The declaration of the account of the goods of Thomas Lewyn of Warkworth, gent., was exhibited at Durham in 1642 by his three sons and executors, John, Thomas, and Henry Lewyn, but the will itself has not been found.

The testator owed to Algernon, earl of Northumberland, for an arrearages of rent, £300 ; to Lancelot Algood for halfe year's interest on the principal sum of £200, which had been discharged by the deceased, £8; to George Warwick, gent., for the tithe corn rent of Warkworth East-demesne, £8; servants' wages, £3 16s.; the smith and other workmen, £2 8s. 2d.; funeral expenses, £20; probate expenses, £3 6s. 8d.; executors' expenses, ,£1 3s. 4d.; total £346 14s. 2d.

TOWNSHIP OF AMBLE. Continued 3

     In the following year the commissioners entered into articles of agreement with George Clarkson, esq., and Samuel Foxley, gent., for the sale of certain lands at Heron's-close, Espley, Newton-by-the-sea, and Alnwick, all forfeited by Sir William Fenwick, and also of `all that house called or knowne by the name of Ambell hall, with the lands and appurtenances thereunto belonginge, and all those the salt-panns, collyery, conney warren, fishinge, and rent-come belonging to Ambell hall in the parish of Warkworth.'  <sup>N</sup>
     Though Sir William Fenwick died in London in May, 1652, his name was, on the 2nd of November following, inserted in the bill for the sale of lands forfeited to the Commonwealth for treason. Catherine Fenwick, the second of his three daughters and co-heiresses, became the second wife of Sir Francis Radcliffe, afterwards earl of Derwentwater. Clark and Foxley acted as trustees and agents for Lady Radcliffe, with whose descendants the Amble estate remained until 1732. In an inquisition taken (under a commission issued under the Great Seal 27th February, 1741/2) at Morpeth on the 4th of November, 1742, it was found that William Radcliffe, late of Amble, esq., died at Rome on the 6th of November, 1732, seised of the manor or lordship of Amble, of 32 old bolls and 4 bushels of barley payable each year at Candlemas by the tenants of Amble, <sup>N</sup> of a free warren or coney garth at Amble and Hauxley, a smith's shop at Amble, the coal mines at Amble and Hauxley, salt-pans at Amble, four `farms' of land in Amble, called Hope-house, and two `farms' of land in Hauxley, called the Hauxley-fields, of a burgess house, garth, and four stints in Warkworth, and of three `farms' and a coney warren in Togston Moor-houses, commonly called the Low-hall, of the total annual value of £262 12s. ^N
    Owing to the attainder of James, earl of Derwentwater, and of his brother, Charles Radcliffe, for high treason, William Radcliffe's estate was escheated to the Crown. But by an exercise of the royal bounty the lands were granted under successive leases ^N to trustees for the benefit of, and to make some provision for, the children of the attainted Charles Radcliffe by his marriage with Charlotte, countess of Newbrough, until, under the powers conferred by an enabling Act of Parliament passed in the 34th year of his reign, George III. by letters patent dated the 8th of December, 1798, granted to Anthony James, earl of Newbrough, and his heirs all that manor of Amble and the farms, lands, hereditaments, and premises with their royalties, rights, members, and appurtenances in Amble, Hauxley, and Warkworth, as the said William Radcliffe held the same at the time of his death. The premises so granted at the death of the countess of Newbrough in 1853 passed to her husband, Lieutenant-colonel Charles Leslie, ^N and to his issue by a former marriage. The present owner is Mr. Charles Leslie of Slindon, Sussex.
     Lawson and Horsley, to whom a considerable part of Amble was conveyed in 1630, acted as trustees for certain of the copyhold tenants and others, to whom they subsequently conveyed parcels of the lands in such manner that in 1663 the township was held in the following proportions :

      From Sir Francis Radcliffe and from the above-named seven freeholders the title of every landholder at the present day is derived.
      Of the family of Lewin, who also held lands in Warkworth, Alnmouth, and Bamburgh,^N little is known. There were proceedings in 1638 in the Court of Exchequer brought by Thomas Lewin, gent., against Sir William Carnaby, knight, the high sheriff, claiming damages for a seizure for a Crown debt of the complainant's goods alleged to have been improperly made in August, 1636. The depositions state that the sheriff's officers drove away twelve oxen and twelve milk kine worth £84, the oxen being yoked to two wains laden with the complainant's corn and carrying the same home to his stack garth at Amble, that the kine served partly for the maintenance of his family, and for want of them he had no milk. That at the time of the seizure the complainant was possessed of at least eighty horses and mares, besides sheep, young cattle, and other goods in Northumberland to the value of £600, which the sheriff might as well have seized upon as upon the oxen and kine. That for want of the draught oxen 320 thrave of oats stood out till after Martinmas, and a third part was spoiled : that for want of the oxen the complainant was forced in the autumn to sow all his hard corn upon three tilths instead of four, by reason of which so many thistles sprang up as to choke most of it. ^N
    Thomas and Nicholas Lewin in 1651 conveyed two house steads in Amble to Robert Widdrington, ^N but in 1663 Nicholas Lewin was still possessed of four fourteenth parts of Amble and of two thirteenth parts of Hauxley, and in 1683 Thomas Lewin of Amble acted as foreman to the grand jury at the Northumberland sessions held at Morpeth.^N It is believed that both of these estates were acquired by the Radcliffe family, and that they are represented by Amble Hope-house and the Hauxley fields, which now belong to Mr. C. Leslie. ^N
     On the 22nd of January, 1616, George Whitehead wrote to the earl of Northumberland from North Shields :

