Townships: Garston

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1907.

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Citation:

'Townships: Garston', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1907), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp120-128 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Garston', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1907), British History Online, accessed November 8, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp120-128.

"Townships: Garston". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1907), , British History Online. Web. 8 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp120-128.

In this section

GARSTON

Gerstan, usual to the end of xv cent.; Gerston, 1201; Garston, common from 1500; Gahersteng, 1205, and final g occasionally, leading to confusion with Garstang.

The township, bounded on the south-west by the River Mersey, has an area of 1,625 acres. (fn. 1) The division between Garston and Toxteth is marked by Otterspool, a name now given to the waters of the Mersey, where a brook flowing through Toxteth falls into that river. Another brook flows—or did flow— diagonally through the township; and a third used to pass through the village and discharge by a narrow gorge into the Mersey; a small portion is still visible.

The country is flat, covered with the pleasant suburban colonies of Aigburth and Grassendale, with streets of houses set in flowery gardens, many running at right angles to the principal main roads, and leading down to the river bank. Grazing fields are scattered amongst the houses and streets, especially near the river. Garston itself is a seaport town, with docks, iron and copper works, and large gas works. On the outlying land are cultivated fields where some crops are grown. These include potatoes and corn. Altogether the district is a curious mixture of industrial, agricultural, and residential features.

The geological formation consists entirely of the pebble beds of the bunter series of the new red sandstone or trias. To the south-east of Garston cliffs of drift boulder clay abut upon the river.

There was a total population of 17,289 in 1901.

A local board, formed in 1854, (fn. 2) became in 1894 an urban district council; but the township was incorporated with Liverpool by a Local Government Order in 1903. There are public offices, library, and accident and smallpox hospital.

The road from Liverpool to Garston and Speke remains the principal road in the district, running parallel with the river bank, and about half a mile from it. The Liverpool tramways reach as far as Garston. The Cheshire Lines Committee's railway passes through the township, and has stations at Aigburth, Otterspool, Mersey Road (close to the Liverpool cricket ground), Grassendale (Cressington Park), and Garston. The London and North Western Company's line to Warrington and Crewe passes along the north-eastern boundary, with stations at Mossley Hill near the northern corner, and on the Allerton Road; from the latter station, called Allerton, a branch line curves round into the town of Garston, where there is a station formerly the terminus of the Warrington line. The docks at Garston belong to the London and North Western Railway Company; the other railway has a connexion with them.

The sugar works (glucose) have ceased work owing to the cases of arsenical poisoning traced to them.

Formerly there were salt works which had been removed from the Salthouse Dock at Liverpool, (fn. 3) and at one time the fishery was of importance. (fn. 4)

'The whole hill of Mossley commands a charming view of the River Mersey and Wirral hundred in Cheshire, with the distant hills of Wales … The view is equally commanding at Mossley Hall, formerly the spot where the Ogdens … had their country seat … (It) was lately rebuilt by Peter Baker, mayor of Liverpool 1795), and was afterwards the residence of the Dawsons; it is now (1817) that of William Ewart.' (fn. 5)

There were anciently two crosses in Garston. The base of one lies opposite the site of the south porch of the old chapel; the other was by the mill dam. The base stone of this latter one has been re-erected near St. Francis' Church, with a new plinth. (fn. 6)

'In a field below the dam of the old Garston mill was found some years ago a curious relic of penitential discipline—a scourge of iron with spiked links. It had seven lashes of chain, possibly to chastise the flesh for the seven deadly sins.' (fn. 7)

In a report made in 1828 upon the changes wrought by the tides it is stated that 'the line of low water did not alter materially,' but 'the steep clay banks' were constantly being worn away. A detailed description is given, beginning at Speke and going northwards to Toxteth. At the southern end 'the land is said to have lost about 15 yds. in width along the whole front in about twenty-five years;' the salt works to the north of this had been built (1793) upon the strand; then came the pool, to the north of which more of the strand had been enclosed, one part having been a vitriol works (before 1793). Further north the tides had made great ravages, about 15 yds. in twenty years being a rate given. In some places an attempt had been made to protect the bank by means of walls, but these had been overthrown; at Otterspool, at the extreme north, 'a stone-paved slope or sheeting' seems to have been more successful. Here there was a snuff mill (1780). It is incidentally stated that the manor courts had ceased to be held. (fn. 8)

MANOR

This township is not mentioned by name in Domesday Book; it formed part of the demesne of the capital manor of West Derby, being one of its six berewicks. (fn. 9) Its customary rating was four plough-lands, and in 1212 it was held in thegnage by the yearly service of 20s. (fn. 10)

Shortly after 1088 Garston was given by Roger the Poitevin to his sheriff Godfrey, who gave it in alms to the abbey of Shrewsbury, together with his little boy Achard, who was to become a monk there. Count Roger confirmed the grant, and about 1121 Henry I renewed the confirmation. Ranulf Gernons, earl of Chester, some twenty years later issued his notification and precept to the bishop of Chester, and to his justices 'between Ribble and Mersey,' directing that the monks of Shrewsbury be left in peaceable possession of their lands and rights in that district, and particularly in Garston; and 'let Richard son of Multon do service to them from Garston completely and fully as he craves my love; and that no one of my men may demand anything from Richard, I proclaim him absolutely free from all (services) due from Garston, desiring nothing but prayers therefrom.' Henry II also in the first year of his reign confirmed the grant, and about the same time Reginald de Warenne, as seneschal of the lord of the honour of Lancaster (1153–64), specially ordered his justices and ministers to see that the monks had peaceable possession of Garston with the men and all things pertaining to it, without injury or insult. (fn. 11) Later still, in 1227, Henry III included it in his general confirmation. Another confirmation was issued as late as 1331. Strange to say, after the monks had taken such pains to vindicate their right to the place, they showed no further interest in it, and it does not appear either in the Valor or in Ministers' Accounts of the sixteenth century. (fn. 12)

The above-mentioned Multon is the earliest manorial lord of Garston of whom there is any record. He had three sons—Richard, Henry, and Ralph— and perhaps Matthew was another son. To Henry and to Matthew he made respective grants of three oxgangs of land, for the rent of 22½d., and to the ancestor of Thomas (living in 1212) he gave four oxgangs at 30d. This ancestor may have been the other son Ralph, who had at least one oxgang, afterwards the property of Stanlaw. (fn. 13) Richard son of Multon, who held Garston about 1146, was the father of Adam de Garston, who in 1201 and various subsequent years paid his contributions to the scutages. (fn. 14) Adam died in 1206, leaving a widow Margaret, afterwards married to Richard de Liverpool, (fn. 15) and sons Adam and Richard, both young. The wardship of the heir was purchased by his uncle Robert de Ainsdale. (fn. 16)

Adam the son of Richard was lord of Garston for many years, dying in 1265. He, like his father, was a benefactor to monasteries. (fn. 17) He also granted to Roger the miller of Barwe the third part of his mill in Garston with a fishery in Mersey and half the fishery of the mill pool. (fn. 18) Adam also came to an agreement with Alan le Norreys about the fishing in the pool of Garston, binding himself that none should fish there without Alan's consent, under a penalty of 40s. to St. Mary of St. John's Church at Chester. (fn. 19) He died about 1265, and at the inquest it was found that he had held four plough-lands in Garston in chief of Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, by a rent of 20s. per annum, doing suit to county and wapentake, and that he held nothing of any one else. Of the land seven oxgangs (worth 9s. 6d.) were in demesne, and twenty-five in service; there was a mill worth a mark yearly. His son John, of full age, was his next heir. (fn. 20)

John de Garston gave in alms two small portions of his waste in Aigburth to the monks of Stanlaw. (fn. 21) He appears to have died about 1285, leaving his brother Adam as his heir; and in the inquest of 1298 it was found that Adam de Garston had been lord of the place, and that his heir was in the king's hands by reason of minority. (fn. 22)

The succession at this point is doubtful. Probably the 'Adam, son of Adam, formerly lord of Garston,' who about the end of the thirteenth century made grants to his brother Robert and his sister Margery, was the son and heir; (fn. 23) but a John son of Adam de Garston occurs about the same time, leaving a daughter Sibota and a son Robert. (fn. 24) In any case, however, the inheritance came to an Ellen de Garston, who early in Edward II's reign married Robert de Blackburn, (fn. 25) thenceforward called 'lord of Garston.'

