Townships: Huyton with Roby

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

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'Townships: Huyton with Roby', 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/pp168-176 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Huyton with Roby', 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/pp168-176.

"Townships: Huyton with Roby". 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/pp168-176.

In this section

HUYTON WITH ROBY

Hitune, Dom. Bk.; Houton, 1258; Huton, 1278; Hyton and Huyton, 1292. This last is the common spelling from 1300.

The original township of Huyton has been united with Roby to form the township of Huyton with Roby. To them in 1877 was added Thingwall, (fn. 1) part of the parish of Childwall. The area of the amalgamated townships is 3,054 acres, (fn. 2) and the population in 1901 numbered 4,661. The country is somewhat undulating in the north, but flat in most places. This is quite a residential district with the dwellers in the city of Liverpool, for pleasant country houses with gardens and shrubberies are seen on all sides. Beyond the houses are open fields, some pastures, others where corn, potatoes, and turnips are generally cultivated. The soil is sandy, with a solid base of red sandstone. At Huyton Quarry the character of the country varies; coal mines begin to indicate their presence by shafts and ventilators. The Huyton Quarry mine is the nearest to Liverpool of the South Lancashire mines. To the east of Huyton village the geological formation consists of the gannister beds towards the north-east and the coal measures to the south-east; in the western half of the township the three beds of the bunter series of the new red sandstone are successively represented from north-west to south-east. In Roby the same three beds occur respectively in (a) the north, (b) the centre, and (c) the western half and eastern corner.

Huyton proper has an area of 1,819 acres. There is no well-defined boundary between it and Roby to the south-west. On the eastern side it is separated from Whiston by a brook which runs through Tarbock to join Ditton brook.

The main road from Liverpool to Prescot passes through the northern part of the township, the South Lancashire system of electric tramways running along it from the Liverpool boundary to St. Helens and beyond. The principal road for Huyton, however, is that from Liverpool through Broadgreen and Roby. The London and North-Western company's line from Liverpool to Manchester passes through the centre, and just to the eastward of the village a line branches off towards Prescot and St. Helens; there are stations at the western and eastern ends of the village called Huyton and Huyton Quarry respectively.

The Hazels or Red Hazels and Hurst House are in the north-eastern corner of the township; Wolfall Hall near the northern boundary, Dam House on the border of Roby, and Huyton Hey to the south of the railway near the station.

A local board was formed in 1877, and now the united townships of Huyton, Roby, and Thingwall (fn. 3) are governed by an urban district council of twelve members under the Act of 1894.

About 1830 wire-drawing for the watch-making industry was engaged in, and there was a colliery. (fn. 4) The flagstone quarry at the south-east of the township is now closed. There is a brewery.

A cross on the village green near the church was erected about 1820 from a design by Rickman. (fn. 5) It was replaced in 1897 by the present cross. (fn. 6)

A halfpenny token was issued by Thomas Hodgson of Huyton in 1666. (fn. 7)

MANORS

At the death of Edward the Confessor, the manors of HUYTON and Tarbock were held by Dot. The assessment was one hide, quit of all customs except the geld; there was land for four ploughs, and the value beyond the customary rent was 20s. (fn. 8) Afterwards it became part of the fee of Widnes, and was reckoned as a member of Knowsley, with the Lathom family as lords.

A subordinate manor was created or grew up about the beginning of the thirteenth century. Robert son of Henry de Lathom took to his second wife Amabel, daughter of Simon, who was known as the canon of Burscough. Robert died about 1198, leaving three sons by this marriage, Richard, Adam, (fn. 9) and William, who took their surname from Knowsley or Huyton indifferently. (fn. 10)

The eldest brother (fn. 11) seems to have settled at Wolfall, and his descendants took their name from it, while Adam, though usually called 'de Knowsley,' became possessed of Huyton proper—unjustly as was afterwards alleged (fn. 12) —and his descendants were accordingly 'de Huyton.'

In 1258 Richard de Huyton (fn. 13) claimed from Adam de Knowsley one-third of the manor of Huyton; except the advowson of one-third of the church, and a third of the mill, and of two oxgangs of land which Richard when under age demised to him. When Adam appeared, the justices found that he was not of sound mind or good memory and could not speak, and adjourned the matter. (fn. 14) Three years later Henry de Knowsley, as assignee of Adam de Knowsley— probably his son and heir—demanded from Nicholas, then prior of Burscough, that he observe the covenant regarding the mill at Huyton which his predecessor Prior William had made with Adam. (fn. 15)

In 1252 Adam and his wife Godith, probably a relative of the lords of Billinge, (fn. 16) sought from Adam de Winstanley 1⅓ oxgang of land in Winstanley. (fn. 17)

The next step in the pedigree is not clear. It would appear that Adam had several sons—Henry, (fn. 18) Robert, and William, whose descendants held or claimed the manor on a title said to be derived from Adam de Knowsley. Henry de Huyton, if identical with Henry de Knowsley, has been mentioned already as the assignee of Adam in 1258. In 1292 he claimed an acre of meadow from the prior of 'Burcho,' and the person summoned triumphantly replied that he was prior of 'Burscho.' (fn. 19) Henry was still living in 1307 when the prior of the Hospitallers complained of his felling trees in Little Woolton. (fn. 20) In Billinge he and Adam de Billinge were chief lords in 1291, in right either of his wife or his mother; here his manor descended to his son Robert, among whose daughters or grand-daughters it was divided, (fn. 21) but Huyton went to another son William, (fn. 22) who in 1306 had also been summoned for cutting trees and doing other damage in Little Woolton. (fn. 23) William de Huyton died about 1328, leaving a son and heir Robert, who being a minor became the ward of Sir Thomas de Lathom as lord of Knowsley. (fn. 24) He died about 1345, and his daughter Katherine similarly became the ward of Katherine, formerly wife of Sir Robert de Lathom, and their son Sir Thomas.

A considerable amount of litigation followed; indeed there had been some already. (fn. 25) At the beginning of 1349 John le Norreys, younger brother of Henry, lord of Speke, married the heiress, Katherine de Huyton, and at once brought actions against Emma de Newton and against Margery widow of Robert de Huyton, on pleas that they were making waste, &c., in the houses, woods, and gardens which they severally held as dower in Huyton, and which were Katherine's inheritance. (fn. 26)

Shortly afterwards (1350) Sir Thomas de Lathom put forward his claim to the manor of Huyton as against Margaret, then wife of John son of Richard the Tailor of Warrington. (fn. 27)

In 1354 Henry de Walton, archdeacon of Richmond, purchased two-thirds of the manor from John le Norreys of Speke. (fn. 28) The remaining third was sold in 1357 to William de Walton by Avice de Brettargh and William de Brettargh. (fn. 29)

There were cross suits between the Waltons and the Lathoms as to title. The archdeacon alleged that Sir Thomas held of him, by virtue of his purchase, messuages, land, &c., by an annual service of 6s. 8d. Sir Thomas on the other hand asserted the disseisin done to his great-grandfather, Richard son of Robert son of Henry de Lathom, and claimed the manor. (fn. 30) The suits went on for many years, but in the end the Lathom claim seems to have prevailed. (fn. 31) In 1366 Sir Thomas de Lathom the elder claimed from Richard de Causay, chaplain, the manor of Huyton; two years later he claimed it from Robert son of Robert de Standen, certainly a Walton trustee; in the next year the latter prosecuted Robert de Huyton for cutting down trees at Huyton. (fn. 32) In 1371 Gilbert de Ince of Aughton, in a deed made at Huyton, released William son of John de Walton and the above Robert Standen from all actions. (fn. 33) After this the Walton connexion with the place seems to have ended absolutely. (fn. 34)

Walton of Waltonle-Dale. Argent, a chevron gules between three falcons' heads erased sable beaked or.

