All the Days of My Life: An Autobiography Part 60

A daughter who married Sir Hugh Askew, Kn't, yeoman of the cellar to Henry VIII, and Ann, married to Ralph Latus, Esq., of the Beck.

Sir John, died 38th, Henry VIII, 1546-7.

ANTHONY HUDLESTON, ESQ., son and heir, married Mary, daughter of Sir William Barrington, Knight, and was succeeded by his son

WILLIAM HUDLESTON, ESQ., knight of the shire in the 43rd Elizabeth, who married Mary, daughter of Bridges, Esq., of Gloucestershire.

FERDINANDO HUDLESTON, son and heir, was also knight of the shire in the 21st James I. He married Jane, daughter of Sir Ralph Grey, knight of Chillingham, and had issue nine sons--WILLIAM, JOHN, FERDINANDO, RICHARD, RALPH, INGLEBY, EDWARD, ROBERT, and JOSEPH; all of whom were officers in the service of Charles I. He was succeeded by his eldest son.

SIR WILLIAM HUDLESTON, a zealous and devoted royalist, who raised a regiment of horse for his sovereign, and also a regiment of foot; the latter he maintained at his own expense during the whole of the war.

For his good services and his personal bravery at the battle of Edgehill, where he retook the royal standard, he was made a knight banneret by Charles I on the field. He married Bridget, daughter of Joseph Pennington, Esq., of Muncaster. He had issue, besides his successor, a daughter, Isabel, who married Richard Kirkby, Esq., of Furness, and was succeeded by his son.

FERDINAND HUDLESTON, ESQ., who married Dorothy, daughter of Peter Hunley, merchant of London, and left a sole daughter and heiress Mary, who married Charles West, Lord Delawar, and died without issue. At his decease the representation of his family reverted to

RICHARD HUDLESTON, ESQ., son of Colonel John Hudleston, Esq., second son of Ferdinando Hudleston, and Jane Grey his wife. This gentleman married Isabel, daughter of Thomas Hudleston, Esq., of Bainton, co.

York, and was succeeded by his son,

FERDINANDO HUDLESTON, ESQ., who married Elizabeth, daughter of Lyon Falconer, Esq., co. Rutland, by whom he had issue,

WILLIAM HUDLESTON, ESQ. This gentleman married Gertrude, daughter of Sir William Meredith, Bart., by whom he had issue, two daughters, Elizabeth and Isabella. Elizabeth, the elder, married Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bart., who in 1774 sold the estate for little more than 20,000 pounds to Sir James Lowther, Bart.--by whom it was devised to his successor, the Earl of Lonsdale.

Millom Castle, considerable remains of which are still in existence, is pleasantly situated in the township of Millom Below, near the mouth of the Duddon. It was fortified and embattled in 1335 by Sir John Hudleston, who obtained a license from the King for that purpose. In ancient times it was surrounded by a fine park. Here for many centuries the lords of Millom held their feudal pomp and state undisturbed by war's tempestuous breath, from which the more northerly parts of the country suffered so severely, and so often; and we do not hear that the Castle was ever attacked previous to the wars of the Parliament, when it appears to have been invested, though no particulars respecting the occurrence have been recorded. It is at this period that the old vicarage house, which was in the neighborhood of the Castle, was pulled down, lest the rebels should take refuge therein. Mr. Thomas Denton tells us, that in 1688 the castle was much in want of repair. He also informs us that the gallows where the lords of Millom exercised their power of punishing criminals with death stood on a hill near the castle, and that felons had suffered there shortly before the time at which he was writing. He describes the park as having within twenty years abounded with oak, which to the value of 4,000 pounds had been cut down to serve as fuel at the iron forges.

When John Denton wrote the castle appears to have been in a partly ruinous state, although the lords still continued to reside there occasionally. In 1739 the old fortress appears to have been in much the same condition as it is in our own times. In 1774 when Nicholson and Burn published their history, the park was well stocked with deer, and this state of things continued till the year 1802, when it was disparked by the earl of Lonsdale. The old feudal stronghold of the Boyvilles and Hudlestons now serves as a farmhouse, the princ.i.p.al part remaining is a large square tower, formerly embattled, but at present terminated by a plain parapet. The chief entrance appears to have been in the east front by a lofty flight of steps. In a wall of the garden are the arms of Hudleston, as also in the wall of an outhouse. On the south and west sides traces of the moat are still visible. The lordship of Millom still retains its own coroner.

