17. John and Sarah Squire of the West Riding of Yorkshire

In 1422, despite being less than a year old, King Henry VI of England was crowned King of France. The arrangement worked surprisingly well until Henry, and his wife Margaret of Anjou, were old enough to get involved in affairs of state. In 1453, they lost France, except for Calais, and Henry had a nervous breakdown.

Unsurprisingly, by the time Henry had recovered his senses a year later, the Lord Protector, Richard of York, was considered a popular alternative. Things got out of hand, and thus began the Wars of the Roses. Richard's son Edward was imprisoned after the Battle of Northampton, and his wife fled to Scotland. The Lancastrians had raised an army in the North, and Richard was killed in the Battle of Wakefield; Edward was freed after the Battle of St Albans. London would not open its gates to the Lancastrians so they withdrew to York. In March 1461, Richard's son was crowned as a rival King, Edward IV.

Soon, Edward marched north towards York. After a skirmish at Ferrybridge, the Lancastrians fell back to Tadcaster; the Yorkists made camp at Sherburn in Elmet. The rival forces were huge, 50,000 to 100,000 men in total. This was between 2% and 5% of all the men in country at the time, a much higher proportion of those in their late 20s.

The Battle of Towton was fought on Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, on the open plain between the villages of Saxton and Towton, near Selby in Yorkshire. It was probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Soldiers fought for hours amidst a snowstorm. Up to half of them, perhaps 28,000, were killed in the battle and the ensuing rout of the Lancastrians. Showers of razor-sharp arrows rained down on the lightly armoured retreating men, and they were cut down by sword, mace and hammer. This was still less than ten years after the fall of Constantinople where cannons had ended the Eastern Roman Empire but early cannon were used here too; evidence has even been found of very early handguns. Henry fled and was deposed.

Towton Cross - Memorial to the Battle (my photo)

Our family may have lived on the edge of the battlefield - they certainly did within living memory. John Squire was born locally in 1540, his son James (1566), grandson Edward (1608) and great grandson Edward (1647) were born in Saxton. This was just two years after the Battle of Sherburn in Elmet where the village changed hands four times, culminating in the defeat of the last Royalist force in the First English Civil War.

Saxton (my photo)

The younger Edward's son was also Edward (1671, Lenerton), and died in Sherburn. The next four generations (two Edwards, a John and an Alfred) were born in Sherburn, probably all at Rest Park. Some years ago, I met an eight cousin online who had employed a professional researcher and confirmed much of the line. As a result, I met an eleventh cousin!

The Squire name was occupational and social, deriving from the Old French esquier, 'shield bearer'.

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: John Squire (1540), Ann Mckenlay (1540), Thomas Barke (1594), Edward Ellwood (1540), Elizabeth Howe (1570), Margaret Atkinson (1600), Reginald Dobson (1591), Margaret Jackson (1580), John Lockwood (1694), William Dowson (1635), Dorothy Wilson (1721), Robert Catton (1700), Elizabeth Quarton (1693), Richard Johnson (1670), Jane Hesletine (1705), Thomas Smyrfit (1696), John Cussons (1620), Anne Kettlestrings (1645), George Flintoft (1663), Richard Trewman (1630) and Anne Dicking (1632).

Sherburn church (my photo)

Sherburn itself was once part of an independent Brittonic kingdom which survived in Anglo-Saxon England until it was absorbed by Northumbria in the early C7. The existence of Elmet is attested in the Historia Brittonum, which says that King Edwin of Northumbria “occupied Elmet and expelled Certic, king of that country”. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People says that Hereric, the father of Hilda of Whitby, an important figure in the Christianisation of the English, was killed at the court of Ceretic. Perhaps it was the last independent British part of England. To this day, it is genetically distinct. Ted Hughes published a poetry collection 'Remains of Elmet' in 1970; James Whittle's concerto was inspired by the poems in 2013.

Two centuries later, "Æthelstan became the first king to have control over all of the English after overthrowing the Scandinavian kingdom of York in 927. In 937 he defeated an alliance of Scots and Scandinavians at the Battle of Brunanburh, where "never yet as many people killed before this with sword's edge ... since the east Angles and Saxons came up over the broad sea". As thanks for this victory, he gave the manors at Sherburn and Cawood to the Archbishop of York. The manor house or palace at Sherburn was a high status site and was subsequently used as a hunting lodge by the Archbishops. There is documentary evidence that there was a wealthy Saxon church associated with the palace and the Domesday Book shows no drop in income for the manor, unlike most other areas of Yorkshire. The Saxon church was replaced c.1100 by a larger church which still stands immediately to the south of the monument, but the palace had fallen into ruin by 1361 when the then Archbishop, John Thoresby, ordered its demolition. The stone from the palace was then used in the building of the choir at York Minster." (English Heritage).

Not much later, in 1383, a license was granted to crenellate the fortified manor house belonging to the Archbishops of York at Rest Park, perhaps a replacement. It seems to have been dissolved with the monasteries in c1535. An aerial survey in the early C21 revealed its outline. By the time our family was there, it was a farm, owned and managed by the family. The farm still exists but there is little or nothing left of the farmhouse. My photos of Sherburn are here.

So Edward (1743) and Sarah Dowson (1750, Drax nr Selby) had a son John (1784). He married Sarah Catton (1791), daughter of Robert Catton (1764) and Nelly Smirthwaite (1761). The Dowson name is curious as the first syllable is matronymic (a sweet female - ultimately from dulce), and the second syllable patronymic.

They had ten children at Rest Park, Sherburn:

41.1.1 - Ann Squire (1814)
41.1.2 - Edward Squire (1816)
41.1.3 - Sarah Ellen Squire (1818)
41.1.4 - Alfred Squire (1820)
41.1.5 - Caroline Squire (1823)
41.1.6 - Mary Squire (1825)
41.1.7 - Charlotte Squire (1826)
41.1.8 - Edgar Squire (1827)
41.1.9 - David Squire (1829). David died in 1830.
41.1.10 - Hannah Squire (1830). Hannah died in 1830.

More on these individuals in Chapter 41.

John was the eldest surviving son, so would have taken over the family farm.

Interestingly, there was a bill before the Commons in 1797, that "divers low grounds in the Selby district, including Rest Park, be more effectually drained, preserved and improved, and the commons and waste grounds be inclosed, divided and allotted unto the land owners."

The railway through Sherburn-in-Elmet was opened in 1840 by the York and North Midland Railway. John is recorded as having had a vote in the 1848 West Riding Election of a Knight of the Shire for the West Riding of Yorkshire, in consequence of the removal of Lord Morpeth to the House of Lords on the demise of his father, the Earl of Carlisle.

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