Manisty Family Tree

Note from Henry Manisty:- The earliest Manisty (or Manesty) ancestors that I believe that we are descended from were tenant farmers and bailiffs of the estates of Calder Abbey in Cumberland in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and indeed there was a monk named Manisty at the time of the dissolution of the Abbey by Henry VIII, who then became the parish priest at a neighbouring church. In the seventeenth century some Manistys moved to Hutton-in-the-Forest where they were servants of the Fletcher-Vane family. Later Rev James I’s father (Henry) and uncle (Richard) both moved to the north east where Henry was a Newcastle cheese and butter merchant and Richard a Durham bookseller. Henry Manisty (born 1740) is where the tree starts.

There is still a mystery over the origins of the 'Liverpool Manestys, who include Joseph Manesty (running a shipping business in 1740's) who was closely associated with John Newton ('Amazing Grace') - see Wikipedia entry on John Newton. There was until recently a Manesty Lane in Liverpool; now built over, but the following reference speaks of a darker past (The Joan Rivers of Liverpool streets, Manesty’s Lane has been surgically enhanced, bent out of whack, and plastered in so much cover-up that even its closest relatives would be hard pressed to name it in a line-up. Yet, despite its shiny new role as Liverpool ONE’s boutique catwalk no amount of nipping and tucking can airbrush over Manesty’s Lane’s dark and decidedly unglamorous past.).

I was able to track back to Henry Manisty (1740 version!) using Ancestry to build the family tree and FindMyPast to add to the search capabilities. It was hard to know where to stop as Ancestry kept offering hints to draw me outside the direct line. My main deviation was to include the Earl of Eldon (Lord Chancellor for most of 1810-1827). Although he was the ‘uncle of husband of my 2nd Great Grandmother’ I thought we should include him as his name has followed through the generations. There is plenty about him on the Wikipedia link referenced below.

The service history of my Grandfather (Sir Eldon) and Father (Peter) are in documents held in the Imperial War Museum. My uncle’s (John) main claim to fame was serving at Bletchley Park, though only snippets have emerged about his time as a watch leader in Hut 6 under Gordon Welchman. He never mentioned his war experience and he died before most of the Bletchley publications emerged.

Published obituaries for Eldon, Peter and John are in the link below. There is also an excellent supplementary obituary for Eldon published by the Naval Historical Society of Australia – see link.

Research on my Mother’s side has not been so easy, especially as I have found almost no information about my Maternal Grandfather (Leonard Smith) in the period from his marriage in 1912 until his death in 1947. I think he may have been in the Army during the ‘Great War’, and he was in business for most of his life, though unsure what type of business!! He had a reputation for always having new projects on the go, though none produced a fortune. His wife, Maggie (Gargie to us), just managed to ensure that he had a decent home to return to from all his escapades abroad. He messed about in boats I think, was a chain smoker and a mad driver. I have managed to trace back 3 generations from Leonard and Maggie and so it is possible that more background will emerge.

My paternal Grandmother (Florence Manisty, née McCathie) leads into the Australian side of the family, where I have extracted the bare bones of her family tree. Our dear friend Randi Svensen has written a wonderful biography of two well-known Australian retailing families, one of which is the McCathies. Her book is called Nuts and Bolts and Petticoats, published by Halstead Press in 2021. I am aiming to flesh out the family tree on this side of the family, drawing on her extensive research.



Links

Contact

Mike Manisty
21 Moulsham Lane
Yateley
Hants

Email: XLrgmmJYbFziqGIHjkZu4zweXVG1t@0_ioNm2PRCNamxA_gn7Gh-Ci-7xBrsteCKBtEWV0iyErOSN.KkKnAc-QtEno363Hem
last updated 2023-08-16