It will here be convenient to give some notice of the other branches of the Garston family. The inquest of 1212 shows the following members of it holding portions of the land: (i) The heir of Adam de Garston held four plough-lands of the king for 20s. in thegnage—this is the main line, whose fortunes have been recounted; (ii) Hugh son of Henry, three oxgangs for 22½d., of the gift of Multon; (iii) Thomas, four oxgangs for 2s. 6d., by the gift of Multon; (iv) Henry son of Matthew, three oxgangs for 22½d., of the gift of Multon; (v) Simon, three oxgangs for 22½d., of the gift of the aforesaid Adam his brother; these thirteen oxgangs were held of the lord of Garston; (vi) there were three acres held in alms. (fn. 26)

Hugh son of Henry son of Multon gave two of his three oxgangs to Hugh de Moreton, for the rent of a pound of cummin, and they were then given to Stanlaw Abbey. (fn. 27) Hugh and his son Richard continued to hold the land as tenants; Richard transferred the third oxgang to the monks in return for a gift of five marks. (fn. 28)

Thomas is not heard of again; but his four oxgangs may be those granted by Adam de Garston to Simon son of Henry de Garston, at the ancient farm of 2s. 6d. Simon gave lands in Aigburth to Stanlaw Abbey. He is probably the Simon the clerk, son of Henry, who attested several charters; his father was also a clerk. Simon had a son Henry and a daughter Maud, who married John Minting, her father giving them one oxgang on their marriage. (fn. 29)

Henry son of Matthew had a daughter Aubrey (or Albreda) who married William Rufus (Roo) and had a son Walter. Aubrey gave to the monks of Stanlaw two of the three oxgangs which descended to her, receiving seven marks and an annual rent of a pair of white gloves; and the other oxgang she sublet to Adam de Ainsdale, who granted this also to Stanlaw, together with half an oxgang he held of Roger Balle. Walter duly ratified his mother's gifts. (fn. 30)

The three oxgangs of Simon brother of Adam de Garston do not occur again, unless, indeed this Simon, and not Simon son of Henry, was the father of John son of Simon, whose story has been narrated above. (fn. 31)

Adam de Garston III had, beside his heir, a younger son Robert living as late as 1353, and commonly known as 'the lord's son.' As stated, Robert received one oxgang from his brother Adam, who had had it from their father, with reversion to their sister Margery. This oxgang he in 1341 gave to Adam his son for the old rent of 4d. to the chief lord; with reversion to Margery. (fn. 32) In 1343 John del Fernes, chaplain, gave to Robert all the latter's lands in Garston and fishery in the Mersey, with remainders in succession to his sons William, Roger, and Thomas. (fn. 33)

Blackburn of Garston. Argent, a fess undée between three mullets sable.

Robert de Blackburn held Garston for nearly forty years, dying about the year 1354; his wife Ellen is mentioned in 1332. He acquired various portions of land from the minor owners; from Richard son of Richard de Toxteth, two oxgangs and land in Grassendale; from Roger de Hale in Quindal Moor and the Dale; from Adam Wade in Mukelholm; from Henry de Easthead, and Margery his wife, in Ychyndale Moor; and from Robert del Eves lands and a fishery which had belonged to Simon son of John de Garston. (fn. 34)

Robert de Blackburn was succeeded by his eldest son John, who even before his father's death seems to have taken an active part in managing the estate. (fn. 35) He was lord of the manor for about fifty years, dying on 8 January, 1404–5, (fn. 36) and during this long period seems to have been constantly acquiring fresh portions of land. (fn. 37) At the inquest taken after his death it was found that he had held the manor of Garston of the king as duke of Lancaster, by knight's service, 6 oxgangs in Downham, lands in West Derby, Holland Place in Halewood, lands in Allerton and in Woolton. His heir was his grandson John, son of Robert, who was then fifteen years old and more. (fn. 38)

John, the grandson, (fn. 39) died early and without issue, and the inheritance came to his sister Agnes, who married Thomas, younger son of Sir John de Ireland of Hale. Thus the manor passed to the Irelands, who by the same marriage acquired Lydiate, the property of Agnes's mother, which they made their principal residence. (fn. 40) Little appears to be known of their connexion with Garston. (fn. 41) The inquest taken after the death of John Ireland in 1514 states that he held the manor of Garston of the king as duke of Lancaster in socage for a rent of 20s., lands in Allerton of the priory of Burscough by the rent of a grain of pepper if demanded; in Woolton of the prior of St. John of Jerusalem in England, and in Halewood of the earl of Derby. (fn. 42) His grandson Lawrence, in 1543, exchanged the manor of Garston and lands and watermill there and in Much Woolton with Sir William Norris of Speke, taking the latter's lands in Lydiate and Maghull. (fn. 43)

The Norris family had long had a fair holding in the township, the rents in 1450 amounting to £3 10s. (fn. 44) A junior branch seems to have resided there for a time. (fn. 45) The manor continued in the Norris family, descending like Speke, until near the end of the eighteenth century. (fn. 46) The dismemberment and sale of the estates began in 1775. (fn. 47) In February, 1779, the corporation of Liverpool purchased the manorial rights of Garston, with the intention, it was said, of regulating the fisheries in the Mersey, but in April of the following year the manor was sold to Peter Baker, a Liverpool shipbuilder, and his son-in-law John Dawson, captain of the privateer Mentor, which in 1778 had captured the French East Indiaman Carnatic with a rich booty. Certain reservations made by the corporation were afterwards given up. In January, 1791, Baker and Dawson conveyed the manor to the trustees of Richard Kent, a Liverpool merchant, who had died before the completion of the sale. Elizabeth Kent, his daughter, had married (in 1786) Lord Henry Murray, son of the third duke of Atholl; and they joined with John Blackburne of Liverpool (fn. 48) in procuring (at the latter's expense) an Act of Parliament (fn. 49) for destroying the entail and enabling the trustees to sell the Garston estate. John Blackburne purchased the manor under this Act, with various lands in Garston, but exclusive of the advowson of Garston chapel, the mill dale and pool, and certain rights; he also purchased independently other lands in Garston, and transferred his Liverpool salt works to this place. He willed this estate to his only child Alice Anne, wife of Thomas Hawkes of Himley, in Staffordshire, and about 1823 she disposed of them, the manor being sold to the Garston Land Company. The duchy of Lancaster afterwards made a claim to the manorial rights, (fn. 50) which are now said to be divided among the Lightbody (fn. 51) family and several companies. (fn. 52)

The neighbouring families of Ireland of Hale and Grelley of Allerton also had lands in Garston. In 1306 Thomas Grelley demanded against Adam de Ireland and Avina his wife two messuages and an oxgang of land in Garston. (fn. 53) One of the fields was known as Gredley's Acre.

