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History » Earliest References
The name 'Shay' is derived from the old English word 'shaw', which means a small wood, thicket or grove. The two words are used interchangeably in ancient references to the property.
Such references have been traced as far back as 1462, when on July 6th of that year a wealthy local man by the name of William Brodley recorded that upon his death, property belonging to him just west of Shaghe Lane should pass to his son, John Brodley.
Later, on the 9th February 1495, John Brodley's son, confusingly called William Brodley, "took of the lord a parcel of waste land in Halifax, lying between the Shaghe Hill on the north and the lands of William Brodley senior to the south."
At the time of the third year of Henry VIII's reign (1511-12), the Subsidy Roll (effectively the equivalent of our present income tax) had recorded William Brodley junior as being assessed on goods to the value of £20, and by 1545 this had remained the case. This may seem a small sum today but it's worth noting that only five people locally were assessed at £20 (including the wealthy Vicar Haldesworth who was once robbed of £1,000), so it's fair to say that William Brodley was a man of influence and money.
Indeed, at this time, only one man was assessed at more than £20, and he was the wealthy merchant John Hardy who paid 44s tax on goods assessed at £66.
What this goes to prove is that the Shay Estate was one of the finest areas of 16th century Halifax.
Just when William Brodley died is not clear but we do know that the Shay descended to his daughter and heiress Grace Hely in 1580, and in turn to her husband John Booth in 1587. This was recorded in the Halifax Court Rolls as Booth becoming the owner of 'Shaw and Nether Shaw'.
At about this time, conservation of water and the maintenance of its purity were matters of extreme importance, and in 1588 John Booth arranged for a small dam to be constructed within the Shay Estate so as to provide enough water for his needs. This supply was later diverted away from the Shaw Syke in 1602 and within two years Booth surrendered ownership of 'Over and Nether Shaw' to the use of Simon Bynnes of Broadbottom.
Little, if anything is known of Simon Bynnes but one unearthed document does suggest that he too was a wealthy man.
As there are no records of subsequent owners after Bynnes, or of the houses they would have lived in, this gives us the opportunity to jump forward to the 18th century to introduce the name of perhaps the Shay's most noted owner - John Caygill.
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