Keenleywell House

Interesting video on YouTube "Ruins of Keenleywell House".

There would appear to be a headstone mentioned in the video but unfortunately no mention of the inscription.

Book recommendation

Walking the Northumberland Dales: Hadrian's Wall Country by Jennifer Norderhaug and Barbara Thompson, Sigma Leisure 2009

"Walk 1
Route: Keenley Well, Keenley Fell, Keenleyside Hill, Monk Wood, Ashey Bank, Burnlaw, Keenley Well.
Distance: 5 miles, 8km.
High Point: 378m
Ascent: 230m
Terrain: fields, woods and lanes.
Refreshments: The Elk's Head, west of Keenleywell House, where the road joins the A686 Alston to Hexham road.
Map: OS Explorer OL43"

Keenlyside country indeed!

1600's in Allendale

The following is a quotation from The History of Northumberland Vol.111 Part 1 by Hinds:
"In 1632 the connection (for Hexamshire) with the crown ceased entirely and it appears that almost all of the land and appurtenances went to Sir John Fenwick, by letters patent. This grant comprised East and West Allendale...all the lead mines and lead ore to be obtained within the liberty. In spite of the privileges of the Hexham copyholders, and not withstanding the fact that they paid no heriots, and had almost complete liberty in the disposal of their lands, they were miserably poor, and were always in difficulties."
1600's Dates that are significant:
1603-1625 King James 1
1608 The Kings Mill, a water corn mill at Catton
1611 King James version of the Bible printed and published
1611 Pilgrim Fathers set sail in the Mayflower
1620-1660 Civil War - Registers poorly kept. Frequent gaps in Bishop's Transcripts and parish registers.
1632 Crown grant of Hexamshire to Sir John Fenwick
1649 Charles 1 executed. Commonwealth established
1649-1660 Oliver Cromwell period
Mid 1600's Influx of miners into Allendale (Hodgson, op. cit. pg 79)
1660 King Charles 11
1664 Hearth Tax for East and West Allendale. About 200 families listed. Exempt if their annual value was less than £1 (NDFHS Journal 1985 Vol 10 No.1 lists Allendale Hearth Tax) 
1664 Mill at Burn Tongues, Allendale
1665 Plague in London
1666 Great Fire of London
1670 Allendale Parish Chapel repaired
1671 Nonconformists given freedom to worship; last recorded death from the plague in England
1678 2nd "Wool"  Act. "Paupers" those who can't afford wool burial.
1683 One of the most severe winters on record - King Charles 11 gives strict orders for relief of the poor.
1685 Death of Charles 11 - King James 11 (Catholic)
1688 King deposed and Jacobites take up his cause. Crown lands pass into private hands. Land tax.
1688 Quakers numerous in Allendale; build another Meeting House at Limestone Brae.
1689 William and Mary. Bloody war against French League of Augsburg
1694 Queen Mary dies; William 111 rules. Tax "Gentlemen " burials
1694 Sir William Blackett purchased manor of Hexham from Sir John Fenwick
1695 Fines imposed if failure to report a birth to parish minister. Registers to contain lists of all births including disenters.
1696 Windows subject to tax for the first time.
1697 Poor Laws require settlement certificate to enter a parish; paupers "P" on right shoulder plus first letter of parish (repealed 1782)
1698 Taxes imposed on entries in registers.
( Allendale happenings italicised)

Early Keenlyside residents of Allendale

The earliest verifiable date for Keenlysides in Allendale is 1547, when a survey of the area shows them owning two properties. Roger Keenlyside has Keenlyside (possibly Keenlyside Fell and Michael Keenlyside has Keenlyside Hill. By the time of the next survey in 1608 the two properties have been combinded and are owned by William Keenlyside. The property remains with the family and in 1701 another William Keenlyside surrenders it to himself for life and the life of his daughter, Mary. This seems unusual, at that time women did not ordinarily own property. The property leaves the family in 1830 when Mary's great-grandson (so she must have married), John Clark sold his share to Mr Ord of Whitfield. There had been Keenlysides here for 283 years, possibly longer as we are not aware of the exact time they took possession of the property.

1547 was a significant year. On 28 January King Henry V111 died leaving the country in the hands of his son, the nine year old Edward V1 (1537-1553). He was the only legitimate heir by Henry's wife, Jane Seymour.

Keenlyside Wills

Mentioned as a footnote in A History of Northumberland Volume 4 Hexamshire Part2 (Hexham, Whiteley Chapel, Allendale and St John Lee) by John Crawford Hodgson 1897 are numerous wills.

7th August 1685 the will of Robert Keenlyside of Hawkup proved by Elizabeth his widow and sole executrix; to whom was granted tuition of his children William, Joseph, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah.

