MANY years have passed since Esholt Hall was a family home but these photographs show some of the people who used to live there.

The hall, built on the site of Esholt Priory, was bought by Robert Stansfield in 1755. His family live there for well over a century until it was sold to Bradford Council in 1904 under a compulsory purchase order.The pictures are all from the online archives of Aireborough Historical Society.

An intriguing snippet of part of the family’s history can be seen in the picture on the top left. Written on the front of the photograph are the words “My dearest eldest son Lt. Col. Wm. Crompton Dec.4th 1871 taken upon his trial for knocking down a snob.”

The picture was taken in Dublin - but there are no details about the fight or the outcome of the trial.

William was the last male owner of the Esholt estate, inherited from his uncle William Rookes Crompton in 1871. Both men also took on the additional name of Stansfield.

William Rookes Crompton Stansfield and his wife Emma can be seen in separate images.

An early engraving shows Esholt Hall as it used to look and in the final picture a group including William Henry Crompton Stansfield can be seen posing on the steps of the hall.