Townships: Sutton

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

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Citation:

'Townships: Sutton', 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/pp354-362 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Sutton', 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/pp354-362.

"Townships: Sutton". 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/pp354-362.

In this section

SUTTON

No variation in spelling.

This township, now included within the borough of St. Helens, has an area of 3,752½ acres. It partakes of the unpicturesque character of other Lancashire townships where the country is flat and open, containing manufacturing towns and coal mines. The smoke and fumes arising from factories have well-nigh destroyed the best trees, and even hedges have a blackened stunted appearance, and cinderpaths are frequent. There are, however, crops grown in the more favoured parts of the district, consisting chiefly of oats, wheat, hay, and clover. The soil is of clay.

The greater part of the township lies upon the coal measures. A belt of the lower mottled sand stone of the bunter series (new red sandstone) extends across the south-eastern portion with small areas of the permian beds intervening at Leech Hall, Peckers Hill Lane, and Sutton Moss. From St. Anne's Well to Thatto Heath the pebble beds of the bunter series occur.

Sutton Hall is near the centre; Burtonhead is on the western side, with Ravenhead to the north, Eltonhead to the south-west, and Micklehead in the southern corner. Sherdley, on the borders of Burtonhead, has Lea Green to the west and Marshall's Cross to the south; Peasley Cross is in the northeast. The various 'heads' denote the edges of the higher land on the west and south of the township. Sutton Brook crosses the township from the southern corner to join Sankey Brook to the east of St. Helens.

Numerous roads radiate from St. Helens to the south and south-west, and there are cross roads from Prescot to Burtonwood and Parr. The London and North-Western Company's lines from Liverpool to St. Helens, and from St. Helens to Widnes, pass through the township; on the latter are stations at Peasley Cross, Sutton Oak, and Clock Face. The same company's Liverpool and Manchester line crosses the southern part of the township, with stations at Lea Green and St. Helens Junction.

The Local Government Act of 1858 was adopted in 1864, the board being dissolved in 1869 on the creation of the borough of St. Helens.

The rich coal fields of Sutton have long been known, a 'mine of coals' being mentioned in 1556; (fn. 1) and they have attracted the other manufactures for which the district is famous. The plate-glass works at Ravenhead were established in 1773, and on failure in 1794 were again set going. (fn. 2)

Earthenware, especially in drainage pipes, is an important trade, a peculiar clay being found here. Watch movements were also made.

St. Anne's Well lay on the border of Rainhill; the water had a reputation for healing diseases of the eyes. (fn. 3)

MANORS

SUTTON, Eccleston, and Rainhill were probably members of the Widnes fee in 1086, (fn. 4) and continued to be held as one of the four knight's fees which constituted the service due for this lordship. In 1212 William son of Matthew de Daresbury held these manors. (fn. 5) About 1250 William de Daresbury (fn. 6) granted to Robert son of Roger de Ireland, in free marriage with his daughter Beatrice, the homage of William called Samson in the whole of Eccleston and Rainhill, of Robert son of John de Sutton for three plough-lands in Sutton, and of Matthew de Daresbury, perhaps a brother of the grantor, for another half plough-land there. (fn. 7) Sutton by itself being assessed at four plough-lands, the remaining half plough-land was probably held in demesne.

Daresbury of Daresbury. Argent, a wolf passant sable.

Beatrice was her father's heir, and her two daughters, Margery and Maud, carried the inheritance to their husbands, Henry and Gilbert, sons of Alan le Norreys of Formby. (fn. 8) There seems to have been a division, Henry and Margery as the seniors taking Daresbury, (fn. 9) whilst Gilbert and Maud took Sutton. Very soon, however, the latter resigned their rights in Eccleston and Rainhill to the others. (fn. 10) Sutton they retained for themselves. Maud seems to have died early, leaving an only daughter Margery as heir. (fn. 11) Gilbert married again, holding this manor until his death; his sons Robert and Richard are named. (fn. 12) Margery married one John de Meols, and left a son and heir Gilbert, who successfully asserted his right to his grandmother's inheritance. (fn. 13) He died about 1348, leaving an only son and heir Robert, who died soon after his father without issue, by his wife Agnes. (fn. 14) Thereupon Sutton was claimed and recovered in 1349 by Clemency, as daughter and heir of Alan le Norreys, son of Alan, the son and heir of Henry and Margery. (fn. 15)

At this time Clemency was a minor, in the guardianship of John Danyers or Daniell, who married her to his son William. (fn. 16) The manor continued in the line of Daniell of Daresbury until 1517, (fn. 17) when John Daniell sold his manors of Sutton, Eccleston, and Rainhill, to John Bold, most probably the half brother of Sir Richard Bold. (fn. 18) From him they passed to his brother Tucher or Tuger, (fn. 19) who gave them in 1545 to his nephew Richard Bold. (fn. 20) With the rest of the Bold estates they came into the possession of Sir Henry Bold Hoghton. Sutton being sold, was in 1869 purchased by William Pilkington, from whom the lordship of the manor has descended to Mr. William Lee Pilkington, his son. (fn. 21)

Daniell of Daresbury. Argent, a pale fusilly sable.

The Hospitallers had land in Sutton called Crossgate, from which they drew a quit-rent of 12d. (fn. 22)

The charter of William de Daresbury shows that three of the four plough-lands of SUTTON were in the possession of the family taking the local name. They appear at the end of the twelfth century, when William son of Ivo, at the prayer and with the consent of Siegrith his wife and his heirs, gave to Hugh le Norreys a plough-land in Eltonhead. (fn. 23) Siegrith afterwards gave Burtonhead, as half a plough-land, to Gilbert de Haydock, (fn. 24) and made benefactions to Warburton. (fn. 25) She was succeeded by her son John, who confirmed his mother's gifts to Cockersand; (fn. 26) and his son Robert, as above stated, was in possession about 1250. (fn. 27) Sons of his named John, Richard, and Robert are known, (fn. 28) but though the family seems to have retained some holding in Sutton, (fn. 29) the manor is very soon afterwards found in the possession of Richard de Holland. (fn. 30)

The Hollands retained the manor down to the eighteenth century, but very little is known of them. (fn. 31) The religious changes of the sixteenth century brought Roger Holland to the stake for his persistence in the doctrines of the reformed church, (fn. 32) but the family remained generally constant in the profession of the Roman Catholic faith, and had much to endure in consequence. (fn. 33) The Ven. Thomas Holland, a Jesuit, who suffered as a priest at Tyburn, 12 December, 1642, is supposed to have been of this family. (fn. 34) Pedigrees were recorded in 1567 (fn. 35) and 1664. (fn. 36)

William Holland was the head of the family in 1567. His eldest son was Alexander, (fn. 37) who died 1 April, 1588, holding the hall of Sutton of the queen as duke of Lancaster, and land in Ditton; his son and heir was Richard, aged thirteen. (fn. 38) Richard Holland made a settlement of his lands in 1611 in favour of his son William; the latter succeeded his father, and at his death on 24 February, 1623–4, the inheritance passed to his son Richard, aged nearly nine years. (fn. 39)

The family appears to have been deeply involved in debt; and after the outbreak of the Civil War Richard Holland's estate was sequestered by the Parliament for his recusancy and delinquency. He died in 1649, and his wife about the same time, leaving three young children—Edward, born in 1640, Richard, and Anne. A creditor seized the estates, and a fifth of the annual value, estimated at only £27, was all that was allowed for the maintenance of the children. (fn. 40) Edward and his wife Esther were returned as recusants in 1679, (fn. 41) and their son Thomas registered his estate as a 'Papist' in 1717. (fn. 42) In 1700, however, the manor had been sold to Richard Bold, and became merged in the superior lordship already held by him. (fn. 43)

