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William Walker III was born about 1528 in Littletown, of Liversedge Manor, in Birstall Parish, Yorkshire, England, the eldest son of William Walker II. His mother’s name is unknown at this time.
About 1555 William, now of Rawfold, a farm about half a mile north of Littletown, married Alice Rayner. Alice was born about 1528/9 in the Manor of Liversedge, the daughter of John and Alice Posthuma (born de Liversedge) Rayner. John Rayner at that time was the Lord of Liversedge Manor. He had died about 1532 and shortly thereafter Alice's mother remarried one James Dymonde, leaving her two children (William and Alice) in the care of William Rayner, their grandfather. Wm. Rayner subsequently entered into a Deed with one John Stubley (a friend and neighbour) which provided that he (John Stubley) shall, after Wm's death "have rule, government and custody of the infant heir", We can only assume that this would have included both of John Rayner's children, William and Alice.
William and Alice Walker took up residence at Rawfold, where their 8 children were born: -
James bap. c1556 died 24-11-1605
John bap. c1559 died after 1588
Wilfrey bap. 14-8-1562 bur. 21-9-1629
Francis bap. 14-8-1562 bur. 10-4-1612
Roberte bap. 9-1-1565 bur. 15-2-1565
Henry bap. 10-1-1566 bur. 16-1-1566
Alice bap. 1-3-1567 bur. 19-7-1567
Anne bap. 7-9-1568 died after 1588
Though we do not know the exact dates of death for John, Wilfrey and Anne, we do know they were all alive in 1588 when their father signed his Will. The Birstall Parish records state the last 6 children were of Littletown.
Note that the dates of baptism for Wilfrey and Francis are the same. Though this may indicate twins it is not necessarily so, as children with different dates of birth were not infrequently baptized on the same date.
See separate biography for James, Biog.05; Wilfrey Biog.07 and Francis Biog.08.
It would seem quite likely that at the time William married Alice, William probably had possession of at least part of his father's properties. In any case he would have inherited it all in 1562, when his father died. To appreciate the status of the Walkers in this time period perhaps a little history might be appropriate here; In 1570 Sir John Neville, Lord of the Manor of Liversedge, committed treason against Queen Elizabeth of England. He joined the Catholic "Uprising of the North" in support of Elizabeth's Catholic sister, Mary Queen of Scots. For this, Sir John's lands were sequestrated and returned to the Crown. A year and a half later the Queen gave the Manor of Liversedge to Sir Edward Carey for "three life times", his own, his elder son and his eldest grandson. Following this the land would return to the Crown. But before doing so the Queen commissioned Sir Thomas Gargrave, the Inquisitor General for the West Riding of Yorkshire, to list details of the Manor, its lands, rents and tenants. From the answers he received are a list of "Free rents in Liversedge" for 22 named men. These individuals were "freemen" or "yeoman" and had, at some stage of their lives or their ancestor's lives, earned or bought the privileges belonging to that status. In brief, their lives were not controlled by the Lord of the Manor, as were the lives of the villeins (peasants personally bound to his Lord) who had to work on the demesne land (surrounding the Manor) a number of days a week and at harvest time. On the death of a villein his chattel were forfeited to the Lord. Freemen had certain duties to perform and pay rent to the Lord as the following shows.
Among the list recorded by the Commission in 1571 are the following names:-
£ s d
John Hanson paid 0 : 0 : 9
Edmund Brooke “ 0 : 0 : 7
William Walker “ 0 : 0 : 6
Lionel Rayner “ 0 : 0 : 5
Richard Stubley “ 0 : 0 : 4
Over half the Freeholders listed paid less than 3d a year and William Walker, who paid 6d, paid the 5th highest total. These values are rather meaningless to us today until you consider that in 1565 a pig, in Liversedge, sold for 5d each. If we look back to William Walker I's biography we can see that he paid a "Lay Subsidy" in 1523. This is an example of the right of Freemen to pass on their land to following generations, in this instance, for 3 to 4 generations in the Manor of Liversedge. Frank Peel, in his book on Spen Valley states:- "Most of the well-to-do people in the townships of Liversedge, Heckmondwyke and Cleckheaton were those who combined manufacturing and farming (yeomen)." The Walkers, from information obtained from 3 Wills, dated 1588 (Wm. III), 1605 (James) and 1620 (Wilfrey) were substantially involved in both of these areas.
Alice Rayner died in 1571 and was buried on 17 April in the Parish church of Saint Peter's at Birstall.
William Walker III died in 1588. The Birstall Parish records show that he was of Little Liversedge and that he was buried, in Saint Peter's church yard on 17 Jan. 1588. William left a Will which is now part of the "Walker Records". It is written in early English script which makes it very difficult to read. The following is a small sample of the original Will just to give the reader an idea of what the "old English" writing looked like in 1588:-
It reads:-
"In the name of God Amen the 21st Daye of November in the 31st year of the reigne of our Souvriegne Ladie Elizabeth and in the year of our Lord God 1588. I William Walker of Liversedge in the Countie of York, yeoman poore in bodie but yet of good and perfect remembrance do make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following" That is to say First I comitt my bodie to the earth from whence it came to be buried when it shall please god to appoint. Also my will is that all my true and lawful debts be first discharged of all my whole goods. Item I give unto Anne Walker my daughter,,,etc.
The will goes on to bequeath items as follows:-
“To Anne my daughter; 1 cupboard, 1 great arke, her late mother’s chiste & apparill, 20 s.
To Frances my son; £3, and half the boards in shoppe with 1 pair of Walker sheres.
To Wilfrey my son; 20 shillings, 1 pair of Walker Sheres.
To Francis & Wilfrey; My Shereboards and Handles equally betwixt them.
To John my son; 10 shillings and a pair of Walker sheres.
To James my son & heir; all the timber and the laith with my Tenters.
To Robte & John, sons of my said son James; to either of them one Ewe.
To Alice Walker, my brother’s daughter; one Ewe.
To Jane Moorehouse my maid servant; one bering Ewe.”
The Tenters which James inherited were, in fact, fences with hooks on them for hanging lengths of cloth so they could dry without shrinkage. A “length of cloth” was, by definition, 22 feet long and 27 inches wide. It can clearly be seen from the above that William was indeed a wealthy and generous man. Generous by his legacy to his maid servant which in those days would have been exceptional. His status as a Yeoman is further substantiated by his marriage to a member of the wealthy and prestigious family, the Rayners. His wealth is verified by his large shoppe which contained 3 pairs of "Walker sheres" and several "shereboards" for the production of cloth, and lands valued at 77 days work.
One of the signatures of William’s will was Wilfrey Walker his brother living at Hollins, Heckmondwyke.
This a copy of some of the Burials as recorded in the Birstall Parish Register in the years 1588/9. William’s burial record is located at the very bottom of this document. It reads:- “William Walker of Little Liversedge buried the 17 January.
Birstall parish church pew ends showing wool croppers tools. (16th C.)
Note:- All dates are "Old Calendar" dates.
Sources:-
Richard Walker, Formby, Eng.
Y.A.S., Wakefield, York, Eng.
Borthwich Institute, York, Eng.
By R. B. Walker, Eng. & H.L. Walker, Can. - Rev. 27 November, 2001
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