(627) Bill of Farley Hall and Storthes Hall

Bill of Farley Hall

Many landed families owe their status to one or two individuals who have brought the family game-changing wealth or power through their abilities in politics, the law, the armed services, or industry. Not so the Bills, whose rise into the Staffordshire county gentry was almost imperceptible, and was achieved by the patient acquisition of property through judicious marriages and purchases over a couple of centuries. It was a family with numerous junior branches around Staffordshire, the exact connections between whom it is beyond the scope of this project to disentangle, as many of them remained below the threshhold of gentility. Here I follow the upwardly mobile Bills of Farley Hall, whose story begins with Richard Bill (d. 1656). He came from Norbury (Derbys) and called himself a yeoman, but was the first of his family to acquire property at Farley (in 1607), and is said to have built the core of the present Farley Hall. He married Elizabeth Shenton, the heiress of the Shentons of Farley Hall, and continued to make small purchases of land in Farley and the surrounding parishes throughout his life. Richard and Elizabeth had three sons, of whom the youngest and the eventual heir was Robert Bill (c.1625-1710), who settled in his father's lifetime at Stanton in Ellastone parish, and seems to have continued living there after his father's death. Robert and his wife Joan Jefferson also had three sons, who each received a portion of his property, with the eldest, Richard Bill (1645-1716), being the heir to Farley Hall. Richard was for some 20 years bailiff of the Earl of Shrewsbury's Alton estate, which adjoined his own estate, and perhaps for that reason lived at Alton Lodge rather than Farley.

Richard's youngest son and eventual heir was Robert Bill (c.1684-1751), who was married twice and sired an eye-watering nineteen children, although all the six children of his first marriage seem to have died young. His second family was much more successful, with five sons and four daughters out of thirteen children achieving adulthood, and several of them living notably long lives. His eldest surviving son and chief heir was Robert Bill (1720-61), whose estates extended across the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border and also into Cheshire. He died aged forty, having already lost his wife, and leaving as his heir his only child, Robert Bill (1753-80). The young Robert was probably brought up in the household of one of his uncles, and when he came to adulthood chose a military career, dying during the siege of Gibraltar in 1780. The management of the Farley estate had been, throughout his minority, in the hands of his uncle Charles Bill (1721-1809), a London solicitor with chambers in the Temple, who acquired property at Marlborough (Wilts) and Sydenham (Kent), and on Robert's death in 1780 Charles came into ownership of the Farley estate. Soon afterwards, in 1782, Charles engaged Thomas Gardner (c.1737-1804) of Uttoxeter to remodel the house and build a new main front, but it is not clear how much he used the house, and at the end of his long life he handed the estate over to a nephew and retired to his house at Sydenham.

The beneficiary of this arrangement was Dr John Bill (1757-1847), who was one of the surgeons to Manchester Royal Infirmary from 1790-1804. He was the younger son of Charles' brother, the Rev. John Bill (1726-1806), the Cambridge-educated rector of Draycott-le-Moors (Staffs). On coming into the property, Dr Bill retired from his profession and took up residence at Farley Hall, which he enjoyed for more than forty years. When he died the estate passed to his only surviving son, John Bill (1795-1853), who qualified as a barrister but did not practice.  In 1827 he made a trip to America, of which in later years he published an account. He survived his father by only some six years, and at his death left two sons, the elder of whom died while a pupil at Harrow in 1856. The estate then devolved on the younger son, Charles Bill (1843-1915), who after Eton and Oxford went on to Lincoln's Inn and qualified as a barrister. In seeming contrast with his father, he had an active public life, serving as MP for Leek, 1892-1906, Colonel of the North Staffordshire militia, and a director of the North Staffordshire Railway Co. He married a daughter of the Fitzherberts of Somersal Herbert (Derbys), and they had two sons and a daughter (who became a Roman Catholic Sister of Mercy). The eldest son, Charles Fitzherbert Bill (1872-1955) was an engineer who had a career with the militia battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment that took him to the Boer War and the First World War. After the war, he gave up Farley Hall, which was advertised to let in 1920. For the next thirty years the house had a chequered existence, being tenanted as a school, a guest house and a youth hostel, before returning to private occupation. At his death, it passed to his niece, Pamela (1912-62), who occupied it for some years with her husband, Christopher Clifford (1910-86) and their four sons. In 1958, Clifford, who owned a pottery firm in Stoke-on-Trent, was appointed managing director of Royal Worcester Porcelain, and the family had to move south (eventually renting Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire). They let Farley Hall, hoping that one of their sons would choose to live there when they grew up, but in about 1970 the family took the decision to sell the estate, which was purchased by Anthony Bamford (b. 1945), now Lord Bamford.

One other branch of the family must be considered here. The elder son of Rev. John Bill (1726-1806) of Draycott-le-Moors was Robert Bill (1754-1806), who pursued a career as a merchant and East India Company official on the island of Sumatra (Indonesia). On his return to England, he married in 1791 Dorothy Horsfall, one of the daughters of William Horsfall (d. 1780) of Storthes Hall, Huddersfield (Yorks WR). Horsfall, who had no male heir, had left his property to his widow and daughters, who in the late 1780s came to a family agreement that they would rebuild Storthes Hall so that it could provide a home for such of the sisters as remained unmarried, and pass after their deaths to the children of the sisters who had married. As a result of this unusual arrangement, the house was occupied by two of Dorothy's sisters until 1818. They then moved out and handed the property over to Dorothy's son, Charles Horsfall Bill (1792-1863), who was the only child of any of the five sisters. He occupied the house until 1846, by which time he had inherited the freehold, but after that he let it, and it was occupied as a private school for some twenty years. His eldest son, Charles Horsfall Bill (1818-1908), who inherited in 1863, continued to let the house - this time to private tenants - and lived a curious peregrinating existence, taking houses from Dorset to Aberdeenshire for a few months or a few years at a time. He eventually acquired the town house (now an inn) called The Priory in Tetbury (Glos) as a more permanent base, although he seems to have continued to rent additional houses as well. In 1898 he sold Storthes Hall estate to a middle-man, who promptly resold it to the West Riding County Council, which developed a pauper lunatic asylum in the grounds. The house itself became a home for the mentally handicapped until 1991 when the whole hospital site was closed. 

Farley Hall, Staffordshire

The core of the house seems to be a 17th century building, three gables wide, which is said to have been erected after 1607 for Richard Bill. This had a stone ground floor and was timber-framed above, but the 17th century origins are now only really suggested by the north side, which has gables, a mix of smaller and larger casement windows, and a general irregularity which hints at a complex evolution.

Farley Hall: the north front c.1970. Image: Staffordshire Record Office C/P/65/7/1/15/8/1 (43/13593)

Farley Hall: the house from the south-east, 1929. Image: Country Life.

In 1784 the house was extensively remodelled by Thomas Gardner (c.1737-1804) for Charles Bill (1721-1809). He created a new south front, with two-storey canted bow windows at either end and classical fenestration with sash windows, above which the three gables of the older house float. He was probably also responsible for building the whitewashed stable block to the west of the house.  The tripartite window in the centre of the first floor of the south front may well be a later alteration, and a single-bay two-storey wing to the right of the south front may be of the same date, since it has similar fenestration. Running further east from the wing is a tall plain stone wall, from which projects a most attractive D-shaped greenhouse with a domed top and ashlar plinth. This must date from the mid 19th century, for it is the sort of decorative glasshouse popularised by J.C. Loudon. The wall continues to a later Gothic billiard room, erected by William Evans in 1866, which seems to have been designed with the qualities of both a lodge and a chapel in mind. It is a curious little building; detached billiard rooms were surely a rarity so perhaps it was also designed to be the smoking room of a household which detested tobacco fumes?

Farley Hall: the house from the south-west, c.1970. Image: Staffordshire Record Office C/P/65/7/1/15/5/1 (43/13597)

The last addition to the house of great significance was the application, sometime in the later 19th century, of nailed-on laths to suggest the semi-timbering which genuinely lay underneath. There have been 20th century changes too, involving some demolition on the north side, which altered the footprint of the house after the 1920s. Just before the Second World War, the house briefly became a youth hostel, but this closed on the outbreak of hostilities and it returned to private ownership. The house was restored for Sir Anthony (now Lord) Bamford, the managing director of JCB plc, who later bought Daylesford Park (Glos) and inherited nearby Wootton Lodge.

Descent: built 1607 for Richard Bill (d. 1656); to son, Robert Bill (c.1625-1710); to son, Richard Bill (1645-1716); to son, Robert Bill (c.1684-1751); to son, Robert Bill (1720-61); to son, Robert Bill (1753-80); to uncle, Charles Bill (1721-1809); to nephew, Dr. John Bill (1758-1848); to son, John Bill (1795-1853); to son, Charles Bill (1843-1915); to son, Charles Fitzherbert Bill (1872-1955); to niece, Pamela (1912-62), wife of John Bertram Christopher Clifford (1910-86); sold c.1970 to Sir Anthony Bamford (b. 1945), later Baron Bamford.

The house was advertised to let furnished in 1920; the contents were sold in 1921, and the property was let to Overdale School for Girls c.1922-27, and thereafter to Miss Gladys Hunt, who ran it as a guest house (bankrupt 1932); in 1936 it was let to the Youth Hostels Association, but closed at the beginning of the Second World War. It was let again from 1959 to Mr & Mrs John Goodwin (fl. 1968).

Storthes Hall, Kirkburton, Yorkshire (WR)

Storthes Hall: sketch by John Warburton, c.1720. 

Very little is known about the earlier house on this site, which is recorded in a crude sketch of about 1720 by John Warburton showing a gabled manor house. It seems likely that this was built in the early 17th century after Richard Horsfall had purchased the estate from the eponymous Storthes family.

The Jacobean house was cleared away before the present building was built in 1787-90 for the Misses Horsfall to the designs of William Lindley (1739-1818) of Doncaster (Yorks WR). This has a severely plain seven bay front of two-and-a-half storeys, with a pediment over the middle three bays, and a porch with Doric columns and a segmental pediment. A lower two-storey three-bay service wing adjoins the house on the left, recessed by almost the full depth of the house, from the end of which another wing projects forward. In the 19th century this was a four-bay two-storey block, slightly lower than the service wing, but it appears to have been replaced in the 20th century by a wing of similar proportions that has five windows on each floor that are not even spaced but rather clustered towards its outer end.

Storthes Hall: a Victorian engraving of the house before it became part of the Storthes Hall Hospital.

Storthes Hall: the house today.

In 1897 the house and grounds were acquired by the West Riding County Council as the site of the 4th West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, for which grand new hospital buildings were erected by Joseph Vickers Edwards, the West Riding County Architect, from 1902 onwards. The Georgian house was used as an institution for the mentally handicapped, and known as the 'Mansion Hospital'. The whole hospital site closed in 1991, after which most of the hospital buildings were demolished, except for the gabled administration building of 1902-17 and the Georgian house, which was returned to private ownership. Part of the hospital site was redeveloped c.2000 for Huddersfield University's student village, but these buildings were themselves demolished in 2025 ahead of a planned large housing development. The mansion house stood empty and boarded up for some years, but was subsequently restored and returned to private ownership.

Descent: Thomas Storthes (fl. 1603); sold after 1603 to Richard Horsfall; to son, Richard Horsfall (d. 1644); to son, Col. Richard Horsfall (1612-68); to son, William Horsfall (d. 1711); to son, John Horsfall (d. 1722); to son, Richard Horsfall (d. 1731); to son, William Horsfall (d. 1780); to his widow and five daughters who rebuilt the hall in 1787-90 and occupied until  1818, after which it passed to Charles Bill (1792-1863), the only son of Dorothy Horsfall (d. 1792); to son, Charles Horsfall Bill (1818-1908), who sold 1898 to Thomas Norton, who sold 1898 to West Riding County Council; transferred 1948 to National Health Service; sold 1991...  The house was let from 1846-65 to Peter Inchbald, who ran a boarding school for boys, and later by Benjamin Lockwood, woollen manufacturer, and Joseph Armitage Armitage (1840-98).