The grant of BURTONHEAD by Siegrith de Sutton to Gilbert son of Henry de Haydock has been mentioned. (fn. 44) Towards the end of the thirteenth century Robert, son of Gilbert de Haydock, gave to William, son of Adam de Burtonhead, a portion of his land in Fernylea in Burtonhead, (fn. 45) but soon the Haydocks gave place to Norrises. The grant just named shows that there was a local family besides. (fn. 46)

Alan le Norreys, whose sons Henry and Gilbert afterwards acquired by marriage the superior lordship, was in possession as early as 1246, when he appears as one of the lords of Sutton, complaining of a disseisin. (fn. 47) He was succeeded by his son Robert about 1276, and then the name of Robert le Norreys— there being apparently two persons successively bearing the name, father and son—occurs for over fifty years, (fn. 48) being succeeded by Nicholas son of Robert, who is found as plaintiff as early as 1319; (fn. 49) he died about 1349, his widow Emma appearing in a suit in 1351. (fn. 50) By virtue of a certain entailing deed he was succeeded by Robert son of Nicholas le Norreys, then a minor. This Nicholas, called 'of Burtonhead,' lived until 1367, and then followed Robert, born about 1335. (fn. 51) Robert had sons Thomas and John, (fn. 52) and the former leaving a daughter and heir Margaret, Burtonhead passed to her issue by her husband, Hugh son of Richard de Pemberton. (fn. 53) William their son succeeded, (fn. 54) and was followed by John Pemberton, who died about 1501; (fn. 55) the latter's son James was followed by George Pemberton, (fn. 56) and he by his son James. (fn. 57) His heir was another James, his son, who with his son James appears to have mortgaged and then sold the manor, (fn. 58) which shortly afterwards was held by Henry Eccleston of Eccleston. (fn. 59) In this family and its successors it descended (fn. 60) like Eccleston until 1803, when it was sold to Michael Hughes of Sherdley, ancestor of Captain Hughes, the present owner. (fn. 61) Large portions of the lands pertaining to it have been sold to manufacturing companies and others.

Hughes of Sherdley. Gules, two lions passant in pale and in chief a rose argent; in dexter chief a mullet for difference.

The Norrises of Speke also had land here. (fn. 62) It was at Sutton that John le Norreys of Speke imprisoned Margery de Bulling until she resigned her land. (fn. 63)

The grant of ELTONHEAD, as one plough-land, to Hugh le Norreys (fn. 64) has been mentioned above. The lordship of Eltonhead is next found after nearly two centuries, in the possession of the Lathoms of Lathom. In 1370 it was held by Thomas, son of Robert de Lathom, of William Daniell, by knight's service. (fn. 65) It descended to the earls of Derby with the other Lathom manors, but is not mentioned in the Derby inquisitions. (fn. 66) The same or a later Hugh le Norreys in the thirteenth century granted four oxgangs of land, or half the vill of Eltonhead, to William le Norreys, (fn. 67) who appears to have settled there, becoming ancestor of the family who took their name from the place and held this mesne manor down to the end of the seventeenth century. The sons of William were probably the 'Alan and Robert, sons of William le Norreys' who attested the charter of William Samson concerning Eccleston and Rainhill about 1270. (fn. 68) William le Norreys was still living in 1246. (fn. 69)

Eltonhead of Eltonhead. Quarterly per fesse indented sable and argent, in the first quarter three plates fesseways.

For a time Eltonhead seems to have been held in division between the descendants or representatives of his sons. Of the two brothers, Robert lived the longer, dying about 1310; (fn. 70) Alan was represented by Henry, probably his son, as early as 1302. Robert was succeeded by his son Alan, (fn. 71) and the latter's son Richard, dying in his father's life time, (fn. 72) was succeeded by his son Henry before 1353. (fn. 73)

Henry de Eltonhead in 1332 contributed to the subsidy. (fn. 74) In 1337 Alan, son of Henry, put in a claim to the manors of Haigh and Blackrod. (fn. 75) The next of this, the senior branch, to appear is John de Eltonhead, grandson of Henry, who was in possession for about fifty years. One of his earliest acts was the recovery of the share of the manor held by Henry, son of Alan de Eltonhead, by which he became sole lord of the manor. (fn. 76) From this time for more than a quarter of a century there are only fragmentary notices of the family. (fn. 77) From 1500 onwards, however, a fairly complete account can be compiled from the inquisitions post mortem (fn. 78) and the pedigrees recorded at the visitations. (fn. 79)

The family would appear to have conformed, after a brief resistance, (fn. 80) to the religious changes of Queen Elizabeth, but Richard Eltonhead the elder took arms for the king in the Civil War, and had to compound for his estates. (fn. 81) In 1676 Richard Eltonhead and Richard his son conveyed to Thomas Roughley the hall of Eltonhead and the lands belonging to it; (fn. 82) and the sale was completed in 1684. (fn. 83) From Thomas it passed to his sons Henry and Percival, and then to their creditors, being purchased in 1712 by Isaac Greene, (fn. 84) from whom it has descended, through the Gascoynes, to the Marquess of Salisbury, the present possessor. (fn. 85)

Early in the thirteenth century, WOODFALL in Burtonhead was granted to the canons of Cockersand by Siegrith de Sutton and Richard de Burtonhead; Emma wife of Simon son of Roger de Rainhill, with the assent of her husband, resigned all her right in it. (fn. 86)

The family called after this estate, of which there are few particulars, began with an Adam son of William Blundell, (fn. 87) whose two sons William and Richard had some disputes concerning their inheritance. (fn. 88) The Woodfalls continued here until the sixteenth century, (fn. 89) when they appear to have sold their estates, being succeeded by Livesey of Ravenhead and Watmough of Micklehead. (fn. 90)

John de Northale in Sutton was plaintiff in 1276 with the lords of Rainhill in a suit respecting the boundaries; (fn. 91) the family are mentioned from time to time in various pleas; thus Gilbert son of Henry de Northale occurs in 1292, (fn. 92) Alice, widow of Henry son of Simon de Northale, in 1317, (fn. 93) and Hugh de Northale in 1305 and 1332. (fn. 94) By this time, however, the main branch appears to have settled at SHERDLEY and assumed a new surname from it, for in 1319 John de Sherdley, in a claim to lands in Sutton, traced his descent thus: he was son and heir of Robert, who was son and heir of Henry de Northale. (fn. 95) In 1303 John de Sherdley was reckoned among the lords or freeholders of Sutton. (fn. 96) The family appear to have held their lands down to the sixteenth century, when they also gave place to others. (fn. 97)

Captain Michael Hughes, the present owner of Sherdley Hall, is a great-grandson of Michael Hughes, whose first wife was Mary, daughter and heir of the Rev. William Johnson, a former owner. (fn. 98)

Some ancient deeds as to Blackley are preserved at Warrington. (fn. 99)

Among the families who held lands in Sutton were those of Gerard, Parr, Atherton, Sale, and Standish. (fn. 100)

The leasehold estate of Robert Cowley was sequestered by the Commonwealth authorities. (fn. 101) Besides the Hollands the following 'Papists' registered estates in Sutton in 1717:—Henry Foster; Catherine Hawarden, widow, daughter of Bryan Lea; Ralph Howard, tanner; John Longworth, whose wife Margery was a daughter of William Holland; and Thurstan Scott. (fn. 102)

The largest contributors to the land tax of 1787 were Mrs. Bold and Bamber Gascoyne, together paying a fourth of the whole, Philip Afflack, and the Ravenhead Copper Co.

