Extracts from "A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland", by Sir Bernard Burke

Before the internet was invented, records were written; and before written records were kept (and you don't have to go back very far to get to a time when very few people could read and write, probably about 1850) family's kept memories alive with chats at the fireside. In 1852, Sir Bernard Burke published his records of "pedigrees": A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland. Essentially, he travelled from stately home to stately home, meeting the families of repute who shared with him what written records they held, along with personal memories to establish their "pedigree". Families passed property and wealth from heir to heir, and the heir was usually the eldest surviving son of the current heir. If there was no son & heir to inherit, then the eldest daughter would pass on the family property and wealth to her husband. However, if the heir died "without  issue" (having no children), then the estate would be up-for-grabs by whoever could prove to be the closest relation. Hence, visitation books were written to establish pedigrees of noble families and this one written by Sir Bernard Burke is one of the more reliable.

This extract  (below) is taken from the book, and relates to the Dykes family, and their home and known history.

DOVENBY HALL, Cumberland, the seat of Mrs. Dykes. The place takes its name (Dolphinby, hence Dovenby) from Dolphin, the son of Aleward, who first seated himself here. It was given to him at the time of the Norman Conquest upon his marriage with Maud, sister of Waldeof, first Lord of Allerdale, and son of Gospatric, Earl of Dunbar. The female heir of one of his descendants married De Rolle, in the time of Henry III., from whom, at a later period (temp. Edward III.) it passed to the Lucys. 

From them, again, it descended to the Kirkbrides; a branch of the family of Odard, Baron of Wigton, and their female heir married the son of Sir Thomas Lamplugh, of Lamplugh, from whom it descended to Sir Thomas Lamplugh of Dovenby (temp. Charles I). 

He (Sir Thomas Lamplugh) dying without issue, the estate passed to the descendants of his brothers daughter, the last of whom, Miss Molyne, married Richard Lamplugh, Esq., of Ribton (a branch again of Lamplugh of Lamplugh). Note: it was not unusual for cousins to marry to keep the estate "within the family" and not be split, or lost forever.

He (Richard Lamplugh) died in the reign of Queen Anne. Through his descendants in the female line, and eventual heirs, Peter (Brougham) Lamplugh, Esq., and his sister, who married Frecheville Dykes, Esq., of Wardhall, the property came to the present owner, Mrs. Dykes, their heiress, as niece of the first and daughter of the second party. 

Mrs. Dykes is the widow of the late Joseph Dykes Ballantine Dykes, Esq., of Dovenby Hall.

The oldest part of this edifice, a large square tower, was probably built in the time of Henry III., or perhaps at an earlier period. The long low wing was next added, and subsequently the larger and more elevated square mansion-like building was erected, as in similar ancient residences in the county. On the ground-floor of the old tower, now cellars, are the marks of stabling for cattle, when it became necessary to secure them from the attempts of borderers, or other marauders in warfare, with embrasure openings, now closed. 

On the walls of the house outside are old escutcheons, with the arms of Lucy, Preston, Fenwick, Barwise, and Lamplugh, and Lamplugh and Kirkbride quarterly. 

In the house are a number of old family portraits. This ancient residence stands, like so many other old mansions, near the usual attendant village of the same name, with gardens and pleasure-grounds attached, and surrounded with wooded park-like ground. Note: when I visited the house in 2019, my investigations discovered that the house was sold in the 1920's and eventually occupied by the local council, before being "abandoned" in the 1970's; when (unfortunately) much of the contents were stripped out. It has since been refurbished by the current owners.  

DYKES Of Dykesfield and Wardhall, and now of Dovenby, & Cumberland.

