High Buston Hall
King John was known to have been in Alnwick on the 24th April 1209. Legend has it that on the following day, St Marks Day, he went hunting
in Aydon Forest and blundered into a bog. A Buston who was amongst the hunting party pulled him out and his act was
commemorated by a tradition imposed by the King which required that all sons of Free Burgesses go through the pool before they could claim.
the rights and privileges of the Borough. The custom was observed for centuries with much ceremonial.The unknown Buston's dauntless act was also the subject of a peom by one Rev. J C Hull.
It has 13 verses and the first is as follows::
Did yer lver hear
Hoo Buston o' Buston
Yence pulled the disgusting
King John- King John
Fras the freemens pond
[ just up sbynn Alnwick ]
Where he stuck in a panic
O rage and fear
Freemens Well is situated about 4 miles south west of Alnwick. It is a dirty stagnent pond nearly 20 yards in length and is supposed to dry up for much of the year but those
who were in charge of the ceremony took special care that it did not lose any of its depth or size as St Marks Day approached, The well was specially prepared for the ceremonial plunge with the placing of
obstructions to trap the heedless and unsuspecting novices into a miry plight.
The young freemen prepared for their immersion by dressing in a white smock and cap ornamented with white ribbons. The sons of the oldest freemen had the honour of taking the first leap and
when the signal was given they plunged into the well and swim through the pool with great labour and difficulty. After being well drenched and half sufficated in mud they were helped out of the puddle at the other
end to the amusement of the spectators.
Huard and Reginald of Budeslesdone( Another form of the name Buston as is Botleston) were accused in 1256 of breaking into a farm belonging to Robert of Wooler. Robert however raised a hue and cry and
chased them to Warkworth
William the son of the smith of Amble is recorded as slaying Roger of Botelston in 1279 after which he fled and was outlawed.
William of Botleston sometime in the 13th century gave land in Walkworth to Brinkburn Priory for the upkeep of an altar candle.
In 1636 the Surtees Society vol XKV [ 1895 ] records a notice from St Giles Parish Church, Durham: "Gulielmus Filius Gulielmi Buston Spurius Baptisabatur Secundo Die Januari 5 1636"
This translates as ' William son of William Buston, a bastard was baptised on the 2nd of January '
Thomas Buston born 1756 is my Great Great Great Grandfather. He resided at High Buston Hall and for many years was the
commissioner to the Duke of Northumberland. This was a senior administrative position with great responsibility and would give him high standing in the community..
However it was probably his marriage to Phillis, daughter and co- heiress of John
Storey on 11th January 1787, that led to the building of Buston Hall as on the death of her father he acquired the Learchild Estate near Alnwick and the great tithes if Beanley .
Thomas died in 1839 and is buried with his wife and a son outside the main door of St Laurence Church at Walkworth.
His portrait hangs at our home in the Cotswolds..
Thomas Buston Gravestone
The Newcastle Journal for Saturday, September 15, 1838 was in the Oak Box. It had been sent by post to Thomas Buston and has his name written at the top of the front page.
This edition contained a full account of the wreck of the Forfarshire steamer on the Fern Islands (Farne) the previous week with the loss of nearly 50 lives.
That was tragedy enough but what captured the interest of the country at the time was the heroic effect of the occupiers of the outer Fern Lighthouse who heard the cries of distress.
They were of course Miss Grace Darling and her father William who gallantly
conducted the frail skiff over the foaming billows to the spot where the wreck appeared . They rescued nine crew and passengers.
The very lengthy report makes fascinating reading and Thomas decided to keep his copy.
The Newspaper eventually came into the keeping of my grandfather Henry Buston who gave it on permanent loan to the Grace Darling Memorial Museum at Bamburgh.
However with the onset of the second world war the newspaper was returned to Henry in 1942 under cover of a letter also found in the Oak Box.
Eventually the newspaper and letter will be returned to the museum.
On 23rd September 1779 during the American War of Independence Captain John Paul Jones who had been lurking about the coast of Northumberland the whole day appeared off Alnmouth at 6pm. It is reported that he continued his course south after firing a cannon shot at the old church. The ball missed but grazing the
surface of a small field east of Wooden Hall struck the ground and rebounding three times, rent the east end of the farmstead from bottom to top. It weighs about 68 lbs and is in the possession of Roger Buston Esq of Buston, a country house about a mile and a half south west of Alnmouth. [ from Tomlinsons Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland ]
In 1826, the year of a contested political election where Thomas was standing an election ballad was adopted entitled 'Neutrality Broken'. In it occurred the following
couplet which alluded to the 15 generations of the Buston family.