A dispute concerning a plot called Bold's Acre and Windyates in Sutton, between Richard Bold and Peter Stanley of Bickerstaffe, has some points of interest. Stanley claimed in right of his wife, heir to the Athertons of Bickerstaffe. The plot was owned half by one party and half by the other, 'a great byland or sparth' being the mere between the two portions. William Watmough, aged seventy, deposed that the lane called Chester Lane, leading from Sutton to Chester, was at the east end of Bold's Acre, and that Ritherope brook was at the west end of it. There had formerly been a marl pit on the Bold share. Richard Dyke had dwelt with John Bold, the former occupier of Gifforth House, to which Windyates was appurtenant, and when he was sent to plough 'he was warned not to hurt the balk, as it was a mere between two lords' lands.' (fn. 103)

In connexion with the Established Church, the following places of worship have been erected in recent times:—St. Nicholas's Church was built by King's College, Cambridge, and a parish formed in 1848, the patronage being vested in the college. (fn. 104) A chapel of ease, All Saints', was erected in 1893. St. John the Evangelist's, Ravenhead, was built in 1870 (fn. 105); the patron is the vicar of St. Helens.

The Wesleyan Methodists have a church in Sutton, and the United Methodists one at Marshall's Cross.

The Congregational church at Peasley Cross was begun in 1864–5; in 1869 it was associated with the St. Helens congregation, and the two have since been worked together. (fn. 106)

The Salvation Army has barracks.

It is possible that in the severest periods of the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church (fn. 107) mass was said at times in the houses of the Hollands and others; but the earliest distinct notice is that of a chapel at Ravenhead Hall, in 1716. (fn. 108) A mission was begun at Peasley Cross in 1862, St. Joseph's Church being built in 1878. The Passionists have a house at Sutton called St. Anne's Retreat. In 1849, John Smith, a native of the place who became a successful railway contractor, built a church here, and added land for a monastery, which he gave to Fr. Dominic, who introduced this order into England. The church was opened in 1853, one of the sermons being preached by Fr. Ignatius Spencer. (fn. 109)

