MIGRATION
FRANCE TO ENGLAND
CORRESPONDENCE OF SYLVANUS
URBAN
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL. XLVI NOV. 1856PAGES 592-3
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL.
XLVI DEC 1856 PAGES 728-9.
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE -
VOL.XLVII JAN 1857 PAGES 73-4.
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL
XLII 1853 PAGE 508
During and after
the Renaissance the old family patterns in glassmaking began to break up for
several reasons. Printed books began to appear, which revealed technological
knowledge in detail, and many of the secrets that for centuries have been
family secrets were now available to all that could read.[1]
Because of the expansion of glassmaking during the sixteenth century
glassmakers were in great demand. Agents lured glassmakers to work for them,
tempted by monetary rewards, the wish for adventure and the desire to break
away from the close family circle. Their special skills were recognized and
they could improve their social standing. Fear of religious persecution,
heightened by the massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572, and the "Spanish
fury" in Antwerp in 1576, when troops sacked the city and massacred
hundreds of Protestants which explains the migration to England.[2]
It is known that
during the sixteenth century glassmakers from the Continent began to establish
themselves in England. During the third quarter of the sixteenth century Jean
Carré encouraged glassmaking families from the Lorraine district of France to
come to England. Carré offered the Lorrainers a nine‑year contract and it
was this, not the shortage of fuel as previously, that prompted them to move to
England in 1568. Protestant families of whom the best known names are Hennezal,
Thiétry, Thisac and du Houx. The de Houx (Dehowe) family has been traced to
Rye, Sussex, in 1571, and Wilsborough Green in the Weald three years later.[3]
Wealden glass
began to deteriorate by the middle of the sixteenth century. Venetian and
Lorraine glass‑workers saw an opportunity to set themselves up and
capture the market for themselves. The Venetian adventure was short lived and
most returned to Italy.[4]
The Lorraine workers had greater success, due largely to the genius of Jean
Carré. He was a native of Arras and a man gifted artistically and endowed with
strength of mind and force of character. He was responsible for the revival of
the manufacture of window glass and fine crystal tableware into Elizabethan
England. After arriving in England in 1567, he immediately built three
furnaces, one in London and two in the Weald near the Surrey‑Sussex
border and he had acquired a monopoly for the manufacture of window glass.[5]
Carré organised a
"fellowship" or company to finance window‑glass making in the
Weald and crystal‑glass making in London. Imported capital was used from
glassmakers themselves and others. Carré had a half interest and his son‑in‑law
Peter Appel contributed. Peter Briet who came from the low countries about the
same time as Carré contributed capital and assisted with management and
marketing. The fourth member of the company was Jean Chevalier, chastelain of
the castle of Fontenoy in Lorraine. He probably never came to England but was
related to the glassmaking family of the de Hennezells and may even been its
head. "Chevallier" was the title and rank of the de Hennezel family.
It was probably not his surname that may have been omitted from the English
translation of the contract.[6]
Carré bought several Muranese workers to London to make cristallo glass
vessels. This work prospered for over a hundred years. In the Weald, Carré
established four different families for window glassmaking. These were Enzell,
Tysack, Tittery and Hoe, all of whom had earned privilege from the King of
France. The Henzell family settled at Alfold, Surrey.[7]
They belonged to "les gentilshommes verriers" but Robertson states
that Carré's gentilshommes displayed only the worst attributes of nobility,
encumbered by any of the finer qualities. They were proud but lacked good
manners, impulsive but without grace, qualities that did not commend them to
those with whom they worked.
Carré's dealings
with the established glassmakers in the Weald might be described as
unscrupulous which caused a deal of resentment. Upon his death in May 1572 a
revolt by those he had overreached and outwitted ensued. His Lorraine workers
were the scapegoats. The old‑established glassmakers of the Weald joined
with the ironworkers, who were indignant at the inroads made by the Lorrainers
into the available stock of fuel. This was the pot calling the kettle black,
for when it came to cutting down whole forests to supply billets for their
smelting furnaces the ironworkers had no equal. Nevertheless, the Lorrainers
used considerable quantities of fuel, and when their glasshouses were closed
there would be all the more wood for the ironworkers. It was therefore to the advantage of the ironworkers to join
forces with the old established glassmakers in clearing out those
unconscionable destroyers of good trees, the Lorraine glass‑workers.