The next Sir Thomas Lathom and his wife Joan, after the recovery of the manor, made a settlement of it in 1382; the remainders were thus stated: To Margaret daughter of Thomas and Joan, and her heirs male; to Isabel sister of Margaret; to Cecily sister of Isabel; and to Katherine sister of Cecily; then to Joan and her heirs for ever. (fn. 35) After Sir Thomas's death his widow Joan, as wife of Roger de Fazakerley, had a grant of one-third of the manor of Huyton, pending the duke of Lancaster's claim to it. (fn. 36)

Joan afterwards married Sir Nicholas de Harrington of Farleton, and by fine in August, 1397, she remitted to the above-named Margaret de Lathom and her heirs the moiety of the manor of Huyton. (fn. 37) Margaret is said to have married (fn. 38) Nicholas de Harrington, a younger son of Sir Nicholas by a former wife; from them descended the Harringtons of Huyton Hey. In 1400 Sir Nicholas, the father, made an agreement with Thomas de Hornby and Margery his wife concerning the marriage of their daughter and heir Sibyl with his grandson John son of Nicholas; for this he would pay them 40 marks of silver, and suitable settlements were to be made for John and Sibyl. It appears that John was then under seven years of age. (fn. 39)

Harrington of Huyton. Sable, a fret argent and a label or.

John, succeeding his father, occurs in 1442–3. (fn. 40) His son and successor is said to have been Nicholas Harrington, (fn. 41) father of Hamlet (Hamo) Harrington, who died 15 January, 1527–8. He was found to have held the manor of Huyton, with lands, &c., in Huyton and Knowsley, of Edward earl of Derby by the fifth part of a knight's fee and a rent of 17½d. He had also held the manor of Akefrith in Farleton, and other lands. His heir was Percival Harrington, son of his brother John, then aged twentyeight years. (fn. 42)

The heir very quickly arranged for his marriage. He espoused Anne the only daughter of Henry Norris of Speke, lately deceased; and assigned for her benefit his manor of Akefrith in Farleton and the Red Hazels in Huyton. (fn. 43)

Percival Harrington enjoyed his manors but a short time, dying 24 January, 1534–5. (fn. 44) His son and heir was John Harrington, aged only five years. The boy's marriage was at once arranged by Sir William Norris and others. (fn. 45) John was succeeded by his son Percival (fn. 46) and he by his son John, (fn. 47) who died during the Commonwealth period, being buried at Huyton in 1653. His eldest son Robert having died before him, he was followed by his grandson John, born about 1627. John was twice married. By his second wife, Dorothy Tarleton of Aigburth, he had a son and heir Charles. Together they obtained in 1713 an Act of Parliament (fn. 48) to enable them to settle their estates and to dispose of some of them for the payment of their debts. Charles, though twice married, died without issue in 1720, (fn. 49) and Huyton Hey went to the descendants of his aunt Elizabeth, who had married Richard Molyneux of New Hall, West Derby, and Alt Grange in Ince Blundell. (fn. 50)

After the Tarleton marriage the family seem to have ceased to reside at Huyton. (fn. 51) Richard Molyneux of New Hall did not long enjoy the Huyton estates, dying in February 1734. His widow lived on till 1790. Their only son Richard died unmarried a fortnight after his father, leaving his sister Frances sole heir. She married in 1745 Thomas Seel of Liverpool, and by him had four daughters. (fn. 52) The eldest, Amelia Maria, married Owen Wynne of Llanseck in Denbighshire, but died childless; (fn. 53) the two youngest daughters, Margaret and Alice, died unmarried in 1819 and 1797, and the second daughter Frances was thus eventually sole heir. Thomas Seel the father had increased the estates by purchasing from William Wolfall the manor of Wolfall in Huyton, and entailed the estate on his grandson.

This grandson was Thomas Unsworth, son of Frances Seel by Thomas Unsworth, whose father, a Liverpool merchant, had purchased a moiety of the manor of Maghull, including the manor house. Thomas the heir in 1814 assumed the name and arms of Molyneux-Seel in accordance with his grandfather's will, and on his aunt Margaret's death took possession of Hurst House, and the estate and manor of Huyton Hey. (fn. 54) He had a son and heir, Edmund Thomas, born in Paris in 1824, and still surviving, also two other sons, Charles William and Henry Harrington. He sold Wolfall to the earl of Derby about 1828 and died at Huyton Hey in 1881. Most of the remaining family estates have also been sold, but Huyton Hey remains in the family. (fn. 55) The house so called, now a farm-house, is still occupied. The site of a moated hall is adjacent.

Molyneux of New Hall. Azure, a cross moline or and a canton argent.

Seel. Per fesse potent counter-potent pean and azure three wolves' heads erased counterchanged.

The Harringtons after the Reformation appear to have adhered to the Roman Catholic religion, but to have avoided convictions for recusancy, probably by occasional attendances at church in Elizabeth's reign. Thus, in 1590, 'Harrington of Harrington in Huyton parish, esquire,' was returned among others who showed 'some degree of conformity, yet (were) in general note of evil affection in religion.' (fn. 56) In 1641 Robert Harrington (fn. 57) and his wife for this reason paid to the subsidy. (fn. 58) As one of the more notable recusants in Lancashire, John Harrington was in 1680 marked for banishment by the Parliament. (fn. 59) Their alliances were with the Roman Catholic families of the district, and their successors—Molyneux, Seel, and Unsworth—have been of the same faith.

WOLFALL

WOLFALL (fn. 60) was another manor in Huyton, (fn. 61) of which mention has already been made. Robert son of Henry de Lathom, who died in 1198, granted it to a Robert son of Richard for a rent of 12d. payable at St. Bartholomew. (fn. 62) It is possible that it reverted to the grantor, for his own younger son, Richard de Knowsley, appears to have settled there, and to have had sons who took Wolfall as a surname. Thus Richard de Wolfall, son of Richard de Knowsley, granted land called Huyton Rawe to Henry de Huyton. (fn. 63) In 1245 Richard de Wolfall granted to Burscough Priory his millpool in Wolfall. (fn. 64) Several sons are mentioned—Richard, John, William, and Adam. (fn. 65)

Wolfall of Wolfall. Argent, two bends gules and an ermine tail between them.

