Burntwood Hall is a house that lies near the village of Great Houghton, South Yorkshire, England and has been known as Boomshack and Burntwood Nook/Lodge over the centuries.
Originally a modest farmhouse which was bought around 1700 William Marsden Esq, a highly influential Barnsley attorney and Steward to the 1st Duke of Leeds. He had the house altered to be more suitable for the residence of a gentleman. William Marsden died in 1718 apparently worth £30,000 he left his estates to be divided in certain proportions amongst his children. His son William, succeeded him as attorney of Barnsley and Royal Surveyor of the Woods north of the River Trent to King George III. He too, was a man of great influence, and was a good deal mixed up in the affairs of the town and district.
His Grandson, Captain Francis Marsden – West Yorkshire Militia/5th Regiment of Foot served as a British officer in the early years of the American Revolution. Arriving in Boston in 1774 from Monkstown, Ireland he was initially in command of the Grenadier Company in which he served with Lieutenant Lord Francis Rawdon. He probably participated in the battles of Lexington and Concord but at this time the Grenadier Company was commanded by Captain George Harris (later Baron Harris). The overall command of the regiment at this time fell to Colonel Lord Hugh Percy, later 2nd Duke of Northumberland.
He died at Burntwood on 12 February 1780, aged 27 from wounds received five years before at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. He was buried at Wakefield Cathedral, although his grave has since moved there still stands a wall monument in his memory inside the Cathedral. His sister, Hannah Maria who paid for the monument was married to John Carr Esq of Carr Lodge Horbury, who was a nephew to the famous architect, John Carr. Hannah Maria named her son, John Francis Carr in memory of her brother. John Carr of York, John Carr, Hannah Maria and a granddaughter are all buried in the same vault in St Peter and St Leonard's Church, Horbury.