In some of Sylvanus Urban's
Gentleman's Magazine, 1800 century journals, the subject turns tothe famous Huguenot french glassmakers who moved from France. This is relevant to Pidcock geneolgy as our paternal line married into the Henzey family.
I will explore those relationships to uncover any sources. Some of the orginal scanned volumns of
Gentleman's Magazine were translated into text and I highlight in red information which is pertinent.
The original source:
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ilej/A translation source:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/e/n/Barry-M-Henzell/FILE/0004page.html?Welcome=985987053MIGRATION FRANCE TO ENGLAND GLASSMAKERS ON THE MOVE 2
CORRESPONDENCE OF SYLVANUS URBAN 4
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL. XLVI NOV. 1856PAGES 592-3 4
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL. XLVI DEC 1856 PAGES 728-9. 6
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL.XLVII JAN 1857 PAGES 73-4. 7
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL XLII 1853 PAGE 508 9
GLASSMAKERS ON THE MOVE
During and after the Renaissance the old family patterns in glassmaking began to break up for several reasons. Printed books began to appear, which revealed technological knowledge in detail, and many of the secrets that for centuries have been family secrets were now available to all that could read.[1] Because of the expansion of glassmaking during the sixteenth century glassmakers were in great demand. Agents lured glassmakers to work for them, tempted by monetary rewards, the wish for adventure and the desire to break away from the close family circle. Their special skills were recognized and they could improve their social standing. Fear of religious persecution, heightened by the massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572, and the "Spanish fury" in Antwerp in 1576, when troops sacked the city and massacred hundreds of Protestants which explains the migration to England.[2]
It is known that during the sixteenth century glassmakers from the Continent began to establish themselves in England. During the third quarter of the sixteenth century Jean Carré encouraged glassmaking families from the Lorraine district of France to come to England. Carré offered the Lorrainers a nine‑year contract and it was this, not the shortage of fuel as previously, that prompted them to move to England in 1568. Protestant families of whom the best known names are Hennezal, Thiétry, Thisac and du Houx. The de Houx (Dehowe) family has been traced to Rye, Sussex, in 1571, and Wilsborough Green in the Weald three years later.[3]
Wealden glass began to deteriorate by the middle of the sixteenth century. Venetian and Lorraine glass‑workers saw an opportunity to set themselves up and capture the market for themselves. The Venetian adventure was short lived and most returned to Italy.[4] The Lorraine workers had greater success, due largely to the genius of Jean Carré. He was a native of Arras and a man gifted artistically and endowed with strength of mind and force of character. He was responsible for the revival of the manufacture of window glass and fine crystal tableware into Elizabethan England. After arriving in England in 1567, he immediately built three furnaces, one in London and two in the Weald near the Surrey‑Sussex border and he had acquired a monopoly for the manufacture of window glass.[5]
Carré organised a "fellowship" or company to finance window‑glass making in the Weald and crystal‑glass making in London. Imported capital was used from glassmakers themselves and others. Carré had a half interest and his son‑in‑law Peter Appel contributed. Peter Briet who came from the low countries about the same time as Carré contributed capital and assisted with management and marketing. The fourth member of the company was Jean Chevalier, chastelain of the castle of Fontenoy in Lorraine. He probably never came to England but was related to the glassmaking family of the de Hennezells and may even been its head. "Chevallier" was the title and rank of the de Hennezel family. It was probably not his surname that may have been omitted from the English translation of the contract.[6] Carré bought several Muranese workers to London to make cristallo glass vessels. This work prospered for over a hundred years. In the Weald, Carré established four different families for window glassmaking. These were Enzell, Tysack, Tittery and Hoe, all of whom had earned privilege from the King of France. The Henzell family settled at Alfold, Surrey.[7] They belonged to "les gentilshommes verriers" but Robertson states that Carré's gentilshommes displayed only the worst attributes of nobility, encumbered by any of the finer qualities. They were proud but lacked good manners, impulsive but without grace, qualities that did not commend them to those with whom they worked.
Carré's dealings with the established glassmakers in the Weald might be described as unscrupulous which caused a deal of resentment. Upon his death in May 1572 a revolt by those he had overreached and outwitted ensued. His Lorraine workers were the scapegoats. The old‑established glassmakers of the Weald joined with the ironworkers, who were indignant at the inroads made by the Lorrainers into the available stock of fuel. This was the pot calling the kettle black, for when it came to cutting down whole forests to supply billets for their smelting furnaces the ironworkers had no equal. Nevertheless, the Lorrainers used considerable quantities of fuel, and when their glasshouses were closed there would be all the more wood for the ironworkers. It was therefore to the advantage of the ironworkers to join forces with the old established glassmakers in clearing out those unconscionable destroyers of good trees, the Lorraine glass‑workers.