An early charter by Robert de Lathom granted to Richard son of Richard del Wolfall 52/3 oxgangs (fn. 66) of land and half the wood and waste of Huyton with the homage of Adam de Wolfall, William the Prophet, Henry de Derby, and others enfeoffed by Richard de Wolfall the elder. (fn. 67)

In 1292 Richard de Wolfall sued Robert de Lathom for release from the services which Henry de Lacy, as lord of Widnes fee, demanded from the plaintiff; but when the case came for trial Richard was unwilling to make any statement, and therefore there was an adjournment sine die. (fn. 68) He had also complaint to make as to John de Wolfall, whose annual service of 20d. and a pair of gloves had not been rendered for three years. (fn. 69) A little later, in 1307, John son of Adam de Wolfall occurs granting to Adam de Waverton and Alice his wife all his lands in Huyton. (fn. 70)

For a long period, though there are numerous references to the family, the exact descent of the manor is uncertain. (fn. 71)

In 1354 Adam son of Henry de Wolfall released to John de Ashton the messuage which had descended to him, and Thomas de Wolfall of Huyton and Joan his wife released their right in the same. (fn. 72) One Cecily daughter of Ellen, who had been wife of Nicholas de Huyton, gave to Roger de Shuttleworth her lands in Wolfall in 1349; (fn. 73) and shortly afterwards Thomas de Wolfall and Joan his wife, with Richard de Pennington and Cecily his wife (probably the above Cecily), claimed from Adam son of Henry son of Roger de Wolfall certain lands which they alleged had been forfeited because of a felony committed by the grandfather Roger, though they admitted that Roger had continued to hold the lands after the felony. (fn. 74)

In 1383 Robert de Wolfall, who was son of Thomas, enfeoffed two chaplains of all his lands in Huyton, and they appeared in the court of Widnes in April, and made fine with the lord of Halton for 12d. (fn. 75) Robert's son and heir was John de Wolfall, (fn. 76) who in the early years of Henry IV's reign made settlements of his lands; the remainders were to Alice and Margaret, daughters of John; then to his brother Thomas; to his brothers Nicholas and Thomas, and others. (fn. 77)

In 1511–12 Thomas Wolfall granted lands in Huyton to William Wilbraham, and a little later purchased three crofts from Hamlet Harrington; his mother Joan in 1515–16 released to him her lands in Huyton and Wolfall. (fn. 78) The succession is not clear. (fn. 79) Thomas Wolfall was a freeholder in 1600; (fn. 80) his son Thomas married Mary, daughter of Richard Moly neux of Cunscough. (fn. 81) On the accession of Charles I Thomas Wolfall received a general pardon, chiefly required perhaps for recusancy, the family being adherents of the Roman Catholic religion. (fn. 82) He had two sons, William and Thomas, and four daughters, and the estates descended to his great-grandson William Wolfall, (fn. 83) born in 1643. This William mortgaged the estates in 1674, and he and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Carus, both died at the beginning of 1686, leaving three sons, Richard, William, and Henry, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. Richard Wolfall made other mortgages in 1688 and 1694; he married Anne, daughter and heir of Edward Stanley of Moor Hall, but on his dying childless in 1718 (fn. 84) the estates passed in succession to his brothers William, who died in 1720, and Henry. (fn. 85) Henry's son and heir William (fn. 86) in 1744 sold lands in Wolfall to the earl of Derby, and in 1755, after many mortgages, sold the manor of Wolfall, Wolfall Hall, half the manor of Huyton, &c., to Thomas Seel of Liverpool, (fn. 87) whose descendant and heir, as above stated, sold Wolfall to the earl of Derby in 1828.

Another estate in Huyton, but not considered manorial, was Deyne or DAM HOUSE, (fn. 88) which in 1664 was held by Thomas Wolfall, son of Thomas Wolfall, also of the Dam House, who was, as stated, the younger son of Thomas Wolfall of Wolfall. (fn. 89) This estate had previously been held, at least for a time, by the Tyldesley family, as to whom deeds preserved by Kuerden supply much information. (fn. 90)

Nicholas Tyldesley occurs in Elizabeth's reign. (fn. 91) A feoffment of the property was made, the remainders being to Michael, Thomas, George, William, and Francis, brothers of Nicholas, and to Anthony Tyldesley. (fn. 92) Nicholas Tyldesley died in 1603 holding lands and rents in Huyton and Wolfall (Dam) of William earl of Derby; Henry his son and heir was twenty-six years of age. (fn. 93) His son Henry is mentioned in various bonds, and he and his sister or daughter Ellen occur in 1627, about which time he appears to have sold Dam House. (fn. 94)

The Red Hazels, already mentioned as part of the lands of Burscough Priory, became the property of the Ogles of Whiston, from whom it passed by marriage to the Cases; one of the latter sold it to Joseph Birch, created a baronet in 1831, whose son Sir Thomas Birch, M.P. for Liverpool 1847–52, afterwards lived there. (fn. 95)

The Mossocks of Allerton and Cunscough, as heirs of John Norris of Woolton (who was also described as 'of Roby' or 'of Huyton'), held lands here in the fifteenth century. The title was derived from grants by the Wolfalls to the Ford family, whose heirs sold to John Norris. (fn. 96)

Other families whose names occur in suits or deeds are Lathom, Moss, (fn. 97) and Lyon. (fn. 98) Thomas Lathom of Wolfall is named in a list of the gentry of the hundred made in 1512. He died in April, 1515, holding a capital messuage and various lands in Wolfall of Thomas Wolfall by knight's service and the rent of 15d. per annum; also in Rainford, Aspull, Wigan, Whiston, Glest, Ormskirk, and Eggergarth. His widow Joan held these lands for nine years, and on her death the son Thomas entered into possession, although he was only nineteen years of age. (fn. 99) The younger Thomas Lathom died in 1546, holding his father's lands; his son and heir was another Thomas, then only three years of age. (fn. 100) The last-named, whose wife's name was Frances, sold his lands between 1573 and 1580. (fn. 101)

Richard Ogle, watchmaker, as a 'Papist' registered in 1717 an estate here and at Rainhill, of the value of £64 a year. (fn. 102)

In 1785 the principal owners, as shown by the land-tax returns, were Thomas Seel and the Case trustees.

The parish church and its chapel of ease have already been described. William Bell, the vicar ejected in 1662, afterwards ministered in Huyton, but does not seem to have formed a permanent congregation.

The Methodists attempted services about 1800, but were driven out by the mob. (fn. 103)

William Alexander of Prescot, an Independent minister, occasionally preached here early last century, and a chapel was opened in 1836. The work failed, and 1856 is given as the date of the founding of the Congregational church, which was at first a branch from Crescent Chapel, Everton. A small chapel, now used as a schoolroom, was opened, and was succeeded in 1890 by a larger church, with a prominent spire. (fn. 104)

What provision was made from time to time after the Reformation for those who adhered to the Roman Catholic religion is unknown, except that at one time a priest resided at Wolfall Hall. This, however, ceased about the middle of the eighteenth century. (fn. 105) A new mission was begun at Huyton in 1856 in a temporary chapel near the station, a resident priest being appointed in 1859. The present church of St. Agnes at Huyton Quarry was built in 1861. (fn. 106)

ROBY—Rabil, Dom. Bk.; Rabi, 1292; Roby, 1332, and usually—is the south-western portion of the township of Huyton-with-Roby, its separate area being 1,059 acres. The surface is almost level.

The principal road is that from Liverpool to Prescot by Broadgreen; this goes eastward through the centre of the township, having the residences called Court Hey and Roby Hall on the southern side of it. The London and North-Western company's main line from Liverpool to Manchester runs along an embankment to the north of the road; there is a station called Roby. Court Hey was the seat of the late Robertson Gladstone, brother of the statesman, and himself a prominent personage in Liverpool.

Wheathill is at the boundary of the three townships of Roby, Tarbock, and Little Woolton. Childwall Brook separates Roby from Childwall. Page Moss was at the northern corner.

