Sutton On Hull Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

SUTTON ON HULL:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Holderness (Middle Division) - Petty Sessional Division of Middle Holderness - County Council Electoral Division of Hedon - Poor Law Union of Sculcoates - County Court District of Hull - Rural Deanery of Kingston-upon-Hull - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish and township adjoins Hull, and a large portion of it is now included in that municipal and parliamentary borough. Its total extent is 4,760 acres, rateable value £49,778, and the population in 1891 was 13,286, of whom about 10,000 reside within the municipal borough of Hull. The soil is chiefly a strong clay, and wheat and beans are the chief crops. W. H. Harrison-Broadley, Esq., of Welton, Brough, is the lord of the manor and one of the principal landowners; the others are Colonel Haworth-Booth, Hull Bank House; Miss Elizabeth Hewitson, the trustees of Mr. Watsons's Charity, Mr. Thomas Ross, Sutton; Mr. Geo. England, of Rise; the trustees of the late T. Kirk, Mr. Robert Vickerman, Sunk Island; Mr. Priestman, Sutton; Mr. Benjamin Pickering, Sutton; Mr. William Hay, Hull; Mrs. Kipsley, and Mr. F. Hurtley, Sutton.

The manor of Sutton, in Domesday Book Sudton, that is South town, was held in early times by a family styled from the place, de Sutton. They are said to have been settled here from the Conquest till the reign of Edward III., when, through failure of male issue, the manor descended to daughters, co-heirs. Saer de Sutton gave some land in Sutton to the abbey of Meaux, and he also granted to the abbot and convent several privileges within his manor. The Archbishops of York, as lords of Beverley, held lands in Sutton, which they claimed by the grant of King Athelstane; and there was frequent litigation between the former family and the occupants of the archiepiscopal see, as to their respective rights in the river and port of Hull. Sayer de Sutton is said to have cut the present channel of the river Hull from Sculcoates Gote to the Humber, for the purpose of draining the marshes within his lordship; and he appears to have exacted toll from vessels entering the former river. This claim was contested by Archbishop Gray, and the jury before whom the case was tried, found that the said Sayer de Sutton never had, at any time, in the same river, any manner of franchise, except only weirs. The lands of the archbishop and of the abbey of Meaux are frequently styled manors, and after the partition of the original manor amongst the co-heiresses before mentioned, the three parts became severally known as the manors of Sutton, Hastings, and Mauley. The manor subsequently passed through various hands in fractional parts, and about the middle of last century Mr. Broadley acquired the manorial estate by purchase from M. H. Witham, Esq., and from that gentleman it has descended to the present owner.

The village is pleasantly situated on slightly elevated ground, about three miles north-east of Hull, with a station on the Hull and Hornsea branch of the North-Eastern railway. The church, dedicated to St. James, was originally subordinate to the mother church of Wawne, from which it was separated sometime in the 13th century; and in 1347 Sir John de Sutton established within it a chantry, which he endowed with the advowson, tithes, &c. There were six chaplains, who were to celebrate mass daily, in the said chapel for the good estate of the king and queen, and of the said Sir John de Sutton and Alice, his wife, and for their souls after their deaths. For the accommodation of the six chaplains, Sir John erected a mansion, with chambers, kitchen, stables, granges, and all necessary adjuncts, and the whole was enclosed by a wall or trench.

Alexander, archbishop of York, by a new ordination of the statutes in 1380, converted the chantry into a college, consisting of a master, or custos, five perpetual chaplains, and two serving clerks. One chaplain was appointed to the cure of the parish, and he further decreed that the master and chaplains should eat together in common, and lodge in one house, or two and two together, unless hindered by infirmity. Each member of the college was bound to celebrate his own mass, and on all Sundays and festivals they were required to say matins, parochial mass, and vespers. The college was dissolved at the Reformation and its revenues seized by the Crown.

