Whitworth Hall, County Durham
Encyclopedia
Whitworth Hall which stands in Whitworth Hall Country Park
Whitworth Hall Country Park
Whitworth Hall Country Park is a parkland based set in from Durham in England, which rests on the outskirts of the town of Spennymoor in County Durham....

, near Spennymoor
Spennymoor
Spennymoor is a town in County Durham, England. It stands above the Wear Valley approximately seven miles south of Durham. The town was founded over 160 years ago...

, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

 England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, is a country house, formerly the home of the Shafto family and now a hotel. It is a listed building.

Descendants of the Shafto family
Shafto family
The Ffolliot family were established by the 14th century at Shafto Crag, Northumberlandand adopted the alternative surname of Shafto.-Shafto of Little Bavington, Northumberland:...

 of Shafto Crag, Northumberland, served as Aldermen, Mayors and Sheriffs of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1652 Mark Shafto, Recorder of Newcastle, purchased the manor of Whitworth. His son Robert, knighted in 1670 was Recorder from 1660 and his grandson was High Sheriff of Durham in 1709.

Two sons of Mark Shafto junior represented Durham City in Parliament: Robert Shafto
Robert Shafto (1690-1729)
Robert Shafto , of Whitworth Hall, Spennymoor, County Durham, was a British politician. He was Member of Parliament for the City of Durham from 1712 to 1713 and from 1727 to 1729.-Sources:...

 1712/3 and 1727/30 and John Shafto 1729-42. John was the father of Robert Shafto
Bobby Shafto
Robert Shafto was an 18th-century British Member of Parliament , who was the likeliest subject of a famous North East English folk song and nursery rhyme "Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea".-Biography:...

, better known as Bobby Shaftoe, who vastly increased the family fortune by his marriage in 1774 to Anne Duncombe of Duncombe Park
Duncombe Park
Duncombe Park is the seat of the Duncombe family whose senior member takes the title Baron Feversham. It is situated near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England and stands in a commanding location above deeply incised meanders of the River Rye....

. Their son Robert Eden Duncombe Shafto
Robert Eden Duncombe Shafto
Robert Eden Duncombe Shafto of Whitworth Hall, Spennymoor, County Durham, was a British politician. He was Member of Parliament for the City of Durham from 1804 to 1806. He served as High Sheriff of County Durham in 1842.-Sources:...

, (also Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Durham City and later High Sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...

 in 1842), who married Catherine Eden, daughter of Sir John Eden Bt
Eden Baronets
The Eden Baronetcy, of West Auckland in the County of Durham, and the Eden Baronetcy, of Maryland in North America, are two titles in the Baronetage of England and Baronetage of Great Britain respectively that have been united under a single holder since 1844.The Eden Baronetcy of West Auckland was...

 of Windlestone Hall
Windlestone Hall
Windlestone Hall is a 19th century country house in the ownership of Durham County Council, situated near Rushyford, County Durham, England. It is a Listed building....

, replaced the old manor house with a new mansion in 1845. The house was substantially destroyed by fire and all that now remains of the 1845 rebuild is the detached library wing. The present two storey seven bayed house dates from the rebuild of about 1900.

Branches of the Shafto family had seats at Bavington Hall
Bavington Hall
Bavington Hall is a 17th-century privately owned country house at Little Bavington in Northumberland. It is a Grade II* listed building.A tower house was recorded on the site in 1415, but this was replaced in the late 17th century by the Shafto family.The Shaftos acquired the estate when William...

, Beamish Hall
Beamish Hall
Beamish Hall is a mid 18th century country house, now converted to a hotel, which stands in of grounds near the town of Stanley, County Durham. It is a Grade II* listed building.-History:The history of Beamish Hall can be traced back to the Norman Conquest...

 and Windlestone Hall
Windlestone Hall
Windlestone Hall is a 19th century country house in the ownership of Durham County Council, situated near Rushyford, County Durham, England. It is a Listed building....

.
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