Ed Ratliff's Search for British Roots

 

 

As some of you may know, our daughter Jacey (Janet) and I went to England in late August to visit the old Radclyffe lands, homes & castles.  Here is the first of several reports which we hope to share with you regarding what we found.

A great deal of “thanks” needs to be given to Nick Radclyffe who drove 3 hours from outside of London to meet Jacey & I in Manchester and spent 2 days showing us around.  He truly went the “extra mile” to give us a sense of the family lands and what they look like today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radcliffe Manor and Tower

[click for history]

 

This first report refers to the original lands of the Radclyffe family along with some history of those lands.  Thanks to Earl Ratliff from Florida for the wording of the Radcliffe Tower and Radcliffe Manor.  As there wasn’t much to see at the site other than the ruins of the tower and the church, most of the photos will show you the church.

 

                     

 

The history of the Parish Church of St. Mary’s, Radcliffe was taken directly from the little booklet found in the foyer of the old church.  As it does give some Radcliffe history, I have included it as it is currently written.  Please keep in mind that it was written in England and their use of words and some of the spelling may be a little different than what we use in the United States .  However, we think it adds so much to the history and truly gives one the “English” feeling that is inherent in our history.

 

                        

 

One word of caution.  We still have not made any definitive connection between the Ed Ratliff line (my line) and any of these families in England .  Current DNA research seems to be leading us in this direction.  But until we can confirm those connections, please use these comments with some caution.

 

                     

 

This was a truly great experience for both Jacey & myself.  Hopefully we can share some of that excitement with you.  Should any of you have any questions regarding any of the information contained in this report, please don’t hesitate to get back in touch with us.

 

 

 

Dilston Hall and "Devil Water"

[again, click for the history]

 

Here is the 2nd of my reports on visits to the Radclyffe family lands in England .  This building could not be entered because it is run by the Jacobite Society and they had it closed when we were there.  We would have to wait over 2 hours to get in and our tour guide, Nick had to drive back to London that day so we couldn’t stay.  However, we could walk around the property and take these few shots of the current existing buildings.

 

                  

 

 

 

This is the location of the book “Devil Water” by Anya Seaton that many have seen or read.  At the end of the report is a comment about “Devil Water.”

 

James, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater is descendend from Sir Nicholas Radclyffe of the “Radclyffe’s of the Tower.”  The attached is to give one a “sense” of the building and its history and will not deal much with the ancestry of James, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater.  That will be left for another time.

 

 

Foxdenton Hall

[again, click for the history]

 

 

 

Ordsall Hall

[again, click for the history]

 

 

 

Where is Crawshawbooth?

Note: Before he departed for England, I asked Ed to see if he could find Crawshawbooth, where our ancestor Richard Ratcliff lived before coming to America. Here is what he found.

--Don Ratcliff

 

Don, we returned to Anchorage on Wednesday afternoon after a great trip to England , Northern Ireland and Ireland .  More about our entire trip in another message.

You had requested that we try and find the old Ratcliff Family place where the Ratcliff family had donated the land to the Friends for a burial ground.  Well, I must say that it took some doing but with the help of Nick Radclyffe (who I might add was most helpful), we found Crawshawsbooth and had to ask several people in the little town and they sent us up a little one lane road.  I had the photos from your web site but I couldn’t locate anything that looked like those photos.  But I suppose a lot can grow in 40 or so years.

 

 

Well, while driving up this little road we saw the lentil over the cemetery that is mentioned in your Dad’s book.  We pulled over and stopped.  The shots included are those taken while there.  As you can see this is the place but with the growth and everything else, it didn’t look like the same place in those earlier photos.  Come to think of it, I don’t look the same as I did 40 years ago.

 

 

Also, from the photo from your web site, the house had 3 chimneys.  Now there are only 2 and the house looks much bigger than the one on the earlier photo.  We did talk with the current owner who was in the middle of selling and leaving the house.  He is an older man and had lost his wife earlier this year.  His kids and grandkids were there to help him move.  He said he had the plans from the 17th century and the house is currently the size of the house in the 17th century.  But it sure looks bigger now.  Also, there are only 2 chimneys’ currently in lieu of 3 in the earlier photo.  He said that he didn’t know anything about 3 chimneys.  However, there are definitely only 2 there now.

 

 

The gate into the cemetery was locked.  We inquired of the occupant about a key.  He said the Friends had come the previous afternoon to retrieve the key as they knew the man was moving.  The man kept the key for anyone who wanted to enter the cemetery.  So we couldn’t get inside.

 

 

 

Many thanks, Ed!

-Don