Eighth Generation - Stephen Catterson       

 Leah Catterson’s father, Stephen Catterson, was christened on 15 November 1667 in Skipton [1] . He was the eighth of eleven children of Francys Catterson and Isabella Pettie.

        His two oldest sisters, Mary, aged twelve, and Margaret, aged ten, and his two brothers Francys, aged six and Thomas, aged five would not perhaps have greeted his birth with joy [2] . They had already buried three siblings before Stephen’s birth. Ann had been buried before she had reached the age of two in 1661, Sylvester had been buried within three months of his birth in 1664, and an unnamed and unbaptised child had been buried in February 1665/6 [3] . Before Stephen was four he had also experienced the arrival and burial of baby William who did not reach his first birthday, and Isabel who was christened and buried on the same day [4] . His youngest sister Frances completed the family in 1673 and survived infancy [5] .

Stephen's sister Mary was the first to marry and leave home in 1676 when she married Timothy Ferrand, the headmaster of Skipton Grammar School [57] . Mary had eight children in twelve years of whom only four survived [60] . Five months after giving birth to her youngest son Timothy, Mary became a widow in November 1685 [61] . Mary Ferrand may have been taken in by her brother Stephen with her four children. Stephen's second sister Margaret married William Kitchen, apothecary [58] . Stephen's sister Stephen's youngest sister Frances was the last to marry in 1692 to a John Cork [59] .

As the third eldest son Stephen Catterson did not inherit the majority of the family lands. His older brother Frances held 18 gaits, or 6 acres from the Lords of Skipton Castle at the Ings in 1720, and another 3 gaits, or 1 acre in freehold,’ for school land’, at the Ings [6] . Stephen had married Grace by the time he was thirty [7] . In 1757 these lands at the Ings were enclosed and no Catterson claimed the right to those lands. They could have been sold before this date, but a Thomas Heelis, of Appleby, and a Thomas Heelis, of Halton are recorded as having an interest in these lands [8] . It would therefore appear that these lands came into the hands of Stephen Catterson, or his descendants, at a later date.

  Stephen Catterson was a respected member of Skipton Parish. He was one of the ‘principal inhabitants of Skipton’, along with Henry Currer of Currer Hall in Kildwick, who witnessed the churchwardens’ accounts on 14 January 1735 [9] . This certainly did not refer to his age, even though he would have been around sixty-eight years old at the time. Stephen Catterson was an attorney at Law and may have trained at the Inns of Court in London [10] .

                     Stephen Catterson appears to have been the landlord of the Red Lion Inn, on the High Street in Skipton, for which tenement he paid the Sackville Lord of Skipton Castle forty two pounds a year   [11] . This also included the lands around the Inn, which were quite extensive.  The Red lion Inn stood on the High Street, near to the vicarage. During 1748-69 Walter priest was the resident vicar and in 1764 the property was described as ‘One slated dwelling House on the East side of the town of Skipton near the church, in length 37ft the breadth unequal, built with stone containing five rooms on the ground floor (to wit) the entrance from the street into the hall 12ft and a half foot long and six foot wide with a stone floor and celled. One Room called the hall 18ft square with stone floor and ceiled One parlour 15ft long and 11and a half feet wide and floored with deal hung with paper and ceiled One closet 11ft and a half long six ft wide stone floored and ceiled One kitchen 18ft long and 11ft wide broad stone floored One milk house 11ft and a half long and six ft wide stone floored and ceiled under the Hall One cellar 11ft and seven inches long and nine feet and five inches wide stone floored and arched made by the present vicar. The five upper rooms much of the same size two of which are hung with paper and ceiled another of the said rooms ceiled the other two rooms not ceiled. Also adjoining to the above there is a slated house and a shop next to the street built with stone in length 31ft and half feet and in breadth 11ft and a half stone floored one chamber ceiled the others not. Contiguous to this and under the same roof is one thatched barn with a stable length 34ft and in breadth 23ft. Also contiguous thereto is one garden fenced with a stonewall of 96 yards in length and 23 yards in breadth. Also bounded on the South East by the property occupied by John Wellock and on the North by property occupied by Abraham Dixon.’ [12] . This was a substantial property indeed. However, in maps of Skipton in the early nineteenth century it would appear that the red Lion was much more extensive.                        