19th January 1699/1700 the will of Gerard Keenlyside of Corry Hill. When my son John Keenlyside shall arrive at the age of 21 he shall pay to his brother, William £30; and to my wife Ann and son William all personal estate, they executors. Proved 3rd October 1700. Inventory: Horse, purse and apparel, £3; six cowes and one bull, £14; three heffers £4 10s; one and twenty sheep £5 14s; household goods £3 10s. Total £30 4s (from which deduct) the testator's funeral expenses £3 10s - £26 14s.

19th February 1715/6 the Will of Thomas Keenlyside of Woodheads. John Keenlyside of Chairheads and his brother William Keenlyside of Swaledale in Yorkshire; Jane, their sister; my nephews Joke and Edward Keenlyside of Middlescott; Ann Keenlyside, widow of my brother John; Mary Dixon, their daughter, and Ann and Elizabeth, their daughters; John son of my brother Gerard Keenlyside, deceased, and William his brother. My nephew John Dawson of Woodhead executor. Proved 25th September 1719. 

25th April 1717 the nuncupative will of John Keenlyside of Wolfcleugh. My wife; my son, Joshua; my daughters Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah. Proved 16th October 1718 by Mary Keenlyside the widow to whom was granted tuition of Joshua, Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah, his children.

25th June 1720 the will of Ann Keenlyside of Wooley, alias Wooly, widow. My son Matthew Keenlyside, late deceased; my nephew Thomas Hutchinson executor. Proved 16th May 1721.

20th February 1726/7. Administration of the personal estate of Thomas Keenlyside of Furnacehouse granted to Jane, the widow.

11th February 1746/7 the will of Edward Keenlyside of Millscott, yeoman. To my daughters Jane and Mary Keenlyside £20 each; my daughter Ann, wife of Robert Hall; my son-in-law Matthew Rowell; residue to my son Edward Keenlyside. Proved 22nd March 1759 by Robert Hall and Mary Keenlyside, the exectors.

27th October 1757 the administration of the personal estate of Robert Keenlyside of the parish of Allendale granted to Margaret, his widow.

25th June 1759 Probate of the will of William Keenlyside of Fosterheads granted to William Keenlyside, the sole executor.

28th September 1765 administration of the personal estate of Reginald Keenlyside of Grasswell granted to Ann, his widow.

23rd September 1767 the will of William Keenlyside of Keenlyside, yeoman, my sons Joseph and William Keenlyside of Grasswell. Proved 11th August 1767 by George and John Green, my executors.

*Reginald Keenlyside is a direct descendant.

Roger Keenlyside is probably the first Keenlyside to be recorded by name in 1547. Some of the Keenlyside families seem to have been quite well-to-do farmers. Gerard Keenlyside of Hawkup owned cattle and sheep and left £26 14s (£2,085) in today's money. Edward Keenlyside is described as a yeoman, he was probably a farmer who cultivated his own land. The fact that these people were making wills is significant, in that they had property to bequeath. This is true of Ann Keenlyside in 1720 for women at that time often had no property to leave behind.

The wills give us the names of the dwellings of these Keenlyside families, useful for tracking them down in the Parish Registers, although they do seem to move around . Hawkup, Corryhill, Woodheads, Chairheads, Middlescott, Wolfcleugh, Furnacehouses, Fosterheads and Grasswell are all mentioned in the Parish Registers although with various and sometimes fantastical spellings.
One William Keenlyside had moved to Swaledale in Yorkshire.

Most importantly we are given an idea of family relationships and that education of children was of concern. 

One will is described as 'nuncupertive' so would have been a deathbed will, verbal but needing two witnesses.

The origins of the surname Keenlyside

There are two versions for the origin of Keenlyside. Both are agreed that it is an unusual surname of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a northern English locational name. It is here that the two accounts part company. The first, and most likely suggestion names the hamlet of Keenley in Northumberland. The second has Kinniside in the parish of St Bees in Cumberland as the origin. 

The component elements of Keenley are believed to be the Olde English pre 7th Century personal byname "Cena" meaning keen or bold, with "leah" meaning glade or clearing, with the later addition of the Middle English side or hillside - hence Keenlyside -  the bold man in the glade by the hillside.

Recorded as Kynisheved in 1322 the Cumberland place is so called from the Olde English "Cena" as above or "Cyne" a byname meaning king with "heafod" meaning headland or summit. Locational surnames were originally given to the Lord of the Manor or as a means of identification to those who left their place of origin to settle elsewhere. According to the Inquisitions Post Mortem at the time of Edward 11, Thomas de Multon of Egremont had in his possession a place called Kynisheved with 47 tenants bringing in a rent of £8 12s 8d.

The more compelling argument for the origin of Keenlyside lies in Allendale. The name Keenley is amongst the earliest local names in Allendale and derives from the personal name of a one time owner, according to Hubert Dixon in An Allendale Miscellany published by Frank Graham in 1974. In The Place Names of Northumberland and Durham by Dr Alan Mawer published in 1920 Keenley is found in lists from the 13th Century and in a 1230 Register of Walter Gray, Archbishop of York.

Keenley in Allendale was a member of the regality of Hexham and was described as a hamlet in a survey of 1536. By 1546 no village existed there and only two tenements were recorded in 1608 and 1628. Although the exact site of the medieval village is not known it may lie near a tithe barn. Here the ground is irregular but there are no clear signs of village earthworks.

In a survey of Hexham Manor which took place in 1547 Kenelesilde was held by Roger Kenlesyde at a rent of 6/-(six shillings) and one parcel of land called Kindelfyldehil was held by Michael Kendlesilde at a rent of 7/4d (seven shillings and four pence). This seems to match up with the account that only two tenements remained after 1546.
 
As William Keenlyside held Kinleyside Hill in 1608 at the rent of 13s 8d it may be inferred that he was in possession of both tenements which were then worth £4 over and above the rent. In 1663 Willian was rated for lands in West Allen Grieveship at £8 a year.

William Keenlyside of Keenlyside Hill, on the 14th October 1701 surrendered Keenlyside Low Hall, the High Shield and the Pingle to the use of himself for life and then to the use of his daughter Mary. Her great-grandson, John Clark of Allendale Town, gentleman, in 1830 sold his share of the land to Mr Ord of Whitfield.

A History of Northumberland Volume 4 Hexhamshire Part 2 (Hexham, Whiteley Chapel, Allendale and St John Lee) by John Crawford Hodgson: Andrew Reid & Co Ltd 1897

Interesting facts about Allendale

19th Century Allendale
"There are Books in almost every house. Attendance on public worship is the rule, not the exception; and profane language is scarcely ever heard. Here is one parish 7 miles long without a public house and without a pauper to put in the workhouse."
Forster's Report to the Newcastle Commission 1861

Smallpox
There were smallpox epidemics in Allendale in 1710, 1711 and 1715.

St Mark's Church, Ninebanks
Consecrated by the Archbishop of York in July 1764, in the presence of Sir William Blackett, the register of St Mark's dates from 1764.
Allendale Parish Registers commenced in 1662. There are registers to 1685 in the first book. The second book begins in 1690. There are five years missing.

Variations on a theme

Keenlyside has many variant spellings: Keenleyside, Kindleside, Kinglesyd, Keenlayside or however the transcriber thought they heard the name being pronouced, in whatever dialect. The name is particularly well recorded in northern English Church Registers from the mid 16th centuary.The first recorded spelling of the name is that of Alleson Kenlasyd, which is dated 2nd December, 1561. It is recorded in the Parish Records of St Oswald's Church, Durham that Alleson married Emonte Greve. The Keenlyside family who lived in Durham at this time seem to have been glove makers and tanners.

Keenlyside Coat of Arms

According to The British Herald, or Cabinet of Armorial Bearings of the Nobility and Gentry by Thomas Robson published in 1830, the Keenlyside family crest was 3 black battleaxes paleways two and one and the crest is a beacon lighted. The significance of the battleaxes shows that the family at some time made a contribution to the army of a nobler lord, this may have been financial but most probably they were able to supply men and horse during some dispute or another. There is further evidence for the coat of arms in An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland forming an extensive ordinary of British armorials published in 1874. This was the work of John W Papworth (1820-1870) and Alfred William Whitehead Morant (1828-1881). It was published in London by T Richards. A further look at the glossary of the heraldic terms tells us that the battleaxes are vertical (paleways) and that the beacon lighted symbolises an iron cage or trived, containing blazing material placed upon a lofty pole which served as either a guide to travellers of to alarm the neighbourhood in case of invasion or rebellion. The latter would seem to apply in this case as the Keenlyside family lived in the area known as the 'badlands' or Border Country, where the Reivers held sway for many years.

See website for the House of Names for an image of the crest.

More info about Gilbert of Keenley(Keneley)

Prior to becoming an outlaw,  in 1292 Gilbert had been in a legal dispute over land ownership. The suit was against John and Richard Callan, possibly brothers, and concerned the return of land. It involved 5 messuages (houses with outbuildings), 20 acres of land, 9 acres of meadow, 1 acre of wood and 14 acres of pasture. The property and land was situated in Elsdon, Northumberland. This was land that had been gifted to the de Umfraville family, who were the overlords. There is no mention of the outcome of these pleas, but I wonder if Gilbert took matters into his own hands, and that was why he was charged and after his escape, outlawed.