"Oh Tommy! Oh Tommy! thou last of fifteen
Of the Bustons of Buston so noble and lean".
The sandstone rock immediately above the bridge at Warkworth and which is now included in the grounds of Pinegarth was formally known as Cuddys Crag owing to the towns donkeys' collecting there for shelter in stormy weather. One night a
party and ball was being held at Buston Hall when the bell rang and the door being opened a number of these donkeys whose riders had their faces blackened came right into the ballroom, filed round the amazed guests and passed out again without doing any damage, although some ladies fainted. [ from "Walkworth and its Castle" by George Thomson ]
William Thomas Buston, born in 1860 sailed for Virginia on the 31st May 1883 in the S.S. Sardinia. He died there aged 27 years. An entry in the "Death Book" notes the event.
Francis Forster who was a neighbour living
at Buston Farm in High Buston and a letter dated October 19th 1816 from him to Thomas Buston was found in the Oak Box..
It is a somewhat rambling letter mainly about his son, also Francis, who was not paying the rent for the farm he occupied or an annual allowance to his sister. The mounting
debts are a great worry to his father who is facing the threat of having to sell his estate at High Buston where he was looking forward to a comfortable retirement.
There was evidently discord between father and son and he is writing what may be
described as a begging letter to Thomas Buston, to whom the rents were owed, hoping for a stay of execution and maybe some help out of his predicament. It is in response to a letter from Thomas which would have brought the debts to the attention of Francis Snr.
The people named in the letter all figure in the Death Book and the Lambert would be John solicitor born in 1783.
Northumberland Place Margate Oct 19 1816.
My Dear Friend
Your good Sister and Daughter leave Kingsgate on Monday Morning and although they will explain all there is to you--- yet I cannot defer writing to you on the subject of Buston which is ever the first of my thoughts waking & the last going to bed I received your kind letter dated the 10th of September and have read it often over I much fear as you do that Mr Clutterbuck has not paid his daughter any interest for he told me before Francis claimed that he could give her nothing in his lifetime but would allow her 75 per annum I fear this she has never had but Francis never communicated an atom of anything to me I fear by what you say Francis is going on but badly although he is thought saving & for there must be some vent by which he gets rid of his money I am sensible the times are wretched but they can want but very little to life on besides the perquisites on the farm.
Since writing to you I mean after seeing yours not wishing to make any noise in the county I wrote to old Mr Lambert requesting him in confidence to ask Mr Bailey how much he thought the estate might fetch by private contract, Mr Bailey told him for answer to take from 25 to 30 Pcent from his valuation namely £1000 a year which reduced it £700 ,100 lower than Tates valuation and suppose 22 to 23 years purchase it might fetch 16 to 17000£ but at other times it might be greatly sought after at a much higher price for people now must be controled by their want of means by this I think it will be folly to offer it for sale at present as a year or two may make a material difference in the value of land
Now after perusing & reperusing your letter the question is, as I cannot in these distressing times keep two houses without the means and as my son is so backward in all his proceedings which as I better do as I must sell my premises here which your sister will tell you are very complete Had I then better retire into a smaller house here or at a little distance from hence and take what rent my son chooses to send me till a good selling time came or had I better come down next may and take possession and carry on until such times as I could sell it but what is there to prevent Carmichel carrying it on for me as well as my son; he has been on it this 4 years but again if I could not make ends meet
I should be worse of than now but observe I do not wish to lay by anything but merely to live and pay expenses of farm, this is as much as I could expect at first it is very strange to me if so good a farm as Buston would not do this. How was it carried on in Anderson's time Dreadfully but yet he lived & earned a great deal of money I wish my good friend you would consult Mr Fernwick on this head again for surely you can communicate advise to me by letter without interfering between my son and me for nothing I shall transpire that you say I have written long age on this subject to Mr Clutterbuck as also to my son, from Clutterbuck I get no answer only that he is as bad as I am, and from my son
nothing but surprise to think of my coming to take it into my own hands, and that he can do better with it than me indeed he does very well with it himself & is undoing me every year he remains Knowledge of farmery is got by experience but I can be attentive till I get that experience but all our experience will not keep people honest so that the bestfarmer stands the same chance of being robbed as well as me I must be obliged I see by law to write to Lambert to give my son a regular notice to quit that I should necessity oblige me to retire to their estate. He can have no lawfull plea for not going off This mode of conduct make Clutterbuck came forward but all he can do with never prevent my selling this place which is not a very pleasant thing to me after takeing such pains to make it complete to spend the remainder of my days in, for it must inevitably be sold which will be just as painful to me as my son leaving Buston and which would not have been the case, had my rents been regular as I have been with all our economy not able to keep myself out of debt. Observe my debts are few but I cannot bear the idea of putting of my trades people merely because my son is not punctual which I fear will be the case as long as he holds Buston of a father Mrs Roberts will tell you many things that I have not told you after hearing what she has to say I hope old friendship for me & my family will prevent any delicacy on your part from giving me the true state of your mind as early as possible I must now conclude by hopeing you will all meet well and happily and that.you may always remain so is the sincere wish of your sincere friend
Francis Forster
NB I shall therefore abide by your & Fernwicks determination which as it has not the least to do between me & my son you can give candidly and sincerely whether it is better forme to retire to a smaller house here till such times as I can sell Buston or whether it will be better as I can get no rent of any consequence from Francis I had better come down and live on Buston till a better selling time may come by being candid on these & no questions you will perhaps confer a lasting comfort on me & mine and whatever happened no blame will be attached to you or Mr Fernwick
Thomas Buston Esq
High Buston
John Buston was one of the passengers lost from the SS Stella when it struck a reef near Guernsey on March 30th 1899. There is no other information available on John but he was one of 86 passengers who died when the ship sank 10 minutes after the collision.
