THE MIDDLE QUARTER. 6l 1728, 17th July. Will of David Johnson, sen., of Hexham, mercer: Lands, etc., under Sir William Blackett, in Wall, etc.; to Mary, my wife, my moiety of the tythe corn of Acombe; my own mother Jane Johnson, 50 guineas; wife, ,¿100 and household goods; brothers Alexander and Herbert Johnson, and sister Jane Dawson, each £20 ; late father William Johnson, brother John Johnson, my cousin Joseph Tate, daughters Mary and Jane Johnson, my tenement called Shipton Shield, etc.; mother-in-law Mrs. Jackson, Mr. Lancelot Allgood, bailiff of Hexham, supervisor. Passed seal at York, ist October, 1728.1 1735.........Alexander Johnston, mercer, buried.2 1735, 16th September. Will of Alexander Johnson: To Mary my wife, and my cozen Edward Winshipp of Corbridge, gent., all my personal estate, in trust; son Thomas Johnson (a minor), daughter Elizabeth Johnson, brother John Johnson. Passed seal at York, 30th December, 1735.' i735/6, 27th January. Mrs. Johnson, widow of Mr. David, buried.2 1735, 26th December. Will of Mary Johnson: All, to Rev. Charles Stoddart, parson, of Chollerton ; Forster Charlton of Leehall, gent.; and Thomas Stokoe of Hexham, tailor, in trust for George, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, and Rebecca Johnson, my children. Late husband, David Johnson. Passed seal at York, 14th April, 1736.1 1736, 15th December. Mr. Herbert Johnson, buried.2 1736, 26th November. Will of Herbert Johnson of Hexham, gent.: Uncle Edward Tate of Hexham, tanner, all in trust for my nephew David Johnson, son of my brother John Johnson, deceased. Passed seal at York, 24th March, 1736/7.1 Spital Shield stands on a bleak, exposed site, in the extreme west of the Middle Quarter, near the head of the Ham burn. In 1663 it had the alternative name of Spittle-field, and in 1677 was in the possession of Robert Winter. He mentions in his will three William Winters, his father, his brother (to whom he gives half of his lands at Spittle-field), and his son, to whom he gives the other half, and also his wife’s lands at Ryton. In 1681 William Winter, the father, took out a grant of tuition to the infant heir, and made his own will in 1688, by which he gave to his wife, Margaret, for life, the 1 Easter part of Spittle Sheel, as it is now divided between me and my grandson, William Winter/ with remainder to his son William Winter of Upper Ardley, yeoman ; he names his two younger sons, John and George, and his daughter Margaret. The family continued to hold the estate until after the death of Abraham Winter, whose will was proved in 1762. In 1785 it was in the possession of John Johnson and William Adamson, the former of whom was, in 1800, awarded 24 acres of freehold, with 6§ stints, and the latter 103 acres and 19! stints in satisfaction of their common rights. Spital Shield3 now belongs to Mrs. Stephenson. South-west of Hamburn-hall stand the High and Low Eshells, both owned by Mrs. Henry A. Campbell and her two sisters, the Misses Clavering; and below are Winter-house, the Heigh, and Burntridge. High Eshells 1 Raine, Test. Ebor. 2 Hexham Register. 3 In 1826 Thomas Adamson, and in 1832 Thomas and William Adamson of Spital Shield, voted for freehold lands there. Poll Book.