Eleanor Grimshaw
Daughter of John and Mary Jane (Hutton) Grimshaw –Emigrated to America and then to Canada
John Grimshaw, descendant of Nicholas and Anne Grimshaw (of Oakenshaw) in the Pendle Forest Line, was Captain in the 5th Royal Lancashire Militia and J.P for Westmorlund1. His coat of arms is included in Foster2 and is shown below on this webpage. John and his wife, Mary Jane Hutton, are shown in the 9th generation of the Pendle Forest descendant chart. Their oldest daughter, Eleanor, was the ancestor of important family lines in Canada. Eleanor’s two family lines are shown below3. According to information provided by Marjorie Scott, Eleanor immigrated to the U.S., to New Mexico, where she married George Charles Dixon (whom she had met in England). The couple then migrated to Washington, where their one child was born, and then to Canada, where they had a homestead. After Dixon’s death, Eleanor remarried, to Harry Shenfield, in Canada. This couple had eight children.
Contents
Eleanor Grimshaw’s Family Lines
Coat of Arms and Crest of Captain John Grimshaw
John Grimshaw’s Chair as a Baby
Webpage Credits
Thanks go to Gerald Brewin and Barbara Alteman for providing much of the information on this webpage. Thanks also to Mavis Long and Linda Close for the information on Poet Close, described below on this webpage. And to Patricia Brewin for providing pictures of John Grimshaw’s chair as a baby. Also to Marjorie Scott for sending rich detail on Eleanor Grimshaw and her life.
Eleanor Grimshaw’s Family Lines
Eleanor’s two lines of descendants, the Dixon and Shenfield lines, settled mostly in western Canada. Eleanor’s lines are unusual for North American Grimshaw descendants in that it is clearly tied back to the Pendle Forest line and thence, potentially, to the original Grimshaw family line of Eccleshill and Clayton-le-Moors.
John Grimshaw (14 Jul 1784 – 17 Jun 1856) & Alice Dugdale ( – 9/19/1881)
|—–John Grimshaw (14 Sep 1833 – ) & Mary Jane Hutton
|—–|—–Eleanor Grimshaw* & George Charles Dixon
|—–|—–|—–Mary Grimshaw Dixon (18 Jul 1891 – ) & John Hutton
|—–|—–|—–|—–Gordon Dixon Hutton (4 Jun 1914 – ) & Margaret Wetherby Ker
|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–David Allan Hutton (21 Sep 1946 – ) & Diane Davis (28 Dec 1942 – )
|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–Janet Mary Joyce Hutton (15 Oct 1947 – ) & Gordon Bosomworth
|—–|—–|—–|—–Barbara Eleanor Hutton (5 Apr 1918 – ) & Ernest Clarence Alteman
<|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----Mary Kim Alteman (26 Aug 1946 - ) & Leslie E. Tomlin
|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–Gordon Albert Alteman (6 Jun 1950 – ) & Lucie Chartrand
|—–|—–|—–|—–|—–Kenneth Dixon Alteman (17 Jun 1955 – ) & Rhonda Leigh Montgomery
|—–|—–|—–|—–Frederick Allan Hutton (21 Sep 1920 – 1922)
|—–|—–Eleanor Grimshaw* & Harry Edward Shenfield
|—–|—–|—–Eleanor Dorothy Shenfield (31 Oct 1895 – )
|—–|—–|—–Annie Maud Shenfield (29 Apr 1897 – 20 Mar 1899)
|—–|—–|—–Margaret Jeanne Shenfield (4 Nov 1898 – )
|—–|—–|—–John Shenfield (4 Nov 1898 – )
|—–|—–|—–Marjorie Eda Shenfield (14 Oct 1899 – )
|—–|—–|—–Norah Lillian Shenfield (6 Feb 1902 – )
|—–|—–|—–Stanley Henry Shenfield (25 Mar 1904 – 1904)
|—–|—–|—–Constance Elaine Shenfield (29 Jul 1905 – )
|—–|—–Nicholas Grimshaw (24 Jan 1866 – )
|—–|—–Mary Grimshaw
|—–|—–Ada Grimshaw
|—–|—–Edie Grimshaw
The connection to the Pendle Forest line is shown below.
