Ellis / Elias Hallom of Marsh Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, 1669-1738
Ellis Hallom was born in 1669 at Coplow Dale, a small hamlet south of Bradwell and just north of Little Hucklow, Derbyshire. He was one of five children, the eldest son of John and Elizabeth Hallom. His mother died when he was around 14 years old, in 1683.
On 19 Jan 1692 he married Elizabeth Heathcote at St Nicholas' church in Bradfield, Yorkshire, which is located around ten miles north of Bradwell. The couple had two children, Thomas 1693-1694 and Martha born 1695, before Elizabeth's death in Bradwell in June 1698.
Less than one year after the death of his first wife Elizabeth, Ellis married again on 1 May 1699 at Hope parish church. His second wife, Ann Clowes, was living in Little Hucklow at the time. Very soon after their marriage, the couple moved away from the Bradwell area to Dove Holes, where Ellis became the tenant farmer of Cowlow and Ladylow farms. The family lived at Cowlow Farm and between 1702 and 1714 Ellis and Ann had seven children baptised at Peak Forest and Chapel-en-le-Frith. Two of them, Isaack and Mary, died before adulthood.
On 7 Sep 1728 the reverend Dr James Clegg visited Ellis and his family, after one of his children had "been much abused by Sam: Hadfield".
On 27 Jan 1738 Ellis, now spelling his name as Elias, made his will. By this time he was living at Marsh Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith, and was tenant right of Marsh Hall estate, which included Cowlow and Ladylow farms. By this time his son William had married and moved to Wormhill, his son Valentine had married Dorothy Kyrke and was living at Cowlow Farm and leasing Ladylow from his father, and his son George had also married and was living on his father's land at Dove Holes. In his will, Elias made provision for his wife Ann and for all of his surviving children, including Martha from his first marriage who was married to Edmund Yellott and living in Aston near Hope, Grace his youngest child who was 26 and unmarried, and John his unmarried son who inherited the tenancy of the Marsh Hall estate.
After his death in March 1738, Elias' wealth was calculated at an impressive £555, £300 of which was the tenancy of the Marsh Hall estate. He had presumably inherited some wealth from his father which enabled him to eventually accumulate this sum, but since a will for his father John has not been found, this has not been confirmed.
Elias was buried in the churchyard of St Thomas Becket, Chapel-en-le-Frith, south of the church and east of the entrance, close to where some of his immediate descendants, including sons John and George, would later be buried.
Over 100 years later, in 1846, a friend of Ellis' great-grandson, the "Blacksmith of the Peak" John Hallam, wrote that John had been particularly concerned by a passage in the bible which stated that "I will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation" since "John had received a current tradition that his great-grandfather was of a disposition so depraved, that it obtained for him the epithet 'Cruel Ellis'". Certainly the evidence from his will does not suggest this, and we are left to wonder about the nature of Ellis' personality in life which could have earned him such a reputation which survived for over 100 years after his death!
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the majority of the Hallams that remained in the Chapel-en-le-Frith area lived in the area that Elias had moved to in around 1700. The census returns throughout the 19th century show many Hallams still living at the farmsteads in Bowden Edge (Cowlow, Sittinglow, Hallsteads, Windy Walls etc.).
On 19 Jan 1692 he married Elizabeth Heathcote at St Nicholas' church in Bradfield, Yorkshire, which is located around ten miles north of Bradwell. The couple had two children, Thomas 1693-1694 and Martha born 1695, before Elizabeth's death in Bradwell in June 1698.
Less than one year after the death of his first wife Elizabeth, Ellis married again on 1 May 1699 at Hope parish church. His second wife, Ann Clowes, was living in Little Hucklow at the time. Very soon after their marriage, the couple moved away from the Bradwell area to Dove Holes, where Ellis became the tenant farmer of Cowlow and Ladylow farms. The family lived at Cowlow Farm and between 1702 and 1714 Ellis and Ann had seven children baptised at Peak Forest and Chapel-en-le-Frith. Two of them, Isaack and Mary, died before adulthood.
On 7 Sep 1728 the reverend Dr James Clegg visited Ellis and his family, after one of his children had "been much abused by Sam: Hadfield".
On 27 Jan 1738 Ellis, now spelling his name as Elias, made his will. By this time he was living at Marsh Hall, Chapel-en-le-Frith, and was tenant right of Marsh Hall estate, which included Cowlow and Ladylow farms. By this time his son William had married and moved to Wormhill, his son Valentine had married Dorothy Kyrke and was living at Cowlow Farm and leasing Ladylow from his father, and his son George had also married and was living on his father's land at Dove Holes. In his will, Elias made provision for his wife Ann and for all of his surviving children, including Martha from his first marriage who was married to Edmund Yellott and living in Aston near Hope, Grace his youngest child who was 26 and unmarried, and John his unmarried son who inherited the tenancy of the Marsh Hall estate.
After his death in March 1738, Elias' wealth was calculated at an impressive £555, £300 of which was the tenancy of the Marsh Hall estate. He had presumably inherited some wealth from his father which enabled him to eventually accumulate this sum, but since a will for his father John has not been found, this has not been confirmed.
Elias was buried in the churchyard of St Thomas Becket, Chapel-en-le-Frith, south of the church and east of the entrance, close to where some of his immediate descendants, including sons John and George, would later be buried.
Over 100 years later, in 1846, a friend of Ellis' great-grandson, the "Blacksmith of the Peak" John Hallam, wrote that John had been particularly concerned by a passage in the bible which stated that "I will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation" since "John had received a current tradition that his great-grandfather was of a disposition so depraved, that it obtained for him the epithet 'Cruel Ellis'". Certainly the evidence from his will does not suggest this, and we are left to wonder about the nature of Ellis' personality in life which could have earned him such a reputation which survived for over 100 years after his death!
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the majority of the Hallams that remained in the Chapel-en-le-Frith area lived in the area that Elias had moved to in around 1700. The census returns throughout the 19th century show many Hallams still living at the farmsteads in Bowden Edge (Cowlow, Sittinglow, Hallsteads, Windy Walls etc.).