The lands of Whalley Abbey were at the confiscation found to be leased to Lawrence Ireland for a rent of £4. (fn. 54) Some of the lands were by Queen Mary appropriated to the endowment of the Savoy Hospital in London; (fn. 55) and on this being dissolved they were sold. (fn. 56) They were held by Topham Beauclerk, the heir of the Norris family, about 1775.

Garston Hall was originally the grange house of the monks of Upholland, who, as appropriators of the rectory of Childwall, held the land of the church in Garston and the tithes. (fn. 57)

In 1350 John, prior of Holland, appeared against Nicholas de Bold and others on various charges, including one of carrying away his goods and chattels (valued at 100s.) at Woolton and Garston, and breaking into his fold at the latter place. (fn. 58) After the dissolution the hall became the property of the new see of Chester, as part of the rectory of Childwall, and was farmed out with the tithes to the Andertons and Gerards. It was a half-timbered building, standing on a rock overhanging the lower mill-dam. There is a tradition that a room in it was used for Roman Catholic worship during the time of proscription, which is not unlikely, considering who were the lessees. (fn. 59)

The hamlet of Brooks, in which the early Norris holding seems to have chiefly lain, gave a name to one or more families dwelling there. (fn. 60) The principal of these had its origin in a certain Gilbert living early in the thirteenth century. Richard, son of Gilbert de Brooks, gave to Roger his brother land called Carran, stretching from the river dividing the Carran of Speke from the Carran of Brooks, to the chief ridge of Roger's heir, and from the river of Garston to the boundary of Allerton; Roger son of Robert de Brooks gave to Hugh son of Lette of Garston, land near the river of Slodekan, and near the river of Quitefelf; and John son of Roger Punchard granted to Alan le Norreys of land between the Hollow brook and the highway, one head extending to the house of Robert de Blackburn on the west and the other towards Carran in the east. (fn. 61) The Tranmole or Tranmore family had a small holding at Brooks which ultimately passed to Norris of Speke, the rental of 1454 stating that Wilkyn Plombe and John Jenkynson paid 9s. 4d. rent 'for Tranmoor's lands.' (fn. 62)

Grassendale (fn. 63) had risen to the dignity of a hamlet by the time of Elizabeth.

AIGBURTH

AIGBURTH (fn. 64) seems at first to have been the descriptive name of a district at the north-west end of Garston and the west of Allerton. It was very largely in the hands of religious foundations—Stanlaw (Whalley), (fn. 65) Cockersand, and to a small extent the hospital of St. John at Chester. Under these houses probably the local families held. Henry son of Hugh de Aigburth is mentioned as holding land in the Brooks about 1270, in a charter to which Adam de Aigburth was a witness; and Alice daughter of Hugh de Aigburth was in 1274 the wife of John de Garston, son of Robert called the Mouner. (fn. 66) Adam de Aigburth about this time made an exchange with the monks of Stanlaw of land in the moor at Aigburth. (fn. 67) He is described as 'forester of Toxteth,' and may therefore be the Adam de Toxteth who was the ancestor of a family holding land in Aigburth down to the sixteenth century. (fn. 68) Adam de Toxteth in 1292 made an unsuccessful attempt to recover from Abbot Gregory a messuage and 30 acres of land of which he said he was disseised by the former Abbot Robert. (fn. 69) On the other hand he was successful in resisting a claim by Robert de Thornyhead of Hale. (fn. 70) Margery, Adam's widow, granted to Adam son of Henry de Garston land in the Rotherrakes, and may be the Margery de Aigburth who had land in Quindal Moor. (fn. 71)

Roger de Toxteth, the son and heir, may be the Roger the clerk, or Roger de Toxteth, clerk, concerned in many of the local charters of his time. (fn. 72) By a fine in 1315 this Roger arranged for the succession to his property; (fn. 73) the remainders after Roger's own children (unnamed) were to Thomas son of Wenthlian daughter of Anyan Voyl, to Floria daughter of Wenthlian, and to John son of Richard de Toxteth. (fn. 74) Roger appears to have died in 1327, and in 1331 Thomas son of Roger de Toxteth made a claim against Margaret widow of Richard as to land in Garston, but did not prosecute it. (fn. 75)

The succession is not clear at this point. The next in evidence is Adam de Toxteth, a witness to charters in 1342. He appears to have died early, (fn. 76) for in 1344 there was an arrangement made as to the succession to lands of his young son Roger, by Roger de la More on the one part and John (son of William) de la More on the other; the latter was about to marry Adam's widow Katherine, a daughter of John del Ford. (fn. 77) Some years later the duke of Lancaster's escheator took into his hands all the lands in Garston that Adam de Toxteth had possessed, alleging that Adam had made them over to Roger atte More (on trust) after he had committed a certain felony. At the trial in 1352 the jury found such to have been the case, and said the duke should have the issues for six years, amounting to £9, which John de Liverpool must pay. (fn. 78) Restitution, however, must have been obtained, for in 1360, when Roger the son and heir of Adam came of age, John de la More released to him two-thirds of his lands. (fn. 79)

About 1361 Roger de Toxteth made a settlement of his lands in Garston, Aigburth, Halewood, and Wavertree on his marriage with Agnes daughter of William de Slene. (fn. 80) The succession again becomes obscure for nearly a century. (fn. 81)

In 1484 a marriage was arranged between James son of John Toxteth and Isabel his wife, and Alice daughter of Thomas Norris of Speke. (fn. 82) John, probably a son of James, in 1525 entered into a bond in £20 to perform certain covenants. (fn. 83) In 1544 there was a settlement of disputes between John Toxteth of Aigburth and Henry Tarleton of Fazakerley on the one part and Sir William Norris on the other part. Sir William had enclosed a piece of waste in Aigburth Lane, as common appertaining to the manor of Garston; and he further claimed the marriage of Ellen Toxteth, younger daughter and one of the coheirs of John, for Richard Norris son and heir apparent of Henry Norris of West Derby. Arbitrators were appointed who decided in favour of Sir William, expressing the wish that he would be 'good master' to the tenants of John Toxteth and Alice his wife, as before the variance. (fn. 84) The elder daughter, not mentioned here, married William Brettargh of the Holt in Little Woolton; and this family owned a portion of Aigburth until the beginning of the eighteenth century. (fn. 85)

The mention of the Tarleton family is interesting; in one way or another they were connected with Aigburth until the beginning of the nineteenth century, but the succession and connexion of the various Tarletons is not quite clear during the period. (fn. 86)

The jury of the leet in 1686 ordered that the lord of the manor of Garston should have free privilege to set hunting gates, &c., according to his worship's pleasure, for hunting or any other recreation, disturbers to forfeit 20s. (fn. 87)

In 1717 the following 'Papists' registered estates in Garston:—James and William Dwerryhouse of Grassendale, Thomas Fazakerley, and Edward Hitchmough. (fn. 88)

The principal landowners in 1787, as shown by the land-tax return, were Thomas Tarleton and Elizabeth Lightbody.

