New Pre-Pub Records: The Ingram family accounts of Temple Newsam

REED Yorkshire West Riding co-editor Sylvia Thomas is proud to announce the launch of ‘pre-pub’ records from the accounts of the Ingram family of Temple Newsam.*

Sir Arthur Ingram (c.1565/1570-1642), by George Geldorp; Leeds Museums and Galleries; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/sir-arthur-ingram-c-156515701642-38569; public domain

Sir Arthur Ingram (before 1571-1642), financier and politician, was born in London, son of Hugh Ingram, a tallow chandler of Yorkshire origin and his wife Anne, daughter of Richard Goldthorpe, a haberdasher of York.

Sir Arthur took over his father’s business and became a successful money-lender, gaining influence with powerful men at court. As a result of such support he was returned as a member of parliament for the first time in 1609. An active parliamentarian all his life, Ingram sat for York during the 1620s. He collaborated with Sir Thomas, later Lord,Wentworth at various times during his career, particularly in the late 1620s, but they fell out in the early 1630s, and Ingram resigned his secretaryship. He subsequently attached himself to Henry Rich, 1st earl of Holland, an opponent of Wentworth. Sir Arthur married three times: first (by 1599) to Susan Brown (d. 1613); secondly (in 1613) to Alice Ferrers (d. 1615); and thirdly (in 1615) to Mary Greville. He spent his considerable wealth on building and furnishing his houses. His principal residence in Yorkshire was his house in York, built between 1616 and 1630 on the site of the old archbishop’s palace, next to the Minster. He died on 24 August 1642. He died in York and is buried in the Minster.

The house at Temple Newsam, 23.09.2018, viewed from the south. Photo credit: Mark Chambers

The Ingram records include evidence of the prominent role of musical performance in the life of a prosperous businessman’s household. Sir Arthur Ingram was willing to spend lavishly on his several organs, which were moved from house to house, even when finances were otherwise tight. He employed an organist, and a number of ‘singing boys’, who travelled to and from his various residences, and he regularly paid musicians to sing and play for himself and his guests. In addition his family owned and played their own instruments, including at least two harps. He also frequently brought in other kinds of entertainers, such as ‘the man that playes the birdes’, ‘the dog’, ‘the tonges’, ’the Jewes trumpes’ and ‘the Jugler’.

In contrast to the family, Sir Arthur’s steward, John Matteson, records many more modest visits to hostelries, where he paid for ‘the musicke’ at convivial evenings with friends.

The Ingram family records may be viewed here:

Yorkshire, West Riding

Sources:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB): Sir Arthur Ingram.
Anthony F. Upton, Sir Arthur Ingram, c.1565-1642: a study in the origins of an English landed family, Oxford, 1961.
Sidney D Kitson and Edmund D Pawson, Temple Newsam, 7th edn, Leeds City Council, 1936.
Edmund D Pawson, manuscript notes (WYL178).
Catalogues to WYL100 and WYL178 at WYAS Leeds.

* These transcriptions appear with the permission of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds (www.wyjs.org.uk/archives). The records are presented here in draft form and have not had final checking and editing for official publication by REED staff. Permission to cite this material must be sought from REED: West Riding editors Sylvia Thomas and Ted McGee, using the contact form provided on this site.

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