Another factor that made them unpopular with the ironworkers was that they were over‑jealous of their secret techniques, and despite the contrary terms of the contract to which they had subscribed their outlandish names, they would not teach Englishmen their trade.
Things were made so hot for the Lorrainers that in two years most of them had left the district. Guttery states that despite the unjustness of the treatment, including arson and threats of murder, the Lorrainers fulfilled their contract but left soon after. Only a few Henzeys remained until 1610. In the end it was to their advantage for the Lorrainers and the country for glassmaking was established throughout the land, in Buckholt, Hampshire, Stourbridge, in Cheswardine, and Newcastle‑on‑Tyne.
The year 1615 was historic for English glassmaking. A Royal Proclamation forced the use of pit‑coal, in lieu of the diminishing supplies of timber. The proclamation forbad the importation of foreign glass, thus giving a boost to the local industry. Sir Robert Mansell took up the challenge in that year and began to organize glassmaking on a national scale.[8] Massell's manager James Howell helped the Lorrainers to move to the coalfields, some to Nottingham, some to Newcastle‑on‑Tyne and others to the Stoubridge district. The Nottingham venture did not last but in the two other districts the Henzeys took the lead. The Stoubridge families seem to have taken the name Henzey or even Ensell. European languages pronounce Henzell with a silent "H". The Newcastle branch used Henzell, both being derived from the original de Hennezel.
Guttery's book "From Broad‑glass to Cut Crystal", gives the history of the Stoubridge glass industry. It is available on request from the Queensland Public Library.
It may be of interest at this stage to reproduce, in full, published magazine articles written in the 1850's. The first titled "An Historical Review of the Ancient Families of Henzell, Tyttery and Tyzack".
CORRESPONDENCE OF SYLVANUS URBAN
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL. XLVI NOV. 1856PAGES 592-3
MR. URBAN,
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Thomas de Henzell and Balthazar de Henzell, dwelling at the Vosges, in the county of Lorraine, with their relatives, ‑ Tyttery and ‑ Tyzack, all Huguenots, being driven from their native country in a religious persecution, emigrated to England; one of the Henzells settling at Newcastle‑on‑Tyne, and the others in the counties of Woechester and Stafford, where they formed an encampment at the Lye, near Stourbridge, in the former county, on a spot called "Hungary‑hill". Finding that this superior kind of clay which exists in the neighborhood very nearly resembled that used in their native country in the making of pots for glass, they erected a glasshouse here, and were probably the first introducers of the broad or window‑glass manufacture into England.
The Henzeys (as the name was afterwards spelt) are represented by the Pidcocks of the Platts, (who for several generations carried on the glass trade), the Brettells of Finstall‑house, near Bromsgrove, and the Dixons, formerly of Dixons‑green, Dudley: - by the Pidcocks, through the marriage of Wm. Pidcock with Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Henzey, esq., who died in 1712; by the Brettells[9] through the marriage, in 1748, of Thomas Brettell[10], esq., of Stourbridge, (afterwards of Finstall‑house), with Sarah Henzey, of Broseley, (with the consent of Susanna Barrett, of Broseley, widow); and by the Dixons, through the marriage of Jonathan Dixon[11], of Kidderminster, with Mary Henzey, in 1737.
The name Henzey probably still exists in Staffordshire, under the altered form of Ensell[12], and it still extant in its original form on the banks of the Tyne: a member of it, George Harle Henzell, figured very conspicuously last year as a witness in the Burdon poisoning case.
The Tyttery family was represented in the last century by the Rev. Mr. Saunders of Shenstone, Staffordshire, and his brothers, one of whom was an apothecary at Stourbridge, and another followed the said profession at Dudley.
The only trace of the Tyzacs I can find is that a "Waldron Hill, Kingswinford, Staffordshire, gentleman," was married, in the year 1746, to Elizabeth Tyzack, widow by whom he had issue John Hill, of Coleborne Brook, a glassmanufacturer, father of the Rev. Edw. Hill. I enclose a sketch of the Henzey arms[13], and shall be obliged to any of your correspondents who can explain the singular crest, which I take to be a "bar shot" surmounted of a "pellet".
