Thomas
Tyldesley 1657-1715
Thomas
Tyldesley, the son of Edward
Tyldesley, of Tyldesley,
Morleys, Myerscough Lodge, and Fox Hall, Lancashire,
and grandson of Sir Thomas Tyldesley,
the famous royalist general was born on 3 April 1657. An
ardent Jacobite, much is known of his life,
as he left a diary for the years 1712-1714.
Thomas
Tyldesley was educated at St. Omer's. In 1679 he married
Eleanor,
daughter and coheiress
of Thomas Holcroft, of Holcroft Hall, Lancashire. They
had ten children: Edward born 1679, Fleetwood born 1682,
Mary born 1684, Ann born 1685, Eleanor born 1686, Ann born
1687, Thomas born 1688, James born 1690, Frances and Elizabeth.
By this marriage the Tyldesleys were to acquire Holcroft
Hall, which was only sold on the death of Thomas' grandson,
James Tyldesley.
Curiously the marriage also brought the Tyldesleys a connection
with Thomas Blood. Blood had switched to the
Parliamentarian
side in the Civil War and notoriously attempted to
steal
the crown jewels
on 9 May 1671. Mary Holcroft, Eleanor's aunt, had married
Thomas Blood in 1650.
After
Eleanor's death in 1693, Thomas Tyldesley married
Agatha, daughter of
William Winckley of Banister Hall.
They had three children, Charles born 1696, Agatha and
Winifred born 1701.
Upon the revolution of 1688 Thomas Tyldesley took part
in a movement in support of James II. at Chester. However,
when William of Orange landed in Brixham with a Dutch
army on 5 November 1688, support for James II waned.
On 11 December 1688 James
II was apprehended in Kent attempting to flee the country.
He was allowed to leave for France on 23 December
1688 and was granted a palace and a pension by Louis
XIV. William and his wife Mary, daughter of James II,
were crowned together at Westminster Abbey on
11 April 1689.
Thomas
Tyldesley continued to hope for the return of James II
and was clearly seen as a threat by William and Mary.
In May 1690 a proclamation was issued naming him and
two other members of the family:
Whereas Their Majesties have
received Information upon Oath, That the Persons herein
after particularly named,
have Conspired together, and With divers other Disaffected
Persons, to raise rebellion, and for that purpose have
made Provision of Arms, and have Listed themselves in
several Regiments, Troops and Companies, under pretence
of Commissions from the late King James; Their Majesties
have thought fit, by the Advice of Their Privy Council,
to Issue out this Their Royal Proclamation, and do hereby
strictly Charge and Command Thomas Tildesley, Moleneux,
Tempest, Towneley, Garlington, Standish, Gerrards, Thomas
Tildesley, Son Ralph Tildesley... and every of them,
forthwith to Render themselves to some one of Of Their
Majesties Justices of the Peace. And in case they do
not Render themselves, There Majesties do hereby Require
and Command all Their Loving Subjects to Discover, Take
and Apprehend them wherever they may be found, and to
carry them before the next Justice of the Peace or Chief
Magistrate, who are hereby required to Commit them to
the next Goal, there to remain until they be delivered
by due course of Law. And Their Majesties do hereby Require
the said Justice or other Magistrate, immediately to
give Notice thereof to Them or Their Council. And Their
Majesties do hereby give Notice to all Persons that shall
Conceal the Persons above named, or any of them, or be
Aiding or Assisting in the Concealing of them, or furthering
their Escape, That they shall be Proceeded against for
such their Offence with the utmost Severity according
to Law.
A second proclamation
appears to have been issued on the same day in similar
terms, and named the three Tyldesleys along with additional
names
and
details.
Thomas
Tyldesley nevertheless remained unswerving in his loyalties.
A secret
chamber was constructed at Fox Hall where it was intended
that James II could be concealed on his hoped-for return.