Footnotes

  • 1. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 18, m. 38. 'Beds of cinders or coke and potsherds have been discovered three feet thick,' the token of ancient workings; Brookbank, St. Helens, 20. The Sankey Canal was made to facilitate the export of the coal, about 90,000 tons being sent by it in 1771; Pennant, Downing to Alston Moor, 18.
  • 2. Britten, Beauties (Lancs.), 227. The first company was incorporated by Act of Parliament.
  • 3. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xix, 207. The well has been filled in, nothing remaining but the top of the stone coping on a level with the ploughed field. The crosses at Peasley Cross and Marshall's Cross seem to have disappeared entirely; ibid. 210.
  • 4. V.C.H. Lancs. 1, 285b, 298.
  • 5. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 41.
  • 6. He was probably a son of William son of Matthew. William son of William de Daresbury granted 4 oxgangs in Liscard in Cheshire to William the clerk, son of Gilbert de Liscard; Towneley MS. OO. (penes W. Farrer), n. 1375.
  • 7. Among the Bold D. transcribed in Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 241, &c., xxxii, fol. 7, &c. are a number of Sutton charters and extracts from the Widnes Ct. R. The grant by William de Daresbury is in vol. cxlii, fol. 241b. The first witness was Sir Robert de Lathom, 'then sheriff of Lancashire'; Sir Robert had two terms as sheriff, 1249 to 1254 and 1264 (P.R.O. List of Sheriffs, 72); and as Edmund de Lacy, who died in 1258, is mentioned, this charter belongs to the former period. See also Ormerod's Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 731.
  • 8. Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 241, n. 2.
  • 9. Henry le Norreys was lord of Daresbury in 1291; Ormerod, loc. cit.
  • 10. Dods. loc. cit. n. 3. The date of the grant by Gilbert and his wife was about 1270.
  • 11. Gilbert le Norreys and his wife Maud were defendants in a claim by Robert de Sutton in 1275; De Banco R. 9, m. 9d. Nine years later it was Gilbert le Norreys and Margery his daughter who were among the defendants in a suit brought by Henry de Eltonhead; Assize R. 1265, m. 21 d.
  • 12. Gilbert le Norreys was living in 1302 and holding the Sutton fee of the earl of Lincoln; Inq. and Extents, 312. In 1311 he and his partners held Sutton by the service of one knight's fee and 3s. 6d. for sakefee, and suit to the three-weeks' court of Widnes; De Lacy Inq. (Chet Soc.), 23. In 1313 he and his son Robert were among the lords of Sutton. He died about 1318, when his executors— his sons Alan and Richard, and his widow Alice—were defendants in a suit by Roger de Wedacre, a creditor; De Banc. R. 225, m. 374d. It seems clear, therefore, that the 'Gilbert le Norreys' who was in possession of Sutton, Eccleston, and Rainhill in 1328, holding them by the service of one fee and by doing suit at the court of Widnes from month to month, was really Gilbert de Meols; Assize R. 424. m. 7; Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. III, n. 61 (1st Nos.), and Ormerod's Ches., i, 708, where he is called 'Gilbert le Norreys, junior.' In 1329 Robert le Norreys was plaintiff in a suit, which he did not prosecute, against Gilbert de Meols; Assize R. 427, m. 3 d. It does not appear what became of this Robert; but Richard son of Gilbert and his wife Agnes occur down to 1347; De Banc. R. 274, m. 33 d.; 279, m. 66 d.; 353, m. 76d. There is a grant by Robert le Norreys, dated 1330, in Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 245.
  • 13. Margery was married to John de Meols as early as 1306; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 209. Gilbert, their son, in 1316 made a claim for waste against Gilbert le Norreys; De Banc. R. 217, m. 216 d. He was plaintiff in 1332, and in other suits down to 1347; ibid. R. 290, m. 83d.; 347, m. 23 d.; 353, m. 231. This last is noticeable as containing a statement of the descent. The defendant (Richard de Alvandley of Bold) held by demise of Gilbert le Norreys, husband of Maud, daughter of Robert de Ireland and grandmother of the plaintiff (Gilbert) by her daughter and heir Margery.
  • 14. Extracts from the Widnes Ct. R. in Dods. MSS. xxxii, fol. 12b, 13; 'Robert son of Gilbert de Meols, who held of the lord lands and tenements in Sutton by knight's service, died on the Nativity of the B. V. Mary last past [8 Sept. 1348 or 1349]. His lands were in the lord's hands by reason of the minority of Clemency, daughter and heir of Alan le Norreys, next of kin and heir of the said Robert; they were worth, including the demesne and 15s. 2d. free rent, 75s. 2¼d. whereof a third had been assigned to Agnes, the widow, as dower.'
  • 15. Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 732.
  • 16. Ibid. Clemency was still a minor in 1359; Kuerden MSS. iv, S. 25, 26 (from Widnes Ct. R.); the lands were farmed out to Walter Withers for £4 8s. 10d.
  • 17. See the pedigree in Ormerod, Ches. i, 734, with the documents cited, 732, 733. The pedigree is borne out and may be supplemented by the deeds preserved in Dodsworth and a collection of Daniell charters in Anct. D. (P.R.O.), iii, v. From these it appears that Clemency was living in 1399; her husband died in 1406 (Lancs. Inq. p.m., Chet. Soc., i, 88); their son William, who married Sibyl Bold, died in 1434–5, leaving a son John, who in 1422 married Joan Hallum. Dying in 1476, having long outlived his son John the younger, he was succeeded by his grandson Thomas, who married Grace Ogle and died in 1497. See Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 92, m. 8d. for the widow's claim; also Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ii, n. 76 for a petition by John the son and heir, that he might be excused the relief of 100s. on the ground that Grace, the widow, was in possession. This John sold Sutton, Eccleston, and Rainhill. The interests of the family were mainly in Cheshire, and there is but little to relate of their lordship of these manors, but John Daniell, probably the last to be connected with this township, sold a parcel of land in Sutton called 'Paladin Croft' and an annual rent of 3s. issuing out of a tenement called 'Torbock House,' to Christopher Woods and others, to the intent that they should pay the king's bailiff of West Derby 2s. of free rent due from Sutton, Eccleston, and Rainhill, and 12d. yearly for 'sakkefee.' Anct. D. v, A. 13548.
  • 18. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 11, m. 226; Anct. D. v, A. 12590. In 1516 John Daniell sold, subject to certain conditions, to Sir Rauf Denton, chaplain, Henry Smyth, and Thomas Worsley, 'kyrk-revys of the kyrk' of Farneworth, the homage, royalties, chief rents, and service of Eccleston, Rainhill, and Sutton, and the following chief rents, viz. of John Sale 1d. for lands in Sutton, 5s. 1d. of Rauf Eccleston for his manor and tenements in Eccleston and the wardship, marriage, homage, and service of Rauf and his heirs, as much as belonged to six plough-lands in Eccleston; 16d. of Richard Bower for his tenement there; 6d. of Nick'ne Colley for his tenement there; 6d. of the wife of John Byrkenhed for lands there; 3s. of Perys Williamson for his tenement in Sutton; 13d. of Henry Norres, esq. for tenements there; a chief rent of Perys Wetherby for tenements there; the homage and service of John Eltonhead for land there; and his common of pasture with all encroachments upon the same, if any, within Sutton; Anct. D. v, A. 12607.
  • 19. Thus in 1522 Richard Eccleston held his manors of Eccleston and Rainhill of Tuger Bold; see the account of Eccleston.
  • 20. The grant is among the Bold D. at Hoghton Tower; n. 88. With the manors of Sutton, Eccleston, and Rainhill was granted the wardship of the heirs of John Ogle, Peter Williamson, Henry Holland, George Pemberton, Thomas Eccleston, John Birkhead, Richard Eltonhead, William Woodfall, William Watmough, Richard Bower, and Nicholas Colley, tenants by knight's service. The remainders were—to Richard, son of Richard Bold for life; and to the heirs male of Richard Bold, grandfather of Tuger. The manors are recorded as follows in the inquisition after the death of Sir Thomas Bold in 1612: 'The manor of Sutton and other the premises in Sutton, Eccleston, and Rainhill are held of the king by the service of a knight's fee'; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 256. The Bold family had lands in Sutton long before they acquired the manor; for Richard Bold, who died in 1528, held lands there of Richard Holland and Richard Lancaster; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, n. 25.
  • 21. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 249; and information of Mr. W. L. Pilkington.
  • 22. Kuerden, MSS. v, fol. 84.
  • 23. Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 248b; printed in Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 597. One of the witnesses, Gilbert de Walton, died in 1197.
  • 24. Dods. MSS. xxxii, fol. 7. John, constable of Chester, was the first of the witnesses, so that the date must lie between 1211 and 1240; he is not described as earl of Lincoln, so that the earlier half of this period is probable. The original is at Lyme; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxxviii, 511.