Another factor
that made them unpopular with the ironworkers was that they were over‑jealous
of their secret techniques, and despite the contrary terms of the contract to
which they had subscribed their outlandish names, they would not teach
Englishmen their trade.
Things were made
so hot for the Lorrainers that in two years most of them had left the district.
Guttery states that despite the unjustness of the treatment, including arson
and threats of murder, the Lorrainers fulfilled their contract but left soon
after. Only a few Henzeys remained until 1610.
In the end it was to their advantage for the Lorrainers and the country
for glassmaking was established throughout the land, in Buckholt, Hampshire,
Stourbridge, in Cheswardine, and Newcastle‑on‑Tyne.
The year 1615 was
historic for English glassmaking. A Royal Proclamation forced the use of pit‑coal,
in lieu of the diminishing supplies of timber. The proclamation forbad the
importation of foreign glass, thus giving a boost to the local industry. Sir
Robert Mansell took up the challenge in that year and began to organize
glassmaking on a national scale.[8]
Massell's manager James Howell helped the Lorrainers to move to the coalfields,
some to Nottingham, some to Newcastle‑on‑Tyne and others to the
Stoubridge district. The Nottingham venture did not last but in the two other
districts the Henzeys took the lead. The Stoubridge families seem to have taken
the name Henzey or even Ensell. European languages pronounce Henzell with a
silent "H". The Newcastle branch used Henzell, both being derived
from the original de Hennezel.
Guttery's book
"From Broad‑glass to Cut Crystal", gives the history of the
Stoubridge glass industry. It is available on request from the Queensland
Public Library.
It may be of
interest at this stage to reproduce, in full, published magazine articles
written in the 1850's. The first titled "An Historical Review of the
Ancient Families of Henzell, Tyttery and Tyzack".
MR. URBAN,
Towards the end
of the sixteenth century, Thomas de Henzell and Balthazar de Henzell, dwelling
at the Vosges, in the county of Lorraine, with their relatives, ‑ Tyttery
and ‑ Tyzack, all Huguenots, being driven from their native country in a
religious persecution, emigrated to England; one of the Henzells settling at
Newcastle‑on‑Tyne, and the others in the counties of Woechester and
Stafford, where they formed an encampment at the Lye, near Stourbridge, in the
former county, on a spot called "Hungary‑hill". Finding that
this superior kind of clay which exists in the neighborhood very nearly
resembled that used in their native country in the making of pots for glass,
they erected a glasshouse here, and were probably the first introducers of the
broad or window‑glass manufacture into England.
The Henzeys (as
the name was afterwards spelt) are represented by the Pidcocks of the Platts,
(who for several generations carried on the glass trade), the Brettells of
Finstall‑house, near Bromsgrove, and the Dixons, formerly of Dixons‑green,
Dudley: - by the Pidcocks, through the marriage of Wm. Pidcock with Elizabeth,
daughter of Thomas Henzey, esq., who died in 1712; by the Brettells[9]
through the marriage, in 1748, of Thomas Brettell[10],
esq., of Stourbridge, (afterwards of Finstall‑house), with Sarah Henzey,
of Broseley, (with the consent of Susanna Barrett, of Broseley, widow); and by
the Dixons, through the marriage of Jonathan Dixon[11],
of Kidderminster, with Mary Henzey, in 1737.
The name Henzey
probably still exists in Staffordshire, under the altered form of Ensell[12],
and it still extant in its original form on the banks of the Tyne: a member of
it, George Harle Henzell, figured very conspicuously last year as a witness in
the Burdon poisoning case.
The Tyttery family
was represented in the last century by the Rev. Mr. Saunders of Shenstone,
Staffordshire, and his brothers, one of whom was an apothecary at Stourbridge,
and another followed the said profession at Dudley.
The only trace of
the Tyzacs I can find is that a "Waldron Hill, Kingswinford,
Staffordshire, gentleman," was married, in the year 1746, to Elizabeth
Tyzack, widow by whom he had issue John Hill, of Coleborne Brook, a
glassmanufacturer, father of the Rev. Edw. Hill. I enclose a sketch of the
Henzey arms[13], and
shall be obliged to any of your correspondents who can explain the singular
crest, which I take to be a "bar shot" surmounted of a
"pellet".
My reason for
troubling you with all this above is to ascertain, ‑
1. The paternity
of Sarah and Mary Henzey, who married respectively Brettells and Dixon. Were
they sisters?
