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Hawksworth, Yorkshire, England. Further historical information.

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HAWKSWORTH

HAWKSWORTH, in the parish of Otley, upper-division of Skyrack, liberty of Cawood, Wistow, and Otley; (Hawksworth Hall, the residence of George Carroll, Esq.) 4 miles S. of Otley, 6 from Bradford, 12 from Leeds. Pop. 323.

This place gave name and residence to a family of the highest antiquity, to which authentic records usually ascend; and is one of the instances in which property has descended in the possession of one family from the conquest to the present time; for it appears by a pedigree of the family, attested by the "King of Arms." in 1642, that John, the father of Walter de Hawksworth, the first possessor of this place, came over with the Conqueror, and was killed at the battle of Hastings, where he commanded under Richard Fitzpoint, a Norman Baron, surnamed Clifford, Lord Clifford, of Clifford Castle. It is now the property of Walter Fawkes, Esq. of Farnley, a lineal descendant of the family, and whose father resided there till 1786. The Hall is an irregular stone building of various periods. The oldest part bears the date of 1611, on some rich and curious plasterwork, very characteristic of that age. But it has been improved and modernised by the family, at various times. --Whitaker. --Neale.
[Description(s) edited from various 19th century sources by Colin Hinson © 2013]