble and ancient family of Shirley, Earls of Ferrars, springing from SIR ROBERT SHIRLEY, knt, first EARL OF FERRARS, who m. first, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Lawrence Washington, esq. of Caresden, in Wiltshire, and had, with several other children, 1. ROBERT, who predeceased his father, Elizabeth, whom. James, fifth Earl 2. WASHINGTON, who s. his father as se- 3. HENRY, third earl, at whose decease, unmarried, the title passed to his nephew. 4. Lawrence, who left three sons, viz. d. s. p. ROBERT, sixth earl, who had issue, WASHINGTON, PRESENT EARL, 1. Robert, M.P. for Stamford, who d.s.p. 3. GEORGE, of whom hereafter. 7. Mary, m. to Charles Tryon, esq. of 8. Anne, m. to Sir Robert Furnese, and 9. Frances, 10. Steuarta, } d. unmarried. The third, but, eventually, eldest surviving son of the second marriage, The Hon. GEORGE SHIRLEY, of Eating- EVELYN, who inherited upon the demise Margaret, m. to John Smith, esq. of Mr. Shirley d. 22nd October, 1787, and GEORGE SHIRLEY, esq. of Eatington, who m. twice; but dying s. p. in 1793, the estates devolved upon his brother, EVELYN SHIRLEY, esq. of Eatington, who espoused Phillis-Byam, daughter of Charlton Wollaston, esq. and had issue, EVELYN-JOHN, present proprietor. William, b. 23rd March, 1794. Selina. Mary, m. to George Morant, esq. Emily-Harriet, m. to Lord Suffield. Arms-Quarterly, first and fourth, paly of six, or and az. a canton ermine: second and third, France and England quarterly, within a border arg. Crest-The bust of a Saracen, side-faced and couped, ppr. wreathed about the temples, or and az. Motto-Honor virtutis præmium. Estates-In Warwickshire; and in the county of Monaghan, Ireland. Seats-Eatington Park, in the county of Warwick; and Lough Fea, in the county of Selina, m. to Sir Edward Dering, bt. Monaghan. VAVASOUR, OF WESTON. VAVASOUR, WILLIAM, esq. of Weston Hall, in the county of York, m. Sarah, daughter and co-heiress of John Cooke, esq. of Swinton, in the same shire, by whom he has no issue. Mr. Vavasour succeeded to the estates of his family, and the representation of the ancient house of VAVASOUR, upon the decease of his brother in 1795. Lineage. The eminent family of VAVASOR, or VALVASOR (as Camden has it), derived their name from their office, being formerly king's valvasor, a degree then little inferior to the baronial. "There are," says Bracton, "for the civil government of mankind, emperors, kings, and princes, magnates or VALVASORS, and knights." SIR MAUGER LE VAVASOR is mentioned in Doomsday Book, as holding in chief of the Percys, Earls of Northumberland, considerable manors and estates in Stutton, Eselewood, Saxall (Saxon), &c. He was father of another SIR MAUGER LE VAVASOR, father of SIR WILLIAM LE VAVASOR, lord of Haselwood, judge in the reign of Henry II. and one of the witnesses to the charter of the abbey of Sawley, in Yorkshire, refounded by Matilda de Percy, Countess of Warwick. To this abbey he himself also made a considerable donation of land. He was s. by his son, SIR ROBERT LE VAVASOR, who in 21st Henry III. was high-sheriff of Nottingham and Derby; and from 31st of the same reign having served for eight years successively. He had likewise the custody of the honor of Peverell. He m. Julian, daughter of Gilbert de Ross, of Steeton, by whom he had issue, 1. JOHN (Sir), his successor. 2. Maude, m. to Theobald, brother of Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, from whom descended the family of Butler, dukes, marquesses, and earls of Ormonde; and from whom also descended her majesty, Queen Elizabeth, by her grandfather, Sir Thomas Boleyne, created Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde. Sir Robert d. 38th Henry III. and was s. by his son, SIR JOHN LE VAVASOR, knt. Lord of Haof Thornton, to the church and canons of St. selwood, who gave to the abbot and convent Peter in Howden, stone from his quarry in Theves-dale (now called Jackdaw Cragg), near Tadcaster, to build their churches, and repair other edifices. He m. Alice, daughter of Sir Robert Cockfield, knt. by whom he had, with a younger son, MALGER, of whose descendants we are about to treat, Sir William le Vavasor, who s. his father at Haselwood, which he had license to castellate from King Edward I. in whose reign he was employed in the Gascoigne and Scotch wars; and was so esteemed, that he had summons to parliament among the barons, from 28th Edward I. to 6th of Edward II. He gave to the archbishop and chapter of York, from the abovementioned quarry in Theves-dale, the stone of which the noble edifice, the Minster, was erected. He also made and founded St. Leonard's Chapel, in his castle at Haselwood, which, on the foregoing |