Fishwick gives further details:
[Fox Hall] was erected by
Edward Tyldesley of Morley (the son of Sir Thomas Tyldesley,
slain at Wigan, Lancashire,
in 1651) in the time of Charles II. It was originally
a small three-gabled building, with a small tower at
one side of it. The walls were made of sea-shore cobble
stones, and were of great thickness. Over the main entrance
was engraved " Seris factura nepotibus," a
motto which Edward Tyldesley expected would be his own,
as his name was down on the list of " Knights of
the Royal Oak," which Charles II. at one time proposed
to create as a means of rewarding the faithful supporters
of the Stuarts. Over the south gateway was inserted a
stone on which was chiselled a pelican feeding her young,
round which was inscribed “Tantum valet amor regiae
et patriae." Inside the hall was a priest's hiding
place, long known as the "king's cupboard," tradition
saying that it was erected for King James (who, however,
never came there) during the plots of 1690 and 1694.
During the rebellion of 1715 Fox Hall was a private rendezvous
for Popish recusants.
Fox Hall was the first substantial building on what was
then deserted coastline but is now Blackpool. For many
years parts of its structure remained in the form of a
public house owned by Seeds and later by Bass. Despite
its significance in Blackpool's history it was demolished
in the 1990s and replaced with a building of no interest
or merita. Adjoining streets - Tyldesley
Road and Rigby Road - give some pointer to the past.
Both Thomas Tyldesley and other members of the family
participated in the Mock Corporation of Walton Le Dale,
which was founded in 1701 and in its early years had strong
Jacobite connections. Dr Thomas Tyldesley - probably the
Diarist - was "Tester" to the Corporation from 1704 to
1706. John Tyldesley was "Sergeant" in 1707 and Thomas
Tyldesley was "Slut-kisser" in 1708.
In 1713,
Thomas Tyldesley notes that he paid 2s 6d to have
repairs
carried out to the monument to his grandfather, Sir Thomas Tyldesley:
October
9.—Alday in the towne.
Gave Hen. Hosfeild towards reparing the stone brooken,
weh
was
the inscription
on ye monimentt ffor Sr Tho : Tyldesley, 2s. 6d.
In the eivening went to Mr. Beardsworth's, who went
in
quest of a prisonr runaway; spent 1s. in wine, and
4d. in ale; soe too beed.
The
diary also records his preparations for the 1715 rebellion.
Towards the
end of 1713 he had his sword and gun repaired:
25 September 1713 —Mr. Parkinson pd all
att Leigh ; ffrom thence to Manchestr ; spent 1s. with Mr.
Hunter and George Woods, and 6d. ffor my sword mending; thence
to Houlme.
31 October
1713 —Gave the servantts 4s.; soe to Wigan ;
pd 5s. 6d. ffor a gun stockeing and locking; spent
3s. 6d. on Doctr ffrances Wortington and ye gunsmith.
Queen Anne died on 1 August 1714. News of her death - long awaited as a possible
trigger for rebellion - reached Thomas Tyldesley on 4 August 1714. He joined
with friends to celebrate with a pig roast:
4 August
1714 —Went about 12 to meet Ned Winckley, younge
Lord, Gabr Hesketh, Hen. Whittingham, and Esqre Hadocke,
who brought the news that Queen A: dyed, Sunday morning
betwixt 7 and 8. Wee spent 2s. each, beeing invitted
to a pige feast. Soe to Lodge.
Thomas Tyldesley
died at Myerscough Lodge on 26 January 1715, aged
57 and was
buried at Garstang.
Unfortunately,
as reported by Dalya Alberge in The Times on 14
May 2007 and
29
December 2007 the manuscript of the Tyldesley Diary
was badly damaged whilst in the custody of the British
Library.
Further
information is available in the British Library's Press
Release of 23
May 2007 and the BBC report of 29
December 2007. The British Library has kindly agreed
to carry out conservation work on the manuscript, but has
refused to disclose how the damage occurred, citing the
Data Protection Act 1998.
References
1. The Tyldesley Diary. Personal Records of Thomas
Tyldesley (grandson of Sir Thomas Tyldesley the Royalist),
during the years 1712-13-14, Joseph Gillow and Anthony
Hewitson, Preston,
1873.
2. History of the Tyldesleys of Lancashire, John
Lunn, Altrincham 1966.
3. Thomas Tyldesley 1657-1715, Chapter 6 of English
Folk,
Professor Wallace Notestein, 1938
4. The History of the Parish of Bispham in the County
of Lancaster, Henry Fishwick, 1887
Notes
a. Craig Fleming at the Blackpool
Gazette has recently published three
pictures of Fox Hall, clearly showing the changes over
the years:
