Category: Blacker

The female line on my father’s side, the Blacker family, lived very close to the Spence family, generally a little further east, for generations within a 20 mile radius of Rawcliffe. They are long-term farmers, sometimes tenant farmers, more usually owning their own land. Farms have been passed down the generations, often to the first son but not always. The family has been moving gradually east over the centuries, and I suspect they originated from the Blacker family from Blacker Hall farm (or Crigglestone Hall) which was references in the Doomsday book in the 11th century. That family is traced back to William de Blakkar in 1300. It’s believed that this family came from Ireland, when Blacaire, the son of Gofraid, king of Dublin in the 10th century, fled the country to Yorkshire. More research to be done here to prove our royal descent!