Article 2 [1722]
Return to The Early Angus History by Elsdon Watson
For background information on Archibald Douglas 6th Earl of Angus, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Douglas,_6th_Earl_of_Angus
The Angus family arrived on Tyneside as part of the group that accompanied Archibald Douglas the 6th Earl of Angus into exile in May 1529. When the 6th Earl first arrived in England, he went to London to see Henry VIII. In 1529 he was a big ally of the king. Henry VIII was his brother-in-law due to his marriage to the king’s eldest sister Margaret Tudor. Up to this period and for a few more years he was a friend and supporter of Henry. The king gave him a pension and sent him North so his armed forces could support the efforts of the Northern aristocracy to manage the border between England and Scotland. This was under the leadership of the Earl of Northumberland. The other two important Northern leaders were the Earl of Westmorland, based at Brancepeth and Raby Castle in Durham and Lord Dacre in the West.
As the 1530’s developed, the Northern aristocrats became more and more alarmed at the actions of King Henry VIII during one of the most eventful decades in English history. This was particularly so for the Earl of Northumberland who had been betrothed in 1526 to a young girl at court called Ann Boleyn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Percy,_6th_Earl_of_Northumberland
a) 1531 Catherine of Aragon was banished from court and her rooms given to Anne Boleyn.
b) 1533 Henry married Anne Boleyn, the future Elizabeth I was born and Mary, his daughter by Catherine of Aragon, declared illegitimate.
c) The 1534 Act of Supremacy declared that the king was the only Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and the Treason Act made it high treason to not acknowledge the king as such
d) 1535 Execution of Sir Thomas More for refusing to denounce papal authority
e) 1536 The Pilgrimage of Grace and the execution of Anne Boleyn
f) 1536 -1540 Dissolution of the monasteries including the Abbeys at Hexham and Blanchland.
About the time of the Pilgrimage of Grace,1536, the Earl of Westmorland, who had surprisingly not supported the Pilgrimage of Grace, decided to strengthen his military forces. Over the years the opinions of the 6th Earl of Angus changed. By 1536 he was against the actions of the king and ready to strengthen the military forces of the Earl of Westmorland, a potential opponent of the king.
The Earl of Angus agreed to give him four of his best cavalry men. They were all experienced in war and could help to train the farmers at Bywell. Nowadays the process would be described as secondment. I think that initially, this was a temporary measure. The four men were Archibald Angus, David Angus, William Angus and Anthony Angus. (11) and (12). They first appear at Bywell in the muster of 1538 at Unthank and Slaley. The Angus family consisted of three brothers, Archibald, David, William and their father Anthony. The lands at Bywell were all owned by the Earl of Westmorland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Neville,_4th_Earl_of_Westmorland
Around this time Archibald found a girlfriend. He had two children with her, Alexander and Richard.
In 1543 the unexpected happened. James V, who had exiled the 6th Earl of Angus, died at the age of 30. The exile was over. The Earl and all the followers returned to Scotland in 1543. There were three of his army however who did not return to Scotland. Anthony decided to return to see his wife who he had not seen since 1529 but the other three decided to stay. I think they all had the choice of going back to Scotland.
(I argue the form of the family tree in the next article.)
The three brothers settled into life at Bywell. They had farms. Archibald had a new wife and two children. The expected troubles with Henry VIII often threatened to happen but never did. This did not mean that life in Bywell was peaceful and tranquil. The military skills of the Angus family were still in demand. The problems on the Border had not disappeared. A perpetual problem was the Border Reivers. Until the advent of James I the border was like the Wild West. Although Bywell was about 40 miles south of the border, conditions for farming were not ideal. Hodgson describes a battle right in the middle of Slaley in 1544. (Bottom of (12) and top of (13))
In 1566 everything changed. There were new Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland and they were planning war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Percy,_7th_Earl_of_Northumberland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Neville,_6th_Earl_of_Westmorland
At Bywell under the very efficient John Swinburne, military training was now been done in earnest. Alexander, William and David all got cheap leases for farms in exchange for military service. (4),(13),(14) By this time Alexander and Richard were in their twenties, David and William were in their fifties. Archibald was ready to retire from military duties. He was sixty. At the same time Richard was not happy. He liked farming but he did not want to go to war. He decided to rent land on a nearby farm at Dilston and take his father with him. Neither Richard nor Archibald participated in the rebellion (19)
In 1569 the long-expected rebellion occurred. This has already been described in the life of Alexander and the Hall Humberston enquiry (see Article 1). The experiences of David and William were very similar to Alexander. They went to the rebellion under the leadership of John Swinburne. They returned fleeing from the approaching armies of Queen Elizabeth I. As they retreated west, they passed Bywell. The least experienced of the Bywell contingent were sent back to Bywell including Alexander. The most experienced soldiers went on with the Earl and John Swinburne and eventually found sanctuary at Ferniehurst Castle in Scotland. Here more cavalrymen were sent home including David. William stayed behind. He was one of the most experienced troops left. He stopped with the Earl and John Swinburne until they found a boat to take them to Flanders. Both the Earl and John Swinburne died in exile in Europe. William never returned to Bywell but he might have returned to Tantallon after an absence of over 40 years.
David and Alexander both returned to Bywell. (7),(8),(14),(15) They both paid their fines and accepted their pardons. They both became Anglicans and were farmers at Slaley or Broomley for the rest of their lives. David died about 1600. Alexander was still alive in 1608.
Evidence that the above tale is correct
The story above is mainly factual. The events above are well documented. But how do we know if the Angus people, who appeared in Bywell in 1538, arrived with Archibald Douglas, the 6th Earl of Angus?
