(534) Belasyse or Bellasis of Newburgh Priory and Brancepeth Castle, Earls Fauconberg and Barons Belasyse of Worlaby - part 2

This post is divided into two parts: part 1 includes the introduction to the family and the descriptions of the houses they built or owned; while this second part contains the biographical and genealogical details of the owners.

Belasyse alias Bellasis family, Earls Fauconberg

Belasyse, Thomas (d. 1500). Third? son of Robert Belasyse and his wife Alice, daughter of Robert Lamplugh of Lamplugh (Cumbld). He married 1st, Cecily, daughter and heiress of William Hutton, and 2nd, Margaret (d. c.1545), daughter of Sir Lancelot Thirkeld (1435-92), kt., of Melmerby (Yorks), and had issue*:

(1.1) Thomas Belasyse; married Margery, daughter of Richard Dalton, and had issue two daughters, who died young;

(2.1) Richard Belasyse (c.1489-1540) (q.v.);

(2.2) Rev. Anthony Belasyse (d. 1552) (q.v.);

(2.3) Elizabeth Belasyse; married William Clervaux, son of Marmaduke Clervaux (d. 1499) of Croft (Yorks) and had issue two sons and two daughters;

(2.4) Anne Belasyse; married Anthony Smith of Kelton and had issue;

(2.5) A daughter (fl. 1552); married [forename unknown] Hutton and had issue;

(2.6) A daughter (fl. 1552); married [forename unknown] Wren and had issue;

(2.7) A daughter; married [forename unknown] Kirkham, and had issue at least two sons (both called John).

He inherited his family property at Henknowle from his elder brother, 18 Henry VII.

He died in 1499/1500. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His widow married 2nd, by 1518, Robert Simpson, and had further issue at least one daughter; she died in or after 1545.

* The last three children listed here are known only from references in their brother Richard's will. It has been suggested that they could have been sisters of Richard's wife, but this appears not to be the case.

Belasyse, Rev. Anthony (d. 1552). Second son of Thomas Belasyse (d. 1500) and his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Lancelot Thirkeld of Melmerby (Yorks), kt. Educated at Cambridge (BCL 1520) and Orleans (France) (LLD), and became a member of Grays Inn on becoming one of the Masters in Chancery, 1544. Admitted advocate, 1528 and ordained priest, 1533. From 1536, he became an agent of Thomas Cromwell, living in his household, and was one of the Commissioners for the dissolution of religious houses in Yorkshire. He was an unashamed pluralist, who accumulated many valuable preferments, being Rector of Whickham and St Oswald, Durham, 1533-39; chaplain to King Henry VIII; rector of Brancepeth (Co. Durham), Ripley (Yorks) and Hartlebury (Worcs), 1539-52; prebendary of Durham and canon of Westminster, 1540-52; Archdeacon of Colchester, 1543-52; prebendary of Lincoln, 1544-52, Wells, 1546-52, York, 1549-52 and Carlisle, 1552; and Master of Sherburn Hospital, Durham, 1545-52. He was made a Master in Chancery, 1544-52, and was a member of the Council of the North, 1550-52.  He was unmarried and without issue.

He purchased 'the house and site, church steeple and churchyard' of Newburgh Priory, together with the manor of Newburgh and the granges of Scortin and Brink for £1,062 14s 2d in June 1540, but this seems to have been superseded in 1545 by a grant of the estate, together with a number of other properties, made jointly to Anthony, his mother, and his nephew and ward William. His property passed at his death to his nephew, Sir William Belasyse (c.1523-1604), kt.

He died between 11 and 20 August 1552; his will was proved in the PCC, 5 September 1552.

Belasyse, Richard (c.1489-1540). Eldest son of Thomas Belasyse (d. 1500) and his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Lancelot Thirkeld of Melmerby (Yorks), kt, born about 1489. Educated at University, possibly abroad (LLD). He was an agent of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who as prince-bishop of Durham between 1523 and 1529 appointed him as Constable of Durham Castle, 1528-40. He was a member of the Council of the North from its re-creation in 1537. A Commissioner for the dissolution of religious houses in Yorkshire, he is known from his correspondence with Sir Thomas Cromwell to have been responsible for the dissolution and partial demolition of Jervaulx Abbey. He married, about 1518, Margery (c.1497-1587), eldest daughter and co-heiress of Richard Errington of Cockle Park (Northbld) and Morton House, Houghton-le-Spring (Co. Durham), and had issue (with five further sons and two daughters who died young or in infancy):

(1) Jane Belasyse (c.1520-1602); married, about 1536 (div. 1549), John Hedworth (d. 1600), son and heir of Sir Ralph Hedworth of Harraton (Co. Durham), kt., and had issue three sons and six daughters; buried at Chester-le-Street (Co. Durham), 25 February 1601/2; will proved 22 May 1602;

(2) Sir William Belasyse (c.1523-1604), kt. (q.v.);

(3) Richard Belasyse (d. 1600), of Morton, Great Haswell, Ludworth and Owton (which he purchased in 1588); a ward of his uncle, Rev. Anthony Belasyse; died unmarried and without issue, 12 January 1599/1600; his will proved at York, 20 February 1599/1600, suggests he was something of a miser, as a schedule attached to it records dozens of hiding places about his house in which he had secreted many hundreds of pounds in cash;

(4) Margaret Belasyse (fl. 1552); married William Pulleyne (d. by 1580) of Scotton (Yorks), and had issue one son and two daughters.

He also had an illegitimate child:

(X1) A daughter; mentioned in the will of her uncle Anthony; married about 1552 in Norfolk.

By 1527 he had acquired a sixty-year lease of the episcopal manor and grange of Morton, near Houghton-le-Spring. This property, formerly held by his father-in-law, became the focal point of the family's later coalmining enterprises and remained in the family until the late seventeenth century.

He died 26 or 28 March 1540; an inquisition post mortem was held 5 June 1540 and his will was proved 31 July 1540. His widow died aged 90 on 20 August 1587 and was buried at Houghton-le-Spring, where she is commemorated by a monumental brass; her will was proved 4 March 1587/8.

Sir William Belasyse (c.1523-1604), kt. 

Belasyse, Sir William (c.1523-1604), kt. Eldest surviving son of Richard Belasyse (d. 1540) and his wife Margery, eldest daughter and heiress of Richard Errington of Cockley (Northbld), born about 1523: he was aged 16 at the time of the inquisition post mortem following his father's death in June 1540. His wardship was granted to his uncle, Rev. Anthony Belasyse, who made him his chief heir, and he came of age in 1544. Knighted at Newcastle, 1558. JP for Co. Durham from 1555 and for the North Riding of Yorkshire by 1564; High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1573-74. While there are some hints that he may have secretly harboured Catholic sympathies, he was considered sufficiently reliable to be included on the ecclesiastical high commission for the province of York. He married, about 1548, Margaret (fl. 1577), daughter of Sir Nicholas Fairfax of Walton and Gilling (Yorks NR), and had issue:

(1) Richard Belasyse (d. 1559); eldest son; died young;

(2) Nicholas Belasyse (b. 1551), baptised 3 October 1551; educated at Oxford (BA 1567) and Middle Temple (admitted 1571); died without issue in the lifetime of his father;

(3) Catherine Belasyse (1553-1624?), said to have been baptised 8 September 1553; married Thomas Metham (c.1550-1610) of Metham (Yorks), and had issue three sons and six daughters; possibly the 'Katherine Mothum' buried at St Andrew, Holborn (Middx), 9 November 1624;

(4) Sir Henry Belasyse (1555-1624?), kt. and 1st bt. (q.v.);

(5) Bryan Belasyse (1559-1608) [for whom see below, Belasyse of Brancepeth] 

(6) Charles Belasyse (1560-1601); educated at Jesus and Gonville & Caius Colleges, Cambridge (matriculated 1572; BA 1579; MA 1582) and another University (DCL); Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, 1593-1601; died unmarried and was buried at Houghton-le-Spring, 18 August 1601;

(7) James Belasyse (1562-1640), of Owton (Yorks NR), which he and Charles inherited jointly from their uncle James Belasyse (d. 1600), baptised at Bishop Auckland, 3 December 1562; married 1st, before 1599, Mary, daughter of Marmaduke Tunstall of Scargill (Yorks NR), and 2nd, about 1633, Isobel, daughter of Thomas Chayter (1554-1618) of Butterby (Co. Durham), but had no issue; buried at Stranton (Co. Durham), October 1640, where he was commemorated by a monument (now lost);

(8) Anne Belasyse (b. 1564); died young;

(9) Jane Belasyse (b. 1566); died young;

(10) Margaret Belasyse; died young;

(11) Mary Belasyse; died young.

He inherited Newburgh Priory from his uncle in 1552 and enlarged the estate through the purchase of the manors of Yearsley, Oulston and Yafforth, Old Byland Grange and part of the manor of Coxwold.

He died 13 April 1604 and was buried at Coxwold, where he is commemorated by a monument signed by Thomas Browne; his will was proved at York, 11 May 1604 and an inquisition post mortem was held at Thirsk, 27 September 1604. His wife is said to have died in 1571, but she is named in his mother's will, written in 1577.