CHURCH

St. Wilfrid's (fn. 89) chapel existed at an early date; and appears to have been considered parochial, even if not an independent parish church; thus 'Henry parson of Garston' is witness to a charter in the first quarter of the thirteenth century. (fn. 90) Just before Adam de Garston's death the chaplaincy became vacant, and he claimed the patronage as of an independent church, presenting to the bishop of Lichfield for institution a clerk named Reginald de Sileby; but Herbert Grelley, rector of Childwall, opposed, asserting that Garston was only a chapelry, and in his own charge as rector. The bishop, after taking advice, agreed that Herbert, as rector, should hold it as long as he held the rectory, and (as compensation) pay from the goods of the chapel 3 marks a year to Reginald in the Black Friars' Church at Derby. (fn. 91) The right of patronage was not decided; but the question does not seem to have been raised subsequently. (fn. 92) Besides Henry the parson other early chaplains are mentioned — Ralph, (fn. 93) Richard, (fn. 94) and Roger, 'chaplain of Garston and of Hale.' (fn. 95) Later chaplains, who probably ministered here, were John de Fernes, (fn. 96) John del Dale, (fn. 97) Robert Boton, (fn. 98) William Whitfield, (fn. 99) Adam the Mason, (fn. 100) William de Wavertree, (fn. 101) William Fletcher, (fn. 102) Thomas de Blackburn, (fn. 103) Richard Challoner, and John Fletcher. (fn. 104)

From remains of the mediaeval building discovered during the demolition of the eighteenth-century chapel in 1888, it appears that it dated from the time of Edward I, and was repaired or practically rebuilt about 1500. (fn. 105) It seems to have been abandoned for worship in the reign of Edward VI, when it is spoken of as nuper capella. (fn. 106) The building remained in use only as a rent-receiving place, many of the lessees being bound to pay their rents at or in the chapel, or more particularly in the south porch. In 1605 the 'right worshipful' Edward Norris, in his old age, made an endeavour to keep it in repair, and desired his son to find a suitable chaplain for it. (fn. 107) The work seems to have been completed in 1609, (fn. 108) The Norrises, as lessees of the tithe-barn at Garston, received the tithes of that 'quarter' of the parish, and may have been responsible for the repair of the chapel.

The Commonwealth church surveyors found the 'very ancient' chapel in ruin and decay, and without an incumbent. They considered it fit to be made a parish church. Garston Hall paid 13s. 4d. to the farmer of the tithes, 'as land belonging to the parish of Childwall.' (fn. 109) The Norrises of Speke became Protestants about this time, but it was nearly fifty years before they did anything for the chapel. Then Katherine, widow of Thomas Norris, by her will in 1707 left £300 for a new building, and in 1715 and 1716 her son Edward, lord of the manor, carried out her wishes at a cost of about £360, and gave £300 as an endowment for a minister, by this means securing £200 from Queen Anne's Bounty.

The old building was entirely demolished, a font being found in the rubbish. The new chapel of St. Michael, a plain but substantial stone building, was erected on the site. Several gravestones were found in the chapel-yard, and there Edward Norris himself was buried in 1726. (fn. 110) There is a tablet to his memory on the church. A district was formed for it in 1828, (fn. 111) and the existing church was built in 1876–7. The registers date from 1777. The lord of the manor of Speke is the patron, and the following is a list of the curates and vicars: (fn. 112)

1716 James Holme (fn. 113)
1730 John Norris (fn. 114)
1738 Thomas Barlow (fn. 114)
1744 Abraham Ashcroft
1786 Jonathan Casson
1805 James Ashton
1810 Marcus Aurelius Parker
1811 John Vause, M.A. (Fellow of King's College, Cambridge)
1836 John Gibson (first vicar, 1867)
1869 John Fitzgerald Hewson, B.A.
1884 Thomas Oliver, D.D. (T.C.D.)

Aigburth was formed into an ecclesiastical parish in 1844; (fn. 115) St. Anne's church had been built in 1837. Mossley Hill became an ecclesiastical parish in 1875; the cruciform church of St. Matthew and St. James on the crest of the hill has a conspicuous central tower. A mission church of St. Barnabas has lately been opened. Grassendale was made into an ecclesiastical parish in 1855 (fn. 116) for the church of St. Mary, built in 1853. The patronage of the three benefices is in the hands of different bodies of trustees.

At Garston the Wesleyan Methodists have two churches; the Welsh Methodists and the Methodist Free Church each one.

There are a Congregational church (fn. 117) and a Baptist church. The Presbyterians have a church, built in 1894, with a mission hall. The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists have a place of worship. At Aigburth also there is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel.

At Grassendale is the Roman Catholic church of St. Austin, served by the English Benedictines; it was opened in 1838, but represents the mission formerly maintained by several of the older families in the district, as the Harringtons of Aigburth. (fn. 118) There is a small cemetery adjoining. At Garston a temporary chapel of St. Francis of Assisi was opened in 1883, the building having formerly been used by the Congregationalists; the present church, on an adjacent site, was opened in 1905.

