Richard Sykes, Alderman of Leeds

Abt 1568 - 1645  (~ 77 years)

• Name	Richard Sykes  [1]
  Suffix	Alderman of Leeds
  Alternate birth	Abt 1567  [2]
  Birth	Abt 1568  [2]
  Gender	Male
  Death	27 Mar 1645  [3, 4]
  Alternate death	29 Mar 1645  [5, 6]
  Burial	29 Mar 1645	Leeds, Yorkshire, England   [7]
  Person ID	I26740	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of PNH
  Last Modified	21 Feb 2021

  
  

  Father	Richard Sykes,   b. Abt 1530, of Kirkgate, Yorkshire, England d. Between 17 Sep and 11 Oct 1576 (Age ~ 46 years)
  Mother	Sibbell Reame   d. Between 28 Oct and 30 Oct 1576
  Marriage	10 Jun 1561  [2, 5, 6]
  Family ID	F15984	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth Mawson   d. 19 Aug 1644
  Marriage	30 Jan 1594	St. Peter's, Leeds, Yorkshire, England   [2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
  Children	+ 1. Richard Sykes,   b. Bef 24 Jul 1603   d. 10 Jan 1653, Islington, Yorkshire, England (Age > 49 years) + 2. William Sykes,   b. 10 Feb 1605, Leeds, Yorkshire, England d. 1652, York Castle, York, Yorkshire, England (Age 46 years)
  Family ID	F15983	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Feb 2021

  
  

• Photos

  A Remnant of Old Briggate From "martin2311" on ancestry.com: This postcard, entitled 'A Remnant of Old Briggate', shows no. 56, one of the oldest buildings on Briggate. It was built in 1613 by Richard Sykes, who became an Alderman of Leeds in 1629, having been a key figure in the campaign for the granting of Leeds' Charter of Incorporation in 1626. The building is occupied here by F. Wallis, hosier and glover; the words 'Ye Olde Stone Shoppe' are seen above the name, and a panel above this says 'RS1613'. It was taken over by Timpsons's Shoes in 1919 and demolished by them in 1955 to make way for a new shop. The entrance to the Pack Horse Inn Yard is incoporated into the building on the left.

  
  

• Notes

  He may be the Richard Sykes recorded as baptized at St. John the Baptist, Halifax, Yorkshire on 17 Oct 1568, son of Richard Sykes. He was one of the "new, exuberant generation of confident, buccaneering merchants, whose determined exploitation of their influence over local parliamentary elections culminated in 1626 in the grant [to Leeds] of a charter of incorporation, whose provisions ensured that power was to reside unequivocally in their hands." [Joan Kirby, citation details below] Alderman (in essence, mayor) of Leeds in 1629-30 and 1636-37. Further from Joan Kirby: "His wealth attracted a demand for a contribution to the Privy Seal loan and a fine of £60 (the highest in the county) for distraint to knighthood. Not surprisingly he is believed to have been the first 'private gentleman' in Leeds to own a carriage. The complete absence of business records and correspondence, however, means that nothing is known about the enterprises which brought wealth to him and to others like Thomas Metcalfe, Joseph Hillary, and John Harrison; but his will provides impressive evidence of Sykes's investment in real estate. Unlike the childless Harrison who was able to devote a large part of his fortune to the achievement of lasting renown as the town's most munificent benefactor, Sykes had a large family to provide for in a manner that would reflect credit upon his reputation. A trustee of the Grammar School and member of the prestigious Committee for Pious Uses, his own great civic benefaction was to take an intiative in the purchase of the manor of Leeds from the City of London to which it had been sold by Charles I. Thereafter he and the other eight shareholders (each having a one-ninth share in the lordship of the manor) transferred the major part of the manorial rights to the Corporation of Leeds." His will includes a bequest of "a suit of apparel" to "my poor kinsman Alexander Reame", "and his dinner euery Sabboth Day that he goeth to the Church in the same suit of apparrell, to be at my Executrix disposing." Richard Sykes (d. 1645) = Elizabeth Mawson (d. 1646) William Sykes (1605-1652) = Grace Jenkinson (d. 1685) Daniel Sykes (1632-1697) = Deborah Oates Richard Sykes (1678-1726) = Mary Kirkby (1681-1714) Mark Sykes (1711-1783) = Decima Woodham (1714-1793) Christopher Sykes (1749-1801) = Elizabeth Egerton (d. 1803) Tatton Sykes (1772-1863) = Mary Anne Foulis (d. 1861) Tatton Sykes (1826-1913) = Christina Anne Jessica Cavendish-Bentinck (~1856-1912) Mark Sykes (1879-1918), of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement

  
  

• Sources

  [S5150] "Papers of the Sykes family of Sledmere, Hull History Centre Catalogue, Hull History Centre, Hull, Yorkshire, England. [S3602] "Richard Sykes, gent.", by D. Fluen and R. Path-Fluen. [S3605] Joan Kirby, "A Man of Property: Richard Sykes, Merchant and Alderman." Northern History 37:71, 2013. [S5152] Neil Jeffares, "Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800.", year only. [S3601] Familiae Minorum Gentium, Volume I, ed. John W. Clay. London: The Harleian Society, 1894 (Publications of the Harleian Society, Volume 37). [S5151] Ducatus Leodiensis, Or, The Topography of the Ancient and Populous Town and Parish of Leedes, and Parts Adjacent in the West-Riding of the County of York: With the Pedigrees of Many of the Nobility and Gentry, and Other Matters Relating to Those Parts by Ralph Thoresby. London, 1715. [S3599] "Dugdale's Visitation of Yorkshire, With Additions." The Genealogist 23:155, 1907. [S3601] Familiae Minorum Gentium, Volume I, ed. John W. Clay. London: The Harleian Society, 1894 (Publications of the Harleian Society, Volume 37)., says "30 Jan. 1593". [S3603] A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire by John Burke. London: Henry Colburn, 1838., says "1593". [S3604] From the guide to the Papers of the Sykes Family of Sledmere, c. 1300-1928, (Hull University, Brynmor Jones Library)., says "1593". [S3406] England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973, on ancestry.com. [S5150] "Papers of the Sykes family of Sledmere, Hull History Centre Catalogue, Hull History Centre, Hull, Yorkshire, England., says "1593". [S5151] Ducatus Leodiensis, Or, The Topography of the Ancient and Populous Town and Parish of Leedes, and Parts Adjacent in the West-Riding of the County of York: With the Pedigrees of Many of the Nobility and Gentry, and Other Matters Relating to Those Parts by Ralph Thoresby. London, 1715., date only.