Townships: Ince

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911.

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'Townships: Ince', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp101-106 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Ince', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed November 8, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp101-106.

"Townships: Ince". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 8 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp101-106.

In this section

INCE

Ines, 1212; Ins, 1292; Ince, xvi cent.

Ince, called Ince in Makerfield to distinguish it from Ince Blundell in the same hundred, lies immediately to the east of Wigan, of which it is a suburb, and from which it is separated by a small brook, the Clarenden or Clarington. A large part of the boundary on the south-west and eastern sides is formed by mosslands. Ambers or Ambrose Wood lies on the eastern edge. The ground rises slightly from south-west to north-east, a height of over 200 ft. being attained on the latter boundary. The area is 2,320 acres. (fn. 1) The population in 1901 was 21,262, including Platt Bridge.

Two great roads cross it, starting from Wigan; the more northerly is the ancient road to Hindley and Manchester, while the other goes through Abram to Warrington. A cross road joining these is, like them, lined with dwellings. The portion of the township to the north-west of it is called Higher Ince. Numerous railway lines traverse the township, as well as minor lines for the service of the collieries. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's line from Wigan to Bolton and Manchester crosses the centre from west to east, and has a station called Ince; it is joined near the eastern boundary by the loop line through Pemberton. The London and North-Western Company's main line goes through from south to north, and has junctions with the lines from Manchester and St. Helens, as also with the Joint Companies' railway through Hindley and Haigh. The Great Central Company's line from Manchester to Wigan also crosses the township, with a station, called Lower Ince. The Lancaster Canal traverses it near the Wigan boundary, and the Leigh branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal near the western and southern boundaries.

The general aspect is unpleasing, it being a typical black country in the heart of the coal-mining area. The flat surface, covered with a complete network of railways, has scarcely a green tree to relieve the monotony of the bare wide expanses of apparently waste land, much of it covered with shallow 'flashes' of water, the result of the gradual subsidence of the ground as it is mined beneath. A good deal of the ground appears to be unreclaimed mossland. Needless to say no crops are cultivated. All the energies of the populace are employed in the underground mineral wealth of the district, Ince being famous for cannel and other coal.

The northern part of the township merges into the town of Wigan, the principal features being huge cotton mills and warehouses, crowding the banks of the canals and River Douglas, which here degenerates into a grimy ditch, with never a bush or tree to shade its muddy banks.

The soil is clay, with a mixture of sand and gravel lying over coal. There are iron works, forges, and railway wagon works; cotton goods also are manufactured.

The Local Government Act of 1858 was adopted by the township in 1866. (fn. 2) The local board was changed into an urban district council by the Act of 1894; it consists of fifteen members.

MANOR

The manor of INCE appears to have been a member of the royal manor of Newton before the Conquest, (fn. 3) and to have been included in the fee of Makerfield from its formation. (fn. 4) In 1212 Alfred de Ince held this in thegnage with Haydock, (fn. 5) in succession to his father, Orm de Haydock, whose name occurs as early as 1168. (fn. 6) The whole of Haydock had been granted out, and half of Ince was held of Alfred by Richard de Perpoint. (fn. 7)

Some forty or fifty years later Henry de Sefton began to acquire a share in the manor. In 1261 he held the Perpoint moiety by grant of Thomas de Perpoint, (fn. 8) and seems to have acquired the remainder, with the mesne lordship, from Henry son of John de Ince. (fn. 9) He was still living in 1288, (fn. 10) but in 1291 his son, styled Richard de Ince, was in possession. (fn. 11) Richard de Ince occurs as late as 1333; (fn. 12) he was succeeded by his son Gilbert, living in 1347. (fn. 13) At this time Gilbert had a son Ivo living; but in 1382 the manors of Aspull and Ince were granted to feoffees by Richard son of Robert de Ince, whose relationship to Gilbert is not known. (fn. 14) The manor went with Ellen, daughter of probably the same Richard de Ince, who married John Gerard, a younger son of Peter Gerard of Brynn. (fn. 15)