Elizabeth Jane Buston born in 1807 was a descendent of Thomas Buston of Ferryhill, a vigorous cadet branch of the family. She married Thomas Crofton a farmer from Holywell near Brancepeth in 1836 and lived in a large house in West Street, Yarm, North Yorkshire. Named Crofton House it was sold in 1844 to Robert Southeran of Yarm. Thought to have been built in the reign of Queen Anne it continues as a residence to this day.
Elizabeth Brass born in 1682 married Roger Buston of Ferryhill, her second husband. Her first was John Brass of Merrington, now Kirk Merrington near Ferryhill, County Durham. Elizabeth was his second wife.
However what is interesting is that John Brass's three teenage children by his first wife Margaret were brutally murdered in January 1683 by a farm worker and it received much publicity at the time.
Elizabeth went on to live until she was 86 years of age but surprisingly was buried alongside her first husband John Brass and Margaret at St Johns Church Kirk Merrington.
It is doubtful that Elizabeth was the mother of Roger's three children and therefore I assume that she was his second wife who married him when she was over 50 years of age.
King John was known to have been in Alnwick on the 24th April 1209. Legend has it that on the following day, St Marks Day, he went hunting in Aydon Forest and blundered into a bog. A Buston who was amongst the hunting party pulled him out and his act was commemorated by a tradition imposed by the King which required that all sons of Free Burgesses go through the pool before they could claim. the rights and privileges of the Borough. The custom was observed for centuries with much ceremonial.The unknown Buston's dauntless act was also the subject of a peom by one Rev. J C Hull.
It has 13 verses and the first is as follows::
Hoo Buston o' Buston
Yence pulled the disgusting
King John- King John
Fras the freemens pond
[ just up sbynn Alnwick ]
Where he stuck in a panic
O rage and fear
Freemens Well is situated about 4 miles south west of Alnwick. It is a dirty stagnent pond nearly 20 yards in length and is supposed to dry up for much of the year but those who were in charge of the ceremony took special care that it did not lose any of its depth or size as St Marks Day approached, The well was specially prepared for the ceremonial plunge with the placing of obstructions to trap the heedless and unsuspecting novices into a miry plight.
The young freemen prepared for their immersion by dressing in a white smock and cap ornamented with white ribbons. The sons of the oldest freemen had the honour of taking the first leap and when the signal was given they plunged into the well and swim through the pool with great labour and difficulty. After being well drenched and half sufficated in mud they were helped out of the puddle at the other end to the amusement of the spectators.
Huard and Reginald of Budeslesdone( Another form of the name Buston as is Botleston) were accused in 1256 of breaking into a farm belonging to Robert of Wooler. Robert however raised a hue and cry and chased them to Warkworth
William the son of the smith of Amble is recorded as slaying Roger of Botelston in 1279 after which he fled and was outlawed.
William of Botleston sometime in the 13th century gave land in Walkworth to Brinkburn Priory for the upkeep of an altar candle.
In 1636 the Surtees Society vol XKV [ 1895 ] records a notice from St Giles Parish Church, Durham: "Gulielmus Filius Gulielmi Buston Spurius Baptisabatur Secundo Die Januari 5 1636"
This translates as ' William son of William Buston, a bastard was baptised on the 2nd of January '
Thomas Buston born 1756 is my Great Great Great Grandfather. He resided at High Buston Hall and for many years was the commissioner to the Duke of Northumberland. This was a senior administrative position with great responsibility and would give him high standing in the community..
