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Bolen Family History
Facebook connections can glean magnificent results. Two of my Facebook contacts have directed me to ancestors on the Bolen side that go all the way back to Nathanial Boling. The name was changed when the family came to America. This painting is Bolling Hall which is a museum. Here is what is written about the hall on the site Bolling Family Society.
Bolling Hall is one of the oldest buildings in Bradford, West Yorkshire,
England. It is currently used as a museum and education center. The
building is about a mile from the centre of Bradford. Its surroundings
are suburban in character.
Before the Industrial Revolution,Bradford was a small town and
difficult to defend as it lay in a basin. However, Bolling Hall occupies
a commanding position on a hillside. The earliest part of this
building, dating from the 14th century, has been interpreted as a pele tower, although Bradford is somewhat outside the typical geographical area for these defensive structures.
The Manor of Bolling (Bollinc) is first mentioned in Domesday Book and was at that time in the possession of a man named Sindi. The manor then came under the control of Ilbert de Lacy.
By 1316 the manor was owned by William Bolling, and Bollings owned the
estate until the late 15th century when control went to the Tempests who
held the estate until 1649. The estate changed hands several times
thereafter until eventually it was let to several tenants until being
presented to Bradford Corporation in 1912. It was opened as a museum
three years later.
During the second siege of Bradford in 1643, during the English Civil War, the house was a Royalist
base. On this occasion the Royalists took the town, which had strong
Parliamentarian sympathies, and it was thought that the victors would
put the inhabitants to the sword. There is a legend that a ghost
appeared in the bedroom where the Royalist commander Earl of Newcastle
was staying to tell him to "Pity poor Bradford". There is usually
material on display relating to the English Civil War including a death
mask of Oliver Cromwell. In the 18th century parts of the house were modernized by the architect John Carr, following a fire. The Bolling chapel at Bradford parish church, now Bradford Cathedral, was restored by the Tempest family in the 17th century but did not survive the twentieth-century rebuilding of the Chancel.
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