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The Family of Hanley, or Handley, of Bramcote (2)

By George Fellows.

BRAMCOTE OLD CHURCH, THE HANLEY MONUMENT (photo: Harry Gill).

The mural tablet to this Henry Hanley, in the tower of the old church at Bramcote, consists of an oblong carved alabaster frame, containing two slabs of the same material ; on either side are the kneeling figures, facing outwards, of a man and a woman in Jacobean costume. The upper slab is badly cracked, but a heel-ball rubbing has revealed the wording on this portion, as follows:— Impietie yt weere [when] men be dead and gone --------------theire vertues should surcease and be revived by none

Beneath is :

"A monument erected for Henrie Handley, gent., a man greatlie | beloved for his vertues and Elizabeth his wief doughter of | Thomas Braye of Sheffield in the county of York, gent. : by | whome he had Issue a sone and a daughter named Henrie | and Alice yett livinge, wch Elizeabeth deptd this life the | xx daie of februarye anno dmi 1596 and the said | Henrie the father deptd this [life] xij daie of November | ao dni 1603 and they both lye buried in this | Churche of Bramcote in the east end of the | southe alley over agaynste this monyment | upon whose soules God have mercie this | monument beinge erected by his executors for remembrance [to] his posteritee."

Carved fragments, apparently part of the lower portion of this monument, though detached, are still preserved and seem to have been used for a similar purpose previously, as they show on the back odd words referring to someone who had ten children, amongst whom were an Anthony and a Thomas, the date being 1602 ; but no surname has survived to satisfy present day curiosity.

"Here lyeth . . . . . .
ire of Robert . . . . .
daughter of Dame . . . . .     
had issue tenn children  . . . whom having
and George and one daughter sons Anthony
. . . . . . the twentieth day of
September in the year of . . . . . .602."

This Henry Hanley had three sisters named Catherine, Ann, and Margaret. (See Notts. Visitations.)

In the early years of the 17th century, the Hanleys became an armigerous family. The following is taken from The Visitations of Nottinghamshire, 1569 and 1614:—

Arms—Argent, a/ess gules between three goats courant sable, armed and imguled, or.
Crest—A goat as in the arms.

William Segar, Garter King of Armes, Ao, 21 June, 1612. A part of the pettigree or descent of the Famyley of Handley, of Nottinghamshire, being lineally descended from Handley of Yorkshire, which is descended from the Aunciant Family of Handley, of Handley in the County of Somersett, justified by my hand at the bottom of the pettegree of 21 June, 1612,

Dr. Thoroton gives the date as 1614, and describes the goats in the arms as passant garnished, or.

This grant was made during the lifetime of the second Henry Hanley, a period when the unchallenged right to bear arms was a much valued privilege. He died in 1650.

EXTRACTS FROM BRAMCOTE  PARISH REGISTERS.

Kindly supplied by T. M. blagg, f.s.a.

Winifred, dau. of Jervase Hanley, of Wilford, buried 30 Dec., 1590.
Henry, infant of Henry Hanley, gentleman, baptized 30 June, 1594.
Alice, infant of Henry Hanley, gent : bapt : 4 July, 1595.
Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Henry Hanley, "puerpera sepulta fuit," 20 Feb : 1596/7.
Percival Hanley, infant of Henry Hanley, gent : bapt : 13 Aug : 1620.
Mary, infant of Henry Hanley, bapt : 22 Aug : 1626.
Henry Hanley, Esq., buried 11 June, 1650.
Winifred, d. of Jervase Hanley, of Wilford, buried 30 Dec'. 1590.
Henry, infant son of Henry Hanley, gent., bapt. 30 June 1594.
Alice, inf : of Henry Hanley, gent., bapt. 4 July, 1595.
Elizabeth, wife of  Mr. Henry Hanley, "puerpera sepulta fuit," 20 Feb., 1596/7.
Percival Hanley, inf. of Henry Hanley, bapt. 13 August, 1620.
Mary, inf. of Henry Hanley, bapt. 22 August, 1626.
Henry Hanley, Esquire, buried 11 June, 1650.

(i.) It will be noticed from these extracts, that Henry Hanley's wife was named Elizabeth without doubt.
(ii.) That the surname, at Bramcote, is consistently Hanley.
(iii.) That Henry Hanley is referred to as gentleman until the time of his death in 1650, when he is described as esquire, probably in deference to the family now being armigerous.

Over the mantelpiece of one of the principal rooms, at the manor-house at Bramcote, may still be seen in the panelling, very crudely executed, the arms of Hanley impaling those of Fitzwilliams, viz.¹:—argent, a chevron between three eagles legs, erased a-la-cuisse sable, armed gules. There is also a third shield, showing Hanley, impaling . . . a chevron between three battle-axes.

Henry Hanley, son and heir of the foregoing Henry, married a wife, whose Christian name was Margaret, but whose surname has not survived. By her, he had a son Percival, and a daughter Mary, who both died before their parents. The Visitations of Notts, ignore them in the pedigree given in that volume ; but the wife and both children are mentioned in Henry Hanley's will, and Percival was baptised at Bramcote, on 13th August, 1620.

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(1) Fitzwilliam, viz :—Loxengy, argent  and gules ;   also  on a separate shield, Hanley impaling the arms of Bray, viz :—argent, &c.