TARLETON PARISH, ENGLAND.*

A few miles from Liverpool lies the parish of Tarleton, separated from Croston by the Douglass, a small river rendered navigable in 1727. It comprises some 5,380 acres of land, flat and tolerably fertile, and 300 acres of unreclaimed bog to the westward. A large part of the land is now under potato cultivation for the never failing markets of Liverpool, Manchester, and Preston. The rent is from thirty to forty shillings per acre and tending upward.

"Tarleton either gave or received its name, like many other Lancashire townships, from an ancient family settled at this place." As the family name first appears as Walter de (of) Tarleton, it seems more likely that the parish gave its name to the family.

In one,

Two old deeds, signed before 1400, are on record. Adam de Tarleton and another person give lands and tenements, which they had (apparently as trustees) in the towns of Croston, Tarleton, etc.; in the other, Thomas Banastre del Bank gives to his son Thomas "all his massuages, lands, and tenements in the town of Tarleton, which were formerly John's, the son of John de Tarleton." It would appear that originally a family by the name of Tarleton held the property to which these deeds relate. Although there is no proof of the statement, it is supposed that all the Tarletons we know of are descended from this family.

There is a tradition coming from the Tarletons of Ireland that the family originally came to England from Normandy about the time of the Norman conquest (1066), but a recent and competent authority states that "the family is of Saxon origin,

*For a fuller account see "History of the Hundreds of Lancaster, County Palatine," and "History of the County Palatine and City of Cheshire," by George Ormarod, 1882; also Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Gt. Britain and Ireland," by Burke (last edition, 1894).

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taking its name from Tarleton (parish) in Lancashire. The prefix'de' in English family names does not imply Norman descent, the earliest form of surname being the distinction between two people bearing the same name; thus, John ⚫of York, John of Chester, the 'of' being rendered 'de.' But 'de' was also used to imply landed estate."

In England the eldest surviving son inherits his father's titles and estates, and his family record is carefully kept. Sir Alfred H. Tarleton, of London, now represents the line of eldest sons, and has in his possession the "pedigree roll" going back to 1240. The following abstract from Burke's "Landed Gentry" shows briefly his lineage:

The Tarleton family were seated early in the thirteenth century at Aigburth, near Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster. The records of H. M. College of Arms give: Edward Tarleton16, of Church Stile House, Liverpool, sixteenth in descent from Walter de Tarleton. He was commander of the man-of-war "Dublin," a justice of the peace, and mayor of Liverpool, 1682. He was born 1620, married 1640 and again 1661, died 1690, buried at St. Nicholas, Liverpool. He left two sons, John and Edward, and the last had three daughters, the youngest of whom married Timothy Tarleton, showing there was another family of Tarletons in Liverpool at that time.

John1 (M. D.), mayor of Lancaster, b. 1650, m.' twice, d. 1721, buried at St. Nicholas; had sixteen sons, but only two had children.

Thomas18, a merchant, b. 1680, m. 1715, d. 1731, bur. in St. Paul's Churchyard, London*; had four sons and two daughters, but only one son had children.

John, of Aigburth and of Bolesworth Castle, County Chester, and mayor of Liverpool, 1764, was b. 1719, m. 1751, d. 1793, bur. St. Nicholas. He had five sons, William, Thomas, Banastre, John, and Clayton. Only Thomas left sons.

Thomas20, of Aigburth and of Bolesworth Castle, b. 1753, m. 1775, d. 1820, bur. at Malpas; had three sons, Thomas, John *His will, dated Oct. 2, 1730, and bequeathing three tenement houses in Liverpool, some other property, and several thousand pounds in money to his family and others, is on record in England, and a copy is in possession of Mrs. J. C. Sherley, Anchorage, Ky.

E. (Rev.), Henry, and three daughters. The second son died unmarried and the third without children.

Thomas21, of Bolesworth Castle and captain Twenty-sixth Dragoons, b. 1776, m. 1805, d. 1836, bur. at Malpas; had five sons and five daughters. The first, third, and fourth sons died unmar. The youngest son, William, b. 1820, went to Hobartstown, Tasmania (south of Australia), mar. there, and had John W., b. 1852; William, b. 1856; Leigh T., b. 1859, and three daughters. The second son was

John Walter22, Sir and Admiral, b. 1811, m. 1861, d. Sept. 25, 1880; left two daughters and one son.

Alfred Henry, b. May 16, 1862, m. Feb. 8, 1888, Henrietta Charlotte, only child of Admiral Tenyson D'Eyncount, C. B., and has Frieda Henrietta and Finnetta (d. May 30, 1890).

