In The Beginning

Are you considering a Fairbanks or Prescott family history tour in England? I plan to tour Northern England, focusing on these ancestors’ histories, this summer. In the next few blogs, I will share a guide of places to visit in Northern England and explain why they are important to our families from England.

Both the immigrant Fairbanks and Prescott families came from England between 1633 and 1640. In historical writings, it is said both emigrated from Sowerby, West Yorkshire, when they came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Both started their lives in different parts of Northern England. Jonathan Fairbanks was born in Skircoat, West Yorkshire, and John Prescott in Lancashire. These are two abutting counties. We will explore both.

The research of the line of Jonathan Fairbanks’s family in England for this trip starts with Jonathan father, John Fairbanks (1547-1625) who was born in Skircoat, resided in Sowerby, both were in Halifax Parish at that time. Then he moved to Thornton in Craven, West Yorkshire, England, during the last years of his life. Thornton in Craven is now considered in Lancashire.

The historical novel being written about the Jonathan Fairbanks and John Prescott families begins in London during the 1625 plague. However, this blog will focus on West Yorkshire and Lancashire County about 200 miles north of London.

The other spouses of the children of the Fairbanks family have not been researched or added to the tour, but I encourage you to do the research on your own line before you make a trip to England.

From this information I will describe a family history tour of Northern England. I have the assistance of planning the trip with Shawnee Fairbanks Korff, my sister, who visited West Yorkshire in 2018 and Doug Holdridge, who visited there in 2019. The Fairbanks Family in America, Inc. also took two tour groups to the West Yorkshire area of England in the late 1900’s and early 2000’s.

The account of the Fairbanks and Prescott families being developed into a historical novel will begin in London during the 1625 plague and turmoil of the death of King James and the crowning of King Charles.. Although I would like to tour London, I hope to spend most of my time in the area where the Fairbanks and Prescott families lived.

Let’s orient ourselves to England and the areas where the Fairbanks and Prescott families were located before they emigrated from England to New England.

England

England is the size of our state, Alabama. The backbone of Northern England is the Pennine Hills. It is a chain of steep elevations running through the center of Northern England. In the 1600s, the Pennines was a dividing factor between Lancashire County on the west and West Yorkshire on the east.

England is on the same latitude as Maine. You might expect them to have similar climates. However, many European cities have milder temperatures than cities at the same latitude in North America because of the Gulf Stream. The Fairbanks and Prescott families would have found winter much colder and harsher in New England even though they were further south in Massachusetts Bay Colony.

County York

York is the largest county in England. Early, It was divided into three areas, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Each has its own characteristics. North Yorkshire was known for its sheep and fine wool production which West Riding and other areas used to make their wool cloth.

We will examine only West Yorkshire where the Fairbanks and Prescott families lived before they set sail for New England.

West Yorkshire, England

West Yorkshire is an inland division of the County York. The Peninnes and its foothills dominate the west side of this subdivision of land. At Halifax, the land becomes more level as foothills.

The wool industry was West Yorkshire’s main commerce from the late 13th century through 1600’s and beyond. It was a independent or cottage industry and not regulated under the guild structure which dictated much of the trade in other regions. West Yorkshire also has a history in coal mining and iron production.

Halifax, West Yorkshire, England

Since Jonathan and Grace married in Halifax, the center of the Halifax Parish and It is the largest city, we’ll start our journey there. Halyfax, as it was known and how it is pronounced, means "area of coarse grass in the nook of land". In the 12th century a church was built on a somewhat desolate area in the south-eastern part of the Pennine Chain. It is bordered by Hebble Brook and Calder River.

In 1556, there were only 500 households. By the time Jonathan married Grace in 1617, the church had been rebuilt and the town around it had become the largest and most central in the wool industry of the Halifax Parish. The surrounding towns were sparsely populated and huddled around the valley of the Calder River and the foothills of the Pennines.

Where better than Halifax Church, St. John the Baptist’s Church, to start a tour. This church is now known as the Minster, meaning mother church or cathedral. The church was built primarily during the 15th century, but the east wall displays the remains of the Norman era and dates back to the 1200s. The tower was built in 1450-1480. The bells in the church were also added in the 1400s. An organ was installed in the early 1500s.

Coaches and carts were not common in that era. The rugged terrain was suitable mostly for foot traffic. Jonathan and Grace lived in the smaller outlying towns and probably didn’t walk the steep elevations to Halifax every Sunday. Their church, which we’ll discuss later, was called a church of ease and was nearer their town. Churches of ease didn’t have licenses to perform marriages, baptisms, and burials until later.

