Parish
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Whitkirk Parish |
TEMPLE NEWSAM, in the parish of Whitkirk, lower-division of Skyrack; 4½ miles E. of Leeds, 8 from Wakefield, 9 from Pontefract. Pop. 1,166.
Here formerly stood a Preceptory for Knights Templars, whence it derives its name of Temple Newsam, being called in Domesday only Neshusum. After the suppression of the Knights Templars, it was granted by Edward III. together with Temple Hirst, to Sir John Darcy, and his heirs male; in whose descendants it remained until the time of Thomas, Lord Darcy, on whose attainder, for the active part which he took in the Pilgrimage of Grace, became forfeited to the Crown. Henry VIII. granted it to Matthew, Earl of Lenox, who resided here at the birth of his celebrated, but unhappy son, Henry, Lord Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots, and father of James I. On the death of the Duke of Lenox, it came into to the possession of James I. who conferred the same upon his kinsman, Esme Stuart, Duke of Richmond. The Duke sold it to Sir Arthur Ingram, son of a wealthy citizen of London, and founder of the Irvine Peerage, who pulled down the old house, and built the present magnificent structure on its site. The old house, was not however completely demolished, for Thoresby asserts that the identical apartment, in which Lord Darnley was born, remained in his time, and was distinguished by the name of the King's Chamber. It is now the property of the Marquis of Hertford, in consequence of his marriage with Isabella Ann Ingram Shepherd, the eldest daughter of Charles, the 10th Viscount Irvine. The last Viscount Irvine died here in 1807.
"In the window of the Kitchen," says Dr. Whitaker, "is a long and curious series of armorial hearings, from the Lacies, the first lords of this place, down to the Ingrams." This house boasts a fine collection of Pictures, by the most eminent masters, the Gallery for which is 119 feet long, and above 20 wide. Whitaker's Ducatus Leodiensis. --Neale.