[Illustration] 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.