Hallam Family Origins in the Peak District
Amongst the earliest references to the Hallam family in the Peak District is surely that of "John de Hallum de Bawnforth [Bamford] near Athersegge [Hathersage]", mentioned in a quitclaim "to Richard, son of William de Padelay, of a messuage and land in le Foorchys in Dungworth", dated 13811. The "de Hallum" tells us that John (or his immediate ancestors) originated from a place named "Hallum", in this case the village of Hallam located just west of Sheffield and less than ten miles due east of Bamford over the moors (now called Hallam Moors).
In the next century we find several references to Hallams living in Hope Valley area. In 1450 there is record of one John Halom of Hope, husbandman2. In the 1470s, we find references to "Richard and Martin de Hallum of Hope and Thornhill" and John of Hallam, of Castleton, in the accounts of Ernecliffe (Yarncliff) Quarry located at Hathersage3. The quarry was owned by Nicholas Eyre, who was cousin of Robert II of Padley. Given this lasting association with the Eyres, and the fact that Hope and in particular Thornhill are close to Bamford, it is not unreasonable to suggest that John, Richard and Martin were descendants of the above John de Hallum. The references in the quarry accounts tell us that both Richard and Martin were smiths, and there is a possibility that they were relations of Nicholas Eyre. Martin of Hallum appears to have held a smithy and stables on land owned by Nicholas at Overhurst, north of Hathersage and just east of Bamford4. John of Hallam, presumably another relation of the above, was paid in 1475 for a spindal at Castleton Mill.
In 1505, in the time of Henry VII, John Halom, a smith of Hope, was a defendant in a case of a threat of violence against Humphrey Vernon5. Amongst the other defendants was one Nicholas Eyre of Hope. Other defendants included old Derbyshire names, including families that would, during the following centuries, be the close associates of the Hallams and into which the Hallams would marry, including the Slacks, Heathcotes and Middletons. In 1560, we find a reference to Godfrey Hallome of Hope, mentioned with others in a bargain and sale of lands in Hope by Francis Shirley of Staunton Harold6.
It is not until the year 1597 that the first reference to a Hallom in the village of Bradwell occurs, that of "widow Hallam", who is mentioned in a quitclaim7. Martin Hallam of Bradwell was mentioned in a recognizance of 1603 and presumably the same Martin Hallam, miner, is mentioned as delivering "18 fothers of lead to [Adam] Eyre's [of Nether Hurst, near Hathersage] smelting forge or lead mine near Holmesfield Lidgate" in 16098. This Martin Hallom features in documents referring to the customs of mining in the early part of the 1600s9. In 1611 he is mentioned in a quitclaim of land to Adam Eyre. Thus, the Hallam family's link to the land-owning Eyre family seems to have endured for many generations.
Around the same time, Andrew Hallom (1591) and Richard Hallam (1599) of Castleton bequeathed in their wills the smithy tools used in their occupations as the village's blacksmiths. They also "owned sufficient cattle, sheep and horses to require both agricultural skills and time"10. These documents come around 150 years after the first mention of the Hallams working in the area as smiths, and around 120 years after the first sources recording the Hallam family working as smiths in the village of Castleton, confirming they held this occupation for many generations. Indeed, the descendants of Ellis Hallom of Bradwell who moved to Chapel-en-le-Frith in around 1700 would continue to work as smiths right into the 20th century.
Amongst the earliest entries in the surviving records of the Hope parish register, which begin in 1598-1599, are several Hallams whose children are baptised there. Between 1600 and 1615, baptisms are recorded for the children of John, Jarvis, Richard, Martin, Robert, George, Humphry, Beatrice and Henry Hallam. It is likely that several of these Hallams were siblings, and they were almost certainly all cousins, perhaps with varying degrees of removal. The naming patterns of the children of these Hallams support this theory.
By the 1630s, at the time of the Bradwell Militia survey in 1638, there are eight adult male Hallams recorded as living in Bradwell: Tho[ma]s; G[odfre]y; Jervis; John; Thomas; Richard; Adam and Humphrey. Entries in the parish registers and wills left by some of these Hallams tell us that they lived in and around Bradwell village, predominantly at the farmsteads of Outlandhead and Beristall11. By this time Hallams had also spread west of the Hope Valley, and there is a record of Richard Hallam renting land at Smalldale, south of Peak Forest (not to be confused with the Smalldale located just west of Bradwell). His descendants are to be found in leases and later in the parish registers of Peak Forest throughout the 1600s and 1700s12. Further west, there is a record of Anne Hallam marrying at Chapel-en-le-Frith in 1621 (though she was from the parish of Hope) and there are some Hallam baptisms at the Chapel-en-le-Frith church in the 1630s (namely two children of George Hallam of Peak Forest). However, Hallams do not feature predominantly in the Chapel-en-le-Frith parish registers until some decades later with the arrival of Ellis Hallom from Bradwell in around 1700.
