Townships: Kirkdale

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

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'Townships: Kirkdale', 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/pp35-40 [accessed 25 November 2024].

'Townships: Kirkdale', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1907), British History Online, accessed November 25, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp35-40.

"Townships: Kirkdale". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1907), , British History Online. Web. 25 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp35-40.

In this section

KIRKDALE

Chirchedele, Dom. Bk.; Kirkedale, 1185; Kierkedale, 1200.

With a frontage to the Mersey of a mile in length, Kirkdale extends inland about a mile and a half, the area being 841 acres. (fn. 1) It occupies the level ground between Everton and the river, a large part of which was formerly sandhills, and the village (fn. 2) lay at the foot of the hill, on the north-west side of the road from Liverpool to Walton. To the north rose a brook which ran down to the river by Bank Hall. (fn. 3) From the village a road led to the river side at Sandhills; (fn. 4) another road, Field Lane, afterwards Bootle Lane and now Westminster Road, ran to Bootle. On the eastern side towards the border of Walton (fn. 5) the land rises a little, attaining 150 ft. above the Ordnance datum. Like other townships absorbed by the growth of Liverpool, Kirkdale is a mass of buildings, chiefly small cottage property, the dwellings of the working classes, mixed up with factories and warehouses, railways, and shops. There are no natural features left, scarcely a green tree to relieve the monotony of ugly buildings and gloomy surroundings, save in some old enclosure that was once a garden.

The geological formation is triassic, consisting of the upper mottled sandstone of the bunter series resting upon the pebble beds of that series, which crop up on the higher ground, with a narrow strip of the basement beds of the keuper series resting upon them.

The old road from Liverpool to Walton and Ormskirk remains the principal thoroughfare. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's railway from Liverpool to Preston has stations called Sandhills and Kirkdale, and the Southport line, which branches off at Sandhills, has another station at Bank Hall. The London and North-Western Railway's branch from Edge Hill to the docks has a station at Canada Dock, and the Cheshire Lines Committee have one at Huskisson Dock. The Overhead Railway runs along the line of docks, with several stopping places; and the Liverpool tramway system has many lines in and out of the city and across. A large part of the shore side of the township is occupied with railway sidings and stations in connexion with the dock traffic. The portion of the dock system within the township limits includes Sandon Dock, with its large graving docks; Huskisson Dock, with two long branches, and Canada Dock with its branch. For many years, from about 1860, Canada Dock has been the centre of the timber trade, but the discharging ground has been moved further north.

Kirkdale Gaol, (fn. 6) where executions formerly took place, stood near Kirkdale railway station; part of the site has since 1897 been utilized as a recreation ground. Close by are the industrial schools of the Liverpool Select Vestry. (fn. 7)

Stanley Hospital was founded in 1867.

St. Mary's proprietary cemetery (fn. 8) was opened in 1905 as a public garden in charge of the corporation. It is known as Lester Gardens.

Colonel John Moore, a regicide, was lord of the manor. In recent times Canon Thomas Major Lester, incumbent of St. Mary's for nearly fifty years, has been the most notable resident; (fn. 9) his life was given up to various public services in connexion with education and philanthropy, large industrial schools being founded and maintained by his efforts.

Kirkdale was included within the borough of Liverpool in 1835, being a ward by itself; in 1895 it was divided into three wards, each with an alderman and three councillors.

MANOR

In 1066 Uctred held KIRKDALE, which was assessed at half a hide, and worth 10s. beyond the customary rent, and free from all custom except geld of the ploughlands and forfeitures for breach of the peace, ambush, &c. (fn. 10) It is probable this was the half hide held in 1086 by Warin, one of Roger of Poitou's knights, who may be identified with Warin Bussel, ancestor of the barons of Penwortham. This barony, probably incorporated by Stephen early in his reign, included Kirkdale, which rendered the service of three-tenths of a knight's fee to the quota due from the barony. (fn. 11)

Warin Bussel II gave the vill to one Norman, to hold by knight's service. (fn. 12) Roger de Kirkdale held the manor in the latter half of the twelfth century, and dying in 1201 (fn. 13) left a daughter Quenilda as heir. (fn. 14) She married Richard son of Roger, who assumed the local surname, and died before 1226, when Quenilda's marriage was in the king's gift by reason of her tenement in Formby. (fn. 15) Her elder daughter Ellen married William de Walton, at one time rector of the church, and their son William, known as William de Kirkdale, was in 1241 returned as holding the third part of a knight's fee in Kirkdale, of the earl of Lincoln, then lord of Penwortham. (fn. 16)

William's son, Robert de Kirkdale, was in possession before 1288, (fn. 17) and in 1320 agreed to sell the manor to Robert de Ireland; (fn. 18) the transfer was completed in the following year, (fn. 19) and the purchaser was returned as tenant in 1323. (fn. 20) Adam de Ireland of Hale, father of Robert, held lands here and was in 1322 stated to hold the three ploughlands. (fn. 21)

Ireland of Hale. Gules, six fleurs de lis, three, two and one argent.

Robert de Kirkdale retained a small estate, which passed to his son Henry before 1332. (fn. 22) Henry de Kirkdale died without issue before 1353, when he was succeeded by his sister's children. (fn. 23)

The new lord, Robert de Ireland, answered in 1355 for the third part of a knight's fee held of the duke of Lancaster. (fn. 24) In 1361 John de Ireland, probably his son, was in possession, (fn. 25) and in 1378 another Robert de Ireland contributed to the aid granted to John, duke of Lancaster, in respect of this manor. (fn. 26) Robert married Lora, afterwards the wife of John de Legh of Macclesfield. He died in 1381, (fn. 27) leaving a son and heir Robert, who was perhaps a minor. The younger Robert in 1399 released to John, son of Robert de Legh, the messuages and lands in Hale and Kirkdale then held by John and Lora his wife. (fn. 28) In 1404 he was outlawed, at the suit of John de Legh, for non-payment of a debt of 12 marks. (fn. 29) Four years later he released to William de la Moore of Liverpool his right in various tenements in Kirkdale and Liverpool, (fn. 30) and by another deed granted to the same William the manor of Kirkdale and eight acres in Liverpool. (fn. 31) Peter and Robert de Legh, sons of John and Lora, also disposed of their lands here to the Moores, (fn. 32) who thus became undisputed lords of the manor and holders of a considerable estate.

The first on record of the Moore family is Randle de la Moore, who as reeve of Liverpool appeared at the sessions of the justices in eyre at Lancaster in 1246. (fn. 33) His name frequently occurs in documents of the time of Henry III and Edward I. (fn. 34) His eldest son, John de la Moore, sen., also attested many charters of the time of the first Edwards; he was one of the three attorneys found by the borough of Liverpool in a plea of quo warranto at Lancaster in 1292, (fn. 35) and he and his brother Richard were returned to the Parliament at Carlisle in January, 1307, as burgesses for Liverpool. (fn. 36)

Moore of Bank Hall. Argent, three greyhounds courant sable collared or.

John de la Moore, junior, son of the last named John, occurs as holding land in Liverpool in 1323, (fn. 37) and as a witness to Liverpool charters down to 1337, about which time probably he was succeeded by Roger his son and heir, who held eight burgages in Liverpool in 1346. (fn. 38) He died about three years later, leaving a son William, a minor, (fn. 39) who died before 1374 without issue, when his tenements passed to his kinsman Thomas, (fn. 40) grandson of William, apparently a younger brother of John de la Moore, jun. William was the father of John de la Moore, who was mayor of Liverpool in 1353, and had considerable property there. (fn. 41) Dying about 1361 John was succeeded by his son, the above-named Thomas, who had received a grant of lands in Kirkdale from his father in 1360. (fn. 42) Thomas was frequently mayor of Liverpool between 1383 and 1407. (fn. 43)

It was his son William who, as already stated, purchased the manor of Kirkdale in 1408. He died 1 August, 1409, a week after the birth of his only child, John Moore. (fn. 44) In 1431 it was found that John Moore, gentleman, held the manor of Kirkdale by the service of the fourth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 45) He appears to have died without issue. (fn. 46)

Robert de la Moore, son of Thomas and uncle of John, then became the leading member of the family. In 1389 he had a grant of lands in Kirkdale from his father, (fn. 47) and was put in seisin in 1408. (fn. 48) In 1417 he witnessed a Kirkdale charter in which Bank House is named. (fn. 49) Seventeen years later he was himself the possessor of land at Bank House, which was probably the site of Bank Hall, the future mansion of the family. (fn. 50) Robert had a son of the same name, who had a son William, with whom more plentiful documentary evidence begins again. (fn. 51)

William Moore died on 30 July, 1541, seised of the manors of Kirkdale, Bootle, and Eccleshill, and of various other lands, burgages, and properties. His heir was his son John, then thirty-seven years of age. (fn. 52) John Moore had a good position in the county, and being at Lathom in 1554 did his best to convince George Marsh of error by lending him Fr. A. de Castro's book on heresies. (fn. 53) He died in October, 1575, (fn. 54) and was succeeded by his son William Moore, then thirty-seven years of age, who died in 1602. (fn. 55)

John Moore, his son and heir, aged thirty-eight in 1604, left several daughters as co-heirs, (fn. 56) but Bank Hall, with the manors of Kirkdale and Bootle, by William Moore's settlement, went to the younger son Edward. (fn. 57) This latter, almost the only Protestant among the gentry of the district, distinguished himself by his zeal against recusants, (fn. 58) who were inclined to consider his sudden death in 1632 as a divine judgement. (fn. 59) His son, Colonel John Moore, played a prominent part in the Civil War and signed Charles I's death warrant. His personal character does not seem to have been of the consistently moral type associated with the designation of Puritan. (fn. 60) He died of the plague in Ireland in 1650.

Edward Moore, his son and successor, was embarrassed by his father's debts. (fn. 61) His conduct after the death of Cromwell seems to have been purely selfish, and at the Restoration the influence of his wife and her family, zealous Royalists, saved him from the consequences of his father's actions. (fn. 62) In 1675 he was made a baronet. (fn. 63) He had many quarrels with the corporation of Liverpool, and in his Rental gave free expression to his opinion of the people of the town. (fn. 64) He died in 1678, (fn. 65) and was succeeded by his only surviving son Cleave, fifteen years of age. He is known chiefly for his scheme for supplying Liverpool with water from the springs at Bootle. (fn. 66) His debts, however, finally overwhelmed him, and the whole of the family estates in the Liverpool district were sold, the manor of Kirkdale and all or most of the lands there being purchased in 1724–5 by the earl of Derby. (fn. 67) Like Bootle, it has since descended, with Knowsley, to the present earl, who is lord of the manor. The old hall was demolished about 1760. (fn. 68)

The Molyneux family of Sefton began to acquire lands here about the middle of the fifteenth century, for which the status of a manor was afterwards claimed. (fn. 69) Early landowners were various members of the Kirkdale family, (fn. 70) the Waltons, (fn. 71) Bootles, (fn. 72) Wiswalls, (fn. 73) Rixtons, (fn. 74) and others. (fn. 75) Edward Moore was the only landowner in 1628 contributing to the subsidy. (fn. 76) The land tax return of 1785 shows that Lord Derby, Thomas Fleetwood, and the executors of John Fletcher, were the chief proprietors. John Leigh, a prominent Liverpool solicitor, leased the estate called Sand Hills (fn. 77) and died there in 1823.

Before the middle of last century the population had so greatly increased that various places of worship were built. In connexion with the Established Church, St. Mary's, at the north end of the old village, was built in 1835. (fn. 78) St. Lawrence's, erected in 1881, is a chapel of ease. St. Paul's, North Shore, close to the site of Bank Hall, was founded as an Episcopal chapel in 1859; it became a parish in 1868, when the church was built. (fn. 79) The incumbents of the preceding churches are presented by trustees. St. Aidan's, near the Liverpool boundary, was first built in 1861, but removed to its present site in 1875, the old one being required for dock purposes. The bishop of Liverpool and the rectors of Liverpool and Walton present. (fn. 80) St. Athanasius's, built in 1881–2, is in the gift of the Simeon trustees. (fn. 81) For Welsh-speaking Anglicans St. Asaph's, Westminster Road, has been licensed as a chapel of ease to St. David's, Liverpool.

A Free Church of England existed in Kirkdale from 1868 to 1871.

The Wesleyan Methodists have a church in Rosalind Street, built in 1877; also two in Boundary Street East, one for Welsh-speaking members. The Methodist New Connexion have a mission hall. The United Free Methodists have also a place of worship.

For the Baptists the Tabernacle was built in 1892. Other chapels are in Stanley Road and near Stanley Park; the latter was built in 1875. For Welshspeaking Baptists Seion Chapel, built in 1876, originated in Great Howard Street, Liverpool, in 1835 to 1840.

There is a United Free Gospel Chapel in Tetlow Street, begun in 1860 and enlarged in 1877.

The Congregationalists have a church in Westminster Road. A chapel was erected in Claremont Grove in 1829. In 1872 the congregation removed to the present building. The Welsh Chapel in Great Mersey Street originated in 1858, springing from the Liverpool Tabernacle. (fn. 82)

The Presbyterians have churches in Everton Valley, founded in 1862, and in Fountains Road (Union Chapel), 1878. That formerly in Derby Road was removed to Bootle in 1887.

The Salvation Army has barracks in Walton Road and Barlow Street.

The Roman Catholic faith probably died out soon after the Reformation, the Moores becoming Protestants about 1600, and there being no other resident able to afford the missionary priest a shelter. (fn. 83) A fresh beginning was made in 1848. Thousands of poor Irish labourers, driven from home by the great famine, came to Liverpool to work at the docks. To minister to them St. Alban's, Athol Street, was opened in 1849; it was gradually completed and beautified, and was consecrated in 1894. Our Lady of Reconciliation, Eldon Street, has sprung from a mission begun in a shed in 1854; the church, designed by Welby Pugin, was opened in 1860. St. Alexander's, on the borders of Bootle, was founded in 1862, mass being said in a hayloft for some years; in 1867 the church was opened, and enlarged in 1884. (fn. 84) From 1878 till 1884 a chapel of ease—known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour—was used. In 1870 the Congregational chapel in Claremont Grove (now Fountains Road) was purchased and opened as St. John the Evangelist's; a permanent church replaced it in 1885. St. Alphonsus' Mission was founded in 1878, a building in Kirkdale Road, formerly a masonic hall, being utilized. (fn. 85)

The Jews have a synagogue in Fountains Road.

