The Earliest Records of the Lace Family of Kerrowdhoo - Isle of Man
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The Earliest Records of the Lace Family of Kerrowdhoo - Isle of Man The following information comes from research initiated by William Hodgkinson, who also descends from the Kerrowdhoo Lace family. He engaged a noted Manx genealogist to conduct the investigations and has been very generous in sharing his work with others. From “The Family if Arthur Hodgkinson and Doris Catherine Lace” by William Arthur Hodgkinson. The name Lace may belong to pre-christian times and has been likened to a pebble worn down so much that there is nothing but the core left. It's oldest form was MacGuilleychass or MacGilhacosse, which translated from the Manx means "son of a curley-haired youth." Other variations were MacGilhaws, MacGilhast, MacYlhast, McElhast. Finally, it became Laes, Leece and Lace. The Principal centers of the families were in the treens(*Note 1) of Ballaseyr and Guilcagh in the Parish of Kirk Andreas, and Glendown, Ballamin and Cranstal in the adjoining Parish of Kirk Bride. For over 300 years "Lace Kerrowdhoo" was a fixed point in Bride affairs, the list beginning with "Thomas MacGilhast (Lace) and mother" mentioned in a 1515 document from the reign of Henry VIII progressing through a series of Donalds, Williams and Daniels to end with another Thomas Lace in the late nineteenth century. The Parish of Kirk Bride occupies the northern nine square miles or so of the island, the extreme northern portion of which is known as the Ayre Barrens. It is dedicated to St. Bridget, the Abbess of Kildare in Ireland. Kerrowdhoo farmhouse, on the shore road to Portcranstal is about one mile and one-quarter from the village of Bride and one mile and one-half due south of the Point of Ayre, the northernmost point of the island. The name, in English, means basically, "black quarterland". An old Manx ballad records that the smoke from Kirk Bride chimneys on a fine summer day could be seen from the opposite Scottish coast. The renowned Galloway chieftain, Cutlar MacCullach and his men, watching for this proof of good cooking going on amongst their better-fed neighbours, would then set sail and swoop down on the unwary islanders in time to seize the venison. The following early historical notes may be of interest: 1. In an inquest of the "Court of all the Commons of Man" held from 1405 to 1429 under Sir John Stanley, Knight, King and Lord of Man, listed as attending is a MacGillacosse. 2. As described in the Ayre Sheading(*Note 2) Roll of 1417-18,Thomas McGilhast (Lace) accused Lord Chaplain Mene of damaging; destroying and trampling on his corn with several animals to the amount of twelve bolls of oats. The Chaplain came and said that he would throw himself on the judgment of the country, by which he was exonerated. It was also decided that he should be discharged unconditionally, whereas Thomas was fined for bringing in an unfounded complaint. 3. In 1430 Thomas McGilhacosse objected to pay church tithes until the rents of the Particles were used for educational purposes as formerly. The first Lace farming at Kerrowdhoo from whom our descent can be traced is the Thomas (and mother) mentioned above in a 1515 document from the reign of Henry VIII. He was probably born around the 1460's in the reign of Edward IV. Recording births and deaths only began in 1694 on the Isle of Man, but many deaths can be calculated from the land records, entries being made when the ownership changes. Mr. Conal Carswell's research into these records has produced a series of changes at Kerrowdhoo between 1515 and the recording of William Lace's succession to the property in 1601. The list includes two Donalds, two Patricks and a Garrett. There must be at least two cases of a younger brother succeeding an older, otherwise the generations would be impossibly short. The William Lace who succeeded his father Patrick in 1601, besides Kerrowdhoo also owned part of Ballacowle in Cranstal as well as land in Lezayre to the South. In his day the thirty acres of Ballaragh, the coastal strip, were always in danger of erosion. In the "Liber Vestrum" of 1658 appears the petition of his grandson, Dan (or Don) Lace Jr. of Kerrowdhoo, in the treen of Cranstal that, "his land is washed away by the sea." After consideration by a jury, an abatement of "Lords Rent" was allowed. William Lace died on 1st April 1616 and his son Donald, Sr.on 14th October 1650. The circumstances of the latter's "Death by Drowning" are unknown. He may have been engaged in the contraband trade which was rife in those waning days of the English Civil War. Perhaps he was trying to save some of his land from the elements, or perhaps he was just fishing. !*Note 1. A Manx word for settlement or homestead.!*Note 2. A Sheading is one of the six political divisions into which the Isle of Man is divided .