David Dickinson (1623-1702) of Lackerton Wood
David Dickinson was a younger son of Thomas Dickinson of Woodend (-1665). We know his place in the family because no other David Dickinson of this generation existed, and Thomas Dickinson of Woodend in his 1699 will refers to his godson Daniel, son of his uncle David.
Lackerton Wood lies between Woodend and Gatra. As its name suggests, its value lay more in its timber than its cereal or dairy capacity - indeed, Lackerton Wood seems to lack the abundant water source enjoyed by some other farms in the area.
In the early seventeenth century, it appears to have been a single tenement owned and occupied by a Freer [Frear, Fryer, Fryear] family. John Frear of Lackerton Wood married in 1654 to a widow Elizabeth Bodle (born Bragg) and moved to her farm Waterside in Ennerdale sometime after 1657. It looks as though he sold Lackerton Wood, and that David acquired the tenement either wholly or partially as his inheritance.
David was a cooper. He married Ellinor Harrison of Todhole, who was baptised 12-07-1647. The marriage would have happened in the 1660-1680 period when the Lamplugh register doesn't exist, but we can presume it from the probate evidence. The will of her father John in 1674 shows that she was as then unmarried. John Scott of Lamplugh, a Harrison relative, mentions 'Ellinor Dickinson of Lackerton Wood in Lamplugh wife to David Dickinson' in his 1694 will. James Harrison of Winnah in his 1699 will mentions his cousin Ellinor wife of David Dickinson. And, in 1701, Jane Harrison of Whinnah mentions her cousin Ellinor Dickinson of Lagerton [sic] Wood. It may well be that Ellinor had a dowry that made the Lackerton Wood purchase possible around 1674.
David and Ellen (as she became known) had children: David, Lancelot, Rachel, John (baptised 04-09-1687), and Daniel (baptised 13-10-1691 - the godson of Thomas above, and a minor when his father died). She would have been in her mid-forties with the last child - dangerously late.
David wrote his will 04-03-1695 but wasn't buried until 10-09-1702, which suggests a serious accident or illness in 1695. His inventory was taken 24-09-1702 (an unusually long time after his burial). The bonds are dated 28-09-1702. Ellen was buried 01-05-1731 as widow of Lagerton-wood [sic].
It was at this point that the tenement seems to have split in two, divided between the sons David and Lancelot. By the nineteenth-century, the two halves had been incorporated with the farms immediately to the north and south: Woodend and Lackerton Wood - known as Birkhow; and Lackerton Wood and Gatra.
Children
David Dickinson (c1676?-1748) of Lackerton Wood
David was the eldest son, who inherited Lackerton Wood. He married Martha Harrison 24-11-1720 in Lamplugh. He wrote his will in 1747 and was buried 09-11-1748. Martha was buried 10-08-1734. They had one son, David, and a daughter Ellinor who married Jonathan Harrison of Mockerkin.
David junior (1722-1797) appears to have acquired at least part of Gatra. The family are regularly described as of Gatra and Lackerton Wood.
Lancelot Dickinson (c1680?-1746) of Lackerton Wood and Cockan
Lancelot, like his father, was a cooper. He must have inherited the northern part of the tenement, as he sold it in 1733 (his descendants continued as coopers at Cockan). His nephew David (1722-1797) attempted to buy it back in 1786 but failed.
The sale of Lackerton Wood illustrates quite how confusing genealogy can be when a surname clusters. There was another Dickinson living at Lackerton Wood in the 1650s-1700s - John Dickinson, a Quaker; but he appears to have been a tenant rather than an owner and to have been a member of the Dickinsons of Fell Dyke. His grandson, Jonathan Taylor, a resident of Great Choptank in Maryland, purchased Lancelot's share of Lackerton Wood in 1733. His daughter inherited and married into yet another Dickinson family. Eventually, in 1920, the Dickinsons of Streetgate bought the Birkhow estate and so consolidated their control of Woodend.
Rachel Dickinson of Lackerton Wood
Rachel is mentioned in her father's 1695 will. She is mentioned as cousin in the 1712 will of Elizabeth Wood of Woodend.