The name of Dykes, anciently Del Dykes, is derived from the Roman wall of Hadrian, in Cumberland. Dykesfield, where the family was anciently located, is situated directly upon the line of the wall. Mr. Bruce, in his " Roman Wall" ("Dykesfield"),considers the place " to derive its name from the works of the barrier, and to have been the site of a station." This no doubt is so (and the one circumstance only, of course, tallies with and goes to confirm the other), in as far as it is derived from the name of the family, which was itself, in the first instance, derived from the works of the barrier. The family would certainly take their name from, or give it to, the locality where they were seated, as it corresponds with their own. In the latter case they would have been De Dykesfield, but as Del Dykes instead, it is evident they, in the first instance, received the name from their occupation of the castellum, or station, on the barrier, and the adjoining locality, and gave it to the place. This is completely the tradition of the place, and Mr. Bruce since coincides in the same. [The Saxon appellation of "the Dyke" was given to the wall here, as to that of Lollius Urbicus (Grahams Dyke), and the Teutonic appellation of Dyke (Deich) was as appropriate for the wall as its Pelasgic congener rax(°c) would have been.]

Hence, del Dyke, but actually Del Dykes, as may be considered, in the plural number, the locality of Dykesfield being the precise termination of the one and so the junction of the two works (or " dykes" as then denominated), the vallum and murus, the former terminating at this point as it did at the corresponding one on the east, near Newcastle — the Pons iElii.

Kimber's Baronetage,"(vol.ii.p.408.) in its account of the Sussex and Kentish branches of this family , says : — "The family of Dyke, or Dykes, was seated at Dykesfield, in Cumberland, before the Norman conquest, but by several intermarriages removed their seat to Wardhall, in that county, of which was Leonard Dykes, Esquire, chief heir male. A branch of this family very early removed into Sussex, where they were seated at Henfield and other places, and one was seated at Cranbrook, in Kent, of which was Reginald de Dyke, Sheriff of Kent, 29^th(c:1356) Edward III." The elder of these junior branches is represented by Sir Percyvall Hart Dyke, Bart., of Lullingstone ; another by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart., of Holincote and Killerton, and his son, Mr. Dyke Groyte, the arms borne being the same.

The first written records of the family in existence, and the pedigree recorded in the Heralds' College, commence about the time of Henry III. or Edward l. As Cumberland up to about the time of Henry III, was so much a part of Scotland, and the arms borne are of the ancient class in the College that are without date, it is possible there may have been previous records of the family in the heraldic archives of that kingdom, which unfortunately about the time of Charles I. were destroyed by fire.* 

Robert del Dykes, in a deed without date, conveys lands at Burgh (close to Dykesfield and also on the line of the wall) to William del Monkys. The name of the Lord Hugh de Multon occurring in the deed fixes the date about the end of Henry III. or beginning of Edward I (c.1270-1273).  The recorded pedigree in the Heralds' College commences at the same time with William del Dykes. 

In a deed without date, supposed by the writing to be of the period of the reigns of Hen. III. and Ed. L, Symon de Crosseby, clerk of Carlisle, conveys lauds at Waverton to William del Dykes — witnesses, the Lord Richd. Benton, then sheriff; Henry de Malton, Knt., and others. He was father of William del Dykes, who, temp. Edw. II. (1326), m. Agnes or Agneta, heiress of Sir Hugh de Waverton, of Waverton, 5^th (c:1332) of Edward III. is a conveyance of lands at Waverton to " John de Ormeby and Agnet del Dykes, and their heirs." To be continued...

Update - 25th May 2023

It's been some time since I updated the site with new information, so I'm going to re-visit the wikitree pages relating to the Dykes family, and endeavour to put some new research information onto these pages.

I recently learned something new about the button which is illustrated on the right of the page. This is a "livery" button which would have been worn by a member of the staff working for the family. These were made by a number of companies in the UK - by the thousand - up until the First World War. When the war ended in 1914, many families of the "landed gentry" were unable to maintain the staffing levels to run their homes as they were pre-WW1 as lot's of the workers left "domestic service" to work in the factories and towns and cities. The financial cash of 1926, and the resulting Great Depression didn't help matters either, and many of the button companies - and other associated suppliers of uniforms and regalia - went bust.

However, one button company still exists: Firmin & Sons Ltd (Link) of Birmingham, who I "found" after they were the subject of a documentary on BBC tv regarding the recent coronation of Charles III.  Firmin & Sons - along with Kashket & Partners - produced nearly all the uniforms and regalia used in the recent Coronation.   