However it was probably his marriage to Phillis, daughter and co- heiress of John Storey on 11th January 1787, that led to the building of Buston Hall as on the death of her father he acquired the Learchild Estate near Alnwick and the great tithes if Beanley .
Thomas died in 1839 and is buried with his wife and a son outside the main door of St Laurence Church at Walkworth.
His portrait hangs at our home in the Cotswolds..
The Newcastle Journal for Saturday, September 15, 1838 was in the Oak Box. It had been sent by post to Thomas Buston and has his name written at the top of the front page.
This edition contained a full account of the wreck of the Forfarshire steamer on the Fern Islands (Farne) the previous week with the loss of nearly 50 lives.
That was tragedy enough but what captured the interest of the country at the time was the heroic effect of the occupiers of the outer Fern Lighthouse who heard the cries of distress.
They were of course Miss Grace Darling and her father William who gallantly conducted the frail skiff over the foaming billows to the spot where the wreck appeared . They rescued nine crew and passengers.
The very lengthy report makes fascinating reading and Thomas decided to keep his copy.
The Newspaper eventually came into the keeping of my grandfather Henry Buston who gave it on permanent loan to the Grace Darling Memorial Museum at Bamburgh.
However with the onset of the second world war the newspaper was returned to Henry in 1942 under cover of a letter also found in the Oak Box.
Eventually the newspaper and letter will be returned to the museum.
On 23rd September 1779 during the American War of Independence Captain John Paul Jones who had been lurking about the coast of Northumberland the whole day appeared off Alnmouth at 6pm. It is reported that he continued his course south after firing a cannon shot at the old church. The ball missed but grazing the surface of a small field east of Wooden Hall struck the ground and rebounding three times, rent the east end of the farmstead from bottom to top. It weighs about 68 lbs and is in the possession of Roger Buston Esq of Buston, a country house about a mile and a half south west of Alnmouth. [ from Tomlinsons Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland ]
In 1826, the year of a contested political election where Thomas was standing an election ballad was adopted entitled 'Neutrality Broken'. In it occurred the following couplet which alluded to the 15 generations of the Buston family.
Of the Bustons of Buston so noble and lean".
The sandstone rock immediately above the bridge at Warkworth and which is now included in the grounds of Pinegarth was formally known as Cuddys Crag owing to the towns donkeys' collecting there for shelter in stormy weather. One night a party and ball was being held at Buston Hall when the bell rang and the door being opened a number of these donkeys whose riders had their faces blackened came right into the ballroom, filed round the amazed guests and passed out again without doing any damage, although some ladies fainted. [ from "Walkworth and its Castle" by George Thomson ]
William Thomas Buston, born in 1860 sailed for Virginia on the 31st May 1883 in the S.S. Sardinia. He died there aged 27 years. An entry in the "Death Book" notes the event.
Francis Forster who was a neighbour living at Buston Farm in High Buston and a letter dated October 19th 1816 from him to Thomas Buston was found in the Oak Box..
It is a somewhat rambling letter mainly about his son, also Francis, who was not paying the rent for the farm he occupied or an annual allowance to his sister. The mounting debts are a great worry to his father who is facing the threat of having to sell his estate at High Buston where he was looking forward to a comfortable retirement.
There was evidently discord between father and son and he is writing what may be described as a begging letter to Thomas Buston, to whom the rents were owed, hoping for a stay of execution and maybe some help out of his predicament. It is in response to a letter from Thomas which would have brought the debts to the attention of Francis Snr.
The people named in the letter all figure in the Death Book and the Lambert would be John solicitor born in 1783.
|
My Dear Friend Your good Sister and Daughter leave Kingsgate on Monday Morning and although they will explain all there is to you--- yet I cannot defer writing to you on the subject of Buston which is ever the first of my thoughts waking & the last going to bed I received your kind letter dated the 10th of September and have read it often over I much fear as you do that Mr Clutterbuck has not paid his daughter any interest for he told me before Francis claimed that he could give her nothing in his lifetime but would allow her 75 per annum I fear this she has never had but Francis never communicated an atom of anything to me I fear by what you say Francis is going on but badly although he is thought saving & for there must be some vent by which he gets rid of his money I am sensible the times are wretched but they can want but very little to life on besides the perquisites on the farm.
