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The
Entwistle Family - Section One pages 7- 11
THE ENTWIS(T)LE FAMILY is
certainly of very ancient and honourable origin.
The name has been spelt in many ways as will be
seen as we proceed, but does not constitute a
complete list. In these days some people spell
it Entwistle. The second "t" was first
included about 1750. As a surname it is common
throughout Lancashire, and one might say it is
known in every part of the English-speaking
world. This is somewhat singular when we note
the rarity of the use as a surname of
neighbouring township's names as Edgworth,
Turton, Quarlton, Darwen, etc., which are much
more ancient as place- names, and were in fairly
common use as personal names in the district in a long bye-gone day. From this we
may gather that the family made use of a
hereditary surname throughout a period when
fixity of family names was not in general use;
that they were- in settled occupation in and
around their ancestral home over a very extended
period, and that they have never been
responsible for a declining birth-rate.
As regards its status in
the nation, it may be described as obscure;
obscure in the sense of jewels mislaid, hidden
or bedimmed by a dust of ages of forgetfulness
and neglect. I am hoping to be able - not to
refurbish, but to re-expose a few of the gems in
the family crown; to provide evidences proving
the family to be of notable Norman origin; that
they have ever been loyal to - and have ever
honourably rendered their best services to their
adopted country, and that its heroes are worthy
of having their names inscribed on the fairest
page of our national history. French writers
seem to have honoured them as foremen; whilst in
England, Lancashire, the township which bears
their name, even their own kith and kin have
paid neither homage nor tribute in any form to
their honour and memory.
The three extracts
following are from very ancient documents which
are said to have been preserved in the British
Museum for a very long time. From the Whalley
Pedigree we learn that "Wyramarus Walley
had by gift of William, Bastard Duke of Normandy
in the seconde year of his reigne which was in
the yeare of our Lord God Anno Dom.i 1067 for
his servis done at the Battlel of Hastings, the
Lordship of Whalley in the Wepontake of
Blackburn in the County of Lancastershyre. He
married and had issue Eustas who married Godytha
the daughter of Sir John Antwisel."
From the Upton pedigree we
gather that "Sir Bryan Upton married
Tiburia, the daughter of Sir John Antwisel."
Again, in the Stansfield Pedigree ( Stansfield,
near Rochdale) , we are informed that "Wyons
Maryons, Lord of Stansfield, came from Normandy
with William the Conqueror and had issue Jordan,
who married the daughter of Sir John Townley, of
Townley, County Lancaster; they had issue a son
and heir, John de Stansfield, who married
Elizabeth, a daughter of Thomas Entwissel."
This was in the rein of William Rufus. We thus
find the sons of the three more or less
important Norman families marrying into the
Entwistle family.
Whether the brides and
bridegrooms were real or fictitious, the records
tend to prove the high esteem in which the
Entwisle family was held in the days of long
ago, otherwise we should not find these
influential Norman families evidently anxious to
perpetuate their close association with the
bride's family. In very many ancient
genealogical charts the bride's family name is
ignored. We all, of course, are well aware that
pedigrees are none to reliable, but that does
not in the least affect the obvious popularity
of the Entwisle family for stock purposes, where
the best blood is essential.
What evidences can we find
to prove that the brides were Norman and not
Saxon heiresses? No Norman gentleman was
permitted to marry a Saxon lady without the
sanction of the King, and these licenses were
non too readily granted. The majority of the
Saxsons' estates were confiscated and bestowed
upon William's followers, and impoverished Saxon
ladies would not be likely
to be sought in marriage, and there would
obviously be racial hatred betwixt usurper and
victim bitter enough to prove an un-surmountable
barrier to inter-marriage for several
generations.
Dealing with the fathers of
the brides - John and Thomas Entwisle - the late
Mr. Alfred Burton, on of the founders of the
Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society,
has pointed out that the Saxons never used
Apostolic names as Christian names. It therefore
seems evident these two men were Norman
adherents of William of Normandy.
The absence of the de (of)
in connection with their name is due to their
being in possession of a hereditary surname, and
partly to the fact that Entwisle was not an
official place name for 150 years after their
day. They could not well be described as
"de" - or "of" -
Entwisle, if Entwisle did not exist.
It is regrettable that so
little is recorded of Sir John Antwisel - or at
least in not public knowledge. We do, however, learn that his heraldic device was:- Barry
16, gules and argent; a lion rampant sable in
chief on a true Norman shield. This ought to
provide a clue, for if he were a Norman we ought
to be able to discover a similar escutcheon in
early Norman heraldry. One of my correspondents,
Mr. Thomas Entwistle, of Manchester, to whom I
am indebted for much valuable information -
whose ancestors for long resided at White Hall,
Darwen - now the residence of Mr. James Cooper,
solicitor - I believe they owned the place until
the beginning of the 19th century, as
well as Langshaw Head; Holker House etc., in
Hoddlesden, the latter named place has an
inscribed date stone, with initials, R.I.E.,
with a sort of figure which may possibly be
intended for a rampant lion. However, Mr.
Entwistle told me that in reading French books
on history he had come across evidences which
seem to point conclusively to close associations
betwixt the Estoutevilles of France and the
Entwisles of Entwisle, also showing that the
bearings of the two families were almost
identical, the only difference being a lion over
all in France. I have come across one writer who
says the bearings of the two families are
identical but with tints reversed. From the
evidences given I think one is justified in
assuming that the two families have originated
from the same ancestor. I know this Norman
origin of the Entwisles has been disputed, more
especially that they are in any way closely
connected with the Estoutevilles of France.
However, other evidences will be noted later.
Another question is: Did
Sir John Antwisel reside in the Entwistle
district? I think he did. In those days there
were no quick means of transport over long
distances, so in general the gallants of that
period were in measure forced to seek a bridge
living within a horse journey of their own
homes. In this case Entwisle - midway between
Whalley and Rochdale - seems to have at least a
shadow of a claim, and I am inclined to think
the first Entwisle in the district lived either
at the Edge or in Broadhead.
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