Spadacrene Anglica | Page 7

them small legacy to doe him good
In Witness.... etc.
In "Spadacrene Anglica" Deane mentions that "out of the divers
fountains springing hereabouts" five are worthy the observation of
physicians. These are--
1.--The Dropping Well.

2.--The Sulphur Well at Bilton Park.
3.--The Sulphur Well near Knaresborough.
4.--The Sulphur Well at "Haregate head."
5.--The Tuewhit Well, or The English Spaw.
The number of springs worthy the observation of physicians has largely
increased and the relative importance of the five mentioned has altered
considerably since Deane wrote. But in 1626, The Tuewhit Well, or
The English Spaw, was regarded as the most worthy of fame. This well,
according to the later writers, was discovered by Captain (afterwards
Sir) William Slingsby:--in Chapter 6 of "Spadacrene Anglica," however,
a Mr. William Slingsby is given as the discoverer.
"The first discoverer of it to have any medicinall quality (so far forth as
I can learn), was one Mr. William Slingesby, a Gentleman of many
good parts, of an ancient and worthy Family neere thereby: who having
travelled in his younger time, was throughly acquainted with the taste,
use, and faculties of the two Spaw fountaines. In his latter time, about
55 yeeres agoe it was his good fortune to live for a little while at a
grange house very neare to this fountaine, and afterwards in Bilton
Parke all his life long."
From this it appears that the discovery was made by Mr. William
Slingsby in his later years, about the year 1571, but if the Mr. William
Slingsby here referred to was Sir William Slingsby he would have been
a youth of some 8 or 9 years in 1571. Secondly, one would judge from
the text that the Mr. William Slingsby referred to by the writer was
dead at the time that he wrote, namely 1626, whereas, as a matter of
fact, Sir William Slingsby was alive until the year 1634. Thirdly, it is
impossible to conceive that Edmund Deane would refer to Sir William
Slingsby as Mr. William Slingsby, seeing that the former was knighted
in 1603, or 23 years prior to the publication of Deane's work. It is
therefore abundantly clear that Sir William Slingsby--a very gallant
gentleman--has no claim to the fame which history has insisted upon
according him.

The fact is that the Mr. William Slingsby referred to[11] was the fourth
son of Thomas Slingsby of Scriven, who married Joan, daughter of Sir
John Mallory of Studley, and who had a family of six sons and four
daughters. The name of the eldest son was Francis, and, as just
mentioned, William was the fourth son. Sir William Slingsby was the
seventh son of Francis and the nephew therefore of Mr. William
Slingsby. Mr. William Slingsby was buried at Knaresborough on the
8th of Oct., 1606, but the date of his birth does not seem to have been
recorded. His elder brother, Francis, died in 1600 at the age of 78, so
that he was born in 1522. It is not unreasonable to suppose that William,
his brother, one of a large family, was born between the years 1525 and
1527. He would therefore be somewhere between 44 and 46 years of
age, when he discovered the medicinal qualities of the Tuewhit Well,
which equally accords with Deane's statement that in his younger days
he had travelled in Germany.
So far as I can trace, Hargrove[12] is the first author to confuse the
uncle and the nephew. He writes that the well
"was discovered by Capt. William Slingsby, about the year 1571. This
Gentleman, in the early part of his life, had travelled in Germany,
where he made himself acquainted with the Spaws of that country. He
lived sometime at Grange House, near the Old Spaw, from whence he
removed to Bilton Park, where he spent the remainder of his days. He
made severall trials of this water, and finding it like the German, he
walled it about, and paved it at the bottom, leaving a small opening for
the free access of the water. Its current is always near the same, and is
about the quantity of the Sauvenir, to which Mr. Slingsby thought it
preferable."
From this quotation it is clearly apparent that Hargrove erroneously
inferred that Mr. Slingsby and Capt. Slingsby were the one and the
same person instead of being uncle and nephew. In the 3rd edition of
the "History of Knaresborough," published in 1782, the reference to Mr.
Slingsby is omitted and from that edition onwards, Captain Slingsby
appears as the discoverer of the Tuewhit Well in 1571, a discovery
clearly inconsistent with the fact that he was born in the year 1562.

The source of Hargrove's information in the above quotation is, without
doubt, the summary of "Spadacrene Anglica," published by Dr. Short in
1734 in his History