Gascoigne baronets

The surname Gascoigne derives from Gascony in France. The best-known family of this name, believed, although not proven, to have come to England at the time of the Norman Conquest Fact|date=June 2007, settled in Yorkshire.

Medieval and Tudor periods

The Gascoignes were established by the thirteenth century at Gawthorpe and Harewood; these estates passed in 1567 to the Wentworth family by the marriage of the Gascoigne heiress. The junior branch acquired estates at Lasingcroft in 1392 and moved in the 16th century firstly to Barnbow near Leeds and then to Parlington Hall, Parlington, situated west of Aberford, near Leeds, acquired from the Wentworths in 1546.

Gascoigne baronets

Sir John Gascoigne, created the first baronet, succeeded in 1602, and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1604. The Gascoigne baronets continued until Sir Thomas Gascoigne, succeeded 1762, the 8th and last baronet. He renounced Catholicism, and was much involved in the Irish Parliament and in horse racing. Sir Thomas died in 1810, the year after his only son died in a hunting accident, upon which the baronetcy became extinct.
Sir_Thomas_Gascoigne,_2nd_BaronetImage:SirThomasGascoigne3rdBt.jpg|Sir_Thomas_Gascoigne,_3rd_BaronetImage:SirJohnGascoigne5thBt.jpg|Sir_John_Gascoigne,_5th_BaronetImage:SirEdwardGascoigne6thBt.jpg|Sir_Edward_Gascoigne,_6th_BaronetImage:SirThomasGascoigne8thBt.jpg|Sir_Thomas_Gascoigne,_8th_Baronet

1810 onwards

Sir Thomas left his property to his stepdaughter, whose husband, Richard Oliver of Castle Oliver in County Limerick, changed his name to Gascoigne [see Oliver Gascoigne] and moved to Parlington Hall. In 1825 he acquired Lotherton Hall from a fellow turf enthusiast. In 1843 the estates were inherited by Richard Oliver Gascoigne's two daughters, Mary Isabella and Elizabeth, who took one estate each on their marriages.

Mary Isabella and her husband Frederick Charles Trench, who took the surname Gascoigne, lived at Parlington, while Lotherton became the property of Elizabeth Gascoigne, who married Frederick Charles' cousin Frederic Trench, 2nd Baron Ashtown. The latter lived however mostly in Ireland, on the estates of the Trench family and at Castle Oliver, and when in 1893 Elizabeth died, leaving no children of her own, Lotherton passed to her nephew Colonel Frederick R. T. Trench Gascoigne, a well-known soldier and traveler of the day.

Col. Gascoigne further inherited Parlington in 1905, but preferred Lotherton. The furnishings and some structural items from Parlington Hall were transferred to Lotherton, after which Parlington was allowed to decay until, apart from a small wing still standing, it was demolished in 1952.

The Gascoignes contined at Lotherton until the death without issue of Sir Alvary Gascoigne in 1968, when the property was presented to City of Leeds for the public benefit.

Notes

References

* Thoresby, Ralph, 1715. "Ducatus leodensis, or the Topography of the ancient and populous Town and parish of Leeds and parts adjacent". 2nd edn, Dr T.D. Whitaker, 1816. [http://www.blunham.demon.co.uk/CDroms/Descriptions/LeedsThoresby.html (available on CD)]

ources

* [http://www.leeds.gov.uk/lothertonhall/lothgasc.html Leeds City official website: Lotherton Hall and Gascoigne family, with portraits]
* [http://www.parlington.com/index Parlington Hall site investigation]
* [http://www.castleoliver.net Castle Oliver website] Castle Oliver & the Oliver Gascoignes by Nicholas Browne