There are the remains of an ancient stone cross by the road from Liverpool to Prescot. The stocks used to be next to it. (fn. 107) There is an old font in the churchyard. (fn. 108)

MANOR

In the time of Edward the Confessor ROBY was one of the six manors of Uctred, and as it is placed first in the list was no doubt the chief of them, Knowsley coming next. (fn. 109) The two together were assessed at one hide, and in later times Roby was usually said to be of two ploughlands. (fn. 110) After the Conquest it lost its pre-eminence and seems to have had no special manorial rights, being a member of Knowsley and held in demesne. To a subsidy levied by Henry III Roby contributed 12s. 2d. (fn. 111) but later than this its contributions are always joined with those of Huyton.

On two occasions its immediate lords, the Lathoms, endeavoured to raise its standing. In 1304 Robert de Lathom procured from the king a charter allowing a market and fair at Roby, and free warren there. The market was a weekly one, on Fridays; and the fair annual, on the eve, feast, and morrow of St. Wilfrid. (fn. 112) In 1372 Sir Thomas de Lathom granted a charter making his vill of Roby a free borough for ever. To each burgess he gave a rood of land as a burgage for which 12d. in silver was to be paid the lord every year. A burgess might dispose of his burgage, paying the lord 4d. when he quitted it. Though the burgesses were to be free of toll, terrage, and stallage, they were to bring their corn to the lord's mill to grind, to the sixteenth measure, and render services like other tenants of the vill, having at the same time similar liberties of pasture and turbary. (fn. 113)

These attempts to 'improve' the position of Roby appear to have met with no success, and there does not seem to be any further allusion to the borough or fair. The market is mentioned casually in an assize roll of 1332, when John de Grelley, Simon son of Simon de Bickerstath, Adam de Wolfall, and others, were accused of having wounded Hugh and Thomas, sons of Adam de Hake, in the market at Roby on the Friday after St. James, in the year named. (fn. 114)

The place had already appeared on these rolls in 1246, for Hawe del Moor of Roby having been found burnt in her own house there, her son Adam, the first finder, was attached by Roger del Moor and Adam de Knowsley, to give evidence. (fn. 115)

A suit brought by Sir Thomas de Lathom against William son of Roger the Walker, concerning a messuage and 18 acres in Roby, introduces the questionable title of the Huyton family to their lands. Sir Thomas asserted that the defendant had no right except by the disseisin wrongfully made by Henry de Huyton in the time of Edward I against his father, Robert de Lathom. The defendant, however, asserted that the premises were in Woolton, and not in Roby. (fn. 116) In another case William de Whethill charged Roger son of Adam de Longworth with taking a horse belonging to him. (fn. 117)

Richard son of Robert gave to Burscough Priory land between four crosses in Roby, with mast in Roby and Huyton. (fn. 118) The Hospitallers had land here, which about 1540 was held by the earl of Derby for a rent of 12d. (fn. 119)

A 'manor' of Roby is mentioned in a fine of 1552 as held by Robert Knowl and his wife Joan, from whom it was claimed by Henry Bury. (fn. 120) From the latter, 'the capital messuage called Roby Hall' was in turn claimed, perhaps as trustees, by Richard Sanderson and William Spencer in 1568. (fn. 121) In 1569 John and Elizabeth Bury, claiming by descent, sought a messuage, &c., in Roby, from George Stockley, who alleged a conveyance from William Bury. (fn. 122)

The present Roby Hall was built by John Williamson of Liverpool (mayor 1761), who left three daughters coheirs. One of these, Mary, in 1794 married General Isaac Gascoyne, for many years a member for Liverpool, and they resided here. (fn. 123) Afterwards William Leigh, a Liverpool merchant, son of William Leigh of Lymm, purchased it. (fn. 124)

George Childwall of Roby, gentleman, who died in 1593, had held of the earl of Derby a messuage and 8 acres by fealty and 2s. 4d. rent. Edward his son sold this in 1611 to Thomas Wolfall, who resold it to Henry Johnson of Roby. (fn. 125)

Hugh Holland of Roby registered an estate in 1717. (fn. 126) The land-tax returns of 1785 show the principal owners to have been the earl of Derby, Madame Stanley, and Madame Williamson.

Roby is called Comberley in 1328, perhaps by some mistake of the clerk. (fn. 127)

For the adherents of the Established Church St. Bartholomew's was built in 1850, and rebuilt in 1875. There is a burial-ground attached. An ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1853. (fn. 128) The earl of Derby is patron.