The Easter Roll of 1658 shows just one Hallam in Hope itself, Godfrey Hallome. Gervis Hallome of Abney is listed, as are Robert Hallam of Little Hucklow and John Hallom of Hazlebadge. There are no Hallams mentioned in any of the other neighbouring hamlets such as Aston, Thornhill, Coplow Dale and Beriston [Beristall], Woodland, Great Hucklow, Shallcross etc. The remaining nine Hallams mentioned are all listed as of Bradwall [Bradwell], namely: Adam Hallome cum matre [with mother]; Andrew Hallome, sen.; Godfrey Halome; Jo: Hallome; Rob: Hallom fil. [son of] Ellis; Rob: Hallom; Tho: Hallom, sonne of Humph:; Tho: Hallom, [of] Outland [Head]; Uxor [Widow of] Rich Hallom13. By this time the Hallam family in the Hope Valley had grown, and the Hope parish register shows up to 5 Hallams being baptised at the parish church each year.
Of the 16 Hallams mentioned in the High Peak Hearth Tax Assessment of 1670, half of them lived in Bradwell (Andrew, George, Humphrey, Joane, John, another John, Robert, 'Widow'). The rest were Gervas Hallam of Abney, Symon Hallam of Calver, Elizabeth Hallom of Tideswell, Martin Hallum of Tideswell, 'Widow' Hallam of Castleton, Martin and Robert Hallome of Peak Forest and John Hallom of Stoney Middleton, showing that in the 300 years since John de Hallum of Bamford, the Hallams had still not yet ventured very far from their place of origin.
1 Jeayes, I. H. and Bemrose, H. H, 1906, Descriptive catalogue of Derbyshire charters in public and private libraries and muniment rooms, Bemrose and Sons: London
2 http://www.ianblanchard.com/Eyre/Chapter%207.pdf
3 http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no758/CP40no758Pl.htm
4 http://www.ianblanchard.com/Eyre/Chapter%205.pdf
5 http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no971action.htm
6 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/eebff062-6e0f-46e8-891b-397a3f8d3821
7 Bag. C/2032.
8 SRO BAG 14/5: Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, 1987
9 Wood, Andy, 1999, The Politics of Social Conflict: The Peak Country, 1520-1770, Cambridge University Press, p. 1599
10 Medieval Lives in Castleton and Hope, Report on the historical research for the Medieval common people in Castleton and Hope villages. Produced as part of the Lives of the Common People project, January 2012 - July 2013. By Di Curtis, Angela Darlington, Kay Harrison, Jeanette Holmes, Patricia Miles, Ann Price, John Talbot and Bill Bevan. Castleton and Hope Historical Societies: http://castletonhistorical.co.uk/assets/2f/7e8f4ade0eb7af13a64aace103d927/
MASTERCastleton_HopeMedievalCommonPeopleHistoricalReport_141113.pdf
11 http://texts.wishful-thinking.org.uk/Evans1912/ChapterV.html
12 The Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth House: H/265/27 etc.
13 http://texts.wishful-thinking.org.uk/Evans1912/ChapterV.html
In the next century we find several references to Hallams living in Hope Valley area. In 1450 there is record of one John Halom of Hope, husbandman2. In the 1470s, we find references to "Richard and Martin de Hallum of Hope and Thornhill" and John of Hallam, of Castleton, in the accounts of Ernecliffe (Yarncliff) Quarry located at Hathersage3. The quarry was owned by Nicholas Eyre, who was cousin of Robert II of Padley. Given this lasting association with the Eyres, and the fact that Hope and in particular Thornhill are close to Bamford, it is not unreasonable to suggest that John, Richard and Martin were descendants of the above John de Hallum. The references in the quarry accounts tell us that both Richard and Martin were smiths, and there is a possibility that they were relations of Nicholas Eyre. Martin of Hallum appears to have held a smithy and stables on land owned by Nicholas at Overhurst, north of Hathersage and just east of Bamford4. John of Hallam, presumably another relation of the above, was paid in 1475 for a spindal at Castleton Mill.
In 1505, in the time of Henry VII, John Halom, a smith of Hope, was a defendant in a case of a threat of violence against Humphrey Vernon5. Amongst the other defendants was one Nicholas Eyre of Hope. Other defendants included old Derbyshire names, including families that would, during the following centuries, be the close associates of the Hallams and into which the Hallams would marry, including the Slacks, Heathcotes and Middletons. In 1560, we find a reference to Godfrey Hallome of Hope, mentioned with others in a bargain and sale of lands in Hope by Francis Shirley of Staunton Harold6.
It is not until the year 1597 that the first reference to a Hallom in the village of Bradwell occurs, that of "widow Hallam", who is mentioned in a quitclaim7. Martin Hallam of Bradwell was mentioned in a recognizance of 1603 and presumably the same Martin Hallam, miner, is mentioned as delivering "18 fothers of lead to [Adam] Eyre's [of Nether Hurst, near Hathersage] smelting forge or lead mine near Holmesfield Lidgate" in 16098. This Martin Hallom features in documents referring to the customs of mining in the early part of the 1600s9. In 1611 he is mentioned in a quitclaim of land to Adam Eyre. Thus, the Hallam family's link to the land-owning Eyre family seems to have endured for many generations.
