John PARNABY

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     Historical detail in NOTES



On the 1841 Census for Middleton page 8 are listed the following living in Ebor House: John Parnaby 70, farmer; Edward 20, farmer; Mary 30; Elizabeth 36; Dorothy 20; Thos, Couldwell 20, male servant; Mary Heal 30 female servant; Sarah Hopkinson 15, female servant; Hannah Clark ind. Also listed in Ebor House as a separate part are : Robert Waite 25, clerk and Rachel Chambers 15, female servant. John is listed as born In Hovingham on the 1851 Census. A check of records in Hovingham and surrounding parishes found no baptismal record for him nor any information on his parents. On the 1851 Census John is listed as the head, widower, landed proprietor and retired agent. He was the agent for Wm Fenton. Mr. Farncombe told dad that the Parnabys were a wealthy family and that if someone related went to Yorkshire, there was supposed to be money there to claim (this was in the 1930's). In his will he is stated as owning several properties besides Ebor House, one in the Bingley area.Ebor House was located on the Middleton Rd. in Middleton. John at first worked as an agent for the Fenton family who owned the house shortly after the time it was built in the early 18th Century. The Parnabys were at first tenants of the Fentons but later purchased the house and large areas of land in the front. (from "A History of Middleton" Middleton Historical Society, 1978. Most of the doors and woodwork of the house are said to be original and it was listed in 1970 by the government as being of architectural or historic interest"). So far as we know Christiana Parnaby was the last Parnaby owner of Ebor House about 1885 and on the 1891 Census it is not listed as belonging to the Parnabys. It is listed on the 1881 census as belonging to the Parnabys. The deed for the house shows a conveyance from Kirby Fenton to John Parnaby of the house 12 Feb. 1844. On 5 August 1883 there is a deed of gift from Dorothea to her niece, Christiana, of the house except for the left half in which Dorothea was already living. On 14 February 1911 there is a conveyance of the house from Christiana (then Samwell) to Marshall Nicholson. John Parnaby must have inherited the property of Wood House Hill, Hunslet from his wife, Ann, as in his will of 1853 he leaves it to his three daughters: Mary, Elizabeth and Dorothea.On his death registration he is listed as gentleman, cause of death general decay, registered by Mary Coldwell, present at Ebor House Middleton.