My reason for troubling you with all this above is to ascertain, ‑
1. The paternity of Sarah and Mary Henzey, who married respectively Brettells and Dixon. Were they sisters?
2. Who was "Susanna Barrett, of Broseley, widow?"
3. What were the armorial bearings of the families of Tyttery and Tyzac? and who are the representatives of the latter family?
4. What are the armorial bearings of Brettell, who have always borne those of Henzey[14], differenced by a marlet?
H.S.G.
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL. XLVI DEC 1856 PAGES 728-9.
MR. URBAN,
In your last letter there is an interesting letter regarding the Henzey, Tyttery and Tyzac families, and the introduction by them into this country of the manufacture of glass.
The early history of these families, particularly of the Henzey family, is given in Cheyaye Desbois's "Dictionary of the Nobles of France," at pp. 25‑31 of the second edition, vol. viii, published in 1774.
From this it appears that the French name of the family which we know as Henzey, Henzell, and Ensell, is De Hennezel, that it was originally a noble Bohemian family, and that the principal branch of it settled in the Lorraine about four centuries prior to the publication of Desbois's Dictionary. From that time, remarks the author, its members have occupied positions of the greatest importance in Lorraine, and have contracted alliances with families of old nobility. Several branches established themselves in Switzerland, Hainault, Franche‑Comte, Nivernois, Champagne, and other provinces of France. He adds, that the family constantly maintained the lustre of its name by great alliances, by the possession of fiefs and military dignities.
Such is, I believe, a fair version of Desbois's introductory notice of the De Hennezel family; but I subjoin the following extract for such as may wish to peruse the original work itself:‑
HENZELL.‑"Noblesse originaire du Royaume de Bohême, dont la principale est etablie en Lorraine depuis environs quatre siècles. Elle ya joui, dés ce tems la, des distinctions des premieres de la Province, s'y est alliée avecles mansions de l'ancienne, et ya assisée aux assizes.
Plusieurs branches sont actuellemont repandues en Suisse, en Hainaut, en Franche‑Comté, en Nivernois, en Champagne, et autres provinces du Royaume. Elle s'est partout constamment maintenne dans son lustre par les grandes alliances, la possession des fiefs et les dignitiés militaries."
1.The first of the family of whom any record is given by Desbois, is Henri Hennezel, who married Isabeau d'Esche, 30th May, 1392.
2. Henri de Hennezel, who was maitre d'hotel to Charles, Duke of Lorraine.
3. Jean de Hennezel, who married Damoiselle Beatrix de Barizey, in 1446.
4. Didier de Hennezel, a captain in the army of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, married Marie Anne de Thiétry. This name de Thiétry, is the French mode of writing Tyttery. Several other members of the De Hennezel family formed matrimonial connections with the De Thiétry family. Thus José de Hennezel, in 1615, married Marthe de Thiétry; and, in 1650 Claude Francois married Elizabeth de Thiétry. I could cite many more instances.
The seventh, of whom there is any record Thiébault de Hennezel, styled a gentleman‑in‑waiting on Henri, duc de Lorraine, married Damoiselle Louise du Thisac, 16th April,1600. In 1535, Catherine, daughter of Nicholas Hennezel by Marie Anne de Thiétry, married Charles du Thisac; and in 1539, Nicole de Hennezel married Jean du Thisac. This name is the original French mode of writing Tyzack.
The marriages between the three families of De Hennezel, de Thiétry and du Thisac were numerous. This family connection doubtless induced them to emigrate together, and it is well known that they constantly intermarried long after their settlement in England.
The arms of the De Hennezel family as given by Desbois, and published in the Armorial Universelle in Paris, are the same as those borne by them in this country, viz.‑
"De gueules, à 3 glands montans d'argent, poseés 2 and 1". "Supports, duex lions au naturel."
I do not know when glass was first manufactured in France; but may not the De Hennezels have been instrumental in introducing it from Bohemia, their native country?
The exercise of this art was held to be in no way derogatory to the dignity of the nobility, and those who practised it were styled: Gentilshommes Verriers," (vide Felice's "History of the Protestants of France", p.428.)