Footnotes

  • 1. 921 acres, including 68 of inland water; Census Rep. of 1901. The apparent increase is due to dock extensions. There are also 198 acres of tidal water and 3 of foreshore.
  • 2. Morley Street is about the centre of the old village.
  • 3. A mill is marked on the stream in Sherriff's map of 1823. To the north of Bank Hall was Kirkdale Marsh.
  • 4. This road is now represented by Latham Street and Sandhills Lane. On the north side of it stood Blackfield House. To the south a small brook ran into the Mersey, forming the division between this township and Liverpool; it was called Beacon Gutter.
  • 5. In 1823 Springfield Mill stood near Spellow by the Walton Road. It still exists unused.
  • 6. It was built as a county prison and sessions house in 1819, transferred to the borough of Liverpool about 1855, and demolished in 1895.
  • 7. Built in 1843.
  • 8. It was opened in 1837.
  • 9. Of Christ's Coll. Camb.; M.A. 1866. His incumbency lasted from 1855 till his death in 1903, and he was made hon. canon of Liverpool in 1884.
  • 10. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 284a.
  • 11. Ibid. 335.
  • 12. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 35. Nothing is known of Norman; he is supposed to be the father of William son of Norman, to whom Roger de Kirkdale gave his share of Formby.
  • 13. In this year his widow Godith gave half a mark to sue for her dower before the justices at Westminster; Rot. de Oblatis (Rec. Com.), 128; Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 132.
  • 14. Inq. and Extents, l. c.
  • 15. Ibid. 131. She in her widowhood granted to Cockersand Abbey the service of two oxgangs in Kirkdale, held of her by Henry de Walton; also a place by the Mersey where the canons could make a fishery, viz. between the fishery of Thomas the chaplain and the sea; Cockersand Cbartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 564. She had two daughters, Ellen and Emma, who in 1241 made an agreement as to two oxgangs in Kirkdale, which Emma released to her elder sister; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 84. Robert, son of Emma, daughter of Quenilda de Kirkdale, in 1292 quitclaimed to Robert son of Master William de Kirkdale his right in the quarter of two oxgangs, and in the quarter of the demesne of the manor; Moore D. n. 515.
  • 16. Inq. and Extents, 149. In a charter made between 1273 and 1284, 'William, son of William formerly parson of Walton,' granted to his son Robert the manor of Kirkdale, viz. three plough-lands with the demesne, homages, wardships, and reliefs which the grantor had by the gift of Ellen, his mother, to hold by rendering a pair of white gloves at Easter and 8d. yearly to Robert de Sankey and his heirs for lands in the manor purchased from Henry, brother and heir of Robert de Sankey; charter in possession of Mr. J. Hargreaves, of Rock Ferry, n. 271. This transfer of the manor may have been made in view of the father's appointment to Sefton rectory. Robert, son of Roger de Sankey, brought a plea of assize of mort d'ancestor in 1270 against Edith, daughter of William, rector of Walton, touching five oxgangs and an acre in Kirkdale, of which Henry, brother of the said Roger, died seised. Edith called Roger de Sankey to warrant her; Cur. Reg. R. 200, m. 35d. In 1288 Roger, son of Robert de Sankey, sued Master William de Kirkdale, rector of Sefton, and Robert, his son, for the third part of four oxgangs; and again in 1290 he claimed two oxgangs, which Robert, son of Master William, then held. Robert de Kirkdale, in reply, stated that Henry, son of Roger de Sankey, long before his death, had enfeoffed Master William of the tenements; whereupon the plaintiff was non-suited. Assize R. 1277, m. 31; R. 408, m. 20 d.
  • 17. See the preceding note. A feodary of Thomas earl of Lancaster made between 1311 and 1318, records only that the heir of William de Walton held Kirkdale; Duchy of Lanc. Knights' fees, 1/11, fol. 27.
  • 18. On 6 May, 1320, a bond for £40 was entrusted to Henry de Lee, rector of Halsall, as security for the due performance of an agreement made between Robert de Kirkdale and Robert de Ireland for the sale of the manor to the latter, who, for consideration of 10 marks, was to enfeoff Robert de Kirkdale of the manor for life; charter in possession of Mr. Hargreaves. Another charter of the same date confirmed to Robert de Ireland the whole manor, save 4 oxgangs of land which Robert de Kirkdale had received by the gift of Richard de Fazakerley in free marriage with Alice his wife; ibid. n. 269.
  • 19. Final Conc, ii, 43.
  • 20. Rentals and Surv. 379, m. 8; 'Robert de Ireland holds the manor of Kirkdale and pays yearly 6s.' The later extent of 1324 says more fully: 'Robert de Ireland holds the manor of Kirkdale for three plough-lands of Alice, daughter and heir of the earl of Lincoln, as of the lordship of Penwortham by the service of 3s. yearly for ward of Lancaster Castle at the Nativity of St. John Baptist and 3s. for sake fee'; Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 35.
  • 21. Duchy of Lanc. Knights' fees, 1/3. See also Assize R. 426, m. 1, 7 d. By his charter Adam de Ireland granted to Robert his son an oxgang of land in Kirkdale which he had had from Cecily, formerly wife of John de Wolfall, with all the usual easements, including fishery 'in all salt waters and sweet'; Moore D. n. 508. Possibly Adam held the manor for a time as trustee, for in 1322 he and his eldest son John were defendants in a plea of novel disseisin in which Robert, the younger son, recovered lands in Kirkdale and Hale described as 12 messuages, an oxgang and 40 acres of land, an acre of meadow, a mill, and two-thirds of the manor of Kirkdale; County Placita, Chancery Lanc. n. 4.
