A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY OF Sandford OF Sandford, ASKHAM, HOWGIL
L AND HELTON IN THE COUNTY OF WestMORLAND
FROM THE YEAR 1174 TO THE PRESENT Day.
By William Arthur Cecil Sandford
Part1
"These are the Voices of the Past,
Links at abroken chain,
Wings that can bear us back to Times
Which cannot come again-
Yet God forbid that we should lose
The echoes that remain".
A.A.Proctor(adapted)
(Written 1924; retyped, with corrections, 1950.)
CONTENTS
I Introduction p.
List of Authorities p.
Sandford of Sandford, 1174-1404 p.
II Edmund Sandford of Askham, 1330-1377. p.
III Sir William Sandford of Askham 1375-1416. p.
Robert Sandford of Askham, 1396-1459. p.
Thomas Sandford of Askham, 1427-1497. p.
William Sandford, 1451-1480. p.
Edmund Sandford of Askham 1475-1513. P.
IV Thomas Sandford at Askham, 1506-1563. P.
V John Sandford ofAskham, 1537-1574. p.
VI Thomas Sandford of Askham, 1563-1609. p.
John Sandford of Askham, 160t-3630. p.
Thomas Sandford of Askham, 1628-1677. p.
WilliamSandford of Askham, 1651-1730. p.
Catherine Sandford of Askham, 1698-1773.. p.
VIII Sandford of Howgill. H. P.
Richard Sandford, 1540-1621. P.
Sir Thomas Sandford, kt., 1568-1609. p.
Sir Richard Sandford, Kt., 1580.1663. p.
Sir Thomas Sandford 1st bart., 1614-1659. p.
Sir Richard Sandford, 2nd bart., 1634-1675. p.
Sir Richard Sandford, 3rd bart., 1675-1723 p.
IX Sandford of Helton. p.
The non-Westmoreland branches. p.
The arms of Sandford. p.
Complete pedigree of family of Sandford p.
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INTRODUCTION
The family of which the following pages treat is amongst those c
alled by Machel "The ancient gentry or theNorth". It is a famil
y in no way distinguished and no article on one of itsname
appears in the Dictionary of National Biography. Yet from the ye
ar 1186, when Gamel de Sandford, the earliest known member of th
e family, appears inconjunction with the unsuccessful
defenders of Appleby castle against King William the Lion down t
o 1745 when Col. Honywood the son of Mary Sandford the heiress o
f the Howgill branch took part in the last action
fought on Englishsoil there is hardly a political event connect
ed with the North of England inwhich some member or other of th
e family did not take part: in fact its history may almost
serve as a history of Northern England in miniature. A member o
f the family was Knight of the shire of Westmoreland in that Par
liament which deposed King Edward II; in the long
struggle between the houses or York andLancaster Sandford of As
kham took a prominent part on behalf of the red rose, and in con
sequence nearly lost their estates,-a fate which again
nearly befell them in the troublous Days of Richard III. In th
e Tudor wars with Scotland the then Head of the family took a pr
ominent part and in the Persecution of the Catholics by
Elizabeth and James 1 the Askham branch was well-nigh ruined fo
r its adherence to the old faith. In the Great Rebellion the fam
ily took an active part on the side of the King, and in
consequence the Howgill branch was heavily fined by the victorio
us Parliamentarian and so crippled in estate for many years. Whi
le in later Days Sir Richard Sandford of Howgill was a
prominent upholder of the Protestant succession and served in Pa
rliament asa supporter of the Whigs.
No family hold a higher place in the two counties of Westmorlan
d and Cumberland than that of Sandford and through their marriag
es they were related to practically all the old families of
the North. Even the tragic downfall of the House of Askham in th
e early 17th century could notaffect the honour in which it wa
s held and sixty years afterwards we find itas prosperous
and influential as ever.
Alas! of the branches of Askham andHowgill no male descendant n
ow remains. As is the fate of so many old families these two bra
nches ended in daughters, and by the
ii
end of the 18th century the last of these daughters had passed a
wa
