Married over dinner as servants looked on (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Married over dinner as servants looked on

2:28pm Thursday 30th June 2011 in Nostalgia

Sir John Otway was born at Beckside, Middleton, between Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale, in 1620, the eldest son of Roger and Anne Otway.

After being educated at Sedbergh School, where he had a good grounding in classics, he was admitted to St John’s College, Cambridge in 1636 and trained to be a lawyer.

In 1639 he became a Fellow of the Lupton Foundation.

He was an ardent Royalist. in contrast to his father, who tended to change sides as the wind blew.

This resulted in Sir John being ejected from St John’s, together with other Royalists because they refused to sign the Solemn League and Covenant.

In 1640 Roger built Ingmire Hall, near Sedbergh, and on his death it came into the possession of his eldest son John, who married Mary Rigg of Winchester and then Elizabeth Braithwaite, a wealthy heiress from Ambleside.

On introducing his niece to Sir John, Braithwaite was asked at dinner what he would give with his niece. On being offered his estate, Sir John promptly married her with the servants at table acting as witnesses!

He already had debts of £800 so, not surprisingly, there were some queries as to the legality.

Sir John was involved in the activities to bring Charles to the throne but there were difficulties.

His brothers-in-law (married to his wife’s sister and to his sister) were colonels on the Puritan side.

John persuaded them to support Charles on his return to England and as a reward, Charles appointed him Vice-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Chancellor of the County Palatinate of Durham. He was knighted in 1673 or 74.

He spent some of his time at Ingmire and entertained, among others, Lady Ann Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, who was a distant cousin.

Eventually he retired there, dying in 1693 at 73 years of age and being buried in St Andrew’s Church in Sedbergh.

His elder son Charles, inherited Ingmire Hall but most of the Ingmire and Middleton estates had already been sold off.

His second son, Braithwaite, became an MP. On the southern wall of St Andrew’s Church is a much-weathered sundial erected in memory of his very successful defence of the rights of the tenants and freeholders of Bluecaster Common when threatened by the actions of the Strickland family.

That is another story!