Footnotes

  • 1. Loc. Gov. Bd. Order 7403.
  • 2. Census of 1901–3,053, including 7 acres of inland water.
  • 3. Thingwall was included in the local board district by the Act 42 & 43 Vic. cap. 103.
  • 4. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1836), iv, 7.
  • 5. The cost was about £60. 'The intention in erecting it was to fill up in some measure the large open space, which was much used for bull-baiting and cock-fighting, which were carried on here and also at fields near the new schools to the south of the railway station.' Trans. Hist. Soc. xxxiv, 107.
  • 6. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xix, 200.
  • 7. Ibid. v, 78.
  • 8. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 283b. Later the separate assessment of Huyton was 3 ploughlands, sometimes 2 only.
  • 9. In Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. 8, Adam is called 'son of Roger son of Henry.'
  • 10. Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 138 n. Thus in a charter by Albreia of Garston to Stanlaw, two of the witnesses are Richard de Huyton and Adam his brother, while in another of her charters, of about the same date and with almost the same witnesses, 'Richard de Knowsley and Adam his brother' attest; Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), ii, 575, 585; Norris D. (B.M.), 741; See also Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvi, App. 204. All three attested another Stanlaw charter dated about 1240; Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), ii, 520; also Scarisbrick Charter, n. 12 in Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xii, 263.
  • 11. Or possibly his eldest son.
  • 12. Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. viii.
  • 13. Probably the son of Richard de Knowsley and identical with Richard de Wolfall.
  • 14. Cur. Reg. R. 160, m. 54. There is a somewhat earlier mention of him (35 Hen. III) in the Originalia, m. 12.
  • 15. Cur. Reg. R. 171, m. 55 d.; 172 m. 3 d.; 173, m. 17; Burscough Reg. fol. 44. In 1245 Adam de Knowsley had a lease of the mill on the same terms as his brother Richard had held it, paying 3s. a year. Henry de Knowsley is mentioned in Orig. 44 Hen. III, m. 5.
  • 16. Adam had lands in Billinge before 1296; see Assize R. 404, m. 13.
  • 17. Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 114. Adam de Knowsley granted to Robert del Birches land within Huyton within the following bounds: In length from the ridding which Christiana, sister of the said Robert, formerly held of Adam to Stainulf's ridding, also held of Adam; and in width from Robert's other boundary to the hurst, and so as the hurst and the carr divide from Christiana's ridding to Stainulf's ridding; Norris D. (B.M.), 980. 'Richard lord of Huyton' was a witness as was John de Wolfall.
  • 18. Henry 'son of Adam de Knowsley' is one grantor in a deed preserved by Kuerden; ii, fol. 270, n. 138.
  • 19. Assize R. 408, m. 44.
  • 20. De Banc. R. 163, m. 219.
  • 21. See the account of Billinge.
  • 22. Probably Henry was twice married.
  • 23. De Banc. R. 161, m. 473 d.
  • 24. Ibid. 275, m. 7 d. Robert de Huyton and his wife Mary were defendants, in 1325, in a claim by Thomas de Beetham concerning land in Kirkby; ibid. 259, m. 19.
  • 25. The records of the suit are so confused that it is difficult to give a satisfactory narrative. William de Huyton according to one story married an Avice whom he afterwards repudiated—the reason is not given—and he settled upon her and her children lands in Little Woolton, and also some in Huyton. Avice next married Roger son of John the Walker of Tarbock, and a settlement was made in 1324, the remainder being to William de Huyton; Final Conc. ii, 58. William's widow Emma having married Robert de Hale sought her dower from William Poyde and the above-named Avice his wife, Roger the Walker having died; and the defendants called upon Sir Thomas de Lathom to warrant them, as being guardian of Robert the heir of William de Huyton; De Banc. R. 286, m. 57; 287, m. 156; 288, m. 129. It would appear that the lands in Woolton and Brettargh were an absolute gift to Avice, but her right in Huyton was of the nature of dower, though the marriage had been null. During the following minority, in 1346, Avice late the wife of Roger de Brettargh, William son of Roger the Walker of Brettargh, and John another son, with Margery John's wife, claimed warranty from Katherine and Sir Thomas de Lathom, as guardians of Katherine, daughter of Robert de Huyton and kinswoman and heir of William de Huyton, and from Avice late the wife of Roger the Walker, who was only called to warrant William and John. Emma had now married a third husband, Matthew son of Thomas de Newton, and her claim for dower was renewed. At a later hearing Katherine de Huyton appeared to warrant. Avice, Roger's wife, is called the 'daughter' of William de Huyton. If there is no error in the record, she must have been the daughter of the Avice already named. Avice wife of William de Stockley was also called to warrant; De Banc. R. 346, m. 88; 358, m. 79 d.
  • 26. De Banc. R. 358, m. 110 d. Katherine had before claimed from Emma and Margery six charters which they kept from her; De Banc. R. 352, m. 226; 355, m. 226 d.
  • 27. De Banc. R. 362, m. 26 d. This Margaret soon afterwards appears as wife of John de Billinge, claiming the manor of Huyton as next of kin, being daughter of Henry de Huyton. It was alleged that John le Norreys had seized her at Sutton in 1349, kept her imprisoned in a house at Huyton, and by threats compelled her to sell to him all her right in the manor —i.e. the two-thirds of it not held as dower by Emma de Newton, and the reversion of the other third; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. ii d. Norreys' reply was that Margery acted of her own free will while she was a single woman; Assize R. 435, m. 10. Whatever truth there may be in this story, John le Norreys seems to have thought his tenure insecure, for he made over the whole to his elder brother Henry, who thus for a time was lord of Huyton, perhaps as trustee, and became the plaintiff or defendant in actions as to title; Assize R. 1444, m. 3; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. 2, 3 d.; R. 2, m. 7. Quite a different story is now told. Robert de Huyton is said to have died without issue—which may mean only that the above-named Katherine his daughter had now died childless—and Avice de Stockley is described as daughter of William de Huyton by his first wife Almarica, who had died without male issue, the son Robert being by the second wife Emma. Avice claimed a third part of the manor by grant from her father William. The Norreyses had entered on possession, Emma having died, and Avice's title being ignored; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. iii. Emma's husband, Matthew de Newton, was killed at Huyton in September, 1348, by William son of Robert de Hale (her former husband); Assize R. 443, m. vii. Avice succeeded in obtaining recognition, and in 1354 Sir Thomas de Lathom claimed two-thirds of the manor from Henry le Norreys of Speke, and one-third from Avice de Stockley; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. iv d. In the previous year John del Dale of Childwall, chaplain, had been enfeoffed of this third, which included the homages and service of William the Couper, William son of Matthew de Huyton, and Matthew his son, William the Baxter, and Thomas del Wolfall; Final Conc. ii, 138. The other claimants all appeared; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. i.
  • 28. Final Conc. ii, 145; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. i d. v d. and vi. Probably Henry was acting for his brother William; they were of the Walton le Dale family.
  • 29. Avice de Brettargh's charter gives no clue as to her right or identity; she was probably a daughter, for in 1355 William de Stockley surrendered to Avice de Brettargh a third part of the manor of Huyton which he held for the term of his life— this implying that his wife Avice was now dead. See Norris D. (B.M.), 985; Final Conc. ii, 156; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 6, m. 6; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 333. In the meantime another claimant appeared to some land in Huyton—Robert son of Robert son of William, who was a younger brother of Henry de Huyton. Sir Thomas de Lathom, the elder, was the defendant, and he alleged that the land was within Knowsley; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. iiii; 4, m. 19.
  • 30. Ibid. R. 4, m. 26 d., 28 d.; 5, m. 25 d.
