MEGGISON
John William Meggison the son of Charles and Annie nee Cole was born in Old Byland in 1888 and when Charles died his widow and two children went to live with their uncle George Cole at Vicarage Farm in Scawton and when George died in 1913 John William briefly became tenant.
John’s sister Mary had married Job Robert Banks the tenant of Pond farm in 1911 and when he died in 1915 John William became the tenant of Pond Farm, Mary married Thomas Gatenby in 1921 and moved with him to Scawton Park.
John William was the tenant of Pond Farm when it was purchased by Morrisons in 1939, they sold it John William’s son John in 1955 and as he was at the farm until 1994 the Meggisons lived in Scawton for over a hundred years.
Though farms were not named on early records an attempt has been made to trace the histories of different tenancies starting with two that were part of the land granted to Rievaulx Abbey by Hugh Malebisse in the middle of the 12th century.
SCAWTON CROFT
The name was recorded as early as 1308 when the register of Archbishop Greenfield recorded that Scalton Crofte was paying tithes of sheaves and hay to the church at Hawnby and it is interesting to note that in 1839 a sum of 6s 8d payable by the tenant of the Croft was described as a modus or commutation of tithe payable to Otto Augustus Manners, Rector of Hawnby.
Early in the 16th century the Croft was leased to the Fairfax family by the Abbot of Rievaulx when it was known as Scalton Crofte cum Orlyaunce and in 1642 it was the subject of a dispute between the Duke of Buckingham and the Countess of Rutland. Some time between then and 1683 it became part of the Scawton estate of Sir Thomas Fairfax and the 18 acres known as Orleans Head held by William Huggan and William Yoward was the Orlyaunce of the early 16th century. It is possible that Thomas Yoward was at the Croft when he was paying tax for three hearths in 1673.
Thomas Weetman was tenant of Scawton Croft in 1708 and his descendants retained it until some time between 1812 and 1822 when Marmaduke Taylor became the tenant and remained so after the land was bought by Lord Feversham on 26 August 1836. Taylor held the farm until 1845 when the tenancy was held by Robert Pearson until 1860 when it had 94 acres and was farmed by Robert Kirby.
Jesse Coning had the tenancy from 1890 till 1909 when it had passed to William Bentley but had been reduced to a small farm of 26 acres. Lancelot Parker Dale the Rievaulx blacksmith was the tenant in 1939 and the last tenant at Scawton Croft was a lady known affectionately as Lizzie Medd the daughter of Alfred Dunn one time tenant of Abbot Hagg Farm and wife of
