From Barbados to Morrisons—The history of Thimbleby and its owners

The agricultural landscape of the Vale of Mowbray stretches across to the Dales , a view made visible through the recent felling of what was called ‘The Big Wood’ on the Thimbleby Estate. This shooting estate, its boundaries marked by imposing notices, guards its rights with a vigilance matched only by its size.

There, off-centre, is the quiet village of Thimbleby – Osmotherley’s little sibling. Yet, for me, shadows of the past have tainted this idyll. But more of that later.

It’s within the Domesday Book that Thimbleby’s name first gets a fleeting mention, being a ‘soke’ of the manor of Northallerton, and under the king’s control¹Grainge, William. ‘The Vale of Mowbray: A Historical and Topographical Account of Thirsk and Its Neighbourhood’. 1859. Page 341. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. Internet Archive <https://archive.org/details/valeofmowbrayhis00grai/> [accessed 20 December 2022].

But by the 17th century, Thimbleby was under the lordship of the Wandesford family, who were destined to become the Earls of Wandesford over in Ireland. In 1689, Sir Christopher Wandesford was attainted by King James II’s Parliament, leading to his estates being confiscated. Yet, the wheel of fortune took its turn after the Glorious Revolution. He was reinstated within the Privy Council, an honour ratified by both King William and Queen Anne in the year 1702. By then, however, the manor of Thimbleby had slipped from Wandesford’s grasp, having been sold to Richard Pierse from Hutton Bonville.

Fast forward to the year 1838 when the Georgian elegance of Thimbleby Hall passed into the ownership of Robert Haynes – a name that will soon ignite intrigue.

The Haynes family boasted roots deeply entrenched in England’s history. Yet due to their strong loyalty to the monarchy in the English Civil War, during the Commonwealth they were forced them to seek refuge in Barbados. There, their wealth, like the sugarcane fields they tended, flourished through ownership of those notorious ‘plantations,’ a term so benignly deceptive for their dark and insidious reality.

Robert Haynes was born in 1795, likely in Barbados, but definitely resident there in the 1830s²‘Obituary of Eminent Persons’ (1873) Illustrated London News, 01 Mar, 211, available: https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/apps/doc/HN3100088883/GDCS?u=ed_itw&sid=bookmark-GDCS&xid=4275799d [accessed 09 Oct 2021].. In the year 1837, his name was written in the records of the Slave Compensation Act, a testament to his ownership of those enslaved peoples labouring across his Barbadian lands³“THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE ECONOMY AND ENGLAND’S BUILT ENVIRONMENT: A RESEARCH AUDIT”. Research Report Series 247 -2020. Dr Mary Wills with Dr Madge Dresser. Commissioned by Historic England. Historic England ISSN 2059-4453 (Online)⁴‘Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery’. 2023. Ucl.ac.uk <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/6635> [accessed 11 August 2023]. It is reasonable to surmise that these ill-gotten gains paid towards his acquisition of the Thimbleby Estate the very next year.

Thimbleby Hall is just out of shot to the right, but would be hidden by the wooded hillside. Its presence, though, remains dominating. The Haynes family lived there for most of the 19th century. It would be interesting to know what ripples of influence their wealth may have had upon the local economy. The ‘Haynes Arms,’ a former well-known hostelry on the A19, hints of at least some impact.

Then, in the year 2005, a new chapter unfolded as ownership of the hall and 3,000 acre shooting estate passed to Andrew and Andrea Shelley. Andrea is a scion of the Morrison supermarket empire⁵Wikipedia Contributors. 2023. ‘Thimbleby, North Yorkshire’, Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thimbleby,_North_Yorkshire> [accessed 11 August 2023].

• 1
  Grainge, William. ‘The Vale of Mowbray: A Historical and Topographical Account of Thirsk and Its Neighbourhood’. 1859. Page 341. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. Internet Archive <https://archive.org/details/valeofmowbrayhis00grai/> [accessed 20 December 2022]
• 2
  ‘Obituary of Eminent Persons’ (1873) Illustrated London News, 01 Mar, 211, available: https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/apps/doc/HN3100088883/GDCS?u=ed_itw&sid=bookmark-GDCS&xid=4275799d [accessed 09 Oct 2021].
• 3
  “THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE ECONOMY AND ENGLAND’S BUILT ENVIRONMENT: A RESEARCH AUDIT”. Research Report Series 247 -2020. Dr Mary Wills with Dr Madge Dresser. Commissioned by Historic England. Historic England ISSN 2059-4453 (Online)
• 4
  ‘Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery’. 2023. Ucl.ac.uk <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/6635> [accessed 11 August 2023]
• 5
  Wikipedia Contributors. 2023. ‘Thimbleby, North Yorkshire’, Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thimbleby,_North_Yorkshire> [accessed 11 August 2023]