  • 31. There are numerous deeds of the Walton family preserved by Kuerden, and the manor of Huyton is with other lands transferred in several feoffments up to 1366, after which Huyton is omitted; Kuerden MSS. iii, W. 4, n. 66, 65, 37, 52; 56, 57. See also Harl. MSS. 2042, fol. 164b, 166b.
  • 32. De Banc. R. 425, m. 353 d.; 432, m. 101 d.; 434, m. 188 d.
  • 33. Kuerden MSS. iii, W. 8, n. 92.
  • 34. Another claim of the same period (De Banc. R. 348, m. 98 d.; 352, m. 442) may be related, as it gives the names of several minor tenants. Henry son of Roger de Huyton demanded from John del Birches 4 acres, from Gilbert de Gorsuch (Gosfordsiche) 4 acres, from William son of Matthew de Huyton a messuage and 12 acres, from Richard son of Ellis Simson 'le Swone' a messuage and 5 acres, from John the Smith a messuage and 6 acres, from William del Dam another acre. This land the claimant averred had been given by Adam de Knowsley to Henry de Huyton, and Avice his wife; from these it descended to Roger their son, and to his son Roger, father of Henry. In another statement one of the two Rogers is omitted, and once the surname is given as Wolfall. Gilbert de Gorsuch and Richard del Dam had married sisters—Margery and Alice. Two deeds relating to Gilbert and the Birches are in Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270, Nos. 65–6; Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xii, 285.
  • 35. Final Conc. ii, 190; Norris D. (B.M.), 986.
  • 36. Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl. App. 523.
  • 37. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 4, m. 6. Wolfall appears to have been the other half of the manor.
  • 38. His widow was named Katherine.
  • 39. Norris D. (B.M.), 988. The inventory of the goods of Nicholas Harrington, dated 9 Sept. 1429, has been preserved. In his treasury were 9 marks. His plate consisted of a carved cup, two macers, and twelve silver spoons. Only two rooms are mentioned—the chamber and the kitchen. In the former were two beds with a large supply of coverlets, blankets, sheets and other linen. Some of the coverlets appear to have been embroidered: one for instance, valued at 2s., was of red and green colour, with flowers of white and yellow; another, worth 5s., was of red and white, with birds worked upon it. The kitchen had due provision of pots, skellets, a frying pan, a brass mortar and dishes. His will of the same date follows. He wished his body to be buried in the church of Huyton, on the north side, in the chapel of St. Mary, to which he gave a missal. Six candles were to be burnt round his bier at his burial, and to each of the six poor men holding them was to be presented a gown with a hood; 1d. was to be given to each poor person present. Thomas Wolfall, the chaplain, was to have £10 to celebrate for his soul for two years. His widow Katherine and Thomas Stanley were made executors; Norris D. (B.M.), 999. The will was proved at Huyton before the dean of Warrington, on 2 Oct. following. The Winwick chantry on the south side was also St. Mary's. In later times the Harrington pew was on the north side of the church; Trans. Hist. Soc. xxxiv, 117.
  • 40. Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 5, m. 16b. John Harrington of Huyton, esquire, occurs in 1460; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 67.
  • 41. Katherine, widow of Nicholas Harrington, in 1500 claimed dower in the manor of Huyton, and in lands there and in Knowsley, Hornby, and Farleton; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 90, m. 5.
  • 42. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, n. 57. His will directed that he should be buried in the tomb within his chapel in Huyton church; his (natural) son James, his 'cousin and heir' Percival, his brother Richard, and their father Nicholas are mentioned, as also their step-mother ('our mother-in-law') Katherine. Twenty marks were to be distributed, and thirty masses said and sung for a trental should so many priests be present at his burial. Three cows were to be given to our Lady's stock of Huyton, and a glass window was to be put in the north side of the church. A large number of personal bequests were made; Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), i, 29.
  • 43. Norris D. (B.M.), 16 Apr. 1528.
  • 44. It was found that he had held the manors of Huyton and Huyton Hey under Knowsley, by knight's service and a rent of 17d. In Whiston he held land of Richard Bold; in Knowsley 'Parkerfield' of the earl of Derby; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. viii, n. 41. His will is given in the inquisition, which also recites the settlement made by him.
  • 45. Various lands were secured for the benefit of Alice daughter of Thomas Torbock, or any other of his daughters whom John Harrington, or other son and heir of Percival, might marry. Annuities were also assigned to Hamlet and Percival, the younger sons—to the former 4 marks and to the latter 40s.; Norris D. (B.M.), 10 Feb 1534–5.
  • 46. Percival Harrington was a freeholder in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 238.
  • 47. He paid £10 as composition for knighthood in 1631; ibid. 213.
  • 48. Private Acts of 12 Anne.
  • 49. N. Blundell's Diary, 138, 161.
  • 50. Charles and Mary Harrington his wife, of Huyton Hey, registered their estates in 1717; the brother John is mentioned. Another Mary Harrington, of Whiston, also had a leasehold estate in Huyton; Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 115, 119. The following references to enrolled deeds at Preston are taken from Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 174, &c.:— Geo. I, R. 3.—18 Apr. 1717; Mary Harrington wife of Charles H.of Huyton (John his father dead; Dorothy H. his mother). 1723; John Harrington of Aigburth (Charles H. his late brother; Dorothy H. his late mother). Ibid. R. 10.—5 and 6 May, 1715; Charles Harrington of Huyton to marry Mary daughter of Sir Rowland Stanley of Hooton (John H. brother of Charles; Anne his sister). Geo. II, R. 2.—Will of John Harrington of Aigburth; the manor of Huyton, &c., to my cousin Richard Molyneux of the Grange; Aigburth to my brother-in-law William Molyneux; my cousin Robert Fazakerley.
  • 51. Baines, Direct. of 1824, speaks of Huyton Hey showing the results of 150 years' neglect. Dorothy Harrington lived at Aigburth; Charles Harrington died at Scholes in Eccleston; the Molyneuxes probably lived at New Hall.
  • 52. The following deeds enrolled at Preston concern the Seels. They are from the Piccope MSS. iii. Geo. II, R. 18.—Thomas and Samuel Seel of Liverpool, merchants, son-in-law of William Barlow, deceased. Ibid. R. 23.—11 Oct. 1750. Thomas Seel, eldest son and heir of Thomas Seel of Liverpool. Ibid. R. 30.—5 June, 1756; Thomas Seel of Liverpool married Frances sister and heir of Richard Molyneux, deceased (only son and heir of Richard M. of New Hall); mentions the moiety of the manor of Huyton and Huyton Hey, demesne lands, water corn-mill, &c., formerly held by Charles and John, sons of John Harrington; also New Hall, the moiety of Huyton and Wolfall, &c. Among the Croxteth D. are two leases which illustrate the pedigree: (1) 1742: To Thomas Seel of Liverpool, merchant, for lives of his sons Thomas (aged 38), and Samuel (aged 34), and his grandson Thomas Seel (aged 12); (2) In 1753: for lives of Thomas Seel of Liverpool (aged 23), Frances his wife (aged 20), and Ellen his sister, wife of Owen Wynne.
  • 53. She and her husband were vouchees of the manor of Wolfall in 1802; Lent Assizes, 42 Geo. III, R. 15.
  • 54. See Michael Jones MS. Coll. in possession of Mr. Jos. Gillow. So Gregson, writing about 1817: 'The hamlet of Wolfall is the property of Mrs. Unsworth of Maghull (sister of Miss Seel), whose son takes the name of Seel … The township and manor of Huyton are the property of Miss Seel, who resides at Hurst House'; Fragments, 231.
  • 55. See Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 231.
  • 56. Ibid. 245.
  • 57. Apparently the eldest son of John Harrington, of Huyton Hey.
  • 58. Recusant R. in Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xiv, 242. In 1653 Anne Harrington of Huyton, widow of Percival Harrington, a younger brother of Robert, asked for an order from the Parliamentary Commissioners discharging the sequestration of two-thirds of his small property which had been incurred by his recusancy, in order that she might have means to bring up their infant son; Royalist Comp. P. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 150.
  • 59. Gibson, Cavalier's Note Book, 166.
  • 60. Wulfhal, 1242; Wlfal or Wolfal, 1292.
  • 61. The 'manor of Wolfall,' and 'a moiety of the manor of Huyton,' seem to have been terms used indifferently for it.