2. Who was
"Susanna Barrett, of Broseley, widow?"
3. What were the
armorial bearings of the families of Tyttery and Tyzac? and who are the
representatives of the latter family?
4. What are the
armorial bearings of Brettell, who have always borne those of Henzey[14],
differenced by a marlet?
H.S.G.
MR. URBAN,
In your last
letter there is an interesting letter regarding the Henzey, Tyttery and Tyzac
families, and the introduction by them into this country of the manufacture of
glass.
The early history
of these families, particularly of the Henzey family, is given in Cheyaye
Desbois's "Dictionary of the Nobles of France," at pp. 25‑31 of
the second edition, vol. viii, published in 1774.
From this it
appears that the French name of the family which we know as Henzey, Henzell,
and Ensell, is De Hennezel, that it was originally a noble Bohemian family, and
that the principal branch of it settled in the Lorraine about four centuries
prior to the publication of Desbois's Dictionary. From that time, remarks the
author, its members have occupied positions of the greatest importance in
Lorraine, and have contracted alliances with families of old nobility. Several
branches established themselves in Switzerland, Hainault, Franche‑Comte,
Nivernois, Champagne, and other provinces of France. He adds, that the family
constantly maintained the lustre of its name by great alliances, by the
possession of fiefs and military dignities.
Such is, I
believe, a fair version of Desbois's introductory notice of the De Hennezel
family; but I subjoin the following extract for such as may wish to peruse the
original work itself:‑
HENZELL.‑"Noblesse
originaire du Royaume de Bohême, dont la
principale est etablie en Lorraine depuis environs quatre siècles. Elle
ya joui, dés ce tems la, des distinctions des premieres de la Province, s'y est
alliée avecles mansions de l'ancienne, et ya assisée aux assizes.
Plusieurs
branches sont actuellemont repandues en Suisse, en Hainaut, en Franche‑Comté,
en Nivernois, en Champagne, et autres provinces du Royaume. Elle s'est partout
constamment maintenne dans son lustre par les grandes alliances, la possession
des fiefs et les dignitiés militaries."
1.The first of
the family of whom any record is given by Desbois, is Henri Hennezel, who
married Isabeau d'Esche, 30th May, 1392.
2. Henri de
Hennezel, who was maitre d'hotel to Charles, Duke of Lorraine.
3. Jean de
Hennezel, who married Damoiselle Beatrix de Barizey, in 1446.
4. Didier de
Hennezel, a captain in the army of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, married Marie
Anne de Thiétry. This name de Thiétry, is the French mode of writing Tyttery.
Several other members of the De Hennezel family formed matrimonial connections
with the De Thiétry family. Thus José de Hennezel, in 1615, married Marthe de
Thiétry; and, in 1650 Claude Francois married Elizabeth de Thiétry. I could
cite many more instances.
The seventh, of
whom there is any record Thiébault de Hennezel, styled a gentleman‑in‑waiting
on Henri, duc de Lorraine, married Damoiselle Louise du Thisac, 16th
April,1600. In 1535, Catherine, daughter of Nicholas Hennezel by Marie Anne de
Thiétry, married Charles du Thisac; and in 1539, Nicole de Hennezel married
Jean du Thisac. This name is the original French mode of writing Tyzack.
The marriages
between the three families of De Hennezel, de Thiétry and du Thisac were
numerous. This family connection doubtless induced them to emigrate together,
and it is well known that they constantly intermarried long after their
settlement in England.
The arms of the
De Hennezel family as given by Desbois, and published in the Armorial
Universelle in Paris, are the same as those borne by them in this country, viz.‑
"De gueules,
à 3 glands montans d'argent, poseés 2 and 1". "Supports, duex lions
au naturel."
I do not know
when glass was first manufactured in France; but may not the De Hennezels have
been instrumental in introducing it from Bohemia, their native country?
The exercise of
this art was held to be in no way derogatory to the dignity of the nobility,
and those who practised it were styled: Gentilshommes Verriers," (vide
Felice's "History of the Protestants of France", p.428.)
The De Hennezels
and their connections the De Thiétry and the Du Thisacs were Huguenots, and
were driven to this country probably by the first persecution, and bought with
them the art of making window‑glass. They first came to London, and then
removed, some to Newcastle‑on‑Tyne, but the greater number to
Coalbournebrook and Amblecote, in the parish of Oldswinford, co. Stafford,
where they established the manufacture of glass. It afterwards greatly extended
in the hands of their successors, both on the male and female side, and has for
many generations formed one of the staple manufacturers of the district.
