The Minor Family of Somerset

A soldier in the civil war
From History of Northowram
GODLEY HALL, OR GRANGE,
"Godley" is the original name of the fine old mansion now know
n as "The Grange," and means good-lea, or good-meadow. It is si
tuate in the valley and immediately below the more imposing resi
dence of Shibden Hall, to which estateist now belongs. The ori
ginal timber-built edifice was prbably erected in the time of Ed
ward III., or in the middle of the thirteenth century, and gav
ename to the family who then owned it. In the year 1322, we fi
nd that William, son of Henry de Goddelay, owned land in Schiped
en, which doubtless was atGodley. This William had a son Richa
rd who, on the death of his father, inherited the estate:-
"1394. William de Goddelay being dead, Richard, his son, paid 6
d heriot for two and a half acres of land in Schipeden."
"1412" Henry,son of Richard de Goddelay, paid 18d heriot for o
ne and a half acres of landin Shepden, called Smithcroft." Ho
w long Godley remained in the possessionof this family we hav
e not been able to discover, but the next owners were inall pro
bability the Saltonstalls. It should here be stated that this p
roperty, with other appurtenances, was part of the Manor of Shel
f, andnot that of Wakefield; it was also held of the Knights o
f St. John of Jerusalem in common with the Winteredge, Coley Hal
l, Coley Chapel House (Malt Shovel Inn), Field House, in Shibde
n Dale, and other places in the parish of Halifax. On most of t
he above named places there is the double Cross; which indicate
s that the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem derived certain retn
s therefrom; but the Cross is now nowhere to be found on the ol
d residence of Godley, "and tradition is silent." On a rent rol
l bearing the date of 1533, which was seen byWatson, the Halifa
x Historian, and place at this time, by this Thomas beingremove
d to Horley Green." He also says of Nathan Drake, of Godley, th
at he"was a soldier int he civil wars, and served as one of th
e garrison of Pontefract, for which he lost Godley." Mr. Watson
, is as inaccurate in these statements as he can well be. In th
e first place, he assumes that because the Drakes owned propert
y in Shibden, that they, therefore, owned Shibden Hall estate, w
hich they never did. Shibden Hall was never owned by any membe
r of the Drake family. It was owned by the Oates, the Savilles
, the Waterhouses, then by Jane Crowther, and John Hemmingway i
n 1615, byh the Listers, in whose family it has remained to th
e present time. In the second place, Nathan Drakenever owned G
odley Hall, or Grange estate. Nathan certainly did own some pr
operty in Godley, but it must have been other than the Grange, b
ecause hisproperty was copyhold of the Manor of Wakefield, as t
he Manor Rolls abudantly show, and Godley Hall estate never was
, as we have already seen. In the third place, it is not correc
t that Nathan Drake's property was confiscated byparliament, be
cause of the part he took in the civil wars. There is no eviden
ce in support of this statement; while on the other hand, we fin
d him afterwards surrendering a certain portion of his propert
y in Godley to his neighbour, the celebrated Captain Hodgson, wh
ich he could not have done had it beenconfiscated, as Watson sa
ys.
If Captain Nathan Drake ever did reside at Godley Hall, it coul
d only have been as tenant and not as owner; and if, also thi
s residence as the one "in Godley" which Oliver Heywood hired fr
om NathanDrake after removing from Landemere it could only hav
e been rented by him from Nathan Drake as tenant, in like manna
s he afterwards rented a portion of Coley Hall from dwelling adj
acent to Godley Old Hall, for it is known that there were othe
r dwellings in Godley besides the residence now bearing the nam
e of Grange.
Of some of the other noted old residences in Northowram and Shib
den Dale, the author very much regrets being una