Bill family of Farley Hall

Bill, Richard (d. 1656). Parentage unknown, born at Norbury (Derbys). Yeoman. He married Elizabeth Shenton of Farley Hall, and had issue:

(1) John Bill (fl. 1634); married and had issue one daughter; living in 1634;

(2) Richard Bill (d. 1649?); died without issue, and perhaps the man of this name whose will was proved at Lichfield in 1649;

(3) Robert Bill (c.1625-1711) (q.v.).

He settled at Farley Hall in 1607.

He died in about April 1656; his probate inventory was sworn 1 May 1656. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bill, Robert (c.1625-1711). Third and youngest son of Richard Bill (d. 1656) and his wife Elizabeth Shenton, born about 1625. He married, perhaps c.1642, Joan Jefferson, and had issue:

(1) Mary Bill (1643-1712?), baptised at Ellastone (Staffs), 24 August 1643; married, 8 August 1665 at Ellastone, Joseph alias Josias Whieldon of Ipstones (Staffs), and had issue; perhaps the woman of this name buried at St Werburgh, Derby, 14 July 1712;

(2) Richard Bill (1645-1716) (q.v.);

(3) William Bill (fl. 1676), of Stanton in Ellastone, yeoman; died without issue;

(4) John Bill (d. 1726), of Mayfield (Staffs); married, 1680 (licence 11 November), Dorothy Ensor (1658-1733) of Tissington (Derbys), and had issue two sons and three daughters (including John Bill (1686-1770), who was king's messenger to Hanover, and died a Poor Knight of Windsor); died 1 October 1726; will proved at Lichfield, 1726;

(5) Margaret Bill (fl. 1676); married, 1676 (settlement 10 June), John Smith of Stanton in Ellastone.

He inherited Farley Hall from his father in 1656, but may have lived at Stanton in Ellastone.

He was buried at Ellastone, 6 March 1710/11. His wife is said to have died in 1701, but I have not been able to trace a burial.

Bill, Richard (1645-1716). Eldest son of Robert Bill (c.1625-1710) and his wife Joan Jefferson, baptised at Ellastone (Staffs), 26 January 1644/5. Bailiff to the Earl of Shrewsbury's Alton estate in the late 17th and early 18th century. He was also involved in lead mining, leasing land on his estate to prospectors. He married 1st, c.1669 (settlement 17 December), Hannah Morris (1650-94) of Cotton Hall, Cheadle (Staffs), and 2nd, 3 May 1700 at Alton (Staffs), Mary Prince (1654-1719), and had issue:

(1.1) Jane Bill (c.1673-1703), born about 1673; married, by 1693, Thomas Masgreave of Alton, and had issue three sons; buried at Alton, 29 March 1703;

(1.2) Joan Bill (c.1675-1718), born about 1675; married, 16 November 1694 at Ipstones (Staffs), William Rushton (1673-1759), son of Anthony Rushton (1654-1734), and had issue six sons and four daughters; buried at Alton, 17 March 1717/8;

(1.3) Robert Bill (1677-78), baptised at Alton, 8 February 1676/7; died in infancy, 5 December 1678;

(1.4) Richard Bill (b. 1680), baptised at Alton, 12 August 1680; living in 1715; 

(1.5) Robert Bill (1684-1751) (q.v.);

(1.6) Hannah Bill (1685-1766), baptised at Alton, 4 November 1685; married, 27 December 1714 at Alton, Roger Sutton (1683-1752), husbandman, and had issue four sons and two daughters; buried at Alton, 6 March 1766.

He inherited Farley Hall from his father in 1710, and also owned Alton Lodge.

He was buried at Alton, 26 May 1716; his will was proved at Lichfield, 11 October 1716. His first wife was buried at Alton, 23 July 1694. His widow was buried at Alton, 12 November 1719.

Bill, Robert (c.1684-1751). Third, but second surviving, son of Richard Bill (1645-1716) and his wife Hannah Morris, born about 1684. Landowner and farmer. He married 1st, 23 February 1708 at Doveridge (Derbys), Winifred Adams (d. 1717) of Norbury (Derbys) and 2nd, 21 December 1718 at Rolleston (Staffs), Lydia (1692-1755), daughter of Robert Hurst of Cheadle Grange (Staffs), and had issue:

(1.1) Robert Bill (b. & d. 1710), baptised at Alton, 20 February 1709/10; probably the child of this name buried at Alton, 22 April 1710;

(1.2) Richard Bill (b. & d. 1711), baptised at Alton, 7 May 1711; died in infancy and was buried at Alton, 20 May 1711;

(1.3) Hannah Bill (b. 1712), baptised at Alton, 28 June 1712; probably died young;

(1.4) Christopher Bill (1713-14), baptised at Alton, 9 May 1713; died in infancy and was buried at Alton, 2 December 1714;

(1.5) Catherine Bill (b. & d. 1714), baptised at Alton, 12 July 1714; died in infancy and was buried at Alton, 21 July 1714;

(1.6) Winifred Bill (1715-17), baptised at Alton, 5 July 1715; died in infancy and was buried at Alton, 8 June 1717;

(2.1) Margaret Bill (1719-80), baptised at Alton, 11 November 1719; married, 23 December 1754 at Alton, Rev. Francis Ward (1731-83), perpetual curate of Croxden (Staffs), 1758-83 and rector of Stanford-on-Soar (Notts), 1771-75, and had issue at least two sons; died 18 April and was buried at Alton, 23 April 1780;

(2.2) Robert Bill (1720-61), baptised at Alton, 24 December 1720; farmer and landowner with property in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire; married, 17 December 1752 at Elvaston (Derbys), Alice (1727-57), daughter of William Storer of Manchester, and had issue one son (Lt. Robert Bill (1753-80) who died during the siege of Gibraltar, 1780); died 30 April 1761, and was buried at Alton, where he is commemorated on his father's monument; will proved in the PCC, 6 May 1761;

(2.3) Charles Bill (1721-1809) (q.v.); 

(2.4) Lydia Bill (1722-97), baptised at Alton, 14 November 1722; married, 3 January 1743 at Kingsley (Staffs), John Gilbert (1724-95) of Cotton Hall, Cheadle (Staffs) and later of Worsley Hall (Lancs), joint agent (with his brother Thomas) to the Marquess of Stafford and Duke of Bridgwater, canal-building pioneer, and had issue at least three sons and one daughter; died 22 November and was buried in the Egerton family vault at Eccles (Lancs), 25 November 1797; will proved at Lancaster, 21 December 1797;

(2.5) Francis Bill (1723-1813), baptised at Alton, 13 February 1723/4; married, 18 January 1757 at Alton, Dorothy (1735-1809), daughter of William Hall Walton, and had issue four sons and three daughters; died in London aged 90, and was buried at St George-in-the-East, London, 1 January 1814;

(2.6) Elizabeth Bill (1724-1809), baptised at Alton, 23 February 1724/5; married, 10 November 1754 at Alton, Michael Barbour (c.1719-82) of London and Stone (Staffs), and had issue two sons and three daughters; buried at Lewisham (Kent), 13 June 1809; will proved in the PCC, 13 June 1811;

(2.7) Rev. John Bill (1726-1806) (q.v.);

(2.8) William Bill (1727-84), baptised at Alton, 23 November 1727; married, 26 October 1752 at Draycott-le-Moors (Staffs), Mary (d. 1802), daughter of William Hall Walton, and had issue five sons and six daughters (including the inventor, Robert Bill (1754-1821)); died intestate, 18 November 1784; administration of goods granted 28 April 1785;

(2.9) Winifred Bill (b. & d. 1729), baptised at Alton, 6 January 1728/9; died in infancy and was buried at Alton, 2 February 1728/9;

(2.10) Mary Bill (b. 1730), baptised at Alton, 7 April 1730; perhaps died young;

(2.11) Rupert Bill (1731-49), baptised at Alton, 24 May 1731; apprenticed to Henry Cooper of London, feltmaker, 1747; said to have died unmarried, 20 or 22 September 1749;

(2.12) Ann Bill (b. & d. 1733), baptised at Alton, 17 March 1732/3; died in infancy, 28 August 1733;

(2.13) Penelope Bill (1735-61), baptised at Alton, 4 October 1735; married, 23 September 1755 at Alton, Edmund Smith (c.1730-77) of Underwood, Rochdale (Lancs), merchant, (who m2, 11 October 1762 at St Mary, Ousebridge (Yorks), Mary Rayner, and had further issue), and had issue two daughters; died 20 July and was buried 23 July 1761 at St Chad, Rochdale, where she is commemorated on her husband's monument.

He inherited Farley Hall from his father in 1716.

He died 22 February and was buried at Alton 25 February 1750/1, where he is commemorated on a monument. His first wife was buried at Alton, 8 June 1717. His widow died 18 September and was buried at Alton, 21 September 1769, where she is commemorated on her husband's monument.

Charles Bill (1721-1809) 

Bill, Charles (1721-1809). Second son of Robert Bill (c.1684-1751) and his second wife, Lydia, daughter of Robert Hurst of Cheadle (Staffs), baptised at Alton (Staffs), 5 December 1721. A solicitor with chambers in the Temple, London. JP for Staffordshire. He was unmarried and without issue.

He lived at Marlborough (Wilts) and inherited the Farley Hall estate from his nephew in 1780. At the end of his long life he seems to have handed over Farley Hall to his nephew, Dr John Bill, and moved to Sydenham (Kent). 

He died at Sydenham, 6 January, and was buried at Alton, 21 January 1809, where he is commemorated on the family monument; his will was proved 19 April 1809 (effects under £45,000).

Bill, Rev. John (1726-1806). Fourth son of Robert Bill (c.1684-1751) and his second wife Lydia, daughter of Robert Hurst of Cheadle (Staffs), baptised at Alton, 29 May 1726. Educated at Christ's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1745; BA 1749). Ordained deacon, 1749 and priest, 1750. Curate of Hatley St. George (Cambs), 1749-50 and rector of Draycott-le-Moors (Staffs), 1750-1806. He married, c.1750*, Mary (1723-1800), daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Harrison (1688-1749) of Dilhorne Hall (Staffs), and had issue:

(1) Maria Bill (1753-1847), baptised at Dilhorne, 8 April 1753; married, 7 April 1774 at Draycott-le-Moors, as his second wife, William Burton of Sheffield, surgeon, and had issue one son and one daughter; died at Bath (Som.), 14 April, and was buried at St Mary's Chapel, Bath, 22 April 1847; her will was proved in the PCC, 11 June 1847;

(2) Robert Bill (1754-1806) [for whom see below, Bill family of Storthes Hall];

(3) Dr. John Bill (1757-1847) (q.v.);

(4) Susannah Bill (1763-68), baptised at Draycott-le-Moors, 29 December 1763; died young and was buried at Draycott-le-Moors, 25 September 1768.

He died 25 May 1806, and was buried at Alton (Staffs), where he is commemorated on a family monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 10 June 1806. His wife died 29 December 1800 and was buried 5 January 1801 at Alton (Staffs), where she is commemorated on a family monument.

* The date and place of marriage have escaped me; it was not registered at either Dilhorne or Draycott-le-Moors.

Bill, Dr. John (1757-1847). Younger son of Rev. John Bill (1726-1806) and his wife Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Harrison (1688-1749) of Dilhorne Hall (Staffs), born 13 April and baptised at Draycott-le-Moors (Staffs), 17 April 1757. A surgeon and apothecary, who practised at Manchester by 1788 and was surgeon to the Manchester Royal Infirmary, 1790-1804, when he retired and moved to Farley Hall. He became blind some years before his death. He married, 5 December 1785 at Bury (Lancs), Esther (1767-1833), daughter of Samuel Grundy of Lyme Field, Bury (Lancs), and had issue:

(1) John Bill (b. & d. 1787), born 5 May 1787; died in infancy and was buried at St Ann, Manchester, 25 May 1787;

(2) Robert Bill (1789-1823), born 15 August and baptised at St Ann, Manchester, 6 November 1789; educated at Macclesfield and Oriel College, Oxford (matriculated 1807; BA 1812; MA 1814) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1811); lived at Blackheath Park (Kent); married, 4 January 1820 at St George, Bloomsbury (Middx), Louisa (1796-1870), daughter of Philip Dauncey KC, and had issue three daughters; died in the lifetime of his father, 12 October, and was buried at Cheshunt (Herts), 21 October 1823;

(3) Charles Bill (1790-91); born 23 August 1790; died in infancy, 12 January, and was buried at St Ann, Manchester, 14 January 1791;

(4) Mary Bill (1792-1854), baptised at St Ann, Manchester, 5 October 1792; married, 22 May 1823 at Alton (Staffs), Rev. Edward Whieldon (1787-1859) of Hales Hall (Staffs), and had issue two sons and one daughter; buried at Cheadle (Staffs), 22 May 1854;

(5) Lydia Bill (1794-1859), baptised at St Ann, Manchester, 25 April 1794; married, 28 November 1817 at Alton, Dr. Thomas Mayo MD FRS (1790-1871), physician to Marylebone Infirmary (FRCP, 1819; President of Royal College of Physicians, 1857-62); buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 1 February 1859;

(6) John Bill (1795-1853) (q.v.).