Since writing to you I mean after seeing yours not wishing to make any noise in the county I wrote to old Mr Lambert requesting him in confidence to ask Mr Bailey how much he thought the estate might fetch by private contract, Mr Bailey told him for answer to take from 25 to 30 Pcent from his valuation namely £1000 a year which reduced it £700 ,100 lower than Tates valuation and suppose 22 to 23 years purchase it might fetch 16 to 17000£ but at other times it might be greatly sought after at a much higher price for people now must be controled by their want of means by this I think it will be folly to offer it for sale at present as a year or two may make a material difference in the value of land Now after perusing & reperusing your letter the question is, as I cannot in these distressing times keep two houses without the means and as my son is so backward in all his proceedings which as I better do as I must sell my premises here which your sister will tell you are very complete Had I then better retire into a smaller house here or at a little distance from hence and take what rent my son chooses to send me till a good selling time came or had I better come down next may and take possession and carry on until such times as I could sell it but what is there to prevent Carmichel carrying it on for me as well as my son; he has been on it this 4 years but again if I could not make ends meet I should be worse of than now but observe I do not wish to lay by anything but merely to live and pay expenses of farm, this is as much as I could expect at first it is very strange to me if so good a farm as Buston would not do this. How was it carried on in Anderson's time Dreadfully but yet he lived & earned a great deal of money I wish my good friend you would consult Mr Fernwick on this head again for surely you can communicate advise to me by letter without interfering between my son and me for nothing I shall transpire that you say I have written long age on this subject to Mr Clutterbuck as also to my son, from Clutterbuck I get no answer only that he is as bad as I am, and from my son nothing but surprise to think of my coming to take it into my own hands, and that he can do better with it than me indeed he does very well with it himself & is undoing me every year he remains Knowledge of farmery is got by experience but I can be attentive till I get that experience but all our experience will not keep people honest so that the bestfarmer stands the same chance of being robbed as well as me I must be obliged I see by law to write to Lambert to give my son a regular notice to quit that I should necessity oblige me to retire to their estate. He can have no lawfull plea for not going off This mode of conduct make Clutterbuck came forward but all he can do with never prevent my selling this place which is not a very pleasant thing to me after takeing such pains to make it complete to spend the remainder of my days in, for it must inevitably be sold which will be just as painful to me as my son leaving Buston and which would not have been the case, had my rents been regular as I have been with all our economy not able to keep myself out of debt. Observe my debts are few but I cannot bear the idea of putting of my trades people merely because my son is not punctual which I fear will be the case as long as he holds Buston of a father Mrs Roberts will tell you many things that I have not told you after hearing what she has to say I hope old friendship for me & my family will prevent any delicacy on your part from giving me the true state of your mind as early as possible I must now conclude by hopeing you will all meet well and happily and that.you may always remain so is the sincere wish of your sincere friend Francis Forster NB I shall therefore abide by your & Fernwicks determination which as it has not the least to do between me & my son you can give candidly and sincerely whether it is better forme to retire to a smaller house here till such times as I can sell Buston or whether it will be better as I can get no rent of any consequence from Francis I had better come down and live on Buston till a better selling time may come by being candid on these & no questions you will perhaps confer a lasting comfort on me & mine and whatever happened no blame will be attached to you or Mr Fernwick Thomas Buston Esq High Buston |
John Buston was one of the passengers lost from the SS Stella when it struck a reef near Guernsey on March 30th 1899. There is no other information available on John but he was one of 86 passengers who died when the ship sank 10 minutes after the collision.
Elizabeth Jane Buston born in 1807 was a descendent of Thomas Buston of Ferryhill, a vigorous cadet branch of the family. She married Thomas Crofton a farmer from Holywell near Brancepeth in 1836 and lived in a large house in West Street, Yarm, North Yorkshire. Named Crofton House it was sold in 1844 to Robert Southeran of Yarm. Thought to have been built in the reign of Queen Anne it continues as a residence to this day.
Elizabeth Brass born in 1682 married Roger Buston of Ferryhill, her second husband. Her first was John Brass of Merrington, now Kirk Merrington near Ferryhill, County Durham. Elizabeth was his second wife.
However what is interesting is that John Brass's three teenage children by his first wife Margaret were brutally murdered in January 1683 by a farm worker and it received much publicity at the time.
Elizabeth went on to live until she was 86 years of age but surprisingly was buried alongside her first husband John Brass and Margaret at St Johns Church Kirk Merrington.
It is doubtful that Elizabeth was the mother of Roger's three children and therefore I assume that she was his second wife who married him when she was over 50 years of age.