Lot 197A
Northern Europe, eastern England, York, East Riding of Yorkshire, Foggathorpe, ca. 1830 CE. A monumental 17-page bound vellum mortgage indenture, executed in 1830, documenting a pivotal moment in the financial and personal history of Barnard Clarkson (1774-1836) of Foggathorpe, Yorkshire. Written in flowing copperplate script and sealed with an impressive series of red wax seals, this formal legal document outlines a substantial mortgage agreement concerning Clarkson's extensive landholdings in Holme-on-Spalding Moor, Bursea, Welham Bridge, and Foggathorpe. At the time of this indenture, Barnard Clarkson - then a senior partner in the private banks Howden and Selby and Scofield, Clarkson & Clough - was facing financial pressures that mirrored broader economic instability in post-Napoleonic England. The document predates, by only a year, the suspension of bank payments and Clarkson's bankruptcy declaration in 1831. Size (unfolded): 29" L x 23" W (73.7 cm x 58.4 cm); (folded): 11.5" L x 10.5" W x 1.5" H (29.2 cm x 26.7 cm x 3.8 cm)
This indenture thus represents the last gasp of the Clarkson family's Yorkshire prosperity, built over decades of banking and land speculation fueled by wartime profits.
But the story of this mortgage is more than financial. It is deeply entwined with the spiritual and colonial legacy of the Clarkson family. Devout Methodists and close adherents to the teachings of John Wesley, the Clarksons were central to early Wesleyan expansion in Yorkshire, having funded chapels in Bubwith (1797) and Holme (1827). Barnard Clarkson himself was the visionary behind the 1829 charter of the Tranby, a vessel bound for the Swan River Colony in Western Australia. Onboard were his sons Michael and James, along with fellow Methodists Joseph and John Wall Hardey, equipped with farming tools, religious conviction, and missionary zeal.
Tragedy soon followed the mortgage: in 1830 alone, three of Barnard and Elizabeth Clarkson's sons died - Barnard (Junior), Edward Ellis, and William Wilberforce - compounding the emotional and financial collapse already in motion. With Elizabeth gravely ill, Barnard joined another Wesleyan expedition aboard the Cygnet in 1832 with his youngest son, Charles Foster Clarkson. They arrived in Fremantle in early 1833, part of a second wave of religiously driven emigration. Barnard spent his final years as a leading Methodist figure in the communities of Perth, Guildford, and York before dying at his son Michael's property, Wilberforce, in 1836.
This indenture is more than a legal agreement - it is a tangible link to the story of a family whose faith, ambition, and misfortune spanned continents. A symbol of economic collapse and emigration, of resilience and reinvention, it survives as a parchment witness to a life once rooted in Yorkshire and replanted in the soil of a new world.
Michael Clarkson (1804-1871), the eldest surviving son, would go on to become one of Western Australia's pioneering settlers. After arriving at the Swan River aboard the Tranby, he helped establish The Peninsula farm in present-day Maylands. Later, either he or his brother James joined Robert Dale's expedition beyond the Darling Range, leading to the discovery and naming of the Avon River. Michael was among the first to claim land in York, establishing Wilberforce - named in honor of the famed abolitionist William Wilberforce. His life in the colony was one of civic leadership and adaptability: he served as a postmaster, superintendent of the convict hiring depot in Toodyay, and judge at the region's first agricultural show. He married Jane Drummond, daughter of botanist James Drummond, and raised a family that included Deborah Wilberforce Clarkson and Barnard Drummond Clarkson, the latter becoming a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. Michael's later years were spent farming and advocating for agricultural advancement in the growing colony.
James Smith Clarkson (b. 1806), who arrived in 1830 alongside his brother, also played a key role in establishing the family's holdings in Western Australia. His early efforts helped lay the groundwork for the family's survival and prosperity following the devastating losses of 1830.
Provenance: Collection of Y. Kayvan, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired from a Los Angeles, California, USA gallery acquisition dates range from the late 1990s to 2005
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#194423
- Condition: Folds, creasing, small tears, and stains to pages, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact, still bound, and retaining many wax seals and stamps. Majority of script is still legible.
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