Rowley is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, England. It is situated south of Little Weighton and approximately south-west of

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

town centre. The civil parish is formed by the villages of Rowley and Little Weighton together with the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

s of

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

High Hunsley High Hunsley is a small hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Yorkshire Wolds approximately south-west of Beverley town centre and north-west of the village of Little Weighton. High Hunsley forms part of th ...

, Risby and part of the

of Riplingham. According to the

2011 UK census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

, Rowley parish had a population of 1,015, a decrease on the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

figure of 1,030. The village of Rowley is now mostly depopulated, leaving only a few houses, and most of the population is now in Little Weighton.

History

Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, who became Rector of Rowley in 1621, was suspended from the parish church in 1638 for his non-conformist beliefs. Following this, he led 20 families to emigrate to the American colonies, where he founded the town of

Rowley Rowley may refer to: Places Canada * Rowley, Alberta, a hamlet * Rowley Island, Nunavut United Kingdom * Rowley, County Durham, a hamlet - see Rowley railway station (England) * Rowley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, a village and civil par ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1639. The emigrants sailed from

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

in , probably a merchant ship of around 200 tons, probably in June 1638, arriving in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

in August. One of those 20 families was the Grants, who are direct forebears of the model

Jodie Kidd Jodie Elizabeth Kidd (born 25 September 1978) is an English fashion model and television personality. Early life Named after Jodie Foster, Kidd was born in 1978 and is the daughter of the businessman and former showjumper Johnny Kidd. She is ...

, as revealed in a 2008 edition of the BBC genealogy programme '' Who Do You Think You Are?''. Also among the 1638 emigrants were two brothers, Richard and Thomas Wickham. Samuel, a son of Thomas, settled in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and became a Freeman of the Colony and a Deputy. Another descendant, Captain

John Clements Wickham John Clements Wickham (21 November 17986 January 1864) was a Scotland, Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on during its Second voyage of HMS Beagle, second survey mission, 1831–1836, un ...

served on the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ship during its voyage with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

and was later the first Magistrate and administrator of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Rev.

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of ...

Edward Thoroton, son of Col. Thomas Blackborne Thoroton Hildyard of Flintham Hall, Flintham, Nottinghamshire, was rector of Rowley for 23 years. He is commemorated by a tablet on the south aisle of St Peter's Church in Rowley. The Hildyard family had a long association with Rowley and its church, where they were patrons of the living. The local church contains many memorials to the family. The church was designated a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1968 and is now recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

, maintained by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

References

* {{authority control Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire Civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire