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The Birtwhistles of Craven and Galloway
The second generation and the move to Galloway
Figure 8 The Birtwhistle family tree
An advertisement in the Norfolk Chronicle edition of 9^th March 1782 reveals John Birtwhistle’s drover sons, William and Alexander, taking cattle to Hoxne in Suffolk …To all Gentlemen Graziers. This is to give Notice, that on the 14^th and 15^th of this Instant, March, will arrive at Hoxne, in Suffolk, a large drove of very strong fresh Galway Scots, belonging to Messrs William and Alexander Birtwhistle, and remain there till sold. This reference to Galway Scots appears to be the first evidence of the Birtwhistles handling Irish cattle coming through Scotland, and it is possible that the cattle seen by government agricultural commissioners in Settle in 1793 were Birtwhistle cattle on their way south. The commissioners reported, with apparent bafflement, seeing cattle which were long horned and seem in shape, skin and other circumstances to be nearly the same as the Irish cattle. A new source of Irish cattle may have been the motivation behind William Birtwhistle’s purchase of Balmae near Kirkcudbright in 1783; although the brothers would buy several other estates in Galloway, Balmae appears to have been the main residence for the extended family when they first moved to Galloway. The incentive for John Birtwhistle to purchase land in Craven and Lincolnshire, and for his sons to later purchase land in Galloway, was undoubtedly the better financial returns from fattening animals than from droving them; cattle purchased in Ireland for £4 10s- £5 would fetch £6 in Gatehouse, £8-9 on arrival in Lincolnshire but £13-17 after being fattened there for a summer. Since cattle in transit between Galloway and East Anglia would typically lose an eighth of their body weight on the month long journey, the Birtwhistle cattle would not have been strong fresh Galway Scots in Hoxne in March 1782 had they just walked non-stop from Galloway; having land on the Lincolnshire coast meant that their cattle could arrive in East Anglia in prime condition. John Birtwhistle stipulated in his will in 1787 that the droving business was to pay substantial bequests to the family members not involved in the business, including any unborn children. It therefore looks more than a little suspicious that four of the main beneficiaries should die without legal issue within a short period of time - Thomas aged 46 in Skipton in 1789, Richard aged 37 in Gatehouse in 1791, Charles aged 35 in Gatehouse in 1791 and John aged 46 in Skipton in 1792. Those
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