The Machells of Crackenthorpe

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Crackenthorpe,
Surnames/tags: Machell Crackenthorpe

Crackenthorpe Hall

Reproduced From

Machell of Crackenthorpe

BY E. Bellasis, Lancaster Herald. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archeological Society
Vol. 3. Editor: Richard S. Ferguson. Printed By T. Wilson, Highate, Kendal. 1886.

"The antiquity of the Machell family is beyond dispute, and can be established by family papers, some of which are coeval with the Norman Conquest. Several writers, too, of note, add their testimony.

• In Holland's "Chronicles of England", Rogerus Malus Catulus occurs as vice-chancellor of England, temp. Richard I.
• In Lingard's "History of England", Henry VI is recorded as having taken refuge in the house of John Machell, of Crackenthorpe, after the battle of Hexam.
• Guillim, in his "Heraldry" makes honourable mention of two Machells, Hugh and Guy, who served at Tournay under Henry VIII.

Halth Malus Catulus, son of "Catulus de Castro Catulino", in Westmorland, had two sons, Ralph of Crackenthorpe and Umfridus of Lowther. The former, Ralph de Crackenthorpe, was father, by Eva his wife, to three sons, William, Galfrid, and Alexander.

The eldest, William Mauchell, styled also in one deed, William Malus Catulus, had two sons; William his heir, and Roger, vice chancellor of England, temp. Richard I., who was drowned off Cyprus during the Holy War. The elder son, William Malchael of Crackenthorpe, living temp. Henry II., was father, by Margarey, his wife of

John SCE Malchael, lord of Crackenthorpe, temp. King John, who was witness to the grant by Adam de Kirbythore of the advowson of that church to Robert de Veteripont. By Beatrix, his wife, he had a son and sucessor, Thomas Malchael, of Crackenthorpe, father of Walter Malchael, of Crackenthorpe, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Bauchamp, and left at his decease, 1369-70, a son, John Malchael, who married a daughter of Willliam Threlkeld, and was succeeded by his son, WIlliam Mauchel, of Crackenthorpe, who married Margaret, daughter of William Thornborough, and was father of John Mauchell, in whose house at Crackenthorpe, according to Lingard, King Henry VI. took refuge, after the battle of Hexam. This John, living in 1446, married Catherine Hudleston, and had issue,

John, John Machell, of Crackenthorpe, who married a daughter, Unknown (Wharton) Machell, of Gilbert Wharton, and died 1510-11, leaving issue,

I. HENRY, L.L.D., prebendary of York, and Rector of North Newbald. II. Philip, vicar of Lawrence, and rector of Croglin. III. Guy, Guy Machell, Lord of Crackenthorpe, who served at the siege of Tourney. He was ancestor of the Machells of Buckinghamshire. IV. Hugh, Hugh Machell, who also fought at Tourney, and was appointed deputy-warden of the west marches, under his son-in-law, Lord Wharton, 1536-7;, by Juliana, Julian (Bainbridge) Machall, his wife, he had, with other issue, a son, John, (Sir) KNT, MP for Horsham, (from whom derived, through a pedigree of 6 descents, Isabella Machell, heiress of the estates at Hills and Horsham, married, firstly, to Arthur Lord Ingram, 3rd Viscount Irwin.) and a daughter, Eleonora, Eleanora Machell, married to her cousin John Machell, John Machell. V. Ambrose, who married, and had a son, Henry.

The third son, WILLIAM MACHELL, was father of RICHARD MACHELL, Richard Machell, of Caldbeck, co. Cumberland, in 1554, whose son, JOHN MACHELL, John Machell, died in his father's lifetime, leaving by Eleanor, Eleanora Machell, his wife, daughter of Hugh Machell, Hugh Machell, of Crackenthorpe, a son,

HUGH MACHELL, Esq., Hugh Machell, who married Margaret, Margaret (Blenkinsop) Machell, daughter of Thomas Blenkinsop, of Hell beck, by Magdelen, his wife, daughter of Edwin Musgrave Esq., of Hartley Castle, and by her had, with several other sons and daughters, I. Henry, who served Charles II. in Ireland, and whose will is dated 1646. II. LANCELOT, Lancelot Machell III. John of Ardee, Ireland, who married Miss Ruxton, and had a son, John.