Sir Henry Belasyse (1555-1624), 1st bt. 

Belasyse, Sir Henry (1555-1624), kt. and 1st bt. Third but eldest surviving son of Sir William Belasyse (c.1523-1604), kt. and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Nicholas Fairfax of Walton and Gilling (Yorks NR), baptised at Coxwold, 14 June 1555. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1572). MP for Thirsk, 1586, 1589, 1593, 1601 and for Aldborough, 1597; JP for North Riding of Yorkshire, c.1586-87, c.1594-96 and 1601-24 (his periodic omission from the commission for the peace is probably due to suspicions about his religious affiliation), but he was respected as a soldier and in 1587 he was sent to the Scottish border in command of 100 men; High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1603-04; a member of the Council in the North, 1603-24. He was knighted at York by King James I on his progress from Scotland to England, 17 April 1603, and was created a baronet soon after the institution of that dignity, 29 June 1611. In 1609 he had a total of 51 indoor and outdoor servants and was renowned for his great hospitality. He married, by 1575, Ursula (d. 1633), elder daughter of Sir Thomas Fairfax, kt., of Denton (Yorks), and had issue:

(1) Dorothy Belasyse (c.1575-1653), born about 1575; married, 2 May 1594 at Coxwold, Sir Conyers Darcy (c.1570-1654), kt, of Hornby Castle (Yorks NR), who was in 1641 raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Darcy of Meinhill and for whom the abeyance of the baronies of Darcy de Knaith and Conyers was terminated at the same time, and had issue six sons and seven daughters; buried at Hornby, 11 May 1653;

(2) Sir Thomas Belasyse (1577-1653), 2nd bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Fauconberg (q.v.);

(3) Mary Belasyse (b. 1592), baptised at Coxwold, 2 February 1591/2; married, 17 June 1610 at Coxwold, Sir William Lister (1591-1650), kt., of Thornton Manor House (Yorks), MP for East Retford in 1646, and had issue eight sons and three daughters; said to have died before 1666.

He inherited the Newburgh Priory estate from his father in 1604 and enlarged the house. He also enlarged the estate, buying the manor of Thornton on the Hill in 1608. At his death his estate was yielding about £4,000 a year and he was probably the richest landowner in the North Riding. He probably lived chiefly in York because of his position on the Council in the North.

He died 14 April, and was buried at St Saviour, York, 19 April 1624; his will was proved at York, when his personal estate was valued at £8,000. He and his wife are commemorated in York Minster by a monument designed by Nicholas Stone in 1616. His widow died 25 May 1633 and was buried at Coxwold; her will was proved at York, 6 June 1633.

Thomas Belasyse, 1st Viscount Fauconberg, 
from a picture at Newburgh.
Image: National Galleries of Scotland. Some rights reserved. 

Belasyse, Sir Thomas (1577-1653), 2nd bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Fauconberg. Only son of Sir Henry Belasyse (1555-1624), kt. and 1st bt., and his wife Ursula, daughter of Sir Thomas Fairfax, kt., of Denton (Yorks), born 1577. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated c.1592) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1596). MP for Thirsk, 1597-98, 1614, 1620-22 and 1624-25. He was knighted, 9 July 1603; succeeded his father as 2nd baronet, August 1624; and was raised to the peerage as Baron Fauconberg of Yarm, 25 May 1627. During the years of Charles I's personal rule from 1629-40, he opposed to the levying of non-statutory taxes and especially increased fines for recusants, and became engaged in a long-running dispute with Sir Thomas Wentworth (later 1st Earl of Strafford), who as Lord President of the Council in the North was responsible for increasing the king's revenue in the region. This led to his imprisonment in the Fleet Prison for several months in 1631 until he agreed to sign a written acknowledgement of his fault. Despite his opposition to the King's personal rule, he adhered to the Royalist faction at the outbreak of the Civil War and was further created Viscount Fauconberg of Henknowle, 31 January 1643. He was present at the siege of York and served under the Duke of Newcastle at the battle of Marston Moor, 1644, but after the Royalists were defeated there, he fled to Hamburg (Germany) with the Duke of Newcastle. He was raised as a Protestant but became a Roman Catholic. He married, about 1600, Barbara (d. 1619), daughter of Sir Henry Cholmeley, bt., of Roxby (Yorks), and had issue:

(1) Margaret Belasyse (1602-24), baptised at Coxwold, 5 September 1602; married, 13 October 1618, Sir Edward Osborne (1596-1647), 1st bt., (who m2, 1626 (settlement 12 September), Anne (d. 1666), daughter of Thomas Walmesley of Dunkenhalgh (Lancs) and widow of William Middleton of Thrintoft (Yorks), and had further issue two sons, from whom descended the Dukes of Leeds), of Kiveton Park (Yorks), later Vice-President of the Council in the North, and had issue one son (who died in the lifetime of his father); died 7 November 1624;

(2) Hon. Henry Belasyse (1604-47) (q.v.);

(3) Mary Belasyse (1606-25), baptised at Coxwold, 12 April 1606; married, 7 November 1624, as his third wife, John Darcy (c.1579-1635), 3rd and last Baron Darcy of Aston*; died without issue, 14 September 1625;

(4) Ursula Belasyse (b. & d. 1608), baptised at Coxwold, 12 June 1608; died in infancy, 16 October 1608 and was buried at Coxwold;

(5) Hon. Barbara Belasyse (1609-40), baptised at Coxwold, 12 October 1609; married, 7 July 1631 at St Mary Abbots, Kensington (Middx), Col. Sir Henry Slingsby (1602-58), 1st bt., of Redhouse, Moor Monckton, and Scriven (Yorks), MP for Knaresborough, 1625, 1640-42, who was executed during the Commonwealth for a Royalist plot, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 31 December 1641 and is said to have been buried at St Martin in the Fields, London, although she does not seem to appear in the parish register;

(6) Hon. Ursula Belasyse (1611-80?), baptised at Coxwold, 23 June 1611; married, 1635/6 (licence 8 March), Sir Walter Vavasour (1612-79), 2nd bt., of Hazlewood Castle (Yorks), and had issue four sons and one daughter; said to have died in 1680;

(7) Edmund Belasyse (b. 1612), baptised at Coxwold, 26 August 1612; probably died young;

(8) John Belasyse (1615-89), 1st Baron Belasyse of Worlaby [for whom see below, under Belasyse family, Barons Belasyse of Worlaby]

(9) Anne Belasyse (1616-19), baptised at Coxwold, 31 December 1616; died young, 8 March 1618/9 and was buried at Coxwold;

(10) Hon. Frances Belasyse (1618-80), baptised at Coxwold, 19 February 1617/18; married, 1637, Rt. Hon. Sir  Thomas Ingram (1614-72), kt. of Sheriff Hutton (Yorks WR) and Isleworth (Middx), MP for Thirsk, 1640-42 and 1660-72 and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1664-72, fourth but second surviving son of Sir Arthur Ingram (d. 1642), kt., of Temple Newsam (Yorks WR), and had issue one daughter (who died young); buried at Westminster Abbey, 27 March 1679/80; will proved in the PCC, 1 April 1680;

(11) Thomas Belasyse (b. & d. 1619), baptised at Coxwold, 27 January 1618/19; died in infancy, 5 February 1618/19.

He inherited the Newburgh Priory estate from his father in 1624. It was sequestrated during the Civil War and a composition fine of £5,302 (eventually reduced by £1,000) for his and his son's property was paid in 1647.

He died 24 April** 1653 and was buried at Coxwold, where he and his wife are commemorated by a monument by Nicholas Stone erected in 1632; his will was proved 12 July 1653✝. His wife died following childbirth, 1 March 1618/9 and was buried at Coxwold.

* Lord Darcy married four times, but left no surviving issue.

** Thus in the Coxwold parish register, which normally gives dates of death rather than burial in the 17th century. However, other sources give his date of death as 18 April, so what the register records may on this occasion be the date of burial.

✝ Catalogued thus by The National Archives, but the date appears to read 16 July 1653.