From their son William the manor descended regularly to Thomas Gerard of Ince, who in 1514 had a dispute with Sir Thomas Gerard of Brynn, as to the possession of Turneshea Moss, on the boundary of Ince and Ashton. (fn. 16) At his death in 1545 it was found that he had held the manor of Ince of Sir Thomas Langton in socage by a rent of 5s.; also the manor of Aspull, a burgage in Wigan, and lands in Abram and Hindley. Miles Gerard his son and heir was thirty years of age. (fn. 17) Miles died in August 1558, (fn. 18) leaving a son William, (fn. 19) who in turn was succeeded by his son, another Miles Gerard. (fn. 20) The family adhered to the ancient faith, and Miles Gerard in 1590 was reported to be 'in some degree of conformity, yet in general note of evil affection in religion.' (fn. 21)

Gerard. Azure a lion rampant ermine crowned or.

Miles Gerard was still living in 1613, when a pedigree was recorded, showing Thomas his son and heir to be twenty-two years of age. (fn. 22) Thomas was a convicted recusant in 1628, (fn. 23) and his estates were in 1643 sequestered 'for his recusancy and supposed delinquency.' (fn. 24) The documents relating to the matter give a number of interesting particulars as to the mining of cannel and the charges upon the lands; (fn. 25) they also show that Thomas Gerard, his son, had fought against the Parliament, and had been taken prisoner at Naseby in 1645; afterwards he took the National Covenant and compounded for his part of the estate. (fn. 26)

It appears to have been Anne, the daughter and heir of the younger Thomas, who carried the manors of Ince and Aspull to her husband John Gerard, a younger son of Sir William Gerard, third baronet; and the manors were afterwards sold to Richard Gerard, uncle of John. (fn. 27) Richard's son and heir Thomas and his wife, Mary Wright, were in possession in 1683. (fn. 28) His son Richard Gerard of Highfield succeeded, but dying without issue the manor of Ince went by the provisions of his will (fn. 29) to his wife Margaret for life and then to his heir, his cousin Richard Gerard's son William. (fn. 30) William's heirs were his sisters, Mary and Elizabeth; but as the latter died unmarried, the whole devolved on the former, the wife of John Walmesley, a relation of the Showley family. (fn. 31) They settled at Westwood House in Ince, and the manor has descended regularly to the present lord, Mr. Humphrey Jeffreys Walmesley, of Ince and Hungerford. (fn. 32) The Hall of Ince was sold by Richard Gerard in 1716 to John Walmesley of Wigan, whose descendant Mr. John Walmesley of Lucknam and Ince is the present owner. (fn. 33)

Ince formerly possessed three halls, each bearing the name of the township; two of them, very much modernized, still stand. The first of these, now known as above mentioned as Hall of Ince, stands in Warrington Road, near the cemetery, and was restored about ten years ago, the old timber work at the back, which was then visible, being removed, and the wall rebuilt in brick. (fn. 34) The whole of the exterior of the building, which was formerly timber framed, is now stuccoed and otherwise modernized, but the roofs retain their old stone slates. The building is now divided into three houses.

Another branch of the Gerard family also resided in Ince from about 1600; their house was called the New Hall. (fn. 35)

The house now known as Ince Hall, which is situated off Manchester Road, near Rose Bridge, was originally surrounded by a moat and approached by a fine avenue of elms. It was a good specimen of timber and plaster building erected about the reign of James I, with a picturesque black and white front of five gables. (fn. 36) The entrance hall is described as being spacious and with a richly ornamented plaster ceiling and wainscoted walls. Three other rooms also were stated to have been panelled in oak, and the drawing-room ceiling was ornamented with 'carved work representing birds, shells, fruit, and flowers. There were two chimney-pieces of fine Italian marble. The staircase was of oak and 6 ft. wide, the ceiling much ornamented with stucco. The best bedrooms were covered with tapestry.' (fn. 37) In 1854 the house was so seriously damaged by fire as to necessitate a practical rebuilding. The ancient timber front has therefore given place to a brick elevation of no architectural pretension, and the house is internally wholly modernized. The line of avenue still remains, but the trees have disappeared, and the opening of coal pits in the immediate vicinity about thirty years ago has destroyed any sense of picturesqueness that the rebuilt structure might have possessed. (fn. 38)