Footnotes

  • 1. The census gives 1,673 acres, including 22 of inland water; to this must be added 888 acres of tidal water and 524 acres of foreshore.
  • 2. Lond. Gaz. 7 July, 1854.
  • 3. 'About 100 persons are employed here (1825) chiefly in the simple process of dissolving this rock [from Northwich] in salt water, and afterwards boiling the brine, which then becomes salt'; Baines' Dir.
  • 4. At the beginning of the eighteenth century Thomas Patten of Warrington, writing to Richard Norris of Liverpool, says: 'You very well know the mischief that is done on the River Mersey, or at least have frequently heard what vast numbers of salmon trout are taken so as to supply all the country and market towns twenty miles round, and when the country is cloyed and they cannot get sale for them they give them to their swine. Your brother did formerly take three or four salmon a week at a fishing in or near Speke, but of late hath taken very few or none, of which he hath complained to me, and he imputes this loss to the destruction of the fry'; Norris Papers (Chet. Soc.), 37–8. 'About twenty-five years ago,' wrote M. Gregson in 1817, 'the chemical preparation for bleaching was manufactured here by Mons. Bonnel, on its early introduction into England, but the work has long since been discontinued. Vitriol works were also carried on for a short time at Garston … There are a few fishermen here; but formerly, it is said, great quantities of fish were caught on the Liverpool shore … Many fishgarths, we are sorry to find, are stalled down from Runcorn Gap to Liverpool, viz. at Runcorn, Hale, Garston, and Toxteth Park. It is to be lamented that so much small fry is destroyed, particularly during spring tides; as their food being thus taken away, the large fish are prevented from visiting our shores as usual'; Fragments (ed. Harland), 193.
  • 5. Gregson, l.s.c.
  • 6. E. W. Cox, in Trans. Hist. Soc. (New 8er.), iv; also Trans. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xix, 203.
  • 7. E. W. Cox.
  • 8. Joseph Boult in Trans. Hist. Soc. xx, 160–5. The railway company's docks have now made a change in the southern part of the shore.
  • 9. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 279.
  • 10. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 19.
  • 11. Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 270–86.
  • 12. Mon. Angl. iii, 521–3; Cal. Pat. 1330–34, p. 39.
  • 13. Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), ii, 564.
  • 14. Lancs. Pipe R. 279, 153, 178, 204. Adam granted in alms to Cockersand Abbey land from his demesne in Aigburth in the western corner of the township with pasture for 500 sheep and 20 cows, and for oxen and draught horses; and further land upon the brook separating Garston from Allerton, near St. Mary's Well, and between the 'meneway' of Halewood and the direct road between the two vills named; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 554, 557. He also granted his brother Simon three oxgangs at a rent of 22½d.; Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 19.
  • 15. Richard de Liverpool's Garston ditch is mentioned in an early charter (Whalley Coucher, ii, 565); and he was a witness to other charters.
  • 16. Ibid. ii, 555 n.; Lancs. Pipe R. 279; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, 128. The Ainsdale family had lands in Garston; see Blundell of Crosby evidences (Towneley MSS.), K. 16, 17; Whalley Coucher, ii, 573.
  • 17. To Cockersand he gave additional land in Aigburth, 'with the consent of all the free tenants,' and another piece apparently in the hamlet called Brooks; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 556–7. He gave to Stanlaw Abbey land in Aigburth, with the usual easements, for three marks of silver, and an annual rent of 1d. or a pair of gloves; an oxgang which Ralph, son of Multon, had held; a plot called 'farthing' with a right to use the road, going and returning beyond the moor as far as the Mersey; and other lands in the Rotherrake, and elsewhere. He gave the monks water rights also; a fishery called the Lachegard; rights in the water adjoining, for the benefit of the conversi at Woolton grange, the monks to use it as they pleased; liberty to make another fishery on the Mersey anywhere as far as Otterspool; and lastly all the water running from his mill at Garston into the Mersey, and a place (wherever they might choose) to make a tannery or fulling mill, with its necessary pool. All these gifts were in pure alms, with the reservation that the monks should full for him the cloth made in his own house, and that without payment; Whalley Coucher, ii, 559, 563–9. He granted to his uncle, William de Backford, son of Adam, parson of that place, half an oxgang in Alton (elsewhere Holtum) in Garston, for a service of four barbed and winged arrows each year; and to the hospital of St. John outside the Northgate of Chester, some further land with half a fishery on the river, which the brethren afterwards granted to the same William de Backford for a rent of 12d. This holding was with Adam's consent transferred to the monks of Stanlaw; ibid. ii, 578–81. The originals of some of these charters are among the Norris D. (B.M.). He confirmed also for a present of half a mark, the gift of three oxgangs which Adam de Bickerstath had made to the same abbey; ibid. ii, 577.
  • 18. The grantor was to find wood for the mill and carry it to the site, but Roger was to make the mill; as to the pool and the millstones Adam was to be responsible for two parts and the miller for one; Norris D. (B.M.), 662–3.
  • 19. Ibid. 665. Alan le Norreys had acquired the half fishery on the millpool granted to Roger de Barwe; ibid. 730. To William son of Alan and Amicia his wife Adam de Garston granted an oxgang of land formerly held by Suard the thegn, and more recently by the grantor's brother Richard, with the land in Aigburth and the fisheries appertaining to it, the rent to be 18d. To his daughters by Yseult his wife, Alice and Margery, he gave 3½ oxgangs with all liberties except as to the fishes of his pool; and to Simon de Garston he allowed the 4 oxgangs formerly held by Henry and Alice, the parents of Simon, for a rent of 2s. 6d.; ibid. 666, 668, 664. His widow Hawise surrendered to the monks of Stanlaw all her dower right in the lands Adam had given them; Whalley Coucher, ii, 584.
  • 20. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, 232.
  • 21. Whalley Coucher, ii, 560–74; one of them was in the Middle dole. To Adam son of Henry de Garston he gave several plots of land—in the Gorstiehol, Humbeldale, Rotherrakes and elsewhere; while to Agnes, one of his sisters, he gave lands in Echyndale moor; and to Adam son of William de Garston and Ellen his wife a piece in the Brugegrevis; Norris D. (B. M.), 690–3.
  • 22. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, 287.
  • 23. Norris D. (B. M.), 673–4.
  • 24. Ibid. 693, 763, 786, 822.
  • 25. The name is often spelt Blakeburn.
  • 26. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, 19.
  • 27. Whalley Coucher, ii, 569, 570, 577.
  • 28. For this and other grants see Whalley Coucher, ii, 575, 573, 561, 576. Adam de Garston as superior lord ratified the sale of the three oxgangs to Stanlaw; in this he calls the grantor Richard de Bickerstath; ibid. ii, 577.
  • 29. Norris D. (B. M.), 664, 704; Whalley Coucher, ii, 582. Simon son of Henry may also have been the father of John son of Simon, who had a son Simon, husband of Iseult; their children were Roger and Ellen. The former married in 1334 Ellen daughter of Robert del Eves, but had no issue by her, and she afterwards married Henry de Torbock. The inheritance thus passed to Ellen the sister of Roger, and in 1365 she sold it to John de Blackburn, lord of the manor. The holding is described as three messuages, 30 acres of land and 3d. rent., with the homages and services of Sir Henry le Norreys of Speke, Adam de Minting and William Jenkinson Hulleson of Garston, for lands held of Ellen; she received 100 marks; Norris D. (B. M.), 707, 767, 777, 835, 808, 833–7; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 173. There had been a dispute as to possession between Henry de Torbock and his wife on one side and the Blackburns and others on the other side, resulting in favour of the former; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. ii.
  • 30. Whalley Coucher, ii, 575, 571, 582.
