The Minor Family of Somerset

Will 13 Aug 1636, Obituary 1638 Samuel inherited Lower Bairsto
w from his father and then on the death of his brother James h
e then inherited Willow Hallalso, they were adjoining propertie
s. The name of the house was Lower Bairstow, alias Cliff House
, alias Lower Willow Hall. This Samuel Kinge aquired muchproper
ty and in 1601 he obtained Pighill from Anthony Wade. Samuel Kin
ge leased the estate of Trimingham from Henry Maude in 1608. I
n 1615 George Waterhouse, of Warley surrendered his house calle
d "Causey and eight months later(November 1615 George Waterhous
e described as "husbandman" conveys to SamuelKinge of "Bairstow
" a parcel of ground called "Little Banke," in Warley, adjoinin
g upon a little holme called the "Mawdeholme," being the said Sa
muel Kinge's on the east, upon the river Calder on the south, up
on ground called "Mylne Bancke" on the West, and upon the lane l
eading from Halifax to Sowerby Bridge on the North. An indentur
e of 10 July 1619 apparently made to secure possession is of int
erest, as it gives us some details of his Skircote property afte
r the death of James Kinge, of Willow Hall, who as before mentio
ned under that Hall, died without issue. We find here mentione
d "Bairstow" then in tenure of Samuel Kinge, Willow Hall, in ten
ure of Samuel Kinge, the younger, Hester Kinge (widow of James K
inge) and two others, two closes in Skircote,one messuage in No
rland, one messuage in Halifax "at the Cawsey-head there,"one m
essuage in Halifax and seven woolshops there, lands in Heptonsta
ll purchased of Sir A Ingram, Sir W. Ingram and Richard Goldthor
pe, gent. The messuage in Norland was Norland Hall, for which S
amuel Kinge appears in the Norland Court Rolls in 1608 and 161
5 and probably had a mortgage on it. Nothing is said in the befo
re quoted document of the Warley property. We have previously n
oted that Samuel Kinge had leased Trimingham and this was destin
ed tobecome his property outright, for in 1629 Mary Mawde, of N
orthowram, daughterof Henry Mawde of Trimingham, realeased to S
amuel Kinge all her interest therein; thus Trimingham passed t
o the Kinges, in whose hands it remained thenceforward for clos
e on a century. In 1630 we find our Skircote yeoman again addin
g to his lands by purchasing from Jonathan Crowther of the Stepp
s in Warley a property styled "Stepps Wood" In 1630-2 in commo
n with many of our localgentry of wealth and position, Samuel K
inge was selected as a likely individual to receive knightHood a
t the hands of King Charles, but he declined the gilded bait an
d was accordingly mucted in the sum of 18 pounds. In 1624 on th
e greaves list we learn that he also owned Sheepcote Royde, an
d a cottage parcel of Hill land, the "Hill" being the old name f
or the estate now called Fern Hill. The obituary inscription o
f Samuel Kinge is on the wooden memorialof his family on the to
wer wall of the Halifax Parish Church and reads as follows:- "Ne
ar this place lies interred Samuel Kinge of Cliff or Bairstow, n
ow called Lower Willow Hall, in Skircote, who was buried Augus
t 20th 1638." Also James his son May 1st 1640. Book Monumenta
l and other Inscriptions in Halifax Parish Church. The family o
f King was of some importance in the parishof Halifax in the si
xteenth and seventeen centuries and owned considerable propert
y in Skircoat, and at a later date in Warley. It is possible th
at John King, vicar of Halifax 1389-1438 was an early member o
f the family of Kingof Skircoat. Bairstow was in possession o
f the Kings in 1553 when William Kinge of Skircote, th'elder, be
queathed to his youngest son William (halifax Wills,ii,88). Th
e elder branch of the family in 1618 was seated at Willow Hall
. In his will (son James), dated 9 March 1639, he left a silve
r tobacco pipe to his cousin John King, and a sum of money to b
e distributed to the poorof Skircoat on the first Saint Thomas
' Day afte