The De Hennezels and their connections the De Thiétry and the Du Thisacs were Huguenots, and were driven to this country probably by the first persecution, and bought with them the art of making window‑glass. They first came to London, and then removed, some to Newcastle‑on‑Tyne, but the greater number to Coalbournebrook and Amblecote, in the parish of Oldswinford, co. Stafford, where they established the manufacture of glass. It afterwards greatly extended in the hands of their successors, both on the male and female side, and has for many generations formed one of the staple manufacturers of the district.
About three years since Mr. Richardson read to the Society of Antiquaries at Newcastle an interesting paper regarding the introduction to that town of the manufacture of glass by the De Hennezel family and their connections, and an engagement entered into by the former in 1568 to make glass was then produced.
The entries of the births, deaths, and marriages, under the name of Henzey, in the Oldswinford parish register, are very numerous, and commence with Dec. 7, 1615. Parish registers go no further back than 1602.
Perhaps some of your readers may be able to give the origin of the village "Pillerton Henzey" in Warwickshire, in connection with this family, and also whether the Irish family of Hennessey is a branch of the same. This is not improbable, as I find that
Annanias Henzey, son of Ambercote, who died in 1660, and Katherine his wife, lived at Gragnefine, King's County, Ireland. ANTIQUARIAN.
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL.XLVII JAN 1857 PAGES 73-4.
MR. URBAN,
In your last issue you were pleased to insert my account of the early history of the Henzey, Tyttery, and Tyzack families, and of their introduction by them of the broad or window‑glass manufacture from France into this country.
With your permission, I will now proceed to reply, as far as I am able, to the questions suggested by your correspondent H. S. G., in your November number.
Firstly in regard to the singular crest of the Henzey or De Hennezel family, referred to by your correspondent. The following description of their arms, which is appointed to them, clearly shews that the crest be composed of a fire‑bolt and fire‑ball.
"This is the true Coate of Armes, with Mantle, Helmet and Crest, pertaininge to the famely of
Mr. Joshua Henzell, of Bamblecott in the County of Stafford, Gentleman, who was the Sonne of Annanias Henzell de la Mansion de Henzell tout pré la village de Darnell, en la Pie de Lorraine. Which Armes of his Auncestours were there sett upp in the Duke of Lorraine's Gallery windowe, amongst many other Noblemen's Coates of Armes, there aneald in glasse, Being thus blared; Henzell on a ffeild gules beareth Three acornes slipped or; Two and one; Eusigned with a Helmett propper. Thereon a wreath, or and Gules; a ffire‑boulte andffire‑ball; or; Mantled Gules; Lyued argent; and Tasselled and Buttoned, or."
The Darnell here referred to as the residence of the Henzell family, is doubtless Darneuille in the Departement des Vosges, in Lorraine.
The Henzey family, on emigrating from France, appear to have made a slight difference to their arms for the sake of distinction, the acorns according to Chenaye Desbois being argent, and according to the above description or.
In reply to your correspondent's query regarding Sarah and Mary Henzey, who married respectively Brettell and Dixon, I am of the opinion that they were sisters, for I find that John Henzey had by his wife, née White, three daughters, Frances, Mary and Sarah, and that Mary was married to Jonathan Dixon.
I may add that the Brettell family was of French origin, and that its history is given by Desbois under the name of De Breteuille. This family intermarried frequently with the Henzeys in England. Thus it appears from the Old Swinford parish register, that on the 15th of September, 1617, John Brettell married Mary Henzye, and the Joshua referred to in the coat of arms married Joan Brettell, who died in 1671.
Your correspondent asks, Who was Susannah Barrett? She was the third child of Mr. John Jesson of Hagley, and married Francis Barrett at Broseley. Her son went to Madeira, and there inherited Mr, Pope's fortune of between 30 and 40,000l. He left it to his mother, Susannah Barrett, who bequeathed it to Mr. Richard Case of Worchester; he was the grandson of her brother, Richard Jesson.
I do not know what the armorial bearings of the families of Tyttery and Tyzack are, or where are the representatives of the latter family, but I think the name is to be found in the "London Directory."
ANTIQUARIAN
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE - VOL XLII 1853 PAGE 508
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
Oct.5th. At the monthly meeting Dr. Charlton exhibited a variety of fragments, gathered at Benwell, the Condercum of the Romans, in digging the foundations of a house for Mr. Mulcaster. There were several old coins, pieces of Samian ware, fragments of weapons of war and a number of distaff‑rings, one of them particularly handsome; also a hammer head of stone, the implement of more ancient occupiers of British soil than the Romans.
