Nat Gould

William Edensor 1703-1767

William Edensor was baptised at Hartington on 5 December 1703. He was the son of Richard Edensor 1675-1736 and his wife nee Elizabeth Gould 1676-1753.

He was a butcher living in Manchester. In 1743 he was recorded as being a "slaughterer" when he paid the duty for the Indenture of an apprentice Christopher Harrison on 9 December in that year (1).

There is a curious partly blank tablet in Hartington church beneath that of Ann Edensor, presumably intended for John Edensor, that refers to William Edensor by name and two other unnamed brothers and three sisters. It states that William Edensor died on 22 January 1767 aged 63 years.

He seems to have been unmarried or at least childless, for upon his death in 1767 his estate passed to his brother Richard Edensor.

The manor accounts recorded payment of £5 heriot and £24 fine by Richard Edensor on inheriting the estate of his brother (2). The large fine signifies that William Edensor had owned a considerable property (3).

(1) Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures 1710-1811 9 December 1743.
(2) A heriot was the customary payment to the Lord of the Manor on such occasions, a fixed sum in lieu of the best beast formerly taken by the lord in earlier centuries. A fine was the money payable to the Lord of the Manor on the transfer of property from one owner to another.
(3) Devonshire Collections L/91/4/8.