Thomas Emsley (1816-1885)
Railway Contractor, Landowner & Philanthropist
Known to have rented Burley House, Burley in Wharfedale c1852 - 1860 and in 1860 bought The Grange (Burley Grange), Burley in Wharfedale.
Thomas Emsley was a seriously wealthy individual when he died in 1885. His estate at the time of his will was initially valued at exceeding £41,000, then later revised to £51,000 (£4.25m today).
(Thomas Emsley Last Will & Testament - transcribed) He owned large areas of Burley & parts of Ilkley in Wharfedale and areas of Rodley & Bramley in Airedale. It now appears he also owned property in St Louis County, Minnesota, USA. He'd also gifted or donated substantial sums of money to various organisations during his lifetime. What puzzles is where he got his wealth from, did he inherit it, earn it or both?
Currently (June 2022) have no information about Thomas' education. He's buying land in New Zealand at the age of 23 & somehow becomes a "railway contractor" in India in his 30s. In his 50s he's in Minnesota, USA. In many references he is just described as a "gentleman", which usually means they have independent means. We don't have any information on whether he married. If you can help us fill in the blanks, please get in touch via the contact form. Surname: Emsley - variously spelt as Emsly, Elmsley, Elmsly, Emslie, Hemsley, Helmsley etc. The variations are making the research challenging to say the least.
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Family history: The research results so far are sketchy at best.
His parents were Robert Emsley b1788 - Rawden (Rawdon) d1836 Rodley and Sarah Emsley nee Skirrow b1792 Asquith (Askwith) d1869 Burley in Wharfedale. Living in Horsforth. |
Possible parents of Robert Emsley - John & Hannah Emsley of Rawden, with x2 brothers - Thomas b c1783 and Joseph b1786 both Rawden (Rawdon).
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Timeline of the research so far:
1816 - Thomas Emsley born Horsforth.
1819 - John Skirrow Emsley (brother) born Horsforth (1819-1877). 1822 - Ann Emsley (sister) born Horsforth (1822-1897). 1829 - Robert Emsley and James Young partnership in Horsforth, stone merchants, dissolved by mutual consent. In the research have a reference to "Horsforth Quarries" - but its unclear if this is a particular quarry such as Golden Bank or a number in other parts of Horsforth.
Robert Emsley continued as a sole trader. He then forms another partnership with John Hogg (ex-landlord of the Rose & Crown in Headingley). They own quarries in Horsforth & at Bramley Fall. |
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(1830 - the Liverpool and Manchester railway opened, the first to use steam power for both passenger and freight trains).
1831 - From age 15 many boys would be indentured or apprenticed to a trade or profession. In Thomas' case from around 1831. Its likely that he's involved with his father's stone masonry & quarrying business. His brother John Skirrow Emsley would later take on the farming side of the family's businesses.
1836-37 - Hogg & Emsley (John Hogg & Robert Emsley) stone merchants (of Horsforth) at Kirk Ings Wharf, The Calls, Leeds.
Info from White’s 1837 Directory of Professions & Trades of Leeds. (Note: Hogg & Emsley also at Bramley Fall quarries).
Info from White’s 1837 Directory of Professions & Trades of Leeds. (Note: Hogg & Emsley also at Bramley Fall quarries).
1836 - Robert Emsley (father) dies aged 48 at Rodley.
1837 Feb - Death of John Hogg, aged 58 of the firm of Messrs. Hogg & Emsley, stone merchants - Leeds Times
1837-8 Construction of the Euston Arch designed by Philip Hardwick, using Bramley Fall stone from the quarries of the same name.
1838 - The firm of Messrs. Hogg & Emsley dissolved.
"Messrs Hogg & Emsley deceased. All Persons who have any claim or demand against the late firm of Hogg & Emsley, Stone Merchants, Bramley Fall and Horsforth Quarries, are requested to send in the details." - Notice in Leeds Intelligencer 17th Nov 1838. 1838 - Thomas Emsley in Sydney, Australia. Also present Henry Walton (d1896) & his brother Charles Walton.
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1839 - February - Thomas Emsley arrived onto the Wairoa (North Island, New Zealand) from Sydney Australia, for the purpose of buying land for farming and timber-milling.
Tirarau, the chief of the Parawhau tribe, that owned all the land right across from Kaipara to Whangarei, agreed to sell a triangular block of about 60,000 acres, stretching from Omana to Maungatapere, to Waikiekie and back to Omana, after making a rough survey with George Edge as guide. Thomas Emsley paid a deposit in August 1839.
