Monday 30 September 2013

Library Admits Damage to 18th-Century Diary


Library Admits Damage to 18th-Century Diary
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: January 3, 2008
The British Library has admitted that a historic diary was damaged while in its care, but refused to confirm reports that the manuscript, which recorded preparations for the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, had been left in the trunk of a car, the BBC reported. A library spokeswoman, who refused to confirm that allegation, reported in The Times of London, said that an internal investigation had been conducted, though details remained confidential. But she said that a staff member had since left. The diary had been entrusted to the library in 1994 by its owner, Peter J. Tyldesley, who said he believed it would be safer there than in his home. It was written by his ancestor Thomas Tyldesley, prominent among the Jacobites, who supported the claims to the throne of the exiled Stuart king James II and his descendants. Peter Tyldesley, a lawyer, said he “wanted to weep” when he discovered oily stains on the pages last spring.

Sunday 29 September 2013

The profession of Mary Tyldesley 1726-1730


Mary Tyldesley 1684-1759 was the daughter of Thomas Tyldesley 1657-1715 and so the older sister of Ann Cecilia Tyldesley 1687-1736. Mary joined the nuns of the English Benedictine Abbey of Ghent in Flanders and was clothed in 1700 at the age of 17. By this time, the loyalty of the Tyldesleys to their faith and to the Stuart caused had exacted a heavy financial toll. By 1704 Thomas Tyldesley was attempting—unsuccessfully—to sell Holcroft Hall to Richard Norris. The straitened circumstances of the Tyldesleys delayed the profession of Mary Tyldesley:
In the course of a few years (between 1726 and 1730) the professions were received of Dame Mary Scholastics Haggerston (so called in distinction to Dame Scholastica Stanley), and Dame Mary Michael Tyldesley. The latter had given great proof of her constancy to her vocation, for whereas she had long been wishing to give herself to God, the circumstances of her family obliged her to defer the fulfilment of her wish for some years. It is well known how much the Tyldesley family had to suffer in fines and penalties for their religion and loyalty to the exiled Stuarts, and our monastery not being sufficiently provided for to take subjects without portions, it was some time before she was able to present herself to the novitiate, but her patience was at last rewarded.
Dame Maura Fitzwilliam, Dame Anna Westby, and Dame Constantia Howard passed away during the few years of which we are now speaking.

1. Annals of the English Benedictines of Ghent, 1894

Friday 27 September 2013

Edward Tyldesley 23 June 1655


In June 1655, Daniel Fleming 1633-1701 was in London to prepare for his wedding. As he recorded in his diary, on 23 June 1665 he went swimming in the Thames with two of his relatives—Richard Kirkby and Edward Tyldesley 1635-1685:
June 23, I did swim in Thames with my cosins K.[1] & Tildesley [2]. 
  1. Richard Kirkby, a colonel in the army of Charles I, eldest son and heir of Roger Kirkby, D. F.'s mother's eldest brother.
  2. Probably Edward Tildesley, of Tildesley, Esq., son of Sir Thomas, who was killed in the fight at Wigan, 25 August, 1651. He was born 1635, and his grandmother was an Anderton, hence probably the cousinship. [FN1]
Edward Tyldesley's grandmother was Frances Standish—it is his great-great-grandmother who was Elizabeth Anderton.  Daniel Fleming's maternal aunt was Margaret Kirkby, who married Hugh Anderton.

1. The Flemings in Oxford, Vol 1 1650-1700, Oxford Historical Society, Editor: John Magrath, 1904

Thursday 26 September 2013

Dame Mary Michael Tyldesley 1684-1759


Mary Tyldesley was the daughter of Thomas Tyldesley 1657-1715.  Her birth is recorded in the register of Newchurch at Culcheth in 1684 and her death in 1759 is recorded in the obituary notices of the nuns of the English Benedictine Abbey of Ghent in Flanders [FN1]:
Dame Mary Michell Tyldesley. 1759.
Our dear deceased Dame was an example to all of regularity, and submission to the Divine appointments, under many afflictions, even before she dedicated herself to God in religion, as, the losses her family sustained in their temporal concerns for their religion & loyalty, which disabled them to comply with her pious desires, that from her very childhood was to dedicate herself to God : The trials also he was pleased to give her in her probation by prolonging for some years her Profession, in all which she ever showed a great submission & conformity to the Divine Will, applying herself to all the humble duties obedience imposed or which could render her most service able to the Community even to the humble duties of a sister, in a particular exigence the Community was then in.
In aidships & offices confided to her, she was ever careful, cleanly, & made necessary reparations to the best of her ability ; & was ever regular in all religious duties, never making her employments a cloak to irregularities. I think it may be said of her with truth that in place of an abatement in fervour, which is but too common, she rather increased, especially during the last 6 years of Prioresship.Though weak & infirm she never failed of making the morning visit & was an example in all the duties of that regular employment declining all dispensations & necessary considerations as much as possible, even to the very last, though fully two years before her death she needed all the indulgence a kind infirmarian could give, but would not hear of it, still persevering in the fear of being troublesome, & quite a useless member of the Community. And thus she persevered to the end, & Almighty God was pleased to bless this edifying zeal with a most serene & easy death. Requiescat in pace.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Bridget Tyldesley 1675


The Diary of the Blue Nuns at Paris—the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady—records the arrival of Bridget Tyldesley in 1675:
[1675]
...This year the two litle Throckmorton with Mis Tillsly their Governess came to be educated. 
Tyldesley (Tillsley), Miss, governess to the Throckmortons, came to the convent 1675. She may have derived from a younger son of the Tyldesleys of Morleys Hall, in Tyldesley, and of Myerscough Lodge, co. Lancaster, of whom four were nuns at the Augustinian Convent in Paris, and several elsewhere. The family seated at Fornham St. Geneveve and Bury St. Edmund's, co. Suffolk, were descended from the Stanzacre branch of the family, and John Tyldesley, of Fornham St. Geneveve, sold Stanzacre Hall, co. Lancaster, early in the 18th century,— 25 [FN1]
The footnote, probably written by Joseph Gillow, suggests that Bridget Tyldesley was from the Fornham St Genevieve branch of the family. However, the only Bridget Tyldesley known from that branch was born after 1675, and married Francis Hanne of Deviock in Cornwall—as noted by Gillow in an earlier volume published by the Catholic Record Society.

1. Catholic Record Society, Volume 8, 1910

Monday 23 September 2013

Charles Tyldesley Rhodes 20 October 1820


Charles Tyldesley Rhodes was born in 1811/2. He was the son of Charles William Rhodes and Mary Ann Rhodes née Tyldesley who were married on 14 January 1811. It follows that he was the great-great-great-grandson of Thomas Tyldesley 1657-1715, The Diarist—and a descendant of Thurstan Tyldesley MP, who was a feoffee of the Manchester School in the 16th century.

On 20 October 1820, at the age of 9, Charles Tyldesley Rhodes was admitted to the school [FN1]:
Charles, son of the late C. Rhodes, gent., Knutsford, Cheshire (9) 20 October 1820
"Charles Tyldesley, son of Charles William and Mary Ann Rhodes, baptized on the 22nd day of January 1812." Par. Reg.
The family removed from Knutsford many years ago.
Charles William Rhodes was from New Providence, one of the Bahama Islands. Intriguingly, on 22 February 1832, when Charles Tyldesley Rhodes would have been aged 21, the birth of a Charles Tyldesley Rhodes Sands was recorded at New Providence.

1. The Admission Register of the Manchester School Vol III 1807-1837, Editor: Jeremiah Finch Smith, 1874 (Chetham Society Vol 1874) 