Nicholas Grimshaw ( – 1594)
|–Thomas Grimshaw ( – 1622)
|–|–Nicholas Grimshaw & Margaret
|–|–|–Nicholas Grimshaw & Isabel Whitaker
|–|–|–|–Nicholas Grimshaw ( – 25 May 1736) & Anne Grimshaw (9 May 1681 – )**
|–|–|–|–|–Thomas Grimshaw (1703 – 28 Jun 1783) & Margaret Holt ( – 27 Mar 1793)
|–|–|–|–|–|–Nicholas Grimshaw* (20 May 1738 – 19 Aug 1825) & Elizabeth Harrison
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–Nicholas Grimshaw (1 May 1779 – 25 Aug 1840)
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–John Grimshaw (9 Oct 1780 – 1782)
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–Anne Grimshaw (1782 – ) & Thomas Preston
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–John Grimshaw* (14 Jul 1784 – 17 Jun 1856) & Nancy Whitaker ( – 13 Sep 1823)
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–Elizabeth Grimshaw ( – Feb 1832)
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–Nicholas Grimshaw (26 Mar 1819 – 19 Aug 1823)
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–James Grimshaw (12 Apr 1822 – 19 Sep 1823)
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–John Grimshaw* (14 Jul 1784 – 17 Jun 1856) & Alice Dugdale ( – 19 Sep 1881)
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–John Grimshaw (14 Sep 1833 – ) & Mary Jane Hutton
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–Eleanor Grimshaw* & George Charles Dixon
|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–Eleanor Grimshaw* & Harry Edward Shenfield
Coat of Arms and Crest of Captain John Grimshaw Included in Fosters2 Pedigrees of County Families of England
Photos of Hutton Ancestors
Barbara Alteman has provided the following photos and associated descriptions for Mary Jane (Hutton) Grimshaw and her father, grandfather, or great-grandfather, Thomas Hutton. Thanks go to Barbara for providing these photos.
John Grimshaw’s Chair as a Baby
In July 2008, Patricia Brewin provided the following interesting pictures of a chair that was made for John Grimshaw when he was no more than a year old.
A Grimshaw Poem by “Poet” Close
“Poet” Close authored two poems4 at or near the time of the marriage of John Grimshaw to Mary Jane Hutton, one of which honors the three families of Grimshaw, Hutton, and Walton. The poem is cited below:
Pedigree of Three Families:
Grimshaw, Hutton, and Walton by “Poet” Close
The Grimshaws are an Ancient Race,
Whose warlike deeds sublime,
Historians tell in glowing lines,
All in the Olden Time.
Beneath Old Wild Boar’s lofty peak,
And near Pendragon’s Walls,
Where acres broad, and fertile meads,
And mount and Waterfalls,
Stretch far away up Hill and Dale,
And close to Eden Springs:
The Grimshaws were in Olden Time,
Almost like little Kings.
They hand-in-hand with Clifford’s Lord;
The famous Countess Anne, She treated them with courtesy,
Deem’d each a Gentleman.
In Warlike Times, when Cromwell blew
So many Castles down,
The Grimshaws still held fast their own,
Supporters of the Crown.
And thus in Queen Victoria’s Reign,
One of this good Old Race
Has won a Virgin, pure as good,
His Hall, his Home to grace.
And from this Union of good blood
What Great Men still may spring;
One half depends on nerve and brain; –
Breeding’s a wondrous thing.
The Huttons, they are sound as oak,
All reach a good old age:
The last, he made his name beloved
While on this earthly stage.
The present Squire, a man of Skill
Famous for curious knowledge;
For he was taught by Nature Wise,
Who smiles at School or College.
