the lascelles family claim to have arrived in england with william the conqueror, during the norman conquest of england. the family had settled in yorkshire by 1315 as the "de lascelles". prosperous members of the county gentry, the lascelles served as members of parliament and held prominent military positions. in the late seventeenth century the family purchased plantations in the west indies, and the income generated allowed henry lascelles to purchase the estate in 1738; his son, edwin lascelles, 1st baron harewood, who was a wealthy plantation and slave owner, built the house between 1759 and 1771 to replace gawthorpe hall, the original manor house on the estate.