He inherited the Farley Hall estate from his uncle in 1809.

He died 6 April, and was buried at Alton (Staffs), 14 April 1847, where he is commemorated on the family monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 25 June 1847. His wife died 7 December 1833 and was buried at Alton (Staffs), where she is also commemorated on the family monument.

Bill, John (1795-1853). Fourth, but only surviving, son of Dr. John Bill (1757-1847) and his wife Esther, daughter of Samuel Grundy of Lyme Field, Bury (Lancs),  baptised at St Ann, Manchester, 24 July 1795. Educated at Manchester Grammar School (admitted 1806) and Grays Inn (admitted 1821). Barrister-at-law (but did not practise); JP for Staffordshire. In 1827 he visited America, and in 1849 Paris (France), and he wrote an account of his travels published as The English Party's Excursion To Paris In Easter-Week 1849, To Which Is Added A Trip To America (1850). He married, 8 September 1831 at Manchester Collegiate Church (now Cathedral), Sarah (1798-1878), daughter of Abel Humphrys of Philadelphia (USA), and had issue:

(1) Mary Louisa Bill (1836-1902), born 7 September and was baptised at Alton (Staffs), 25 October 1837; married, 12 June 1862 at Alton, Rowland Hugh Cotton (1833-87), of Etwall Hall (Derbys), and had issue one son and five daughters; died 5 March 1902 and was buried at Etwall, where she is commemorated by a monument in the churchyard; her will was proved 19 August 1902 (estate £3,239);

(2) John Bill (1839-56), born 22 August 1839; educated at Harrow (admitted 1853), where he died young, 2 February 1856;

(3) Charles Bill (1843-1915) (q.v.).

He inherited Farley Hall from his father in 1848.

He died 15 February and was buried at Alton (Staffs), 23 February 1853, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 13 May 1853. His widow died 2 July 1878; her will was proved 7 August 1878 (effects under £14,000).

Charles Bill MP (1843-1915) 

Bill, Charles (1843-1915). Second, but only surviving, son of John Bill (1795-1853) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Abel Humphrys of Philadelphia (USA), born 8 January and baptised at Alton (Staffs), 9 May 1843. Educated at Eton, University College, Oxford (matriculated 1861; BA 1866; MA 1869) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1864; called 1868). Barrister-at-law; JP for Staffordshire; Unionist MP for Leek, 1892-1906; Alderman of Staffordshire County Council. An officer in 4th Battn, North Staffordshire Militia (Lt-Col. commanding and later Hon. Col.), who served in Burma, 1886. He was a director of the North Staffordshire Railway Co., and was largely responsible for the construction of the Manifold Valley Light Railway, opened in 1904. He married, 3 May 1870 at Somersal Herbert (Derbys), Ellen Margaret Hepburn (1845-1926), second daughter of Lt-Col. Richard Henry Fitzherbert of Somersal Herbert, and had issue:

(1) Ida Helen de la Martelliere Bill (1871-1956), born 4 April and baptised at Alton, 28 May 1871; a Sister of Mercy and later Mother Superior of the Holy Cross Convent, Haywards Heath (Sussex); died Jan-Mar 1956;

(2) Charles Fitzherbert Bill (1872-1955) (q.v.);

(3) John Hugo Hepburn Bill (1877-1919) (q.v.).

He inherited Farley Hall from his father in 1853, and came of age in 1864.

He died 9 December 1915 and was buried at Alton; his will was proved 7 February 1916 (estate £49,592). His widow died 14 April 1926; her will was proved 27 July 1926 and 2 March 1927 (estate £5,064).

Bill, Charles Fitzherbert (1872-1955). Elder son of Charles Bill (1843-1915) and his wife Ellen Margaret Hepburn, daughter of Lt-Col. Richard Henry Fitzherbert of Somersal Herbert (Derbys), born 13 July and baptised at Alton (Staffs), 29 July 1872. Educated at Eton and New College, Oxford (matriculated 1891; BA 1894). An officer in 4th Battn, North Staffordshire Regiment (2nd Lt., 1892; Lt.; Capt. by 1905; returned to colours, 1914; Maj.), who served in Boer War and First World War. An engineer, he was briefly in partnership with Frederick Hugh Smith at Datchet (Bucks) in the manufacture of carburettors and other parts for motor cars (partnership dissolved 1905); and from 1919-27 he was a director of National Welsh Slate Quarries Ltd and it successor Hendre-ddu Slate Quarries Ltd., which operated the Hendre-ddu slate mine in Merionethshire. He married, 29 September 1909 at Hawarden (Flints.), Alice Violet (1881-1917), only daughter of Charles Bolton Toller of Aston Bank (Flints.), and had issue:

(1) Cynthia Margaret Bill (1910-85), born 18 July and baptised at Hawarden, 28 August 1910; married 1st, 3 March 1934 at Hawarden (div. c.1939), Percy Newton Butler Lusk RAF (1905-70) of Auckland (New Zealand), son of Robert Butler Lusk, barrister and solicitor; married 2nd, 1940 at Wingham, New South Wales (Australia), Lyell Edward John Cooper (1900-96), grazier, son of Edward Charles Cooper, and had issue; died 2 May 1985;

(2) Phyllis Elizabeth Bill (b. 1912), born 2 March 1912; emigrated to Malaya with her husband, 1946, but subsequently moved to Victoria, British Columbia (Canada), where he worked as a realtor (estate agent) and she was a secretary; married, 20 December 1945 at Kensington (Middx), Stuart Arthur Simpson (1906-97) of Ipswich (Suffk), but had no issue; death not traced;

(3) Violet Mary Bill (1917-2007), born 16 March 1917; actress under the name Ria Sohier, who had parts in television series in the 1950s and 1960s; died unmarried aged 89 at Kingsbridge (Devon), 23 November 2007.

He inherited Farley Hall from his father in 1915, but let it after 1920 and lived latterly at Cheltenham (Glos). At his death the house and lands passed to his niece, Pamela Clifford.

He died in Cheltenham, 1 March 1955; his will was proved 18 May 1955 (estate £2,483). His wife died of scarlet fever following childbirth, 22 March 1917; administration of her goods was granted 6 June 1917 (estate £636).

Bill, John Hugo Hepburn (1877-1919). Second son of Charles Bill (1843-1915) and his wife Ellen Margaret Hepburn, daughter of Lt-Col. Richard Henry Fitzherbert of Somersal Herbert (Derbys), born 24 November 1877 and baptised at Alton, 27 January 1878. Educated at Wellington College and New College, Oxford (BA 1899). An officer in the Indian Civil Service, who served on the North-West Frontier and in Nigeria, Persia and Mesopotamia. He married, 3 May 1911 at St Peter, Cranley Gardens, Kensington (Middx), Cicely Annie (1885-1973), daughter of Robert William Bill (1856-1941) of Ashtead (Surrey), and had issue:

(1) Pamela Bill (1912-62) (q.v.);

(2) Muriel Joan Bill (1915-17?), born 25 March and baptised at Ashtead, 14 June 1915; probably died in infancy in India, and perhaps the 'Joan Bill' buried at Kohat (Pakistan), 7 March 1917.

He was murdered by Kurdish tribesmen at Birzah Kaprah in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), 2 November 1919. His widow married 2nd, 1920, Maj-Gen. William Archibald Kenneth Fraser CB CBE DSO MVO (1886-1969), and died 23 November 1973; her will was proved 22 March 1974 (estate £15,525).

Bill, Pamela (1912-62). Only surviving child of John Hugo Hepburn Bill (1877-1919) and his wife Cicely Annie, daughter of Robert William Bill of Ashtead, born 26 March 1912 at Bushire (Iran). She married, 5 September 1938 at Alton (Staffs), (John Bertram) Christopher Clifford (1910-86), master potter; director of Palissy Pottery and later of Worcester Royal Porcelain Co., and had issue:

(1) Michael Hugo Clifford (b. 1939), born 17 October 1939;

(2) twin, Timothy Christopher Clifford (b. 1941), born 29 May 1941; company director; lives in Feock (Cornw.);

(3) twin, Anthony Charles Clifford (1941-2019), born 29 May 1941; died 10 December 2019;

(4) Robert J. Clifford (b. 1950), born Apr-Jun 1950.

She inherited Farley Hall from her uncle in 1955. It was let from 1959, with the explicit intention that the family might return at a later date, when her sons were old enough to decide to live there, but it was sold c.1970. Her widower lived for a time at Thornbury Castle (Glos) in the 1960s, before selling it for conversion into an hotel.

She died 28 October 1962; her will was proved 3 May 1963 (estate £9,157). Her husband married 2nd, 1964, Jane (1937-2022), daughter of Jack Gawthorpe Adamson Ellis (1904-57); he died at Whitwell (IoW), 1 May 1986.

Bill family of Storthes Hall

Bill, Robert (1754-1806). Elder son of Rev. John Bill (1726-1806) and his wife Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Harrison (1688-1749) of Dilhorne Hall (Staffs), baptised at Draycott-le-Moors (Staffs), 4 May 1754. A merchant and civil servant in the East India Company's service, who lived for many years on the island of Sumatra (Indonesia), returning to England about 1790. DL for Staffordshire (from 1796). He married, 14 March 1791 at Kirkburton, Dorothy (d. 1792), daughter and co-heiress of William Horsfall of Storthes Hall, Kirkburton, and had issue:

(1) Charles Horsfall Bill (1792-1863) (q.v.).

He had previously had illegitimate children:

(X1) Robert Bill, born on the island of Sumatra; an adult in 1792;

(X2) Elizabeth Bill, born on the island of Sumatra; probably an adult in 1792, when she was living at Ealing (Middx).

His wife was co-heiress with her sisters to Storthes Hall. A family arrangement in 1791 allowed the unmarried sisters to live at the hall. and provided for the children of the married sisters to be co-heirs, but she was the only one of the sisters to leave issue.

He died 17 January and was buried at Alton (Staffs), 27 January 1806, where he is commemorated on a family monument; his will was proved in the PCC, 25 February 1806. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bill, Charles Horsfall (1792-1863). Only recorded legitimate child of Robert Bill (1754-1806) and his wife Dorothy, daughter and co-heiress of William Horsfall of Storthes Hall, Kirkburton, born 15 January 1792 and baptised at Kirkburton the same day. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1810). JP for West Riding of Yorkshire (from 1828). He married, 13 July 1812 at Kildwick (Yorks), Emma (1791-1872), daughter of Richard Wainman of Carr Head Hall, Kildwick (Yorks WR), and had issue:

(1) Emma Bill (1814-90), born 13 November and baptised at St Martin, Coney St., York, 14 November 1814; married, 27 August 1844 at Great Malvern (Worcs), Rev. Edward Otto Trevelyan (1810-80), curate of Stogumber (Som.), 1841-80, who rented Ashwicke Hall, Marshfield (Glos) from about 1878, and had issue one son and four daughters; died 11 November 1890; will proved 22 December 1890 (effects £51,642);

(2) Charles Horsfall Bill (1818-1908) (q.v.);

(3) Robert William Bill (1820-44), born 28 March and baptised at Kirkburton, 30 March 1820 and again 25 June 1822; educated at Eton and Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1840); died unmarried and was buried at Great Malvern, 28 October 1844;

(4) Augustus Horsfall Bill (1823-74), born 2 August and baptised at Kirkburton, 7 October 1823; educated at Eton, Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1842; BA 1847) and Lincolns Inn (admitted 1852); lived latterly at Kilmalieu (Argylls.); married, 9 December 1871 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx), Helen Sarah, daughter of Henry Vernon; died without issue and was buried at Brompton Cemetery, 22 January 1874.

