Richard Preston, son of John Preston, married Jacobina Middleton, dau. of John Middleton of Middleton Hall. To the Preston family estate of Preston Patrick he added the manor of Under Levins Hall, also in the Shire of Westmoreland; and in the thirtieth year of the reign of Henry VI, A.D. 1452, he and his wife obtained from the Archdeacon of Richmond the privilege of maintaining within the manors of Preston and Levins an oratory, or house of prayer. Richard was succeeded by his son.

Thomas Preston, Sixteenth Generation, son of Richard Preston, married Miss Redmayne of the estates of Twistleton and had issue:

1. John Preston who married Margaret Redmayne and who succeeded Thomas.
2. Lawrence Preston whose son married Miss Butler and left one daughter and heiress, Ann, who married William, first Lord Paget Knight of the Garter.
3. Helen Preston who married Lord Thomas Stanley of Monteagle.

John Preston, Seventeenth Generation, son of Thomas Preston, succeeded to both the family estates of Preston Patrick and Under Levins Hall, and married Margaret Redmayne, dau. of Richard Redmayne, of Harewood Castle, Yorkshire, and Over Levins Hall, Westmoreland. John left issue. (Over Levins Hall has been described as romantic seat that was much admired for the beauty of its park and gardens which, in 1841, had been preserved in the old style. The property passed from the Redmaynes to the Bellinghams, from them to the Grahams, then to the Suffolk family.

Sir Thomas Preston, Eighteenth Generation, son of John Preston, married Ann Thornburgh, daughter of William Thornburgh (Thornborough), of Hampsfield in Lancashire. She was a direct descendent in the fifteenth degree, through the family of Musgrave, Fitzwilliam, Plantagenet, and DeWarren of King William the Conqueror. For more genealogy on Thornburgh see this link.

During Sir Thomas Preston's administration of the estates of Preston Patrick and Under Levins Hall of Westmoreland, were added the valuable properties of Furness Abbey and Holker Park of Lancashire. It was during the time of the suppression of the monasteries by King Henry VIII that the purchase from the trustees of the Crown of the site of the Abbey of Furness, with other large estates amounting in value to more than 3000 pounds a year was made. (The village of Levens and Levens Hall are south of Kendal. Holker Hall is near Cartmel on Humphrey Head in Morecambe Bay.)

Sir Thomas had three sons and six daughters:

1. John Preston born in 1511 d.1585 (or >1569) m. Margaret Curwen and 2nd Dorothy Layton Redmayne. John Preston and Margaret Curwen had 3 sons and a daughter. Margaret Curwen was the daughter of Sir Thomas Curwen, of Workington in Cumberland, and Agnes Strickland, was the daughter of Sir Walter Strickland of Syzergh Castle.
2. Christopher Preston b.ca.1520 d.5-27-1594 m. Margaret Southworth and 2nd Miss Jephson. Christopher became the founder of the powerful branch of the Prestons of Holker Hall.
3. George Preston who died without issue.
4. Ann Preston who married William Bancastre of Easington.
5. Ellen Preston who married first Sir James Leybourne of Cunwick Park, in Westmoreland and married second Lord Stanley, 3rd Lord Monteagle, by whom she had Elizabeth Stanley, who was the mother of William, Lord Morley and Monteagle, the discoverer of the Gunpowder Plot AD 1605.
6. Jane Preston who married William Lamplough Esq., of Dovenby Hall in Cumberland.
7. Dorothy Preston who married William Travers, Esq., of Nateby Hall in Lancashire.
8. Elizabeth Preston who married Robert Cancefield, Esq., of Robert Hall in Lancashire.
9. Catherine Preston who married Thomas Carus, one of the judges of the Court of the Queen's Bench in the time of Queen Elizabeth who reigned from 1558-1603.

Sir Thomas died in 1523 and left to his eldest son, John, the estates of Preston Patrick, Under Levins Hall and Furness Abbey, while to his son Christopher, he devised the magnificent estate surrounding Holker Hall. (Links same as above.)

Source:Preston Genealogy edited by L.A. Wilson under direction of William Bowker Preston, pub. 1900.

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