  • 62. Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270, n. 1. The boundaries are named as—the Hache, Alt, Altley, middle of the wood, Stockbridge, Roby boundary, also the assart called Leonards and Sewardsgate. In 1284 Richard del Bury, son of Robert de Wolfall, gave his brother Adam all his right in the land which his brother John had in Huyton; ibid. No. 4. Though a large number of Wolfall charters have been preserved by Kuerden in the volume cited, a satisfactory pedigree cannot be constructed from them. The identification of the son of Richard de Knowsley, brother of Adam de Huyton, with the first Richard de Wolfall has been adopted as least objectionable.
  • 63. Ibid. v, fol. 138b, n. 94, 11; fol. 247, n. 3.
  • 64. Burscough Reg. fol. 44. He is described as Richard de Knowsley, son of Robert son of Henry and Amabel his wife. Richard de Wolfall was one of the collectors for the Gascon scutage in 1242; Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 146.
  • 65. Richard, Adam, and William, brothers, were witnesses to an early (1230–64) charter; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvi, App. 200. Robert de Wolfall was another. 'Richard de Huyton, Adam, and William (his) brothers,' also occur; ibid. 201.
  • 66. Perhaps this should be 5⅓, i.e. the third of 2 plough-lands.
  • 67. Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 271, n. 149. Adam de Wolfall occurs 1332; Assize R. 428, m. 3. The Prophets are mentioned in other charters; by one Richard son of Richard de Wolfall and Henry son of Adam de Knowsley granted to William son of William, 'called the Prophet,' 3 acres from the waste within Huyton in the field called Gorsehurst, as freely as his ancestors had held it from the grantors; for a rent of 12d. William the Prophet in 1286 quitclaimed Richard and Henry. Among the witnesses to a grant by Richard de Wolfall the younger of about the same time is John 'called the Prophet'; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270b, n. 133; 270, n. 63, 68.
  • 68. Assize R. 408, m. 56. Grants by Richard have been preserved: (i) to John his son, of lands in Huyton, for the rent of a barbed arrow; (ii) to Roger his son, of half the land with half the wood between Stockbridge and the boundary of West Derby, excepting the lands held from him by John de Wolfall and Amery, who was the wife of Richard de Thingwall, but including Amery's homage; and (iii), a feoffment to Adam son of Henry the vicar of Huyton (1292); Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270, &c. n. 7, 66, 73, 139.
  • 69. Assize R. 408, m. 94, 44, 44 d. John, a son of Adam de Wolfall, made two complaints against Robert de Lathom: (i) that he had been disseised of the common of pasture in Knowsley belonging to his holding in Huyton, viz. in 100 acres of land in the open season, and 100 acres of pasture and wood all the year round; and (ii) that he had been disseised of an acre in Knowsley which Robert asserted had been demised to the plaintiff's father for a term of years only. He lost the first case, but won the second; Assize R. 408, m. 43 d. For John de Wolfall see also the account of Hale.
  • 70. Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270, n. 31. In 1309 Richard de Wolfall and others were accused of disseising John son of John de Wolfall of his lands in Huyton; Assize R. 423, m. 1 d.
  • 71. John de Wolfall was in 1356 made warden of the park of Simonswood; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270, n. 145. A feoffment of John de Wolfall and Margery his wife in 1354 is among the Norris D. (B.M.), 984. Henry de Wolfall occurs as granting to Sir Robert de Lathom land in the waste of Huyton, beginning at the house of Robert son of Roger de Thingwall, and following the bounds of Knowsley and West Derby, and thence to the land of William de Huyton; ibid. n. 982.
  • 72. Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 61, 32, 21. One branch of the family seems to have settled in the Lydiate district, and families there about this time laid claim to lands in Wolfall. John de Cowdray the younger in 1343 acquired 5 acres in a field called Roolowe (now Rooley); Bold D. (Warrington), G. 12. Richard de Aughton leased to John de Pennington the lands which had been John de Cowdray's in Huyton; in 1377 Robert de Wolfall gave to Richard de Pennington lands in the College field there; Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 19, 14, 36, 79. Some cross suits had in 1358 preceded this—between John de Wolfall on the one side, and Richard de Aughton and Katherine his wife, with whom was joined Isabel daughter of Henry de Scarisbrick, on the other. John de Cowdray, deceased, had been uncle of Katherine and grand-uncle of Isabel (a minor); Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 7, m. 4, 5, 5 d.
  • 73. Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 18.
  • 74. Assize R. 435, m. 4 d.; 425.
  • 75. Norris D. (B.M.), 987. See Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 8, 11, 24.
  • 76. John married (about 1396) Emmot daughter of John de Ashton, the latter paying £20 and assigning the lands he had bought from Adam de Wolfall; ibid. n. 77, also 3, 12, 20, 64.
  • 77. Ibid. &c. n. 122, 10, 28, 126–9, 123, 29, 34. In some of these abstracts Nicholas and Thomas are called John's sons. The dates are from 2 to 7 Hen. IV. John Wolfall and Thomas Wolfall the younger occur in a settlement of 1417; ibid. n. 119. In 1435–6 Thomas son of John Wolfall made a release to John Ashton; ibid. n. 48. The next who occur are Richard Wolfall (1442–3), John son of Richard Wolfall (1465), and Thomas son and heir of John Wolfall (1479 to 1488); ibid. n. 25, 40, 35, 124, 131, 45*.
  • 78. Ibid. n. 120, 121, 17. He is probably the Thomas Wolfall of Malpas and Bickley in Cheshire of whose will (1530–1) an abstract is given by Kuerden; in this he recites a recovery of his lands made in the last-mentioned year —100 acres of land with meadow, pasture and wood, and rents of 2s. 5½d., a pair of gloves, a broad arrow, nine peppercorns, and ½lb. of cummin—to the use of himself, Alice his wife, and Thomas his son and heir. In his will he further mentions his daughter Jane. Ibid. n. 50, 108, 138. The will of the son Thomas is preserved at Chester; it is dated 22 August, 1557, and was proved on 29 Oct. following. He mentions his mother Alice, makes his wife Elizabeth and his sons Thomas (his heir) and William executors, and also mentions other sons, John, Edward, and Robert, and daughters Alice (the eldest), Elizabeth (wife of Francis Tyldesley), and Margaret; Piccope, Wills, ii, 289.
  • 79. Thomas Wolfall of Wolfall, gentleman, aged about fifty, was a witness in 1556; Duchy Pleadings (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 228. In 1551 Richard Wolfall and his wife Joan occur, as also Isabel Wolfall, widow. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 266. John, a younger son of Wolfall of Wolfall, settled in London; and his son John, described as a skinner, recorded a pedigree in 1634; Visit. of Lond. 1633–5 (Harl. Soc.), p. 362.
  • 80. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 242.
  • 81. Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 45, 169, 95, 167. The untrustworthy pedigree printed in the Visit. of 1664 (Chet. Soc.), 337, begins with this marriage. Thomas Wolfall paid £10 on refusing knighthood in 1631; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 213.
  • 82. Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 155. Mary wife of Thomas Wolfall is in the recusant roll of 1641; Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xiv, 242. William Wolfall was marked for banishment in 1680; Cavalier's Note Book, 167.
  • 83. For the pedigree see Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), ii, 289. In 1650 William Wolfall, aged eight, great-grandson of Thomas Wolfall, prayed for the discharge of the estate, sequestered for delinquency. The great-grandfather had just died, at the age of eighty, and by an entail of 1624 his estate should now descend to the petitioner; Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 2579. Richard Wolfall, father of William, is stated to have been killed fighting for Chas. I in 1643 at Newbury; Castlemain, Cath. Apol. (quoted by Challoner).
  • 84. He had registered his estate as a 'Papist' in 1717, the value given being £262; Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 112.
  • 85. Another brother Thomas, a secular priest, served at Alt Grange 1704–20.
  • 86. He was vouchee in a recovery of the manor in 1737; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 544, m. 5 d.