He was the only descendant of his mother and her four sisters, and as such was the heir presumptive to the Storthes Hall estate from his birth. Although his last surviving aunt did not die until 1843, he came into possession of the estate in 1818, when his aunts vacated the property. He let the house from about 1846 and lived latterly at 68 Queens Gardens, Paddington (Middx).

He died in London, 27 September, and was buried at Highgate Cemetery, 2 October 1863; administration of his goods was granted 16 November 1863 (effects under £70,000). His widow died at Bath (Som.), 17 March and was buried at St Mary, Bathwick, 23 March 1872; her will was proved 16 April 1872 (effects under £1,500).

Charles Horsfall Bill (1818-1908) 

Bill, Charles Horsfall (1818-1908). Eldest son of Charles Horsfall Bill (1792-1863) and his wife Emma, daughter of Richard Wainman of Carr Head Hall, Cowling (Yorks WR), born 14 May and baptised at Kirkburton, 18 May 1818. An officer in the 15th Hussars (Cornet, 1839; Lt., 1843; retired as Capt., 1849). JP for Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. He married, 30 March 1841 at All Souls, Langham Place, Marylebone (Middx), Anna Maria (1820-75), daughter of General Charles Middleton (1789-1854), and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Horsfall Bill (1847-1912), born at sea and baptised at Holy Trinity, Maidstone (Kent), 20 June 1847; married, 16 September 1873 at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), Maj. Ralph William Caldwell (c.1836-1911) of Olivers, Stanway (Essex), son of Henry Berney Caldwell, and had issue one child, who died young; died 15 April and was buried at Shrub End (Essex), 19 April 1912; will proved 8 June 1912 (estate £18,037);

(2) Caroline Bill (b. 1849), baptised at Fritwell (Oxon), 28 July 1849; married, 3 August 1881 at St Mark, North Audley St., Westminster (Middx), as his second wife, Gen. John Alfred Street CB (1822-89), son of Capt. John Street RA, and had issue one son (the author Cecil John Charles Street (1884-1964)); death not traced;

(3) Charles Horsfall Bill (1853-1906), born 5 February and baptised at Maidstone, 31 March 1853; an officer in the West Yorkshire Rifle Militia (Lt., 1871; resigned 1877); married, Apr-Jun 1895, Lillian Alice Holmes (b. c.1869), but had no issue; lived latterly at Aberdovery (Merioneths.); drowned in Cardigan Bay, 22 May 1906 and was buried at Llanfihangel; administration of goods granted to his widow, 25 August 1906 (estate £155);

(4) Robert William Bill (1856-1941), born at Nigg (Ross & Cromarty), 8 January 1856; farmer; JP and DL for Parts of Lindsey in Lincolnshire; an officer in 3rd Battn, Lincolnshire Regiment (Capt.); married, 16 November 1883 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), Annie Cecilia (1859-1936), daughter of Rev. Richard William Bulmer, rector of Belleau (Lincs), and had issue two sons and two daughters (one of whom married her kinsman, John Hugo Heyburn Bill (1877-1919), for whom see above); died 7 November 1941; will proved 26 January 1942 (estate £485);

(5) Arthur Ingram Horsfall Bill (1859-1929), born at Elgin (Morays), 6 November 1859; emigrated to New Zealand, where he farmed; married, 2 July 1888 at Marton, Wanganui (NZ), Mary Ross (1862-1939), but had no issue; died at Marton, 21 September 1929; administration of goods granted 8 September 1932 (estate in England, £165);

(6) Emma Maria Bill (1862-1943), born at Elgin, 15 March 1862; accompanied her husband to incumbencies in Canada, 1892-1913; married, 7 June 1883 at St John, Croydon (Surrey), Rev. Charles Herbert Rich (1860-1933), son of Stiles Rich, accountant, and had issue two sons; died 14 August 1943; will proved 18 November 1943 (estate £9,157);

(7) Anne Horsfall Bill (1864-1942), born 10 October and baptised at Dauntsey (Wilts), 7 December 1864; married, 3 February 1891 at St John, Woking (Surrey), Rev. Henry George Constable Curtis (1865-1957), rector of Babworth (Notts), youngest son of Capt. Constable Curtis of The Hall, Great Berkhamstead (Herts), and had issue one daughter; died 17 March 1942; will proved 21 May 1942 (estate £968).

He inherited Storthes Hall from his father in 1863, but continued to let it. He occupied many properties around England and Scotland, but eventually settled at The Priory, Tetbury (Glos), which was sold after his death. He sold Storthes Hall in 1898 for £49,500.

He died aged 90 at Sidmouth (Devon), 6 November, and was buried at Sidmouth, 10 November 1908; his will was proved 28 January 1909 (estate £75,596). His wife died 4 January 1875.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 178; R. Harman & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Yorkshire West Riding - Sheffield and the south, 2017, p. 368; C. Wakeling & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Staffordshire, 2nd edn., 2024, p. 269.

Location of archives

Bill family of Farley Hall: deeds, estate and family papers, 1438-20th cent. [Staffordshire Record Office, D554]

Coat of arms

Bill of Farley Hall: Ermine, two bill-hooks in saltire proper, on a chief azure a pallet or, charged with a rose gules between two pelicans' heads erased argent.

Can you help?

• If anyone can provide additional information about the Clifford family and their decision to sell Farley Hall in c.1970, I would be most grateful.
• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• 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 22 February 2026.

(604) Bethell of Rise and Watton Abbey

Bethell of Rise

This family are first found as minor gentry in Herefordshire in the 16th century. The name is spelled in a bewildering variety of forms (including Battle, Bedell, Bettell and Bythell), which makes tracing them with certainty very difficult; the form 'Bethell' was the most commonly used and has been adopted as standard in this account. Thomas Bethell (b. c.1530) of Mansell Lacy (Herefs), with whom the genealogy below begins, had five sons, of whom the two eldest inherited his property in Herefordshire and the three younger moved to Yorkshire, where they may already have had connections. The eldest of the three, Sir Henry Bethell (d. 1612), kt.,  acquired property at Ellerton and Otteringham in the East Riding and Alne in the North Riding. Roger Bethell (c.1560-1626) lived at Bainton in the East Riding but around 1600 he bought an under-lease of a Crown estate at Rise, making the family's first connection with the place that was to become their principal seat. The youngest son, Andrew Bethell (b. c.1562), seems to have inherited Rudding Grange, Naburn (Yorks NR) from an uncle. Roger Bethell's son and heir, Hugh Bethell (1589-1659), inherited his father's property at Rise and added to it lands in the neighbouring parish of Skirlaugh (Yorks ER). His three sons who survived to maturity (Sir Hugh Bethell (1615-79), kt., Christopher Bethell (1618-45) and John Bethell (1620-c.1652)) were all officers in the Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War. Sir Hugh commanded a regiment from 1644 onwards, was Governor of Scarborough Castle, 1649-51, and became an MP during the Commonwealth and after the Restoration; Christopher was killed at the siege of Bristol in 1645. Sir Hugh purchased the manor of Rise in 1646 and bought out a long Crown lease of the property a few years later. After he inherited his father's property at Rise in 1659 he owned almost the entire parish, and he also acquired the manor of Tansterne in Aldborough (Yorks WR) in right of his wife. Sir Hugh and his wife had several children, but he outlived his son and grandson, and died in 1679 without a direct male heir. His brother, John Bethell, who was given his father's lands at Skirlaugh, had died young, and it was therefore John's eldest surviving son, Hugh Bethell (c.1647-1717) who inherited both the Rise and Skirlaugh estates.

Hugh Bethell (d. 1717), who was MP for Hedon for five years at the end of the 17th century, married twice. By his first wife his only surviving child was a daughter, Mary Bethell (1684-1731), who married the poet, William Somerville (1675-1742), but had no issue. Hugh's second marriage, to Susan Dickenson (1653-1730), brought him the Watton Abbey estate, and also a son and heir. This was Hugh Bethell (1691-1752), who married a daughter of Sir John Cope of Bramshill (Hants) and Hanwell (Oxon), and had two sons, who inherited the Rise estate in succession and both remodelled the house there. The elder, Hugh Bethell (1721-72) was MP for Beverley for five years, but died unmarried. The younger, William Bethell (1729-99), was married but had no issue, and so on his death the estate passed to a fifth cousin once removed, who descended from Andrew Bethell (b. c.1562). This was Richard Bethell (1772-1864), the eldest son of the vicar of St Peter, Wallingford (Berks), whom William had evidently named as his heir, for he became a deputy lieutenant for the East Riding and an officer in the East Yorkshire militia during his benefactor's lifetime. Richard belonged to the generation which, alarmed by the French Revolution, saw the need contribute more to society to justify their existence. In Richard's case, this took the form of being a long-serving chairman of the East Riding Quarter Sessions and the Skirlaugh Board of Guardians, as well as serving as an MP between 1830 and 1841. At home, he rebuilt the house at Rise in a plain but fashionable neo-classical style, and was an active improver of his estates. He lived an exceptionally long life for the period, and was still active as a magistrate and poor law guardian until shortly before his death at the age of 92. The one thing he did not manage, however, was to raise a family, so at his death his estates passed to his nephew, William Froggatt Bethell (1809-79), whose father had been a schoolmaster at Eton and later vicar of Worplesdon (Surrey). By marked contrast, William married into the prominent Denison family and produced no less than six sons and six daughters, many of whom had interesting and successful careers. One of his younger sons was Christopher Bethell (1856-84), the rebel in the family ranks, who after disappointing his father in several ways was sent to southern Africa, where he married a native woman and was eventually killed by the Boers. A legal dispute followed about the rights of his wife and child to a share in a family inheritance, during which the courts held that as the marriage tradition within which he had been married permitted polygamy (even though his had been a monogamous relationship), it was not a marriage recognised by English law. His widow and child therefore lost their claim, and the interpretation of law established by the case became a legal precedent underpinning marriage law for more than a century afterwards.

When W.F. Bethell died in 1879, his heir was his eldest son, William Bethell (1847-1926), who married a daughter of the 8th Baron Middleton in the following year. They occupied Grimston House, North Grimston near her parents' seat at Birdsall House in preference to either Rise Hall or Watton Abbey. William was succeeded in 1926 by his son, Capt. William Adran Vincent Bethell (1890-1941), who was always known as Adrian. He announced in 1931 that he would shut up most of Rise Hall and retain only one suite of rooms for his family, at least until agricultural conditions improved his income from the estate. After he died in 1941 the estate passed to his son, Richard Anthony Bethell (1922-96), who took the more radical step of selling a long lease on Rise Hall to a convent school and buying the former Rise rectory, which became a new and more modest centre for the estate, being renamed Rise Park. R.A. Bethell handed over the estate to his elder son, Hugh Adrian Bethell (b. 1952) in the 1980s, and after the convent school closed and Rise Hall had stood empty for some years, Mr Bethell sold the freehold of the mansion to the TV property developer, Sarah Beeny, and her husband. They decided to turn the house in a wedding venue, and it was subsequently sold to the present owners. The Bethell family continue to live at Rise Park, and still own the Rise and Watton Abbey estates.

Rise Hall, Yorkshire (ER)

A manor house was first mentioned in the early 14th century, but this apparently stood west of the later house in a field still marked by extensive earthworks and known as Blackhall Close. By the early 16th century the medieval house had been replaced, and other buildings then stood on its site. The new house seems to have stood on the present site, and in 1672 it had 13 hearths and was occupied by Sir Hugh Bethell (1615-79), kt.

Rise Hall c.1718, depicted in Samuel Buck's Yorkshire Sketchbook

By 1716, when an estate plan was made, the manor house had an E-plan north front, approached by a central path, and formal gardens to the south and west. The earliest visual record of the house is a tiny sketch of about the same date in Samuel Buck's Yorkshire sketchbook. This shows an L-shaped vernacular Tudor or Jacobean house with three gables to the front and what seems to have been a walled forecourt. 