  • 31. It will have been noticed that at the death of Adam de Garston in 1265 only 7 of the 32 oxgangs remained in the lord's hands; the remainder had all been granted out. The abbey of Stanlaw had 7½ oxgangs including the land of the Chester hospital. Suard the thegn had one which passed to Richard brother of Adam II, and afterwards to William son of Alan de Garston; Norris B. (B. M.), 666. Alice and Margery, daughters of Adam II, had 3½ oxgangs, of which 3 had been his mother's dower; ibid. 668. Henry son of Simon had four, as above stated; John the clerk seems to have had one; ibid. 695. Alan del Moss appears to have had one or two; ibid. 681, 708. Adam son of Alan 1½; ibid. 687. Roger Balle 2, of which ½ was held by Adam de Ainsdale and 1½ by Roger son of Siward; Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), ii, 571, 583, 584. This land seems to have come into the possession of Stanlaw, and may be included in the 7½. The church or chapel of Garston had one, unless this was considered part of the demesne; Norris D. (B. M.), 743. Hugh son of Lette seems also to have had 1½; ibid. 675. Adam son of Adam II had one, which afterwards passed to his brother Robert; ibid. 674. There may be others. Those given amount to 26 instead of 25, showing that in some cases the land was held not directly of the lord of the manor, but of an intermediate owner. Another point to be noticed is that the holder, while keeping his 'oxgang' intact, would sell the approvements from the waste belonging to it. For instance the above-named Hugh son of Lette sold to Adam, lord of Garston, land in the field called Gorsticroft, 'to wit as much as belongs to an oxgang and a half of land.' John the Clerk also granted 'as much as belongs to one oxgang of land in the place called Quindal moor'; afterwards he granted to another person 'all the part which belongs to the oxgang which John has in the said vill [of Garston], lying between the river and Brooks.' Alan, son-in-law of Wymark of Garston, and Alice his wife granted 'all their part of the waste in Quindal Moor, as much as belongs to their oxgang of land in the vill of Garston'; Norris D. (B. M.), 675, 670, 695, 708.
  • 32. Norris D. (B. M.), 788.
  • 33. Ibid. 794. Another local family had as its founder Alan del Moss, who had sons William and Hugh and a daughter Alice. This last, known as 'the widow of Garston,' had three daughters, Alice, Wymark, and Iseult; she quitclaimed to the monks of Stanlaw, with her daughters' consent, Henry son of Gilbert the Little of Garston, having received 7s. from the abbot and convent. Possibly she was the Alice widow of Richard de Garston (or Bickerstath) already mentioned; Whalley Coucher, ii, 589, 576. The daughter Wymark appears to have been a person of some importance; her daughter Alice was known by her mother's name and her husband Adam called himself 'son-in-law of Wymark.' One of Alice's charters (c. 1310) mentions several field names— Hungry hill, Bridge greves, Galghstan field, Long doles, and the moss; in another the Grossefield is named; Norris D. (B. M.), 707, 708, 747. Adam son of William son of Alan del Moss had in 1290 a grant of land in Quindal Moor from Adam de Garston; ibid. 744. Richard son of Richard de Thornton was among the benefactors of Stanlaw, giving land in Aigburth which he had received from Richard son of Hugh; ibid. ii, 561. He was followed about the middle of the thirteenth century by a Henry de Thornton, perhaps his son. Henry, who had a daughter Christina (Norris D. 19), was followed by a Simon de Thornton; Simon's widow Alice in 1295 relinquished all her claim upon any lands her husband had given to Stanlaw; Whalley Coucher, ii, 586. Other families occur. Simon de Molyneux had a son Robert and a grandson Adam in 1325–6, holding lands in Garston; perhaps a descendant was William de Molyneux, who about 1410 married Katherine daughter and coheir of John Godmonson and Aline his wife; Norris D. (B. M.), 676, 669, 759, 886. John the Clerk already mentioned was son of Martin of Churchlee; he married Iseult, daughter of Hugh Hall, and had a son John, who like his father appears in many thirteenth-century charters; ibid. 689, 694–701.
  • 34. Norris D. (B. M.), 757, 771, 772, 783, 790. He had a long dispute concerning some lands and the third part of a mill at Garston with Roger Kenesson of Crosby and Maud his wife. Katherine, bastard daughter of Ellen daughter of Roger de Garston, had held the tenements by fealty and a rent of 16d. and Maud claimed as the true heir, asserting that she had enfeoffed Katherine; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. viii d.; m. xi d; Assize R. 435, m. 10; m. 30; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3 (2 to 4 Duke Henry). About the same time Adam son of Richard Hoggeson complained that Robert de Blackburn and his sons John, Thomas, and Robert had disseised him of his free tenement in Garston—2 messuages and 12 acres. Robert defended himself by the plea that the disputed tenements were held by knight's service and that he took possession of them because Adam was under age; the jury, however, found that the tenure was socage, and that Adam had been unjustly disseised; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. ii.
  • 35. In 1348 John acquired lands in Humbeldale from Adam de Minting and in Mukelholm from Richard son of Roger Dogson, and made further purchases in later years; Norris D. (B. M.), 798, 800, 818, 809, 812.
  • 36. The writ Diem clausit extr. was issued 20 January; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 5.
  • 37. In 1357 John de Blackburn acquired from Robert son of John son of Adam de Garston, land in Edgefield, Wytefield, and Quindel Gate, and the reversion of lands belonging to Ellen the widow of John; Norris D. (B. M.), 818, &c. At the end of Edward III's reign John de Blackburn appeared in court against John son of Henry del Brooks and Margaret his wife, and Joan daughter of Adam de Minting in a plea concerning a messuage and an oxgang of land in Garston and a fishery in the Mersey; and against William de Whitfield in the same claim. The defendants did not appear, and John recovered seisin; De Banc. R. 460, m. 375 d. He made a feoffment of his lands in 1357, including the manor of Garston, with its demesne lands, mills, fisheries, &c., and lands in Allerton. No remainders are recited in the deed; Norris D. (B. M.), 816, 817, 841.
  • 38. Towneley MS. DD, 1457.
  • 39. On 27 January, 1404–5, a grant of the wardship and marriage of John, son of Robert, son and heir of John de Blackburn, was made to John de Osbaldeston, and a writ of Diem clausit extr. on the death of a Roger de Blackburn was issued two years later; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 532; xxxiii, App. 7.
  • 40. Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 25–6. See the account of Lydiate.
  • 41. The feodary of 1430 states that Thomas de Ireland held the manor of Garston in right of his wife, paying 20s. and performing suit of county and wapentake, and going with the bailiff; Dods. MS. lxxxvii, fol. 57.
  • 42. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, n. 16.
  • 43. A list of the tenants and their rents is preserved among the Norris deeds (B. M.). The total rent was £16 2s. 8d. including 'broad arrows' valued at 2d. each.
  • 44. In 1326 Alan le Norreys of Speke acquired land by the Kirkway and abutting on Quindal Moor from Robert the 'lord's son'; continuing he later bought land called 'Farthings' in Branderth, near Allerton Brook, and other holdings in the Brooks, securing in 1339 that of Sibota, daughter of John son of Adam de Garston. Other acquisitions followed; and his descendants continued the same course, until, as stated, they acquired the manor and all the Ireland (or Blackburn) lands in the reign of Henry VIII. Norris D. (B.M.), 761, &c.
  • 45. In 1400 John son of Richard le Norreys held lands in Garston and Speke, and in 1448–9 John Norris of Garston and Katherine his wife enfeoffed Thomas Blackburn, chaplain, of all their lands in Garston and Allerton. Two years later these were released to John Norris of Kirkby, son of John Norris late of Garston, and he in turn transferred them to Thomas Lathom of Knowsley, who conveyed them to William Norris of Speke. Norris D. (B.M.), 877, 903–13.
  • 46. A large number of their leases from 1550 to 1680 have been preserved in the collection just cited; in some cases fishyards in the Mersey were attached to the tenements; in many 'boons and averages' were required in addition to the money rent, the 'rent capon' being specially mentioned. Some interesting and descriptive field names occur; thus in one of 1577 Leafurlong, abutting on the road called Greengate; Bridge Greaves; Whyndow Hey (the older Quindal, in the southern corner of the township), the higher lane and the way from Garston chapel to Speke Hall are mentioned.
  • 47. The Hon. Topham Beauclerk and Lady Diana were deforciants of the manor of Garston in August, 1774; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 392, m. 64.