     On the 11th of August, 1632, Lawson and Horsley executed a deed ^N or declaration of trust in which they declared that they had purchased the three farms in the possession of Dionis Wilson in trust for the said Dionis Wilson and for Edward Wilson, his son and heir. After the death of Dionis Wilson, Henry Horsley and James Whitehead joined with Edward Wilson on the 20th of August, 1649, in conveying these three farms (subsequently called Amble New-hall) to Catherine Wilson, spinster, in consideration of £300. Catherine Wilson on the 29th of July, 1650, ^N conveyed the three farms in Amble and two farms in Old Moor, near Longhurst, to John Thompson, whom she subsequently married. ^N  Thompson, who was rector of Bothal, and Catherine, his wife, on the 6th of December, 1652, sold their lands in Amble to Edward Cook, ^N  who, in 1663, was rated for the same at £30 per annum.

WILSON OF AMBLE NEW HALL AND PEGSWORTH

    The place whence Edward Cook came to the parish of Warkworth is not known, but it is conjectured that he belonged to the neighbourhood of Dilston or Corbridge, in which parish he left kinsmen settled at Aydon. He was residing at Hadston in 1657, when he entered into articles of marriage with Jane Patterson, and at Amble New-hall in 1685, when he executed a will (subsequently revoked), in which he styles John Cook `now inhabiting in Togson,' his eldest son. He was in 1685 in possession of estates in Amble, Cresswell, in the south side of Newton-on-the-Moor (with parcels of the common there which he had purchased from John Grey, esq., and Edward Widdrington respectively), the north side of Newton-on-the-Moor, Brainshaugh, and of a burgage and malt kiln in Warkworth. He mentions his second son, Edward, his third son, Samuel, his fourth son, Benjamin, and his younger sons, William, Richard, Thomas, and Joseph, and his daughters, Sarah and Jane. He charges his various estates with annuities payable to his wife, and orders his eldest son, John Cook, to allot to his mother a convenient chamber in Amble New-hall, where she shall enjoy the malt kiln and the Sloe Wickett-close in lieu of her jointure made at her marriage. ^N
    The house at New-hall, which was probably built after Edward Cook had acquired the estate, was a long fronted structure standing a little to the east of the present homestead ; it had panelled rooms and good gardens, ^N but having become ruinous was taken down between 1833 and 1844. ^N The pedigree of the Cook family may be more conveniently reserved for the account of Togston, where was their principal residence. Amble New-hall was sold in 1833 by Mr. Isaac Cookson, the husband of Mr. Cook's only daughter and heiress, to Mr. James Dand of Hauxley, who by will gave the eastern half to his eldest son, Mr. Robert Dand of Gloster-hill, and the western half, with the homestead, to his second son, Mr. James Dand of Togston, and with their respective descendants the moieties remain.
    Several members of the family of Widdrington of Hauxley held the office of bailiff of Amble, whilst the manor was in the Crown. Robert Widdrington seems to have enfranchised his patrimonial copyhold lands in 1632, and to have extended his estate in Amble by subsequent purchases until, in 1663, he owned three fourteenth parts of the township. The Widdrington estate, which at the end of the eighteenth century comprised about 280 acres, was sold in 1807 by order of the Court of Chancery, and was purchased by Edwards Werge of Horton in Glendale. Werge, after selling off at various times certain outlying portions which lay in proximity to the river and to the village of Amble, in 1820 conveyed the remainder, which comprised the farm of Amble Moor-house, to Mr. James Dand of Chevington Wood-side, who gave it by will to his youngest son, Mr. M. H. Dand, the present proprietor. ^N
    The Smith family has held lands in Amble continuously from the reign of Elizabeth to the present day. Their homestead stood in the lane leading from the village street to the south towards Hauxley, but of the house nothing is left except some old walls. The following is the inventory of the goods of Roger Smith, who appears to have died of the plague which ravaged Northumberland in the closing years of Elizabeth's reign :

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