A family using the local surname came into note in the 16th century. (fn. 39) Thomas Ince, who died in April 1573, held a capital messuage and other messuages with lands and wood at Ince of Thomas Langton in socage by a rent of 5s. (fn. 40) The residence was known as Ince Hall, or the New Hall. They also adhered to the ancient faith, (fn. 41) and John Ince's estate was sequestered by the Parliamentary authorities during the Commonwealth, (fn. 42) but not confiscated outright. It descended from him to his great-great-granddaughter Frances Sobieski, daughter of Christopher Ince, and wife of William Anderton of Euxton. She died in 1816, when the family ceased to reside here. (fn. 43)

Ince. Argent three torteaux between two bendlets gules.

The third hall, the residence of the family of Ince, stood on a site a short distance from the junction of Ince Green Lane and Warrington Road, part of which is occupied by a building apparently erected some sixty years since from the materials of the former house. Two date stones, now on a rockery in front of the house, are said to belong respectively to the old barn and a stable now pulled down. One bears the date 1578 and the initials GIM, and the other the inscription [below] referring to the above-named William Anderton and Frances his wife. There is also part of a stone sundial, dated G M/1741. The hall is said to have been built about 1721.

[Inscription at residence of Ince family]

Property here was acquired by a family named Brown, (fn. 44) in which it descended for about a century and a half. (fn. 45) Henry Brown, by his will in 1726, left it to his grand-nephew Edward, son of Robert Holt of Wigan; by two daughters and co-heiresses it became the property of General Clegg and Thomas Case of Liverpool. (fn. 46)

Miles and Peter Gerard, Thomas Ince, and Ralph Brown were the landowners recorded about 1556. (fn. 47) Richard Pennington was a freeholder in 1600. (fn. 48) The four halls of Ince were duly noted by Kuerden about 1696. (fn. 49) In 1717 John Clarkson and Richard Richardson, as 'papists,' registered estates here. (fn. 50)

Ambrewood inclosure award may be seen at Preston.

The Established Church has two places of worship in the township; Christ Church, consecrated in 1864, the district assigned being the whole township; (fn. 51) and St. Mary's, Lower Ince, consecrated 1887. (fn. 52) The patronage of both is vested in Simeon's trustees.

The Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1866; the Primitive Methodist one in 1885. The Congregationalists also have a place of worship.

The adherents of the ancient religion found assistance in the constancy of the families of Gerard and Ince. The chapel at New Hall was built in 1760; this was closed in 1818. There was a private chapel at Westwood House, and in 1873 the church of St. William was opened. Twenty years later the Church of the Holy Family at Platt Bridge was added. (fn. 53)

