Murgatroyd

Murgatroyd (with variants, including Murgatroid) is a surname among the English nobility, originating in Yorkshire.^[2] Its etymology, according to one source, is as follows: In 1371, a constable in the district of Warley in Yorkshire took the name Johanus de Morgateroyde, or literally John of Moor Gate Royde, 'the district leading to the moor'.^[3] In Old Norse, royd means "clearing" (forest cut down for agriculture).^[4] Although Moorgate in London was a gate with the road to the moor passing through, in Yorkshire, gate (again from Old Norse) means "street", so Moor Gate Royd would be 'a clearing in the forest on the road to the moor'.^[5]

Another source says the placename means Margaret's road.^[6]

Moor-gate-royd, or Murgatroyd as of 1432 when a John Murgatroyd of Murgatroyd was first recorded as residing there, was on the southern slopes of Highroad Well Moor. Another variation in spelling, Morgadrode, is seen in 1452, as the surname of a Halifax yeoman.^[7]

Murgatroyd, the stately home and seat of the family, was the site of the Battle of the Hollins (named after the forest below the estate) on 23 October 1643 during the English Civil War. James Murgatroyd, owner of the estate and Head Grieve of Warley, had put his property at the disposal of Cavalier (Royalist) commander Sir Francis Mackworth to house a contingent of family-backed Royalists and accompanying munitions. Parliamentarians (commonly called Roundheads or Ironsides) under Colonel Robert Bradshaw and Captain Taylor, comprising two Lancashire Companies and eleven 'Clubists', marched to the fortified home.^[8][9]

The Royalist captain would no doubt have made ready for the attack. He was pleasantly engaged in a tete-a-tete with his host James Murgatroyd and his good wife Mary, on the invincibility of their sturdy homestead, when suddenly they were arrested by the ping of Roundhead bullets. It wasn't exactly a Marston Moor, this battle of the Hollins, but quite sufficiently exciting while it lasted. Both sides fought with great valour, not only with guns and swords but also after the manner of the Middle Ages, by hurling great stones at the heads of the enemy. However, there wasn't an earthly chance for the Murgatroyd party, the Ironsides were too strong. In the words of Cromwell, "they were as stubble to our swords". It was all over in an hour, 44 prisoners being taken with all the arms and ammunition, the Captain and three men alone escaping.^[8]

With much of Murgatroyd badly damaged in the fighting, James Murgatroyd moved the family seat to one of his other estates, East Riddlesden Hall. Now owned by the National Trust, this property is most associated with the family to this day.