  • 25. Cockersand Chartul. loc. cit. The land was called Cockshoot Head; the boundaries began at the king's road towards the south, where the cross was fixed, as far as the valley, being marked by meres and crosses and the ditches of Simon of Cockshoot Head; thence the brook was followed as far as the Colt Snape, from which point the bounds were again marked by meres and crosses. The Abbey's land here was held by a family named Sefton; it is described as in Burtonhead. See the rentals ibid., iv, 1242–5.
  • 26. Ibid. ii, 597. John de Sutton was a plaintiff in 1246; Assize R. 404, m. 4d.
  • 27. In 1274 Robert son of John de Sutton claimed from Gilbert le Norreys and Maud his wife a messuage and 4 oxgangs of land and from Robert le Norreys two messuages and four oxgangs; Coram Rege R. 121, m. 53. At the same time he charged Alan le Norreys and others with breaking his mill dam at Bokedene—no doubt the Poghden of later documents; ibid. m. 54.
  • 28. Robert son of John de Sutton granted to his son Richard a portion of his land in Sutton called 'Ferrymorall'; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 199b. He had a suit with Gilbert le Norreys and Maud his wife concerning a messuage and four oxgangs in Sutton in 1275, and was one of the defendants in a claim made by Henry de Eltonhead in 1284; De Banc. R. 9, m. 9d.; Assize R. 1265, m. 21d. He died before 1292, when inquiry was made if Robert de Sutton, father of John, had been seised of messuages and lands, including a twelfth part of the mill; Assize R. 408, m. 48d.; 418 (30 Edw. I), m. 6a, &c.
  • 29. Robert son of Gilbert de Sutton is named as granting of land some time before 1279; De Banc. R. 30, m. 33 d. Gilbert de Sutton was defendant in a case in 1292 respecting common of pasture; but he may be Gilbert le Norreys; Assize R. 408, m. 42. Ithel de Sutton is named in 1324; Assize R. 426, m. 6. In 1512 Oliver Sutton enfeoffed William son of Edward Sutton and others of all his lands in Sutton for the benefit of his natural children Thomas and Seth, with remainder to his brother Miles; Bold D. (Warr.), F. 265.
  • 30. In the Holland pedigrees this Richard is called the son of Robert, who is said to have bought the manor from John de Sutton and Margery; he is most probably the Richard son of Robert de Holland who purchased land in Rainford in 1321; Final Conc. ii, 44. Robert is described as cousin of Sir Robert de Holland, being son of Richard son of Robert de Holland.
  • 31. Richard de Holland was witness to a local charter in 1305; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 242. His wife, probably second wife, was the widow of David Blundell of Little Crosby. He, in 1323, made a settlement of lands, &c. in Sutton, including two mills, upon his son William, with remainders to his daughters Avina and Joan; Final Conc., ii, 50. Jordan de Penketh and Margaret his wife put in their claim. Possibly Margaret was a sister of Richard de Holland; all that appears is that Robert de Holland, probably the father, had enfeoffed Richard of a quarter of the manor of Sutton for life, with remainder to Margaret and her issue; Assize R. 425, m. 4; 426, m. 6. As there were six oxgangs in the quarter claimed, the Holland manor is at once identified with the Sutton manor of three plough-lands. About the same time Richard de Holland was defendant in a claim by Gilbert le Norreys and others; Assize R. 426, m. 1 d. A grant by Richard de Holland and William his son is in Dods. loc. cit. fol. 245b. Avina, daughter of Richard de Holland, was a plaintiff in 1350 against Henry and Nicholas de Tyldesley; Assize R. 444, m. 10. In 1334 Jordan de Penketh and Margaret his wife claimed a fourth part of the manor of Sutton—six oxgangs of land, 13s. 4d. rent, &c.—against William son of Richard de Holland of Sutton, Godith his wife, Agnes, widow of Richard de Holland, and others. The jury gave a verdict for the plaintiffs, reciting that John de Sutton had granted the tenements to Robert de Holland, who had transferred them to Richard's son Robert and to Margaret, wife of Jordan; Richard de Holland's grant to his son William came later; Coram Rege R. 297, m. 64. William de Holland was living in 1348, but died in or before 1356, when his widow Godith was defendant; De Banc. R. 354, m. vj, 150 d.; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 3 d. His heir appears to have been a granddaughter Margaret, daughter of Richard; being then a minor, she can scarcely have been a sister. Her wardship was disputed between Sir Robert de Holland and Matthew de Rixton; she was eight years of age and married, and the next heir was Roger de Holland, also a minor. Sir Robert maintained his right to the guardianship; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 6 d. The holding is described as a messuage, ten oxgangs of land, &c. Nothing further is heard of Margery and Roger, but in 1357 Godith, widow of William de Holland, John his son, Robert de Sutton, tailor, and Agnes his wife were charged with having disseised Thomas son of Thomas the Smith's son of his free tenement in Sutton. Godith asserted that the plaintiff's grandfather had granted the disputed land to her husband and his heirs, but seisin was recovered; ibid. m. 3 d. John de Holland eventually succeeded his father; see Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.). i, 31, 35, 40. He was probably father of John de Holland of Sutton, who died in 1402, leaving a son and heir Richard only two years of age, concerning whose wardship some dispute ensued. Ellen, widow of John, married Geoffrey de Standish, and they occupied the manor by the king's grant for many years; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 17; Duchy of Lanc. Chan. R. 8 Hen. V, n. 82; Towneley MS. CC. n. 126. In 1420, however, William Daniell of Daresbury made claim to the wardship and succeeded; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 24b. Richard Holland is mentioned about 1435, and Henry Holland in 1476, and these were followed by Richard Holland, living in the reign of Henry VIII; ibid. fol. 240, 240b; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, n. 25.
  • 32. Foxe, Acts and Monuments (ed. Cattley), viii, 473. He was certainly of this family, for 'Mr. Eccleston' was near of kin to him. His father, whose name is not given, was living. The following is an outline of the story as given by Foxe: Roger Holland had been apprenticed to one Kempton, a merchant tailor in Watling Street, London, and led a reckless, dissipated life, being moreover 'a stubborn and obstinate Papist.' He lost some of his master's money at dice, but was helped in his trouble by a loan from a fellowservant, 'an ancient and discreet maid, whose name was Elizabeth, which professed the Gospel.' He reformed, embraced the new doctrines, and went down to Lancashire to his father to teach the same to him and borrow money to begin business; then in 1553 he married Elizabeth. Their child was baptized in the house by one Master Rose, who secretly ministered in London to the Protestants during the Marian persecution. Though Roger Holland's act was reported to the authorities, he was not taken till Mayday morning, 1558. Being brought before Bonner, the bishop and others endeavoured 'to allure him to their Babylonical church.' At the third examination the 'Lord Strange, Sir Thomas Gerard, Master Eccleston esquire, and divers other of worship, both of Cheshire and Lancashire, that were Roger Holland's kinsmen and friends,' were present to plead with the bishop for him, and to persuade him to recant. As he remained steadfast, however, he was burnt at Smithfield for heresy 27 June, 1558, he and his companions being the last to suffer there on that charge in Mary's reign.
  • 33. Gillow, Bibliog. Dict. of Engl. Cath. iii, 353.
  • 34. Ibid.; Foley, Rec. S. J. i, 542–65; vii, 366. He was born in Lancashire in 1600, educated at St. Omer's and Valladolid, entered the Society of Jesus in Flanders, and after ordination was sent on the English mission in 1635. He was arrested in October, 1642, and tried and condemned for 'taking orders by authority of the see of Rome and returning to England,' this being high treason. No other offence was charged against him. The first step in the process of beatification was allowed by Leo XIII in 1886. There were other Jesuits of this family; Henry, uncle of Thomas, laboured in England, chiefly in Lancashire, from 1605 till his death in 1656; Alexander Holland, born in 1623, was sent on the Lancashire mission in 1653, and died in 1677; he 'translated pious books for the use of the Catholics'; see Foley, v, 369; vi, 207; vii, 364, &c.
  • 35. Chet. Soc. lxxxi, 115.
  • 36. Ibid. lxxxv, 147.
  • 37. Visit. of 1567, as above. Alexander Holland purchased a water-mill in Sutton from John Bold in 1581; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 43, m. 56.
  • 38. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, n. 4. Richard and his wife Anne were heavily fined for recusancy in 1597, 1603, and later years, and Anne, as a widow, appears on the recusant roll of 1634; Gillow, as above. Mr. Holland of Sutton (i.e. the father) was a suspected person in 1584; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 226.
  • 39. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 430. The lands of Richard Holland, recusant, were granted to Anthony Croston in 1623; Pat. 21 Jas. I, 27 July. Anne and Margaret, widows of Richard and William, were both living. Margaret survived her husband thirteen years, having a house and lands called Milehouse at Sutton; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxix, n. 32.
