University Archives
Barnard family, of South Cave
Leuyns Boldero (1708-1783) was a lawyer practising in Pontefract who came from a family of Hull merchants that can be traced back to the late sixteenth century. He changed his name to Leuyns Boldero Barnard when he inherited estates at South Cave from his great uncle, Edward Barnard, in 1769. He began buying and enclosing land around South Cave before his uncle died. He married Ann Popplewell. His eldest son, Henry Boldero Barnard (1755-1815), also became a lawyer and expanded the estates, buying the West Hall estate of South Cave in 1784. In 1787 he built the gothic-style Cave Castle, where he lived with his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Gee, and their four children, the eldest of whom was Henry Gee Barnard (1789-1858). Henry Barnard was married to Elizabeth Mary Barnard but they had no children and when she died the estate passed to her nephew, Charles Edward Gee Boldero Barnard (1822-1894). He restored Cave Castle. He was married to Sophia Letitia Barnard (1830-1910), for whom there is a separate collection [DDCV[2]/54]. They had one surviving child - Ursula Mary Florence (1869-1938), who lived at Cave Castle until 1925. The house and estates were sold on her death. The Barnard family transformed South Cave; systematic rebuilding turned the village into a mock-Tudor model-village. Their papers span the dates 1400-1940 and number circa 3500 items. They arrived as two deposits: the first is dominated by estate papers, especially for South Cave, Ellerker and Walkington, and these include quite a number of papers for the Dunn, Idel (Idle) and Lloyd families.The second deposit is richer in wills and 19th century family correspondence about education, charities and the fire at Cave Castle in 1875. [DDBA; DDBA(2)]