the pleasure, passion,power and panache of painting

“welcome home
Ellis and Mary Markendale.”
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above: painting of Ellis and Mary Markendale before restoration. ©Ordsall Hall.
written by Caroline Stoor
Heritage Development Manager
Ordsall Hall & Salford Museum and Art Gallery
‘Never been seen before’ historic portraits return to the home they left over 130 years ago.
Ordsall Hall is the one of the oldest surviving houses in the UK. From the 1100s up until the 1970s, it has always been
lived in. One of its fascinating characteristics is that is has had so many different inhabitants - from medieval Lords of
the Manor, to Tudor Knights of the Realm, “dangerous temporisers” of the Catholic faith to protestant priests in training,
Victorian mill owners to the pre-Raphaelite artist Frederic Shields.
One family that lived at the Hall, and who ran its surrounding farm, from 1815 to 1871 were the Markendales. Originally
from Skipton, Yorkshire, the Markendales were famed in the Manchester and Salford area for being prominent and
prosperous butchers, tanners and skinners.
This story centres around 2 main characters: Ellis and Mary. On August 3, 1813, Ellis Markendale (1790-1853) married
Mary Shiers (1790-1864.) Together, Ellis and Mary raised a family of three sons and six daughters
at Ordsall Hall. In 2011, two portraits were discovered in an out-building of a farm in Cumbria, literally rotting away,
having not seeing the light of day for decades. With torn canvases, the pictures were covered in bird excrement, black
with dirt and surrounded by crumbling, gilded frames. The portraits spoke of a wealth gone by, and a story untold. The
Cumbrian farmer, a direct descendant of the Markendales, contacted the curator at Ordsall Hall as he thought that the
portraits may have a connection with the Hall. The farmer donated the portraits to the Hall in 2012.