2. William² Boak 1 (John¹) was born in Clifton, Westmorland Co, England BEF. 1 JAN 1664/65. His body was interred AFT. 1725 in Yanwath Hall, Westmorland Co, England.

He married Elizabeth Steadman in Warcop, Westmorland Co, England, July 5, 1692.

William's will was probated in See ext. text fi, le. He was christened in Clifton, Westmorland Co, England, January 1, 1664/65. William participated in the Extra 4 event December 30, 1725 in Will drawn. Mrs. Howells: The family tree of the BOAK's at Yanwath clearly illustrates the descent from William 1 and Elizabeth BOAK. I have enclosed a photocopy of William Boak's will dated 1725. (In my files--ed.) No Boak's appear in the baptismal registers at Barton prior to Joseph's baptism on Nov. 21, 1706. However, William Boak's will is a "gem" in that he lists his sons numerically. Joseph is the fifth son with Christopher, William, John and Thomas being numbers 1 to 4 respectively. No baptisms were found for daughters Dorothy and Margaret so they must fit somewhere between the four eldest sons. Therefore we have a family that has moved to Yanwath circa 1706. Assuming a three year gap between each of the six eldest children one can estimate that William and Elizabeth married circa 1688 and that he was born circa 1660. (The marriage was later established as being on July 5, 1692 and William's baptism at Clifton on January 1, 1665.--ed) THE PEDIGREE CHART ENTITLED "THE WESTMORLAND BOAK FAMILY" CLEARLY SHOWS THE MEMBERS OF WILLIAM 1'S FAMILY AS WELL AS THOSE FOLLOWING HIM. The will noted by Mrs. Howells is very clearly written and is dated 30 Dec. 1725. The probate notice is undated, at least as far as I can determine. Much of it is in Latin, incidentally. While Mrs. Howells indicated a burial date on the pedigree chart of 4 Jan 1725 which she drew, this date would be impossible given the date of the will above. The will notes William as "being out of health in body but of sound minde and memory blessed be God for the same..." His will lists bequests by line each headed by the word "Item", one line for each of his eight living children. If we assume his death in 1726, their ages ranged from 10 to 33 at his demise. His two daughters are married and their husbands share the bequests. The amounts range from 5 shillings to the eldest Christopher ("having already given him a considerable portion of money and goods at his marriage and before now"), two amounts of 20 pounds, 5 of 10 pounds, 3 pounds to one daughter and 5 to the second. "The rest and residue is left to his "loveing wife Elizabeth" whom he appoints executrix. He directs his two sons-in-law to be "advisers and assisters of my said wife in the management of matters and accomplishing of this my said last will and testament." See this will in my FILE W-J-2. Manorial records of the Lord of the Manor were sent by Mrs. Howells and are in my files. Those concerning William Boak 1 at Clifton are under file # E-B-3. Other manorial records were also sent by Mrs H. and I have written a review of this record which is filed under #E-A-3. The years covered are 1715-1733 with the years after William's death in 1725/6 referring first to the widow, Elizabeth, and then to son John. These records, combined with earlier records to be noted following, establish that William moved to the Yanwath location from Clifton sometime around 1706, the year Joseph 1 was baptised since his previous child, Thomas, was baptised at Clifton. Rental ledgers for 1697 and 1700 in Clifton clearly show William Boak while the one for 1728 does not. These rental ledgers are in my files under FILE # E-B-3. Much further detail on other manorial records sent can be found in my Memorandum dated 11/12/91 entitled "Review of Manorial Records--William Boak, 1715-1738. (File E-A-3.) There should be a recording of exactly the nature of "Yanwath Hall" and the Boak family's relation to it. I quote from Mrs. Howells' letter of January 1991. "Yanwath Hall is a fortified manor/farmhouse. Yanwath and Eamont Bridge were a small manor within the parish of Barton. I have enclosed an extract from "The Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland and Cumberland" published in 1892 which gives a detailed description of the property and a little of its history. You will note that the Dudley family sold it to Sir John Lowther in 1654. The Lowther family extended their estates considerably during the 17th and 18th centuries by purchasing such manors as Yanwath. Of course they resided in their "stately" home at Lowther and had no personal need for the house at Yanwath. Hence is was available for a tenants and the Boaks were very fortunate to reside in such a splendid, though small, manor house. It certainly makes for interesting family history!".........."I must stress that the Boaks never owned Yanwath Hall. They rented it from the Lord of the Manor and if they were good farmers had the opportunity to acquire some family wealth. (My own family were in similiar circumstances during the 18th century and bought up parcels of land in the areas adjacent to where they were tenant farmers--no doubt the Boaks would have done similiarly.) "Freeholder" during the 18th century means "free" from feudal tasks once their rent was paid. As far as I am aware Yanwath Hall is still owned by the Lowther family also known as the Viscounts and Earls of Lonsdale." I have the extract which Mrs. Howells refers to and it makes interesting reading. Yanwath Hall, this history shows existed in the time of Edward1 and Henry VIII in possession of the Threlkelds, and then the Dudleys who sold it to Lowther. One interesting bit of information is that is was indeed fortified, which purpose was to protect against the marauding Scots from across the very near border. The extract has floor plans and an exterior picture of Yanwath Hall. Another point of interest is that Joseph 1, who was born at Yanwath Hall refers to his early life there in the incident concerning the cow that was killed as related in my summary Memorandum entitled "COMMENTS ON GENEALOGICAL STUDIES OF BOAK LINE--CUMBRIA RECORD OFFICE, CARLISLE, ENGLAND" dated January 25, 1991.

William Boak 1 and Elizabeth Steadman had the following children:

+ 7 i. Joseph³ Boak 1 was born BEF. 21 NOV 1706.

8 ii. Christopher Boak 2 was born in Clifton, Westmorland Co, England BEF. 26 MAR 1693. He was christened in Clifton, Westmorland Co, England, March 26, 1693.

+ 9 iii. William Boak 2 was born ABT. 1700.

10 iv. John Boak 3 was born in Brougham, Westmoreland Co, England BEF. 23 JUL 1702. He was christened in Brougham, Westmoreland Co, England, July 23, 1702.

11 v. Dorothy Boak 1 was born in Brougham, Westmoreland Co, England BEF. 7 DEC 1699. She was christened in Brougham, Westmoreland Co, England, December 7, 1699.

12 vi. Margaret Boak 1 was born in Clifton, Westmorland Co, England January 30, 1693/94.

13 vii. Thomas Boak 2 was born in Clifton, Westmorland Co, England January 25, 1703/04.

14 viii. Richard Boak 1 was born in Barton ? October 5, 1709.

15 ix. Elizabeth Boak 1 was born in Barton ? June 5, 1712. Her body was interred August 9, 1712 in Barton ?.

+ 16 x. Nicholas Boak 2 was born October 18, 1716.

Send email to preparer: tom@theboaks.com

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