I have been in contact with Firmin & Sons and made enquiries about the button, and obtaining copies.  they have advised that they could manufacture a replica, but that they would need to produce a stamping dye and there would be a minimum production number and, as such, a minimum charge. The intention is to have the motto around the circumference of the button (as in the photo) but only have a vertical lobster crest, as the "griffin with sword" is the crest of the Ballantine (as in scotch whisky) family. Out of interest, if you like whisky, take a look at a Ballantine's Whisky bottle, and there on the front above the name you will see their coat of arms, with the crest of "griffin with sword". 

The minimum number of buttons is 200, and I clearly don't need 200 buttons.  I would be willing to arrange an order of the buttons, and split up into smaller lots, if there was enough support amongst readers of the blog to share the cost.  There's a number of ways they could be used: mounted in a picture frame; cast into a paper-weight; or used to replace the top button on a favourite jacket - that would make a great talking point when meeting friends and other family members, and it's something that I'm intending on doing as well as gifting a button for use on the jackets of my 3 sons.

If you are interested: send me an email at idykes@btinternet.com with an indication of how many you might want.  

An indication of the cost per button - not including post and packing - is £4 (approx. US$5) each.

If you are visiting Cumbria

Be sure to get in touch and I will do my best to help you make the most of your time there, and see the most interesting Dykes family history. 

I am making another trip up the area in July 2021, exploring Keswick, Cockermouth and the coast of the Solway Firth.

I'm still unsure as to why Edward 1st died at Burgh-by-Sands leading an army of invasion into Scotland, unless there was a long forgotten and now disappeared crossing point of the estuary near this location.

Unfortunately, as my family name is plain "Dykes" and not Ballantine-Dykes, my branch of the family that leads to William Dykes born in 1919 either (a) broke off before the marriage in 1728 of Leonard Dykes and Susanna Capstack; or (b) Leonard and Susanna had 10 children and Leonard also had a child with an unknown woman (how someone found this out is anyone's guess).  It is unlikely that one of the male children fathered Wilfred as the eldest would have been born in 1729.  So it's possible that Wilfred is the illegitimate son of Leonard! But it is more likely that Wilfred's father was Leonard's uncle.

Whatever, it would seem the only connection my family has with Dovenby Hall is the Dykes family motto; examples of which should be found within the Hall; as Leonard and Susanna did not live there - Dovenby Hall was inherited by their granddaughter Mary.

My earliest proven relative is Wilfred Dykes born in 1747.  He married Mary Winn and had one child with him, John Dykes born in 1801 (died in 1838).  However, the reason for having only one child with Mary Winn was because he died, as Mary Winn married again in 1805 to Samuel Moss.

The father of Wilfred Dykes is proving tricky to identify, as he was probably born between 1720-29.

Cockermouth Castle & Town - a view from a drone

(14) Wilfred Dykes (1674 - 1743)

Possibly the most important person in my family tree is Wilfred Dykes (1674-1743) as he is the direct link between my branch of the family and the main branch of the Dykes family that goes back to 1270.

Wilfred was not the heir, that was his older brother Frescheville.  Not being the heir almost certainly caused Wilfred problems financially later-on in life.

At the time of his birth, Wilfred had 2 (possibly 3) older brothers:

Thomas (b.1662 d.1674 aged 14yrs); 

Leonard (b.1664 d.1679 aged 15yrs); and 

Fretcheville (b.1666-1749).  

He also had 2 older sisters: 

Barbara (b.1660) and Joyce (b.1672) with a 3rd sister, Grace born when Wilfred was 3yo in 1677.  

Above is a screenshot taken from the "Pedigrees recorded at the Herald's Visitations of the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland" in 1666; page 41.

As you can see the oldest boy Thomas died in 1674 - the year of Wilfred's birth - aged just 14yo.  Further tragedy hit the family 5 years later when the 2nd-oldest boy Leonard died in 1679 aged just 15yo.  I expect at the time, a great deal of emphasis was therefore placed in the 3rd-eldest boy Fretcheville who was only 13yo on the death of Leonard. This could have left Wilfred a bit ignored.