About three years
since Mr. Richardson read to the Society of Antiquaries at Newcastle an
interesting paper regarding the introduction to that town of the manufacture of
glass by the De Hennezel family and their connections, and an engagement
entered into by the former in 1568 to make glass was then produced.
The entries of
the births, deaths, and marriages, under the name of Henzey, in the Oldswinford
parish register, are very numerous, and commence with Dec. 7, 1615. Parish
registers go no further back than 1602.
Perhaps some of
your readers may be able to give the origin
of the village "Pillerton Henzey" in Warwickshire, in connection with
this family, and also whether the Irish family of Hennessey is a branch of the
same. This is not improbable, as I find that Annanias Henzey, son of Ambercote,
who died in 1660, and Katherine his wife, lived at Gragnefine, King's County,
Ireland.
ANTIQUARIAN.
MR. URBAN,
In your last
issue you were pleased to insert my account of the early history of the Henzey,
Tyttery, and Tyzack families, and of their introduction by them of the broad or
window‑glass manufacture from France into this country.
With your
permission, I will now proceed to reply, as far as I am able, to the questions
suggested by your correspondent H. S. G., in your November number.
Firstly in regard
to the singular crest of the Henzey or De Hennezel family, referred to by your
correspondent. The following description of their arms, which is appointed to
them, clearly shews that the crest be composed of a fire‑bolt and fire‑ball.
"This
is the true Coate of Armes, with Mantle, Helmet and Crest, pertaininge to the
famely of Mr. Joshua Henzell, of Bamblecott in the County of Stafford,
Gentleman, who was the Sonne of Annanias Henzell de la Mansion de Henzell tout
pré la village de Darnell, en la Pie de Lorraine. Which Armes of his
Auncestours were there sett upp in the Duke of Lorraine's Gallery windowe, amongst
many other Noblemen's Coates of Armes, there aneald in glasse, Being thus
blared; Henzell on a ffeild gules beareth Three acornes slipped or; Two and
one; Eusigned with a Helmett propper. Thereon a wreath, or and Gules; a ffire‑boulte
andffire‑ball; or; Mantled Gules; Lyued argent; and Tasselled and
Buttoned, or."
The Darnell here
referred to as the residence of the Henzell family, is doubtless Darneuille in
the Departement des Vosges, in Lorraine.
The Henzey
family, on emigrating from France, appear to have made a slight difference to their arms for the sake of
distinction, the acorns according to Chenaye Desbois being argent, and
according to the above description or.
In reply to your
correspondent's query regarding Sarah and Mary Henzey, who married respectively
Brettell and Dixon, I am of the opinion that they were sisters, for I find that
John Henzey had by his wife, née White, three daughters, Frances, Mary and
Sarah, and that Mary was married to Jonathan Dixon.
I may add that
the Brettell family was of French origin, and that its history is given by
Desbois under the name of De Breteuille. This family intermarried frequently
with the Henzeys in England. Thus it appears from the Old Swinford parish
register, that on the 15th of September, 1617, John Brettell married Mary
Henzye, and the Joshua referred to in
the coat of arms married Joan Brettell, who died in 1671.
Your
correspondent asks, Who was Susannah Barrett? She was the third child of Mr.
John Jesson of Hagley, and married Francis Barrett at Broseley. Her son went to
Madeira, and there inherited Mr, Pope's fortune of between 30 and 40,000l. He
left it to his mother, Susannah Barrett, who bequeathed it to Mr. Richard Case
of Worchester; he was the grandson of her brother, Richard Jesson.
I do not know
what the armorial bearings of the families of Tyttery and Tyzack are, or where
are the representatives of the latter family, but I think the name is to be
found in the "London Directory."
ANTIQUARIAN
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
Oct.5th. At the
monthly meeting Dr. Charlton exhibited a variety of fragments, gathered at
Benwell, the Condercum of the Romans, in digging the foundations of a house for
Mr. Mulcaster. There were several old coins, pieces of Samian ware, fragments
of weapons of war and a number of distaff‑rings, one of them particularly
handsome; also a hammer head of stone, the implement of more ancient occupiers
of British soil than the Romans.