Mr. George Bouchier Richardson read his collections on the introduction of the glass manufacture on the Tyne. Having devoted a few pages to the origin and general history of the manufacture of glass, he then discussed the local particulars, commencing with a payment of 11s6d.(11/6) in 1554 "for a cradle of glass" for the Merchants Court of Newcastle. In 1585, William Huntley, Newcastle merchant, imported "one chest of glass" by the Fortune, of Accarstott; and Henry Chapmen nine chests by the Falcon of London. In May, 1594, the Corporation paid 32s9d. "for a chest of glass for mending the glass windows in Saint Nicholus churche so far as the steeple reachethe." In this century the manufacture was introduced into England, and Mr. Richardson cited from the Lansdown MSS. three important documents respecting it. The first is a paper in French, "done at Windsore the IX of August 1567, " by Antione Becque (alias Dolin) and John Quarre.
They had heard by Monsieur Nichayson that Lord Burchley had hinted to her Majesty concerning their matter, and that she was agreeable thereto and was satisfied with a toll. His lordship should have their "never‑ejding thanks" and the more substantial reward, for life, of "The halfpenny of every tenpence that they should sell." In 1568, an undertaking was entered into by Thomas and Balthazar de Hennezes, esquire, dwelling at the glass‑houses in the Vosges, in the countie of Lorraine, and John Chevallier, chatelain and receyvour of Fonteney le Chastelle, which reefers to the privilege already obtained by "John Quarre of Antwerp, and this present resident in London" in his own name and that of Chevallier", to make and builde in England ovens to make great glass, " and then relates that the two Hennezes had agreed to transport themselves to England to build two ovens, and bring with them four "gentlemen glasiers, that is to saye, two terrieurs and two gatherers,: receiving two hundred crowns a year and dividing the surplus profit, the partnership to endure for nine years. The third document is a petition addressed to Lord Burghley by one George Longe, in or about 1589, in which the patent of Anthony Dollyne and John Carye(Quarre), merchants of the Low Countries, grantes in Sept. 9 Eliz. for twenty‑one years, is again referred to, but which is stated to have become void about six years after the grant, from nonperformance of covenants, whereupon other men erected and set on work divers glass‑houses in sundry parts of the realm. "About vij. years past, " Longe reminds the Lord Treasurer, "your Honour called them that kept the glass‑houses before you, to know who should pay the Queen's custom; whose answer generally was, that there was no custom due but by conditions of a special privilege which no of them did enjoy and they were nit bound to pay custom for commodities made within the realm. Thus (continued Longe) hath her Majesty been deceived, and still will be, without reformation (be had)." Upon these arguments Long proceeds to beg the monopoly for himself, promising to erect only glass‑houses in England, where he states there were then fifteen but others that might be required in Ireland. By this scheme, "the superfluous woods of Ireland wastes, ‑ that which, in time a rebellion, her Majesty hath no greater enemy there. The country will be much strengthened, for every glass‑house will be so good as twenty men in a garrison; and the country will be sooner brought to civility, for many poor folk will be set on work". For this he promised a double custom to her Majesty, to keep Lord Burghley's buildings in repair with the best glass, and to bestow one hundred angles at her honour's appointment. Mr. Richardson was constrained to confess that "we have only the slenderest circumstantial evidence to induce a belief that the manufacturer of glass was established on the Tyne before the coming of James," but still he was inclined to credit the assertion of Bourne, the Newcastle historian, that the Henzells, Tyzacs, and Tytorys, Protestants from Lorraine, established glassworks on the Tyne at Newcastle in the reign of Elizabeth. It was conjectured that the Henzells descended from the brothers De Hennezes, but this appears to require confirmation.
At the close of the instructive paper, it was suggested that there might be leases in possession of the corporation which would throw light on the question. Mr. Clayton, the town clerk, said that the general Leven and other ravagers had despoiled Newcastle of her records; but if, amongst those remaining, there were any which could be of assistance to Mr. Richardson in his researches, they were at his service. The paper was a very good one as it stood, but he thought Mr. Richardson might extend it with advantage. ‑Mr. Richardson thanked the town clerk for his liberal offer, and said he would avail himself of it.
CUTTING FROM NEWSPAPER[15]
In addition to the contributions in glass alluded to, we find a number of Vases of various forms, skillfully made, and well painted in enamel colors, contributed by Mr. George Ensall, glassmanufacturer, Upper Priory. These in themselves deserve something more than a passing notice, associated as they are with the interesting fact that to the family, of which this contributor is a descendant, is due the introduction of the glass manufacture to this district and town; the story is an interesting one, and is worthy of being more generally known, we therefore make no apology for presenting it to the consideration of our readers.