The Red Lion was a farmhouse of a substantial farm [13] . The site of the Red lion was a Medieval Hall House of four bays [14] .

The current Town Hall Car Park covers the land that would have been the Home Croft of the Red Lion Farm. It was big enough to house at least forty horses and fifty milking cows. It is not certain whether Stephen Catterson ran the Inn himself, or whether he employed others to run the Inn for him. Whatever the case the Inn must have more than covered its rental in the annual trade it turned. In a prime site, on the main Keighley to Kendal Road, the Red Lion would have certainly been busy. Stephen Catterson died in 1741 [15] . Stephen’s eldest son Francys, who probably continued the business, onwards would also have welcomed the Keighley to Kendal Turnpike Trusts improvements to the roads from 1750. Francis Catterson, gentleman, appears to have lived at Gawflatts and transferred the buildings and tenements in Newmarket Street to his brother Sylvester Catterson of Addingham, Tanner [16] . However, Francys died in 1744 and Stephen Catterson's only surviving son Sylvester Catterson was a yeoman farmer at Addingham [17] .It is highly probable that these Cattersons at the Red Lion Inn had many dealings with the Barker family at the Blacksmith’s in Caroline Square.     

            Stephen Catterson’s father Francys Catterson was a churchwarden, and Stephen himself was associated with the church and quite possibly with the library then in the church [18] . In 1719, he was bequeathed a ‘long swing clock….and two portraits’ by his uncle Sylvester Petyt, which Sylvester sent to Skipton ‘to be placed in the Library there in the Church’ [19] . As Sylvester Petyt was an attorney as well as Stephen, it is not surprising that the gifts favoured Stephen. In 1725 Stephen Catterson ‘of Skipton, gentleman’ gained some lands in Skipton on Newmarket Street from a Robert Pickering and his wife Mary of York. These comprised a Barn, a garden and other buildings in a little close called the croft in Newmarket Street. These buildings were tenanted at the time and inhabited by Charles Toogood, William Fletcher and Thomas Deies [20] . In 1734, Stephen Catterson leased lands at the Ings to a tenant farmer Thomas Chamberlain son of Abraham Chamberlain [21] . In 1737, Stephen Catterson transferred lands at Bentley Bridge and Middle Bentley Brigg Close to his second son Sylvester Catterson [22] . Stephen Catterson also apparently had lands in Lamberts Hill, in Skipton [23] . Stephen Catterson was also left property in Skipton by his uncle Sylvester Petyt [24] . This consisted of a day house, buildings and gardens in Skipton. The property appears to have been quite large and had one ground room, one upstairs room, a garret and a large kitchen. There was also a stable and a garden, and half a Garth. This house was purchased by Sylvester Petyt from a Tim Cooperthen and may have been half-tenanted by a Mrs Katherine Parker. On his death in 1741 Stephen Catterson left some quite substantial properties including, The Croft, on the North side of Newmarket Street, tenanted by Robert Oldfield, Far Lambert Hill, a Farm at Skipton and Stirton, the messuage where he lived in Skipton, which included a barn, stable and garden, an orchard near Waller Hill, and a messuage occupied by Catherine Parker. This was quite a substantial estate for a third son to leave [25] . Stephen appears to have divided the majority of his estates amongst his six remaining children, but had certainly leased some parts of the inheritance to his children during his lifetime. Edward Heelis, and Stephens’s son Frances Catterson were joint owners of Lamberts Hill in 1733 [26] .