  • 40. Royalist Comp. P. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 240–4. Ralph Holland, of Eccleston, probably an offshoot of the Sutton family, on finding his estate sequestered for recusancy took the oath of abjuration and became a 'constant frequenter of the congregation of Ellens'; Ibid. 238.
  • 41. Gillow, as above. Richard Holland's house had five hearths in 1666; Lay Subs. 250–9.
  • 42. Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 122. The annual value was given as £70. At the same time Alexander Holland, of Whiston, watchmaker, registered his estate of £19 in Sutton; Ibid. 121.
  • 43. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 244, m. 85, and Pal of Lanc. Docquet R. 471, 4a (recovery). Besides the manor, the property included water-mill, windmill, dovecote, &c.
  • 44. Dods. MSS. xxxii, fol. 7. The bounds, which are minutely described, are of interest as identifying several places now lost. They began at Thurstanshaches on the border of Bold and Sutton, followed Bold acres to the Chester Gate—the road from Sutton to Chester, which may be identified with one now forming a portion of the boundary between the townships named—along this road to Holbrook head. This shows the position of Holbrook in Bold. From this point the bounds went to 'Priesteolers,' and by Raven Syke to Ritherop Brook, which divides Sutton from Rainhill; along this to Wetshaugh, thence to the Pye thorn by Scoles in Eccleston, to Thetwall (now Thatto), by Thatto Brook to Nutty Brook; along this till it falls into Poghden Brook, and by this to Shittersiche; thence in a line to Bale birch in Morkel's moss—near the present Marshall's Cross— and thence straight to the starting point. The grant included wards, reliefs, &c., and the land was assessed as four oxgangs, or an eighth part of the grantor's whole vill; though, a little later, as stated above, the share of the Sutton family was called three plough-lands. This grant itself accounts for the loss of half a plough-land, for it was to be held of the chief lords of the fee directly by the usual services, viz. sakefee and suit to the court of Widnes.
  • 45. Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 229.
  • 46. Richard, son of Walter de Burtonhead, early in the thirteenth century granted 5½ acres, with Fernylea, to Cockersand Abbey in free alms; Cockersand Chartul. ii, 597. This grant, it is added, had been made and confirmed by Siegrith de Sutton. Robert son of Rod. de Burtonhead granted all his land, except the fourth part of an oxgang, to Alan, son of Hugh le Norreys, who had given him money in his need; Anct. D. P.R.O. A. 5935. From 1276 to 1279 a suit went on in which Roger son of Robert of Burtonhead claimed half an oxgang from Robert son of Alan le Norreys. The latter asserted that he had had it from Roger's grandfather, Ralph, the son of Walter de Burtonhead. De Banc. R. 14, m. 9.; 18, m. 2; 29, m. 13, 62 d. &c. In 1283 Roger quitclaimed to Robert all his right in Burtonhead, except a quarter of an oxgang held of Robert; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 224b. For a complaint by Roger de Burtonhead against some of his neighbours, see Coram Rege R. 47, m. 28.
  • 47. Asszie R. 404, m. 4 d. It is possible that he held Burtonhead in right of his wife Margaret, to whom he had been married at this time; Final Conc. i, 106. He was defendant in a claim for dower brought by Alice de Preston in 1258–9; Cur. Reg. R. 162, m. 43 d. The suits in the last note, in which his son Robert was defendant, show that he died before 1276. It should be observed that Robert's wife was called Agnes de Burtonhead; De Banc. R. 248, m. 149 d.
  • 48. In a suit concerning 12 messuages in Sutton in 1318–19, Robert le Norreys, junior, was plaintiff, and Robert le Norreys, senior, defendant. This may have been a family settlement between son and father; but there were others of the name living there, as about the same time Robert le Norreys (apparently son of Robert) made a claim upon Robert son of Gilbert le Norreys for a mill and land in Sutton, which the defendant stated had come to him from Alan le Norreys, to whom plaintiff or his father had given them; De Banc. R. 230, m. 192; 231, m. 113 d. Robert le Norreys, junior, was at this time defendant in a suit brought by John de Sherdley for the restitution of a tenement of which, it was said, Robert le Norreys, senior, had disseised the plaintiff's grandfather; De Banc. R. 231, m. 103 d. Robert le Norreys of Burtonhead was a defendant in a claim for land in 1284; and he recovered land in 1288 from Robert de Eccleston; Assize R. 1265, m. 21 d.; Abbrev. Placit. (Rec. Com.), 322. This Robert granted to Robert son of Robert the Mercer of Bold some land on both sides of Poghden Brook, with the water within the bounds; the grant may be dated about 1270, William de Bold being a witness; Towneley MS. GG. n. 2125. Robert le Norreys—junior, on the supposition above stated—was a plaintiff in 1324–5, and paid to the subsidy in 1332; Assize R. 426, m. 1 d.; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 15. Robert son of Robert le Norreys confirmed to Richard son of Peter the Smith of Sutton all the lands held at the making of the deed, Nov. 1312; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 242b.
  • 49. De Banc. R. 225, m. 478. Nicholas son of Robert le Norreys complained of depasturing by Richard son of Gilbert le Norreys. The suit may have been a friendly one brought in the name of Nicholas, a child, against his father's cousin (Assize R. 418, m. 15) in order to give notoriety to some grant to him by the father; De Banc. R. 225, m. 478. Nicholas claimed the moiety of a mill in Sutton from John de Sherdley in 1323; De Banc. R. 248, m. 185 d. To Nicholas le Norreys, with Emma his wife, Robert son of Gilbert le Norreys gave in 1330 certain lands which he had had from Gilbert de Meols for a limited period; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 245. To Nicholas son of Robert le Norreys 12 acres on Poghden Bank were granted by John son of Richard Hancockson in 1352 (an erroneous date); and late in 1349 he enfeoffed Master Ranulf de Dacre, rector of Prescot, of his mill at Poghden, with its pool and appurtenances; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 245; Norris D. (B.M.), n. 62.
  • 50. Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. iiij d. She afterwards married a 'native' and her lands were forfeited; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 341.
  • 51. In 1349 Nicholas le Norreys, as guardian of Robert and Thomas le Norreys, sons of Nicholas, appeared in court at Widnes with Thomas de Parr to take up land to which Robert had become heir, until he should come of age, paying 10s. a year, or at the rate of 6d. an acre as admeasured; four years later Robert and Thomas appeared in court, and being of full age were put in possession of their lands; Dods. MSS. xxxii, fol. 13. In 1361 Nicholas le Norreys of Burtonhead received from William the Mercer and Alice his wife a messuage and land in Sutton. Five years later he and Alice his wife were enfeoffed of certain lands he had set apart, with remainders to Agnes widow of Thomas de Parr, and Robert and Thomas sons of Nicholas and Alice; with further remainders, in default of issue, to Roger son of John de Coldale, Gilbert le Norreys, junior, and Robert his brother; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 245, 245b. In 1345 the king pardoned Hugh son of Robert le Norreys of Burtonhead and Robert his brother outlawries incurred for felonies committed at Liverpool, &c., on 14 Feb. of that year; Cal. Pat. 1343–5, p. 538.
  • 52. At the beginning of 1376 Thomas son of Robert le Norreys of Burtonhead, who had married Emma daughter of John de Eltonhead, was enfeoffed of his father's lands, with the homage and service of the following: Godith widow of William de Holland of Sutton, John son of William de Holland, Henry de Tyldesley of Ditton and Alice his wife, John de Eltonhead, Matthew son of Henry de Tyldesley, John son of John de Parr, Nicholas de Bold, Richard de Standish and Cecily his wife, and fifteen more. The remainders were to John brother of Thomas, and to Robert son of Alan de Parr; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 243b.
  • 53. In 1403 Henry de Atherton, who had married Emma widow of Thomas le Norreys, and John de Eltonhead bound themselves in £100 to make no alienation or incumbrance to the disinheriting of Hugh son of Richard de Pemberton and Margaret his wife; ibid. fol. 244. The Pembertons succeeded to part of the Norris property in Halsnead. The will of Hugh de Pemberton was proved on 15 Jan. 1434–5, one of the executors being his son Richard; Bold. D. (Warr.), G. 16.
  • 54. William son of Hugh de Pemberton made a settlement of his lands in Burtonhead in 1437–8; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 244. Ten years later he appointed Robert Merrick his attorney to deliver seisin of all his lands in Sutton, Leigh, Wigan, and elsewhere to Richard Pemberton; ibid.
  • 55. Duchy Pleadings (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 14.
  • 56. George Pemberton of Halsnead in 1551 granted his younger son John a messuage in Burtonhead for life; Dods. loc. cit., fol. 244b. See Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 15, n. 84, for a settlement of the manor of Burtonhead and lands in Sutton, Bedford, and Whiston.
  • 57. James Pemberton in 1558 made a settlement of his manors of Halsnead and Burtonhead; ibid. bdle. 19, m. 13. For his paternity see Duchy of Lanc. Pleadings, Phil. and Mary, xxxiv, P. 4, and the account of Whiston.
