In 1846 John Hornby born in 1804 was tenant of 151 acres of land that became Valley View Farm , Dorothy widow of Martin Hornby had 142 acres that adjoined John’s land and lived at a house which appears to have been demolished in the 19th century to make space for the chapel and Elizabeth Hornby nee Leckenby the widow of Thomas had 16 acres consisting of eight fields that were close to Cold Kirby. Five years later the situation had changed once more when Elizabeth’s son Edward born 1807 had the 16 acres, Mary the widow of John had become tenant of his 151 acres and was living at the dwelling that became Valley View farm with her son John and daughter Hannah and there was no record of Dorothy Hornby or any of her family.
In 1879 John Hornby son of John and Mary born in 1832 had 72 acres that included Caydale Field, Audlin End and Otterill’s Bank and within two years he had a downturn in fortune as his land had been reduced to 25 acres in 1881 and he was living with his wife Mary and sons William [1856], John [1858], Martin {1860], Houlston [1865], Job [1868] and Joseph [1875] and a daughter Elizabeth [1863]. Charles Hornby the son of John’s sister Mary was born in the same year, working as a woodman and living at a cottage in the village with his wife Eliza and six years later he was the only Hornby left in the parish.
Eliza Hornby was the last member of the family to live in the village and her death in 1916 ended a period of at least 360 years during which the name of Hornby had been ever present in Old Byland.
HALLIDAY
Another family who lived in Old Byland for over two hundred years and whose baptism of William the son of John in 1648 was the earliest recorded in the parish registers followed by those of Elizabeth [1655], Anna [1657], Isabel [1660], John [1664] and Jane [1668]. A Brian Halliday accompanied John on the boundary perambulation of 1650 and no record could be found of his baptism but it is possible that they were both brothers who could have been born in Old Byland early in the 17th century.
John Halliday paid tax for a dwelling with 2 hearths in 1673 and the Widow Halliday who had a dwelling with one hearth may have been the widow of Brian but the family fortunes had changed by 1677 when Thomas Hornby senior paid annual rent of £20 for a farm ‘late Halliday’, William Halliday paid the rent of £1 10s 8d and Ann Halliday paid £1 3s 11d for what must have been cottages with garths and things had improved slightly in 1700 when Brian Halliday paid rent of £3 10s 5d and he appears to have been the son of Robert born in 1662 who married Ann Layton by whom he had two other children James [1696] and Anne [1698] and when his wife died he married Elizabeth Scaife in 1704 and they had a son Bryan born in 1705.
John Halliday born in 1664 had seven children John [1693], Thomas [1695], Ann [1696], Hester {1698], Elizabeth [1700], Rebecca [1703] and George [1709]. John born in 1693 died at Reins Farm, his son John born in 1740 was the tenant at the farm in 1772 and his uncle Thomas was at Tile House when his son Brian was born in 1742 and daughter Nancy in 1745.
