Ord of Sturton Grange

William Ord (c1576-1630)  was a younger son of George Ord (1534-1611) of Newbeggin.

He was a friend and pensioner of Thomas Percy and from 1604 was his tenant of Prudhoe Castle. In 1605 he was suspected but acquited of involvement with the Gunpowder Plot  in which Thomas Percy was was implicated. In 1617 he bought the manor of Sturton Grange, near Warkworth which included the manor house and three farms. In 1620 he married Eleanor Salvin of Croxdale, Co Durham, a daughter of an important Catholic family.

In the 17th century spelling was not yet an established discipline and his memorial slab in St Mary's Church, Ovingham refers to 'William Ourd ob. 27 April 1630'.

He was succeeded by his son William (d1675) and grandson also William (d1710) who sold the 350 acre  Eastfield farm in 1701. His son William fought for the Stuart cause in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 and together with George Gibson of Stonecroft was taken prisoner by the victorious Royal army at the Battle of Preston in 1717. He died in 1723.

The final William married Mary Gibson, daughter of Jasper Gibson, a prominent Catholic of Stonecroft, near Hexham in 1764 and Sturton Grange was let out to tenants. It was sold together with 408 acres in 1785. In 1796 the 412 acre farm at Southside  was sold and he built Newborough Lodge near Stonecroft. On his death in 1815, without issue, that estate passed to Jasper Gibson Jnr by whom it was sold.