Thursday 19 September 2013

Locomotive Engine Boiler Explosion — Daniel Tyldesley 1847


From the Liverpool Mercury for Tuesday 29 June 1847:
ACCIDENT ON THE NORTH UNION RAILWAY — BURSTING OF A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE BOILER
Yesterday morning, about eleven o'clock, an accident occurred to a luggage train on the North Union Railway, nearly half a mile on the Preston side of the Wigan station, in the bursting of the boiler of the engine, the serious injury of the fireman, and the detention of several passenger trains, full an hour beyond the usual time. At the time stated, the engine was attached to a train of twenty-nine carriages, some of them laden with goods, and was proceeding up the incline, a little in advance of Messrs. Blundell's coal works, at rather a slow pace, when the explosion was heard and felt by all within a considerable distance of the spot, the ground near appearing to shake with the violence of the report. Fortunately no life was lost; but it was soon ascertained that the fireman, whose name is Daniel Tyldesley, from Liverpool, was seriously, if not very dangerously, injured. He had received a severe cut in the forehead, and was much scalded on the face and arms. The boiler and portions of the engine, and also the luggage from the neighbouring carriages, were scattered about the line in every direction; and the road in consequence rendered impassable for trains until a clearance could he effected. The train northward, due at Wigan at twenty-eight minutes past eleven, a.m., and the trains for Liverpool and Manchester, due at Wigan at fifteen minutes past eleven, a.m., were accordingly detained at the spot until the passengers and luggage could be exchanged from one train to the other, and vice versa. The train to Liverpool and Manchester, due at Wigan at ten minutes past two, p.m, and the train northwards, due at Wigan thirty-three minutes past two, p.m., were also detained during a similar exchange. Tyldesley, the fireman, immediately after the accident was brought to the Wigan station, where Mr. Daglish, surgeon, was soon in attendance, dressed his wounds, and the poor fellow was afterwards conveyed to an inn near, where he now lies, with every reasonable hope of a recovery.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Bigamous Billy-Go-Faster — John Tyldsley 1870


From the Bristol Mercury of Saturday 19 November 1870:
BIGAMY BY AN EX-LOCAL PREACHER
On Monday a middle-aged man, named John Tyldesley, alias John Fairhurst, alias "Billy-go-Faster," described as of Holliwell, was charged at the county session-room, Bolton, with committing bigamy. Witnesses were called to prove that prisoner was married 13 years ago, at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel, Farnworth, by the Rev. Mr. Bond, to Eleanor Eatock,with whom he lived some time afterwards, and who was still alive. Alice Crompton, an inmate of the workhouse, said she was married to prisoner in January, 1860, at Holy Trinity church, by the Rev. Joseph Lowe. Prisoner left her on the 13th December, 1867, and went to live in Bury. Previous to her marriage prisoner told her that he had been married before, but that his first wife was dead. After an absence of six months prisoner returned to Bolton, and again lived with the witness until November, 1868, when witness left him, taking her children with her. Certificates of prisoner's first and second marriages were produced. It was stated that he had been a local preacher at Bury. Prisoner was committed for trial, the magistrates accepting the bail of Messrs. George and John Hesketh, cotton spinners, Summerfield, Great Lever, in whose employ the prisoner had formerly been.
The excellent Lancs OPC provides transcripts of the records of both the marriage and the purported second marriage. It appears from the 1857 record that the bigamist was John Tyldsley—a spelling most common in the Bolton area. For the purported second marriage he used the spelling "Tinsley", derived from the local dialect pronunciation of "Tyldesley":
Marriage: 15 Jul 1857 Wesleyan Methodist, Farnworth, Lancashire, England
John Tyldsley - 20, Tin Plate Worker, Bachelor, Over DarwenEleanor Eattock - 21, Weaver, Spinster, Bridgewater St. Farnworth
    Groom's Father: James Tyldsley, Weaver
    Bride's Father: Jonathan Eattock, Book Keeper
    Witness: Samuel Battersby; Sarah Ellen Schofield
    Married by Certificate by: William Bond Minister, John Hall Registrar
    Register: Marriage 1852 - 1895, Entry 22
    Source: LDS Film 1538360 
Marriage: 8 Jan 1860 Holy Trinity, Bolton, Lancashire, England
John Tinsley - 23, Tinsmith, Bachelor, Gt Bolton
Alice Crompton - (X), 29, Dresser, Widow, Gt Bolton
    Groom's Father: James Tinsley, Silk Weaver
    Bride's Father: Thomas Winstanley, Weaver
    Witness: Adam Platt, (X); Mary Platt
    Married by Banns by: Joseph Lowe
    Register: Marriages 1857 - 1862, Page 121, Entry 242
    Source: LDS Film 1966125 

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Peter Tyldesley and the Crimean War 1854