       Stephen’s father Francys Catterson was christened on 13 July 1623 in Skipton and was the second eldest son of Thomas Catterson and Isabella Petty of Skipton [27] . His elder brother Thomas Catterson would have been aged about two when Francys arrived [28] . His younger brother Stephen arrived two years later and was christened on 29 December 1625 [29] . This Stephen Catterson later fought in as part of the Royalist Cavalry troop raised from Skipton in 1642 [30] . Francys also had three sisters, one named Mary and two named Anne [31] . As his father Thomas Catterson died in 1627 when Francys was only four years old, his mother Isabella may have sought help from the Catterson family. However, Francys’s uncle Stephen Catterson had died two years previously and that only left two married Catterson aunts who presumably had their own families. It is possible that Francys and his family received help from their Aunt Jane Catterson who had married a William Goodgion [32] . Certainly, in the 1680 Valuation of Skipton Francys Catterson is recorded as holding ‘lands by assignment’ from a George Goodgion [33] . It is possible that Jane helped the young family. Alternatively, Isabella Petty could have sought help from her own family. It is interesting that Stephen Catterson and Thomas Catterson, brothers, both married wives with a Petty surname. It is possible that Mary Petty, wife of Stephen Catterson, was the niece of Isabella Petty [34] . Isabella may have sought refuge with her brother Thomas Petty of Embsay, however, he had passed away two years earlier being buried on 25 October 1625 [62] .

              In the Red Lion today, the initials F.C. and the date 1681, over the Fireplace are those of this Francys Catterson. Francis had taken over the lease of the messuage from ‘William Pettye’ in 1655, and is described as an Inn holder [35] . The fact that he had taken responsibility for the lease of the land, but did not take over the house until 1660, is probably explained by the fact that William Petty lived at the Red Lion from 1647 until 1659 when he died. Francys had married William Petty’s daughter Isabella Petty, in what appears to be a union of land rights in the centre of Skipton. In 1680, Francys tenanted property worth twenty pounds in total [36] . This included a house with stables and a ‘stackgarth’ valued at fifteen pounds, and half a messuage with one building, a stable and half a Garth worth four pounds. This second building may have been rented to or from a George Goodgion. In 1690 Francys was given the powers of attorney to prosecute the heirs of Thomas Watkinson by John Wilson of Eshton hall [37] . Francys died in 1691, and Francys’ son-in-law John Cork, who had married Francys’ daughter Francys Catterson, then ran the Inn [38] . Francys’s other daughter Mary Catterson married Timothy Ferrand, who was Master of Skipton Grammar School [39] .

       Francys Catterson had taken the lease of the Red Lion over from a Thomas Cookson, who was the husband of Margaret Catterson, daughter of Francys Catterson’s uncle Stephen Catterson. Margaret died in 1660 when the house was taken over by Francys Catterson and his family. Stephen Catterson had inherited the lease of the property at the Red Lion in 1616 from his mother. He had married a Mary Petty, daughter of Thomas Petty in 1615 in Skipton [40] . Stephen had died in 1625 leaving his young wife with two children. Mary Catterson, nee Petty had been granted a marriage license to marry Lancelot Dodsworth of Londesborough in Skipton in 1626, but the marriage did not go ahead. It appears that Lancelot had passed away before the marriage could take place. In 1627, Ann Catterson, the illegitimate daughter of Mary Catterson, widow by Lancelot Dodsworth was baptized at Skipton [41] . Five year later Mary Catterson had more success and married William Petty of Storithes in 1632 [42] . It appears that she and her husband William Petty lived at the Red Lion from 1647 until 1659. Mary’s daughter by her first marriage, Margaret Cookson, and her husband Thomas Cookson were tenants of the property until the death of Margaret in 1660 [43] . Although Margaret Catterson and Stephen had had a son named Thomas Catterson, he does not seem to have taken over the lease of the property at the Red Lion [44] . It is interesting that in a rent roll of Skipton of 1660, a Thomas Catterson and William Pettie paid a half yearly rent ‘due upon the rack’ of nine pounds and ten shillings to the lord of Skipton Castle [45] . It is not as yet clear what the rent was paid for, but it appears that Thomas Catterson and William Pettie were jointly responsible for the rent, and it may have been for a plot of land in Skipton. It may even have been for the plot that became the Red Lion Inn. Therefore, Thomas Catterson and William Petty may even have been in business together.

