Henry Ogle and John Ogle of Eglingham
Henry Ogle of Eglingham, 1600-1669, 18th generation:
Henry Ogle was born in the year 1600. Son of Luke of Eglingham, in 1638 he
was taking the inventory of Arthur Hebburn of Hebburn, after the latter's
demise. In 1643, he was a sequestor of land for Parliament. Henry was to
become a strong Parliamentarian, so much so that he entertained Oliver
Cromwell in Eglingham Hall. Henry was a representative to "Little Parliament" for the county. He was referred to
as "Captain Henry Ogle".(1)
In 1649 and 1650, the infamous "Scottish witch finder", or "witch pricker"
was accusing various men and women in Newcastle upon Tyne of being witches.
The method for identifying witches was crude and suspect, to say the least.
The witch pricker would stab the accused person's inner thigh in the
presence of a jury, and it was usually done in a way as to disguise an
action that did not really pierce their skin. If the accused did not bleed
or feel pain, they were accused of being a witch. One man and fourteen women
were executed in Newcastle for witchcraft.
Captain Henry Ogle, in his role as Justice of the Peace arrested a witch finder as he traveled through
Northumberland and exposed him as a charlatan. The witch finder managed to
escape to Scotland and was later apprehended and executed for his crimes.
The witch finder had confessed to having caused the executions of around
three hundred people.
Henry married Jane Forster. They had eight children, John Ogle of Eglingham,
1621, Nicholas Ogle, Thomas Ogle, Robert Ogle, Henry Ogle, Ralph Ogle,
Richard Ogle, and Mary Ogle Carr. Mary Ogle married John Carr of Lesbury and
West Ditchburn. John Carr had a brother, Robert Carr of Aledike in Alnwick
Parish.(2) Mary and John had a son named Robert Carr of Lesbury.
John Ogle of Eglingham, 1621-1686, 19th generation:
John Ogle was born in Eglngham in 1621. By 1650, he received the commission
of Captain, and in 1654 he was high Sheriff. John was in possession of
Eglingham well before his father's death. His father Henry was a
Parliamentarian who backed the rebellion during the English Civil War, and the move was possibly an effort
to keep Eglingham in the family after the restoration of king Charles II.
John married Eleanor Pringle, the daughter of Robert Pringle of Stitchell,
Scotland. John's son Henry Ogle of Eglingham married Appolina Howard around
1664. Henry was likely the first born son. After the death of Appolina in
1689, Henry married Grace Widdrington. Henry and Grace's son Henry died
without heirs in 1713, and the Eglingham estate was succeeded by Robert
Ogle. John Ogle is reputed to be the brother of Henry, although it
is very much disputed. Born in 1649, John made his way to Delaware in
America along with the Nicholls Expedition and fought on the side of England
against the Dutch in New York and Delaware, where he remained and raised his
family. Their other siblings were Robert, who married Dorothy Grey of
Howick, Margaret Ogle Manners, and Anne Ogle Weener.
Subsequent heirs to Eglingham included John Ogle, Ralph Ogle, Robert Ogle,
and his son Robert, who died in 1890. Eglingham Hall was sold to the Bewicke
family around 1900 and has remained with their descendants to the present
time.
(1) "Ogle and Bothal", Sir Henry Ogle, 1902
(2) "A History of Northumberland, Volume II", Edward Bateson, B
A, 1895