Sir Alfred H. Tarleton is justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex, Lord of the Manor of Cranfield, and formerly a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, where he served from 1874 to 1888. He holds the estates of Breakspars, Uxbridge, Cranfield, and Brockley. His city residence is 58 Warwick Square,

London.

SIR BANASTRE TARLETON, son of John Tarleton19, was born at Liverpool, Eng., Aug. 21, 1754. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, Banastre left the study of law, and purchased a cornetcy of dragoons. In December, 1776, he commanded the advance guard of the patrol which captured Gen. Lee in New Jersey, and served with Howe and Clinton in the campaigns of 1777-8. After the evacuation of Philadelphia he raised and commanded, with the rank of lieut. col., a cavalry corps of regulars and Tories, called the British Legion. This corps was constantly rendering important service to Lord Cornwallis in the south, until he and Tarleton surrendered at Yorktown. In May, 1780, he surprised Col. Buford, and massacred his entire force, refusing to give quarter, and so "Tarleton's quarter" became a synonym for cruelty. He was in many engagements, and was a brave and skillful, though cruel, officer; he was below middle size, stout, strong, and heavily built.

After his return to England he was appointed colonel of the Eighth Light Dragoons and later lieutenant (or major) general. He was elected member of parliament from Liverpool in 1790, and held that position for twenty-two years, acting with the liberal and reform party.

In 1815, he was made a baronet, and later received the title of Commander of the Bath. He published, in 1787, "A History of the Campaigns of 1780-81 in the Southern Provinces of America," 518 pages. He died Jan. 23, 1833, having a wife but no children. He is the first Tarleton that we have found with a right to a coat of arms. His name is continued through his brother Thomas, who inherited and transmitted to his descendants the family estate at Aigburth.

The following is condensed from an article in the Boston Globe: A priceless relic of Revolutionary days has just been placed in the state house at Columbia, S. C., for safe keeping. It is the sword which Tarleton used in leading the British troopers at the battle of Cowpens. Col. William Washington, the gallant leader of the American cavalry, pressed Tarleton so closely in his fight as to be able to have one exchange of saber blows with the British leader. Washington's sword cut Tarleton's fingers, and the British colonel dropped his steel, spurred his steed, and obtained safety by flight. An American soldier saw the fight and picked up the sword, which has since been preserved in the family. The sword is a yard long, curved and heavy, and bears the marks of the fight. The sword of Gen. Marion hangs near by.

ADMIRAL SIR JOHN WALTER TARLETON, H. C. B., died on the twenty-fifth of September, 1880. He was born 1811, the son of Mr. Thomas Tarleton, of Bolesworth Castle, county of Chester, and grandnephew of Sir Banastre Tarleton. He entered the Royal Navy in 1824, and attained the rank of admiral in 1879. He commanded ships, saw considerable service, and held many high offices. He married, 1861, Finetta. Esther, daughter of the Hon. Baron Dinsdale, and leaves one son, Alfred Henry, and two daughters, Mary Beatrice and Edith Finnetta. - Abstract from the London Times.

EARLY TARLTONS IN LONDON.

The early home of the Tarletons was near Liverpool, and the eldest sons, as heirs of the estates, have lived near there until recent times; but there were other members of the family living in other parts of England, especially in London, before 1600.

Richard Tarlton* was an actor in London at the time Shakespeare wrote his plays. One writing at that time and naming the great men of England, excuses himself for mentioning “ "stage players" by saying that "excellence in the meanest things deserves remembrance." He names "Richard Bourbridge and Edward Allen, two such actors as no age must ever look to see the like; and to make their comedies compleat Richard Tarleton, who for the Part called the Clown's Part never had his match, never will have." For "writers of plays" he names William Shakespeare and Benjamin Johnson. If Tarleton's profession gives him no great honor, his associates may at least save him from contempt. Another writer says of him: "Our Tarleton When Queen Elizabeth was serious (I dare not say sullen) and out of good humor, he could un-dumpish her at his will." His name also appears as author of several small books. He was born at Condover, Shropshire, about one hundred miles northwest of London, and died in 1588, probably in London. If his manners and morals were rather too free even for his times, we may hope that his professed repentance and reform were genuine.

was master of his faculty.

The Harleian Society of England has published more than twenty volumes, consisting of copies of the Parish Records of christenings, marriages, and burials in different parishes in England, beginning with the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In the preface to the first volume it is stated that "our business is only with the records of those who, at the time the entry was made,

*The People for Whom Shakespeare Wrote, p. 12.