  • 22. Add. MS. 32106, n. 452. Robert, lord of Kirkdale, in 1309 granted to Alice, his daughter, a messuage near the Crooked field and the road from Walton to Kirkdale; note of Mr. R. Gladstone, junr. In 1320 Robert, lord of Kirkdale, granted to Henry his son a messuage and selion which William the Fisher formerly held, and lands in Parsonfold, Oselfield, and Blackmould; Moore D. n. 527. About the same time Henry quitclaimed to Robert de Ireland all his right in the lands which his father was selling; ibid. n. 530 a. The most important tenants of the manor about 1330 were Henry, son and heir of Robert de Kirkdale, William the Tailor, Adam son of Hayne, Roger de Sankey, Henry de Acres, and Hugh de Wiswall; see Moore D. and Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 24. In 1340 Alice, relict of Robert de Kirkdale, demised a windmill to Robert de Ireland; Moore D. n. 539.
  • 23. The claimants were Adam del Acres, son of Juliana; Matthew de Kirkdale and his wife Cecily, daughter of Joan; and Simon the Carter and Averia his wife, daughter of Ellen; the said Juliana, Joan, and Ellen being sisters of Henry de Kirkdale; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 4, m. 18 d.; cf. Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 342.
  • 24. Feud. Aids, iii, 86. He is also mentioned in one of the Moore D. of 1355 (n. 546).
  • 25. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. III pt. i, n. 122.
  • 26. Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 75. In 1366 the lands of an Adam de Ireland are mentioned in Kirkdale; see Moore D. n. 549.
  • 27. Writ of Dicm clausit extremum issued; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 354.
  • 28. Moore D. n. 560. Early in 1402 Thomas de la Moore, escheator and collector of the aid granted that year, answered for 6s. 8d. of the heirs of Robert de Ireland for the manor of Kirkdale; Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees, 1/20, fol. 8.
  • 29. He afterwards received the king's pardon; Add. MS. 32108, n. 1555; Towneley MS. CC (Chet. Lib.), n. 430; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 175.
  • 30. Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 9. From a deed quoted in a later note it seems possible that William was completing a bargain entered into by his father Thomas.
  • 31. Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 9. In 1400 Thomas Touchet, rector of Malworth, released to Robert de Ireland the son, lord of Yeldersley in Derbyshire, all the lands, &c., which he had had in Kirkdale by the feoffment of Robert de Ireland the father; Moore D. n. 561.
  • 32. In 1407 Peter, son of John de Legh, released to his brother, Robert de Legh, all his right to lands in Kirkdale which had belonged to their father; Moore D. n. 563, 564. Shortly afterwards, Robert de Legh leased them for two years to Thomas del Moore, as the dower of Lora in right of her first marriage to Robert de Ireland; and in the following year he sold all his lands in Kirkdale to William de la Moore, of Liverpool; ibid. n. 565, 567.
  • 33. Assize R. 404, m. 16. Accounts of the Moore D. are given in Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), ii, 149, and Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. x, App. iv; the corporation of Liverpool purchased a large number, which may be seen in the museum.
  • 34. e.g. Final Conc. i, 157–60.
  • 35. Plac. de quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 381. See Towneley MS. GG, n. 2484, 2730, 2517.
  • 36. Pink and Beavan, Parl. Rep. of Lancs. 179. John and Richard de la Moore attested many charters together; in 1320 they are described as 'then bailiffs' (of Liverpool); Moore D. n. 334 (74).
  • 37. Rentals and Surv. 379, m. 11; he held 4½ acres in Liverpool for 2s. 3d., probably belonging to 2¼ burgages. He also contributed to the subsidy of 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. 2.
  • 38. Add. MS. 32103, fol. 140b; for these he paid 8s. In 1342 it was certified that he possessed 27s. worth of movable goods within the borough, chargeable to the ninth; Robert de la Moore, perhaps a brother, had a similar amount; Exch. Lay Subs. 130/15. He is called son of John de la Moore in Moore D. n. 108.
  • 39. Ibid. n. 194.
  • 40. He is called cousin and heir of William, son of Roger de la Moore; ibid. n. 231; and son of John de la Moore, n. 237, 238.
  • 41. The father may be the William de la Moore who with Alice his wife had an indulgence from Burton Lazars in 1340; Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 53. John de la Moore had the toll, stallage of markets and fairs of Liverpool, ferry or passage boat, one horse-mill and two water-mills at farm for £20 yearly, and also held 5¾ burgages in Liverpool for 5s. 1½d.; Add. MS. 32103, fol. 140.
  • 42. Moore D. n. 181.
  • 43. In 1408 Margery, widow of Thomas de la Moore, released her claim to dower to William, the son and heir of Thomas, and to Robert his brother; Norris D. (B.M.), n. 109.
  • 44. Lancs. Inq. p. m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 93; a month before his death he had made a feoffment of his lands in Kirkdale, Eccleshill, Liverpool, Walton, West Derby, and Turton. The lands in Eccleshill and Turton are said to have been the portion of his mother Cecily, daughter and heir of Nicholas de Turton, of Eccleshill; Visit. of 1567 (Chet. Soc.), 92.
  • 45. Feud. Aids, iii, 94. He was living in 1445, when Robert, son of Ralph Wiswall of Kirkdale, released to John, son and heir of William de la Moore, late of Liverpool, all right in the lands which his father had by the feoffment of John's father; Moore D. n. 575.
  • 46. On 12 Feb. 1467–8, John Crosse, of Liverpool, and Geoffrey Whalley, vicar of Childwall, re-granted to John Moore, of Liverpool, and Beatrice, his wife, all the lands, &c., which they had had in Eccleshill by the grant of the said John Moore; with remainder to their issue; in default to Robert, son of Robert Moore, of Bank Houses, and his heirs male; and in default to Edmund and William, brothers of Robert, and then to William Norris; Moore D. n. 772. Among the Norris D. (B.M.) are several of the year 1459, by which John Moore, son and heir of William Moore, made arrangements with Robert Moore, senior, son of Thomas, as to an annuity of 40 marks and the succession to certain lands in Kirkdale, Liverpool, and Fazakerley. Beatrice, the wife of John, was joined with him; she is said to have been a daughter of William Norris, of Speke, which explains the Norris remainders and the presence of these deeds among the Norris muniments; n. 40–8.