From the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser for Saturday 14 October 1854:
Curious Table Cloth.—We had shown to us the other day a table cloth, which is the result of considerable skill, and no small amount of patience on the part of a soldier at present with the British forces in the Crimea. The cloth is composed entirely of pieces of woollen cloth, of various colours, cut into devices and diamonds, and neatly sewn together; in some instances embroidery being introduced. In the centre is a star, worked in gold thread, bordered by the rose, shamrock and thistle. But out of the cloth are representations of poultry and various animals, such as the dog, the wolf, the fox, horses &c., all very correctly formed; a colour serjeant's badge, the flags and banners of the 20th Regiment [FN1], and various other embellishments, which are dispersed over various part of the table cover. The whole is the work of Peter Tyldesley, formerly a power-loom weaver, and the son of Henry Tyldsley of Wood-street West, Stockport.  It was the occupation of the leisure hours of the soldier whilst with his regiment in Montreal, in Canada, he being a private of the 20th Regiment. It is a very creditable performance, and evinces considerable taste.

1. Later the Lancashire Fusiliers, then the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and now part of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Monday 16 September 2013

Albert Tyldesley 1909


From the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser of Tuesday 7 December 1909:
WHIRLED ROUND SHAFTING
MANCHESTER MAN'S TRAGIC DEATH.
Mr. Albert Tyldesley, cousin of the Lancashire cricketer, J. T. Tyldesley, and employed by a Manchester firm of ventilating engineers, met with a shocking death yesterday. He went to Fieldhouse Mills of Messrs. John Bright Bros., Rochdale, to inspect a new ventilating trunk which the firm has been putting in at the dye works, and while doing so his clothing was caught in the shafting, and he was whirled round. He was released as quickly as possible, and conveyed to the Infirmary. His injuries were, however, of such a serious nature that he died in the ambulance carriage on the way to the Infirmary.
Mr Tyldesley was well known at Worsley, where he lived, and as a member of the Roe Green Cricket Club he accomplished many clever performances with the bat. He was also connected with the Roe Green Football Club, and usually played outside left. 

Sunday 15 September 2013

Thomas Tyldesley 1776-1798


Thomas Tyldesley 1776-1798 was the son of Thomas Tyldesley 1733-1783 and Catherine Quayle 1741-1780—and therefore the brother of Margaret Tyldesley 1774-1850. He was baptised at Arbory on 19 November 1776. 

The death of Thomas Tyldesley, returning from Saint Vincent, was reported in the Oracle and Daily Advertiser on Tuesday 25 September 1798:
On the 11th inst. on board the Elizabeth, on his passage from St Vincent's, aged twenty-two, Mr Thomas Tyddesley, of the Friary, in the Isle of Man.

Saturday 14 September 2013

Margaret Greetham née Tyldesley 1850


Image reproduced courtesy of Manx National Heritage

On 28 December 1850, the Manx Sun reported the death of Margaret Greetham née Tyldesley:
DEATHS.
On Friday, the 13th instant, at Derby Square, Douglas, Isle of Man, in the 77th year of her age, Margaret Tyldesley, relict of the late Benjamin Greetham. Esq., of Liverpool: she was last of the ancient name of Tyldesley. The family of the Tyldesley's are nearly connected with the house of Derby, and many of the ancient families on this Island. Richard J. Greetham, Esq.. of Nunclose, near Carlisle, her oldest and only son, the present proprietor ot the Friary and other estates, which have descended in a direct line for 400 years, now intends to take the name of one of his ancestors, Richard Thurston De Tyldesley, who was a member of the House of Keys, in the year 1422.

A further report appeared in the Westmorland Gazette on 4 January 1851:
Deaths
On the 13th ult. in Derby Square, Douglas, Isle of Man, aged 77 years, Margaret Tyldesley, relict of the late J. Greetham, Esq. of Liverpool, great grand-daughter of the late Edward Stanley, Esq., of Preston and Ribbleton first bart. of Bickerstaff and descendant of Sir Thomas Tyldesey and Morley, who from his firm adherence to the Derby family and the royal cause, was killed at the battle of Wigan Fane in 1651.
Some of the details in these reports are incorrect. Richard J Greetham did not have an ancestor named Richard Thurston De Tyldesley.  Margaret Tyldesley's connection with the Stanleys appears to be that her great-grandmother was Ann Stanley, who married Richard Tyldesley.  So far as is known Edward Stanley was not her great-grandfather. And whilst Margaret Tyldesley was undoubtedly related to Sir Thomas Tyldesley 1612-1651 she was not a descendant—on the available evidence it is most likely that she was a fourth cousin, four times removed.

