Newsom, Bridget

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Buried:
Bispham is located on the Irish Sea coast of Lancashire, England, a few miles north of present day Blackpool.

Robert married Sherbourne, Elizabeth in 1578 in , Lancashire, England. Elizabeth (daughter of Sherbourne, Richard and Bolde, Matilda) was born in 1553 in Mitton, Lancashire, England; died in in , Lancashire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Source: http://www.edebby.com/genealogy/newsom2.htm

Elizabeth Sherbourne is said to have lived in Greenhalgh Castle, Lancashire. The lonely and beautiful ruins of the Castle still stand on a grassy knoll overlooking the River Wyre, one kilometer east of the hamlet of Garstang (picture below — click for larger view). A Newsome Family Legend tells of Elizabeth's marriage to Robert Newsom of Newsom Hall which was "not far" away. This union marks the uniting of two old and venerable Lancashire families - the Newshams and the Sherbournes. Both lines abound with individuals of accomplishment and repute, a pattern which continued into the subsequent emigration to the New World in the early 1600's (see notes for William Newsom, Jr.). Of the Sherbournes, Burke's Peerage says, "The family of Sherbourne was of great antiquity and distinction in the county of Lancaster, and possessed Stonyhurst from the time of the early Plantagenets. Under Edward I, Robert Sherburn was Seneschal of Wiswall and Blackburnshire, and in the marshall reign of the third Edward, Sir John Sherburn, attending his royal master in his French wars, served at the siege of Calais..."

There is strong circumstantial evidence, but no proof yet, to support the view that Elizabeth Sherbourne was a daughter (or possibly a niece) of Sir Richard Sherbourne of Stonyhurst and therefore sister to Richard Sherbourne the younger who was "Master Forester of Bowland, Steward of the Manor of Slaidburn, Captain of the Isle of Man and one of Her Majesty's (Elizabeth I) Deputy Lieutenants..." (Burke's Peerage). Key points are that Sir Richard essentially controlled much of the area around Greenhalgh Castle where Elizabeth lived, virtually all Sherbournes in the moderately populated vicinity must have been related, the birth and death dates of all of the individuals concerned are appropriate, and there are land records dating from 1586 which confirm, "Robert Newsom sold lands in Thornton and Wheatley to Sir Richard Shireburn..." (Lancashire Life Magazine, August 1974). Elizabeth Sherbourne's pedigree has tentatively been drawn to reflect this relationship.

Greenhalgh Castle was built in 1490 by Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, and was one of the last - perhaps the last - Royalist strongholds in Lancashire resisting the radical Commonwealth/Parliamentary movement of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War. The castle took its name from the local village of Greenhalgh which pre-dated its construction. It was never actually owned or controlled by any member of the Greenhalgh family, though there was strong alliance between John Greenhalgh (then Governor of the Isle of Man), much of his family, and the royal Stanleys against Cromwell. Interestingly, the Stanleys were Protestant - not Catholic like most of the opponents of Cromwell. Yet they steadfastly maintained their loyalty to Catholic King Charles I. One of John Greenhalgh's brothers administered the Last Rights to Lord Derby at his execution for treason by Cromwell. King Charles I himself was executed on January 30, 1649. Presumably, Lord Derby's death took place at about the same time.

Also in 1649, Greenhalgh Castle was razed on the personal order of the vindictive Cromwell. Local farmers were invited to dismantle the walls and utilize the fieldstones for buildings on their farms, an invitation many among them accepted. Only one of the original four towers remain.

Evidence of Newsome (Newsham) involvement in the political affairs of the time may be found in a list of "Lands and Estates of several other persons forfeited for Treason, to be sold... 20th Day of May, 1642." An Andrew and a Nicholas Newsham, both of Plumpton (modern Woodplumpton near Newsham), Lancashire, and almost certainly relatives of the Newshams of Newsham Hall, appear prominently on the list. Isle of Man Governor John Greenhalgh appears on the same list. So it is virtually certain that Newsome ancestors were strong Royalist Catholics, fought against Cromwell alongside the great Lancashire families of the day - the Greenhalghs, Stanleys Kighleys, Fleetwoods, Molyneuxs and Sherbournes - and forfeited lands as a consequence.

The source for the "traitors list" is "An Index of the Names of the Royalists Whose Estates were Confiscated During the Commonwealth" compiled by Mabel G. W. Peacock, London, Longmans, Green & Company, 39 Paternoster Row, Hertford, Printed by Stevin Austin & Sons, 1878.

Richard married Bolde, Matilda. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]