Footnotes

  • 1. Including 100 acres of inland water.
  • 2. Lond. Gaz. 23 Oct. 1866.
  • 3. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 286.
  • 4. Ibid. 366, note 8. For later notices see Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 138; ii, 99; ibid. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 105.
  • 5. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 74. The separate assessment of Ince appears to have been one plough-land: and its share of the thegnage rent was probably 10s.; one of the judges being also supplied by it. In 1544 the Gerards' rent was stated to be 5s. only; possibly this was a moiety of the manor, the other moiety being held by the Ince family.
  • 6. Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 12. Orm de Haydock gave to Cockersand Abbey a portion of land in Ince, between two brooks, as marked out by the canons' crosses; Cockersand Chart. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 673. Robert Anderton held this in 1501 at a rent of 10d.; Cockersand Rental (Chet. Soc.), 5.
  • 7. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 74; the half plough-land was held 'of ancient feoffment.' Richard de (or le) Perpoint was a benefactor of Cockersand, his grant being thus bounded: The great brook up the Thele lache, down the lache between Beric-acre and Wolveley to the syke between Hardacre and Bircacre, to the great brook; Cockersand Chart. ii, 672. He seems to have been succeeded by Robert son of Adam de Perpoint, who released to the canons the lands he had held of them in Ince, and whose daughter Godith did the same; ibid. 673, 674. For Alfred de Ince see Lancs. Pipe R. 152, &c.
  • 8. Cur. Reg. R. 171, m. 28; Henry de Sefton called Thomas de Perpoint to warrant him as to 4 oxgangs in Ince. He may be the Henry de Seveton who with his wife Alice was taken into confraternity with the Knights Hospitallers in 1256; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 128.
  • 9. Assize R. 408, m. 21 d. John de Ince was witness to an Abram charter about 1240; Cockersand Chart. ii, 664.
  • 10. Assize R. 408, m. 73. It is possible that there is an error in the date.
  • 11. Assize R. 407, m. 3 d. Gilbert de Southworth claimed in right of the dower of his wife Emma, who seems to have been the widow of Henry de Sefton; but this would not have been so if Henry de Sefton was living in 1288. About this time there was a long suit between John son of Richard Maunsel of Heaton and Richard son of Emma de Marhalgh as to messuages, mill, &c., and 6 oxgangs of land in Ince and Aspull. Richard is described as son and heir of Henry de Wigan, a brother of Richard Maunsel; Assize R. 1265, m. 22 d.; R. 1321, m. 13 d.; R. 418, m. 2, 11. As in one of the pleadings in 1284 (Assize R. 1268, m. 11) Gilbert de Southworth and Emma his wife were joined in the defence with Richard son of Emma de Marhalgh, it might seem that Henry de Wigan was the same as Henry de Sefton, but there is probably some other explanation.
  • 12. In 1292 he was defendant in a number of suits concerning his father's acquisitions. Henry de Litherland claimed 4 oxgangs less 12 acres; he had in 1288 released his right in them to Henry de Sefton, but now said he was a minor at the time; Assize R. 408, m. 73. It is possible that the plaintiff was the Henry son of Thomas de Ince who at the same assizes claimed 6 acres of land, &c., from Robert son of Fulk Banastre, Hugh de Hindley, Alan son of Peter, Adam de Urmston and Isabel his wife, and Richard de Molyneux and Beatrice his wife; ibid. m. 68. Agnes widow of Thomas de Ince was also a claimant in respect of dower; 2 oxgangs of land are named; ibid. m. 3, 13 d., 64 d. Henry son of Thomas de Ince held 12 acres claimed by William, brother and heir of Robert de Wytonelake, who asserted that Thomas had demised to Henry de Sefton, who had disseised Robert; ibid. m. 51. Robert de Abram and Emma his wife, in right of the latter, claimed the moiety of an oxgang of land, &c., from Richard son of Henry de Sefton of Ince, and from Gilbert de Southworth and Emma his wife. The latter pair said they had only Emma's dower out of Richard's inheritance. The plaintiffs said that Henry de Ince gave the tenements to Adam son of Wido and Margery his wife; the latter being, it would seem, a daughter of Henry; and that Emma was their daughter and heir; Robert was the son of John de Abram, who had married the said Margery. Richard de Ince's reply was that Margery had granted the lands to his father while she was a widow and free to do so; but the jury decided for the plaintiffs, believing a grant was made after she had married John de Abram. Gilbert and Emma were also to have nothing from the land, 'because the seisin of the latter's first husband was unjust'; ibid. m. 26 d. The last sentence seems to prove that this Emma was widow of Henry de Sefton. In the same year, 1292, Richard de Ince and Alice his wife, 'put in their claim' in a fine concerning the manor of Haydock; Final Conc. i, 174. Late in 1334 Richard son of Henry de Ince granted Gilbert de Culcheth leave to carry turves from Hindley to Wigan through Ince; Lancs. and Ches. Hist. and Gen. Notes, i, 52.
