The Procters of Bordley

Anyone looking through the parish registers for Kirkby Malham, Rylstone, Burnsall, Linton and Long Preston will soon come across the family name of Procter/Proctor/Prockter and JW Morkill's "Parish of Kirkby Malhamdale" devotes ten whole pages to their history, which can be read here. This was written in 1933 and contains an interesting family tree, but there doesn't appear to be any clear evidence which has emerged so far, that will link this group with the Procter family research shown below, though it seems most likely.

The spelling of the name varies, this is in some instances due to a change in the parish clerk. Thus, at St Peter Rylstone, the parish curate John Toppan served for 59 years from 1602 to 1661 and spelt the name as Proctor. His successor, Jeremiah Waid changed the spelling to Procter in 1662. In 1729, the spelling changes again to Prockter but reverts to Procter in 1762/63.

The various families (henceforward referred to as Procter) occupied a number of farmhouses particularly in the Bordley and Malham Moor areas and are variously referred to in the registers as gentlemen (until 1664/65), yeomen (from 1728/29), husbandmen (from 1732/33), and sometimes farmer (from 1774/75). The term yeoman is used right through to the early nineteenth century and occurs in the Burnsall registers as well from 1726.

The houses occupied by the Procter families in Kirkby Malhamdale parish include:

Old Name	Alternative names	Current name.
Hawthorne leighe yeat	Hathorne Lydeyeat, lyed yeat, hath--- lydyeat, Leeyate and Leegate	Lee Gate House
Caponha	Capponha, Cap(p)onhaw(e), Cappenhaw, Cappenhow, Chappenhaw, Capenhall or Cap(p)inhaw	Capon Hall.
Trannhouse	Trainhouse or Upper Tranhouse	High Trenhouse
Crackemore		Crake Moor
Rough Close	Ruff Close	Rough Close
Newhouses	(Adjacent to Lee Gate House)
Holgate Head		Holgate Head
Malham Water Houses	(The hamlet at Malham Tarn)
	Procters also lived in the township of Hanlith

Alice Procter (1826 -1895) Born at Lainger House, Bordley - 3rd Oct 1826 Baptised at Rylstone Chapel - 29th Oct 1826 Married James Duckett of Clapham -13th May 1852 Died at Liverpool - 5th April 1895

In the parish of Burnsall at Bordley, they occupied the following houses/areas:

Blayk bank	Blayke bank, Bleakbanke, Bleakbank, Blaikebanke , Blaik banke and Blakebank Now a ruin but marked on the OS Maps as Bleak Bank
Bordley Hall	Boardley Hall
Bordley moor(e)
Bordley town	The township of Bordley also referred to as just Bordlay, Bordley or Baudley or Bord
Lingtop
Colepitt Gill
Cowgill Coat	Cow Gill Cote
Lainger House	Langer House
Bowcross	Bacros, Boocross, Buckerhouse
Rilston	Rylstone, township part of the parish of Burnsall.
Knowbank

Elsewhere in the parish of Burnsall, they are found in Hetton and Cracoe, and in the parish of Linton at Threshfield and Skyrethorns,
In the parish of Long Preston, their main residence was Mearbeck (or Merebeck). There are numerous other less specific references in the above parish registers and those of adjoining areas.

Wills have been transcribed for the Procters, many containing inventories. These are listed below and it's hoped that transcripts or abstracts can be added to the website in the near future. View an interesting sample will and inventory for Richard Procter (1742/3) of Knowebanke.

Year	Name	of Where	Notes
1524	Geoffrey Procter	Bordley
1541	John Procter	Burnsall	(administration only)
1555	Geffraye Procter	Knowlbanke
1560	Richard Procter	Bordelay	(administration only)
1561	Richard Procter	Rilstone	(administration only)
1580	Christopher Procter	Blaikbanke
1584	Anthony Procter	Blackbanke	(administration only)
1594	Richard Procter	Bordley	(administration only)
1597	John Procter	Bordley	(administration only)
1601	Richard Procter	Blaikebanke	(administration only)
1607	Thomas Procter	Capon Hawe
1611	William Procter	Hathorn leadyeat	(administration only)
1612	Thomas Procter	Hathornledyate
1613	Thomas Procter	Blackbanke
1614	Barbara Procter	Blakebanke	(administration only)
1616	Elizabeth Procter	Black banke
1617	John Procter	Blake Banke	(administration only)
1617	Robert Procter	Blakebanke	administration only)
1618,	Richard Procter	Threshfield
1624	Thomas Procter	Bordley	(administration only)
1630	James Procter	Burnsall
1654	John Procter	Wynterburne
1658	Robert Procter	Blackbanke
1662	Frances Procter	Hathorn leayeat
1686	Christopher Procter	Cowgillcoat
1693	Thomas Procter	Blaikbanke
1693	William Procter	Bordlay
1715	Miles Procter	Thorgill Beck
1717	Anthony Procter	Cougill Coat
1719	Edward Procter	Burnsall	(administration only)
1728	Thomas Procter	Hetton
1737	Christopher Procter	Lainger House	(administration only)
1738	Alice Procter	Hetton
1742	Richard. Procter	Knowlbanke
1745	Thomas Procter	Bordley
1746	Richard Procter	Langer House
1759	Thomas Procter	Hetton
1775	Richard Procter	Bordley
1776	Margaret Procter	Langer House
1787	Richard Procter	Bordley
1778	Thomas Gregson	Cracoe
1789	Thomas Procter	Threshfield
1809	Richard Procter	Lainger House
1839	William Procter	Alnwick
1840	James Procter	Armley Heights, Leeds
1852	Richard Procter	Lainger House
1922	Isabella Frances Smith Procter	Newfoundland, Canada

 

Family Trees

These wills and other information (including land transactions involving the Procters from 1726 to 1824) have enabled a family tree to be made that is held on the GenCircles website (link below).
Extracts from this family tree have been made and illustrate the main lines that, for the most part, show the family to be descendants of Christopher Procter of Bleakbank (Bordley). These trees are named after the areas/houses in which the Procters lived.
Evidence for the relationships shown derive from parish records, wills and administrations and land transactions. The existence of a will, administration or inventory is indicated on each tree. The wills are mostly held at the Borthwick Institute and the land transactions at the Land Registry at Wakefield. Transcriptions of some of them will be added to this website. Also shown are the areas/houses which particular individuals lived in the latter part of their lives.

Click on any link to view the lineage of that family branch:-

Procter of Bordley, Cracoe and Leeds

Procter of Lainger House, Bordley*

Procter of Leegate, Malham Moor

Procter of Mearbeck (Long Preston)

Procter of Hetton

Procter of Hanlith

* Note that Richard Procter and his wife Margaret Procter were first cousins, being both grandchildren of Richard Procter and Margaret Heeles.

See also the Proctors of Bordley and Winterburn edited from JW Morkill's book - The Parish of Kirkby Malhamdale.

Research by

Further details on Procter and Duckett from Craven District can be found on the GenCircles website