  • 87. The following notes are from the Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 200, &c., abstracting deeds enrolled at Preston:— Geo. I, R. 3.—7 May, 1720; Richard Wolfall dead (he had married Anne Stanley); brothers William and Henry living. Ibid. R. 7.—25 Aug. 1722; Henry was now the only survivor; the three were sons of William Wolfall. Ibid. R. 10.–8 Oct. 1720; Will of William Wolfall. His manors to his brother Henry, with remainder to William son of Henry; mentions his sisters Elizabeth, and Margaret (wife of John Brounwell), and Frances daughter of Henry. Geo. II, R. 7.—William Wolfall living 17 March, 1736–7. Ibid. R. 18.—1744; the earl of Derby buys land in Wolfall from William Wolfall, eldest son and heir of Henry Wolfall of Wolfall (Frances the widow of Henry). Ibid. R. 19.—1745; mortgage of Wolfall to John Brownell of Liverpool. Ibid. R. 26.—1752; sale by William Wolfall to Jonathan Case. Ibid. R. 27.—28 May, 1753; mortgage of manor of Wolfall by William Wolfall to Thomas Seel of Liverpool, for £2,000. Ibid. R. 28.—17 June, 1755; after a sale Thomas Seel, as highest bidder, was purchaser of Wolfall.
  • 88. In 1348 Gilbert de Gorsuch and his wife Margery with Richard del Dam and his wife Alice claimed land from Henry son of Roger de Wolfall; De Banc. R. 356, m. 511.
  • 89. Dugdale, Visit. 337.
  • 90. The earliest mentioned, in the time of Richard II, is Lawrence Tyldesley of Wolfall, to whom Richard de Hulme of Liverpool, son and heir of Margery, daughter of Adam del Birches, granted 7 acres which had descended to him after the death of his mother; Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 90, 93. His son James in the next reign made a feoffment of his lands in Huyton and Wolfall to the vicar of Walton and another; ibid. n. 85, 97. His son Lawrence followed him before 1436, in in which year Randle de Tyldesley, vicar of Frodsham [1435–55], transferred to him 'Hopkin acre in Huyton, in the place called Rolaw.' In another deed Randle is joined with Joan, lately wife of Lawrence Tyldesley, and Emota his daughter. The younger Lawrence occurs as late as 1458; ibid. n. 87, 92, 86. A marriage between Thomas son of Lawrence Tyldesley and Janet daughter of John Birkhead of Wigan was arranged in 1458; Hindley D. 28. Thomas Stanley in 1460 gave to Ralph Tyldesley and Margery his wife land which Thomas (? Tyldesley) had held of him by knight's service, to be held till Richard son of Thomas should come to full age; Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 146. This Richard son of Thomas Tyldesley occurs in the reign of Henry VII; he bought 'land called Erber' from the Wolfalls; ibid. n. 75, 96, 101, 50. His son Nicholas (Piccope, Wills, i, 30) succeeded, being contemporary with Hen. VIII, and Edw. VI. In 1512–13 he granted to George Lathom half of Kilncroft; in the next year to Ralph Ireland of Lydiate lands in Huyton to the use of himself (Nicholas) and his son and heir John. In 1544–5 Nicholas made another feoffment of his lands, and in 1553 he and his son John, who had land at Highhurst, made an agreement as to division with Thomas Wolfall; Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 98, &c. He seems to have died about 1558, in which year his wife Ellen released Dam House to Thomas Wolfall; ibid. n. 154.
  • 91. In 1558–9 a settlement of the 'manor' of Dam was effected by Nicholas Tyldesley; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 21, m. 146; see also 32, m. 64.
  • 92. Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 114. Anthony Tyldesley is mentioned in these transactions in 1560–1 and in 1566–7. In the latter year Thomas Tyldesley of Wigan was also brought in; ibid. n. 84, 38. Michael Tyldesley of Huyton, and Isabel his wife (daughter and co-heir of … Wolfall), in 1594 sold a house in Huyton to Christopher Kenrick of Rainford; ibid. n. 37, 111, see also Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 51, m. 266.
  • 93. Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 150, 94. By his will he left £12 to his brother Francis.
  • 94. Ibid. n. 104, &c. A fine of 1605–6 seems to show that he sold to Thomas Wolfall at that time; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 68, n. 4. His wife's name was Alice. It was afterwards held by John Lathom, whose property was confiscated by the Parliament, and bought by Thomas Wolfall, 1653; Royalist Comp. P. iv, 68.
  • 95. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1836), iv, 7. For pedigrees of the Case family see Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 70; and Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 176.
  • 96. About the time of Edward I, Roger son of Richard de Wolfall gave to Richard de la Ford a place lying in Walton Riding for the rent of an arrow. In 1307 and 1315 John son of Richard de la Ford had further grants of land in Huyton from the sons of Adam le Kiryk (?) of Rainhill, which were enlarged or confirmed by Roger de Wolfall and Alice de Wolfall; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 230, &c. n. 87, 89, 43, 84, 92. John de la Ford was living in 1334, but appears to have been succeeded by a Thomas whose daughter Alice (who married Nicholas de Liverpool) and widow Joan are mentioned in one or more deeds of the years 1361, 1364, and 1369. In this last year Alice's feoffee, the vicar of Huyton, gave to John le Norreys Alice's lands in Huyton, Ditton, Roby, and Childwall; ibid. 95, 91, 96, 94, 22, 57, 55.
  • 97. De Banc. R. 248, m. 253; 253, m. 122.
  • 98. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 46, 57.
  • 99. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, n. 6.
  • 100. Ibid. ix, n. 10. George Lathom of Huyton gave a portion to his son and heir George, on the latter's marriage with Margery, daughter of John Ditchfield of Ditton; Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 138b, n. 106.
  • 101. Pal of Lanc. Feet of F. bdles. 36, m. 265; 37, m. 171; 38, m. 41; 39, m. 32; 43, m. 121.
  • 102. Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 119; he is identified with the son of Cuthbert Ogle of Whiston, recorded in the Visit. of 1664.
  • 103. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. iv, 163.
  • 104. Nightingale, op. cit. iv, 163–5.
  • 105. The mission was abandoned after the death of Fr. John Greene, a Dominican, in 1750; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. Engl. Cath. iii, 42.
  • 106. Liverpool Cath. Ann. 1901.
  • 107. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xix, 199.
  • 108. Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xvii, 72.
  • 109. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 283a.
  • 110. It is, however, sometimes called 3 plough-lands, as in Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 45, 76, early in Henry III's reign.
  • 111. Lav Subs. (Lancs.), 130–2.
  • 112. Chart. R. 97 (32 Edw. I), m. 1, n. 12.
  • 113. Engl. Hist. Rev. xvii, 295, where the charter is printed.
  • 114. Assize R. 428, m. 3.
  • 115. Ibid. 404, m. 18 d. The Moor family occur later, Augustine son of John del Moor being witness to several charters of the second part of the thirteenth century, and being also defendant in suits in 1292 concerning tenements in Roby brought by Ellis de Entwisle, and Richard and Patrick sons of Robert de Prescot; Assize R. 408, m. 48 d. 54 d.
  • 116. De Banc. R. 287, m. 402d.; 292, m. 294. See the account of Huyton. The disseisin was afterwards attributed to Adam de Knowsley, Henry's father.
  • 117. Ibid. 456, m. 44 d.; 457, m. 95 d.
  • 118. Burscough Reg. fol. 45.
  • 119. Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 84.
  • 120. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 32. 'Henry son of Ralph Bury of Roby' occurs 1528–9; Towneley MS. GG. n. 2101. In 1552–3 Ralph Bury complained that his house called Roby Hall in Roby, with its lands, had been occupied by Hamlet Stockley of Huyton and Robert Williamson of Wolfall, who had refused to surrender; Duchy of Lanc. Pleadings, Edw. VI, xxxi, B. 15.
  • 121. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle 30, m. 56.
  • 122. Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 374.
  • 123. Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 229.
  • 124. For his son William Leigh (1802–73) see Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of Engl. Cath. iv, 196.
  • 125. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 263.
  • 126. Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 119.
  • 127. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. III (1st Nos.), n. 61. There was a Combral about two miles away on the borders of Cronton; Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), iii, 117.
  • 128. Lond. Gaz. 9 Aug. 1853.