People of Note
Gally Knight of Langold
The Gally's were of French Protestant origin, long established at Nismes and Languedoc.
Elizabeth Knight was the sister of Ralph Knight of Langold. She married the Rev. Henry Gaily (1696-1769), D.D. rector of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, chaplain in ordinary to King George I and a prebendary of Norwich and Gloucester.
Dr. Gally was one of those refugee families whom the religious persecution, consequent on the revocation of the Edict of Nante forced to leave their native country and seek an asylum in England. He was a distinguished scholar and corresponded with the contemporary literati of the continent.
They lived at Langold Hall, and Firbeck. and were responsible for the construction of Langold Lake.
Henry Gally died 7th August, 1769, and his widow, in 1784. They left two sons John and Henry.
John Gally Knight
John Gally Knight barrister- at-law, assumed the additional name of Knight, as did his younger brother. He was in the commission of the peace for Yorkshire and Notts, was MP for Aldborough and Boroughbridge, He died unmarried in 1804, aged sixty-three, and was succeeded by his brother Henry.
Henry Gally Knight
Henry Gally Knight of Langold Hall, Yorkshire, barrister, was married to Selina, daughter of William Fitzherbert of Tissington, Derbyshire. They had one son Henry Gally Knight(1786–1846), architectural writer and antiquary, who was born on 2nd December 1786
Henry Gally Knight(1786–1846)
Knight was educated at Eton College, and entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1805. He was a founder member of Grillion's Club in 1812, and joined Brooks's Club, established in Pall Mall, about 1764-65, by the Dukes of Portland and Roxburgh, in 1816.
In 1810 to 1811 he travelled to Spain, Sicily, Greece, the Holy Land, and Egypt, and his observations were published. In 1814 he published a poem entitled Europa Rediviva, and in the following year a volume of Poems. In 1817 , and 'Alashtar, an Arabian tale'. In 1826 he published a pamphlet on the 'Catholic question'. His poetry received mixed reviews from Lord Byron.
He married in 1825 Henrietta, daughter of Anthony Hardolphe Eyre(1757-1836) of Grove, Nottinghamshire,and Francisca Alicia Wilbraham-Bootle (d.1810).
He then devoted his leisure to the investigation of architectural history at home and abroad. After visiting Dieppe in May, 1831, accompanied by the architect Richard Hussey, he travelled to France to study the buildings and libraries of Normandyand published .
He visited Messina in August 1836, and in 1838, published .His third and last work was 'Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy, from the time of Constantine to the fifteenth century'.
Knight, who had succeeded to the family estates on his father's death in 1808, was MP for Aldborough (1814–15), for Malton (1831–2), and for North Nottinghamshire (1835–46). As an MP he was regarded by his contemporaries as a fluent but infrequent speaker. In 1841 he was a member of the select committee on the fine arts, which initiated the historical fresco paintings in the houses of parliament. He was also deputy lieutenant of Nottinghamshire. He died in Lower Grosvenor Street, London, where he lived, on 9 February 1846, and was buried, with the remains of his ancestors, in Firbeck Church, Yorkshire, on 17 February.
The funeral procession proceeded towards the church in the following order:
John Horncastle, esq. Steward to the deceased followed by ninty-six tenants and tradesmen
Mutes, Undertakers, etc.
The Hearse
Three Mourning coaches containing:
1. G. H. Vernon, esq. M.P., Sir Henry Fitzherbert, Bart., John Crusoe, esq. and T. D. Bland, esq. ;
2. Sir Thomas Woollaston White, the Hon. Herbert Pierrepont, and the Rev. Charles Eyre
3. the Rev. William Alderson, Granville Vernon, jun. Henry Bland, esq. and the Rev. Evelyn Vernon.
Seven carriages, containing:
1.Earl of Scarborough, Col. Hill, :md A. B. S. Leger, esq.
2. Thomas W. White, esq. and the Rev. W. Green
3. H. J. Walker, esq. and Edward Bland, esq.
4.Rev. E. H. Dawkins, the Rev. J. Rolleston, and the Rev. Mr. Hartley
5. belonging to the Rev. W. Alderson, empty
6. containing J. C. Althorpe, esq.
7 containing Viscount Galway, and R. P. Milnes, esq.
His will directed that his Langold estate should be sold for the benefit of some friends. His other estates at Firbeck, Kirton, and Warsop were left to his widow during her lifetime. After her death the Firbeck estate and mansion were to go to the ecclesiastical commissioners for charitable uses.
The estate of the Gally Knight family consisted of the manor of Warsop in Nottinghamshire, and properties in Kirton, Walesby, Willoughby, Boughton and Wellow in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
The Will: he directed that the Langold estate, containing 3,209 acres, covered with timber, to be sold, and after the payment of numerous legacies to the families of G. H. Vernon, esq. and that of the late Sir George Eyre, Knt. (his old friend and neighbour), Sir Thomas Woollaston White, Bart, the sole residuary legatee (he received a considerable accession of property).
The estates at Firbeck, Kirton, and Warsop, he bequeathed to his widow for her life as well as his town residence, and at her decease, the Firbeck property, - the mansion and 1,281 acres of land, to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to be applied by them for charitable uses.
The estates at Kirton and Warsop, at the death of Mrs. Knight, to Sir Henry Fitzherbert.
The executors - G. H. Vernon, esq. M.P. of Grove, and Thomas Davidson Bland, esq. of Kippax Park.
A legacy of £50.000 to John Crusoe, esq. of Leek, Staffordshire
His funded property, was given in legacies to his different relatives.
All his servants and dependants were remembered in legacies and annuities.
A dispute arose over the will of Sir William FitzHerbert between his widow, Sarah, and the executor of the will, Richard Bateman. The resolution of the dispute was complicated by the deaths of Sarah and her eldest son Anthony which left the younger children as minors. The guardianship of the FitzHerbert children was held by their uncle, Henry Gally.
The Gally Knights' and Langold
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