The Waltons, all of Crackenthorpe,
No better blood than they,
If we may trust what writers tell,
Believe all that they say:
An Ancient Family, we know,
Fam’d for its high renown;
And better still, in spite of all,
They clung unto the Crown.
But space forbids us more narrate
Of all their Pride and Beauty;
The good Old Men have pass’d away:
Old men who did their duty.
They gathr’d wealth, it roll’d up fast,
And now increasing more:
What Lands, Estates, and Fields so Green!
Increasing Grimshaw’s store.
Many thanks to Gerald Brewin for contributing this poem. Mavis Long has found the following website with additional information on “Poet Close”:
http://www.closeancestry.com/uk/people/content/18160811_john_close/18160811_john_close.htm
John Close, the poet, was born in 1816 in Swaledale, Yorkshire and died in 1891 in Kirkby Stephen Westmorland. The above webpage provides the following:
Apparently John was a bit of a poet in his time (aka “Poet Close”). He was obviously the arty one … and allegedly bombarded the local gentry with his offerings from about 1850 up to his death in 1891. So much so that, much to the publics’ bafflement, he managed to blag a 50 pound pension for his efforts!
Here’s a little sample of his doggerel:
Around the gods, each seated on a throne,
The poets, crowned like royal kings they sat.
Around their heads a dazzling halo shone,
No needs of mortal robes, or any hat.
(“Haloes, Not Hats”)… which has apparently appeared in an anthology of the best bad poetry out there…
The following additional information on Poet Close was obtained from Linda Close by Mavis Long in July 2007.
John CLOSE 1816-1891
As a young man John helped his father Jarvis with his butchers business but he mistakenly thought he had a talent to be a poet. At the age of 16 he started printing fly-sheets of his verses to sell at the markets and later progressed to writing books.
In 1846 he established himself as a printer in Kirkby Stephen and called himself “Poet” Close and his house “Poet’s Hall”. His prolific publications included his annual “Christmas Book”. In addition to his verses and stories these gave a revue of the year’s events in the district and therefore contain much biographical information on the inhabitants of the district as well as on his family and relations. In 1858 he married a young widow who had three children and together they had five of their own. During the summer months John lived at Bowness where he had a bookstall at the boat-landing stage on Lake Windermere.
The Closes and the Barkers were ardent Methodists, several of them being local preachers for many years, However John was always making disparaging remarks about Methodists while at the same time writing about “good old John Barker”. At one time his sister Ann, who was married to a local preacher .-George Yare, wrote to him on behalf of their mother, asking him not to be so harsh on the Methodists. He was in the habit of letting his pen run away with his discretion and so in 1859 was taken to court: in Liverpool for libel for remarks he had made about a young lady of the Kirkby Stephen district. This resulted in £300 damages against him. He also had great difficulty making a living, however, he was in the habit of saying flattering things of those in authority and in high places. In 1860, through the influence of Lord Lonsdale, Lord Carlisle and other gentlemen, he was granted’ a Civil List Pension by the Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. When it was discovered by Parliament that his writing had no merit the pension was stopped and he was given £100 from the Royal Bounty by Lord Palmerston in compensation. He continued to write of this “injustice” for the remainder of his life.
References
1Burke, Sir Bernard, and Ashworth P. Burke, 1914, Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain: London, Harrison & Sons, p. 832
2Foster, Joseph, 1873, Pedigrees of the County Families of England, vol. 1 – Lancashire: London, Head, Hole & Co., unk. p.
3Thanks go to Barbara Alteman and Jerry Brewin for providing information on this family line.
4Poem in “Grand Cluster of Poets”, date unknown.
Webpage History
Webpage posted August 2000, Revised January 2001. Updated January 2006 with addition of pictures and notations of Mary Jane Hutton Grimshaw and Thomas Hutton. Updated March 2007 with descendant chart showing connection to Pendle Forest Grimshaw line. Updated June 2007 with addition of information on Poet Close from Mavis Long. Updated November 2008 with pictures of John Grimshaw’s chair from Patricia Brewin. Updated April 2009 with Information from Marjorie Scott.