(Illustrate with map plus images of account).
Tirarau, the chief of the Parawhau tribe, that owned all the land right across from Kaipara to Whangarei, agreed to sell a triangular block of about 60,000 acres, stretching from Omana to Maungatapere, to Waikiekie and back to Omana, after making a rough survey with George Edge as guide. Thomas Emsley paid a deposit in August 1839.
(Illustrate with map plus images of account).
1839 - September - Thomas Emsley & Henry Walton signed a Deed of Indenture with Tirarau. (List cash & goods to value of £673.00)
1841 - Census information - Rodley, Calverley - John Skirrow Emsley - farmer, aged 22; Sarah Emsley aged 49 of independent means; Ann Emsley aged 19 of independent means.
Thomas Emsley not in the UK, believe he is still in New Zealand.
Thomas Emsley not in the UK, believe he is still in New Zealand.
1845 - Marriage of Ann Emsley only daughter of the late Robert Emsley of Rodley, to David Rouse of Manor Place, Bradford, at Calverley.
David & Ann Rouse nee Emsley had two children - Harry Rouse born in 1846 (d1914) and Robert Rouse (1847-1848).
David Rouse (1811-1852) was a partner in the first firm of William Rouse & Sons, worsted spinners & manufacturers of Bradford.
Note: there were two Wm. Rouse & Sons of Bradford.
The first was William Rouse snr. (1765-1843) & his sons John Rouse (1794-1838), David Rouse (1811-1852), William Rouse jnr. (1809-1868) & Francis Rouse (1816-1851).
On the death of William snr, there was a family dispute & the partnership was dissolved.
David Rouse took part of the business & set up on his own at Manor Place, Bradford. Whilst William Rouse jnr. created a new partnership with his own sons, the second Wm. Rouse & Sons of Bradford using the remaining worsted spinning & manufacturing assets of the earlier partnership.
The first was William Rouse snr. (1765-1843) & his sons John Rouse (1794-1838), David Rouse (1811-1852), William Rouse jnr. (1809-1868) & Francis Rouse (1816-1851).
On the death of William snr, there was a family dispute & the partnership was dissolved.
David Rouse took part of the business & set up on his own at Manor Place, Bradford. Whilst William Rouse jnr. created a new partnership with his own sons, the second Wm. Rouse & Sons of Bradford using the remaining worsted spinning & manufacturing assets of the earlier partnership.
William Rouse snr. lived for a time, upto his death in 1843, at Burley House, Burley in Wharfedale.
From 1861 upto his own death in 1868, William Rouse jnr also lived at Burley House.
1846 - Committee meeting of Leeds & West Riding Junction Railways - Thomas Emsley of Rodley present.
1846 - Thomas Emsley - director of the North and East Riding Junction Railway (Image)
(1850s - A Victorian middle class family could live well on an income of £800 to £1000 per year - info from victorianlondon.org).
1850 - Tender by Hunt, Bray & Emsley partnership, for construction of "experimental railway line" in east India, accepted by Government & payments to be sanctioned. (British Library - India Office Records & Private papers).
Research suggests that Bray of Hunt Bray & Emsley is James Bray (c1802-1873), who was an iron and brass founder in Leeds who had obtained contracts to build the Leeds and Thirsk railway including Bramhope Tunnel (opened 1848) and Wharfedale Railways (1846 plan, see Burley in Wharfedale Station history).
The gentleman called "Hunt" is believed to be James Edward Hunt (1809-1887) - born in London. He married Eliza Seager (1810-1857), she died in the Indian Mutiny in 1857. She was the eldest daughter of the distiller James Lys Seager. They had 6 children one of whom was Sir Frederick Seager Hunt (1838-1904). |
1851 - Census information - Rodley Fold, Rodley, Calverley - John Skirrow Emsley - Farmer & Maltster - 70 acres - aged 32; Sarah Emsley - Annuitant - aged 59. Thomas Emsley not in the UK.
1851 - East Indian Railway Company - In Calcutta George Sibley was placed by George Turnbull, Chief Engineer, in charge of the Chandernagore District, which was being constructed by Hunt, Bray and Emslie (Emsley) as contractors. (Info courtesy of Graces Guide).
1854 Aug 15th - East Indian Railway - Howrah to Hooghly opened for passenger traffic.
1855 - A "Thomas Emsley" makes a passport application. Passports became a standardised document for British nationals from 1855 onwards.