Doug Greetham has carried out detailed research into the Greetham family history, and has identified 6 children of the marriage between Benjamin Greetham and Margaret Tyldesley:
  1. Richard James Greetham, born about 1797, died 2 July 1853 (married first Sarah Cawkwell in 1822 and second Sarah White).
  2. Thomas Tyldesley Greetham, born in 1799, died 23 July 1801.
  3. Benjamin Greetham, born 23 April 1801, died 26 June 1849, (married to Elizabeth Evans).
  4. Mary Anne Greetham, born 29 May 1803.
  5. Catharine Greetham, born about 1804.
  6. Robert Quayle Greetham, born about 1805, died 1 May 1848.

Friday 13 September 2013

Sir Thomas Tyldesley — September 1648


Mercurius Elencticus, a Royalist newsbook,  reported in September 1648 [FN1] that Sir Thomas Tyldesley 1612-1651 was one of the commanders of a force of 5,000 men marching to Berwick-on-Tweed via Barnard Castle:
By Letters from the North it is certified, That Monroe Marched over at Hexam with 7000 compleat Horse and Foot, and so for Berwicke: That the English under Sir Philip Musgrave, Sir Hen: Bellingham, Sir Tho: Tildley, Sir Rob: Strickland, and Sir William Huddleston, etc. are 5000 more, all well Armed, who Marched by the way of Bernards Castle, and so likewise to Berwicke; where they were all to joyne with the E. of Calender's forces, making in all 22000...

1. Mercurius Elencticus, 13 September - 20 September 1648

Thursday 12 September 2013

The Isle of Man to Guadeloupe — Richard Tyldesley 1772-1794


Image reproduced courtesy of Manx National Heritage

Richard Tyldesley was born at Arbory on the Isle of Man and baptised on 18 December 1772. The eldest son of Thomas Tyldesley 1733-1783 and Catherine Quayle who had married on 20 August 1771, Richard Tyldesley is directly descended from the Lancashire Tyldesleys and is one of the last members of the original Manx branch of the family.

On 20 February 1793, Richard Tyldesley joined the Fencibles—the Royal Manx Corps of Fencible Men—with the rank of Ensign. A W Moore notes that Mrs Lucy Quayle of Castletown informed Richard's sister—Miss Elizabeth Tyldesley of the Friary, then a girl at school in England—of this development in a letter dated 21 March 1793:
"Our gay doings with Volunteers you have doubtless heard of, their uniform is a blue jacket, edg'd with scarlet, white waistcoat and trousies, a round hatt with two smart black feathers, the hatt wore to one side, could you get, a glimpse of Mr Robert Quayle and my good man in their uniform, you can't think how well they look. There are three companies of Royal Manx Fencibles rais'd by the Duke of Athol, a hundred men in each. Yr. Brother has got an ensighncy; the Lieutenant-Governor is his Captain. [FN1] This makes us a little lively here at present. . . Richard is quite the Beau among the ladies." [FN2]
Richard Tyldesley's commission was also reported in True Briton on 21 May 1793:

ROYAL MANX CORPS OF FENCIBLE MEN.
John Duke of Athol to be Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant.
Lieutenant-Governor Alexander Shaw, or the Lieutenant-Governor for the time being, to be Major. 
To be CAPTAINS.
John Taubman, Esq.
Lord Henry Murray.

To be CAPTAIN-LIEUTENANT.
Cacot Heywoode, Esq.
To be LIEUTENANTS.
Charles Crigan, Gent.
Caesar Tobin, Gent.

Thomas Christian, Gent.

Mark Quayle, Gent.
Thomas Moore, Gent.

To be ENSIGNS.
Richard Tyldesley, Gent.
John Christian, Gent.
Alexander Murray, Gent.
To be ADJUTANT.
Thomas Moore, Gent.
To be SURGEON.
Patrick Scott, Gent.
On 19 September 1793, Richard Tyldesley transferred to the 39th Regiment of Foot [FN3]. Perhaps in anticipation of a likely posting abroad, he made a will on 3 October 1793 which is now held by the National Archives. Richard Tyldesley was subsequently sent to the Island of Guadeloupe. The London Gazette published on 6 December 1794, recorded that he had been appointed Lieutenant:


Unknown, presumably, to the War Office, Richard Tyldesley had died on 21 July 1794. A memorial to him (pictured above) was later installed at St Mary's Chapel in Castletown with the following inscription:
SACRED
to the Memory of
RICHARD TYLDESLEY Esqr
of the Friery in this Island
a Lieutenant in the 39t Regt
who died at Guadaloupe the 21st of July 1794
Aetatis 21 Years
He lived highly esteemed.
And died much lamented.
The memorial features the Arms of the Lancashire Tyldesleys—the three molehills.

