Exhibition: The History of Walton Hall

Owners of Walton Hall: The Beales

As mentioned earlier, Bartholomew and Katherine Beale had nine children in all. An image of the Beale Family Tree is shown on this page. Recorded documentation about the family is sparse and significant information can only be found about four of the children – Henry, Margaret, Bartholomew and Charles.

Henry Beale (c.1614-1672)

The Beales’ eldest son Henry took on the stewardship of the Walton Hall estate in 1656. An indenture was drawn up pertaining to this which now resides at Ipswich Record Office. Henry married Mary Catesby at Walton on 28 September 1653. He died in 1672 and was buried at Walton on 2 July of that year.

Margaret Beale (c.1613-?)

The Beales’ eldest daughter Margaret (sometimes appearing as Mary in documents) married John Bridges (1610-1664) by licence at St Andrew’s Church, Holborn on 21 March 1635/6. Margaret was 22 years old according to the register and consent was given by her father Bartholomew. John and Margaret’s first child, a daughter named Katherine, was born at Alcester in Warwickshire on 11 February 1636/7.

John Bridges was a Parliamentarian politician who sat in the House of Commons serving as an MP for Worcestershire in 1654 then later for Sligo and Roscommon in Ireland in 1656. During the English Civil War he fought in the Parliamentary Army. In 1645 he was made Governor of Warwick Castle and a Colonel in the Army. In 1649, the year of Charles I’s execution, John Bridges captured and concealed 25 waggons containing £50,000 worth of goods and treasure belonging to the King. Margaret was accused of encouraging him in the theft and was said to have even been involved herself. After the Restoration, John Bridges faced prosecution under Charles II but was acquitted in 1663 and died the following year. It is unknown when Margaret died.

Bartholomew Beale (c.1620-1674)

Bartholomew Beale was the third son of Bartholomew and Katherine Beale. He was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge and admitted to Gray’s Inn in 1639. He became Auditor of the Imprests (an office of the Exchequer) in 1650. He married Elizabeth Hunt in London in 1652 and they had at least six children including two daughters and four sons. Four of the children died in infancy. Through his marriage to Elizabeth, Bartholomew was related to Samuel Pepys and appears several times in his famous diaries. He attended both the funeral procession of Oliver Cromwell in 1658 and the welcoming party receiving King Charles II in 1660. In 1674 Bartholomew died by suicide after throwing himself from the upper window of his house in Hatton Garden in London. He had made a will in 1671 and left a large estate to his wife and extended family. His suicide was not due to financial difficulties and was unexplained at the time. Following Bartholomew’s death, his widow Elizabeth and their two surviving children may have relocated from London to Walton Hall. At the time of his death, Bartholomew also owned a manor house in Hopton Castle in Shropshire.

Bartholomew Beale's only surviving son, also named Bartholomew, came of age in 1683 and was probably already involved in running the two estates that he inherited. In 1690 he sold Walton Hall and a few years later he purchased an adjoining estate to Hopton called Heath House in Leintwardine, Hertfordshire, which still stands today. On this page there is a photograph of Heath House taken c.1930. Bartholomew died aged 65 and was buried at Leintwardine on 10 February 1727.