1856 - John Skirrow Emsley marries Mary Rawnsley (widow) nee Denison (b1812). St Peters Church, Leeds.
1856 - Hunt & Emsley, one of 7 principal railway contractors for the East Indian Railway Company.
1856 - Hunt & Emsley, one of 7 principal railway contractors for the East Indian Railway Company.
1857-59 - Indian Mutiny, also called Sepoy Mutiny or First War of Independence, widespread but unsuccessful rebellion by Indian soldiers & others against British rule in India. The mutiny puts a halt to many construction projects across India.
1858 - The tender of Messrs. Thomas Brassey, Thomas Emsley, Wythes, and Co., accepted for the construction of the first section (112 miles) of the Eastern Bengal Railway from Calcutta to Kooshtee. Using the local knowledge and experience of one of them (Mr Emsley), to be completed by spring 1861.
Eastern Bengal Railway - The Directors of the Eastern Bengal Railway have the satisfaction to inform the Shareholders of this Company that they have, with the sanction of the Secretary of State for India in Council, entered into a Contract with Messrs Brassey, Wythes, Emsley and Sir Joseph Paxton, for the construction of the First Section of their Line from Calcutta, to the Ganges, at Kooshtee, to be completed in the spring of the year 1861.
From the high and well-known character of the contractors, and the local knowledge and experience of one of them (Mr. Emsley), the Directors have every assurance that the works will be satisfactorily completed within the time specified. By Order of the Board. James Fergusson, Secretary. Offices 21A Gresham Street, City, Dated this 16th Sept, 1858. |
1859 Mar - Hunt & Emsley contractors for the section Mogul Serai near Benares up to Allahabad of the Cawnpore Railway.
1860 - Thomas Emsley of Burley House, Burley in Wharfedale, lent Indian goods for an exhibition at Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, the items included Gold & Silver Bracelets, Necklaces, Brooches, personal Ornaments, some of which were Jewelled Trinkets of considerable value; also Paintings on Ivory such as Miniature Portraits of Royal Personages, & Pictures of Palaces and other Buildings in Delhi & Lucknow associated with the late rebellion. Also a series of Indian Weapons & Embroidered Scarfs from Cashmere. (Info & image courtesy of archive .org).
1860 - Thomas Emsley buys The Grange (Burley Grange).
In addition he had an approx. 9ft high stone wall built. (A section of which still remains on Station Road from the former Post Office building to near the Parish Centre). This wall enclosed the whole of the house & the gardens. The only known gates are the main entrance on Main Street & an access point to the kitchen garden & paddock adjoining Moor Lane (Station Road).
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1861 - Census Information: The Grange, Burley in Wharfedale - Thomas Emsley age 45; Sarah Emsley age 69 & 4 servants.
(1861-65 American Civil War).
1864 - Leeds General Infirmary - Subscriptions increased from £5 to £10 per year by Thomas Emsley, Burley Grange.
1864 - Marriage of Prince of Wales celebrated in Burley in Wharfedale by Thomas Emsley presenting a sacramental plate of value £70 to St Mary's Parish Church.
(1864 - Leeds Intelligencer cutting "The Lightening, 75 days from Melbourne has arrived with £74,000 in gold". Bit of perspective as to the time involved to go from one side of the world to the other.)
1867 to 1885 - Annual £10 donation to the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society.
1868 - Thomas Emsley in New Orleans, having been to Chicago and Cairo. Interested in the grain trade from the US to Europe via New Orleans rather than New York. [Info 1868 New Orleans Advocate - a weekly newsletter from the Methodist Episcopal Church].
1868-69 - Winter of 1868 - Thomas Emsley hunting deer in Minnesota, USA.
"A fellow countryman, Thomas Emsley, hunted in Minnesota in the winter of 1868. According to a newspaper report, he was a railroad man who owned a country seat in Yorkshire, and was an important stockholder in the Lake Superior Railroad. He so fancied the flavor of Minnesota venison that he arranged for later shipments of saddles to his British home."
Account courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
"A fellow countryman, Thomas Emsley, hunted in Minnesota in the winter of 1868. According to a newspaper report, he was a railroad man who owned a country seat in Yorkshire, and was an important stockholder in the Lake Superior Railroad. He so fancied the flavor of Minnesota venison that he arranged for later shipments of saddles to his British home."
Account courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
1869 Feb 3rd - Thomas Emsley staying at the International Hotel (formerly Fuller House, (built 1856)), St Paul, Minnesota. The hotel caught fire & burnt to the ground. Thomas was ill at the time & during the blaze had to be carried out. His suitcase was later found in the rubble of the fire, it contained $2000 greenbacks (destroyed)(approx $40k in today's money), a gold watch & chain worth $700 (still worked) and a pair of gold spectacles (broken).
Info courtesy of "Minnesota Staats-Zeitung" (Saint Paul, Minn.), February 18, 1869. |
1869 Apr - Sarah Emsley nee Skirrow, (mother) died April 2nd, aged 77 at The Grange, Burley in Wharfedale.
(1870 - The seven largest companies in Great Britain were all railways and the industry as a whole was employing 275,000 or 3.3 per cent of the country’s entire male labour force. (Info from propertychronicle.com)).
1870 - Calverley Parish Church Restoration Fund £25 donation by Thomas Emsley.
1870 - Harry Rouse, nephew of Thomas Emsley, marries Mary Hogarth Cunningham (b1852) in Edinburgh.
1871 - Census Information - The Grange, Burley in Wharfedale - Thomas Emsley age 55
1873 - Skipton to Ilkley Railway line proposal (see newspaper cutting) – Thomas Emsley a director. Other directors include Thomas Clayton, Wm Douglas, Syscough (Ayscough) Fowkes, William Fison (Greenholme), Frederick A. Greenwood (Greenholme) and Thomas Horsfall (Burley Hall).
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1874 - £500 donation to Mansion House Bengal Famine Relief Fund under the patronage of the Queen (Victoria).
1874 - Thomas Emsley made a JP - Justice of the Peace, Otley Magistrates Court.
1874 - Land Sale at Burley in Wharfedale. Thomas Emsley bought "ten closes of land known as Stead Farm, at Stead and containing 20 acres" for £2000 plus another lot of 29 acres for £3550 - Bradford Daily Telegraph May 30th 1874.
1876 March - Stead Hall Farm & its 136 acres bought at auction for £9223 and 14s, or £68 per acre.
1876 - Enlargement of Salem Congregational Hall on land donated by Thomas Emsley of The Grange.
1877 - John Skirrow Emsley dies at Fern Bank, Ilkley. Aged 60. Tombstone at St Mary’s Parish Church, Burley in Wharfedale.
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1882 - Leeds Strangers' Friend Society - £400 gift from Thomas Emsley of Burley in Wharfedale - Leeds Times.
1885 - 9th June, sudden death of Thomas Emsley.
Tombstone in St Mary's Parish Church graveyard:
"In Memory of Sarah Emsley of The Grange, Burley in Wharfedale, who died April 2nd 1869 aged 77 years. Relict of Robert Emsley of Rodley. Thomas Emsley, eldest son of the above who died at The Grange, Burley in Wharfedale June 9th 1885 aged 69 years." On a lower portion of the tombstone is the inscription to James Skirrow Emsley d1877. |
1885 - 9th August - will of Thomas Emsley proved at Wakefield District Registry. The Illustrated London News produced a press release that was printed by numerous newspapers across the country. Below are its contents transcribed. (Have amended the layout to make it easier to read).
Charitable Bequests
The will (dated November 13th, 1880) of Mr. Thomas Emsley, late of Burley-in-Wharfedale, Yorkshire, who died on June 9th last, was proved at the Wakefield District Registry on the 9th Aug by James Walker Oxley, Harry Rouse (the nephew) and Marmaduke D'Arcy Wyvill, the executors, the value of the personal estate exceeding £41,000. The testator bequeaths numerous & considerable legacies to relatives and others, including £15,000 upon trust for Mary Rouse, daughter of his said nephew. He also bequeaths £6,000 to the Church of England Missionary Society; £3,000 to the Wesleyan Church at New Zealand; £2,000 to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts; £1,000 each to the Bradford Infirmary; Ilkley Convalescent Home; Harrogate Bath Hospital; the Yorkshire College at Leeds for the purpose of endowing one or more scholarships; and the Leeds General Infirmary; £500 each to Coatham Convalescent Home; the British and Foreign Bible Society; the Foundling Hospital, London; the Leeds Public Dispensary; the Leeds Guardian Society Asylum and General Penitentiary; the Leeds Institution for Deaf and Dumb Mutes; the Leeds Tradesmen's Benevolent Institution; the Leeds Hospital for Women and Children and Cookridge Convalescent Hospital; and £250 each to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution; the Leeds Social Improvement Society; the Leeds Benevolent of Strangers' Friend Society; the Leeds House of Recovery and the Orphans' Home, Headingley. All the charitable legacies are directed to be paid out of such part of his personal estate as he may by law bequeath for charitable purposes, and in preference to all other payments thereout. All his real estate in Rodley & Bramley, Yorkshire, he leaves, upon trust for Maxwell Emsley Rouse; all his real estate in Burley-in-Wharfedale and Ilkley, upon trust for Cunningham Rouse; and the residue of his real and personal estate, upon trust, for the said Maxwell Emsley Rouse & Cunningham Rouse, both sons of his nephew, Harry Rouse. - Illustrated London News 28th August 1885. |
In the bequest is Coatham Convalescent Home (& Children's Hospital) which was at Redcar. It was demolished in 1951. Not aware at present what Thomas Emsley's connection was to this place.
The actual will contains a number of other bequests to various people. [No punctuation - see transcription from Elizabeth Archer]. (Thomas Emsley Last Will & Testament - transcribed)
The Rouse Inheritance
In 1880, when Thomas Emsley wrote his will, his nephew Harry Rouse had 3 children - Maxwell Emsley Rouse (1871-1956), Cunningham Rouse (1872-1937) & Mary "Molly" Rouse (1879-1956). It transpires that Harry Rouse & his wife Mary Hogarth Rouse nee Cunningham, had a fourth child in November 1884, named Margaret "Madge" Rouse, this was 8 months before Thomas died in June 1885. The question arises as to why Thomas didn't re-write his will to accommodate Margaret?
Sadly the answer is quite likely to be child mortality rates in Victorian England. Many children, of whatever social background they came from, died within their first year. If they passed this milestone then it was likely they could survive into their teens & later. Thomas probably planned to change his will when Margaret reached the age of 1, but unfortunately he died before it happened.
Its likely that Thomas changed his will each time Harry & Mary H. Rouse had a child that attained the age of 1, hence the will of 1880 was probably written to take account of Mary "Molly" Rouse having her first birthday.
Sadly the answer is quite likely to be child mortality rates in Victorian England. Many children, of whatever social background they came from, died within their first year. If they passed this milestone then it was likely they could survive into their teens & later. Thomas probably planned to change his will when Margaret reached the age of 1, but unfortunately he died before it happened.
Its likely that Thomas changed his will each time Harry & Mary H. Rouse had a child that attained the age of 1, hence the will of 1880 was probably written to take account of Mary "Molly" Rouse having her first birthday.
The need by the trustees of Thomas' will to include Margaret Rouse as a beneficiary & create a trust fund for her, might go some way to explaining the haste with which they appear to have put The Grange contents up for auction & then The Grange building & its estate was auctioned off, rather than just renting it out. In September 1885 the trustees auctioned off the Hill Top House, Farm & Estate, Burley in Wharfedale.
Hollis & Webb auctioneers of Leeds held a 6-day sale in July 1885 of just The Grange house contents & outdoor effects!
They followed this up with a one-day auction sale of the contents of Thomas Emsley's wine cellar at their Park Row & South Parade Auction Rooms in Leeds. 1100 dozens of bottles!
The selected list in the advert is something to behold: CLARETS 10.5 dozens Chateau Margaux 90 dozs Rauzan Claret 1874 vintage 37 dozs Chateau Lafite 1874 vintage 110 dozs Chateau Langos 1874 vintage 50 dozs Batailley Claret 1874 vintage 20 dozs Chateau Leoville 1874 vintage 19 dozs Chateau Leoville 1865 vintage 23 dozs Cunliffe Claret 1864 vintage SHERRIES & MADEIRAS 5 dozs Masterman's XL All Sherry 7 dozs Xere's Sherry 37 dozs Sandeman's Pale Dry Sherry 54 dozs Sandeman's Golden Sherry 24.5 dozs Sandeman's Generous Sherry 21 dozs Fine Pale Sherry purchased in Calcutta 21 dozs Chas. Blandy's Rare 1865 Madeira 25 dozs Very Fine Madeira, bottled 1854 PORTS 6 dozs 1865 Vintage port 34 dozs Croft's 1861 port 49 dozs Croft's 1858 port 31 dozs Sandeman's 1854 port 21 dozs Cockburn's 1847 port 10 dozs Roriz Port 1822 vintage SPARKLING WINES 30 dozs Goulet's Champagne 79 dozs Moet & Chandon's Champagne 8 dozs Sparkling Johannesberg 8 dozs Sparkling Hock In addition to the above, there are many smaller lots of choice ports, sherries, clarets and sparkling wines; also 5.5 dozs Chateau Y'quem, 2.5 dozs Vin d'Hermitage, 30 dozs 1874 vintage Hockheim, Rudesheim, 26 dozs white Lisbon, 35 dozs Pontac, 39 dozs Colaris, 11 dozs Jameson's best Irish whisky, a cask of it and small lots of brandy, gin liqueurs etc. |
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1885 - Advert in the Yorkshire Post for the public auction of The Grange & its estate Burley in Wharfedale.
Note: At the time of the sale in August 1885 Moor Lane went all the way from Burley Woodhead down to a junction with Main Street. The section from the railway bridge to the Main Street junction, only later became Station Road.
Also Grange Road as such, didn't exist & what is now Langford Lane was called Back Lane.
The auction by Messrs Hollis & Webb for The Grange & its estate took place on 8th August 1885 at the Malt Shovel Hotel, Main Street, Burley in Wharfedale.
It was offered for sale in 10 lots.
Note: At the time of the sale in August 1885 Moor Lane went all the way from Burley Woodhead down to a junction with Main Street. The section from the railway bridge to the Main Street junction, only later became Station Road.
Also Grange Road as such, didn't exist & what is now Langford Lane was called Back Lane.
The auction by Messrs Hollis & Webb for The Grange & its estate took place on 8th August 1885 at the Malt Shovel Hotel, Main Street, Burley in Wharfedale.
It was offered for sale in 10 lots.
Lot 1
The valuable residential estate known as The Grange containing on the basement spacious wine storage and other cellars; on the ground floor, entrance hall, library, drawing-room, dining-room, billiard-room, smoke-room, butler's pantry, kitchen, scullery and w.c; on the first floor, 7 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and dressing-room; and the second floor, servants' and box rooms. Also principal and secondary staircases; also a vinery (with vines in full bearing), and a greenhouse & conservatory. These stand in pleasure grounds which are tastefully laid out as gardens & lawns. There are also entrance lodge, extensive kitchen gardens, coach-houses, stables, harness-room, loose boxes and other outbuildings. The whole including a small paddock, containing an area of approx 4 acres, 3 roods and 25 and threequarter perches. The house and buildings are of stone, and in perfect preservation and order. Lot 2 A Freehold Plot of LAND, fronting to Moor Lane and containing 3467 (sq) yards, with the cowshed and other outbuildings thereon, adjoining the Grange Estate on the south. Lot 3 A Freehold Plot of LAND adjoining Lot 2, on the south, fronting to Moor Lane and containing 7610 (sq) yards. Lot 4 A Freehold Plot of LAND, adjoining Lot 3, on the south, fronting Moor Lane and Back Lane, and containing 10,497 (sq) yards. Lot 5 The adjoining Freehold Close of LAND, known as Broad Meadow and Back Lane Close, comprising 7 acres and 10 & threequarters perches. Lot 6 A Freehold Plot of LAND, adjoining the Grange Estate on the east and known as the Croft, comprising 4633 (sq) yards. There are on this lot two patent adjustable stack roofs and poles, which the purchaser can take at a valuation, or will be removed by the vendors. The above lots are subject to a small tithe. Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5and 6 will, in the first instance, be offered in one lot and if not thus sold will be offered as above. Lot 7 A Freehold Plot of LAND, containing 1853 (sq) yards, with the 4 houses and 2 shops thereon, situate on the Otley & Ilkley Road, and the cottages, barn and other building behind. Lot 8 A plot of LAND, with 2 cottages and gardens adjoining Lot 7 and containing 548 square yards. Lot 9 A Plot of LAND, with 4 cottages adjoining Lot 8 and containing 715 square yards. Lot 7 is subject to a right of road for the owner of the cottage on the east to and from a coal shoot. Lots 8 and 9 are subject to a right of road over a passage at the back ??? feet wide for the owner of Lot 7. Lot 9 is subject to a right of road in favour of Lot 8. Lot 10 A Close of Freehold LAND, near the Railway Station, in Moor Lane, adjoining the estate of E. P. Arnold Esq. and containing 22,000 (sq) yards or thereabouts. There is a costly macadamised road already through the middle of this estate, which has been specially laid out for building purposes. If not sold in one lot this will be divided. Particular & plans obtainable 7 days before the sale from the Auctioneers (Hollis & Webb), Messrs Cowgill & Son, surveyors, Piece Hall Yard, Bradford or at the offices of Messrs Dunning Kay & Armstrong Solicitors, 4 Butt's Court, Leeds. |
1885 Sept - Auction sale by Hollis & Webb, Leeds by the trustees of Thomas Emsley, of the Hill Top Farm & its land, Burley in Wharfedale. The auction was held at the Malt Shovel, Main Street, the estate was offered in one lot & sold for £2000.