Belasyse, Hon. Henry (1604-47). Eldest son of Sir Thomas Belasyse (1577-1652), 2nd bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Fauconberg, and his wife Barbara, daughter of Sir Henry Cholmondeley, bt. of Roxby (Yorks), baptised at Coxwold, 20 May 1604. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1615) and Lincolns Inn (admitted 1619). MP for Thirsk, 1625-26 and for Yorkshire, 1628-29, 1640-42; JP for the North Riding of Yorkshire, 1628-44 and for County Durham, 1634-44, and a Deputy Lieutenant for the North Riding, 1642. In the 1630s, he was embroiled in his father's dispute with Thomas Wentworth, and was summoned to appear before the Privy Council and imprisoned for a month until he agreed to make 'a humble submission before Wentworth and the Council of the North'. Together with Lord Fairfax he signed articles for the neutrality of the county in the Civil War, but their 'several opinions and affections' drew them in different directions, and Lord Fairfax sided with Parliament while Henry Belasyse joined the Royalists, although he seems not to have taken up arms and was allowed to compound the Newburgh estate on behalf of his father and himself. He married, 1622, Grace (c.1610-60), daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Barton (c.1583-1659) of Smithills Hall (Lancs) and had issue:

(1) Mary Belasyse (1626-28), baptised at Coxwold, 23 July 1626; died young, 2 December 1628, and was buried at Coxwold;

(2) Thomas Belasyse (1628-1700), 2nd Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg (q.v.);

(3) Barbara Belasyse (1629-33), baptised at Coxwold, 1 October 1629; died young and was buried at Coxwold, 9 February 1632/3;

(4) Henry Belasyse (b. 1630), baptised at Coxwold, 23 December 1630; died in the lifetime of his father;

(5) Sir Rowland Belasyse (1632-99) (q.v.);

(6) William Belasyse (c.1633-34), born about 1633; died in infancy, 22 August 1634 and was buried at Coxwold;

(7) Grace Belasyse (1635-67), baptised at Coxwold, 14 May 1635; married, reputedly on 1 January 1650? when she would have been fourteen years old, George Saunderson (1631-1714), 5th Viscount Castleton* (who m2, 14 February 1674/5 at Temple Church, London**, Lady Sarah (c.1640-1717), daughter and co-heir of Sir John Evelyn (1601-85), kt., of West Dean (Sussex) and widow of Sir John Wray (1619-64), 3rd bt. of Glentworth Hall (Lincs) and Thomas Fanshawe (1632-74), 2nd Viscount Fanshawe, of Ware Park (Herts)), of Fillingham and Saxby (Lincs) and Sandbeck Park (Yorks WR), MP for Lincolnshire, 1660-98, third son of Nicholas Saunderson (d. 1640), 2nd Viscount Castleton, and had issue nine sons (of whom seven died in the lifetime of their father) but no daughters; she died 16 November and was buried at Saxby (Lincs), 20 November 1667;

(8) Frances Belasyse (b. 1636), baptised at Coxwold, 13 November 1636; married Sir Henry Jones (d. 1673), kt., of Asthall Manor (Oxon), a soldier in the New Model Army and later the armies of Charles II, who was knighted✝ by Cromwell for his bravery at the Battle of the Dunes in 1658, son of Rice Jones, and had issue a daughter (Frances Jones (1665-1722), who married Richard Lumley (1650-1721), 1st Earl of Scarbrough); died before 1685 and apparently before 1673;

(9) Arabella Belasyse (1638-88), baptised at Coxwold, 10 April 1638; married, about 1660, Sir William Frankland (c.1640-97), 1st bt. of Thirkleby (Yorks), MP for Thirsk, 1671-85, and had nine children (of whom four sons and one daughter survived to maturity); died 26 February 1687/8 and was buried at Great Thirkleby (Yorks NR), where she is commemorated by a monument;

(10) Margaret Belasyse (1639-56?), baptised at Coxwold, 22 October 1639; possibly the woman of this name 'of Smithells', administration of whose goods was granted in 1656;

(11) John Belasyse (b. 1641), baptised at Coxwold, 7 April 1641; died young;

(12) Charles Belasyse (1642-73), baptised at Coxwold, 10 January 1642/3; died unmarried and was buried at Coxwold, 30 January 1672/3;

(13) Barbara Belasyse (c.1645-1708), born about 1645; married 1st, 11 January 1670/1 at Lincoln's Inn Chapel, London, Walter Strickland (c.1623-71), son of Sir Robert Strickland (1600-71), kt. of Sizergh (Westmld), but had no issue; married 2nd, 1676/7 (licence 23 February), Sir Marmaduke Dalton (1655-81), kt. of Hauxwell (Yorks), and had issue three daughters; died 12 September 1708 and was buried at Hauxwell, where she and her second husband are commemorated by a monument;

(14) William Belasyse (b. & d. 1646), baptised at Coxwold, 27 August 1646; died in infancy and was buried at Coxwold, 18 October 1646.

He inherited Smithills Hall in right of his wife.

He was buried at Coxwold, 20 May 1647, where he is commemorated on his eldest son's monument; administration of his goods was granted in 1652. His widow died 7 January 1659/60 and was buried at Coxwold.

* His sister Mildred married Grace's brother Thomas Belasyse, 2nd Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg in 1651.

** This was apparently a secret marriage, as the bride's father disapproved (and subsequently cut her off with a legacy of 5 shillings); the register entry was originally simply ‘George and Sarah two persons of quality’, the surnames being added subsequently.

✝ This knighthood, like other Cromwellian honours, lapsed at the Restoration.

Thomas Belasyse (1628-1700),
2nd Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg 

Belasyse, Rt. Hon. Thomas (1628-1700), 2nd Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg. Eldest son of Hon. Henry Belasyse (1604-47) and his wife Grace, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Barton of Smithills Hall (Lancs), baptised at Coxwold, 16 March 1627/8. He succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Viscount Fauconberg, 18 April 1653, and was advanced to the Earldom of Fauconberg by King William III, 9 April 1689. After his second marriage, he was in 1658 sent on a diplomatic mission to the King of France, but it soon became clear to Cromwell that his son-in-law favoured a restoration of the monarchy, and he had no other employments under the Commonwealth. After the Restoration, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Durham, 1660-61, and of the North Riding of Yorkshire, 1660-87, 1689-92. In 1669-70 he was sent as Ambassador to Venice, Turin and Florence, returning through Germany. He was a Protestant in religion and a Whig in politics, was appointed a Privy Councillor, 1672-85 and 1689-1700, and succeeded his uncle, Lord Belasyse of Worlaby, as Captain of the Band of Gentleman Pensioners, 1672-76. He married 1st, 3 July 1651 at East Barnet (Herts), Mildred (d. 1656), daughter of Nicholas Saunderson (d. 1640), 2nd Viscount Castleton, and 2nd, 18 November 1657 at Hampton Court (Middx) and later at St Gregory-by-St Paul, London, Mary (1637-1713), daughter of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, but had no issue.

He inherited the Newburgh Priory estate from his grandfather in 1652, and spent £4,000 on improvements. In 1659 he inherited Holme Hall (Notts) from his maternal grandfather, Sir Thomas Barton, kt, and it was either given to or occupied by his nephew, John Belasyse (d. 1717). At his death these estates passed to his nephew, Thomas Belasyse (d. 1718), 3rd Viscount Fauconberg.  In 1675 he purchased the lease of Sutton Court, Chiswick (Middx), where he spent £9,900 on the house and on laying out a garden in the French taste, possibly with the assistance of Henry Wise, the king's gardener; this he bequeathed with his London town house (Fauconberg House in Soho Square, on which he spent £6,400) to his widow, who in turn left Sutton Court to Sir Thomas Frankland.

He died at Sutton Court, 31 December 1700, when his earldom became extinct, but his other peerages and the baronetcy passed to his nephew, the 3rd Viscount; he was buried 30 January 1700/1 at Coxwold,  where he, his father and his widow are commemorated by a monument formerly attributed to Grinling Gibbons; his will was proved 26 May 1701. His first wife died 8 May 1656 and was buried at Coxwold. His widow died 14 March, and was buried at Chiswick, 24 March 1712/3; her will was proved 26 June 1713.

Belasyse, Sir Rowland (1632-99). Third, but second surviving, son of Hon. Henry Belasyse (1604-47) and his wife Grace, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Barton of Smithills Hall (Lancs), baptised at Coxwold, 25 March 1632. He was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of King Charles II, 23 April 1661. He married Anne (b. 1630), eldest daughter and heiress of James Humphrey Davenport of Sutton (Ches.), and had issue:

(1) Thomas Belasyse (1663-1718), 3rd Viscount Fauconberg (q.v.);

(2) Anne Belasyse (1664-1741), baptised at St Michael-le-Belfry, York, 21 March 1663/4; became a nun at Pontoise in 1680 as Sister Apollonia; said to have died 1741;

(3) Henry Belasyse (d. c.1689); died unmarried; administration of his goods granted to his father, 10 December 1689;

(4) John Belasyse (d. 1717); lived at Holme Hall (Notts); married, 26 November 1716 at North Muskham (Notts), Catherine Burton (d. 1717); died without issue 10 April 1717 and was buried at Holme, where he and his wife are commemorated by a monument;

(5) Rowland Belasyse (c.1668-1746) (q.v.);

(6) Mary Belasyse (c.1671-1742); became a nun at Pontoise in 1680 as Sister Mary Magdalene (professed 1690) and was later Prioress; died 2 February 1742 and was buried at Pontoise.

He inherited Smithills Hall, Bolton (Lancs) from his father in 1647 and came of age in 1653. He acquired the manor of Sutton (Ches.) through his marriage.