       Francys Catterson was the son of Thomas Catterson. Thomas Catterson was the second son of Thomas and Margaret Catterson. Thomas Catterson’s elder brother, Stephen, had inherited the property at the Red Lion, from his mother Margaret, when she died in 1616 [46] . Thomas and Stephen Catterson also had three sisters, Isabell, Jane and Elizabeth. Isabell married Edmund Smyth of Kildwick, Jane married William Goodgion, and Elizabeth married Henry Fothergill [47] . Their father Thomas Catterson had first leased the site of the Red Lion in 1603 from the Lord of Skipton Castle. Thomas had been a fairly wealthy man as in 1609 a ‘William Wayte, servant of Thomas Catterson of Skipton’ was buried in Skipton Parish Church [48] . Thomas died in 1612, at the age of seventy-five and was buried in the chancel of the Parish Church [49] . In his will, he left to Margaret his wife ‘my messuage, tenements and grounds which I hold of my right honourable Lord earl of Cumberland’ [50] . He charged his children to be friendly to his wife Margaret ‘use her as a mother and please her who hath taken great care of me as a very honest wife could do’.

       The Cattersons were the first tenants of the plot of land in Skipton High Street that became the Red Lion. Up until 1536, it had been part of the estates of the Priory at Bolton Abbey and was transferred at the dissolution to the Clifford Lords of Skipton Castle. However, in 1306 the canons at Bolton Abbey had seized the estate from the Lords and people of Skipton. The site of the Red Lion Inn was originally the traditional site of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene that was a free chapel in Skipton. The advowson of the church belonged to the Lord of the Honour of Skipton and was founded by the ‘alms of the said lord and freemen of Skipton for the support of Lepers’ [51] .

       Thomas Catterson is described as being seventy five year old in 1612 when he was buried. This would indicate that Thomas was born about 1537.  When Thomas was about one year old his family may have made great gains through the dissolution of the monasteries. In 1538, a Robert Caterson paid a rent of two shillings and six pence for a farm of ‘one tenement with appurtenanaces in Storithes’ in 1538 [52] . It is possible that our Thomas Catterson is related to this Robert Caterson. There may even be Catterson connections with the Craven area further back in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In 1305, an Alan de Catherton held lands in Elslack of the honour of Mowbray [53] . It is also possible that the Alani de Katherton who witnessed transfers of land to Bolton Abbey in 1257 was the father or grandfather of the Alan de Catherton. Furthermore a Alano de Kaherton witnessed a transfer of lands in Elslack as part of the marriage portion of the mother of Robert de Vavasour in 1219. At yet the connections are not prove, but it is a possibility.

The Goodgions

The Goodgions were a family very much involved with the early History of Skipton. A Captain Henry Goodgion was the last occupant of Lambert Hall, on Swadford Street [54] . In 1650 the ‘foreland contained 2 acres lying on the backside of Captain Goodgion’s laithe at Lambert Hall, now in his possession and 5 oxgangs of land belonging to Lambert Hall.’ This is of interest as later Edward Heelis, husband of Leah Catterson owned land on Lambert’s Hill, which may allude to Lambert Hall. In 1602 one Francis Goodgion was leased a house and several closes of land in Skipton by George, Earl of Cumberland at a yearly;y rent of 3 pounds six shillings and eight pence. One condition of the lease was that Goodgion should ‘grind or cause to be grinded all such corn and grain as should be by him, or his executors, or assigns, spent upon the premises, at the usual and accustomed mill of the said earl, his heirs, or assigns, at Skipton, and pay such toll and allowance for the grinding of the same,’ [55] .

The Ferrands

The Ferrands had been Janitors of Skipton Castle since the twelfth century when a Hugh Ferrand first took office under William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle [56] . In 1586 a William Ferrand was granted a coat of arms and supported in his claim by The Earl of Cumberland. This William built Carleton Hall in 1584.