Mr. George
Bouchier Richardson read his collections on the introduction of the glass
manufacture on the Tyne. Having devoted a few pages to the origin and general
history of the manufacture of glass, he then discussed the local particulars,
commencing with a payment of 11s6d.(11/6) in 1554 "for a cradle of
glass" for the Merchants Court of Newcastle. In 1585, William Huntley,
Newcastle merchant, imported "one chest of glass" by the Fortune, of
Accarstott; and Henry Chapmen nine chests by the Falcon of London. In May,
1594, the Corporation paid 32s9d. "for a chest of glass for mending the
glass windows in Saint Nicholus churche so far as the steeple reachethe."
In this century the manufacture was introduced into England, and Mr. Richardson
cited from the Lansdown MSS. three important documents respecting it. The first
is a paper in French, "done at Windsore the IX of August 1567, " by
Antione Becque (alias Dolin) and John Quarre.
They had heard by
Monsieur Nichayson that Lord Burchley had hinted to her Majesty concerning
their matter, and that she was agreeable thereto and was satisfied with a toll.
His lordship should have their "never‑ejding thanks" and the
more substantial reward, for life, of "The halfpenny of every tenpence
that they should sell." In 1568, an undertaking was entered into by Thomas
and Balthazar de Hennezes, esquire, dwelling at the glass‑houses in the
Vosges, in the countie of Lorraine, and John Chevallier, chatelain and
receyvour of Fonteney le Chastelle, which reefers to the privilege already
obtained by "John Quarre of Antwerp, and this present resident in
London" in his own name and that of Chevallier", to make and builde
in England ovens to make great glass, " and then relates that the two
Hennezes had agreed to transport themselves to England to build two ovens, and
bring with them four "gentlemen glasiers, that is to saye, two terrieurs
and two gatherers,: receiving two hundred crowns a year and dividing the surplus
profit, the partnership to endure for nine years. The third document is a
petition addressed to Lord Burghley by one George Longe, in or about 1589, in
which the patent of Anthony Dollyne and John Carye(Quarre), merchants of the
Low Countries, grantes in Sept. 9 Eliz. for twenty‑one years, is again
referred to, but which is stated to have become void about six years after the
grant, from nonperformance of covenants, whereupon other men erected and set on
work divers glass‑houses in sundry parts of the realm. "About vij.
years past, " Longe reminds the Lord Treasurer, "your Honour called
them that kept the glass‑houses before you, to know who should pay the
Queen's custom; whose answer generally was, that there was no custom due but by
conditions of a special privilege which no of them did enjoy and they were nit
bound to pay custom for commodities made within the realm. Thus (continued
Longe) hath her Majesty been deceived, and still will be, without reformation
(be had)." Upon these arguments Long proceeds to beg the monopoly for
himself, promising to erect only glass‑houses in England, where he states
there were then fifteen but others that might be required in Ireland. By this
scheme, "the superfluous woods of Ireland wastes, ‑ that which, in
time a rebellion, her Majesty hath no greater enemy there. The country will be
much strengthened, for every glass‑house will be so good as twenty men in
a garrison; and the country will be sooner brought to civility, for many poor
folk will be set on work". For this he promised a double custom to her
Majesty, to keep Lord Burghley's buildings in repair with the best glass, and
to bestow one hundred angles at her honour's appointment. Mr. Richardson was
constrained to confess that "we have only the slenderest circumstantial
evidence to induce a belief that the manufacturer of glass was established on
the Tyne before the coming of James," but still he was inclined to credit
the assertion of Bourne, the Newcastle historian, that the Henzells, Tyzacs,
and Tytorys, Protestants from Lorraine, established glassworks on the Tyne at
Newcastle in the reign of Elizabeth. It was conjectured that the Henzells
descended from the brothers De Hennezes, but this appears to require
confirmation.
At the close of
the instructive paper, it was suggested that there might be leases in
possession of the corporation which would throw light on the question. Mr.
Clayton, the town clerk, said that the general Leven and other ravagers had
despoiled Newcastle of her records; but if, amongst those remaining, there were
any which could be of assistance to Mr. Richardson in his researches, they were
at his service. The paper was a very good one as it stood, but he thought Mr.
Richardson might extend it with advantage. ‑Mr. Richardson thanked the
town clerk for his liberal offer, and said he would avail himself of it.