  • 13. In 1323–4 Gilbert son of Richard de Ince remitted to Gilbert de Haydock a rent of 13s. 4d.; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxxviii, 33. Gilbert de Ince was witness in 1334; Crosse D. no. 45. Ten years later John de Tyldesley made a claim against Gilbert son of Richard de Ince and others concerning land; Assize R. 1435, m. 47. A little later, 1347, William son of John Donning of Ince sued Gilbert son of Richard de Ince for a messuage in Ince. Gilbert claimed by a grant from Elias Donning and Margery his wife, parents of John Donning; in the defence there were associated with him his brothers Richard, Thomas, and John; also his son Ivo; ibid, m. 41 d. Gilbert de Ince at Easter 1354 was convicted of disseising John son of Thomas Jew of a rent of 13s. 4d. in Ince; and Hugh, Gilbert's brother, cut off John's arm; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. 3. Henry, another brother, occurs in 1347; Cal. Close, 1346–9, p. 49. Gilbert de Ince attested a charter in 1358; Standish D. no. 46.
  • 14. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 2, m. 36; a list of the tenants is given. Robert was perhaps yet another brother of Gilbert's, for a Robert son of Richard de Ince was plaintiff in 1353 against Roger de Leigh, and others; Assize R. 435, m. 20. Richard and Thomas de Ince contributed to the poll tax of 1381; Lay Subs. Lanc. bdle. 130, no. 24.
  • 15. Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), ii, 131, where it is stated that a dispensation was granted for the marriage. John Gerard of Ince occurs in 1425; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 13. In 1420 John Gerard of Ince and Ellen his wife arranged for the succession of the manor of Ince, with fifteen messuages, 140 acres of land, &c., in Warrington, Wigan, and Aspull; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 5, m. 18. At the inquisition after his death, taken in 1434–5, his son and heir William was said to be aged twenty-three; Ormerod, loc. cit.
  • 16. Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 3–7; the date should be 6 Hen. VIII. The plaintiff's pedigree is given: 'The said moss . . . is the freehold and inheritance of plaintiff as parcel of his manor of Ince, whereof William Gerard his great-grandfather, Thomas his grandfather, and William his father, and many others of his ancestors were time out of mind peaceably seised.' In 1448 Thomas Gerard son of William Gerard, Roger Gerard, and Cecily wife of William Gerard, were accused of causing the death of Robert Gidlow, but were acquitted; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 12, m. 25; see also R. II, m. 15, 16. In that year a dispensation was granted by Nicholas V for the marriage of Thomas son and heir of William Gerard of Ince, and Elizabeth a daughter of William Norris of Speke, the parties being related in the third degree; Norris D. (B.M.), no. 643. Ten years later an indenture was made, reciting the fact of this marriage, and stating that lands in Aspull and Hindley had been assigned to them; William Gerard, the father, 'had not made and would not make any alienation of the manor of Ince or of any messuage, lands, and tenements that were Ellen's that was wife to John Gerard mother to the said William Gerard,' but such as should determine at his death. William's brothers, Robert, John, Hugh, and Richard are named, as also his younger sons, Roger, Edmund, Lawrence, and Seth; ibid. no. 644. To Thomas Gerard, the son, a pardon was granted in 1479; Towneley MS. RR, no. 1430. In this year Thomas Gerard of Ince and William his son, with Roger and Seth his brothers, were parties to an engagement to keep the peace with Alexander Standish and others; Standish D. nos. 160, 161. In 1490 the marriage of Thomas son and heir apparent of William Gerard, and Maud daughter of Sir Henry Bold, was agreed upon; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 210, nos. 118, 119.
  • 17. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, no. 27. The burgage in Wigan was held by the rent of a pair of gloves.
  • 18. Ibid. xi, no. 12; he held the manors of Ince and Aspull, with various messuages and lands, &c.; including a windmill and a water-mill in Ince, and the same in Aspull; sixty burgages, &c., in Wigan, and various lands there, held by a rent of 57s. 1d.; also lands in Pemberton, Abram, and Hindley. William his son and heir was twenty-three years of age.