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The Thomas Emsley Estates - Burley in Wharfedale, Ilkley, Rodley, Bramley & USA
The lands owned by Thomas Emsley in Burley in Wharfedale currently known are:
1. a. The Grange house gardens & grounds - The western boundary was Moor Lane (Station Road), northern boundary the back of the properties on Main Street, eastern boundary - what is now Back Lane & the rear wall of The Lawn, southern boundary Rushy Beck. b. The estate grounds went south - western boundary Moor Lane (Station Road), northern boundary Rushy Beck, eastern boundary - extension of Back Lane from Main Street up to what is now Prospect Road. Cathedine - the home of Edward Penrose Arnold-Forster wasn't built until around 1874. Its supposition on our part that the plot of land on which it sits was sold by Thomas Emsley to EP Arnold-Forster. Lot 10 of The Grange Estate auction talks of a macadamised road adjoining EP Arnold-Forster's estate - believe this to be the northern boundary of Cathedine as shown as an avenue on the OS1895 map. It is suspected that Thomas Emsley's lands originally went all the way up to the Otley & Ilkley Joint Railway & probably took in Rosebank Villas (built c1875) & Elm Grove. |
2. Moor Lane water tank (covered reservoir) - was located just south of the railway station. Thomas Emsley built the tank around 1860-61 & had water pipes installed down Moor Lane (Station Road) to his house The Grange.
The water source for the tank is believed to originate from the Colston House estate. (A small reservoir (later called Hartley's), just south of High Stead farmhouse is the likely source). Construction of the water tank & its pipes put Thomas into conflict with the local powers of government, the Burley Local Board of Health, as it effectively by-passed the local water supply to the village of Burley. It meant he didn't need to pay them anything for water supply.
In 1873 the Burley Local Board of Health took possession of Thomas' water supply, either via purchase or force. |
3. Hill Top House, Farm & Estate - bought by Thomas Emsley when he was renting Burley House.
4. Colston House Estate included:
Colston House Colston Lodge Rose Farm Stead Hall Farm High Stead Stead Farm Low House Gib Field Crag House plus strip of land upto the Calf & Calf rocks on Ilkley Moor. This land was acquired farm by farm by Thomas Emsley during his occupation of both Burley House & that of The Grange. |
5. Land either side of the Otley & Ilkley extension railway through Burley in Wharfedale.
6. Lands in Ilkley:
Fern Bank, Crossbeck Road, Ilkley. Inherited this house on the death of his brother John Skirrow Emsley in 1877.
7. Lands in Rodley:
Rodley Fold Farm
Calverley Bridge Farm.
Site of Rodley sewage works.
8. Lands in Bramley:
Bramley Fall including the former quarries.
The site of Leeds Corporation sewage works at Bramley (Rodley Nature Reserve)(possible).
9. Property in St Louis County, Minnesota, USA.
"Emsley died in England more than a quarter of a century ago, but his last will and testament was recorded in St. Louis County only yesterday (6th March 1916). The instrument affects certain property owned in this county and it was filed in the office of the register of deeds here by the local representatives of the estate."
- Duluth Evening Herald 7th March 1916. Its now known (June 2022) that Thomas Emsley owned various plots of land in Duluth City, Minnesota. See years 1869 and 1873 above.
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Burley Community Library & Burley Archive, Grange Road, Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire England LS29 7HD
Please refer to the Home page for up-to-date opening times. Closed Wednesday & Sunday
Burley Archive & Local History Group: Drop-In Sessions Friday 2.30pm to 4.30pm. For other times please contact us
Burley Archive & Local History Group: Drop-In Sessions Friday 2.30pm to 4.30pm. For other times please contact us