By 1762 most of the house had been rebuilt as a long U plan, open to the east, and in 1773 William Bethell gave the house a new front, apparently almost 180 ft. long, and then or soon after he remodelled the interior. Some fabric of the Tudor house was incorporated into the east end of its successor, as 16th or 17th century walling is evident inside on the first floor. 

Rise Hall: the west-facing entrance front

Rise Hall: south front in 1948. Image: Historic England.

Between 1815 and 1820 Richard Bethell extensively remodelled the house in an austere neo-classical style, almost certainly to the designs of Watson & Pritchett of York. The new house, which has been known successively as Rise Hall, Rise Park, and now Rise Hall once again, is of two storeys and faced with fine ashlar. It takes the form of a large rectangle, but the plan is irregular, no doubt to accommodate pre-existing fabric. The principal facade, of nine bays, faces west, and has a tetrastyle portico of four giant unfluted Ionic columns supporting a pediment. The plain but grand eleven-bay south range has a nine-bayed centre, with the middle three bays broken forward under a pediment, and wide, shallowly-projecting ends, one being the south end of the west range. The north range is plainer still, of seven bays between deep, end projections of one wide bay. On the east side the house incorporates a 18th century brick service block which was greatly extended in 1815-20.

Rise Hall: the principal staircase.

The interior is almost as plain as the exterior, with few of the rooms having more decoration than an elegant cornice. The centre of the house is occupied by a spine of mostly top-lit circulation spaces. The portico leads into an entrance hall with an Ionic screen of two columns. Behind that is the very generous top-lit staircase hall, lit by a rectangular roof light, with a cantilevered open-well staircase that has a delicate wrought iron balustrade, continued as a balcony on the first floor. Beyond the staircase hall is an elegant galleried inner hall, with a large decorative domed roof-light and the same pattern of balustrading as the staircase. Finally, at the end of the sequence is a top-lit service stair. 

Rise Hall: the library.

The principal, south-facing rooms open off that spine: the library fills the south end of the west range, followed by three, linked rooms in the centre of the south front, and a sitting room in the eastern projection. The dining room (once used as a chapel by the convent) has a fine stuccoed ceiling with Adam-style decoration. This looks like genuine work of the 1770s that survived the rebuilding of 1815-20, but it is probably convincing work of around 1900 or a little earlier. The handsome multi-coloured marble chimneypiece with Ionic columns and a frieze with a classical scene chimneypiece formerly in this room was stolen in the 1990s and the present - quite convincing - replacement was made in recent years. In the north range, smaller rooms linked by their own corridor were probably used as upper servants' and business rooms: the lay-out may reflect a previous arrangement, as rooms in the north-east wing fit awkwardly behind the early 19th-century stone skin. The 18th-century brick, service block was remodelled to integrate it with the new house and extended east to form an additional court. 

Rise Hall: the dining room. The ceiling is probably a skillful Edwardian (or slightly earlier) addition.

The Bethells shut up most of the house for financial reasons in 1931, and moved out altogether in about 1946, when they bought the former rectory of 1809, now known as Rise Park, as a smaller and more manageable centre for the estate. The mansion was then let to a community of Augustinian Canonesses, who ran a Roman Catholic boarding and day school for girls there until 1989 and converted the former dining room into a chapel. They retained the building after the school closed and in 1995 were using the house as an occasional educational centre. By 1998 the house was standing empty, and after the lease was eventually given up, the property was sold in 2001 to the television personality and property developer, Sarah Beeny, and her husband. After using it as a weekend retreat for some years they decided it was too large and converted it into a wedding venue. They sold the house in 2019, and a further programme of repairs and alterations was carried out by the present owners, who operate it as a wedding and events venue.

Rise Hall: extract from 1st edn 25" plan of 1889, showing the 18th-19th century hall, the rectory (now Rise Park)
and the site of the medieval house at Black Hall to the west.

Sir Peter de Fauconberg had a park at Rise in the earlier 13th century and his son Walter was granted free warren there in 1292, but the medieval park was probably extinguished by the making of enclosures, as it was not mentioned in a 1624 estate survey, and in 1716, deer were kept in the demesne woods rather than a park. It was probably in the 1770s, that a new, larger park was made that required the diversion of one of the village streets. In 1716 the woods had included a lake, and another was added and both Old and New Ponds given small islands as part of the landscaping. The 'improvements' may have been designed by 'Capability' Brown, who made a general plan for Rise Park in 1775, though this does not survive. 

Rise Park: lodges of 1818. Image: J. Thomas. Some rights reserved. 

Watson & Pritchett made designs for gate lodges in 1818, and they were no doubt responsible for the present delightful neo-classical lodges with curving screen walls, ornamental iron gatepiers, and elegant wrought iron gates and railings, although these differ from the surviving designs. The New Pond was drained, or silted up, between 1852 and 1889, and the herd of fallow deer was killed at the start of the Second World War, when the park was ploughed; it has since been returned to grass. An ice-house near the lakes remained in 1995.

Descent: Crown lessees sub-let to Roger Bethell (c.1560-1626) and the latter's son, Hugh Bethell (1589-1659); to son, Sir Hugh Bethell (1615-79), kt., who purchased the freehold of the manor in 1646; to nephew, Hugh Bethell (c.1647-1717); to son, Hugh Bethell (1691-1752); to son, Hugh Bethell (1727-72); to brother, William Bethell (1729-99); to distant kinsman, Richard Bethell (1772-1864); to nephew, William Froggatt Bethell (1809-79); to son, William Bethell (1847-1926); to son, (William) Adrian Vincent Bethell (1890-1941); to son, Richard Anthony Bethell (1922-96); to son, Hugh Adrian Bethell (b. 1952), who sold 2001 to Sarah Beeny and Graham Swift; sold 2019 to Dan and Helen Gill. The house was leased as an Augustinian convent school, 1946-89, and later as an education centre.

Watton Abbey, Yorkshire (ER)

The Venerable Bede mentions a nunnery at Watton as existing in the 8th century, but nothing more is known of it, and the monastic house which existed in the later medieval period was founded in about 1150 by Eustace Fitzjohn for the new Gilbertine order, created at Sempringham (Lincs) about ten years earlier. Gilbertine houses were nunneries served by resident canons, and so consisted of two separate monastic establishments for the nuns and canons, with a shared church in which the two communities were segregated by a wall down the middle. 

Watton Priory: site plan as recovered by excavation, 1893-98.

Watton Priory was the largest house of the order, and its plan was recovered by excavation in 1893-98, which showed that the complex was about 600 feet long, from west to east. The priory survived until it was dissolved in 1539, when the nuns and canons were pensioned off, and the prior - who was a protégé of Thomas Cromwell and also bishop of Llandaff - was given a lease of the priory site. In 1545 he became Archbishop of York and may then have made some use of the site, which could explain why the prior's lodging was preserved when the remaining buildings were largely demolished, although the ease with which such lodgings could be adapted as private houses meant that they were always the part of a monastery most likely to be preserved.

Watton Abbey: view of the house c.1718 from Samuel Buck's Yorkshire Sketchbook.

Watton Abbey: wash drawing of c.1780 by Christopher Machell, showing the demolished kitchen wing on the right.
Image: Victoria & Albert Museum E.383-1951

The three-storey west-facing prior's lodging at Watton consisted of three elements: a recessed ashlar range of the later 14th century on the left, with angle-buttresses; an imposing brick range of the mid to late 15th century with three octagonal corner turrets and a splendid two-storey bay window; and a large three-storey kitchen wing, probably of the same date, which was pulled down between 1780 and 1850. An earlier view by Samuel Buck, of c.1718, suggest that there were detached outbuildings west of the kitchen wing.

Watton Abbey: the house in 2013. Image: Les Waby/Historic England

The house was adapted into a private house in the mid to late 16th century, but does not seem to have undergone any significant external alterations until the demolition of the kitchen wing at some time after 1780. Inside, the original medieval spaces have been altered and subdivided, and the main staircase is now an open-well stair of c.1700, with onion-on-ball balusters and ball finials on the newel posts. After the construction of the present house at Rise Hall in 1815-20, Watton Abbey was normally let, and it was a school for some ten years between 1830 and 1840. A new porch was built where the kitchen wing formerly abutted the main house in about 1890, and further internal alterations were made in the 19th and 20th centuries, so that there is now little early work to be seen inside.

Descent: Crown leased 1540 to Most Rev. Robert Holgate (c.1482-1555), last prior of Watton and later Archbishop of York; reverted to Crown and granted to John Dudley (c.1505-53), Duke of Northumberland; on his attainder it reverted to the Crown and was granted by 1576 to John Farnham...by 1605 to Sir Thomas Earlkyn, kt.... sold before 1637 to Sir Thomas Finch (1578-1639), 3rd bt. and 2nd Earl of Winchilsea; to son, Heneage Finch (c.1627-89), 3rd Earl of Winchilsea; sold 1672 to William Dickenson (d. 1702); to daughter, Sarah (d. 1730), wife of Hugh Bethell (c.1647-1717); to son, Hugh Bethell (1691-1752); to son, Hugh Bethell (1727-72); to brother, William Bethell (1729-99); to widow, Charlotte Bethell (d. 1814); to kinsman, Richard Bethell (1772-1864); to nephew, William Froggatt Bethell (1809-79); to son, William Bethell (1847-1926); to son, William Adrian Vincent Bethell (1890-1941); to son, Richard Anthony Bethell (1922-96); to son, Hugh Adrian Bethell (b. 1952). 

The house was generally let after 1820. Tenants included Digby Legard (fl. 1829), the Rev. John Earle (fl. 1830-40), rector of Watton, who ran it as a school; Rev. Henry Jennings, rector of Watton (fl. 1840-c.1860); Richard Beckitt (d. 1898) and John Arthur Coulson (fl. c.1900-14).

Bethell family of Rise Hall and Watton Abbey

Bethell, Thomas (b. c.1530). Son of Thomas or Richard Bethell of Mansell Lacy (Herefs). He married Elizabeth, daughter of George Rogers, and had issue (possibly among others):

(1) John Bethell; died without issue;

(2) Nicholas Bethell, of Maidenhead, Orleton? (Herefs); married and had issue four sons;

(3) Sir Hugh Bethell (d. 1612), kt., of Ellerton and Otteringham (Yorks); proprietor of the peculiar court of Alne; high sheriff of Yorkshire, 1608-09; married 1st, Joan, daughter of [forename unknown] Stevens of Devon, but had no issue; married 2nd, Anne, daughter of Sir William Mallory, kt., of Studley Royal (Yorks WR), and had issue one daughter (Grisilla, who married Sir John Wray (1586-1655), 2nd bt., and had issue four sons and eight daughters); married 3rd, Jane (who m2, Sir George Butler, kt., but had no issue), daughter of Most Rev. Thomas Young, Archbishop of York; buried at Ellerton; will proved 7 February 1611/2;

(4) Roger Bethell (c.1560-1626) (q.v.);

(5) Andrew Bethell (b. c.1562) [for whom see below].

He lived at Mansell Lacy (Herefs).

His date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bethell, Roger (c.1560-1626). Fourth son of Thomas Bethell (b. c.1530) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of George Rogers, born about 1560. He married Susanna (d. 1630), daughter of [forename unknown] Thornton and widow of Thomas Lindley, and had issue:

(1) Hugh Bethell (1589-1659) (q.v.);

(2) Robert Bethell (b. 1591; fl. 1665), baptised at Bainton, 1 February 1590/1; lived at Everthorpe in North Cave (Yorks ER); married Elizabeth, daughter of James Constable (d. 1622) of Cliffe, and had issue three sons; living in 1665;

(3) Margaret Bethell (b. 1592), baptised at Bainton, 12 June 1592;

(4) William Bethell (b. 1594), baptised at Bainton, 12 June 1594;

(5) Elizabeth Bethell (b. 1595), baptised at Bainton, 7 August 1595; married, 29 December 1617 at Rise, Anthony Morehouse;

(6) Thomas Bethell (b. & d. 1596), baptised at Bainton, 14 November 1596; died in infancy and was buried at Bainton, 19 November 1596;

(7) Joan Bethell (b. 1597), baptised at Bainton, 20 December 1597;

(8) Christian Bethell (d. 1638), possibly of this generation; buried at Rise, 29 April 1638.

