On the 17th October 1816 - PAUL SONLEY,
the tenth child of John and Mary Sonley, was baptised at Stonegrave Minster. 
He was born at nearby West Ness.
Although he was christened 'Sonley', Paul used the name 'Sunley'

Paul's father John Sonley was a farm labourer and Paul followed the same line.  In 1841 Paul was working as a farm labourer at Muston.  On the 17th May 1841, Paul married LUCY PARKE, (Born 1815) at Muston Parish Church.  Lucy was clearly of a ‘monied’ family from nearby Lebberston (a tiny agricultural village in the North Riding of Yorkshire, close to Filey) and that is where they went to live, on a few acres of land, no doubt financed by Lucy, on which they raised bacon pigs. They settled at Lebberston. 

They had two sons, but both died in their infancy: -

Robert Shepherd was christened on the 5th May 1842 and was buried two days later at St Oswald's. 

Frederick was christened on the 26th April 1843 and died on the 9th July 1843.  He too is buried at St Oswald's.

Unfortunately Lucy died from consumption on the 19th June 1843, not long after the birth of Frederick, when she was only 28 years old.  She is buried in St Oswald's Churchyard Filey. She left a will, leaving £100 to Paul and the rest of her estate to her son Frederick and then to her sister Ann Parke.

On the 2nd December 1844 Paul married Lucy's elder sister ANN PARKE, (born 1808) at the Wesleyan Centenary Chapel Scarborough.  Paul's occupation was given as a 'bacon factor’.  Paul was now 28 years of age and Ann was 37.  It is interesting to note that Paul's father was described as a 'Land Surveyor' and Ann's father was described as a 'Gentleman'.  Family gossip has it that Paul was the owner of Lebberston Hall at one time and it may be that this came about via his marriage into the Parke family.  From this marriage Paul gained a stepdaughter, Caroline Ann Parke (born 1839);

Paul and Ann had one son named John Parke Sunley, born in 1848 at Lebberston

In the 1851 Census for Lebberston, Paul was described as a farmer of 9 acres of land, employing six farm labourers, unfortunately no address is shown and the question remains - did they occupy Lebberston Hall?
Ann died on the 9th August 1863 at the age of 55 and is buried in St Oswald's Churchyard, where a stone marks her grave.  It is not currently known what became of Caroline Ann.

On the 17th October 1868 - Paul married ELIZA STUBBS (Born 1841) at Scarborough Register Office. 

They remained in Lebberston and in about 1880 Paul became Landlord of the Ox Inn at Lebberston,
where they raised their family of six children. 

A long told story is that Paul was fond of the old drink and that he would go to Seamer Market on Monday’s in his horse and trap.  Having had a ‘skin full’ at the market, it would be left to the horse to get him and the trap back to Lebberston.
Apparently he always made it!
Paul remained at the Ox Inn until his death in 1900 at the age of 84.  He was buried at St Oswald's on the 18th April 1900.  Thus ended an era that saw the beginning of the 20th century and the growth of the ‘Sunley Dynasty’.