The second son, LANCELOT MACHELL, Esq., Lancelot Machell, of Crackenthorpe, first mayor of Appleby, after the restoration, destroyed in open court, Cromwell's charter, before he took office. This gentleman married Frances, Frances (Sandford) Machell, daughter of Sir Richard Sandford, of Howgill Castle, and by her had, with other issue

HUGH MACHELL, Esq., Hugh Machell, of Crackenthorpe, who married Margaret, Margaret (Beck) Machell, daughter of Thomas Beck, and died in 1643, leaving with other issue, LANCELOT, Lancelot Machell, his heir, and John, John Machell, whose son, Hugh, went to Ireland. The eldest son married Elizabeth, Elizabeth (Sleddall) Machell, daughter of Thomas Steddall, and died in 1681, leaving a son and heir, HUGH MACHELL, Esq., Hugh Machell, of Crackenthorpe, who married Anne, Ann (Nevinson) Machell, daughter of Edward Nevinson, Esq., of NewbyStones, and had two sons, I. LANCELOT, Lancelot Machell, his heir. II. JOHN, ancestor of the MACHELLS of Hollow Oak, Lancashire.

LANCELOT MACHELL, Lancelot Machell, of Crackenthorpe, married Deborah Baines, Deborah (Baines) Machell, and by her, who died November 6th 1767, left at his decease, May 7th, 1767, with several other children, a son and heir,

The Rev. RICHARD MACHELL, Richard Machell, of Crackenthorpe, rector of Asby, and Brougham, who married Mary Gibson, Mary (Gibson) Machell and had, with other children, who died young or unmarried, I. LANCELOT, Lancelot Machell, his heir, II. Christopher, Christopher Machell I. Anne, Ann (Machell) Heelis married to Thomas Heelis, Esq., Thomas Heelis.

The eldest son, LANCELOT MACHELL, Esq., Lancelot Machell, sold Crackenthorpe to the Lowthers, as above.

The present head of this family (in 1866) is CHRISTOPHER SCOTT MACHELL, Esq., Christopher Scott Machell, of Beverley, who derives from the Christopher just mentioned.

Arms. - Sa., three greyhounds courant in pale, arg. collared, or. Crest. - A stag's head, ppr., ducally gorged, or; the more ancient crest was a fleur de lys. The ancient hall of the Machell's is now a farmhouse. The village of Crackenthorpe is two miles north-west of Appleby. At Chapel Hill, in this township, are the ruins of an ancient chapel, said to have been dedicated to St Giles. Near the road which leads from Crackenthorpe to Kikby thore on the south side of the old roam road, is the site of an encampment, near to which is a small fort called Maiden Hold, which, according to the Rev. Mr. Machell, was a watchtower belonging to the camp.

In connection with a place bearing so many reminiscences of the Machell family we may mention the Rev. Thomas Machell, Thomas Machell, who, in the 17th century was, for several years, rector of Kirkbythore. This gentleman was a great antiquarian, and from his MSS. collections of the history of Westmorland, much valuable assistance has been derived by subsequent writers."

Written by Edward Bellasis, Lancaster Herald
and read at Appleby, September the 24th, 1885.

After Bellasis

In 1786, Lancelot Machell lost the Crackenthorpe estate. It was sold (some say lost in a game of cards) into the Lowther Estate.

In 1877, James Octavius Machell, a successful racehorse trainer, and winner of the Derby and the Grand National on several occasions, repurchased Crackenthorpe from the Earl of Lonsdale. 'The Captain' as James was called, proceeded to renovate and considerably extend Crackenthorpe Hall into a grand Victorian country House.

When 'The Captain' died in 1902, the house passed to his nephew, Colonel Percy Wilfred Machell CMG DSO.

Percy married Victoria Leopoldine Ada Laura (van Hohenlohe-Langenburg) Machell in 1905. Their wedding was attended by HM Albert Edward (Edward) "King Edward VII" of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

A fountain in the garden of Crackenthorpe Hall, was sculpted by Valda’s sister, Lady Feodora Gleichen.

Lady Valda, Feodora and a third sister, Helena, were bridesmaids to Edward’s eldest daughter, Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar "Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife" "Princess Louise", the Princess Royal, in 1889.