Minster (St. John the Baptist Church) of Halifax Parish

Inside the Minster, there have been changes over the 400 years since Jonathan and Grace were there. Early, the floor were covered by rushes that could be renewed each fall for cleanliness and insulation. In the fall, there was a ritual called “rushbearing” when a cart of rush followed by a parade of people took clean rushes to the churches to replace the rushes from the year before.

The colors within the church were vivid in the 1600s. The font at the entry of the church stands below a cover shaped like a church spire. The wooden cover dates to the 15th century. It was bright blues, greens and reds. The font cover was saved from ruin during England’s Civil Wars in the 1640’s because it was taken to safety in the building now called Ring ‘O Bells Pub which is on this tour later.

Look at the statue of Mr. John Favour, who was the Vicar at the time of Jonathan and Grace. This statue depicts the colors used in early history

A statue of Tristram, a licensed beggar, Inside the front door of the St. John’s Church. In the 1600s, he may have been at the front door of the church asking for alms when Jonathan and Grace were there.

some stain glass windows and several chapels in the church date back to the 1600s or earlier.

As you leave the church by the south or main door, look at the cropper’s grave cover just outside the door on the left. This dates back to medieval times, 1150. It is an indication that wool production has a long history in Yorkshire. We will revisit the commerce of early West Yorkshire later.

In most churches, there were no pews in the 1600s. This nave was bare for a standing crowd. It measures 192 feet long by 60 feet wide. The pastor was on an elevated pulpit. Boxes for seating were built later, primarily for prominent families. There were box pews in the early 1600s.

When you step out of the church, look up at the eave. There live the gargoyles or characters on the pipes that drain the roof away from the masonry and foundation. You should look for and remember one gargoyle in particular. It’s shaped as a bagpiper. He was a warning to maintain continued virtue. The bagpiper will be discussed when we visit the Gibbet.

Crime and Punishment

Near the northwest corner of the Minster, on Nelson Street, stood a timber-frame building called Moot Hall. It was later faced with stones. The building is no longer there, but is very important in early history. Moot Hall was a subsidiary of the Wakefield Manor Court, the center of justice. At Moot Hall, the lower magistrates could pass sentences and enact punishment on smaller crimes.

The justices of Wakefield Manor attended court at Moot Hall in May and October for larger crimes.

The part that remains of the justice served at Moot Hall are the stocks that were near it.

I believe the stocks can still be seen near the northwest corner and outside of the West Gate of the Minster. Note the bottom rack. There are indentions where the ankle rested. A top rack was placed over the bottom to entrap the rogue for at least a couple of hours.

The main purpose of the stocks was punishment by public humiliation. It was often accompanied by deriding shouts and jeers from the crowd or vegetable and other refuse thrown at the culprit.

This perhaps was the only punishment for a lesser crimes, those not requiring the pillory, jail (gaol) or beheading. Lesser crimes would be drunkenness, disruption of worship, playing games in the graveyard or gambling on the Sabbath. The more serious criminals, waiting for their Saturday beheading, were also placed in the stocks, often surrounded by the contraband that they stole. The pillory and Gibbet will be discussed later.

The Old Market

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday were market days. In the middle of an expanded intersection, a tall free-standing stone structure supporting a cross or a prominent open cupola structure with a cross on the top designated the market square. Only certain towns were granted the privilege of holding markets. Many towns in Britain still have a market cross. It is believed there are remaining bricks that indicates the historic location of the Halifax cupola building that would have designated their market.

The Halifax market was held for those near enough to bring their wares to sell and barter. Permanent shops opened their store fronts while stalls housed temporary vendors.

Butchers were one business with store front shops. Early, before they displayed meats on their tables, they allowed wool merchants and clothiers to display and sell their wool and cloths on the clean tables. Later, the butchers brought out the freshly slaughtered meat that was processed in the back of their store.

There were many varieties of markets. Each produce had its area for vendors Corn Market, Fish Market, Wool Market, Linen Market, Swine Market and more. There were stalls for fresh bread, cheese butter, and vegetable.

At least twice a year, a fair was held in Halifax. It was the third largest in all of Yorkshire. The first fair of the year was in the spring near St. John the Baptist Day, June 24th. Vendors from over England and foreign countries would arrive to sell needed or exotic goods.