He died 16 August and was buried at Bolton (Lancs), 30 August 1699; his will was proved 25 September 1699. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Belasyse, Thomas (1663-1718), 3rd Viscount Fauconberg. Eldest son of Sir Rowland Belasyse (1632-99) and his wife Anne, eldest daughter and heiress of James Humphrey Davenport of Sutton (Ches.), baptised at St Michael-le-Belfry, York, 11 March 1662/3. As a young man he was a volunteer under James FitzJames (1670-1734), 1st Duke of Berwick in the army of the Duke of Lorraine, and was wounded at the siege of Buda (Hungary), 1686. He succeeded his uncle as 3rd Viscount Fauconberg, 31 December 1700. He was a quarrelsome spendthrift, who fell out with his chaplains at Newburgh, went bankrupt, and fled to the English Benedictine convent in Brussels. He married, before July 1698, Bridget (d. 1732), daughter and eventual heir of Sir John Gage, 4th bt. of Firle (Sussex) and co-heiress of her mother, who was the daughter of Thomas Middlemore of Edgbaston (Warks). She seems to have been of a similar disposition, 'full of whimsies and violent magots' and when her husband died it was said that 'she has not paid one farthing of debts since my Lord's decease [and] the common discourse of the town is that she made a hole in the moon'. She fell out with her son, going so far as to suborn a woman to forge his handwriting in a treasonable letter, which she then sent to the Secretary of State, but the deception was happily detected.  They had issue:

(1) Thomas Belasyse (1698-1774), 4th Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg (q.v.);

(2) Hon. Mary Bridget Belasyse (d. 1746); married, 4 April 1721, the libertine Lt-Col. John Pitt (1698-1754), MP for Hindon, 1720-22, Old Sarum, 1724-26 and Camelford, 1727-34, third (but disinherited) son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc (Cornw.), but had no issue; buried 24 March 1745/6; will proved in the PCC, 12 August 1746;

(3) Hon. Henry William Belasyse (b. 1701), baptised at Epsom (Surrey), 17 January 1700/1; died young;

(4) Hon. Rowland Belasyse (c.1703-68), born about 1703; died unmarried in London, 9 April 1768 and was buried at St Pancras (Middx) where he is commemorated by a monument; will proved in the PCC, 28 May 1768;

(5) Hon. Anne Belasyse (1704-31), born 23 September 1704; died unmarried, 14 March 1731 and was buried at St Pancras (Middx), where she is commemorated on a floor slab*; her will was proved in the PCC, 30 March 1732;

(6) Hon. Penelope Belasyse (c.1706-1750), born about 1706; died unmarried, 5 April, and was buried at St Pancras, 9 April 1751, where she is commemorated on her sister's floor slab; will proved in the PCC, 26 April 1750;

(7) Hon. John Belasyse (b. & d. c.1707), born about 1707; died in infancy.

He inherited Smithills Hall and Sutton (Ches.) from his father in 1699, and the Newburgh Priory and Holme Hall (Notts) estates from his uncle in 1700.

He died in Brussels (Belgium), 26 November 1718 and his body was brought by his eldest son for burial at Coxwold; his will was proved in the PCY, 6 June 1719. His widow died 18 November, and was buried at Coxwold, 14 December 1732.

* The grave slab gives her date of death incorrectly as 1751; it was probably installed after her sister Penelope's death.

Thomas Belasyse (1698-1774), 4th Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg 

Belasyse, Thomas (1698-1774), 4th Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg. Eldest son of Thomas Belasyse (1663-1718), 3rd Viscount Fauconberg, and his wife Bridget, daughter and eventual heir of Sir John Gage, bt., of Firle (Sussex), born 27 April 1698. Educated at Dieuloward in Lorraine. He succeeded his father as 4th Viscount Fauconberg, 26 November 1718, and was raised to the Earldom of Fauconberg, 15 June 1756. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic, but conformed to the Church of England in 1737, while continuing to maintain Catholic chapels for his wife, younger children and tenantry. He was a Whig in politics. He spent over twenty years remodelling Newburgh Priory as a Georgian house, at least partly to his own designs, from c.1725 and conducted further works after a fire in 1757. He was a Lord of the Bedchamber, 1738-60. He married, 5 August 1726, Catherine (d. 1760), daughter and heiress of John Betham (later Fowler) (1670-1719) of Rowington (Warks) and St. Thomas's, Stafford (Staffs) and co-heiress of William Fowler of St. Thomas (Staffs), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Thomas Belasyse (b. & d. 1727); died in infancy and was buried 27 April 1727;

(2) Lady Catherine Belasyse (1728-88), born 14 February 1727/8; died unmarried in Brussels (Belgium), 12 January 1788;

(3) Lady Barbara Belasyse (1730-61), said to have been born in 1730; married, 1752 (licence 3 April), Hon. George Barnewall (1711-71), only brother of Henry Benedict Barnewall, 4th Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland, and had issue one son; buried at St Pancras (Middx), 29 October 1761, where she is commemorated on the monument to her uncle Rowland Belasyse;

(4) Lady Mary Belasyse (1736-1804), born 16 December and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 19 December 1736; married by special licence at Fauconberg House, London, 23 July 1776, Thomas Eyre (d. 1792) of Hassop (Derbys), but had no issue; will proved in the PCC, 24 April 1804;

(5) Lady Anne Belasyse (1737-68), baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, 30 October 1737; married, 20 April 1761, Hon. Francis Jerome Talbot (1728-1813) of Delaford Park, Iver (Bucks) and Witham Place (Essex) (who m2, 18 May 1772 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Margaret Frances, daughter of William Sheldon, and had issue five sons and five daughters), son of the Hon. George Talbot (1675-1733) and brother of the 14th Earl of Shrewsbury; died without issue and was buried at Coxwold, 10 September 1768;

(6) Hon. Thomas Belasyse (1740-50), born 29 June 1740; died young and was buried at Coxwold, 9 June 1750;

(7) Henry Belasyse (1743-1802), 2nd Earl Fauconberg (q.v.).

He inherited the Smithills Hall, Sutton, Holme Hall and Newburgh Priory estates from his father in 1718 and came of age in 1720. He had a London town house in George Street. He sold Smithills Hall in 1721 and probably also Holme Hall.

He died 8 February and was buried at Coxwold, 22 February 1774; his will was proved 13 May 1774. His wife died 29 May 1760 and was buried at Coxwold, 12 June 1760.

Henry Fauconberg (1743-1802), 2nd Earl Fauconberg 

Belasyse, Henry (1743-1802), 2nd Earl Fauconberg. Third, but only surviving, son of Thomas Belasyse (1698-1774), 4th Viscount and 1st Earl Fauconberg, and his wife Catherine, daughter and heiress of John Betham of Rowington (Warks), born 12/13 April and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., London, 24 April 1743*. Educated at Eton, 1757-63. He was brought up in the Church of England unlike his siblings. MP for Peterborough, 1768-74, when he was an assiduous attender and markedly independent spirit. An officer in the North Yorkshire Militia, he also raised the North Riding Volunteer Regiment of Foot (Lord Fauconberg's Fencibles) in 1779 to assist with home defence while much of the regular army was in North America. A Lord of the Bedchamber to King George III, 1775-1802 and Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire, 1779-1802. He was styled Lord Belasyse from 1756 until he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl Fauconberg. 4 February 1774. He married 1st, 29 May 1766 at St James, Piccadilly, London, Charlotte (d. 1790), daughter of Sir Matthew Lamb of Brocket Hall (Herts) and 2nd, 6 January 1791 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (Berks), Jane Chesshyre (d. 1820) of Bennington (Herts), and had issue:

(1.1) Lady Charlotte Belasyse (1767-1825) (q.v.);

(1.2) Lady Anne Belasyse (1767-1808) (q.v.);

(1.3) Lady Elizabeth Belasyse (1770-1819), born 17 January 1770; inherited the Sutton (Ches.) estate from her father in 1802; married 1st, 23 April 1789 (div. 1794), Bernard Edward Howard (1765-1842), who in 1815 succeeded his third cousin as 12th Duke of Norfolk, son of Henry Howard of Glossop (Derbys), and had issue one son; married 2nd, 26 May 1794 at St George, Hanover Sq., London (sep. 1806), Richard Bingham (1764-1839), 2nd Earl of Lucan, with whom she had eloped from her first husband in July 1793, and who was sued by Howard for 'criminal conversation' with his wife, although damages were set only at £1,000; they had two sons and four daughters; after leaving her second husband she lived with her sister Anne at Stowlangtoft (Norfk) and later with her sister Charlotte at Newburgh; she died in Paris, 24 March 1819;

(1.4) Lady Harriot Belasyse (1776-83), born 21 April 1776; died young of a fever, 22 August, and was buried at Coxwold, 26 August 1783.

He inherited the Newburgh Priory and Sutton (Ches.) estates from his father in 1774, and purchased lands and coal mines at Thornton, Oulston and Sutton (Ches.) to enlarge the Sutton estate in about 1766. At his death the estates were divided between his daughters. In 1774 he inherited Brancepeth Castle from his kinswoman, Bridget Belasyse (for whom see below, Belasyse of Brancepeth), but he sold it soon afterwards to John Tempest. In 1799 he also sold the manor of Sutton on the Forest, part of the Newburgh estate, for £30,000. He bought a house (Bayshill Lodge) at Cheltenham, which he lent to King George III when he went to take the waters at Cheltenham in 1788.