I think that is why (after he moved to live in Hexham) he married the Clergyman's daughter Catherine Allgood in 1697 (when he was 23yo) he took his bride to live in the village of Seaton a few miles outside Workington but, more importantly, the village of Seaton was on the estate of his aunt Joyce (his father's sister) who had married into the Curwen family and they lived at nearby Camerton Hall.  Wilfred had trained as an "Excise Officer" but it was likely that he was not in a position financially to provide a suitable home for his new wife, who came from the prestigious Allgood family of Northumberland. 

Wilfred and Catherine had a lot of children - possibly 8 in all - between 1697 - 1721.

Catherine Allgood is a bit of a mystery, mainly because (at the time) the birth-dates of women were not recorded or thought important.  Catherine had a sister called Frances, and it may be that her and her sister were twins, as her mother Anne Downes had no more children and her father - the Reverend Major Allgood - remarried in 1679.  As such, I think Catherine was born about 1677-78, and that would make her about 43yo when she gave birth to her youngest child - and my ancestor - Major Dykes in 1721.  

Robert del Dykes (1270 - 1315)

Robert del Dykes has the distinction of being the first named Dykes to be mentioned in official documents.  He managed that thanks to his wife, Agnes de Croedayk.

At the time of writing I have not seen any proof of either his date of birth or death, but several genealogists make reference to the years 1270 for birth and 1315 for death.

In  the year 1303, the lands of John de Mulcastre (who held the title "tenant in chief") were taken from him by the Crown (King Edward 1st). My understanding is that, at that time, all land was held by the Crown, and the management of that land - and the collection of rent - was down to the Tenant-in-Chief.  The Tenant-in-Chief was able to select the tenants who farmed the land, and also allocated the land; so he held a lot of power in his own vicinity.  Also, the Tenant-in-Chief would be able to skim-off a percentage of the rent for his own use, so not only was it a position of power but it was lucrative. 

The lands held by John de Mulcastre where likely in the area between Carlisle and Cockermouth.  This area, as with all the land in the area between Whithaven on the west costs to Berwick-upon-Tweed on the east coast, was the disputed border area between England and Scotland. Both England and Scotland claimed ownership - the Scots (after winning the Battle of Carham in 1018) claiming all land north of the River Tweed. As such, the Scottish were deadly enemies of the English Crown.
John de Mulcastre lost his title of Tenant-in-Chief due to the "enmity and rebellion of Alice, niece of John, who stays with the Scots the king's enemies" - in other words, Alice had married a Scot and that was most certainly not entertained by the Crown and King Edward 1st.  As such, the land was awarded to Robert de Crokedayk, of Great Waverton in Cheshire.

However, Robert de Crokedayk had no male heir, and so on his death the official records states the land under his control (as Tenant-in-Chief) is to be split in two equal parts and inherited by the sisters of Robert de Crokedayk; the sisters being Agnes and Christiana.

Agnes de Crokedayk was the wife of Robert del Dykes at the time of inheritance, and so had the name Agnes del Dykes.

She and her sister, Christiana de Crokedayk were not the automatic beneficiaries. As there was no male heir, the lands automatically passed to the Crown on the death of the male line. Representation had to be made to the Crown for any female heirs to inherit, and this isprobably the reason why the transfer was recorded by Royal Charter on 20th February 1304 (see illustration of the Calender of Fine Rolls). In order to obtain the lands, Robert del Dykes swore allegiance to the crown (fealty) and so assumed control of the share of his wife's sister, Christiana de Crokedayk.

Robert del Dykes lived until 1315 and, before he died, Agnes de Crokedayk gave birth to a son Walter del Dykes in 1308.  As he died in 1315, it is almost certain that he died during the siege of Carlisle by Robert The Bruce between July 22nd and 31st of that year. A most excellent narrative of the Siege is available via this link. It is likely that Robert del Dykes was one of only 100 "men-at-arms" who defended Carlisle Castle during the siege, 

This information is recorded in: 
1) "A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, enjoying territorial possessions or high official rank; but uninvested with heritable honours" by John Burke and published in 1834 (see pages 263-265).
2) "Calendar of the Charter Rolls preserved in the Public Records Office: Edward I and Edward II 1300-1326".