After the sale of Millom to the Earl of Lonsdale, which occurred only twenty-five years before the birth of my father, many of the Huddleston family emigrated to Newfoundland and to the American colonies. There were Huddlestons settled in Texas who had fought with General Sam Houston. They were large land owners and had patriarchal wealth in cattle and horses. I know this, for I wrote their a.s.sessments during the last two years of the Civil War. A California editor told me three years ago that there were Huddlestons among the rich miners of that state; and there is a notable branch of the family descended from Valentine Huddleston who came to the Plymouth colony in A.D. 1622. This gentleman is among the list of the proprietors of Dartmouth. He had two sons the eldest of whom bore the family name of _Henry_. Nothing can be more clear and straight than the pedigree of this branch; and its direct descendant is at the present day one of New York's most esteemed and influential citizens.

THE LORDS OF MILLOM

From Bulmer & Co.'s "History and Directory of Westmoreland,"

Millom Parish, page 154.

The Boyvilles held the seigniory in heir male issue from the reign of Henry I to the reign of Henry III, a s.p.a.ce of one hundred years, when the name and family ended in a daughter, Joan de Millom, by her marriage with Sir John Huddleston (No. 5, FOOT-PRINTS), conveyed the inheritance to that family, with whom it remained for about five hundred years. The Huddlestons were an ancient and honorable family who could trace their pedigree back five generations before the Conquest. The lords of Millom frequently played important parts in the civil and military history of the country. Richard and Adam (Nos. 6 and 7, FOOT-PRINTS), reign of Edward II, were implicated in the murder of Gaveston, the king's favorite, and the latter was taken prisoner at the battle of Borough Bridge in 1322. Sir Richard Huddleston (No. 12, FOOT-PRINTS) served as a banneret at the battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Sir John Huddleston was appointed one of the conservators of the peace on the borders in 1480, high sheriff of Yorkshire, steward of Neurith, and warden of the West Marches.

Sir William Huddleston (No. 17, FOOT-PRINTS), a zealous and devoted royalist, raised a regiment of hors.e.m.e.n for the service of the sovereign, as also a regiment of footmen, and the latter he maintained at his own expense. At the battle of Edge Hill he retook the standard from the Cromwellians, and for this act of personal valor he was made a knight banneret by the king on the field.

William Huddleston (not No. 17, FOOT-PRINTS), the twenty-first of his family who held Millom, left two daughters, Elizabeth and Isabella.

The former of whom married Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bart., who in 1774 sold the estate for a little more than 20,000 to Sir James Lowther, Bart., from whom it has descended to the present Earl of Lonsdale.

Millom Castle, of which considerable remains are still in existence, is pleasantly situated near the church. It was for many centuries the feudal residence of the lords of Millom, and though its venerable ruins have been neglected, still they point out its former strength and importance. It was fortified and embattled in 1335 by Sir John Huddleston in pursuance of a license received from the king. It was anciently surrounded by a park well stocked with deer, and adorned with n.o.ble oaks, which were cut down in 1690 by Ferdinando Huddleston to supply timber for the building of a ship and fuel for his smelting furnace.

The princ.i.p.al part of the castle now remaining is a large square tower formerly embattled but now terminated by a plain parapet.

Mr. John Denton tells us the Castle in his time (the middle of the 15th century) was partly in a ruined state though the lords continued to reside there occasionally. Before the year 1774 the park was well stocked with deer and continued so until 1802 when Lord Lonsdale disparked it and 207 deer were killed and the venison sold from 2d. to 4d. per lb.

The feudal hall of the Boyvilles and the Huddlestons where the lords of Millom lived in almost royal state is now the domicil of a farmer.

_Sic transit gloria mundi._

The moat is still visible in one or two places and in a wall and also in the garden may be seen the arms of the Huddlestons.

The castle is now undergoing reparation; some new windows are being inserted and additional buildings are being erected.

(We are indebted to Miss Alethia M. Huddleston, of Lancashire, England, for the copy of the foregoing valuable account of Millom.)

