The Bayley-Worthingtons
Gibbon Bayley-Worthington bought Town Thorns from Constance Jackson in 1902. He also had a residence in Park Lane, London. He chose to live in Warwickshire for the hunting and was a member of the Atherstone Hunt Club. Gibbon Bayley-Worthington was the son of William Bayley J P of Stalybridge.His mother was Sarah, daughter of John Gibbon of Ashton-under-Lyne.He was born on 25 July 1836.
The name Worthington was added when he succeeded his cousin Thomas Worthington.
The Worthingtons were settled in the district by 1511. They were regarded as minor gentry, the squires of Sharston Hall, Northenden, Cheshire. The Hall was built in 1701. In the early C19 Thomas Worthington had been in business as a smallware manufacturer but made his fortune in umbrellas when they first became popular. His son, Thomas Junior continued in the business, but he died in 1856, aged 54, the last male member of the line.
The Hall passed to his sister Mrs Bayley.
In 1863, Letters Patent granted licence to Gibbon Bayley, in compliance with the will of Thomas Worthington, to assume the surname Worthington in addition to and after that of Bayley, and to bear the arms of Worthington.
The Worthington Arms: Ermine, three tridents sable, each handle encircled by a chaplet of roses proper, and for a crest, A goat passant argent semee of estoiles sable, in the mouth a sprig of laurel proper. It was painted on parchment, with the arms emblazoned in the upper left hand margin, and the illuminated arms of the Earl Marshall, the Queen and the College of Arms, in the upper margin; the seals in red wax encased in gilt skippets pendent on blue silk laces.
Gibbon Bayley-Worthington held a Commission as Captain in the Earl of Chester’s Yeomanry and was a JP for the County of Cheshire. On 9 December 1868 he married Marianne (Maimie) daughter of Henry Brocklehurst, of Foden Bank, Macclesfield. The Brocklehursts were silk weavers. Marianne’s mother was Ann Fielden, descendant of Joshua Fielden who founded a cotton manufacturing business in Todmorden. Her grandfather, John Fielden aka Honest John was MP for Oldham. He was largely responsible for passing the 10 Hour Bill in the 1830s which restricted the number of hours children worked in the mills.
One of her brothers, John Fielden Brocklehurst joined the Army and saw service in Egypt and the Boer War. He commanded the Royal Horse Guards and rose to the rank of Major General. He also became Equerry to Queen Victoria, and on her demise, to Queen Alexandra. He then held the position of Lord Lieutenant of Rutland from 1906 until he died in 1921. He was created the 1st Baron Ranksborough in 1914, the title becoming extinct on his death. The other brother was Captain Henry Dent Brocklehurst also of the Household Cavalry. The name Dent came from the Worcestershire family whose fortune grew from making gloves. In 1837 the Dent brothers bought Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. A nephew, John Coucher Dent married a Brocklehurst (Emma). The couple were largely responsible for the restoration of the castle which had been desecrated by Cromwell’s troops. Henry lived at Sudeley Castle. A descendant, Henry Dent Brocklehurst, still resides at Sudeley.
There were three children:
Thomas Gibbon b March 1870
Alan Brocklehurst b September 1874
Sibyl Maimie b 1877, married at St George’s Hanover Square 1898, a Society Church.
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