  • 47. Moore D. n. 556.
  • 48. Ibid. n. 566.
  • 49. Ibid. n. 570. By this, John del Bank, of Bank House, senior, gave to Richard Wilkinson, of Kirkdale, and Joan, the grantor's daughter, certain land in the Bank House, between lands of Thomas del Moore and John del Acres, and stretching from the common pasture on one side to the road leading from Liverpool to Bootle on the other. The Bank Houses are mentioned in 1371 in a grant by Richard del Bank, of Liverpool, to his elder brother of the same name; with remainder to the grantor's son John; ibid. n. 551. See also n. 554, 655. Robert del Moore was witness to another grant to Richard Wilkinson in 1432; ibid. n. 573.
  • 50. Ibid. n. 574; 'all the messuages, lands, and tenements, with appurtenances in the Bank House.' In 1465 Thomas Molyneux, of Sefton, was the purchaser from Henry Robinson of messuages and lands in the Bank Houses; ibid. n. 579.
  • 51. Robert Moore was the first witness to a Kirkdale deed in 1457; ibid. n. 578. Robert Moore and William Moore attested one of 1492; ibid. n. 580. For Robert, son and heir of Robert Moore, of Bank House, and cousin and heir of John Moore, in 1467, see Towneley MS. GG, n. 2793. An indenture by Robert Moore, undated, bears witness that he had enfeoffed John Hawarden, of Chester, and others of all his lands; they were to hold them until his son William arrived at the age of twenty-four years, duly providing for his maintenance and for the marriage of Robert's daughter; Moore D. n. 805. In a rental of William Moore's Chester property, made about 1540, is mention of 'a stone place which was some time Roger Derby, my grandsire's—which was my mother's father—in Bridge Street, near St. Bride's.' Rentals of William, son of Robert Moore, exist among the Moore D. A pedigree was recorded in 1567; Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 92.
  • 52. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p. m. viii, n. 12. The manor of Kirkdale and the lands there were said to be held of the king as of his duchy of Lancaster by the twentyfourth part of a knight's fee; there were 8 messuages, 200 acres of land, etc., 8s. 10d. free rent, and a free fishery. His will, dated 30 Oct. 1536, and proved 3 Sept. 1541, is printed at length in Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), iv, 180.
  • 53. Foxe, Acts and Monuments (ed. Cattley), vii, 43–4. A papal dispensation for the marriage of John Moore and Anne Hawarden was granted 27 Sept. 153-; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. x, App. iv, 60.
  • 54. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p. m. xii, n. 6. The annual value of Kirkdale was said to be £13 6s. 8d.
  • 55. Lancs. Inq. p. m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 12–14. The date of his death was wrongly given, viz. 1601 for 1602. No material change appears in the manors, &c., enumerated. In 1590 he was among the 'more usual comers to church, but not communicants'; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 245, quoting S. P. Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, n. 4. At a court of the manor of Kirkdale held in 1582, before William Moore as lord of the manor, the following orders were placed on record by the jurors: i. Every tenant of the manor should put his hedges and ditches in proper state; ii. Every tenant putting his beasts or cattle to pasture in the townfield after 20 March should pay for each horse, ox, or cow, ½d., and for eight sheep ½d., to the use of the burleymen. iii. Any man taking 'lesowing,' or tethering any beast or cattle in other men's grass, must pay to the lord 6d. each time; and any not ringing his swine when warned by the burleymen must pay 4d.; for not making his fronts sufficient, 2d.; for making of every gate, 4d.; for cutting wood of another man's, 2d.; for growing grass, 2d. iv. No man should feed any manner of cattle or beast in any of the ways within the townfield until the field be put abroad, under penalty of 6d. each time. Two assessors of the lord called 'henlayers' and two burleymen ('berlimen') were appointed; Moore D. n. 610. In 1599, as appears by the inquisition, William Moore enfeoffed Richard Bold and others of his manors of Kirkdale and Bootle and other lands to the use of himself during life, and then to his younger sons, Edward and Richard, by his second wife. The reason for passing over the eldest son is perhaps disclosed in the later endorsement of an acquittance given in 1586 by John Moore to his father; 'an acquittance under John Moore's hand, which was the unthrift who sold £10 per annum of copyhold land before his father, William Moore, esquire, died'; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. x, App. iv, 61.
  • 56. John Moore is said to have died in the Counter Prison in April, 1604, seven months before the inquisition already cited, according to which it might be supposed he was still living. There seems to have been some difficulty in obtaining possession, livery having been sued on behalf of John Moore, and the fine in May, 1605, being found to be £25 17s. 7d.; then 'the heir being now dead,' the direction ran: 'Let Edward Moore sue livery in the name of John Moore, and take the oath and covenant as the heir ought to do, because the land is conveyed from the heir to Edward Moore'; Moore D. n. 623.
  • 57. On 14 Sept. 1602, Richard Moore, of Bank House, released to his brother Edward all interest in the manors of Bootle and Kirkdale; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. l.s.c.
  • 58. See the story of Sir William Norris in the account of Speke. Yet Edward Moore married the daughter of John Hockenhull, of Prenton, a convicted recusant who died in prison after many years' confinement. Edward Moore was sheriff of the county in 1617; P.R.O. List, 73. He was returned to Parliament as one of the burgesses for Liverpool in 1625; Pink and Beavan, op. cit. 186.