At the time of his death, Richard Tyldesley was aged just 21, unmarried and with no children. He left £5 to his brother, Thomas Tyldesley, and his remaining goods and property to his sister, Margaret Tyldesley 1774-1850. This wealth passed to the Greetham family with the marriage of Margaret Tyldesley and Benjamin Greetham on 14 November 1795.

Some 4 years after Richard Tyldesley's death, his brother, Thomas Tyldesley 1776-1798 died on the return voyage from Saint Vincent. And his distant cousin Charles Tyldesley 1774-1808 was to die on the island of Marie Galante, adjoining Guadeloupe.

1. Lord Henry Murray 1767–1805 was the fourth son of the 3rd Duke of Atholl and served as the fourth Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man.
2. Douglas 100 Years Ago, Editor: A W Moore, Reprinted from The Manx Sun,1904.
3. The Royal Manx Fencibles, Bertram Edward Sargeaunt, 1947

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Ann Cecilia Tyldesley 1687-1736


Ann Cecilia Tyldesley's signature

Ann Tyldesley 1687-1736 was the daughter of Thomas Tyldesley 1657-1715, the Diarist, and thus the younger sister of Dame Mary Michael Tyldesley 1684-1759. Like her sister, Ann joined the nuns of the English Benedictine Abbey of Ghent in Flanders.  Ann took the name Cecilia and was professed in 1707. On 12 July 1730, she was elected Abbess:
Proces Verbal of the Election of the Lady Cecilia Tyldesley
9th Abbess of Ghent, 1730.
(From the original document, preserved in the Episcopal Archives at Ghent).
[Translation—the original Latin appears below]
We bear witness to the following : In the monastery of the noble English nuns of the Order of St. Benedict in this city of Ghent; in the presence of the Very Reverend Messrs. William de Potter and Peter le Bolenger, canons of the Cathedral Church of St. Bavo, specially deputed for the purpose by the Chapter of the said Church (the See being vacant), assisted by the Very Rev. Patrick Everard, canon of the church of St Pharailde, in the presence also of the Rev. James Whetenhall, confessor of the Monastery, and the Rev. Father Philip Wright of the Society of Jesus, on this 12th day of July 1730.
On this same day, after the celebration of a mass " de Spiritu Sancto " by the first named of these deputies, and a sermon having been preached to the nuns about the election of a new abbess, in the place of the Rev. Lady Mary Knatchbull lately deceased, all proceeded to the said election according to the form laid down by the holy Council of Trent and the constitutions of this monastery in accordance therewith. In the first scrutiny Dame Mary Magdalen (Lucy) had four votes, Dame Winefride (Lucy) seven, Dame Cecilia Tyldesley eleven ; and since in this scrutiny, by the constitutions there was no election, they proceeded to the second scrutiny, in which Dame Mary Magdalen Lucy had two votes, Dm Winefride Lucy, six, and Dm Cecilia Tyldesley fourteen, and since even then there was no election, they proceeded to the third scrutiny, according to the same constitutions of this monastery, by ballot; and firstly for Dm Mary Magdalen Lucy, who had only two suffrages ; then they balloted for Dm Winefride Lucy, who had seven lastly did they ballot for Dm Cecilia Tyldesley who had fifteen votes, therefore the said Dm Cecilia Tyldesley was canonically elected Abbess of this monastery, which election we, the above-named deputies, declared to be canonical, and confirmed accordingly, commanding the religious Dames to obey her as their lawful Abbess, all having been done as above said.