The introduction of the art of glassmaking and working we owe to the mistaken zeal and virulent spirit displayed by those in power against certain opinions held by the inhabitants of the kingdom of Hungary and the province of Lorraine. In matters of a civil and religious kind, opposition naturally gives rise to dissension, which in the end operated to the detriment of the country whose rulers exhibit intolerance. In this instance, banding themselves together, many of the inhabitants left the land of their nativity and carried with them those arts which they practised with such unrivalled skill. Among those who fled from the civil commotions which threatened to overthrow the institutions of their country in 1555 or 1556, was a company headed by an individual by the name of Henzoll, a name which has since been corrupted into that of Henzer, Henzey, and finally now, Ensall. To these we owe the introduction of the glass manufacture at Stourbridge. Some of their descendants are still residents in the vicinity of the town. The family was connected with that of the then Duke of Lorraine, and the armorial bearings it is still possible to trace emblazoned on the windows of the palace which once owned them as masters. It may afford some ground for doubt to the probability of a trained band of soldiers and their leaders, as not a few of the band , headed by Henzoll, were (responsible for) introducing the art of glassmaking. The peculiar operation of the Conscript Act, which was then more stringent than at a later period, will readily account for so many of the military being acquainted with handicrafts, the art of glass blowing among the number. The company alluded to supported them‑selves in their wanderings by their knowledge and practical skill in music. Their leader was an exquisite performer on the violin; the instrument we are told, is still in possession of the family. Trusting to this slender and precarious source as a means of existence, and not meeting that support in London which they anticipated, a "tour in the provinces" seemed the only legitimate course of procedure left by which to eke out a bare life. Leaving the Metropolis, chance alone directing their steps, they found their way into the midland counties, and there, in one of the inhospitable districts, viz., Lye Waste, formed their encampment. Casting their eyes about, the wanderers observed with no small degree of pleasure, evidences of the existence of the invaluable fire clay, out of which, in their own country, they had formed the glass and melting pots. The precise place upon which the strangers took up their permanent abode, and where the first glass‑house was erected, is still known by the name of Hungary Hill. To the existence of this clay, then may be safely be attributed the localising of glass making as manufacture of the district. The other materials which were wanted, with the exception of coal, are only to be procured at a distance; the sand in use being obtained from Norfolk or the western coast of the Isle of Wight. Good sand is also procured from America.
The articles reproduced above give some understanding of the emigration of the Henzell family to England. The Henzell family now settled in Australia, particularly those living in Queensland, and descended from the four sons of John Harrop Henzell who migrated to Australia in the 1860's, are descended from the family of Henzells from Newcastle‑upon‑Tyne.
A detailed family tree of that family has been compiled from the parish register of All Saints and St. Nicholas churches in Newcastle. As yet it has not been possible to connect John Harrop Henzell mentioned above to that family, but as he was born in 1812 at Boldon, a few miles from Newcastle it is reasonable to assume that he would be related.
The family tree starts with Isaac Henza or Henzell who was born probably about 1620 and may have been:‑
(1) a descendant of the Henzeys who settled first in Sussex and subsequently in Newcastle about 1618, or
(2) the son of a de Hennezel who emigrated to Newcastle from Lorraine.
In support of the latter supposition it is interesting to note that one, Gabriel Henzell, son of an Isaac Henzell (or "Henley a Frenchman") was baptised at St. Nicholas (Newcastle) in 1618, his parents having landed at Newcastle three days prior before Gabriel's birth. Isaac Henza may have been another child of that emigrant. It is unlikely that Isaac had any direct connection with the Henzeys who settled in Staffordshire.
There are other reports from Henzell's living in Newcastle that more Henzells arrived direct from Alsace in France and landed at Dent's hole and Friar's Goose. Three families of Henzell, Tyzack and Capstaff are reported to have landed at Dent's hole now Newcastle Quay.
While the Henzeys of Stourbridge associated freely with the "native families" the Lorrainers of Newcastle‑on‑Tyne followed their centuries‑old traditions of preserving the secret of their craft. The Henzells, Tytteries and Tyzacs kept themselves so closely closed a community that they were called "The Strangers".