  • 59. Cavalier's Note-book, 211. The certificate taken by Randle Holme in 1638 is printed in Lancs. Fun. Certs. (Chet. Soc.), 56.
  • 60. Many details of his career will be found in Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.). He sat in the Long Parliament for Liverpool; Pink and Beavan, op. cit. 188. There is an account of his papers in the Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. already cited, x, App. iv, 63–99. Adam Martindale described his household as a 'hell upon earth'; Autobiog. (Chet. Soc.), 36. His will is among the Liverpool Corp. muniments.
  • 61. He was serving in Ireland as Captain Edward Moore, but procured leave of absence to visit England 'to look after his occasions'; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. x, App. iv, 99, where may also be seen several of his requests for arrears of his father's pay, and for 'some delinquent's estate' to repair the losses incurred in the Parliament's service.
  • 62. Ibid. 110. The Moore manors were granted to the earl of Meath and Thomas Gascoigne in 1662; Pat. 14 Chas. II, pt. xii, n. 9. Edward Moore's wife, like her family, adhered to the Roman Church and in her last letter to her husband desired him to give her church stuff 'to the church so that her soul might be prayed for'; she wished that her son Cleave should not 'go beyond sea'; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ut sup. 121; see the pleading on 123. An attempt was made to induce the father to have the two surviving children brought up in the mother's religion; T. E. Gibson in Liverpool Cath. Ann. 1887, p. 108. Fenwick Street in Liverpool commemorates her.
  • 63. Burke, Extinct Baronetcies.
  • 64. For an account of his life and character see Mr. Fergusson Irvine's Liverpool in the Reign of Chas. II, xvii-xxix, in which volume the Rental is printed in full; it had been partially edited for the Chet. Soc. in 1846 by Thomas Heywood.
  • 65. The will of Edward Moore, made in 1672, left the income of his estates to his wife Dorothy for life; after her death the entailed estates to Fenwick Moore, with remainder to Cleave Moore, his other son; and then to Robert, son of Robert Moore, of Liverpool, his uncle; and in default of heirs male to his daughter Margaret. He also made provision for his brother Thomas, for servants, and others; to the poor of Liverpool he left £10, and of Bootle and West Derby £20. For his son Cleave Moore he made provision by a gift of Finch House in West Derby for his life; Knowsley D. 471/165.
  • 66. A private Act was obtained in 1709 (8 Anne, c. 25), but the scheme was never carried through. 'Sir Cleave Moore's waterworks' are mentioned in N. Blundell's Diary, e.g. 76.
  • 67. In 1690 Sir Cleave's Lancs. estate had been mortgaged for £12,650; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. x, App. iv, 137; see also Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 453, m. 12. In August, 1724, was a recovery of the manors of Kirkdale and Bootle, Sir Cleave Moore and John Wallis being called to vouch; ibid. R. 521, m. 4 d. Lord Derby bought Bank Hall in January, 1724–5. The purchase included the manors of Kirkdale, Bootle, and Linacre, and all Sir Cleave Moore's estates in Kirkby, West Derby, Fazakerley, Litherland, Little Crosby, Ellel, Horsam, Walton, and Liverpool; Knowsley Muniments. There are references to Lord Derby at Bank Hall in N. Blundell's Diary, 219, 222.
  • 68. The following is Enfield's description of it: 'It was a curious model of the ancient architecture such as prevailed 500 [sic] years ago, and doubtless in those days was esteemed a very grand structure. The front of it was moated with water, over which was a passage by a bridge, between two obelisks, to the gateway, whereon was a tower, on which were many shields of arms carved in stone; of which the most remarkable was that within the court, being undoubtedly the achievement of the founder, viz.: 1st. Ten trefoils, 4, 3, 2, 1. 2nd. Three greyhounds current, in pale; 3rd. A buck's head, caboshed, in front. 4th. A griphon rampant. Crest, a moorcock volant. Date 1282 [?1582]. The great hall was a curious piece of antiquity, much ornamented with carvings, busts, and shields. It had no ceiling, but was open quite up to the roof, with various projections of the carved parts, whereon trophies of war and military habiliments were formerly suspended. On a wall between the court and garden was a grand arrangement of all the armorial acquisitions of the family. The shields were carved on circular stones, elevated and placed at equal distances like an embattlement. But this venerable pile has lately been demolished, and will probably soon be forgotten'; Liverpool, 113. There is a view in Gregson, Fragments, 153. The site of the hall was approximately the corner of Bankhall Lane and Bankhall Street.
  • 69. Sir William Molyneux (Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, n. 2, 1548) held his lands in Kirkdale partly of the king, as of his barony of Penwortham by 3/10 of a knight's fee, and partly of the Hospital of St. John, Chester. See also Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 390. The deeds at Croxteth show purchases as follows: By Richard Molyneux from William Sheppard in 1457; by William Molyneux from Roger Wiswall in 1501; and by Sir Richard Molyneux and William his son and heir in 1565 from Thomas Green and Randle his son and heir, comprising the inheritance of William Lancelot, tenanted by Ralph Bolton and thirteen others; Q. i, 1–3. The earlier deeds, probably transferred with the lands, include grants from Robert de Kirkdale to Matthew the Barther in 1304; from Henry, son of Robert lord of Kirkdale to Alan son of Adam de Walton, and to Richard son of Henry de Orrell in 1316; and from Simon de Kirkdale to Matthew son of Richard de 'Lisnetarki' of half an oxgang at a rent of 1s. 3d. and a pound of cummin; Croxteth, D. Q. ii. 3, 1, 4, 2. This last was probably the foundation of the claim of a manor, and no doubt descended to the Lancelyns of Poulton near Bebington, in virtue of the marriage of Alice, daughter and heir of Thomas Ewes, to Roger Lancelyn, for Roger died in 1526, seised of lands here held of the king as of his barony of Penwortham, by the twentieth part of a knight's fee and a rent of 2s.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p. m. vi, n. 23; Moore D. n. 598 b (where the service is called the fourth part and the twentieth part). William, the son and heir was then a minor, and died in 1551, leaving a daughter Elizabeth, only three years of age (ibid. ix, n. 1), who was at once married to Randle son of Ralph Green (according to the pedigree in Helsby's Ormerod, Ches. ii, 444). The Croxteth D. above quoted, however, gives Lancelot as the surname, and Thomas Green as father of Randle. Land of Robert, son of Simon de Kirkdale is mentioned in 1366; Moore D. n. 549.
