eidem Adae et heredibus suis dedit et concessit. Test. Dno Rob. de Holand milite, Willo Dno de Denabi, Will. de Pengeston" and others.
The Barnby family were at one time or other connected by marriage with all the neighbouring great families of Le Hunter, Bosvile, Rockley, Hilyard, Waterton, Burdet, and Green.
In the will of a Nicholas Wortley, Esq. of South Kirkby, Dec. 25, 1492, a Ralph Barnby—"Radulphus Barneby, armigero"—is given as a witness. Testamenta Ebor. Vol. IV. p. 76. (Surtees Society, Vol. 53.)
In an inquisition after the death of Ralph Barnby in 1 Elizabeth, part of his estates are given as "a capital mess. and three tenements in Barby, held of Thomas Waterton as of his manor of Cawthorne; two messuages and lands in Cawthorne, and the Manors of Midhope, Langside, Bilcliffe, Swinden, Holden, and Penisal."
The family began to fall into comparative decay about the reign of James I.; and after selling off several parts of the estates, Sir Charles Barnby's son and heir Thomas, who married Mary, daughter of William Green of Micklethwaite, no sooner came of age than he sold the Manor of Midhope in 19 James I. (1623.)
In the Civil War, the estates of Thomas Barnby were sequestered, he himself was adjudged a delinquent, and was called upon by the Parliament to pay a fine of £188 as a composition, The charge was brought against him of having "signed a petition for erecting a garrison at Wortley, to be maintained and kept against the Parliament, and that he voluntarily contributed towards the maintenance of the forces raised." His estate, in which are included some ironworks (whence Barnby Furnace), is returned at the annual value of £111. He is given, however, in the "Parish Survey" of 1648 as possessing 349 acres, with a rental of £200 year. In answer to the charges, he replies, that, "being under the power of the enemy, he was compelled to set his hand to the Petition which he could not possibly avoid without the ruin of himself and family, and asks for an annuity which was charged upon the estate to he continued to his grandmother, who was then living, and concludes by giving list of his debts: Mrs Sara Wortley, £64; Mrs. Mary Barby,