As late as 1710 at Newcastle permission was given by the Common Council to the glassmakers to erect at their own charge a gallery at the west end of St. Anne's Chapel for their own use".
In the sixteenth century a licence from the Bishop had empowered them to hold their own meetings for private worship at fixed times. In the Stourbridge district the Lorrainers joined with the English worshippers from the first.
It seems logical that all the families, whether they went directly or via Sussex, Stourbridge and then later to Newcastle, had their origins in Alsace.
The following is another newspaper article publishes in an English newspaper. Mrs. Myna Poynter of 43 Partridge Drive, Legana, Tasmania 7277 provided the article.
HENZELL
Once glass-making was established in England the bitter religious persecutions on the Continent drove many of the Huguenots overseas and some of these settled at the mouth of the stream which joins the Tyne at Howdon. Glass making was on of the few crafts which the nobles on the Continent could engage and two of these families settled here - the Henzell and the Tyzacks - were both of this class, and were landowners in the Vosges in Lorraine. Their coats-of-arms were the same. Three acorns slipped two billets in chief impaling a fesse inter three lambs passant, no colors. The crest was a lire bolt and fire ball. Family motto: "Seigneur je prie guard ma vie". (Lord, I beseech Thee protect my life). No doubt the Henzells and Tyzacks were closely related to each other.
Thus some time after the year 1600 we have glass making established at Howdon Panns in the hands of just the two families from Lorraine. The glass made was chiefly flat, or window glass, for which there was an increasing demand, although at the time only the mansion houses of the rich had glass in their windows.
The glass making company continued to prosper and grow. During the three years 1700-1703 the Wallsend register of baptisms shows that of the twenty-five children born at Howdon, the fathers of twelve of them were employed by the Henzell business.
After being established at Howdon Panns for nearly two hundred years, the glass houses were approaching their end. The works were old and out of date, the broad glass (window glass) was being made by better processes. Hence about the year 1780 a company was formed to take over the Howden broad glass houses, also the old high and low glass works at Newcastle. The new company built four large glass houses with offices, warehouses etc., at Lemington in Newburn (few miles west of Newcastle). This new establishment was, at the time, said to be the most complete glass manufactory in England, and Joshua Henzell of Howdon was put at the head of the concern, trading as the Northumberland Glass Company, and it was under the direction of Joshua Henzell and fellow directors that the Howdon glass-houses were closed.
For about one hundred and eighty years the Henzell family had carried on the glass-houses. They had resided in the village and had been intimately concerned with the progress of the place, the people and Howdon.
Lorraine Medieval kingdom was on the west bank of the Rhine extending from the North Sea to Italy. In the 10th century it was divided into two duchies, Upper and Lower Lorraine. Upper Lorraine as a province of France, passed to the French crown in 1766. Germany acquired part of Lower Lorraine with Alsace in 1871 but was restored to France after the war of 1914-1918.
[1]Polak, Ada - Glass its makers and its public.
[2]Godfry, Eleanor S - The Development of English Glassmaking 1560-1640, Clarendon Press, 1975.
[3]The Denton Glass Excavation - The results of the excavation at a unique glassmaking site.
[4]Robertson R.A. - Chats on Old Glass, Ernst Benn Ltd., London Pages 67-69.
[5]Gwynn, Robin D. - Huguenot Heritage
[6]Op cit. Godfry, page 162-3.
[7]Klein, Dan & Lloyd, Ward - The History of Glass
[8]Guttery D.R. - From Broad-glass to Cut Crystal, op cit.
[9]The Brettell family appear to have been connected with the Henzeys before, through the marriage of Johsua Henzey with Joan Brettell, who died in 1671.
[10]Thomas Brettell was, I believe, the first of the family who resided at Finstall, and was great grandfather of the present possessor.
[11]"Jonathan Dixon, of Kidderminster, and Mary Henzey, of this parish, were married at the College by me, Oct. 7, 1737, by license, Thomas Smith." (From the parish register of St. Michael's, Worchester.) - Noakes's "Notes and Queries for Worchestershire", page 3.
[12]A gentleman of this name was, till about twenty years ago, an eminent glass-manufacturer of South Staffordshire.
[13]These arms are in the Duke of Lorrain's gallery, annealed in glass. The motto, and a work called "The Book of Family Mottoes", is assigned to Tyzack.
[14]On some of their seals appears "a demi griffin on a wreath", and on older ones "az. 3 lions ramp." impailing "a lion rampant."
[15]Source not known.