He evidently lived at Bainton, at least until he acquired a sub-lease under a Crown lessee of an estate at Rise in the late 16th century.

He was buried at Rise, 22 March 1625/6; his will was proved in October 1627. His wife was buried at Rise, 30 April 1630.

Bethell, Hugh (1589-1659). Eldest son of Roger Bethell (c.1560-1626) and his wife Susanna, daughter of [forename unknown] Thornton and widow of Thomas Lindley, baptised at Bainton, 10 July 1589. He married, 15 October 1611 at Cherry Burton, Ellen (d. 1648), daughter of Thomas Johnson of Bishopburton, and had issue:

(1) Helen/Ellen Bethell (b. 1613), baptised at Cherry Burton, 29 July 1613; married, 1633 (licence), Christopher Bacon (1598-1679?) of North Ferriby and Selby (Yorks NR) (who m2, Beatrix [surname unknown] (d. 1724));

(2) Sir Hugh Bethell (1615-79), kt. (q.v.);

(3) Christopher Bethell (1618-45), baptised at Rise, March 1618; an officer in the Parliamentarian army (Capt., 1644; Maj., 1645); died unmarried when he was killed at the siege of Bristol, September 1645;

(4) John Bethell (1620-c.1652) (q.v.);

(5) Thomas Bethell (1622-23), baptised at Rise, 12 May 1622; died in infancy and was buried at Rise, 25 May 1623;

(6) Robert Bethell (b. 1624), baptised at Rise, 23 March 1623/4; died unmarried and without issue.

He inherited his father's estate at Rise in 1626.

He was buried at Rise, 15 March 1658/9. His wife was buried at Rise, 26 September 1648, where she is commemorated by a monument.

Bethell, Sir Hugh (1615-79). Eldest son of Hugh Bethell (1589-1659) and his wife Ellen, daughter of Thomas Johnson of Bishopburton, baptised at Rise, 2 October 1615. An officer in the army during the First Bishops War, 1639. In 1639 he brought a case in the Court of Chivalry against Sir William Allenson, kt., accusing him of calling Bethell a 'base lying knave' and provoking a duel; the outcome of the case is not known. In the Civil War he took the parliamentary side and was an officer in the northern army (Capt., 1643; Col., 1644-49), who fought at the battle of Marston Moor (wounded; lost an eye). Governor of Scarborough Castle (Yorks), 1649-51; High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1652. He took part in the Yorkshire rising for a free Parliament led by Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Baron Fairfax, in January 1660, and General Monck commissioned him to take over the regiment of horse formerly commanded by John Lambert. MP for the East Riding of Yorkshire, 1654, 1656, and for Hedon (Yorks), 1660-79; JP for the East Riding of Yorkshire, 1649-76 and for Beverley, 1657; DL for the East Riding c.1670-76. He was knighted by Cromwell, 29 November 1658, and since he continued to use the title after the Restoration, may have been dubbed again by Charles II in or after 1660. He married, 14 January 1640/1 at Aldburgh (Yorks ER), Mary (d. 1687), daughter of Thomas Mitchelbourne of Carlton, and co-heiress of her brother, and had issue (possibly among others):

(1) Hugh Bethell (b. 1643), baptised at Bubwith (Yorks), 10 July 1643; presumably died young;

(2) Hugh Bethell (c.1652-77); born about 1652; educated at Brandesburton (Yorks) and St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1669); married, 20 September 1671 at Snaith (Yorks), Margaret (1651-84), daughter of Sir John Dawnay, kt., later 1st Viscount Downe, of Cowick Hall (Yorks ER), and had issue at least one son and one daughter (who both died young); died in the lifetime of his father, 7 September, and was buried at Rise, 9 September 1677, where he is commemorated by a monument;

(3) Anne Bethell; married [forename unknown] Hunter, and had issue one son.

He purchased the manor of Rise in 1646 and a long leasehold interest in it c.1650. He inherited the manor of Tansterne in Aldborough (Yorks WR) in right of his wife in 1655 and his father's estate at Rise in 1659.

He died 3 October, and was buried at Rise, 6 October 1679, where he is commemorated by a monument. His widow married 2nd, 30 May 1680 at Rise, Christopher Hildyard, and was buried in Beverley Minster (Yorks ER), 3 June 1687.

Bethell, John (1620-c.1652). Third son of Hugh Bethell (1589-1659) and his wife Ellen, daughter of Thomas Johnson of Bishopburton, baptised at Rise, 28 May 1620. An officer in the Parliamentarian army during the Civil War (probably serving in Hull as a Lieutenant, autumn 1642; Maj. in his brother's regiment, 1644). He married 1st, Mary, daughter of Richard Hildyard (1570-1627) of Ottringham, and 2nd, Anna [surname unknown], and had issue:

(1.1) John Bethell (fl. 1651), eldest son;

(1.2) Hugh Bethell (c.1647-1717) (q.v.);

(1.2) Johnson Bethell (b. & d. 1648), baptised at Bishop Burton, 1 May 1648; died in infancy and was buried at Bishop Burton (Yorks ER), 21 May 1648;

(2.1) Richard Bethell (c.1651-85), of Beverley (Yorks ER), born after September 1651; married and had issue at least one son; buried at Beverley Minster, 15 April 1685.

He was given an estate in North Skirlaugh (Yorks ER) by his father.

He died in late 1651 or early 1652; his will was proved in the PCC, 29 May 1652 and 3 November 1655. His first wife died before 1650. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Bethell, Hugh (c.1647-1717). Second, but eldest surviving son of John Bethell (1620-c.1652) and his first wife, Mary, daughter of Richard Hildyard of Ottringham, born about 1647. Mayor of Hedon, 1683-84; MP for Hedon, 1695-1700; DL for the East Riding, 1699. He married 1st, 22 September 1681 at Thornton Curtis (Lincs), Mary (1657-84), daughter of Edward Skinner of Thornton Curtis, and 2nd, 19 December 1690 at Watton (Yorks ER), Sarah (1653-1730), daughter and co-heiress of William Dickenson of Watton Abbey, and had issue:

(1.1) Arabella Bethell (b. & d. 1682), baptised at Rise, 13 May 1682; died in infancy and was buried at Rise, 22 May 1682;

(1.2) Anne Bethell (1683-92), baptised at Rise, 17 June 1683; died young and was buried at Rise, 21 December 1692*;

(1.3) Mary Bethell (1684-1731), baptised at Rise, 30 May 1684; married, 1 February 1708/9 at Cherry Burton (Yorks ER), William Somerville (1675-1742) of Edstone (Warks), poet, but had no issue; died 5 September 1731 and was buried at Wootton Wawen (Warks), where she is commemorated by a monument;

(2.1) Hugh Bethell (1691-1752) (q.v.);

(2.2) Sarah Bethell (1692-1766?), baptised at St Helen, York, 3 November 1692; said to have died unmarried in London and was perhaps the spinster of this name buried at St Paul, Covent Garden, Westminster (Middx), 28 October 1766;

(2.3) Isabella Bethell (1694-95), baptised at Rise, 27 April 1694; died in infancy and was buried at Rise, 10 January 1694/5;

(2.4) Elizabeth Bethell (1695-1727), baptised at Rise, 19 March 1694/5; died unmarried and was buried at Watton, 13 February 1726/7;

(2.2) William Bethell (1696-97), baptised at Rise, 7 June 1696; died in infancy and was buried at Watton, 26 May 1697.

He inherited the Rise Hall estate from his uncle in 1679, and the Watton Abbey estate in right of his second wife.

He died 2 February 1716/7 and was buried at Rise, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved at York, 16 August 1717. His first wife died in childbirth and was buried at Rise, 17 May 1684. His widow was buried at Watton, 9 December 1730; her will was proved at York, 13 February 1730/1.

* Not entered in the parish register for Rise but is recorded in the register of Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York.

Bethell, Hugh (1691-1752). Elder and only surviving son of Hugh Bethell (c.1647-1717) and his second wife, Sarah, daughter and co-heiress of William Dickenson of Watton Abbey (Yorks ER), baptised at St Helen, York, 2 November 1691. High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1733-34. He married, 21 January 1726/7 at Eversley (Hants), Anne (1699-1729), only daughter of Sir John Cope (1673-1749), 6th bt., of Bramshill (Hants) and Hanwell (Oxon), and had issue:

(1) Hugh Bethell (1727-72), born 17 November and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields (Middx), 22 November 1727; educated at Beverley and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (matriculated 1746); inherited the Rise Hall estate from his father in 1752; High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1762-63; MP for Beverley, 1768-72; died unmarried at Bell Inn, Edmonton (Middx), 8 May, and was buried at Rise, 23 May 1772, where is commemorated by a monument; will proved at York, February 1773;

(2) William Bethell (1729-99), baptised 16 February 1728/9; educated at Beverley and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (matriculated 1747); inherited the Rise Hall estate from his brother in 1772; High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1780-81; married, 15 October 1754 at St Mary, Beverley (Yorks ER), Charlotte (1735-1814), daughter of Ralph Pennyman, a Cornet in General Wade's Horse, but had no issue; buried at Rise, 25 July 1799, where he is commemorated by a monument; will proved at York, September 1799.

He inherited the Rise Hall and Watton Abbey estates from his father in 1717. After his death they passed to his two sons in turn, and then to a William's fifth cousin, once removed (see below).

He died 25 March and was buried at Rise, 5 April 1752, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in the PCY, May 1752. His wife died 28 February, and was buried at Rise, 5 March 1728/9, where she is commemorated by a monument.

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Bethell, Andrew (b. c.1562). Fifth son of Thomas Bethell and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of George Rogers, born about 1562. He married and had issue:

(1) John Bethell;

(2) Richard Bethell (b. c.1585) (q.v.).

He probably lived at Rudding Grange, Naburn (Yorks NR) which he is believed to have inherited from his uncle, William Bethell.

His date of death is unknown.

Bethell, Richard (b. c.1585). Second son of Andrew Bethell (b. c.1562) and his wife, born about 1585. He married and had issue including:

(1) Richard Bethell (1628-63??) (q.v.).

He inherited the Herefordshire property of his uncle, John Bethell.

His date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bethell, Richard (1628-63). Only recorded son of Richard Bethell (b. c.1585) and his wife, said to have been born in 1628. He married, 11 February 1658/9 at Burghill, Joan Brossene (d. 1707), and had issue:

(1) John Bethell (b. 1659) (q.v.).

He lived at Burghill (Herefs).

He was buried at Burghill (Herefs), 6 September 1663. His widow married 2nd, 7 November 1670 at Burghill, George Baynham, and was buried at Burghill, 27 October 1707.

Bethell, John (b. 1659). Only son of Richard Bethell (1628-63) and his wife Joan Brossene, baptised at Burghill, 4 November 1659. He married, 7 May 1683 at Burghill, Katherine Jay (d. 1695) of Derndale (Herefs), and had issue:

(1) Margaret Bethell (b. 1685), baptised at Burghill, 6 October 1685;

(2) Richard Bethell (1687-1762) (q.v.);

(3) Anne Bethell (b. 1690), baptised at Burghill, 22 April 1690.

He lived at Burghill (Herefs).

His date of death is unknown. His wife is said to have died 20 February 1694/5.

Bethell, Richard (1687-1762). Only recorded son of John Bethell (b. 1659) and his wife Catherine Jay of Derndale (Herefs), born 1687. He married, perhaps 11 June 1715 at Stretton Sugwas (Herefs), Frances (d. 1763?), daughter of [forename unknown] Broad or Bond of Hereford, and had issue:

(1) Rev. Richard Bethell (c.1734-1806) (q.v.).

He lived in All Saints parish, Hereford.

He may be the man of this name buried at Burghill (Herefs), 12 April 1762; his will was proved at Hereford, 2 June 1762. His widow is probably the woman of this name buried at All Saints, Hereford, 14 March 1763.