  • 48. He was nephew of the Thomas Blackburne who married Ireland Greene of Hale, and son of John Blackburne of Liverpool (mayor, 1760). He was mayor of Liverpool in 1788. Gregson, Fragments, 194. Blackburne House in Hope Street, Liverpool, was a residence of his; Picton, Memorials, ii, 152.
  • 49. 33 Geo. III.
  • 50. This statement of the recent descent of the manor is abridged from a full account by Joseph Boult in Trans. Hist. Soc. xx, 147, 190, with map.
  • 51. Adam Lightbody about 1775 bought Island Farm and other lands, and his descendant Robert Lightbody sold Island Farm to the Liverpool Land Company; part of it is now a public recreationground.
  • 52. Information of Rev. Dr. Oliver.
  • 53. De Banc. R. 161, m. 481.
  • 54. Whalley Coucher, iv, 1235.
  • 55. Pat. 4 and 5 Phil. and Mary, pt. xv.
  • 56. Norris D. (B. M.).
  • 57. There is extant a decree made in 1334 by Roger bishop of Lichfield, which states that brother William of Doncaster, formerly prior, resided alone in the manor house at Garston, contrary to the rule and to good order, and commands the monks to recall him to Upholland at once under the threat of the greater excommunication. It would appear that ex-Prior William had quarrelled with his monastic brethren, and they had sent him away to Garston for the sake of peace; Lich. Reg. iii, fol. 60b. The ex-prior on his return was to rank next after the prior in church, refectory, chapter, dormitory and elsewhere.
  • 58. De Banc. R. 363, m. 92d.; 364, m. 78d.
  • 59. E. W. Cox in Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), iv, 136. A view of the building is given.
  • 60. A large number of charters referring to Brooks are among the Norris D. (B.M.). A charter of John son of Adam de Ireland of Hale to his son David (1349) may be quoted on account of the description of bounds: 'All my lands and tenements … in the vill and territory of Garston lying in a certain place called le Brokes, within the boundaries hereafter written, namely: Beginning at the Stanbergh where the two brooks join in one towards Garston on the west, and so following the rivulet as far as the land of the Abbot of Cockersand, and so as far as the boundary of Allerton in the eastern side, and so following the boundary of Allerton to the boundary of Speke, and so following the boundary of Speke to the aforesaid brook, and so following that brook to the aforesaid Stanbergh.' Hale D.
  • 61. Norris D. (B. M.), 709, 716, 727.
  • 62. This family appear in Hale, where in 1292 Richard son of Richard de Tranmoor had 12 acres, and William son of Richard 11 acres; Plac. de quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 228. About 1280 Roger son of Robert de Brooks gave part of his land here to Richard de Tranmole and his heirs, for his homage and service, at a rent of 1d. of silver and the ancient farm of 10d. to the chief lord; Norris D. (B. M.), 714, 715. In 1298 William de Tranmole was witness to a charter; and in 1349 John son of William de Tranmole of Hale granted to his son Richard land in Brookfield in Garston; ibid. 805. This Richard, about 1367–8, acquired further lands in the same place from John son of Alan de Brooks, and in 1382–3 a selion in Egyndale Moor from John son of Simon le Mercer of Aigburth; and another in Brooks from William Goodall; ibid. 842, 843, 859, 860. Then in 1429 Roger de Tranmore of Garston sold to William le Norreys of Speke all his lands in Garston and Allerton; ibid. 893, 638.
  • 63. Contracted from the old Gresselond Dale.
  • 64. Aykeberyt, Aykeberk, Aykeberg, early; Haykebergh, 1327; Aykebergh, 1361; Egberigh, 1600; Ackeberth, 1537; Aykeberthe, 1544.
  • 65. The old hall of Aigburth is believed to have been the grange of the abbot of Whalley. In 1291 the grange at Aykeberwe, with half ploughland, was valued at 5s.; assized rents brought in 12s. and the profit of the stock was 9s. 7d.; Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 259.
  • 66. Norris D. (B. M.), 712, 743. A Robert de Aigburth had land near Hechindale Moor; ibid. 694.
  • 67. Whalley Coucher, ii, 562.
  • 68. Norris D. (B. M.), 667. 'Adam de Aigburth' and 'Adam de Toxteth' are witnesses to charters in the latter half of the thirteenth century, but never to the same charter.
  • 69. Assize R. 408, m. 41d. In 1295 the plaintiff and his son and heir Roger released to the abbot their claim; Whalley Coucher, ii, 587, 588.
  • 70. Assize R. 408, m. 70d. The following pedigree was put forward by plaintiff: Aldouse — s. Henry — s. Henry — s. Robert de Thornyhead.
  • 71. Norris D. (B. M.), 723, 679.
  • 72. Roger's brother Richard was a clerk also. Nothing further seems known of the other brother William, but there was a sister Agnes who married Richard 'called Wade' and had a daughter Floria, who married John de Derlegh. Adam de Toxteth gave to his daughter Agnes on her marriage a plot in the newly ploughed land outside the Bridge greves, for the rent of a pair of white gloves; Norris D. (B. M.), 724; see also 680, 684. Richard Wade on his daughter's marriage gave her all his lands in Garston for the rent of a rose (1329), and in later years Richard Wade junior and Agnes widow of Richard Wade quitclaimed, and Roger de Toxteth also; Norris D. (B. M.), 748, 750, 753, 760. In 1325 Roger had a dispute with his brother Richard's widow Agnes and son Richard and with Adam Wade concerning land in Garston. The younger Richard claimed to hold as heir of an elder brother William, deceased, and Agnes claimed for dower. The jury, however, held that Roger's claim was justified, his brother having had no more than a life interest; Assize R. 426, m. 6.
  • 73. Described as 8 messuages, 100 acres of land, 6 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture, and 8 acres of wood in Garston.
  • 74. Final Conc. ii, 21, 22. John son of Richard de Toxteth in 1347 had land and a fishery in Aigburth and the Holme in Garston; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 230. Roger de Toxteth in 1323–4 claimed from Robert de Blackburn and Ellen his wife, a messuage and 1½ oxgangs of land, and from Roger de Stanihurst and Alice his wife a messuage and ½ oxgang, as his inheritance through his mother Margery de Garston. In the following year Adam son of Robert de Blackburn (a minor) appears as claimant of the same properties; De Banc. R. 251, m. 117d.; 255, m. 224; 257, m. 204.
  • 75. Assize R. 1404, m. 18. The widow, however, released to Thomas the lands her husband had held in Garston and Aigburth; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 231b.
  • 76. In 1343 two men were charged with having beaten and wounded Adam de Toxteth at Prescot; Assize R. 430, m. 27.
  • 77. Norris D. (B. M.), 21.
  • 78. Assize R. 432, m. 1.
  • 79. The other third was the dower of Roger's mother (John's wife). Roger had younger brothers, John and Thomas; the next remainder was to Richard son of Thomas de Molyneux; Norris D. (B. M.), 192. Various suits arose out of the marriage of Roger's mother to John de la More (mayor of Liverpool in 1351). They recovered in 1346 the third (dower) part of a messuage, 26 acres of land, and 2 acres of meadow against John de Toxteth and Richard his son; De Banc. R. 348, m. 126d. In 1357 John son of Alan le Norreys of Speke proceeded against John de la More for taking cattle in Garston in a place called the Thorns; while in the following years John de la More and his wife claimed from John le Norreys dower right in a messuage and 30 acres of land in Garston; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 6, m. 5; Assize R. 438, m. 8d.; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 7, m. 3. It was no doubt as part of the same series of actions that Roger de Toxteth, the heir, made a claim (non-suited) for novel disseisin against John le Norreys; ibid. R. 6, m. 5d.
  • 80. Norris D. (B.M.), 22, 829, 830. The remainders were to John de Blackburn, Richard son of Thomas de Molyneux, Stephen son of Anyon le Waleys, and Richard son of John de Toxteth.
  • 81. Roger occurs among witnesses to charters down to 1391; he was followed by John de Toxteth, occurring 1400 to 1414, Richard de Toxteth of Aigburth from 1435 to 1472, and John de Toxteth from 1474 onwards; Norris D. (B.M.). In 1448 Robert abbot of Cockersand claimed 9s. 4d. rent from lands in Aigburth in Allerton, unjustly held by John Thornton, master of St. John's Hospital, Chester; and 12d. rent in Garston, unjustly held by Richard Toxteth, and the jury agreed to uphold his claims; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 11, m. 39.
  • 82. Norris D. (B.M.), 928–31.
  • 83. Ibid. 23.
  • 84. Ibid. 24.
