Jowsey Genealogy :: Scugdale Farm

Scugdale (Skugdalle, Skarfdaile) Farm is located north-west of Guisborough township, between Windy Hill and Park Wood. "Scugdale" is derived from Scots "scug" = shelter, slope of a hill + OE "dale" = meadow, low-lying area by river, valley or allotment. The name is first mentioned in 1547 when yeoman Robert Jossey (1506-1668) disputed the land title in Court, after relinquishing the lease-hold farm, described as "one messuage or cottage, and one small close of land, and the herbage of one wood called Scugdale" (State Papers, Henry VIII).

By c1600 there were two dwellings, the main farmhouse and a smaller cottage to the east ("fields lees", 22 acres), referenced in the 1662/73 Hearth Tax Rolls. Between 1500-1700, six generations of JOWSEY families are recorded as farming at Scugdale.

1506: Robert Jossie/Jowsie (snr) is born, possibly at Scugdale Farm. He has two brothers, Thomas (c1490-1536) and John (c1495-1542), recorded as being "of Gisborough" in their Wills. Their father may well have been "John Jowsey, of Thurston, Northumberland, 1472" mentioned in the Percy Baillif Roll (cite Dr. George Redmonds), the earliest-recorded Jossy/Jowsey in histories of Northeast Yorkshire.

c1530 : Robert (of Scugdale) Jossie marries Margaret Lancaster; they have 2 male children, Robert (jnr) and Anthony born c1530-40. He most likely lived/worked at Scugdale Farm as the lease-holder or as "yeoman" farm labourers.

1539/40 : Destruction and looting of the monastery of Guisborough Priory by the King's armed forces. The local community was outraged, and rebellious. Before the Reformation, it is highly likely that the rich river-side meadows and forested hills of Scugdale Close were possessions of the Priory.

1547: "Henry Eighth, late King of England, by his indenture bearing date the twelfth day of May, in the thirty-eighth year of his reign [1547], did give, grant, and to farm-let, to William Netherwood of Gisborne [Guisborough], yeoman, one messuage or cottage, and one small close of land, and the herbage of one wood called Scugdale, with their appurtenances, formerly in the tenure of Robert Jossie [Jowsie], and afterwards in the tenure of the same William Netherwood, situate, lying, and being in the township of Gisbourne, within the parish of Gisbourne in the county of York ..." -- The History and Antiquities of Cleveland &c, by John Walker Ord (1846); p.580

1552: Court hearing of Scugdale land-title dispute: "1552 Robert Jowsey of Scugdale in Guisborough, labourer [yeoman], aged 46, testified in a title dispute" -- Yorkshire Archeological Society, YAS.114. Presumably, the disputed lease of Scugdale Farm is decided in favor of Robert Jossie (snr).

1558: Robert Jossie (snr) dies at Scugdale Farm; "1558 Robert Jowsey of Guisborough, Will" -- Yorkshire Archives (YAS)

c1575: Marriage of William and Ellen Jowsey, living at Scugdale = parents of Thomas (the Recusant), William and Robert

1602: Robert Jowsey (jnr) farming part of Scugdale Farm/Close? "1602, Robert Jowsey - 22 acres of good land, annual value £6, for only £1 4s rent." - Guisbrough Parish Register, LDS.1850146 & 1564062

1604: William Jowsey of Scugdale has a son: "Richardus, filius Guilielmus Jowsie of Skugdalle, baptizatus est xiii die January" - Guisbrough Parish Register, LDS.1850146 & 1564062

1662/3: William Jowsey (snr), "[1613] Willmus, filius Roberti Jowsie de Gisbroughe" is recorded having 2 chimneys in the Hearth Tax Roll at "Skarfdaile" - Guisbrough Parish Register, LDS.1850146 & 1564062

1662/3 : William Jowsey (jnr), born c1635, is recorded having 1 chimney in Hearth Tax Roll at "Skarfdaile" - Guisbrough Parish Register, LDS.1850146 & 1564062

1670: Margerie, daughter of William Jowsey Jnr of Scugdale, is baptized on 12 Feb 1670 - Guisbrough Parish Register, LDS.1850146 & 1564062

1673: William Jowsey (snr), born 1613, "Willmus, filius Roberti Jowsie de Gisbroughe" is recorded having 3 chimneys in Hearth Tax Roll (presume still living at Scugdale) - Guisbrough Parish Register, LDS.1850146 & 1564062

1673: William Jowsey (c1635-c1700), is recorded having 2 chimneys in Hearth Tax Roll (presume still living at Scugdale) - Guisbrough Parish Register, LDS.1850146 & 1564062