Bethell, Rev. Richard (c.1734-1806). Only recorded son of Richard Bethell (1687-1762) and his wife Frances Broad or Bond of Hereford, born about 1734. Educated at Wadham College, Oxford (matriculated 1751; BA 1755; MA 1759). Ordained deacon, 1756 and priest, 1759. Curate of Holme Lacy (Herefs), 1756; vicar of St Lythans (Glam), c.1760-88; curate of St Peter, Wallingford, by 1775; vicar of Stanstead Abbots (Essex), 1781-96; rector of St Peter, Wallingford (Berks), 1788-1806. He married, 8 August 1771 at Isleworth (Middx), Anne (d. 1805), daughter of James Clitherow (1694-1752) of Boston House (Middx), and had issue:

(1) Richard Bethell (1772-1864) (q.v.);

(2) Rt. Rev. Christopher Bethell (1773-1859), born at Isleworth (Middx), 21 April 1773; educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1792; BA 1796; MA 1799; DD 1817); Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1794-1808; rector of Kirby Wiske (Yorks NR), 1808-30; rector of Shobrooke (Devon); Dean of Chichester Cathedral, 1814-24; Bishop of Gloucester, 1824-30, Exeter, 1830 (Apr-Oct) and Bangor, 1830-59; treasurer and prebendary of Exeter Cathedral, 1830-31; a High Church clergyman who was the author of several theological works and volumes of sermons, but whose value as a bishop was limited by his appointment to a largely Welsh-speaking diocese when he himself could not speak the language; died unmarried, 19 April, and was buried at Llandegai (Caernarvons.), 27 April 1859;

(3) James Bethell (1775-1851), baptised at St Peter, Wallingford, 15 October 1775; apprenticed to Charles Knight of London, stationer, 1791; lived latterly at Brighton (Sussex); died unmarried and was buried at Rise, 13 November 1851;

(4) Anne Bethell (b. 1777), baptised at St Peter, Wallingford, 2 July 1777; said to have died unmarried but death not traced;

(5) Rev. George Bethell (1779-1857) (q.v.);

(6) Philippa Bethell (1781-1848), baptised at St Peter, Wallingford, 5 August 1781; lived with her brother Christopher; died unmarried, 17 November, and was buried at Bangor (Caernarvons.), 29 November 1848; her will was proved in the PCC, 7 February 1849;

(7) Frances Bethell (1785-1824), baptised at St Peter, Wallingford, 19 June 1785; died unmarried and was buried at Burnham (Bucks), 7 July 1824.

He was evidently living at Wallingford (Berks) by 1775.

He died 12 January and was buried at St Peter, Wallingford, 21 January 1806; his will was proved in the PCC, 15 February 1806. His wife was buried at Wallingford, 2 December 1805.

Richard Bethell (1772-1864) 

Bethell, Richard (1772-1864). Eldest son of Rev. Richard Bethell (c.1734-1806) and his wife Anne, daughter of James Clitherow of Boston House (Middx), born at Isleworth (Middx), 10 May, and baptised there, 24 June 1772. Educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1791; BA 1795). Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1794-99. An officer in the East Yorkshire militia (Capt.; retired 1799) and the Beverley Local Militia (Col., 1810); DL (from 1795; Vice-Lieutenant, 1857-59) and JP (from 1801) for East Riding of Yorkshire, Chairman of East Riding Quarter Sessions, 1819-50, and High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1822-23; Chairman of the Skirlaugh Board of Guardians, 1834-60. He was a Tory in politics, but a moderate, who supported Catholic emancipation and was prepared to support modest measures for parliamentary reform. He initially stood for parliament in Yorkshire in 1825 but withdrew before the poll. However, his 'acute legal knowledge, business-like habits and courteous demeanour... secured for him universal respect and admiration', and he was subsequently elected MP for Yorkshire, 1830-31 and for the East Riding, 1832-41. He was also active in managing his estates, promoting enclosure and drainage schemes from his earliest days as a landowner. He married, 26 April 1800, at St Peter-le-Poer, London, Mary (1780-1839), second daughter of William Welbank (1741-91) of London and Ravensworth Cowton (Yorks), merchant, but had no issue.

He inherited the Rise Hall and Watton Abbey estates (together some 13,000 acres) from his distant kinsman, William Bethell, in 1799, but only gained full possession on the death of the latter's widow in 1814.

He died aged 92 on 25 December 1864 and was buried at Rise, 2 January 1865; his will was proved 17 February 1865 (effects under £30,000). His wife died 4 October, and was buried at Rise, 15 October 1839, where she is commemorated by a monument.

Bethell, Rev. George (1779-1857). Fourth son of Rev. Richard Bethell (c.1734-1806) and his wife Anne, daughter of James Clitherow of Boston House (Middx), baptised at St Peter, Wallingford (Berks), 1 August 1779. Educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1798; BA 1802; MA 1805); Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1801-07; ordained deacon, 1803, and priest, 1805; Assistant Master at Eton College, 1802-17; Fellow of Eton College, 1818-57 (Vice-Provost, 1851-57); domestic chaplain to Richard Colley Wellesley (1760-1842), 1st Marquess Wellesley, 1813; vicar of Burnham (Bucks), 1822-33; rector of Worplesdon (Surrey), 1833-57. He married, 23 December 1807 at Fulmer (Bucks), Anne (1780-1852), daughter of Thomas Lightfoot of Crowle (Lincs), apothecary, and had issue:

(1) Anne Sarah Bethell (1808-87), baptised at Eton (Bucks), 23 December 1808; married, 11 April 1844 at Eton, Rev. William Warren (1803-77), rector of Wroot (Lincs), 1832-77, but had no issue; died 15 March and was buried at Hurstpierpoint (Sussex), 19 March 1887; will proved 30 July 1887 (estate £15,203);

(2) William Froggatt Bethell (1809-79) (q.v.);

(3) Mary Bethell (1811-60), baptised at Eton, 11 April 1811; married, 4 October 1859 at Wroot, as his second wife, Maj-Gen. Sir Charles Warren KCB (1798-1866), but had no issue; died on Malta, 22 December 1860; administration of goods granted 30 January 1867 (effects under £100);

(4) Catherine Bethell (1812-95), baptised at Eton, 31 July 1812; married, 11 August 1841 at Worplesdon, Rev. George Henry Woods (1802-79) of Shopwyke House, Oving (Sussex), but had no issue; died 12 October and was buried at Hurstpierpoint, 17 October 1895; will proved 2 January 1896 (effects £14,979);

(5) Georgiana Bethell (1813-1901), baptised at Eton, 23 December 1813; married, 4 November 1857 at Holy Trinity, Guildford (Surrey), as his second wife, Rev. Thomas Norris Williams (1809-81), of Treffos, Menai Bridge, rector of Aber (Caernarvons.), son of John Williams, banker, but had no issue; died in Brighton (Sussex), 6 May 1901; will proved 21 June 1901 (estate £19,833);

(6) Fanny Margaretha Bethell (1814-1914), born 15 December 1814 and baptised at Eton, 4 August 1815; married, 8 May 1838 at Worplesdon, Samuel Haydon (1814-69) of Bramley and Guildford (Surrey), banker and mayor of Guildford, 1850, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died aged 99 on 5 May 1914; administration of goods granted 7 July 1914 (estate £12,281);

(7) twin, Richard Bethell (b. & d. 1816), baptised at Eton, 1 August 1816; died in infancy and was buried at Eton, 24 December 1816;

(8) twin, George James Bethell (1816-17), baptised at Eton, 1 August 1816; died in infancy and was buried at Eton, 7 May 1817;

(9) George Bethell (1818-19), baptised at Eton, 12 March 1818; died in infancy and was buried at Eton, 14 April 1819;

(10) Susan Philippa Bethell (1819-83), baptised at Eton, 13 August 1819; died unmarried and was buried at Hurstpierpoint, 12 December 1883; will proved 27 February 1884 (estate £13.006); 

(11) Richard Bethell (1821-85), baptised at Eton, 24 November 1821; educated at Eton, Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1839; BA 1843) and the Middle Temple (admitted 1844; called 1847); barrister-at-law, but did not practise; emigrated to New Zealand about 1875; married, 25 November 1873 at Christ Church, Down St., Mayfair, Westminster (Middx), Isabel Anne (1843-1927), daughter of Rev. Dr. John Lillie, a Scottish Presbyterian minister, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 30 April 1885 at Rangiora, Canterbury (New Zealand); administration of goods granted 9 August 1890 (effects in England & Wales, £299).

He lived at Eton and Worplesdon.

He died 16 March and was buried at Worplesdon, 21 March 1857; his will was proved in the PCC, 7 May 1857. His wife died 9 January and was buried at Worplesdon, 16 January 1852.

William Froggatt Bethell (1809-79)
Image: National Portrait Gallery 

Bethell, William Froggatt (1809-79). Eldest son of Rev. George Bethell (1779-1857) and his wife Ann, daughter of Thomas Lightfoot of Crowle (Lincs), apothecary, born 2 December 1809 and baptised at Eton (Bucks), 17 March 1810. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1827; BA 1831). JP and DL for East Riding of Yorkshire; High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1875-76. He married, 25 March 1841 at St George, Doncaster (Yorks WR), Elizabeth Beckett (1820-70), daughter of Sir Edmund Denison (later Beckett-Denison) (1787-1874), 4th bt., of Grimthorpe (Yorks ER), and had issue:

(1) Maria Bethell (1842-1937), baptised at Rise, 20 February 1842; lived at Newton Kyme Hall and later at Boston Hall, Boston Spa (Yorks WR); died unmarried aged 95 on 1 April, and was buried at Newton Kyme (Yorks WR), 4 April 1937; will proved 31 May 1937 (estate £73,094);

(2) Lucy Bethell (1844-1917), baptised at Doncaster, 4 July 1844; lived with her elder sister at Newton Kyme; died unmarried, 21 January, and was buried at Rise, 24 January 1917; will proved 13 April 1917 (estate £51,471);

(3) Charlotte Bethell (1846-1927), baptised at Rise, 22 January 1846; married, 23 November 1882 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Lt-Col. Lambert Henry Bouwens (1843-1902), son of Rev. Theodore Bouwens (1799-1869), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 19 January 1927 and was buried at Littleton (Surrey); will proved 22 March 1927 (estate £18,998);

(4) William Bethell (1847-1926) (q.v.);

(5) George Richard Bethell (1849-1919), of Sigglesthorne Hall (Yorks ER), which he purchased in 1893, born 23 March and baptised at Rise, 27 June 1849; educated at HMS Britannia and Royal Naval College, Greenwich; joined Royal Navy in 1862 (Midshipman, 1864; Lt., 1872; Cdr., 1884; retired from active list, 1889; Capt., 1899) and served in First World War with East Yorkshire Volunteer Regiment (Maj., 1916); JP and DL (from 1919) for the East Riding of Yorkshire; MP for Holderness, 1885-1900; died unmarried, 3 December 1919; will proved 28 February 1920 (estate £64,609);

(6) Elizabeth Bethell (1851-1915), baptised at Rise, 24 June 1851; married, 11 August 1874 at Rise, Capt. Edwyn Walker (1837-1919), fourth son of Sir James Walker, 1st bt. of Sand Hutton (Yorks), and had issue four sons and one daughter; died in London, 25 October 1915; will proved 27 May 1915 (estate £51,043);

(7) Anna Bethell (1852-66), baptised at Rise, 27 March 1852; died young and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 17 July 1866;

(8) Col. Edward Hugh Bethell (1854-1940), born 27 January and baptised at Rise, 5 March 1854; educated at Rugby and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; an officer in the Royal Engineers (Lt., 1873; Capt., 1885; Maj., 1892; Lt-Col., 1899; Col., 1902; retired 1906 but re-employed 1915-17), awarded DSO, 1900 and appointed CMG, 1917; married 1st, 15 December 1881 at Aurangabad (India), Gertrude (1861-88), daughter of Col. Eustace Hill, and had issue two sons; married 2nd, 6 February 1890 at Lichfield Cathedral (Staffs), Annie (1856-1946), daughter of Rev. John Gylby Lonsdale (1818-1907), canon of Lichfield, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 27 January 1940; will proved 25 April 1940 (estate £47,202);