He died of apoplexy, 23 March 1802, when his earldom became extinct and his other peerages and the baronetcy passed to his second cousin, Rowland Belasyse (1745-1810), 6th Viscount Fauconberg; he was buried at Coxwold, where he and his first wife are commemorated by a monument erected in the 1830s. His first wife died 1 April and was buried at Coxwold, 13 April 1790. His widow died 5 April 1820.

* His monument at Coxwold gives his date of birth as 1742, but the parish register states clearly that it was 1743.

Belasyse, Lady Charlotte (k/a 'Pop') (1767-1825). Eldest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Belasyse (1743-1802), 2nd Earl Fauconberg, and his first wife, Charlotte, daughter of Sir Matthew Lamb of Brocket Hall (Herts), born 10 January 1767. Lady of the Bedchamber to HRH Princess Augusta, -1803 and to the Duchess of Gloucester, 1804. She married, 13 October 1801 at her father's house in London, Thomas Edward Wynn (from 1803 Wynn-Belasyse) (k/a 'Seffy' (fl. 1833), High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1810-11, third son of Col. Glynn Wynn (1739-93) and nephew of Thomas Wynn (1736-1807) of Glynfillon (Caernarvons.), 1st Baron Newborough, but had no issue.

She inherited the Newburgh Priory estate from her father in 1802, but she and her husband lived chiefly in London. On her death the estate passed to her nephew, Sir George Wombwell (1792-1855), 3rd bt..

She died in Paris, 5 May 1825. Her husband, who lived latterly in France to avoid his creditors, assigned his personal estate to their representatives in 1827, and was still living in 1833; his death has not been traced.

Belasyse, Lady Anne (1767-1808). Second daughter of Henry Belasyse (1742-1802), 2nd Earl Fauconberg, and his first wife, Charlotte, daughter of Sir Matthew Lamb of Brocket Hall (Herts), born 27 December 1767. She married, 19 July 1791 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Sir George Wombwell (1769-1846), 2nd bt., of Wombwell (Yorks), High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1809-10, and had issue:

(1) Sir George Wombwell (1792-1855), 3rd bt., born 13 April 1792; an officer in the 10th Dragoon Guards (Cornet, 1811; Lt., 1812); married 23 June 1824 at her father's house in Grosvenor Place, Westminster (Middx), Georgiana (d. 1875), second daughter of Thomas Orby Hunter of Crowland Abbey (Lincs), and had issue four sons, from whom descend the present owners of Newburgh Priory; died 14 January 1855;

(2) Henry Walter Wombwell (1795-1835), born 24 May and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 10 July 1795; educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1813); an officer in the 1st Foot Guards (Ensign & Lt., 1815; retired on half pay, 1818); died unmarried in Paris, of tuberculosis, 17 February 1835;

(3) Frederick Richard Henry Wombwell (1797-1807), baptised at Coxwold, 19 May 1797; died young at Tunbridge Wells, 24 August, and was buried at Speldhurst (Kent), 28 August 1807.

She lived at Stowlangtoft (Suffk), and was the heir presumptive to Newburgh until her death. After her sister's death it descended in the Wombwell family, who still possess it today.

She died in London, 7 July 1808 and was buried at Stowlangtoft; administration of her goods was granted in January 1809. Her husband married 2nd, 4 December 1824 at St Saviour, Southwark (Surrey), Elizabeth (1790-1856), daughter of T.E. Little of Hampstead (Middx), by whom he had previously had further issue three sons and three daughters, and with whom he had one further son who died young; he died in London, 28 October 1846 and his will was proved February 1847.

Belasyse, Rowland (c.1668-1746). Fourth son of Sir Rowland Belasyse (1632-99), kt., and his wife Anne, eldest daughter and heiress of James Humphrey Davenport of Sutton (Ches.), born about 1668. A Roman Catholic in religion. He travelled in Italy, being noted at Padua in 1701. He married Hon. Frances (d. 1750), daughter of Christopher Roper (1652-89), 5th Baron Teynham, and had issue including:

(1) Henry Belasyse (1712-82), baptised at St Maurice, Winchester (Hants), 22 March 1712; died unmarried, 14 October 1782;

(2) Anthony Belasyse (1714-54) (q.v.);

(3) Anne Belasyse (b. 1725), baptised at St James, Winchester, 6 April 1725; a Benedictine nun at Pontoise (professed 14 September 1745) who transferred to the Pontoise Ursulines in 1786;

(4) Mary Belasyse (d. 1785); a Benedictine nun at Dunkirk (France) (professed 1753); died 7 January 1785;

(5) Barbara Belasyse (1718-85); a Benedictine nun at Pontoise (professed 10 July 1747);

(6) Frances Belasyse; married, after 1736, as his second wife, Dr. Charles Jernegham alias Jerningham MD LRCP (1688-1760), third son of Sir Francis Jerningham of Costessey (Norfk);

(7) Bridget Belasyse; died unmarried.

He lived at Winchester (Hants).

He died at Dunkirk (France), 17 February 1746. His widow died at Winchester, 27 May 1750.

Belasyse, Anthony (1714-54). Younger son of Rowland Belasyse and his wife Frances, daughter of Christopher Roper, 5th Baron Teynham, born 8 November 1714. A Roman Catholic in religion. Merchant at Livorno (Italy) from about 1740 onwards. He married, about 1744, Susannah (d. 1783), daughter of John Clarvet of Pontoise (France), and had issue:

(1) Rowland Belasyse (1745-1810), 6th Viscount Fauconberg (q.v.);

(2) Raymond Belasyse (b. & d. c.1746); died in infancy;

(3) Mary Belasyse (c.1748-80), born about 1748; died unmarried, 13 April 1780;

(4) Fr. Charles Belasyse (1750-1815), 7th Viscount Fauconberg (q.v.);

(5) Thomas Belasyse (1751-1810), born 11 September 1751; married, 1788, Louisa Juliana de Manneville (d. 1814) and had issue five daughters; died 21 August 1810;

(6) Frances Belasyse (1753-1825), born 1753; died unmarried, 25 January 1825 and was buried at Lancaster Priory;

(7) Barbara Belasyse (1754-1823), born 1754; died unmarried, 20 June 1823 and was buried at Lancaster Priory.

He lived at Livorno (Italy) and Winchester (Hants).

He died 9 October 1754 and was buried in the Collegiate Church at Livorno. His widow died 26 August 1783.

Rowland Belasyse (1745-1810,
6th Viscount Fauconberg

Belasyse, Rowland (1745-1810), 6th Viscount Fauconberg. Eldest son of Anthony Belasyse (1714-54) and his wife Susannah, daughter of John Clarvet, born in Livorno, 1745. A Roman Catholic in religion. He succeeded his second cousin, the 2nd Earl Fauconberg, in his subsidiary titles as 6th Viscount Fauconberg, 23 March 1802, but did not inherited the Newburgh estate. As a Roman Catholic he was unable to take his seat in the House of Lords. He was unmarried and without issue.

He lived at Livorno (Italy) and later in Lancaster.

He died 30 November 1810 and was buried at Lancaster Priory, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 22 January 1811, and further grants of administration were made 22 April 1824 and 15 April 1826.

Belasyse, Fr. Charles (1750-1815), 7th Viscount Fauconberg. Third but second surviving son of Anthony Belasyse (1714-54) and his wife Susannah, daughter of John Clarvet, born 7 May 1750. Educated at the Sorbonne, Paris (France) (DD). Ordained as a Roman Catholic priest at Paris. In 1777 he accompanied one of the sons of Lord Clifford on a Grand Tour of Italy, visiting Rome, Naples, Florence and Venice. Chaplain to the Portuguese Embassy in London, 1787-96, where he was known as the 'Abbé Bellasis'. He succeeded his elder brother as 7th Viscount Fauconberg in 1810. He was unmarried and without issue.

He died 24 June 1815, when the barony and viscountcy of Fauconberg, and the baronetcy of Belasyse, became extinct; he was buried at Lancaster (Lancs), where he is commemorated on his brother's monument; administration of his goods was granted August 1815.

Belasyse family, Barons Belasyse of Worlaby

John Belasyse (1615-89), 
1st Baron Belasyse of Worlaby.
Image: Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge,
Some rights reserved.