  • 58. William Sergeant appears as deforciant of the manor in 1555, but how his interest arose is not stated; he seems to have sold his interest to Edward Halsall in 1562; the latter purchasing further from John Parr and Margaret his wife and Thurstan Barton and Anne his wife in 1567; Pal. of Lanc. Feet. of F. bdles. 15, m. 27; 24, m. 211; 29, m. 141. Anne seems to have been the widow of William Sergeant; ibid. bdle. 24, m. 260. Part at least of Edward Halsall's purchases was devoted to the endowment of the school at Halsall; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 398. For the sales of their lands in Sutton by James Pemberton the elder and Katherine his wife, James Pemberton, son and heir, and Margaret his wife, see Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 58, m. 15, 148, 211. This was in July, 1597.
  • 59. Burtonhead was included with Eccleston in a settlement by Edward Eccleston and Henry his son and heir in 1618; Pal. of Lanc. Feet. of F. bdle. 94, n. 29. See Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. (4 Chas. I), xxvi, n. 21; the manor of Burtonhead was held of Richard Bold, by knight's service.
  • 60. Pal. of Lanc. Feet. of F. bdle. 132, n. 37 (1637), Thomas Eccleston and Jane his wife being deforciants. After this it is not named as a separate manor; ibid. bdles. 218, m. 35 and 237, m. 31. An indenture of 1749 enrolled at Preston recites the settlement made by Thomas Eccleston concerning the manor of Eccleston and Burtonhead in 1725; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 356, from the 23rd R. of Geo. II at Preston.
  • 61. Ex inform. Mr. H. R. Hughes of Kinmel.
  • 62. John Norris, chaplain, brother and heir of Gilbert son of Henry Norris of Sutton, made a grant of lands in Sutton called Pymfields, Northall, and Wingates; the lands were to descend to John Eltonhead; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 243. By another deed lands of this John Norris were transferred to Ellen widow of Gilbert, with remainder to the heirs of Gilbert and John; and in default to 'William son of the aforesaid Sir Henry Norris of Speke,' who had not been mentioned before; Towneley MS. GG. n. 2129. See also ibid. n. 2136, 2137. In the Norris rental of 1464 Robert Barnes's rent in Sutton was 27s. 4d.; the water-mill brought in 6s. 8d.; Ellen wife of Gilbert Norris held in jointure the Pymfields, the rent of which was 26s. 8d.; Norris D. (B.M.).
  • 63. See the account of Huyton.
  • 64. One Hugh le Norreys was of Haigh and Blackrod, and another of Formby.
  • 65. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ii, n. 7. How it came to him is unknown. It is not mentioned in the inquest taken after his father's death in 1324–5; Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), ii, 552.
  • 66. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 279.
  • 67. Dods. MSS. cxlii. fol. 248b. Hugh le Norreys was a benefactor to Cockersand, granting six acres near Harestone in free alms; William son of Uvieth released his interest in the land to the canons so that Alan son of Hugh might be enfeoffed; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 600. The land was in 1268 held by Peter de Burnhull in conjunction with Scholes in Eccleston; ibid.
  • 68. Dods. loc. cit. fol. 241.
  • 69. Assize R. 404, m. 4 d.
  • 70. Robert de Eltonhead was a witness to charters from about 1270 to 1305; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 241, &c.
  • 71. See the suits quoted later.
  • 72. In 1317–18 Cecily, widow of Richard de Eltonhead, sued his father Alan, son of Robert de Eltonhead, for her dower; De Banc. R. 220, m. 332 d.
  • 73. See later note.
  • 74. Exch. Lay. Subs. 16. Henry and Robert de Eltonhead are named among the lords of Sutton in 1302, and Henry and Alan in 1313; Assize R. 418, m. 15; 424, m. 7. Six years later Henry was claiming lands in Sutton from Alan, and a year later was demanding the guardianship of Alan's son and heir from Ellen the widow and others, alleging that Alan had held of him by knight's service; De Banc. R. 233, m. 20 d.; 236, m. 204. Henry, the son and heir of Alan, was a minor in 1321; De Banc. R. 238, m. 139. Robert de Langley and Cecily his wife called upon Henry son of Adam (? Alan) son of Robert de Eltonhead in 1345 to warrant them against Alan de Eltonhead; De Banc. R. 344, m. 475 d.
  • 75. Final Conc. ii, 106–7.
  • 76. The pedigree in the Visit. of 1567 (p. 119), which appears fairly trustworthy, makes John's father to have been Thomas son of Henry. There were cross-suits in 1353 between the two branches of the family. Henry son of Alan claimed land in Sutton from John and Emma, the widow of Alan, either John's father or his uncle; on the other hand John claimed land from Henry, on the ground that the title was derived from Robert de Eltonhead, who had unjustly disseised John's grandfather Henry of it; Assize R. 435, m. 10, 13, 26, 30 d. As the disseisin is said to have taken place in the reign of Edw. III, the Robert de Eltonhead concerned cannot have been Alan's father Robert. In the Lathom inquisition quoted above (ii, n. 7) it is stated that John de Eltonhead held the lands and tenements (not manor) called Eltonhead by knight's service, and by rendering yearly one pair of gloves. John de Eltonhead the elder was living in 1413; Towneley MS. GG. n. 2819. In 1417–18 a settlement was made by John de Eltonhead and Maud his wife; perhaps there were two Johns in succession; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 5, m. 29.
  • 77. William de Eltonhead and William his son were in 1446 accused of waylaying Randle de Standish at Eccleston with intent to kill him; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 9, m. 15. William son of William was living in 1458; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 243. Nicholas Eltonhead was a juror at the Widnes court in 1476; ibid. fol. 240.
  • 78. John Eltonhead, who, according to the printed pedigree, was a son of the above-named Nicholas, died in Oct. 1526. The capital messuage called Eltonhead, with windmills, lands, &c., was held of the earl of Derby by knight's service and a pair of gauntlets. The heir was a grandson Richard, son of John's son John, aged 24; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, n. 48. In that taken after the death of Thomas Eltonhead, the estate is called a manor; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 277.
  • 79. See Visit. of 1567, p. 119; of 1613, p. 115; of 1664, p. 103 (Chet. Soc.). From these it appears that the Richard Eltonhead in possession in 1530 left several children, including Richard, the heir, who married Jane Bradshaw (Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 46, m. 138; and Wills, Chet. Soc. New Ser. i, 209), but died without issue about 1589; William, who succeeded his brother and was in possession in 1600 (Misc. Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches. i, 240), but died shortly afterwards; and Thomas, who succeeded before June, 1602, as appears by the Prescot Ct. R. of that year, and died in 1611, and whose inquisition has been mentioned; also Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 64, n. 11. William Bower about 1569 gave to Richard Eltonhead certain lands in Eccleston, with remainders to his brothers Thomas and William; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270, n. 41. There were several suits in which Richard Eltonhead, Jane his widow, William and Thomas Eltonhead were concerned; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 272; iii, 494, &c. The estate passed to Thomas's nephew Richard, son of William, born about 1582, and living in 1664, at which time his son Richard was 53 years of age, and his grandson Richard 21.
  • 80. Richard Eltonhead, of Sutton, Alice his wife, and William his brother were frequenters of the secret services at Bold Hall in 1582; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 221, 226 (quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. cliii, n. 62; clxxv, n. 110).
  • 81. Royalist Comp. P. ii, 279. Richard Eltonhead had the principal house in Sutton in 1666; Lay Subs. 250–9.
  • 82. This account of the descent of Eltonhead is from a paper at Hatfield (682–10) drawn up apparently by Isaac Greene.
  • 83. By fine, 17 Aug. 1684; Richard Eltonhead and Anne his wife, and Richard son and heir-apparent, to Thomas Roughley.
  • 84. On 2 Feb. 1694, Thomas Roughley transferred it, with certain exceptions, to his eldest son, Henry, who in Jan. 1695, conveyed it to Philip Foley and others appointed by the Land Bank, and four years later granted his equity of redemption to his brother Percival Roughley. A mortgage followed in June, 1700. In 1705 Eltonhead was the subject of a settlement on the marriage of Percival with Elizabeth, daughter of Johannah Warner, but the creditors appear to have taken possession in 1710, Isaac Greene being one of their agents. In Nov. 1712, in consideration of certain payments to Thomas, Henry, and Richard Roughley, Susannah and Joshua Palmer, and other creditors, made by Isaac Greene, he acquired the estate. Eltonhead was afterwards included in the fine concerning Childwall, West Derby, and other manors purchased from the Ashburnhams; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 500, m. 9.
  • 85. See the account of Childwall.