Tragically, Percy, who was a Colonel in the Lonsdale Battalion, was killed on 1 July 1916, the very first day of the Battle of the Somme.

The Crackenthorpe Estate was then again lost to the Machell family, when Lady Valda sold it in 1928. It was reported in the Accrington Observer, on Saturday, August 11, 1928, that Lady Valda had sold the Crackenthorpe Hall Estate, because of "the maintenance costs and circumstances at the time".

Thus ended almost a thousand years of the Machell family connection to Crackenthorpe Hall.

Percy's only son was Roger Victor Machell who was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army.

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Arms and Seals

Here's an image.

" Sable, three Grey-hounds currant in Pale, Argent, collared Or, is the coat-armour of the Ancient Family of the Machels of Crackenthorp in Westmorland; and is now born by "Lancelot Machel " Esq; Lieutenant of Horse to the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, a great Loyalist, and an expert soldier. This Name was writ Mauchael, or Mauchel, from the Conquest to the reign of King Henry the Eighth, at which Time those two valiant Warriers, Guy Mauchel of Crackenthorpe, Esq; and Hugh his Brother, engaged themselves in that Expidition against the French, in which the English were victorious, and took the almost impregnable City of Tourney, from whence they both returned, and were successively Lords of Crackenthorpe aforesaid. This Guy, though in many Dangers, yet died in his Bedabout the 27th of Henry the Eighth, but shewed an heroick and martial Spirit in bequeathing his ARms and Armour to his Sons in the very first Place as that whicj was most dear to him. And Hugh Machell, for his Valour, was, by King Henry the Eighth, deputed, with Sir Thomas Wharton, Warden of the West Marches of England, by a Warrant under the said Kings Sign Manual,
dated the 28th of June in the 29th Year of his Reign." ^[1]

Background

• Historical versions of the placename of the township of Crackenthorpe.

• An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Westmorland (London, 1936), pp. 70-72. (accessed 6 February 2023). Crackenthorpe British History Online

• Sir Bernard Burke, C.B., LL.D. "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of GB and Ireland, Fifth Edition, with Supplement and Addenda". London: Harrison, Pall Mall 1879. Vol II, pp 1027-1028. Machells of Crackenthorpe and Penny Bridge

• E. Ballasis. The Machells of Crackenthorpe. Reprinted for the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. Appended pedigree charts. Pg. 467–472. Kendal: T. Wilson 28 Highgate. 1886.

• R. Grigg. "Principal inhabitants of Cumberland and Westmorland: An alphabetical index of the names listed in Parson & White’sDirectory 1829". Compiled by Roland Grigg. Available on Amazon [1]

• Sharpe, T. E. A Royal Descent with other pedigrees and memorials ". Compiled by Thomasin, Elizabeth Sharpe. London: Mitchell and Hughes, Printers, 24 Wardour Street, w. 1875

• The manor of Crackenthorpe was held by the Machell family from the 12th century until it was sold by Lancelot Machell (d. 1788) to the Earl of Lonsdale in 1786. The hall was bought back in 1877 by Captain James Octavius Machell (d. 1902); to be sold out of family again in 1928. Crackenthorpe Hall was rebuilt 1685; and extended 1880s.

• Cresswell, Lionel. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (1933) Series: 2, Volume 33. Pg. 113-132. Crackenthorpe: Its Manor Hall and the Machell Family

• Possible medieval lineage [2]

• Society of Genealogists. Discussion on the seemingly insurmountable problems with the lineage of gateway James Cudworth [3]

• Pedigrees recorded at the Herald's Visitations of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland made by Richard St. George, Norroy, King of Arms in 1615, and by William Dugdale Norroy, King of Arms in 1666. Pgs. 21 and 87.

• Information about Crackenthorpe Hall [4]

• A history of Crackenthorpe Hall [5]

Links

• St Michael, Kirkby Thore1
• St Michael, Kirkby Thore2

Sources

1. ↑ A Dispaly of Heraldry. John Guillim, Pursuivant at Arms. The Sixth Edition. London: Printed by T.W. in St Paul's Church-Yard, in the Temple. 1724. Pg. 195. Google Book : (accessed 24 Jan 2024).