Belasyse, Rt. Hon. John (1615-89), 1st Baron Belasyse of Worlaby. Second surviving son of Sir Thomas Belasyse (1577-1653), 2nd bt., 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Fauconberg, and his wife Barbara, daughter of Sir Henry Cholmondeley, bt. of Roxby (Yorks), born 24 June and baptised at Coxwold, 24 July 1615. Possibly the man of this name admitted to Peterhouse, Cambridge (admitted 1638), though he would then have been 24 years of age. MP for Thirsk, 1640-42, when he was excluded as a Royalist. He raised six regiments of horse and foot for the King's forces in the Civil War, and was a principal commander in the battles of Edgehill and Brentford, 1642, Newbury, 1643, Selby, 1644 and Naseby, 1645, as well as being at the sieges of Reading and Bristol, 1643. He was later given command of the king's forces in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Rutland and made Governor of York and Newark, which he valiantly defended against the Parliamentary and Scots armies until the King came in person and ordered its surrender. General of the King's Horse Guards. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Belasyse of Worlaby, 27 January 1644/5. During the Commonwealth years he is said to have been one of the six influential Royalists who formed the 'Sealed Knot', a secret organisation established to supervise royalist plotting in England, and he probably converted to Roman Catholicism at this time. At the Restoration of the Monarchy he was made Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire, 1660-73 and Governor of Hull, 1661-73. In 1665 he was appointed Captain-General of the King's Forces in Africa and Governor of Tangier, but on returning to England in 1667 he was relieved of these commands and made Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners, 1667-72, resigning rather than take the Oath of Conformity specified under the Test Act. He was one of the four Catholic peers implicated in the so-called Popish Plot and was impeached by Parliament on the evidence of Titus Oates and imprisoned in the Tower of London, 1678-84. After the accession of King James II he returned to favour and became a Privy Councillor, 1687 and First Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, 1687-88. He married 1st, 8 March 1636/7 at Coxwold, Jane (1621-57), daughter and sole heiress of Sir Robert Boteler, kt., of Watton Woodhall (Herts); 2nd, 11 July 1659 at St Vedast, Foster Lane, London, Anne (1631-62), daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Crane, kt., of Chilton (Suffk) and widow of Sir William Airmine (1622-58), 2nd bt. of Osgodby (Lincs); and 3rd, about 1663, Lady Anne (1634?-94), daughter of John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, and had issue:

(1.1) Hon. Sir Henry Belasyse (c.1639-67), kt. (q.v.);

(1.2) John Belasyse; died young;

(1.3) Thomas Belasyse (d. 1644); died 22 May 1644 and was buried at Coxwold;

(1.4) Frances Belasyse; died young

(1.5) Hon. Mary Belasyse (fl. 1687); Samuel Pepys admired her passion for music; married, 1670 (settlement 6 June), Robert Constable (1651-1714), 3rd Viscount of Dunbar (who m2, about April 1700, Lady Dorothy, daughter of Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan and widow of Charles Fane, 3rd Earl of Westmorland), who received a royal pardon for the murder of Peter Varnall in 1671, and had issue one daughter; died after 21 July 1687;

(3.1) Hon. George Belasyse (d. 1672); died young and was buried at St Giles in the Fields, London, 1672;

(3.2) Hon. John Belasyse (d. 1670); buried at St Giles in the Fields, 1670;

(3.3) Hon. Honora Belasyse (d. 1707); married George Nevill (1665-95), 12th Baron Bergavenny, but had no issue; died 1 January and was buried at St Giles in the Fields, 9 January 1706/7; will proved 9 January 1706/7;

(3.4) Hon. Barbara Belasyse (d. 1740); married, 1685?, Sir John Webb (c.1655-1745), 3rd bt., of Odstock (Wilts), Canford Manor (Dorset) and Hatherop Castle (Glos), and had issue two sons and five daughters; died 28 March, and was buried at St Pancras (Middx), 5 April 1740, where she is commemorated by a monument; will proved 13 June 1740;

(3.5) Hon. Catherine Belasyse (d. c.1743); married John Talbot (d. 1744) of Longford (Shrops), but had no issue; will proved 16 July 1743;

(3.6) Isabella Belasyse (d. 1705); married, 16 March 1696, Thomas Stonor (1677-1724) (who m2, 14 July 1705, the Hon. Winifred, daughter of Christopher Roper, 5th Baron Teynham, and had fifteen children), of Stonor Park and Watlington Park (Oxon), but died without issue, 4 June 1705;

(3.7) Hon. Anne Belasyse (d. 1664); buried at St Giles in the Fields, 1664;

(3.8) Hon. Elizabeth Belasyse (d. 1669); buried at St Giles in the Fields, 22 June 1669;

(3.9) Hon. Frances Belasyse (d. 1670); buried at St Giles in the Fields, 2 November 1670;

(3.10) Hon. Anne Belasyse (d. 1668); buried at St Giles in the Fields, 3 April 1668;

(3.11) Hon. Margaret Belasyse.

He evidently purchased the Worlaby Hall estate (Lincs), which was worth about £800 a year. In 1670-73 he built three houses on the corner of St James Sq. and Charles St., Westminster, one of which became his town residence. He also had a house at Whitton (Middx) from about 1671, which was occupied after his death by his widow.

He died 10 September, and was buried at St Giles in the Fields, London, 14 September 1689, where he was commemorated by a monument erected by his daughters Barbara and Catherine in 1736, only the inscription of which survives now; he was also commemorated by a monument at Worlaby. His will was proved 7 May 1690 and 6 December 1694. His first wife died before 12 December 1657. His second wife died 11 August and was buried 20 August 1662 at St. Giles in the Fields, London. His widow was buried at St Giles in the Fields, London, 11 September 1694 and her will was proved 18 September 1694.

Belasyse, Hon. Sir Henry (c.1639-67), kt. Eldest son of John Belasyse (1615-89), 1st Baron Belasyse of Worlaby, and his first wife Jane, daughter and sole heiress of Sir Robert Boteler, kt., of Woodhall (Herts), born about 1639. He was appointed a Knight of the Bath, 1661 and made a Freeman of York, 1664, and served as a Captain of Foot in the Hull garrison, 1660-62, 1665-67; and a Lieutenant in the Duke of Buckingham's Horse, Jul-Sept 1666. MP for Great Grimsby, 1666-67*. He was involved with Lord Buckhurst in the manslaughter of a tanner whom they had mistaken for a highwayman in Waltham Forest. After the death of his first wife, ‘having made some waste in his estate’, he was compelled by his father to marry a girl of 13 worth £1,000 p.a. but with vast expectations. She grew up into ‘a woman of much life and vivacity, but of a very small proportion of beauty’. Belasyse preferred one of the daughters of William Pierrepont, who gave him no encouragement; but he ‘used to say that since he could not marry her nobody else should’, and in fact she did not marry until after Belasyse’s death. He was a friend of the Duke of Buckingham, and 'ran a great hazard' by concealing him when his arrest for treasonable practices was ordered in February 1666/7, but the Duke had become groundlessly jealous of an intrigue between Belasyse and his mistress, Lady Shrewsbury, and made him ‘ill returns’ when he was restored to favour. Unlike his father, he seems to have remained a Protestant throughout his life. Sir Henry married 1st, Rogersa (d. 1659), daughter and co-heir of Richard Rogers of Bryanston (Dorset) and 2nd, 1662 (licence 20 October) (when his bride was 13), his step-sister, Susan (c.1649/50-1713), daughter and co-heir of Sir William Airmine (1622-58), 2nd bt., of Osgodby (Lincs), who in 1674 was created Baroness Belasyse in her own right for life, and had issue:

(2.1) Henry Belasyse (1666-91), 2nd Baron Belasyse of Worlaby (q.v.).

He lived latterly at 15 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.

He was killed in the lifetime of his father by his friend, the dramatist Tom Porter, in a fight following a drunken quarrel at the house of Sir Robert Carr, and was buried in St Giles in the Fields, London, 16 August 1667; his will was proved in the PCC, 16 October 1667. His first wife died in 1659. His widow received an offer of marriage from the Duke of York (later King James II) but King Charles II refused to allow the match, and she married instead, 13 July 1676 at St James, Paddington (Middx), James Fortrey (1656-1719) of Kew Palace (Surrey) and Fortreys Hall, Mepal (Cambs); she died 6 March and was buried 12 March 1712/3 at Twickenham (Middx); her will was proved 11 March 1713.

* Ironically, in view of his fate, one of the committees he was appointed to in Parliament was that on the bill for the prevention of duelling!

Belasyse, Henry (1666-91), 2nd Baron Belasyse of Worlaby. Only child of the Hon. Sir Henry Belasyse (c.1639-67) and his second wife, Susan, Baroness Belasyse, daughter and co-heir of Sir William Airmine, bt. of Osgodby (Lincs), baptised at Worlaby, 6 August 1666. He succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Baron Belasyse of Worlaby, 10 September 1689. He married Lady Anne (1679-1722), daughter of the Hon. Francis Brudenell and sister of George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan, but had no issue.

He inherited Worlaby Hall and the St James Square houses from his grandfather in 1689, but at his death his estates passed to his half-aunts as co-heiresses.

He was buried at St Giles-in-the-Fields, London, 26 August 1691; his will was proved 13 September 1691. His widow married 2nd, 10 January 1692/3, Charles FitzRoy (later Lennox) (1672-1723), 1st Duke of Richmond, the illegitimate son of King Charles II and his mistress Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, and had issue one son and two daughters; she died 9 December and was buried at Deene (Northants), 16 December 1722.

