The yeoman class began as archers in medieval armies; with the breakdown of the feudal system, it developed to encompass men who held the freehold of the land which they worked. From Elizabethan times on, they had a status in society just below that of a gentleman—unlike the gentlemen, the yeomen did not have an independent income, so they worked their own land themselves. Yeomen formed the basis of the prospering agricultural society of the day.
Thringarth is a hamlet about four miles to the west of the township of Romaldkirk. The original Thringarth farm is still standing, and is pictured above. It was part of Lunedale—the valley formed by the River Lune as it ran down from the moorland of the Lune Forest, southwest of Romaldkirk, to join the River Tees beside the township of Mickleton. Lunedale itself was classified as a township, although in reality it was a string of hamlets and farmhouses.
Four generations of Elizabeth's Raine ancestors lived at Thringarth:
Christopher Raine (1690-1739) and Elenor Coulson (c.1696-1739)
Lawrence Raine (1716-1784) and Dinah Raine (1712-1773)
William Raine (b.1744) and Elizabeth Jackson (b.1748)
James Raine (b.1783, who moved down to the coalpits at Easington in about 1800, in search of work).
Higher up in Lunedale was home to the Dents, who married into the Thringarth branch of the Raines.
(For the technically minded:
Agnes Dent was the mother of Elizabeth Jackson, who married William Raine in 1769. They were the parents of James Raine, the last of Elizabeth's Raine line born in Romaldkirk, in 1783.)
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