The pedigree of this ancient family is traced to Roger, whom Dr. Whitaker calls "Progenitor of this the oldest and most distinguished of the Craven families now surviving. That this man was a Norman the name will not permit us to doubt; that he was a dependant of Roger of Poitou is extremely probable; that he was at all events possessed of Bracewell (in Craven) early in the reign of Henry I., is absolutely certain." Dr. Whitaker proceeds to remark on the name of Tempest, which he says, "whatever was its origin, seems to have been venerated by the family, as in the two next centuries, when local appellation became almost universal, they never chose to part with it." The elder line of the Tempests continued at Bracewell till the time of Charles I., when Richard Tempest, the last representative, pulled down the family house, and devised the estate to a distant relation. The house of Broughton descends directly from Roger, second son of Sir Peirs Tempest, which Roger married in the seventh of Henry IV. Katharine daughter and heir of Peter Gilliott of Broughton, which has been ever since the seat of the Tempests— "a name never stained with dishonour, but often illustrated with deeds of arms."
A younger branch was of Tong in this county, descended from Henry, youngest son of Sir Richard Tempest of Bracewell, Sheriff of Yorkshire in the 8th of Henry VIII. created Baronet in 1664, extinct 1819.
See Whitaker's Craven, pp. 80, 87.
Arms.—Argent, a bend between six storm finches sable.
Present Representative, Charles Henry Tempest, Esq.
Hamerton of Hellifield Peel.
One of the most ancient families in the North of England, according to Dr. Whitaker, descended from Richard de Hamerton, who lived in the twenty-sixth of Henry II., anno 1170. From Hamerton, the original seat, the family removed to Hellifield, acquired by marriage with the heiress of Knolle, in the reign of Edward III. The Castle, or Peel, was built in the reign of Henry VII. The Hamertons were engaged in the Northern Rebellion in 1537, and thereby Sir Stephen Hamerton lost his head, and his family the estate; which was restored to the male representative of the family, in the third year of Elizabeth, by a munificent settlement made by John Redman, who had become possessed of the property, and was related by marriage to the Hamertons. A younger branch was of Preston-Jacklyn in this county.
See Whitaker's Craven, ed. 1812, p. 124; and Dugdale's Visitation of Yorkshire, 1665-6, printed by the Surtees Society in 1859, p. 354.
Arms.—Argent, three hammers sable. The Preston-Jacklyn line bore Argent, on a chevron between three hammers sable a trefoil slipped or.