CUTTING FROM NEWSPAPER[15]
In addition to
the contributions in glass alluded to, we find a number of Vases of various
forms, skillfully made, and well painted in enamel colors, contributed by Mr.
George Ensall, glassmanufacturer, Upper Priory. These in themselves deserve
something more than a passing notice, associated as they are with the interesting fact that to the family, of
which this contributor is a descendant, is due the introduction of the glass
manufacture to this district and town; the story is an interesting one, and is
worthy of being more generally known, we therefore make no apology for
presenting it to the consideration of our readers.
The introduction
of the art of glassmaking and working we owe to the mistaken zeal and virulent
spirit displayed by those in power against certain opinions held by the
inhabitants of the kingdom of Hungary and the province of Lorraine. In matters
of a civil and religious kind, opposition naturally gives rise to dissension,
which in the end operated to the detriment of the country whose rulers exhibit
intolerance. In this instance, banding themselves together, many of the
inhabitants left the land of their nativity and carried with them those arts
which they practised with such unrivalled skill. Among those who fled from the
civil commotions which threatened to overthrow the institutions of their
country in 1555 or 1556, was a company headed by an individual by the name of
Henzoll, a name which has since been corrupted into that of Henzer, Henzey, and
finally now, Ensall. To these we owe the introduction of the glass manufacture
at Stourbridge. Some of their descendants are still residents in the vicinity
of the town. The family was connected with that of the then Duke of Lorraine,
and the armorial bearings it is still possible to trace emblazoned on the
windows of the palace which once owned them as masters. It may afford some
ground for doubt to the probability of a trained band of soldiers and their
leaders, as not a few of the band , headed by Henzoll, were (responsible for)
introducing the art of glassmaking. The peculiar operation of the Conscript
Act, which was then more stringent than at a later period, will readily account
for so many of the military being acquainted with handicrafts, the art of glass
blowing among the number. The company alluded to supported them‑selves in
their wanderings by their knowledge and practical skill in music. Their leader
was an exquisite performer on the violin; the instrument we are told, is still
in possession of the family. Trusting to this slender and precarious source as
a means of existence, and not meeting that support in London which they
anticipated, a "tour in the provinces" seemed the only legitimate
course of procedure left by which to eke out a bare life. Leaving the
Metropolis, chance alone directing their steps, they found their way into the
midland counties, and there, in one of the inhospitable districts, viz., Lye Waste,
formed their encampment. Casting their eyes about, the wanderers observed with
no small degree of pleasure, evidences of the existence of the invaluable fire
clay, out of which, in their own country, they had formed the glass and melting
pots. The precise place upon which the strangers took up their permanent abode,
and where the first glass‑house was erected, is still known by the name
of Hungary Hill. To the existence of this clay, then may be safely be
attributed the localising of glass making as manufacture of the district. The
other materials which were wanted, with the exception of coal, are only to be
procured at a distance; the sand in use being obtained from Norfolk or the
western coast of the Isle of Wight. Good sand is also procured from America.
The articles
reproduced above give some understanding of the emigration of the Henzell
family to England. The Henzell family now settled in Australia, particularly
those living in Queensland, and descended from the four sons of John Harrop
Henzell who migrated to Australia in the 1860's, are descended from the family
of Henzells from Newcastle‑upon‑Tyne.
A detailed family
tree of that family has been compiled from the parish register of All Saints
and St. Nicholas churches in Newcastle. As yet it has not been possible to
connect John Harrop Henzell mentioned above to that family, but as he was born
in 1812 at Boldon, a few miles from Newcastle it is reasonable to assume that
he would be related.
The family tree
starts with Isaac Henza or Henzell who was born probably about 1620 and may
have been:‑
(1) a descendant
of the Henzeys who settled first in Sussex and
subsequently in Newcastle about 1618, or
(2) the son of a
de Hennezel who emigrated to Newcastle from Lorraine.
In support of the
latter supposition it is interesting to note that one, Gabriel Henzell, son of
an Isaac Henzell (or "Henley a Frenchman") was baptised at St.
Nicholas (Newcastle) in 1618, his parents having landed at Newcastle three days
prior before Gabriel's birth. Isaac Henza may have been another child of that
emigrant. It is unlikely that Isaac had any direct connection with the Henzeys
who settled in Staffordshire.
There are other
reports from Henzell's living in Newcastle that more Henzells arrived direct
from Alsace in France and landed at Dent's hole and Friar's Goose. Three
families of Henzell, Tyzack and Capstaff are reported to have landed at Dent's
hole now Newcastle Quay.