  • 70. Henry de Riding in 1348 granted to William, son of Henry son of Robert de Kirkdale, land in Hongircroft, Turnerfield, Dale-side, and Rye Croft; Croxteth D. Q. ii, 6. There appear about 1300 to have been two contemporaries named Robert de Kirkdale; William son of Ralph de Ireland granted to Robert son of Robert de Kirkdale certain lands, and Robert de Kirkdale granted others to the same, but does not call him 'son'; Moore D. n. 509, 510. Adam son of Robert de Kirkdale occurs in 1317; ibid. n. 523. In 1316 Robert de Kirkdale made a grant to Matthew son of Matthew de Kirkdale of lands in the Gorsticroft by the Greengate, in the Breckfield next lands of Godith de Kirkdale, in the Ballydfield, and by the Boritte Rake; ibid. n. 522. William de Walton in 1307 granted to Matthew son of Matthew de Kirkdale and his assigns (except Robert de Kirkdale and Adam de Ireland of Hale), a man to dig turf in William's turbaries on Qualebreth (?Warbreck) moor, and another man to help, and leave to carry the turf away to Kirkdale; Croxteth D. Bb, iv, 6. Robert de Ireland acquired lands from Stephen de Kirkdale and Margaret his wife in 1317, and from Richard son of William, son of Richard de Kirkdale, in 1325, the latter including a ridge held as dower by Alice, mother of Richard. Moore D. n. 521, 534. Robert son of Richard de Kirkdale granted a halland to John de Formby in 1329; ibid. n. 535. William son of Matthew de Kirkdale made a grant to Alice his daughter in 1339, and Matthew son of Richard de Kirkdale and Cecily his wife gave land in the Oldhearth to Richard de Ainsargh in 1355; ibid. n. 541, 546.
  • 71. Henry de Walton granted to John the Goldsmith of Chest. an oxgang of land in Kirkdale by knight's service where ten plough-lands made a fee, and by a gift of spurs; Richard de Meath was a witness; Moore D. n. 502. Richard son of Henry de Walton granted his son William the oxgang which Stephen Bullock formerly held, and lands in the Fenny Acres, the Crakefield, &c., with easements and liberties belonging to the vills of Walton and Kirkdale, to be held as the last grant; ibid. n. 501, also n. 503. In 1321 Jordan de Rixton gave lands bounded in part by the Tothe Syke and Holdeyr Reyndys to John son of Henry de Walton; ibid. n. 532.
  • 72. Henry de Bootle granted lands to Henry his son in 1337; and in 1376 Margery, widow of William Masson, gave lands in Kirkdale and Liverpool to Henry, son of Henry de Bootle; while John de Bootle had a release from Alice, widow of Robert Johnson (i.e. probably Robert son of John de Bootle), of his lands; Croxteth D. Q. ii, 5, 8–10, 11. Roger, son of Ellis de Bootle, and Annota daughter of Adam, son of Robert de Derby, were in 1376 refeoffed of Roger's lands in Kirkdale; Henry and John de Bootle were witnesses; Moore D. n. 552. An exchange of lands was made by William Moore and Thomas Bootle in 1507; ibid. n. 583.
  • 73. Roger son of Robert de Kirkdale married Maud daughter of Hugh de Wiswall, and a settlement of his lands was made in 1348; her father was a witness; Moore D. n. 548. The same Maud in 1368 received lands from Robert Fox, who had them in 1366 from John the Cook of Hale by a charter to which William de Wiswall was a witness; ibid. n. 550, 549. Robert son and heir of Ralph de Wiswall in 1445 released to John del Moore all his right in the lands sold by his father; and in 1457 exchanged with John Thompson lands in the Blakefield and Baldfield for others; ibid. n. 575, 578. John son of Richard Wiswall occurs in 1492; ibid. n. 580; and William Moore acquired lands from Roger Wiswall in the Conery and Chollolfield, in exchange for others in Efurlong, &c. in 1508, and from Robert Wiswall in Whitfield and Barrowfield in 1525; ibid. n. 584, 592. Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Ralph Wiswall of Kirkdale, married Robert Lee, and in 1524 sold her lands in Walton, Fazakerley, and Liverpool, to Edward Molyneux, rector of Sefton; Croxteth D. Bb, iii, 1.
  • 74. Thomas son of Jordan de Rixton released to Robert de Ireland in 1338 all his claim to lands in Kirkdale; and two years later Ellen, widow of Jordan, similarly released her claim in the lands sold by her son Thomas; Moore D. n. 538, 540.
  • 75. The Hulmes of Maghull had lands in Kirkdale; Edmund Hulme is mentioned in 1525, ibid. n. 592; and Richard Hulme died in 1615 seised of a messuage, &c. held of the king; Lancs. Inq. p. m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 19. Richard Crosse of Liverpool also had lands here; ibid. ii, 136. Among the Crosse D. (Trans. Hist. Soc.) is only one referring to this township, n. 100 (dated 1405).
  • 76. Norris D. (B. M.).
  • 77. Near the present railway station so named. The family is noticed in the account of Walton church.
  • 78. A district was first assigned in 1844; Lond. Gaz. 14 Sept.
  • 79. Lond. Gaz. 15 Sept. 1868.
  • 80. Ibid. 5 Feb. 1861; for endowment 28 July, 1863.
  • 81. Ibid. 11 Jan. 1881; for endowment 2 June, 1882, 31 March, 1882.
  • 82. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. vi, 176, 226.
  • 83. The recusant roll of 1626 records only two names in Kirkdale; Lancs. Lay Subsidies, 131/318.
  • 84. Among the church plate is a sixteenth-century chalice formerly owned by Caryll Lord Molyneux; Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), v, 205.
  • 85. Liverpool Cath. Ann. 1901.