Belasyse of Morton House and Brancepeth Castle

Belasyse, Bryan (1559-1608). Second son of Sir William Belasyse (c.1523-1604), kt., of Newburgh Priory, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Nicholas Fairfax of Walton and Gilling (Yorks NR), born at Newburgh, 19 July 1559. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1579). He seems to have been a Protestant in religion, but his wife was a Roman Catholic. He married Margaret, daughter and co-heir of William Lee (d. 1582) of Brandon (Co. Durham), and had issue:

(1) Sir William Belasyse (c.1593-1641) (q.v.);

(2) Timothy Belasyse (b. 1594), baptised at Bishop Auckland, 29 December 1594;

(3) Timothea Belasyse (d. 1602); died young and was buried at Houghton-le-Spring, 7 February 1601/2;

(4) Elizabeth Belasyse (d. 1602); died young and was buried at Houghton-le-Spring, 3 December 1602;

(5) Richard Belasyse (1598-1624), baptised at Bishop Auckland, 7 May 1598; educated at Grays Inn (admitted 1617); buried at Houghton-le-Spring (Co. Durham), 2 June 1624;

(6) Henry Belasyse (1599-1603), baptised at Bishop Auckland, 17 May 1599; died young and was buried at Brancepeth, 28 May 1603;

(7) Mary Belasyse (1601-78), baptised at Houghton-le-Spring, 10 August 1601; married, as his second wife, Gerard Salvin (d. 1663) of Croxdale and had issue nine sons and two daughters; buried at St Oswald, Durham, 19 November 1678;

(8) Joan Belasyse (1602-31), baptised at Houghton-le-Spring, 12 September 1602; married, 26 October 1620 at Houghton-le-Spring, John Vasey (d. 1686) of Newlands (Co. Durham), and had issue two sons and two daughters; buried at St Oswald, Durham, 2 November 1631;

(9) Charles Belasyse (1603-06), baptised at Houghton-le-Spring, 14 November 1603; died young and was buried at Brancepeth, 27 July 1606;

(10) Katherine Belasyse (1605-06), baptised at St Oswald, Durham, 9 June 1605; died in infancy and was buried at Brancepeth, 22 July 1606;

(11) Margaret Belasyse (1606-22), baptised at St Oswald, Durham, 11 September 1606; died unmarried and was buried at St Oswald, Durham, 23 November 1622;

(12) Ann Belasyse (b. & d. 1607), baptised at St Oswald, Durham, 7 September 1607; died in infancy and was buried at St Oswald, Durham, 9 December 1607.

His uncle Richard Belasyse settled lands at  Morton House, Houghton-le-Spring (Co. Durham) on him in 1596.

He was buried at Houghton-le-Spring, 18 July 1608; an inquisition post mortem was held at Durham, 10 September 1608 and his will was proved 11 September 1608. His widow married 2nd, Charles Hedworth of Harraton; her date of death is unknown.

Belasyse, Sir William (c.1593-1641), kt. Eldest son of Bryan Belasyse (1559-1608) and his wife Margaret, daughter and co-heir of William Lee of Brandon, born about 1593 (he was 15 at the time of his father's death). He was knighted at Sheriff Hutton Park (Yorks), 14 April 1617, and received King Charles I on his progress to his coronation in Scotland in 1633. High Sheriff of Co. Durham, 1625-40, and first Mayor of Sunderland under charter granted by the Bishop of Durham, 1634. He married, 15 January 1610/11 at Ryton (Co. Durham), Margaret (1593-1671), daughter of Sir George Selby (1557-1625), kt., of White House (Co. Durham) and Dawley (Middx), and had issue*:

(1) Sir Richard Belasyse (1612-52) (q.v.);

(2) Margaret Belasyse (1613-80), born 4 June 1613; married, after 1643, as his second wife, Sir Thomas Davison (1607-67), kt., fourth son of Sir Alexander Davison (d. 1644), kt., of Newcastle-on-Tyne; buried at Norton (Co. Durham), 13 February 1679/80;

(3) Elizabeth Belasyse (1614-61), born 30 August 1614; married 1st, 27 April 1632 at Houghton-le-Spring (Co. Durham), as his second wife, Francis James (d. 1638) of Hetton-le-Hole (Co. Durham), youngest son of Rt. Rev. William James (1542-1617), Bishop of Durham, and had issue three sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 6 May 1645 at Houghton-le-Spring, Thomas Delaval (d. 1663) of Hetton-le-Hole, third son of Sir Ralph Delaval (d. 1628), kt., and had issue one daughter; buried at Houghton le Spring, 21 October 1661;

(4) Mary Belasyse (b. 1615), born 2 September 1615; married 1st, 5 December 1636 at Houghton-le-Spring, Henry Simpson (d. 1647?) of Pittington Hallgarth (Co. Durham), and 2nd, Lt-Col. William Blakiston (c.1621-85), MP for City of Durham in 1679, only surviving son of William Blakiston (d. 1628) of Old Malton (Yorks), and had issue one daughter (who died in infancy);

(5) Timothea Belasyse (1616-95), born 19 December 1616; married, 16 January 1637/8 at Houghton-le-Spring, Ralph Davison (1610-84) of Thornley Gore (Co. Durham), son of Alexander Davison, and had issue four sons and three daughters; buried at St Oswald, Durham, 29 September 1695;

(6) Col. William Belasyse (1617-79?), born 11 December 1617; married 1st, Martha (d. 1665), daughter of Sir Henry Curwen of Workington (Cumbld), and had issue three sons and three daughters; married 2nd, 1666, Elizabeth Bethell, and had issue one further son; probably the man of this name buried at Alne (Yorks NR), 10 March 1678/9;

(7) Charles Belasyse (b. 1619), born 15 February 1618/9; married Catherine Layton and had issue at least one son;

(8) John Belasyse (b. 1620), born 22 January 1619/20; probably died young;

(9) Brian Belasyse (b. & d. 1621), born 4 June 1621; died in infancy and was buried at Houghton-le-Spring, 5 November 1621;

(10) George Belasyse (1622-1704?), born 24 December 1622; possibly to be identified with man of this name who married, 17 July 1655 at Long Marton (Westmld), Elizabeth Parker, and had issue four sons and three daughters, and who died at Long Marton in 1704, but this is not certain;

(11) Dorothy Belasyse (1623-1708?), born 22 December 1623; married Ralph Millot (d. 1692), and had issue at least three sons; buried at Chester-le-Street (Co. Durham), 25 October 1706 or 1708.

He inherited Morton House, Houghton-le-Spring from his father in 1608 and also lands at Brandon from his mother's family.

He died 3 December, and was buried 6 December 1641 at Houghton-le-Spring, where he is commemorated by a monument erected by his widow which records his age at death as 48. His widow was buried at Houghton-le-Spring, 29 November 1671.

* The births (rather than baptisms) of his children are entered in the Houghton-le-Spring parish register between the baptisms for 1610 and 1611.

Belasyse, Sir Richard (1612-52). Eldest son of Sir William Belasyse (c.1593-1641), kt., and his wife Margaret Selby, born 14 April and baptised at St Nicholas, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 23 April 1612. Educated at St Catherine's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1629) and Grays Inn (admitted 1627). Knighted, 26 June 1639. High Sheriff of County Durham, 1647-48. He married 1st, 1637, Elizabeth Spooner (d. 1642), and 2nd, c.1645, Margaret Lambton (b. 1627), and had issue:

(1.1) Rowland Belasyse; died unmarried in the lifetime of his father;

(1.2) William Belasyse (d. 1681), eldest surviving son; lived at Elvet, Durham (Co. Durham) and inherited his father's property in Co. Durham, which his son sold to his brother Sir Henry in 1693; married, 1668 (bond 23 November), Katherine Brandling, and had issue; died 1681;

(2.1) Sir Henry Belasyse (1647-1717), kt. (q.v.);

(2.2) Catherine Belasyse (b. c.1648), born about 1648; said to have married Henry Talbot of Burrowby;

(2.3) Margaret Belasyse (b. c.1650), born about 1650; mentioned in her father's will and in a Chancery decree of 1656; possibly the woman of this name who married, 1 September 1679 at St Mary Somerset, London, Robert Marshall;

(2.4) Richard Belasyse (b. 1651), baptised at St Nicholas, Durham, 3 March 1651; mentioned in his father's will.

He owned estates at Ludworth, Owton and Haswell (Co. Durham), Bleatarn (Westmld) and at Potto (Yorks). He lived at Owton, where he made alterations to the Hall in 1646-47. The Haswell estate was burdened with the support of his brothers and sisters and his other County Durham property was incumbered with debt by the time of his death.

He was buried at St Oswald, Durham, 26 February 1651/2; will proved in the PCC, 29 June 1652. His first wife died 7 February 1641/2 and was buried at St Aldate, Oxford, where she was commemorated by a floor slab. His widow was living in 1670 but may have been dead by 1679.

