The History of Thurnham Hall

Thurnam Hall was the seat of the Daltons of Thurnham for over four centuries, it having been acquired by that family in 1556. The earlier owners had adopted the name of the property as their own and were known as the de Thurnhams. In the 12 th century William de Thurnham granted land to the hospital of Cockersands Abbey and thereafter there was always a connection between the Hall and the Abbey. After the Dissolution both came under the same ownership.

The estate passed from the de Thurnhams, by descent, through the families of Flemmings, Cancerfield, Harrington, Bonvile and Grey. Thomas Grey the marquis of Dorset , who had fought at the Battle of Tewkesbury, later took up arms against Richard III having sided with the earl of Richmond . Thomas Grey was imprisoned on suspicion of high treason. His estates were forfeited to the crown. However he was later released and had his properties returned to him.

Dorset 's son, the 3 rd Marquise, is better know to history as Henry, Duke of Suffolk, the father of Lady Jane Grey. With Suffolk , the Grey family connection with Thurnham ended. In 1553 Suffolk sold the estate to a London grocer, Thomas Lonne. Lonne sold the estate, three years later, to Robert Dalton of Bispam in Lancashire . Robert was the grandson of William Dalton of Bispam and his wife Jane who was the daughter of Sir John Townley, one of the oldest families in the country. Robert married Ann Kitchen and through her the Daltons acquired the sequestered lands of Cockersands Abbey.

Robert Dalton had a son, Thomas, who fought on the side of the king in the Civil War, he also had ten, (some say seven), daughters. All of the daughters were renowned for their piety and for their adherence to the Roman Catholic Faith. (The Daltons being well known recusants in the country). These ladies lived in Aldcliffe hall and were known as the “Catholic Virgins”. Their brother, Thomas, suffered from his part in the Civil War. Having raised a troop of horses for his king, he was wounded at the second Battle of Newbury and died within a week at Marlborough . His properties, and those of his sisters, were seized by the Cromwellians, but they were afterwards restored to the family.

The Daltons continued at Thurnham until Robert Dalton, grandson of the original purchaser of the estate, died leaving an heiress Elizabeth Dalton. Elizabeth Dalton married into another ancient and staunchly Roman Catholic Lancashire family, the de Hoghtons. Her husband was William de Hoghton, one of the de Hoghton's of Hoghton Tower.

The son of this union, John de Hoghton, took the name of Dalton . Like his forbears he incurred trouble by loyalty to the old faith and the old royal family, for in 1715 he joined the first Jacobite uprising when the Scots arrived in Lancaster . For this he was imprisoned in London and his lands confiscated. After his release he walked back to Lancaster and recovered Thurnham after paying a huge fine.

John Dalton, who died in the year of Queen Victoria 's accession, married Mary Gage. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Rockwood Gage, 5 th Baronet by his wife, Lucy Knight. The Gage Baronetcy eventually became extinct, but the main line of the family, who became viscounts, are still extant and live at Firle Place in Sussex . Thurnham hall, when inherited by John Dalton, was regarded as a little old fashioned so he replaced the mullioned windows and massive bays with gothic windows. When he completed it, John Dalton put his coat of arms, and those of his wife (Gage), over the door.

John Dalton's only son, also called john, died without issue and Thurnham passed, on the death of John senior in 1837, to his daughter Elizabeth who lived in the hall until her death. Elizabeth Dalton was one of several sisters, all of whom predeceased her without children. She was a remarkable woman of stern will and great piety – a throwback to those 17 th century Dalton Ladies, the “Catholic Virgins”. Not only did she build the private chapel in the hall, she also paid for much of the present Thurnham Roman Catholic Church in 1848. Until then there had only been a small chapel. In 1837 her father, John Dalton, had left £100 in his will towards a fund for building a new church commensurate with the religious revival of the 19 th century, sparked off by the Oxford movement.

Funds were not readily forthcoming and ten years later there was only £1,000 available, so Miss Dalton came to the rescue and offered to pay the balance. The building was completed in August 1848 at a cost of £5,000. The new edifice was aptly dedicated to St. Thomas More and St. Elizabeth of Hungary , the Princess who spent her Life in penance and self-denial. Both dedications were apt since St Elizabeth was the namesake of the benefactor of Thurnham Church and St. Thomas More was one of the forbearers of her successors at Thurnham. On her death in 1861, at the age of 81, she was succeeded by a distant cousin Sir James Fitzgerald.

We must now look back to Robert Dalton whose son married Mary Gage and was responsible for the present west facade. Robert married thrice. His third wife being Bridget, daughter of Thomas More of Barnborough hall near Doncaster . Bridget was the heiress and last lineral descendant of St. Thomas More, thus re-enforcing the strong Catholic traditions of Thurnham. Her daughter, also Bridget, married Sir James Fitzgerald, the 7 th Baronet, of Castle Ishen, Co. Cork, Ireland. It was their grandson, the 9 th Baronet, who inherited Thurnham Hall. On doing so he assumed the additional name of Dalton , becoming Sir James Dalton-Fitzgerald and he died in 1867 without issue. His brother, Sir Gerald Dalton-Fitzgerald, succeeded to the title and property but he also died childless so the Baronetcy became extinct.

After Elizabeth Dalton's death there was a sale at Thurnham of most of the contents and from thence forward it remained empty, the Fitzgerald's remaining mostly in their Essex estates. The Daltons portraits and heirlooms which were not sold in 1861 were transferred to Essex .

With the passing of the Fitzgerald's, Thurnham came back into the male line of the Dalton's in the person of William Henry Dalton, a second cousin of the last Fitzgerald Baronet, who was descendant from Robert Dalton (died 1785) and his third wife Bridget More. William married an American wife and they had two sons and six daughters. The eldest son, John Henry, succeeded to the estate and was followed by his brother, William Augustus Dalton. The Chapter house of which had for many years served as a burial place for the Daltons . Many of the finds were kept at the Hall and the findings were fully published by the ancient monuments society.

With the death of William Augustus Dalton the Daltons died out of the main line of descent. Thurnham hall slowly deteriorated through the years of lying empty and disused. After the last war, (1939-1945), it looked as if the dilapidated building would suffer the same fate that had befallen so many of the fine old houses in this century.

Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Crabtree purchased Thurnham Hall in the early 1970's and then, assisted by their son David, completely renovated the building and brought the hall back to it's imposing former glory and splendour.