Around the same time, Andrew Hallom (1591) and Richard Hallam (1599) of Castleton bequeathed in their wills the smithy tools used in their occupations as the village's blacksmiths. They also "owned sufficient cattle, sheep and horses to require both agricultural skills and time"10. These documents come around 150 years after the first mention of the Hallams working in the area as smiths, and around 120 years after the first sources recording the Hallam family working as smiths in the village of Castleton, confirming they held this occupation for many generations. Indeed, the descendants of Ellis Hallom of Bradwell who moved to Chapel-en-le-Frith in around 1700 would continue to work as smiths right into the 20th century.
Amongst the earliest entries in the surviving records of the Hope parish register, which begin in 1598-1599, are several Hallams whose children are baptised there. Between 1600 and 1615, baptisms are recorded for the children of John, Jarvis, Richard, Martin, Robert, George, Humphry, Beatrice and Henry Hallam. It is likely that several of these Hallams were siblings, and they were almost certainly all cousins, perhaps with varying degrees of removal. The naming patterns of the children of these Hallams support this theory.
By the 1630s, at the time of the Bradwell Militia survey in 1638, there are eight adult male Hallams recorded as living in Bradwell: Tho[ma]s; G[odfre]y; Jervis; John; Thomas; Richard; Adam and Humphrey. Entries in the parish registers and wills left by some of these Hallams tell us that they lived in and around Bradwell village, predominantly at the farmsteads of Outlandhead and Beristall11. By this time Hallams had also spread west of the Hope Valley, and there is a record of Richard Hallam renting land at Smalldale, south of Peak Forest (not to be confused with the Smalldale located just west of Bradwell). His descendants are to be found in leases and later in the parish registers of Peak Forest throughout the 1600s and 1700s12. Further west, there is a record of Anne Hallam marrying at Chapel-en-le-Frith in 1621 (though she was from the parish of Hope) and there are some Hallam baptisms at the Chapel-en-le-Frith church in the 1630s (namely two children of George Hallam of Peak Forest). However, Hallams do not feature predominantly in the Chapel-en-le-Frith parish registers until some decades later with the arrival of Ellis Hallom from Bradwell in around 1700.
The Easter Roll of 1658 shows just one Hallam in Hope itself, Godfrey Hallome. Gervis Hallome of Abney is listed, as are Robert Hallam of Little Hucklow and John Hallom of Hazlebadge. There are no Hallams mentioned in any of the other neighbouring hamlets such as Aston, Thornhill, Coplow Dale and Beriston [Beristall], Woodland, Great Hucklow, Shallcross etc. The remaining nine Hallams mentioned are all listed as of Bradwall [Bradwell], namely: Adam Hallome cum matre [with mother]; Andrew Hallome, sen.; Godfrey Halome; Jo: Hallome; Rob: Hallom fil. [son of] Ellis; Rob: Hallom; Tho: Hallom, sonne of Humph:; Tho: Hallom, [of] Outland [Head]; Uxor [Widow of] Rich Hallom13. By this time the Hallam family in the Hope Valley had grown, and the Hope parish register shows up to 5 Hallams being baptised at the parish church each year.
Of the 16 Hallams mentioned in the High Peak Hearth Tax Assessment of 1670, half of them lived in Bradwell (Andrew, George, Humphrey, Joane, John, another John, Robert, 'Widow'). The rest were Gervas Hallam of Abney, Symon Hallam of Calver, Elizabeth Hallom of Tideswell, Martin Hallum of Tideswell, 'Widow' Hallam of Castleton, Martin and Robert Hallome of Peak Forest and John Hallom of Stoney Middleton, showing that in the 300 years since John de Hallum of Bamford, the Hallams had still not yet ventured very far from their place of origin.
1 Jeayes, I. H. and Bemrose, H. H, 1906, Descriptive catalogue of Derbyshire charters in public and private libraries and muniment rooms, Bemrose and Sons: London
2 http://www.ianblanchard.com/Eyre/Chapter%207.pdf
3 http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no758/CP40no758Pl.htm
4 http://www.ianblanchard.com/Eyre/Chapter%205.pdf
5 http://aalt.law.uh.edu/Indices/CP40Indices/CP40no971action.htm
6 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/eebff062-6e0f-46e8-891b-397a3f8d3821
7 Bag. C/2032.
8 SRO BAG 14/5: Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, 1987
9 Wood, Andy, 1999, The Politics of Social Conflict: The Peak Country, 1520-1770, Cambridge University Press, p. 1599
10 Medieval Lives in Castleton and Hope, Report on the historical research for the Medieval common people in Castleton and Hope villages. Produced as part of the Lives of the Common People project, January 2012 - July 2013. By Di Curtis, Angela Darlington, Kay Harrison, Jeanette Holmes, Patricia Miles, Ann Price, John Talbot and Bill Bevan. Castleton and Hope Historical Societies: http://castletonhistorical.co.uk/assets/2f/7e8f4ade0eb7af13a64aace103d927/
MASTERCastleton_HopeMedievalCommonPeopleHistoricalReport_141113.pdf
11 http://texts.wishful-thinking.org.uk/Evans1912/ChapterV.html
12 The Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth House: H/265/27 etc.
13 http://texts.wishful-thinking.org.uk/Evans1912/ChapterV.html