Belasyse, Sir Henry (1647-1717), kt. Eldest son of Sir Richard Belasyse (1612-52), kt., and his second wife, Margaret Lambton, born at Biddick Hall (Co. Durham), 1647. Educated at Kepyer GS, Houghton-le-Spring and Christ's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1666) and Middle Temple (admitted 1668). A career soldier with the Scots Brigade fighting for the Protestant Dutch States Army (Capt. 1674; Lt-Col., 1676; Col. 1678) in the Franco-Dutch War; he was wounded at the Battle of St. Denis, 1678. He came to England with his troops in 1685 to help suppress Monmouth's Rebellion, but continued to serve the Dutch until 1687, when it was rumoured that he had incurred the displeasure of William of Orange and was barred from the Dutch Court. When King James II demanded the return of the Scots Brigade in 1688, William of Orange refused but took the opportunity to remove officers of doubtful loyalty, including Sir Henry, who was replaced as Colonel by Philip Babington. However, this may all have been a ruse to provide a cover story to account for his presence in England ahead of William of Orange's invasion of England, as there is no hint of any froideur in his relations with king subsequently, and he was perhaps sent over to liaise with and encourage Orangist conspirators in Yorkshire and the north-east. In April 1689, Sir Henry was part of a force under Lord Danby that secured York and then Hull for William. Later that year he was made an officer in the British army (Brig-Gen., 1689; Maj-Gen., 1694) and given command of the 22nd Foot which fought against the forces of James II in Ireland, 1689-91. In January 1691 he was seriously injured in a duel with Col. Richard Leveson while on leave from his regiment. He was Governor and Mayor of Galway (Ireland), 1691-92, and was MP for the city in the Irish Parliament, 1692-93. With the war in Ireland over, he was given command of a brigade in Flanders, and remained in the Netherlands until the Treaty of Ryswick brought the Nine Years' War to and end in 1697. Despite his long service to the Protestants in the Netherlands and England, there was occasional anxiety about his religious affiliation, perhaps because of his kinship with the overtly Catholic Belasyse family in Yorkshire. In 1701 his regiment was posted to Jamaica and he exchanged to the 2nd Foot, which was sent to Spain in 1702 under the Duke of Ormonde to support the claim of Archduke Charles to the Spanish throne. The aim of his force was to capture Cadiz, but he argued that rather than a direct assault it would be better to capture Port St Mary and march overland to take Cadiz from the rear. His ulterior motive for this (not unreasonable) plan seems to have been that he had heard Port St. Mary was being used to store treasure from the Spanish galleons. Together with Maj-Gen. O'Hare he successfully captured Port St. Mary, but when he found the treasure had been moved to safety further inland he was so furious that he encouraged his troops to plunder the town and its churches. The troops got out of control and proceeded to an orgy of rape and pillage, causing an estimated £3m of damage. The Duke of Ormonde arrested him but on his return to England he claimed parliamentary privilege, meaning that he could not be tried for his conduct in Spain. He was, however, tried for breaking his arrest on landing in England, and he was dishonourably discharged. He seems later to have been somewhat restored to favour but his active military service was at an end. He was employed as a Commissioner for an inquiry into the state of British forces in Spain, Portugal and Italy in 1711-12 and was Governor of Berwick, 1713-15. He was Whig MP for Morpeth, 1695-1701 and Tory MP for Durham, 1701-08, 1710-12, and for Mitchell (Cornwall), 1713-15. The Duke of Marlborough described Henry as 'not loved but has good sense and is a good officer', while Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, who served alongside him in Ireland and whose complaints about his conduct in Spain led to his arrest, referred to him as 'mediocre and avaricious'. He was knighted between 1678 and 1681, but probably in Flanders as the precise date seems not to be recorded. He married 1st, 1680 (licence 3 March), Dorothy (d. 1696), daughter of Tobias Jenkyn of Grimston (Yorks) and widow of Robert Benson (d. 1676) of Wrenthorpe (Yorks); and 2nd*, 23 April 1709 at St James, Duke's Place, London, Fleetwood (1655-1733), daughter of Nicholas Shuttleworth of Forcett (Yorks NR), and had issue:

(1.1) Mary Belasyse (c.1681-96); died 9 February, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 14 February 1695/6;

(1.2) Margaret Belasyse (1683-c.1685), baptised at St Giles in the Fields, Westminster (Middx), 8 April 1683; said to have died in infancy c.1685;

(1.3) Thomas Belasyse; died in the lifetime of his father;

(1.4) Elizabeth Belasyse; died in the lifetime of her father;

(2.1) William Belasyse (c.1697-1769) (q.v.);

(2.2) Margaret Belasyse (b. 1703), baptised at St Clement Danes, London, 3 March 1702/3; died in infancy.

He inherited his father's estate at Potto (Yorks) in 1652 and purchased the debt-ridden Owton (Co. Durham) estate from his nephew in 1693 and Brancepeth Castle in 1701. Potto was sold after his death as directed in his will. In the early 1690s he seems also to have been granted forfeited estates in Co. Galway and Co. Kerry, but these were probably sold in his lifetime.

He died 16 December 1717 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where he is commemorated by a fine monument signed by Peter Scheemakers; his will was proved 25 January 1717/8. His first wife died in 1696. His widow died 25 February and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 4 March 1732/3, where she is commemorated by a floor slab.

* Some mystery is attached to this second marriage. The licence and register entry are perfectly normal but the couple's two children were born some years earlier, and the baptism of  their daughter records her parents as 'Sir Henry and Dame Fleetwood', which surely implies they were already living as husband and wife. It is possible that they had been married abroad soon after the death of Sir Henry's first wife, and that some irregularity in that marriage subsequently emerged and caused them to go through a second ceremony.

Belasyse, William (c.1697-1769). Son of Sir Henry Belasyse (1647-1717), kt., and his second wife, Fleetwood, daughter of Nicholas Shuttleworth of Forcett (Yorks NR), born more than a decade before their recorded marriage. His baptism has not been found (he may have been born abroad) but his age at admission to Cambridge would imply a date of birth in about 1697. Educated at Christ's and Trinity Colleges, Cambridge (matriculated 1714) and Inner Temple (admitted 1715). He married, 1732 (licence 16 August) in the Chapel Royal at St James' Palace, Westminster (Middx), Bridget (1714-35), daughter of Capt. Rupert Billingsley RN (d. 1720), and had issue:

(1) Bridget Belasyse (1735-74) (q.v.).

He inherited Brancepeth Castle from his father in 1717 and probably came of age the following year. In the mid 18th century he was responsible for landscaping works at Brancepeth.

He died 11 February 1769 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where he is commemorated on his mother's floor slab; his will was proved 3 March 1769. His wife died following childbirth, 28 July, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 3 August 1735.

Belasyse, Bridget (1735-74). Only child of William Belasyse (c.1697-1769) and his wife Bridget, daughter of Capt. Rupert Billingsley RN, born 8 July and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 10 July 1735. She is said to have died of a broken heart because her sweetheart, Robert Shafto, moved to London to marry Anne Duncombe; the episode is commemorated in the nursery rhyme, Bobby Shafto's gone to Sea, but while she may have been disappointed in love, she seems to have died of tuberculosis. She was unmarried and without issue.

She inherited Brancepeth Castle from his father in 1769. At her death she left it to her distant kinsman, the 2nd Earl Fauconberg, of Newburgh Priory.

She died 5 April and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 16 April 1774, where she is commemorated on her grandmother's floor slab; her will, proved in the PCC, 19 April 1774, made provision for the foundation of an almshouse at Brancepeth for twelve men and twelve women, and also an educational charity, and also bequeathed £25,000 and her jewellery to her companion, Diana Chudleigh.

Principal sources

Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerages, 1883, pp. 38-41; Burke's Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies, 2nd edn., 1841, pp. 52-54; J.T. Cliffe, The Yorkshire gentry from the Reformation to the Civil War, 1969, esp. pp. 297-302; G. Ridsdall Smith, In well beware: the story of Newburgh Priory and the Belasyse family, 1978; E.M. Johnston-Liik, History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800, 2002, vol. 3, pp. 151-53; 

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/belasyse-sir-henry-1648-1717;

Location of archives

Belasyse family, Barons, Viscounts and Earls Fauconberg: deeds, family and estate papers, 12th-20th cents. [North Yorkshire County Record Office, ZDV]; estate survey, 18th cent. [Yorkshire Archaeological Society, MS601]; estate accounts, 1577-1801 [Columbia University Libraries]

Coat of arms

Belasyse, Viscounts and Earls Fauconberg: Quarterly, first and fourth, argent a chevron gules between three fleurs-de-lis azure; second and third argent a pale engrailed between two pallets plain sable.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• Does anyone know of an image of the now lost monument at Scranton (Co. Durham) to James Belasyse (1562-1640)? I believe this may have been the untraced 'Tombe of Mr. Berlasses' which Nicholas Stone recorded making in 1641/2. 
• Can anyone provide a date of birth or death for Thomas Edward Wynn (later Wynn-Belasis)? He is sometimes said to have been born in 1767 and died in 1825, but these appear to be a confusion with his wife's dates and the latter is certainly incorrect.
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 12 February 2023.