Sir Thomas Gascoigne 8th Baronet

Sir Thomas Gascoigne, was the third son of Sir Edward mentioned in the previous page. He inherited the Baronetcy after the death of his elder brother Edward in 1762, the first born John Francis died young. Thomas was one of six children that Sir Edward and his wife brought into the world, little is known of the daughters other than their names, Mary, Elizabeth and Catherine, also convention puts the order of the children male first, age dependent, followed by female also age dependent. However it is not possible to determine the ages of the females relative to the males with the information to hand, presumably the order is the inheritance positioning. Given time some facts of the female line may be uncovered but for now the story focuses on the male inheritance.

Sir Thomas was married on the 4th November, 1784 to Mary, daughter of James Shuttleworth, of Gawthorpe, she being previously married to Sir Charles Turner who had died in late October 1783. Sir Charles owned a house in Aberford and was probably a friend of Sir Thomas, it is said that “Church House”, his residence was later modified and stone from the property was used at Parlington. The house may have passed to the Gascoigne family as a result of the marriage.

Mary died within one month of the birth of her son on 1st February 1786 aged only 34 years of age, leaving Sir Thomas widow with one step child from Mary's marriage to Sir Charles Turner and his only son Tom. Mary is recorded [Colman 1908] as having two other children, but I have no record of them.

The following paragraph is taken from the Rev F S Colman “History of Barwick in Elmet”, relating to Sir Thomas.
In addition to his other activities Sir Thomas was a keen agriculturalist; he had a large home farm at Parlington and kept Coldhill Farm [on the road between Lotherton and Sherburn in Elmet] in his own hands on the principle of a model farm and an example to his tenants. He commanded the 1st Regiment West Riding Militia in 1797, and was a great patron of the Turf. In those days owners trained their race horses at home, sending them to training stables for the last fornight or so before the races for which they were entered. The ranges that of enclosed paddocks that formed part of the racing stables are still to be seen at Parlington, [Still in existence in the 21st cetury, but used as a free range chicken run] and it is worth recalling that Sir Thomas cared so far for the lads he employed in these stables that he retained a school master for their education.

Besides many minor races he won the St Ledger in 1778 with Hollandaise, and again in 1798 with Symetry, the Oaks at Epsom 1803 with Theophania, and the Doncaster Cup with Tuberose in 1776.

Bookplate for Thomas Gascoigne

The bookplate was popular with the landed gentry, as they established their libraries, following the death of Frederick Charles Trench Gascoigne in 1905 the Parlington library collection was sold at auction in Leeds. To date it is not known what books were contained in the library, nor the location of the room. This bookplate was another acquisition from eBay, whether it ever graced the inside of a book in the library at Parlington is another mystery!

Sir Thomas was the last of the Gascoigne bloodline, a few months before he died in 1810 his only son Tom Gascoigne was killed in an accident whilst hunting. So ended the Gascoigne line, Sir Thomas changed his will following the tragedy to grant his step daughter and husband Richard Oliver an inheritance to a lifetime interest in the estate, with future inheritance dependant upon them having issue. In the event that no children were conceived or none were to survive beyond that of Richard Oliver, the estate would have passed to the Wentworth Family.

Death of Thomas Charles Gascoigne

The heir to the Gascoigne dynasty, Tom was tragically mortally injured whilst hunting with the Earl of Scarborough, the London Times obituary View Page Extract stated:
Mr Thomas Gascoige, of Parlington, met with a fatal accident on Friday 13th inst. while engaged in the chace with Lord Scarborough's hounds in the neighborhood of Worksop. Impelled by the ardour of the pursuit, he encountered a very dangerous leap, contrary to the advice of some more experienced sportsmen, and though his horse cleared the hedge, the rider was thrown by the rebound with his back against a strong branch of a tree, and the concussion was so violent as to affect the spinal marrow, and instantly paralize the lower extremities. He was immediately taken from the field to Sir Thomas White's, where he died at nine o'clock on Friday evening.

Caricature of Tom Gascoigne, held at Lotherton Hall

The date from the London Times is contradictory to the date given of the accident by Rev Colman in the History of Barwick in Elmet, he cites the 20th of October and Tom's subsequent buriel at Barwick on the 28th, when as stated in a contemporary broadsheet, over two thousand persons were present and above four hundred of his father's tenants.

If Tom was killed on the 13th of October, then for those who are superstitious, it is worth noting that it was Friday 13th! However what intrigued me about the account is putting the event in context on the ground, so to speak, as we approach two hundred years since the unfortunate incident. The Earls of Scarborough have their family seat at Sanbeck Park, Maltby in what is now called South Yorkshire, then the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Sanbeck Hall

Information on the Earls of Scarborough can be found here Rotherham web. At the time of the accident the then Lord would have been Richard Lumley Saunderson, 6th Earl of Scarborough [1757-1832], he was suceeded by his younger brother the Rev. John Lumley-Saville [1760-1835] who had the misfortune of a similar fate to young Tom Gascoigne, as he was killed by falling from his Horse while Fox Hunting, near Markham Moor on 24th February 1835.

If the hunt had commenced at or near Sandbeck, then it was only about four miles away as the crow flies to Wallingwells where the mortally injured Tom was taken, as can be seen from this shot from Google Earth.

Google Earth View

Wallingwells was the home of Sir Thomas Woollaston White, whether he was riding with the hunting party is not known. Additional information on Wallingwells can be found here Wallingwells

Wallingwells

The untimely death of Tom Gascoigne raises a number of questions, had the young rider been drinking, which compromised his ability to take the leap on his horse, we will probably never know! Was his father also amongst the riders on that fateful day and most significantly was Richard Oliver [later Gascoigne] the husband of Tom's step-sister present! These points could lead a suspicious mind to the conclusion that a foul deed was afoot that autumn morning! Within four months with the death of Sir Thomas Gascoigne in February 1810, Richard Oliver was to inherit a lifetime interest in the Gascoigne Estate!

More on Tom Gascoigne

Recently contributed memorabilia from relatives of the Gascoigne family, now at Lotherton Hall, include a further caricature of Tom Gascoigne* and on the rear of the engraving is a short song... Then Bland and Tom Gascoigne I spy in the van,
Riding hard as two devils at catch as catch can,
But racing along to try which can get first,
Already, I see, both their horses are burst.
[chorus] With my Bally namonaorna [The word here is unclear!]
The hounds of old Raby for me.
from Howell Wood or the Raby hunt in Yorkshire, a song written by the Hon Martin B. E. Hawke in February 1803.
*The accident from which he died was caused by his horse leaping so high that on stooping to avoid the bough of a tree the upper most bone of the spine was bruised and fatally injured.
Below the song is written, Thomas Gascoigne Esq., of Parlington near Aberford Son of Sir Thomas Gascoigne Bart Killed when hunting on the 20th [Unclear due to the tear]

Rear of the Engraving

Tom Gascoigne by C. Turner