The church is an ancient structure, apparently rebuilt about the time of the institution of the college, and enlarged by the addition of a tower and aisles during the perpendicular period. The fabric was thoroughly restored and re-seated with open benches, and the vestry built, in 1867. At the same time the galleries, which had been erected over a part of each aisle, were removed. The east window, containing five lights, was presented by Mrs. Liddell, in memory of her husband, George William Moore Liddell, of Sutton House, who died in 1873. The stained-glass, representing the Crucifixion and other four scriptural subjects, was executed by Messrs. Ward & Hughes, of London. The west window, of five lights, is a memorial of the late William Liddell, Esq., and there are several other stained-glass windows, commemorating different families. The pulpit is a very handsome piece of work in stone, ascended by three marble steps. The latter, as well as the two marble steps leading into the chancel, were the gift of the late Mrs. Liddell, who also presented the brass eagle lectern, in memory of her son, George William Liddell, who died in 1888. A peal of bells was placed in the tower to the memory of the same gentleman by Dorothy Isabel Liddell, his sister, in 1890. The present organ was built by Forster and Andrews, of Hull, in 1873, and a new organ chamber was erected about six years ago. The font is ancient. In the chancel stands a mediæval altar tomb, bearing the mutilated effigy of a knight in armour. Around the dado are shields of arms in quatrefoils, but there is no inscription to be seen. This monument is supposed to be that of Sir John de Sutton, who died in 1339. The living, now a vicarage, worth a £110 a year net, is in the gift of W. H. Harrison-Broadley, Esq., and held by the Rev. Herbert Alfred Holme, M.A., St. John's College, Cambridge. The tithe, amounting to £36, is impropriated. There are 42 acres of glebe.

The Wesleyan chapel, a large building of brick, was erected in 1859, in lieu of an older one; and the Primitive Methodists rebuilt their chapel in 1876.

The National school was rebuilt about 35 years ago. It will accommodate 202 children, and is attended on an average by 100. It possesses a small endowment, left by John Marshall in 1809, which now produces £4 16s. per annum. The Wesleyan school has an average attendance of 66. It receives £27 10s. per year from Chamberlaine's Charity.

Leonard Chamberlaine, of Hull, draper, bequeathed in 1716, for charitable purposes, an estate at Sutton and Stoneferry. A chancery suit followed, in which costs amounting to £811 were incurred, without any final decision as to the application of the income. Ultimately, at the beginning of the present century, two almshouses were erected at Sutton for the reception of 10 poor women, now increased to 12, each of whom receives 7s. per week. Mr. Chamberlaine was a Unitarian, and in his will, orders the sum of £12 per annum to be paid to the Unitarian minister of Hull, and £15 (now increased to £27 10s.) to the schoolmaster of Sutton. The school and poor of Hessle are also beneficiaries under the will.

Mrs. Ann Watson, in 1720, founded a college or hospital for the widows or danghters of clergymen, and endowed it with an estate containing upwards of 217 acres of land at Stoneferry, and £2,200 in the funds. The old hospital stood at Stoneferry; the present one at Sutton was erected in 1816, at a cost of £1,300. The sum of 26s. per annum is distributed in bread every Sunday amongst the poor attending Divine service, and 20s. yearly to the poor at Christmas.

The following charities also appear on the benefaction board in the vestry "1880, Miss Ellen Spencer, late of Tilworth Grange, left the interest of £1,000 to be distributed by the vicar or incumbent, as he may think fit." "1880, Mrs. Frances Fletcher, of St. Paul's Square, in the suburbs of York, left the sum of £200, the interest thereof to be applied by the incumbent to the purchase of coals, to be distributed annually at Christmas amongst the poor; also £100, the interest of which to be applied by the incumbent to or for the benefit of the clothing club in the parish of Sutton."

A Reading Room and Library was erected in the village in 1882, at a cost of £450, raised by subscription, and is supported by the contributions of the members, who number about 70.

There are several superior mansions in the parish. Sutton House, lately the residence of the Liddells, was purchased from that family in 1890, by Benjamin Pickering, Esq. Belfield House, the property and residence of Mr. Pickering, was erected ahout a century ago, and has been greatly improved in the last few years. Tilworth Grange is the residence of James Allen Jackson. Esq., and East Mount is occupied by Mrs. Priestman. Lamwath House is the residence of H. F. Smith, Esq., J.P., and Elm Tree, of Mr. Dickinson Hurtley.

BRANCEHOLME, (the Boars' holm or river islet) is a pasturage in this parish, lying between Sutton and Wawne. A considerable portion of it was formerly marsh. In some early documents it is styled a manor, and the castle of Branceholme is frequently mentioned. The site of this castle was probably the place now called Castle Hill.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of East Yorkshire (1892)]

Directories

• Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1892.

Scan, OCR and html by Colin Hinson. Checking and correction by Peter Nelson.