This argument is mathematical. It depends on comparing 2 different but similar stories for the arrival of the Angus family on Tyneside. It also assumes that to attend a muster or a rebellion you had to between 16 and 60 years of age. If this argument is valid then the case is proved. The dates of birth of the Angus family in Bywell can be predicted by assuming they went through a muster in about 1529. The Winchester provisions of 1285 stipulated that every able-bodied man between the ages of 16 and 60 should furnish suitable weapons and present himself for regional musters. (Quoted by Alexander Hodgkins in Reconstructing Rebellion, the Battle of Dussindale 1549)
Story 1
This story assumes that David Angus (or William) did not come to England with The Earl of Angus. The Angus family came from somewhere. They travelled by some means to Tyneside and arrived there in 1529. David got a job at Bywell and attended the Muster at Bywell in 1538. He then took part in the Rebellion in 1569.
a) David attended the muster in 1538. He must have been at least 16 and so was born before 1522.
b) David took part in the Rebellion of 1569. He must have been born after 1509.
Conclusion - David was born in 1516 +/-7
Story 2
The Angus family came from Tantallon, near Dunbar. They travelled to Tyneside in the cavalry unit of the 6th Earl of Angus and arrived there in 1529. David got a job at Bywell and attended the Muster at Bywell in 1538. He then took part in the Rebellion in 1569.
a) David attended the muster in 1538. He must have been at least 16 and so was born before 1522.
b) David performed in the Rebellion of 1569. He must have been born after 1509.
c) David left Tantallon in 1529 in a cavalry unit. He had to be over 16 then and so was born before 1513.
Conclusion - David was born between 1509-1513. i.e. 1511+/-2.
Note how story 2 gives David a much more precise date of birth, by attending a muster in 1529. It was not necessarily in Tantallon but it must have been around 1529. The tale related for David attending a muster in 1529 is a more accurate tale than if he had not been in a muster. The Angus family were involved in a muster around 1529. David and William must have been born before 1513 but after 1509. Archibald and Anthony were not involved in the 1569 rebellion. They were either too old or had moved somewhere else. It is very probable that the Angus family did travel in a cavalry unit in 1529.
The rest of the evidence strengthens the case that the Angus family at Bywell arrived on Tyneside with the forces of the 6th Earl of Angus in 1529.
a) They all had the surname Angus. The surname originated in the Forfar (Angus) area of Scotland. The Earl of Angus had estates in this area as well as being clan chief. He would have recruited in this area. It would have been very surprising if, among the 200 people who arrived in 1529, there were not an Angus family.
b) The two events are close together. The Earl of Angus group arrived in the North of England in 1529. They were there until 1543. The Angus family at Bywell appeared in 1538.
c) There were very few Scottish people travelling freely in the North of England at this time. England and Scotland were in a continuous state of war. I can prove to the satisfaction of a court that Archibald Angus who was in the Unthank muster of 1538 at Bywell was Scottish. The source is an article written by Jonathon Healey called “The Northern Manor and the politics of Neighbourhood: Dilston, Northumberland, 1558-1640”, page 240 (19)
On page 240 of the "Northern History" magazine where the article appeared it recounts
“Two cases involved George Forster accusing his fellow villagers Edward Sadler and Archie Angus of being Scots. In both cases he was found non culpable- in the case of Archie by proving to the court that he was indeed Scottish.” (19)
This was somewhere in the period between 1559 and 1578. This Archibald Angus is surely the same one who appeared in the Hodgson book in the Unthank muster in 1538.
d) The Angus family at Bywell demonstrated they were of military origin by their actions in the 1569 rebellion. Most of the Earl of Angus party were also military.
e) The Earl of Angus and the Angus family are linked by Christian names. The Douglas family and the Angus family at Bywell used the same restricted list of first names. For example, the first 5 of the Angus family who appear in Hodgson’s book have first names Archibald, David, William, Anthony and Alexander. A later 18th Duke of Hamilton had the splendid name, William Alexander Anthony Archibald Douglas Hamilton. I think this shows, not that the Angus family were closely related to the Douglas family but that the Angus family named their children, after the Douglas family as a term of respect. Could this have occurred by coincidence?
f) If the tale above is correct then the Angus family transferred their allegiance from the 6th Earl of Angus to the Earl of Westmorland around 1536. This action must have been approved by the 6th Earl of Angus. The family at Bywell were joining an organisation prepared to fight against Henry VIII. By 1536, I think the friendship between the Henry VIII and the 6th Earl had disappeared. When he got back to Scotland, he spent the rest of his life fighting against Henry.
There is no evidence for any conversation between The 6th Earl of Angus and the Earl of Westmorland organising the agreement that sends the Angus family to the Earl of Westmorland estates at Bywell. However this event did occur. The family were found at Bywell in 1538 after arriving with the 6th Earl of Angus in 1529.
Conclusions
I will try to put these conclusions in order of probability. If the figure is around 100% then I think the conclusion is definite, if it is around 1% then it is very doubtful. 50% is a toss-up.
1) The father of Richard and Alexander Angus is not Archibald Douglas the 6th Earl of Angus, he is one of the following, Archibald Angus, David Angus, William Angus or Anthony Angus (99%)
2) The Angus family arrived on Tyneside with the 6th Earl of Angus in 1529. (99%)
3) They transferred to the Earl of Westmorland at Bywell between 1529 and 1538. (99%)
4) They were Catholic farmer/soldiers and fought in the Rebellion in the North in 1569. (99%)
5) David and Alexander were pardoned around 1570 by Queen Elizabeth and became Anglicans. (99%)
6) Alexander and David were farmers at Bywell from 1566 till about 1600. (99%)
7) William and David were born between 1509 and 1513. (99%)
8) William and David went to Ferniehurst Castle in Scotland with John Swinburne. (60%)