The second fair was in the fall. At that time, West Yorkshire looked forward to cattle driven from Lancashire County from the west or from North Yorkshire. The locals bought a beef on-the-hoof (live) and slaughtered it at home to provide meat for the winter.

Union Cross Pub (Old Cross Inn)

The only building remaining in market square from the 1600s is the Old Cross Inn, now known as Union Cross Pub. Inns usually included a tavern or pub in the 1600s, a place to eat and sleep. This pub was named because it was across from the Market Cross which marked the market place. Its is the oldest pub in Halifax, dating back to the early 1500s. The façade of Union Cross Pub is modern, but you can get a glimpse of the old building that existed when Jonathan Fairbanks and John Prescott visited during a market or fair day by going through the archway on the right and to see the old structure and windows in the back.

Coffee Cali

1 Woolshops

To get an idea of what the buildings around the market looked like in the 1600s, visit Coffee Cali in the Woolshop Shopping Center. Coffee Cali was built in the late 1400s in the Tudor style architecture. The architecture of this time had half-timber work, large groups of rectangular windows, bay and transom windows. There was much brickwork, frequently in patterns. Notice that the timbers on the Cali are a rose color. The timber framed building, with red colored wood depicts the color of the early timbers, because they were covered with red clay to delay deterioration. The town was brightly colored.

Some old features of this building are the mullioned windows (window with a central division) and transom window over the door of Coffee Cali are old. Bay windows were also common in the architecture of that time. The other windows are modern. The ground floor is stone, the upper parts are plastered or timber framed. The roof is stone slate, requiring a steep gable.

Coffee Cali is centered where the old wool shops would have been found.

In early England, they used lime plaster on their buildings. This form of architecture was not continued In New England, because there was little lime and the weather, in general, was so harsh they had to cover any insulation with clapboards or overlapping wooden boards to protect it.

England had lost a lot of its forest by the 1600s due to building, used for firewood, and making charcoal to process iron. Around the 1500s, with the depletion of wood and abundance of stone, the Halifax style, gritstone structure became popular in the area.

On the other hand, New England had an abundance of forests. This helps to explain the timber-frame style of the Fairbanks House in Dedham.

Shibden Hall retains the old old timber Tudor style in parts of the building.

Now think of two and three story buildings having he Tudor design on the entire front of the building or at least on the top two stories. The buildings were very close together and looked continuous on both sides of the street.

Corn Market

Each vendor category at the market or fair had their special local. Thus, continue west on Old Market Street until you reach another crossroads. This crossing is the intersection of Corn Market and Old Market. Thus we would imagine grain would have been the commodity sold here. In old English, they used the word “corn” to mean grains in general. Today, Corn Market Street becomes Princess Street to the north and Southgate to the south.

Remember, Coffee Cali was in the Woolshops Shopping Center. Further west, there is a Swine Market Street. Usually the cattle were sold outside of town or at least outside the stockade that surrounded some towns.

Pillory

Another sight that was of interest at the intersection of Corn and market Street in early Halifax was the pillory. To some this would have been classified as entertainment, as was present in many forms during markets and fairs. However, for the one who was locked in the pillory, it was the next level of punishment for crimes, increased from the stocks. This was a very public place and the pillory was usually elevated on a platform to increase its visibility. There is no pillory to see today, but they would look much like the picture.

The pillory was similar to the stocks, but it required the guilty to stand with his/her neck and wrists pinioned between two pieces of wood. The wood was locked together. A placard often accompanied the device showing the name of the guilty or the crime resulting in the punishment.

The position in the pillory, alone, was very uncomfortable for the prisoner. However, like the stocks, the main purpose was public humiliation. Which resulted in jeers, mocking, pelting by rotten food and worse for up to two hours. Stock and pillories were used for punishment in Massachusetts Bay Colony also. A town could be fined if they did not have them.

Maypole

Various seasonal celebrations were held in the 1600s. May Day, was held the first day of May. It was a time to gather. This holiday was often used by youth to look their best in search for mates. A maypole was “a permanent fixture” in the center of an intersection. A dance was held around the pole with revelers weaving ribbons around the pole.

The Puritans became outraged at this Maypole event because it was often accompanied by drinking and unruly behavior. Maypoles were banned in 1644, after the English Civil War when Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan, was the head of Parliament.

The Old Cock (Sports Bar)

Old Cock Yard, Halifax, HX1 1DS

Continue south or left on Corn Market past Russel Street. Then turn west or right on Old Cock Yard Road. Perhaps poultry was sold here or perhaps another entertainment, cock fights, were held in this area.