While the Henzeys
of Stourbridge associated freely with the "native families" the
Lorrainers of Newcastle‑on‑Tyne followed their centuries‑old
traditions of preserving the secret of their craft. The Henzells, Tytteries and
Tyzacs kept themselves so closely closed a community that they were called
"The Strangers".
As late as 1710
at Newcastle permission was given by the Common Council to the glassmakers to
erect at their own charge a gallery at the west end of St. Anne's Chapel for
their own use".
In the sixteenth
century a licence from the Bishop had empowered them to hold their own meetings
for private worship at fixed times. In the Stourbridge district the Lorrainers
joined with the English worshippers from the first.
It seems logical
that all the families, whether they went directly or via Sussex, Stourbridge
and then later to Newcastle, had their origins in Alsace.
The following is
another newspaper article publishes in an English newspaper. Mrs. Myna Poynter
of 43 Partridge Drive, Legana, Tasmania 7277 provided the article.
HENZELL
Once glass-making
was established in England the bitter religious persecutions on the Continent
drove many of the Huguenots overseas and some of these settled at the mouth of
the stream which joins the Tyne at Howdon.
Glass making was on of the few crafts which the nobles on the Continent
could engage and two of these families settled here - the Henzell and the
Tyzacks - were both of this class, and were landowners in the Vosges in
Lorraine. Their coats-of-arms were the
same. Three acorns slipped two billets in chief impaling a fesse inter three
lambs passant, no colors. The crest was
a lire bolt and fire ball. Family
motto: "Seigneur je prie guard ma vie". (Lord, I beseech Thee protect
my life). No doubt the Henzells and
Tyzacks were closely related to each other.
Thus some time
after the year 1600 we have glass making established at Howdon Panns in the
hands of just the two families from Lorraine.
The glass made was chiefly flat, or window glass, for which there was an
increasing demand, although at the time only the mansion houses of the rich had
glass in their windows.
The glass making
company continued to prosper and grow.
During the three years 1700-1703 the Wallsend register of baptisms shows
that of the twenty-five children born at Howdon, the fathers of twelve of them
were employed by the Henzell business.
After being
established at Howdon Panns for nearly two hundred years, the glass houses were
approaching their end. The works were
old and out of date, the broad glass (window glass) was being made by better
processes. Hence about the year 1780 a
company was formed to take over the Howden broad glass houses, also the old
high and low glass works at Newcastle.
The new company built four large glass houses with offices, warehouses
etc., at Lemington in Newburn (few miles west of Newcastle). This new establishment
was, at the time, said to be the most complete glass manufactory in England,
and Joshua Henzell of Howdon was put at the head of the concern, trading as the
Northumberland Glass Company, and it was under the direction of Joshua Henzell
and fellow directors that the Howdon glass-houses were closed.
For about one
hundred and eighty years the Henzell family had carried on the
glass-houses. They had resided in the
village and had been intimately concerned with the progress of the place, the
people and Howdon.
Lorraine Medieval
kingdom was on the west bank of the Rhine extending from the North Sea to
Italy. In the 10th century it was
divided into two duchies, Upper and Lower Lorraine. Upper Lorraine as a province of France, passed to the French
crown in 1766. Germany acquired part of
Lower Lorraine with Alsace in 1871 but was restored to France after the war of
1914-1918.
[4]Robertson R.A. - Chats on Old Glass, Ernst Benn
Ltd., London Pages 67-69.
[9]The
Brettell family appear to have been connected with the Henzeys before, through
the marriage of Johsua Henzey with Joan Brettell, who died in 1671.
[10]Thomas
Brettell was, I believe, the first of the family who resided at Finstall, and
was great grandfather of the present possessor.
[11]"Jonathan
Dixon, of Kidderminster, and Mary Henzey, of this parish, were married at the
College by me, Oct. 7, 1737, by license, Thomas Smith." (From the parish
register of St. Michael's, Worchester.) - Noakes's "Notes and Queries for
Worchestershire", page 3.
[12]A
gentleman of this name was, till about twenty years ago, an eminent
glass-manufacturer of South Staffordshire.
[13]These
arms are in the Duke of Lorrain's gallery, annealed in glass. The motto, and a
work called "The Book of Family Mottoes", is assigned to Tyzack.