duke of leeds tomb

All Hallows church contains the remains of the 1st Duke of Leeds, Thomas Osbourne. He was a very important figure in the 17th century, a personal friend of King Charles II. When Charles died Osbourne and 6 co-conspiritors plotted against the catholic James II and invited the protestant William of Orange to seize the English throne. Osbourne's job was to help secure the north of England for the coup, and he suceeded.There are records of clandestine meetings with the Duke of Devonshire (of Chatsworth House fame) meeting the Duke to ensure William's takeover would be unopposed.

The coat of arms of the 3rd Duke of Leeds (according to
The Peerage). 3rd duke of leeds coat of arms

There are pubs in the area with 'Leeds' in their name because of the Dukes of Leeds. In 1673 the manor of Harthill was sold to Sir Thomas Osbourne of Thorpe Salvin. He was a knight (Sir Thomas) and sometime Treasurer of the Royal Navy from 1647-1673, and then Earl of Danby 1674-1694 and Lord High Treasurer of England (see memorial inscription above), and finally a Duke from 1694 until his death in 1712. However, he was impeached by parliament in 1695 for allegedly taking a bribe from the East India Company, and his political influence subsequently ebbed away. The full list of titles held by Thomas Osbourne were:

Thos Osbourne, 1st Duke of Leeds (after Leeds in Yorks), Marquess of Carmarthen, Earl of Danby, Viscount Latimer of Danby, Viscount Osbourne of Dunblane, Baron Osbourne of Kiveton.

Osbournes ancestors had been born in the area and this church became their family tomb, and many of the Dukes descendents are buried in the family vault inside the church, and at Wales church. The Dukes ancestor (grandfather?) was Sir Edward Osborne, ? 1530-1591 Knight Lord Mayor of London, and born in Kiveton\Wales. Click here to see Keveton Hall, and here for a 1760 map on which you can make out the Duke of Leed's estate and park (just below the centre of the map).

To give an idea of Thomas Osbournes historical importance a quick look at (UK Govts public record website ) produced the following list of archival material about the 1st Duke:

Thomas Osborne (1631-1712) 1st Duke of Leeds statesman
corresp, papers and journals British Library, Manuscript Collections Reference : Add MSS 28040-54, 38849, 63650, Eg MSS 3324-508 Eg Ch 2290-300
personal, family and estate papers West Yorkshire Archive Service, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Reference : DD5, 192 NRA 12923 Dukes Leeds
1670-1700: corresp and papers (2 boxes) Yale University Libraries: Beinecke Library NRA 20036 Osborne papers Unknown location Reference : HMC 79 Lindsey MSS: see file letter of 18.12.77; HMC 14 Untraced since 1931
official records as Lord High Treasurer and as , Treasurer of the Navy; household and estate , accounts Public Record Office Reference : PRO30/52 NRA 8655 Osborne
1663-66: corresp with Sir Henry Bennet Sheffield Archives Reference : p31 NRA 9837 Broomhead
1673-77: letters to Lord Essex British Library, Manuscript Collections Reference : Stowe MSS 201-212 passim
1692: letters to principal officers of the Ordnance and Sir , Henry Goodricke Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts Reference : MS Eng hist d 139
1671-1700: letters (6) to Lord Lonsdale Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle Headquarters Reference : D/Lons/L.3 NRA 17777 Lowther
1691: corresp with Earl of Nottingham The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Reference : HMC Finch MSS III DG7 NRA 9845 Finch
1677-96: corresp with Ist Earl of Portland (11 items) Nottingham University Library, Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections Reference : PwA993-1004 NRA 7628 Cavendish-Bentinck
1692: log rel to battle of La Hogue Private Reference : p21 NRA 6393 Shaw-Hellier
1670-95: commonplace book Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine Reference : MS 3724
1694-1714: house and stable accounts Lincolnshire Archives Reference : HMC Principal family and estate collections A-K, 1996 [1a] YARB, WORSLEY NRA 5950 Pelham

Here's a full list of the dukes, starting at:

Sir Edward Osborne of Kiveton, (1596-1647) father of the First Duke of Leeds

Thomas Osborne (1632-1712), 1st Duke of Leeds, acceded: May 1694. Buried in Harthill. The famous Royalist Protestant plotter described in detail above.

Peregrine Osborne (1658 - 1729), 2nd Duke of Leeds, Acceded: 1712. Educated in Harthill and the 3rd son of Thomas Osbourne. Was at one point an Admiral and Naval Commander in Chief.

Peregrine Hyde Osborne, 3rd Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1729. He married 3 times, the second being to Anne Seymour who died in childbirth. Sired Thomas to his third wife, Juliana Hele (1705-1794).

Thomas Osborne, 4th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1731. His park keepers' headstone is featured on the Harthill Church page.

Francis Godolphin Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1789. Buried in Harthill.

George William Frederick Osborne, 6th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1799. He was the one who legend has it had Keeton Hall demolished for a bet as he relocated to Hornby Castle in North Yorkshire. It's definitely not there though, so I guess the rest of the dukes below no longer live in the Kiveton/Harthill area (though still got royalties/dividends for the mineral rights and shares in the canal etc.)

Francis Godolphin D'Arcy Osborne, 7th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1838

George Godolphin Osborne, 8th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1859

George Godolphin Osborne, 9th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1872

George Godolphin Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1895

John Francis Godolphin Osborne, 11th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1927

Francis D'Arcy Godolphin Osborne, 12th Duke of Leeds, Acceded:1963


Incidentally, while there are pubs with the name Leeds in them, there's also a couple of pubs with Conyers in their name, and Francis Godolphin D'Arcy Osborne, 7th Duke of Leeds, was also the 11th Lord Conyers. The book by Geoff Nutall (Who Was the Lords Conyers?) details the various Conyers in great detail, and their connections with the Dukes of Leeds.

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