Family Tree from Robert del Dykes (1270-1315) to Wilfred Dykes (1674-1743)

(02) - William del Dykes (grandfather of Robert del Dykes) (no records)

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(01)- ????? del Dykes (no records)

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00 - Robert del Dykes (b.1270-d.1315) = Agnes de Croedayk
My belief is that Robert del Dykes died in the Siege of Carlisle of 1315

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01 - Walter del Dykes (b.1308-1349est) Without records it is probable that Walter del Dykes died when the "Black Death" (plague) hit Carlisle in 1349 and devastated the town.

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02 - William del Dykes (b.1330est - 1380est) Almost certain that William del Dykes was born before 1349 and lived in the reign of  Edward II = The marriage to Agnes, heiress of Sir Hugh Waverton is not proven

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03 - William del Dykes (b.1355est - 1420est) lives in the time of Edward III = wife unknown

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04 - William del Dykes (b.1380est - 1440est) lives in the time of Richard II = Jane, heiress of Sir Hugh Dystyngton,

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05 - William del Dykes (lives in the time of Henry IV) approx. 1405-1460 = Katherine Thwaites, of Thwaites

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06 - William del Dykes MP for Cumberland (lives in the time of Henry VI) approx. 1430-1485 = Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Lee Thwaites, of Thwaites (Elizabeth is a descendant of William the Conqueror via W-the-C’s sister)

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07 - William del Dykes (???-???) approx. 1450-1500 = Christiana, daughter of Sir Richard Salkeld

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08 - Thomas Dykes (???-???) approx. 1470-1540 = Isabel, heiress of John Pennington of Muncaster - possibly also had a son called John Edward Dykes who moved to Kent where he started the line of the family that eventually went to America where spelling changed to DIKES. John Edward  Dykes (or Dikes) possibly sailed to the USA between with his son Anthony (1606-1638). For this to be true, JED would need to be born between 1535-1540 but as this would make him 66yo when his "son" Anthony was born in 1606, it's likely there was another generation in-between, making Anthony his "grandson".

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09 - Leonard Dykes (???-???) approx. 1520-1580 = Anne Layton of Dalemain (in 1541)

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10 - Thomas Dykes (???-???) approx. 1535-1600 = Jane, daughter of Lancelot Lancaster of Sockbridge

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11 - Leonard Dykes (???-???) approx. 1560-1625 = 1^st wife Anne, heiress of Radcliffe of Cockerton; (2^nd wife Margaret Fretcheville of Staveley, niece of Lord Fretcheville)

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12 -Thomas Dykes (approx. 1615-1658)  from the pedigree: his older 7 brothers all died before reaching adulthood; 

Approx 1632, he married 1^st wife Joyce, niece of Lord Fretcheville; (2^nd wife Jane de la Vale, heiress of Robert de la Vale)

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13 - Leonard Dykes (1633 - 1720) = m.1660 Grace Salkeld, daughter of John Salkeld

Leonard & Grace had 7 children (4 boys & 3 girls)

Barbara (b.1660), I can find no other records - she possibly died before reaching adulthood;

Thomas (b.1662, he died in 1674 aged 14yrs)

Leonard (b.1664, he died in 1679 aged 15yrs);

13(i) Fretcheville Dykes (b.1666-1749) Heir of Leonard Dykes;

14 - Wilfred Dykes (b.1674-1743) who is my link

Joyce (b.1672), she married into the Curwen family

Grace (b.1677), I can find no other records - she possibly died before reaching adulthood;

Notes:

Dates to be filled in on this page as the information is discovered and verified. 

For any personal narratives provided, check the pages (right) and identify using the generation numbers (1 to 14) above.

What should be taken into consideration is that many children died before reaching adulthood, and if a child died very young, then any subsequent children born  of the same sex could have the same name as the deceased child: this is a source of confusion with regards the year of birth.