The building that would become The Old Cock sports bar was built circa 1580 as a townhouse for William Saville of Copley, a town two miles south-southeast of Halifax. It became a pub and inn in 1688. Many of the early interior architectural structures were preserved. These structures are reminiscent of the original owner, a wealthy man. The Fairbanks and Prescotts were of the middling class and probably did not live in such luxury..

Treat yourself to how the wealthy lived in the 1500-1600s. On the second floor is the Oak Room. It is from the historic house. It has mullioned windows, meaning they have vertical bars between the windows. The windows have 10 lights or panes and are transom style, meaning there is a horizontal bar between the window and a door below.

There is partial molded paneling that covers three-fourths of the height of the wall. The fireplace retains a historic piece that is carved. The Oak Room can usually be viewed by request to the pub staff, but not at lunchtimes, between 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm.

Gibbet

Bedford Street North, Halifax, HX1, 5DL

A ten minute walk west from Corn Street, you will find the most definitive of punishments, the Gibbet or guillotine. Guillotines were used in at least one hundred other places in Yorkshire starting around 1066. However, Halifax was unique in that it continued the Gibbet Law until 1650, long after others abandoned it.

The Gibbet was erected on a large stone platform, with stone steps, possibly for better public visibility. The stone platform of the early gibbet was found and is still on the site of the original guillotine. The mechanical device is a replica. It was formed by two 15 foot erect pieces of timber joined at the top. These timbers had grooves which allowed a block of wood fixed with a sharp blade to move up and down to complete the execution. A rope on a pulley was attached to the block of wood holding the blade. A pin held the block at its elevated position. Another block of wood at the foot of the device had a center depression where the kneeling criminal placed his neck. At the given time, the pin was removed releasing the block and blade to course rapidly down the timbers to cleave the head from the body of the criminal.

A rogue was sentenced for execution if he was found with three pence and half penny of goods in hand, on back (carrying), or confessed of the theft by mouth. In the case of Halifax, it was often theft of wool cloth, sometimes taken from tenters or drying racks.

Executions were performed on Saturday market days, the largest and the one that drew the largest crowd. The criminal, held in the gaol (jail) and stocks until then, was led to the Gibbet for public execution.

During the march to the Gibbet and the execution, a bagpiper played a mournful tune. Everyone knew what was about to take place. Remember the bagpiper gargoyle on the Minster eave? Now you understand the warning of that gargoyle on the eave near the entrance to the Minster.

The Fairbanks and Prescott family would walk the arduous four miles from Warley or Sowerby to go to market or the fair at Halifax. They probably passed by the Gibbet as they went into Halifax. It is said at one market day, a head rolled into the basket of one of the market goers.

In 1623, when Jonathan Fairbanks’s family were still in England, George Fairbank, alias Scroggin, not known to be from our direct line, and his illegitimate daughter, Anna, were both beheaded here for theft of wool cloth. http://www.guillotine.dk/Pages/gibbet.html

A 1622 poem written by John Taylor gave rise to the Beggar’s Litany “From Hell, Hull and Halifax, Good Lord Deliver us” which refers to horrors of Hell, the strict law enforcement at Hull (another Yorkshire town), and the Gibbet Law of Halifax.

An actual Gibbet blade can be seen at the Bankfield Museum in Halifax.

Piece Hall

Blackledge, Halifax HX1 1RE, United Kingdom

Piece Hall (as in pieces of woolen fabric) is Britain’s last surviving cloth hall. Located in the center of Halifax, it replaced the 1572 Cloth Hall in 1779. Cloth Hall was the location of selling the hand-woven kersey fabric, the signature cloth of West Yorkshire. The original location of Halifax’s Cloth Hall was located on Horton Street. One of the entrances to Piece Hall is at Horton/Cross Street.

Piece Hall is a very large building surrounding a vast courtyard of art. It was erected over 100 years after Jonathan Fairbanks died. However, the story that the museum at Piece Hall tells of the wool and cloth trade is important to the Fairbanks families of England which many were clothiers.

Wool was the main industry in West Yorkshire, England. We don’t have documentation of the wool industry in our direct line. John Fairbanks, Jonathan’s father, appeared to be intent on acquisition of land. However, Jonathan’s uncle and half-brother, both named George, are designated as clothiers. We don’t know what Jonathan Fairbanks did before moving to New England, but during his time in England he stayed in the areas where most men were involved in some portion of the wool industry.

