Haddon Hall
Every famous family of England has its romance, and the history of the House of Vernon is a series of romances. In the thirteenth century there was a Ralph Vernon, Rector of Hanwell, and Baron of Shipbroke, who quietly set aside his vow of celibacy and made a match of it with Cecilia Crew (Lysons says there was no marriage certificate), and became the father of a son, who has given to the pedigree of the Shipbroke branch of his race that air of mystery and delicacy usually spoken of with incredulity and whisper.
This son inherited the possessions of his father, and lived for one hundred and fifty years - all authorities so allow, which is only the Curious part of the business. They allow, too, that he espoused Mary Dacre, and had legitimate issue; but it appears there was a buxom widow (Maud Grosvenor) by whom he also had issue, and this issue, on the death of the grandson of this venerable Baron, came in for the Barony, for there was a law suit by which they contested it and got it, for the legitimate line was adjudged Haslington. We will have a gossip of these matters perchance under Hazlebadge.
|
Member of the Historic Houses Association. Haddon Hall is one of Britain's last remaining 12th century fortified manor houses still in a more-or-less fully preserved and unspoiled condition. The ancestral home f the Dukes of Rutland, the Hall is strategically placed on a limestone outcrop; its wooded hill overlooks the River Wye and was ideal for ultimate defense. The approach to the hall is via the 16th century stone bridge over the river. An inhabited dwelling has existed on the present site since well before the Domesday Survey of 1087, and successive generations of the Vernon, Peverel, Avenel and Manners families have lived there with unbroken residence until the late 19th century when it was abandoned, needing a great deal of maintenance.
The Battle of Shrewsbury, fought on July 21st, 1403 between an army led by the Lancastrian King, Henry IV and a rebel army led by members of the Percy family from Northumberland, is principally remembered today by many as the climax of Shakespeare's play, Henry IV. The Percy forces, mostly raised from their estates in Cheshire, were believed to be aiming to join forces with a Welsh rebel force led by Owain Glyn Dwr. Percy was supported vy Sir Richard vernon of Shipbroke.
|
Shrewsbury was a principal town on the route taken by the Percy forces and was the major crossing point over the river Severn as well as a potential supply base. The royal army had to take and defend the site urgently before the Percies and Glyn Dwr could join up. For some hours on the morning of the 21st, the two armies faced each other out of arrowshot whilst negotiations took place to try to resolve the position. Eventually, the King seems to have decided that no solution would be reached since the Percies were either too determined in their stance or because they were seeking to bring in surprise reinforcements. The order to advance was given.
Both vanguards found themselves subject to such a bombardment of arrows that many were killed within minutes. Once the hand to hand fighting had begun, the royal forces proved superior and a rash charge from the Percy force led them into disarray and destruction. When the cry went up that Harry Percy, the "Hotspur" had fallen, resistance crumbled and the slaughter began. Chroniclers of the day recorded that such a slaughter had never been seen or read about in Christian times. Thousands fell. Sir Richard Vernon was captured at Shrewsbury and condemned to death by beheading. His head was set above the gates of Chester 'so long as it shall last' as a deterent to potential opposition to Henry IV.
|
Three Quaker Brothers, Thomas, Randall and Robert came to America on one of William Penn's sailing ships in 1682 to settle in Pennsylvania. Their parents were James Vernon and Hester Brown of Cheshire county in England.
Thomas Vernon was the eldest son. In England he had been persecuted for being a Quaker. He brought with him to America his wife, Elizabeth, and a son Thomas, aged about 12 years. They settled near Upper Providence.
Randall Vernon of Sandivway, in the Parish of Weaverham, believed to be the second son, was born in England about 1640. He married Sarah Bradshaw of Stanithorne, who was probably related to John Bradshaw, the Premier of England after Charles I was beheaded. They settled in Lower Providence Tsp. of Pennsylvania
The third son was Robert Vernon of Stoke in Cheshire county. He came with his wife Eleanor Minshall and their two sons: John and Jacob. Robert was born around 1642 and died in Jan or Feb. 1709/10. His wife Elinor died July 24, 1720.
The three brothers occupied the same house for sometime after settling in Nether Providence, Chester (now Delaware) County. As time allowed, they each built large homes of their own. Delaware County Records show that the three Vernon Brothers purchased 625 acres each in March 1681. Robert Vernon purchased a further 330 acres in 1684. The large two story stone house built by Robert around 1690 is still in use today in the exclusive are of Rose Valley near Media.
Thomas, son of Robert Vernon and Eleanor Minshall, was born 1686 in Nether Provence, Chester County in Pennsylvania. In 1709 he and two brothers were dismissed from the Quaker Society "for bad associates". Apparently Thomas and his wife became Presbyterians, when they joined a new settlement near Cub Creek, then Charlotte County, Virginia organized by a Presbyterian minister, John Caldwell. Thomas took up 501 acres. Thereafter he and his many descendants are identified as the Vernon branch from the "Cub Creek Caldwell Settlement of Virginia" in an area later to fall in Lunenburg County. Thomas and Mary raised a large family including Isaac, Jonathan, Richard, Thomas, James, Rebecca, Madeline, Robert, and Hannah. In 1757 Thomas and Mary conveyed their remaining homestead of 370 acres to son, Isaac, and thereafter went to live with him for the remainder of their lives.