(9) Christopher Bethell (1856-84), baptised at Rise, 3 April 1856; educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1873) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1876); a freemason from 1875; emigrated to southern Africa, 1878, where he was on the staff of Sir Charles Warren and also operated as a hunter and farmer; his enthusiasm for British intervention in Bechauanaland was frequently embarrassing to the authorities; he married, in Bechuanaland, Tepo Baobile, and had issue one daughter (born posthumously); wounded and subsequently executed by Boer forces in Stelland raid in South Africa, 30 July 1884; administration of goods granted 16 June 1885 (estate £602); 

(10) Edmund Beckett Bethell (1857-58), born Oct-Dec 1857 and baptised at Rise, 1 January 1858; died in infancy and was buried at Rise, 26 March 1858;

(11) Catherine Bethell (1859-1933), baptised at Rise, 8 March 1859; married, 10 January 1883 at Bramham (Yorks WR), Hon. Sir Charles Algernon Parsons OM, KCB, FRS (1854-1931), mechanical engineer and inventor of the steam turbine generator, sixth son of 3rd Earl of Rosse, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 16 October 1933 and was buried at Kirkwhelpington (Northbld); will proved 3 January 1934 (estate £108,160);

(12) Alfred James Bethell (1862-1920), born 2 October and baptised at Rise, 16 November 1862; educated at Eton and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; army officer (Lt., 1882); served on staff of Sir Charles Warren in Bechuanaland Border Police; returned to England and became a banker with Beckett & Co. of Leeds; lived at The Lodge, Doncaster (Yorks WR); JP for West Riding of Yorkshire; married 1st, 30 August 1887 at Norton Malton (Yorks N&ER), Maud Amelia (1861-1917), daughter of Robert Hartley Bower (d. 1886) of Welham (Yorks NR), banker, and had issue three daughters; married 2nd, Oct-Dec 1917, Hon. Elinor Frances (1869-1943), daughter of Henry Edmund Butler (1844-1912), 14th Viscount Mountgarret, and widow of Andrew Sherlock Lawson FSA (1855-1914) of Aldborough Manor, Boroughbridge (Yorks WR); died 23 October and was buried at Tong (Yorks WR), 28 October 1920; will proved 4 January 1921 (estate £50,905).

He inherited the Rise Hall and Watton Abbey estates from his uncle in 1864.

He died 7 March 1879 and was buried at Rise; his will was proved 19 May 1879 (effects under £100,000). His wife died 26 July and was buried at St Peter, Bournemouth (Hants), 30 July 1870.

Bethell, William (1847-1926). Eldest son of William Froggatt Bethell (1809-79) and his wife Elizabeth Beckett, daughter of Sir Edmund Denison (later Beckett), 4th bt., of Grimthorpe, born 11 August 1847. An officer in the Hornsea Artillery Volunteers (Capt.); JP for East and West Ridings of Yorkshire and DL for the East Riding; County Alderman of the East Riding County Council and Chairman of its Education Committee. In 1871-72 he travelled to and around Australia, and the journal of his tour is available online. He married, 1 January 1880 at Birdsall (Yorks ER), Hon. Maria Myrtle (1859-1900), fifth daughter of Digby Willoughby (1817-77), 8th Baron Middleton, and had issue:

(1) Phyllis Mary Hermione Bethell (1889-1962), born 26 April 1889; Acting Master of Quorn Hunt, 1948-51; married, 7 February 1923 at Holy Trinity, Brompton (Middx), Maj. William Philip Cantrell-Hubbersty OBE (1877-1947) of Ragdale Hall (Leics); died 8 September 1962; will proved 5 November 1962 (estate £189,542);

(2) William Adrian Vincent Bethell (1890-1941) (q.v.).

He inherited the Rise Hall and Watton Abbey estates from his father in 1879, but lived at Grimston House, North Grimston, which he rented.

He died 13 August 1926 and was buried at Rise; his will was proved 7 December 1926 and 7 April 1927 (estate £244,771). His wife died 13 November 1900; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 28 February 1901 (estate £3,767).

Adrian Bethell (1890-1941) 

Bethell, (William) Adrian Vincent (1890-1941). Only son of William Bethell (1847-1926) and his wife Hon. Maria Myrtle, fifth daughter of Digby Willoughby (1817-77), 8th Baron Middleton, born 11 September and baptised at Birdsall (Yorks ER), 26 October 1890. Educated at Eton. An officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1911; Lt., 1913; Capt., 1915; retired 1923), who served throughout the First World War (wounded). He returned to service as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Home Guard, 1939. Joint MFH of East Holderness Hunt, 1927-41. JP and DL for East Riding of Yorkshire (Chairman of North Holderness Petty Sessions); County Alderman of East Riding County Council; Governor of Beverley Grammar School and Beverley High School; President of the Hull and East Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf and Dumb. He married 1st, 18 August 1915 at St Margaret, Westminster (Middx) (div. 1917) Hon. Clarissa Madeleine Georgiana Felicité (1896-1960), only daughter of Edward Priaulx Tennant (1859-1920), 1st Baron Glenconner, and 2nd, 29 January 1921 at the Chapel Royal of the Savoy, London, Cicely Violet (1898-1974), second daughter of Sir John Richard Geers Cotterell (1866-1937), 4th bt., of Garnons (Herefs), and had issue:

(1.1) Diana Hermione Bethell (1916-67), born 5 June and baptised at St Margaret, Westminster, 30 June 1916; married 1st, 24 April 1939 at St Paul's Cathedral, London (div. 1956), Richard Purcell Blow (1915-63), elder son of Detmar Jellings Blow of Hilles House, Painswick (Glos), architect, and had issue two sons; married 2nd, 10 March 1961 (div. 1963), Marco Blow (fl. 1969); died 25 July 1967 and was buried at Wilsford (Wilts), where she is commemorated by a monument by Roderick Gradidge in the new churchyard; will proved 29 February 1968 (estate £73,735);

(2.1) Richard Anthony Bethell (1922-96) (q.v.);

(2.2) Christopher Adrian Bethell (1925-92), born 4 January 1925; educated privately; married, 30 January 1960 at St Nicholas Hurst (Berks), Jocelyn Waiata (1928-2021), daughter of Dr John Vassie Buchanan MB ChB of Creed Lodge, Grampound (Cornw.), but had no issue; died 11 October 1992 and was buried at Rise; will proved 12 January 1993 (estate £539,493);

(2.3) Hugh William John Bethell (1928-50), born 8 July 1928; obtained a private pilot's licence, 1948; joined the RAF (Cadet Pilot Officer); died in a flying accident near Peebles (Scotland) in his own plane, 1 October 1950; buried at Rise; administration of goods granted to his mother, 25 January 1951 (estate £9,696).

He inherited the Rise Hall and Watton Abbey estates from his father in 1926.

He died 16 July 1941; will proved 20 January, 16 February and 10 Ovtober 1942 (estate £199,906). His first wife married 2nd, 27 March 1918 (div. 1928), Maj. Lionel Hallam Tennyson (1889-1951), 3rd Baron Tennyson of Aldworth and had further issue three sons; she married 3rd, 24 July 1928 (sep. 1936 & div. 1939), an American, James Montgomery Beck jr. (1892-1972), son of James Montgomery Beck (1861-1936), Solicitor General of the United States, and had further issue a twin son and daughter; she died 3 September 1960. His widow married 2nd, 28 November 1946, Roden Powlett Graves Orde (1910-85) (who m2, Jan-Mar 1976, Antonia A. Radcliffe (b. 1947)) of Bridstow (Herefs), eldest son of Roden Horace Powlett Orde (1867-1941), and died 30 November 1974.

Richard Anthony Bethell (1922-96) 

Bethell, Richard Anthony (1922-96). Eldest son of (William) Adrian Vincent Bethell (1890-1941) and his second wife, Cicely Violet, second daughter of Sir John Cotterell, 4th bt., born 22 March 1922. Educated at Eton. An officer in the Life Guards (2nd Lt., 1941; retired as Lt., 1947), who served in Second World War. JP for East Riding of Yorkshire (from 1950); Lord-Lieutenant of Humberside, 1983-96 (Vice Lord Lieutenant, 1980-83). He married, 27 September 1945 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), Lady Jane Pleydell-Bouverie (1923-2006), a junior commander in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, eldest daughter of 7th Earl of Radnor KG KCVO, and had issue:

(1) Camilla Bethell (1946-2006), born 27 June 1946; married, 17 December 1966, Peter Charles Freeman Gregory-Hood (b. 1943) of Loxley Hall (Warks), only son of Col. Alexander Marshall Horace Gregory-Hood OBE MC of Loxley Hall, and had issue three daughters; died 10 August 2006; will proved 14 March 2007;

(2) Sarah Bethell (b. 1948), born 13 August 1948; married, 31 May 1969 at Rise, David Charles Ratcliffe-Brotherton (b. 1941) of Whitwell-on-the-Hill (Yorks NR), son of Charles Frederick Ratcliffe-Brotherton, and had issue one son and one daughter;

(3) Hugh Adrian Bethell (b. 1952) (q.v.);

(4) William Anthony Bethell (b. 1957), of Arnold Manor, Long Riston (Yorks ER), born 18 May 1957; farmer; a director of York and Pontefract racecourses; married, Jan-Mar 1983, Elizabeth Anne, daughter of Lt-Col. Charles Samuel Madden (1915-93), and had issue one son and one daughter.

He inherited the Rise Hall and Watton Abbey estates from his father in 1941. Rise Hall was let to a convent school from 1946, and he purchased the former rectory as a new seat, which he renamed Rise Park.

He died 20 July 1996; his will was proved 22 August 1996. His wife died 21 July 2006; her will was proved 24 January 2007.

Bethell, Hugh Adrian (b. 1952). Elder son of Richard Anthony Bethell (1922-96) and his wife, Lady Jane Pleydell-Bouverie, eldest daughter of 7th Earl of Radnor KG KCVO, born 23 April 1952. Educated at Eton. High Sheriff of the East Riding of Yorkshire, 2003-04. A director of Beverley racecourse and a trustee of the Wasing Park (Berks) estate. He married, 2 July 1983, Sarah Elizabeth (b. 1955), daughter of Maj. Thomas Edward St. Aubyn CVO (1923-2012), and had issue:

(1) Oliver Anthony Bethell (b. 1985), born 5 May 1985; married, 2018, Quita Frances, daughter of Anthony Collard of Lincoln;

(2) Edward Alexander Bethell (b. 1987), born 9 March 1987;

(3) Nicholas Andrew Bethell (b. 1990), born 8 May 1990; married c.2021, Alice Victoria Rose (b. 1991), daughter of Andrew Robin Mills of Farthinghoe (Northants), and has issue two sons.

His father handed over the family estates to him. He sold Rise Hall in 2001, but retained Rise Park and most of the estate.

Now living. His wife is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1914, pp. 147-48; Burke's Landed Gentry, 1969, pp. 46-47; G. Poulson, The history and antiquities of the seigniory of Holderness, vol 1, 1840, pp. 408-09; A. Oswald, 'Watton Abbey', Country Life, 2 November 1935, pp. 458-63; Sir N. Pevsner & D. Neave, The buildings of England: Yorkshire - York and the East Riding, 2nd edn., 1995, pp. 658-59, 733-37; VCH Yorkshire East Riding, vol. 7, 2002, pp. 330-40;

https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1021-545X2019000100001;

Location of archives

Bethell family of Rise Hall and Watton Abbey: deeds and estate papers, 1191-1926 [East Riding of Yorkshire Archives, DDRI]

Coat of arms

Argent, on a chevron, between three boars' heads couped sable, an estoile or.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown? I would also welcome a recent photograph of the former vicarage, now Rise Park, to add to the introduction.
• I have found it particularly difficult to trace the genealogical information for the earlier generations of this family, due partly to the variable spelling of the Bethell name and partly to the loss of parish registers for some of the parishes with which the family was associated (although those for Rise itself survive). If anyone can add to or correct the information I provide, therefore, I should be particularly grateful.
• 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 7 June 2025 and updated 22 July 2025. I am grateful to Helen Gill for corrections and suggestions.