In Yorkshire, almost every family was involved in the wool trade or production, mostly as cottage or at home business in some aspect of the industry. Many came to Halifax to get their raw wool and carried it home on their heads or backs to spin. Women and girls spun the wool; men wove the cloth. It took four women’s work to keep one weaver busy. Then the wool cloth was washed and processed. Thus the cropper’s grave cover, he cleared the imperfections from the top of the cloth. To dry, the wool cloth was stretched across wooden frames called tenters and left outside the home to dry. That made it vulnerable to theft. The cloth was sold at a cloth market, perhaps in the front of a butcher shop in Halifax early in the morning and in later years at Cloth Call on Horton Street and later yet at Piece Hall.

Today, at Pierce Hall, you can learn about the history of the wool industry. The museum is at the south side of the lower-level of this very structure.

Ring O’ Bells

3 Upper Kirkgate, Halifax HX1 1QS

This pub sits near the southwest corner of the Minster and Pierce Hall. Much of the Ring O’ Bells was built in the 17th century, and some parts have been preserved from earlier times. Not only is it from the time of Jonathan and Grace in England, but it has special history in preserving artifacts of their time.

During England’s Civil War in the 1640s, between King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell who represented the Puritans, the font cover in the Minster (St. John’s Church) was in danger of being destroyed. The Church warden rescued it and took it home, in what is now the Ring O’ Bells, to preserve it so you could see it today.

A more detailed history is shown at http://www.halifaxpeople.com/RingOBells.html#:~:text=Ring%20o'Bells%20was%20built,It%20exhibits%20ghostly%20manifestations. Note one name, Thomas Farrar. He was a later resident of Halifax, but it is know that two brothers, the Farrars, came from the Halifax Parish and settled in Dedham sometime after Jonathan Fairbanks settled there with his family.

Shibden Hall

Lister's Rd, Halifax HX3 6XG, United Kingdom

Now walk (24 minutes) or take transportation (1.4 miles) to Shibden Hall in Shibden Park. The hall was built as a residence in 1420. The exterior has been altered, but the old Tudor style timber-frame is still prominent.

A former residence of a prominent Halifax family, it is now an important museum that helps explain the lives of our ancestors in the 1600s. There is a 1700s barn and other buildings around Shibden Hall that holds the “West Yorkshire Folk Museum.” Here you will see a working depiction of an early saddlery, wheelwright, and cooper.

Jonathan Fairbanks, the emigrant, made spinning wheels, not cart wheels. George Fairbanks, his son, started a cooper business in Dedham.

The hall itself has a variety of restored workshops, including a brewery, a basket-weaving shop, and a tannery. A stable holds an extensive collection of horse-drawn carriages which would be from a later time. The park has a dry stone walling exhibit. Many stone walls stretch across the landscape of the country today.

Enjoy a virtual tour of Shibden Hall to prepare for your trip or provide a taste of Yorkshire if you don’t have plans to travel. https://museums.calderdale.gov.uk/visit/shibden-hall/virtual-tour

Summary

You have now visited the largest town in the area that the Fairbanks and Prescott families relied on for what wasn’t available nearer their homes. Their transportation was by foot, and you will soon see that walking even short distances was strenuous because of the terrain. They probably visited Halifax for important rites such as marriage, baptisms, sometimes markets, but always the bi-annual fairs.

Next we will visit the towns where we know the Fairbanks’s lived. Experience the terrain, locate the sites of churches of ease they might have attended, and imagine their lives before they emigrated from England to New England.

What’s Up Next?

Skircoat, Sowerby Bridge, Sowerby Township, Warley Township and Thornton in Craven, West Yorkshire, England

Note

The information about the Jonathan Fairbanks paternity for this and other blogs have been largely taken from the article in the The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 166, Whole Number 663 (July 2012) named “Jonathanhn Fairbank of Dedham, Massachusetts, and His Family in the West Riding of Yorkshire” by Ruth Fairbanks Joseph and James Swan Landberg.

From Weaver to Web https://www.calderdale.gov.uk/wtw/timeline/1500-1600/1500-1600-1.html

http://www.calderdalecompanion.co.uk/c109_h.html#h1354

https://www.visitcalderdale.com/see-and-do/attractions/halifax-gibbet/

https://guillotine.dk/pages/gibbet.html

Malcom Bull’s Calderdale Companion calderdale@aol.com

http://www.halifaxpeople.com/