W. de Potter, Priest.
P. le Bolenger, Priest.
Attestamus in monasterio nobilissimarum monialium Anglarum ordinis Sti. Benedicti, in hac civitate Gandavensi, coram Reverendis admodum Dominis Gulielmo de Potter et Petro le Bolenger (Euenjote) cathedralis Ecclesiae Sti. Bavonis canonicis a Capitulo dicte Ecclesiae (sede vacante) ad infrascripta specialiter deputatis, assistente Reverendo admodum Domino Patritio Everard canonico Ecclesiae Ste Pharaildis presentibus Revdo Dno Jacobo Whetenhall monasterii confessorio et Revde Patre Philippo Wright Societatis Jesu hac 12 Julii 1730.
Eadem die post celebratam Missam de Spiritu Sancto per primo supranominatum deputatum, et habito ad religiosas sermone circa electionem novae Abbatissae in locum nuper ; defunctae reverendae Dominae Marias Knatchbull, processum fuit juxta formam Sancti Concilii Tridentini et constitutiones hujus Monasterii eidem conformes, ad supradictam electionem in qua in primo scrutinio Domina Maria Magdalena (Lucy) habuit quatuor suffragia, Dna Winefrida (Lucy) septem, Dna Cecilia Tyldesley undecim, et e mus per hoc scrutinium juxta constitutiones non esset electio, processum fuit ad secundum scrutinium, in qua Dna Maria Magdalena Lucy habuit duo suffragia, Dna Winefrida (Lucy) sex, et Dna Cecilia Tyldesley quatuordecim, adeoque turn adhuc non esset electio, processum est ad tertium scrutinium, juxta easdem constitutiones hujus monasterii ballottando, ac jamprimis pro Dna Maria Magdalena Lucy, quae habuit tantum duo suffragia; deinde balottatum fuit pro Dna Winefrida Lucy quae habuit septem suffragia. Denique balottatum fuit pro Diia Cecilia Tyldesley quae habuit quindecim suffragia, adeoque dicta Dna Cecilia Tyldesley canonice electa fuit Abbatissa hujus monasterii ; quam electionem nos supradicti deputati canonicam esse declaramus et confirmamus, mandantes Dominis monialibus eidem uti legitime suae Abbatissae obedire, ut supra actum. [FN1]

G. de Potter, Pbr.
P. le Bolenger, Pbr.

1. Annals of the English Benedictines of Ghent, 1894

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Thomas and James Tyldesley at St Omers College 1670


In 1979 Geoffrey Holt published St Omers and Bruges Colleges 1593-1773, A Biographical Dictionary.(1)  Holt outlines the history of the school:
The English Jesuit school at Saint-Omer in Spanish Flanders — known in England as St Omers College — was founded in 1593 by Fr Robert Persons. It remained there until 1762 when, in consequence of attacks on the Jesuits in France which culminated in their destruction in 1764, the College (Saint-Omer being then French territory) was moved to Bruges in the Austrian Netherlands and stayed there until the suppression of the Society of Jesus by papal brief in 1773. It was then continued at Liege under the protection of the prince bishop as the English Academy until it was moved to Stonyhurst in 1794 as a result of the advance of the French Revolutionary armies into the Low Countries.
A range of sources are used by Holt to identify approximately 4,300 boys who were educated at the school—including Col Thomas Tyldesley 1657-1715, the Diarist, and his younger brother, James Tyldesley of Liverpool:
TYLDESLEY or TILSLEY, James. S.O. 1668-70 (or later) (5). ?s. of Edward and Anne (Fleetwood) of Myerscough Lodge, near Garstang, Lancashire. ?br of Thomas. (CRS.6/213-4n; Tyld.102). 
TYLDESLEY, Thomas. S.O. c.1670 (Gil.5/560). b.1657. s. of Myerscough Lodge, near Garstang and Fox Hall, near Blackpool, Lancashire. ?br. of James. m. (1) Eleanor Holcroft (2) Agatha Winckley. d. 1715, Myerscough Lodge. (CRS.6/213-4n; Gil.5/560; Tyld.7, 183).
(5) British Museum. Add. Mss. 9354 — Registrum nominum eorum qui honore digni sunt habiti in Audomarensi Anglorum Gymnasio ab anno 1622 usque ad annum 1670
(Tyld. 7, 102, 183) Tyldesley, T. The Tyldesley Diary, 1712-4. ed. Gillow, J. and Hewitson, A. (1873)
(Gil.5/560)  Gillow, J. Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics (1885-1902)

1. St Omers and Bruges Colleges 1593-1773, A Biographical Dictionary, Catholic Record Society, Volume 69, 1979.