  • 85. By fine in 1570 William Brettargh and Anne his wife transferred to William Lathom and William Spencer houses and lands in Aigburth and Garston; and three years later William Brettargh, son and heir apparent of the above, sold to Edward Norris of Speke the same for £160; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 32, m. 135; 35, m. 27.
  • 86. See Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), ii, 677. It is clear from the above that the Tarletons of Fazakerley were the parent stock of the Aigburth family. Richard Tarleton, who died in August, 1555, was the son of Henry Tarleton; he had no lands in Aigburth. His heir was his son William, aged 21, in 1569; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, n. 31. Henry's second wife Margaret and William's mother Edith (who had married William Lathom) were both living. In 1576 William Lathom and Edith his wife and William and Edward Tarleton by fine remitted their rights in various lands in Aigburth, Garston, Fazakerley, and other places, to Cuthbert Scholefield and William Bower; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 38, m. 3. About ten years later Edward Tarleton occurs in a Fazakerley case; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 200. He was considered an 'obstinate' recusant in 1593, but 'could not be found' by the sheriff; five years later he was, as a recusant, assessed £10 for the queen's service in Ireland; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, p. 261, 262 (quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. n. ccxxxiii, and vol. cclxvi, n. 80). Edward Tarleton died 7 July, 1626, holding lands in Aigburth of Sir William Norris of Speke, also in Walton and Fazakerley; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p. m. xxix, 34. His successor was his son Edward Tarleton, aged forty-five when the inquest was taken; he, as a 'convicted recusant,' in 1628 paid double to the subsidy (Norris D.), and died in June, 1653, leaving by his wife Dorothy two sons, Edward, who survived his father but a week, and Richard. On account of their religion their estates had been sequestered; Cal. of Com. for Comp. v, 3203. It was probably the younger Edward Tarleton's daughters whose marriages are known; but Winifred, who married Nicholas Fazakerley, may have been the daughter of the elder Edward; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), p. 108. Dorothy inherited Aigburth and by her marriage with John Harrington of Huyton brought it to this family, their sons Charles and John succeeding to it; Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, p. 130. The latter by his will (Piccope MSS. Chet. Lib. iii, 238, from Roll of 2 Geo. II at Preston) left the Aigburth estate to his brother-in-law William Molyneux of Mossborough, who in 1731 sold it to George Warrington of Chester; ibid. iii, 244 (from an unnumbered roll at Preston). See also Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 307, m. 52; between William and George Warrington. Aigburth passed in succession to John Hardman of Allerton in 1753; to John Tarleton, a Liverpool merchant, in 1772; and then in 1808 to Thomas Dixon. A seat or pew in Childwall church was appropriated to Aigburth Hall. See the above-quoted essay in Trans. Hist. Soc. xx, 181–9.
  • 87. Norris Papers (Chet. Soc.), p. 16.
  • 88. Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, p. 122, 150, 121, 155. Richard Hitchmough, the priest-informer who betrayed many of his former friends and patrons for gain, was a brother of this Edward and described as 'of Garston.' Entering the English College at Rome in 1699 he gave his parents' names as Thomas and Mary, and his age as twentyfour. The government gave him the vicarage of Whenby in Yorkshire, but he did not long enjoy it, dying in or before 1724. See Payne, Rec. of Engl. Catholics, p. 121–7; Foley, Rec. S. J. vi, 450, v, 349.
  • 89. About 1260 Adam lord of Garston and Adam de Aigburth, the forester of Toxteth, granted to God and blessed Wilfrid and the chapel of Garston and to Roger son of William land in Quindal Moor, to be held in alms for ever as chapel property, on condition that Roger and his heirs should keep an oil lamp burning before St. Wilfrid's altar at all masses celebrated by the parish priest daily and at all the hours on festivals, and a wax light before the great cross, to be lighted on all festivals and Fridays when mass should be celebrated there; 1d. a day to be paid to the chapel fabric for default. About the time Wymark daughter of Alice, 'the widow of Garston,' granted to her uncle Adam son of William land in the Cleyforlond, for which he was to pay annually a halfpenny to Garston chapel on St. Wilfrid's Day. Norris D. (B.M.), 667, 706. In 1274 John de Garston (son of Robert called the Mouner, deceased) and Alice his wife, daughter of Hugh de Aigburth, released to God and St. Wilfrid and to Herbert Grelley as rector all their claim in that oxgang which Richard son of Multon had given to Garston chapel; ibid. 743.
  • 90. Whalley Coucher, ii, 570. The chapel is occasionally called ecclesia in thirteenth and fourteenth century charters.
  • 91. Norris D. (B.M.), 742, 734. Reginald de Sileby accepted the bishop's ruling and renounced any claim he might have upon the chapelry, under pain of excommunication (bells ringing and candles lighted) should he not pay the ten marks he had promised to the mother church of Lichfield.
  • 92. In 1293 the king claimed to present to Garston on account of the minority of the heir of Robert Grelley, and Adam de Garston allowed him to present for that time; De Banc. R. 100, n. 2.
  • 93. Norris D. (B. M.), 662.
  • 94. Ibid. 741: William, a clerk, was his son. Richard was living in 1263; Assize R. 1196, m. 5.
  • 95. Norris D. (B. M.), 743 (1274). Probably the 'Roger de Meles, chaplain of Garston' of n. 749.
  • 96. Norris D. (B.M.), 85; about 1329.
  • 97. Ibid. 22; about 1360.
  • 98. Ibid. 582; about 1370.
  • 99. Ibid. 857; 1385.
  • 100. Norris D. (Rydal Hall), F. 87; 'chaplain of Garston chapel,' 1395.
  • 101. Norris D. (B. M.), 883–4; 1407.
  • 102. Ibid. 885; 1411.
  • 103. Ibid. 903–7; 1450.
  • 104. Ibid. 930–1; 1484.
  • 105. Essay by the late E. W. Cox in Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), iv, 121–35, where drawings of the remains are given and an attempt is made to reconstruct the old building.
  • 106. Lancs. Chantries (Chet. Soc.), ii, 268, 276. For the ornaments in 1552 see Ch. Goods (Chet. Soc.), 91.
  • 107. An account has been preserved of the expenditure of £140 which he set aside for rebuilding the steeple on a foundation already prepared (perhaps the old one) and for some repairs. The new tower was to be six yards higher than the top of the cross on the west end of the chapel; the builders were James Haworth of Aughton and his brother Henry Haworth of Bradshaw. One of the items is 'To Gryse for a stone cross—3s. 4d.' The will of James Haworth, 'Freemason' (1607), directs that first of all provision shall be made for the completion of 'my work begun at the chapel of Garston.' He died at Garston. A new bell, 'tunable to the third bell now hanging in the steeple,' was provided and cast at Congleton by George Lee, the Nottingham bell-founder, the cost being £32 5s. 6d.: it is mentioned that the 'old saints bell' weighed 90 lb.; Norris D. (B. M.) There were three wardens of the chapel.
  • 108. A stone found in rebuilding had upon it the initials and date, in three compartments: [E N, W N, E S, K, 1607] E. W. Cox, op. cit. (n. 27 on plate).
  • 109. Commonwealth Church Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 69, 70.
  • 110. E. W. Cox, op. cit., where description and view may be seen. Also Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 169, 170.
  • 111. Lond. Gaz., 4 July, 1828.
  • 112. Ex Inform. Rev. Dr. Oliver and others.
  • 113. Schoolmaster at Woolton; buried at the chapel, 5 Feb. 1729–30.
  • 114. Schoolmaster at Woolton.
  • 115. Lond. Gaz. 27 August, 1844.
  • 116. Ibid. 6 March, 1855.
  • 117. Founded 1875; school chapel opened 1883; Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. vi, 210.
  • 118. Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xiii, 154. In 1717 Richard Hitchmough the informer deposed that 'at Mrs. Harrington's of Aigburth was one silver chalice and paten, which he had seen and used when officiating at the altar there.' Henry Challoner, who entered the English College at Rome in 1659, gave the following account of himself: 'Only son of William and Anne Challoner, born at Garston … made his rudiments at Crosby and his humanity studies at St. Omer's College. His father was of humble rank, and his friends had suffered severely for the Catholic faith; he had two sisters;' Foley, Rec. S. J. vi, 399.