The Minor Family of Somerset

Will of Grace Murgatroyd dated 17 Feb 1639 Proven April 22 1640
, Halifax Yorks, England She was residing at Lower Bairstow at t
he time and bequeaths to Samuel Kinge her son (of Willow Hall)
, after payment of all debts, funeral expenses, etc, "One cow wh
ich he now hath of mine and I forgive him 5 pounds which he is i
ndebted to me for part of a fat ox. Extracted Christening Record
:Halifax, York County, England
The mill dam on the Ludd
The Queens Mill
Aboutthe 12th century there were established in England "Manori
al Mills" for thegrinding of corn. These mills were establishe
d near
running streams and called Water Corn Mills, at which tenants o
f the manor were compelled to grind their grain, a 20th of the g
rain being paid for the
use of the mill. There were several of these Corn Mills in the P
arish of Halifax, and is seems evidentthat the Warley Mill wa
s one of the oldest of
them. Mention is made of the Warley Mill in the Wakefield Cour
t Rolls of 1274. The mill belonged to the Lord of the Manor an
d was let to the
miller or other leasee for an annual rental, payable twice yearl
y. The miller was one of the most important and wealthyperson
s in the community in
the middle ages, and next to the manor house and the parsonage
, the millers home displayed the greatest signs of well-beingan
d comfort.
The Warley Mill became too small for the tenants requirements an
d was becoming worn out so in 1379 John Maude, Thomas de Brokesb
ank, John
de Morgaterode and Thomas del Oldfield were ordered to supervis
e the removalof the mill at Warley to "Ludingdene" and to super
vise the erection
there.Thus began an association of the Murgatroyd name with th
e Luddenden Corn Mills that was to last for 500 years.
There was a jolly miller once,
Lived on theriver (Ludd)
He danced and sang from morn till night
No lark so blithe (andgood)
And this the burden of his song
For ever used to be -
I care for nobody, no, not I
If nobody cares for me.
The location of the first mill on the Ludd river seems to have b
een about 800 meters below the present township. Thisis shown o
n an old map of the
Ludd drawn by Saxton in 1599 where it is shown as "the old mill
" with the site of the "old Dam" above it. Interestingly the hou
se of a Henry
Murgatroyd is shown beside the mill with extensive grounds runni
ng beside the river. Was he the miller at some time in that earl
y period or perhaps
Murgatroyds had acquired the land where the old mill had stooda
nd built on it later.
The location of the "Queens Mill" is shown on the map as being i
n the township of Luddenden and it is recorded that in 1578 a gr
ant of Warley Mill
for thirty years was made to Hugh Lacy and Gilbert Lacy, apromi
nant family in the area. The will of Gilbert, of Brearly Hall, M
idgley in 1605
leaves considerable monetary amounts to his four daughters an
d a son, coming from the lease of the mill. One of the Daughter
s was Mary, marriedto
James Murgatroyd (d.1653) whos second son Henry was to marry bac
k into the Lacy family and gain control of the mill in 1632.
from a Court document:
"King James the First by his letters patent, as well under the G
reat Seal of England, as under the Seal of the said Duchy, beari
ng date the 22nd Day of Mayin the seventh year of his reign (16
09) over England, for
the considerationtherein mentioned, did Grant to Edward Ferrer
s and Francis Phillips and their Heirs, amongst other things, Al
l that Water Corn and Grist Mill situate inWarley, in the count
y of York, called
Warley Mill, together with all the Corn and Grist Soke, Grist to
ll, and Multure of all the inhabitants, to hold totheir Heirs a
nd assigns for ever under the yearly rent of 18s. reserved to th
e crown."
The lintel stone where it lays toDay.
Below is a drawing of theengraved
inscription.
'1633, W for Warley, M for mill,
S for soke, H and Ifor
Henry and Jane, the owners
On the 30th Jun