  • 86. Cockersand Chartul. ii, 598. The boundaries recorded met in the mill brook and the road to Windle. John Woodfall paid a rent of 6d. to the abbey in 1451 and 1461, Gilbert in 1501, and Thomas in 1537; ibid. 1241, 1249, 1251.
  • 87. It was a William Blundell who enfeoffed Alan son of Hugh le Norreys of an estate in Formby; De Banc. R. 238, m. 191. In 1246 Adam son of William Blundell was charged with having disseised the other lords of Sutton of the common of pasture belonging to their free tenement there; he acknowledged his fault. It is noticeable that two of these lords—Alan and William le Norreys, of Burtonhead and Eltonhead respectively—were his sureties; Assize R. 404, m. 4d.
  • 88. Richard de Woodfall and William his brother were among the lords or freeholders of Sutton in 1302; Assize R. 418, m. 15. In 1315–16 William de Woodfall claimed from Richard three-quarters of an oxgang in Sutton, of which the plaintiff's father, Adam Blundell of the Woodfall, had enfeoffed defendant. The latter alleged a charter which William denied to be genuine; De Banc. R. 212, m. 262 d, 283d. See also Assize R. 425, m. 1. William de Woodfall's wife was Christiana, daughter and coheir of Richard de Loughfield of Rainford; De Banc. R. 209, m. 114. From fines in 1321 it appears that the moiety of an oxgang and lands in Sutton were settled by William and Christiana upon Roger, William's son; Final Conc. ii, 44, 45. Five years later Alina daughter of Roger de Woodfall complained of the waste made by William and Christiana, viz. by overthrowing and selling a grange, worth £10; and cutting down and selling six apple trees, each valued at 6d., to her disherison; De Banc. R. 261, m. 70 d.; and see Assize R. 1404, m. 25. In 1329 Robert de Woodfall, apparently the son of William, complained that Adam de Barrow had trespassed on his land, seized his cattle, and done other injuries; the defence was that this was a lawful distraint for arrears of a rentcharge given in 1323 by William de Woodfall, who at that time had a messuage and plough-land in Sutton; De Banc. R. 278, m. 6 d.
  • 89. John Woodfall occurs in 1444; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 6, m. 17.
  • 90. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 18 (1558), m. 38—Richard Nuttall and others v. William Woodfall; 24 (1562), m. 27—George Livesey v. John Woodfall and Anne his wife; 37 (1575), m. 168— Lawrence Livesey and others v. John Woodfall; 58 (1597), m. 373—Francis Watmough v. John Woodfall and Margery his wife. Brian Watmough was a free tenant of John Eltonhead in 1526; see Inq. p.m. Richard Watmough, a convicted recusant paying double to the subsidy, held land in 1628; Norris Papers (B.M.); Richard Watmough's estate was sold by the Parlí amentary authorities in 1652; Index of Royalists (Index Soc.), 44; Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 3172. Lawrence Watmough's house in 1666 had five hearths; Lay Subs. Lancs. 250–9. The Liveseys of Ravenhead also adhered to the Roman Catholic religion. Some particulars as to their estate are given in Royalist Comp. P. iv, 103–109. From these it appears that George Livesey, a lieutenant in the royal forces, was killed in a skirmish about 1644. Lawrence the son and heir was left a minor, and the estates were sequestered for the father's 'delinquency'; nothing is said of religion. A pedigree was recorded in 1666; Dugdale's Visit. 189. The estate of Ravenhead afterwards passed to Lawrence's daughter Mary, who married Richard Blackburne of Stockenbridge, and then to her daughter Ellen, wife of William Hathornthwaite, by whose daughter and heir it was conveyed in marriage to Richard Leckonby of Great Eccleston. The latter's granddaughter and heiress, Mary, in 1799 married T. H. Hele-Phipps, of Leighton House, Wiltshire, by whom the Ravenhead estate was sold. These particulars are from Gillow, Bibliog. Dict. of Engl. Cath. iv, 284.
  • 91. Assize R. 405, m. 1.
  • 92. Assize R. 408, m. 60.
  • 93. De Banc. R. 223, m. 49 d. 59.
  • 94. Thomas son of Hugh de Northale was defendant in a claim to a messuage and lands in Sutton made by Roger son of Adam le Baxter in 1353; Assize R. 435, m. 23; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. iv d.
  • 95. De Banc. R. 231, m. 103 d. Some Sherdleys occur earlier than this. John son of Henry de Sherdley claimed a messuage and oxgang of land from William de Woodfall in 1277; De Banc. R. 21, m. 61. John son of John de Sherdley was nonsuited in his suit against Gilbert de Northale in 1292; Assize R. 408, m. 60. In 1294 he had a suit against the Norreys families; Assize R. 1299, m. 14d.
  • 96. Assize R. 418, m. 15. In 1328 Richard de Holland and William his son acknowledged that they owed John de Sherdley an annual rent of 2s. for a selion of land; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 246.
  • 97. Richard de Sherdley had an interest in Lowfield in 1361; Dods. loc. cit. fol. 245b. Thomas son of Ralph de Sherdley received his lands in 1412; Bold D. (Warr.), G. 2. Thomas Sherdley was a plaintiff in 1444; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 6, m. 17. Henry Sherdley was a juror at the Widnes court in 1476; Dods. loc cit. fol. 240. In 1514 Thomas de Atherton of Bickerstaffe held his lands in Sutton of the heirs of Richard Sherdley; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, n. 68. In 1543 Richard Bold purchased lands in Sutton from William and Ralph Sherdley; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 72; 24, m. 192. William Sherdley of Ware and John Sherdley of Stoke Nayland released their interest to Richard Bold in 1561; Bold D. (Warr.), G. 46, F. 237. Sherdley Hall came into the hands of the Byroms of Byrom before 1560; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 221; and Thomas Roughley of Sutton, yeoman, held it of Henry Byrom at his death in 1613. He desired that it should be sold to Richard Roughley for £440, payable in the south porch of Prescot church; £100 of this money was to be applied to the free school about to be erected at St. Helens. His brother Robert was his next heir. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 279.
  • 98. Burke, Landed Gentry. Captain Hughes is not descended from Mary Johnson (s.p.), but from a second wife.
  • 99. Henry son of Malin de Hale granted land in Blackley Carr to Adam, one of the sons of the grantor's son John by his wife Agnes, with remainder to William, brother of Adam; the capital lords were Henry de Eltonhead and John de Sherdley, to whom 14d. and 6d. respectively were to be paid for all services; Bold D. (Warr.), G. 14, G. 9. Henry de Eltonhead, in 1291, gave land in the same place to Roger Banti; it lay next to the road from Sutton to Parr, one head abutting on Blackley and the other on Peasley; Richard de Eltonh ad was a witness; ibid. F. 195.
  • 100. Henry son of Henry de Parr occurs as early as 1284; Assize R. 1265, m. 21 d. The Halsalls of Parr are mentioned in a suit of 1313–14; Assize R. 424, m. 7; in this suit Adam de Leatherbarrow (Lodirbareve) was also a defendant. Adam son of Adam de Leatherbarrow, in 1319, granted lands to John de Holbrook in the East Wood, abutting on the boundary of Bold and towards Greenlache; Bold D. (Warr.), E. 28. Thomas de Trentham gave lands in Sutton to Henry son of Robert de Parr in 1373; ibid. G. 41. For the Athertons see Duchy Pleadings (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 27–31. In 1538 Edward Atherton of Sutton quitclaimed to his son and heir John land called the Little Hey, the inheritance of John's mother Emma, one of the daughters and heirs of Thomas Lawfield; shortly afterwards John Atherton sold all his land to Dame Margery Bold; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 243. Oliver Sale, the son of Robert Sale and Alice his wife, inherited through his mother, as appears by a fine of 1438; she had an elder son, Matthew de Hulton; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 8, n. 91–2. Oliver Sale was one of the jurors of the Widnes court in 1476; Dods. op. cit., fol. 240. In 1505–6 John Sale of Burtonhead made a feoffment of his lands in Sutton and Bedford; Joan Sale of Burtonhead had, four years before, been married to Henry Serjeant. From Abstracts of Dods. Charters. See further under Bedford. In the time of Edw. VI, Edmund Ley of Sutton and his wife, one of the daughters and heirs of Thurstan Standish of Sutton, complained that George Pemberton of Whiston and others had disseised her of certain lands which were her share of her father's property; her sisters were Jane Ley, Agnes Bennet, Olive Potter, and Elizabeth Standish; Duchy of Lanc. Pleadings, Edw. VI, xxxii, L. 2. The freeholders named in 1600 were: Thomas Gerard, Henry Mileson or Pearson, Thomas Fox, John Leigh, Francis Watmough of Micklehead, and William Eltonhead; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 238, &c.
  • 101. Royalist Comp. P. ii, 83.
  • 102. Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 97. See Piccope MSS. iii, 346, 386.
  • 103. Duchy of Lanc. Depos. Phil. and Mary, lxxvii, B. 1. Hugh Holt was present when John Bold took Gifforth House, paying down 4d. 'in name of a God's penny.' The depositions were taken at Winwick in April, 1556.
  • 104. Lond. Gaz. 17 Aug. 1848.
  • 105. Ibid. 19 Aug. 1870.
  • 106. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. iv, 142.
  • 107. Thirty names appear on the recusant roll in 1626, as fined in Sutton; Lay Subs. 131/318.
  • 108. Gillow, op. cit. iv, 284.
  • 109. Liverpool Cath. Almanac, 1901. Fathers Dominic and Spencer are buried in one of the chapels.