APPENDIX II

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY

Jan Vedder's Wife, 1885 A Daughter of Fife, 1886 The Bow of Orange Ribbon, 1886 The Squire of Sandal Side, 1886 The Household of McNeil, 1886 The Border Shepherdess, 1887 Paul and Christina, 1887 Christopher, 1887 Master of His Fate, 1888 Remember the Alamo, 1888 Between Two Loves, 1889 Feet of Clay, 1889 The Last of McAllisters, 1889 Friend Olivia, 1889 She Loved a Sailor, 1890 Sister to Esau, 1891 The Beads of Tasmer, 1891 Love for an Hour, 1891 Rose of a Hundred Leaves, 1891 The Singer from the Sea, 1893 Bernicia, 1895 A Knight of the Nets, 1896 The King's Highway, 1897 Lone House, 1897 Maids, Wives and Bachelors, 1898 I, Thou and the Other One, 1899 The Maid of Maiden Lane, 1900 Souls of Pa.s.sage, 1901 The Lion's Whelp, 1901 Master of His Fate, 1901 The Song of a Single Note, 1902 The Black Shilling, 1903 The Belle of Bowling Green, 1904 Trinity Bells, 1905 Cecilia's Lovers, 1905 The Heart of Jessy Laurie, 1907 The Strawberry Handkerchief, 1908 Hands of Compulsion, 1909 The House on Cherry Street, 1909 The Reconstructed Marriage, 1910 Sheila Vedder, 1911 A Maid of Old New York, 1911

APPENDIX III

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY OTHER PUBLISHERS

Romances and Realities, FORD HOWARD & CO.

Young People of Shakespeare's Dramas, D. APPLETON & CO.

Cluny McPherson, TRACT HOUSE Scottish Tales, TRACT HOUSE Prisoners of Conscience, CENTURY COMPANY The Hallam Succession, METHODIST BOOK CONCERN Lost Silver of Briffault, METHODIST BOOK CONCERN Flower of Gala Water, ROBERT BONNER'S SONS Femmetia, ROBERT BONNER'S SONS Three Volumes of Short Stories, ROBERT BONNER'S SONS The Mate of the Easter Bell, ROBERT BONNER'S SONS Reaping the Whirlwind, JAMES CLARK, LONDON The Preacher's Daughter, JAMES CLARK, LONDON Thyra Varrick, TAYLOR & COMPANY Was it Right to Forgive?, STONE, CHICAGO The Man Between, LOVELL Winter Evening Tales. Two Volumes, _Christian Herald_ Micheal and Theodora, BRADLEY AND WOODWARD Eunice Leslie, STEPHEN TYNG

This list includes none of the short stories written every week for Robert Bonner's _Ledger_; none written very constantly in the early years of my work for the _Christian Union_, the _Ill.u.s.trated Christian Weekly_, _Harper's Weekly_, _Harper's Bazaar_, _Frank Leslie's Magazine_, the _Advance_ and various other papers. Nor yet does it include any of the English papers or syndicates for which I wrote; nor yet the poem written every week for fifteen years for the _Ledger_; nor the poems written very frequently for the _Christian Union_, the _Independent_, the _Advance_, daily papers, and so forth. Nor can I even pretend to remember the very numerous essays, and social and domestic papers which were almost constantly contributed; I have forgotten the very names of this vast collection of work and I never kept any record of it. Indeed, only some chance copy has escaped the oblivion to which I gave up the rest. They kept money in my purse; that was all I asked of them. I do not even possess a full set of the sixty novels I have written. I may have twenty or thirty, not more certainly.

From among the hundreds of poems I have written during forty years I have saved enough to make a small volume which some day I may publish.

But I never considered myself a poetess in any true sense of the word.

"The vision and faculty divine" was not mine; but I had the most extraordinary command of the English language and I could easily versify a good thought, and tune it to the Common Chord--the C Major of this life. Women sang my songs about their houses, and men at their daily work and some of them went all around the world in the newspapers. "The Tree G.o.d Plants, No Wind Can Hurt," I got in a Bombay paper; and "Get the Spindle and Distaff Ready, and G.o.d Will Send the Flax," came back to me in a little Australian weekly. And for fifteen years I made an income of a thousand dollars, or more, every year from them. So, if they were not poetry they evidently "_got there!_" From among the few saved I will print half a dozen. They will show what "the people" liked, and called poetry.

I must here notice, that I used two pen names as well as my own. I never could have sold all the work I did under one name. But to my editors, the secret was an open one; and until the necessity for it was long past, not one of them ever named the subterfuge to me. That was a very delicate kindness and it pleases me to acknowledge it. Some of my very best work was done under fict.i.tious names. Truly I got no credit for it, but I got the money, and the money meant all kinds of happiness.

APPENDIX IV

POEMS

THE OLD PIANO

How still and dusky is the long closed room!

What lingering shadows and what sweet perfume Of Eastern treasures; sandal-wood and scent, With nard and ca.s.sia, and with roses blent: Let in the sunshine.

Quaint cabinets are here, boxes and fans, And h.o.a.rded letters full of hopes and plans: I pa.s.s them by--I come once more to see The old piano, dear to memory; In past days mine.