Litchfield Orme

[jeanburton]

William Orme b 1614 lived AT Hanch Hall Longdon Staffs. He apparentley was "barbarously taken from his bed when sick with the palsy and imprisoned at Stafford so long as to bring him to destraction" for spending the Kings money of £2000 during the civil war.

I know very little about the times and wonder where I can get any more information from.

William was a landowner and wealthy at that time so I wonder if he led an army or served in one.

Why would he be spending the King's money?

Thanks Jean

[Geoffers]

I'm afraid that I have no reference to the chap you mention, but to give a couple of ideas, you might try searching the online catalogues at Staffs R.O (look on the column on links on the left side of the screen, one is 'online catalogues')

There are loads of books on the civil war, but I would guess that you may need something that is published locally. Try entering 'Staffordshire bookshops' into a search engine and see what you get. Or have a browse of the Naval and Military Press web-site to see what books they have on the civil wars.
Good luck

Geoffers

[jeanburton]

Thanks for that info. Have ordered a book about Litchfield during civil war and am awaiting its arrival. Will also try your other suggestions

[IvorCarr]

The following details are from a list of Staffordshire Gentry drawn up shortly after the restoration and indicating their wealth loyalty etc. This was published in "Staffordshire Historical Collections 4th series vol 1 1957)

[ Blank ] Orme, William; Justice of Peace. 50.
$500 pr. A great sufferer yett monyed.
Very orthodox and all ways very loyall.
An able prudent man.
Married Mis Brudnall and hath many hopefull chilldren.

[The following notes were added by the editor]
William Orme of Hanch Hall, Longdon. Aged 49 in 1663; d.
1665. Estates in Mayfield and Longdon and in Ashbourne, co.
Derby, were sequestered. "He did in effect garrison and
furnish with provisions the Close of Lichfield ... by which ...
and oft marching with the King at his own charge, a personal
estate of $2,000 was consumed, he having no profits of his
real estate of $500 per annum for four years" Appointed
Captain of Horse for Offlow Hundred, November 1642. He
married Anne daughter of Thomas Brudenell of Staunton
Wivell, co. Leicester and had 14 children. His son Thomas
became M.P. for Lichfield.

[My notes]
First appologies for the lack of pound signs, this is a new computer and I am, still ironing out problems. Orme seems to have been in the second rank of the Royalist civilian administration in Staffordshire. There are very few surviving documents to illustrate the Royalist side and Orme does not appear as a signatory on any of them. His estates lay in areas dominated by the Parliamentarians after 1643 and were quickly sequestered with his tenants paying thier rents to the Committee at Stafford or to local Parliamentry garrisons. The appointment as Captain of Horse was in the shortlived neutralist county force that the gentry tried to setup before the tides of war forced them to pick sides. I can find no record of him holding military rank in the Royalist forces so on his "oft marching with the King" he was probably serving as a gentleman volunteer. The quote in the section above seems to come from his composition proceedings when former Royalists were fined for their part in the war by the victorious Parliament.

[jeanburton]

Thanks for the info.
I was not aware that William had property in Mayfield and Ashbourne. There a quite a few Ormes in Ashbourne so that gives me an area I can look at. I also did not know he was Master of Horse.
Can you please tell me what "garrison and furnishing" the Close at Litchfield is about? Thanks Jean

[IvorCarr]

That's captain of horse, not master of horse. This would have put him in command of some 30 or 40 troopers, but it is not clear if any of this force was actually raised.
There were two different Royalist garrisons at Lichfield. The first under Lord Chesterfield who arrived with some forces after being driven out of Derbyshire. This force was defeated by a Parliamentry siege under Lord Brooke, and following his death, Sir John Gell. Following Prince Rupert's recapture of Lichfield a new garrison was established under Colonel Richard Bagot. This survived until the summer of 1646. Both garrisons were based on the walled cathederal close as the only defendable site in the city.
Orme was presumably involved in the second of these garrisons and from the description "garrisoning and furnishing" played a role in raising both men and supplies. That this sort of activity could rapidly eat into the personal fortunes of those involved can be seen from some surviving garrison accounts which for the period from 22nd April to 29th December 1643 give expenditure of £8727 8s 6d against reciepts of £1035 15s 5d. All of the above is well covered in the book you have ordered. Which I'm presuming is, Clayton "Loyal and Ancient City". Although unfortunately there is no mention of Orme himself.

There are two references to William Orme in the "Order Book of the Committee at Stafford" (Eds. Pennington and Root 1957) The first involves his corn in Mathsfeild (Mayfield) being taken in summer 1644. While the second concerns one of his tenants at Mayfield one Robert Ashton to abate some of the money he would have been paying to Parliament as sequestered rent in order to pay for the care of a wounded soldier. I can give you the name of another of his tenants at Mayfield one Thomas Hodgson who was likewise paying his rent to Parliament rather than William Orme.

[jeanburton]

That makes things a little clearer

The book I ordered is the one you mentioned so am looking forward to reading it.

I will try to track down the Mayfield connection in the hope it will throw light on other areas. I think Mayfield is near Ashbourne and as Williams mother was Grace Hurt I believe that there are links with the well known Hurt family in that area.
Thanks for your help
Jean