  • 19. William was a plaintiff against Sir Thomas Gerard in 1549; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 101. In 1567 a pedigree was recorded; Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 101. William Gerard was buried at Wigan, 29 Nov. 1583; Reg.
  • 20. A settlement of the manors of Aspull and Ince was made by fine in 1586; Miles Gerard and Grace his wife being deforciants; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 48, m. 299; there was a later one in 1612; ibid. bdle. 82, m. 51. Several other fines relate to dealings with their properties; ibid. bdle. 47, m. 57, &c. In 1599, as lord of the manor, he complained that Ralph Houghton and others were withholding suit; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 336, 399.
  • 21. Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 245, quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, 4. He and his wife had been accused in 1586 of sheltering one Worthington, a persecuted priest; and his own brother, Alexander Gerard, was another priest in the neighbourhood; ibid. 239, 240. Thomas and Alexander Gerard, aged eighteen and seventeen respectively, entered Brasenose College, Oxf. in 1578; Foster, Alumni. In spite of a discrepancy in the dates—it being recorded that Alexander left Rheims for England in 1587—it seems certain that Miles's brothers were the Thomas and Alexander Gerard imprisoned for religion in Wisbech Castle, where Thomas died; their brother Gilbert, born in 1569, and therefore not recorded in the Visitation pedigree, entered the English College, Rome, in 1587, and became a Jesuit; Foley, Rec. S.J. vi, 175; vii, 293. In September 1590 Miles Gerard was indicted for fourteen months' absence from church, but for most part of the time he had been 'so extreme sick' that his life had only been preserved by the use of goat's milk; before that he said he had been a regular attendant at church; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 597. See also Local Glean. Lancs. and Ches. ii, 252. Miles Gerard, a Douay priest, executed at Rochester in 1590 for his priesthood, is supposed to have been of this family; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of Engl. Cath. ii, 430–2. He does not occur in the pedigree, but Miles seems to have been a favourite Christian name in this branch.
  • 22. Visit. of 1613 (Chet. Soc.), 25. 'Miles Gerard of Ince, esquire, was buried at Wigan, 1615, in his own chancel, the 28th day of September'; Reg. Thomas son and heir of Miles Gerard of Ince entered St. Mary Hall, Oxf. in 1607, aged seventeen; he was afterwards of Gray's Inn; Foster, Alumni Oxon.
  • 23. Norris D. (B.M.). For a settlement in 1641 see Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 138, m. 38. He paid £13 6s. 8d. on refusing knighthood in 1632; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 222.
  • 24. Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 34; petition of his wife and daughters.
  • 25. Ibid. iii, 34–51. Thomas Gerard had a mine of cannel in Aspull, for which he needed a trench through lands of James Gorsuch, paying him £20 for leave. Owing to neglect in the various sequestrations the trench was filled up, and the mine was 'totally drowned up'; the fault being that of the agents of the sequestrators. He asked for compensation or assistance to put the mine in order. The rents of the confiscated two-thirds of the estates amounted in 1653–4 to £111 17s. 6d.; it consisted of the demesne lands at Ince, a mill, tenants' rents, tithe corn, rents in Aspull, and a cannel mine in Aspull farmed to his son Thomas Gerard; ibid. 47. Ince Hall was the subject of suits between Thomas Gerard and Roger Scoughton in 1663; Exch. Depos. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 37, 48. In 1667 an inquiry was made touching an annuity granted by Thomas Gerard to John Biddulph; Lancs. and Ches. Recs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 348.
  • 26. Royalist Comp. Papers, iii, 40–43. It being alleged that the younger Thomas was 'a delinquent papist and not to be admitted to composition, notwithstanding his conformity,' his friends moved that he might be allowed to give the committee further satisfaction by taking the oath of abjuration.
  • 27. For Richard Gerard see Dict. Nat. Biog. The descent which follows is taken from Piccope's MS. Pedigrees (Chet. Lib.), i, 119, with additions from his abstracts of Roman Catholic deeds enrolled in the Preston House of Correction. There is also a pedigree in Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 239. John Gerard died in July 1672, and was buried at Winwick; Local Glean. Lancs. and Ches. i, 191.
  • 28. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 211, m. 25. Besides the manors the property included messuages and lands and a water grain mill in Ince, Aspull, and Wigan; also tithes in Ince. For a fine of 1700 see bdle. 245, m. 93; Thomas Gerard, Sir William Gerard, and William Gerard were the deforciants. Thomas Gerard is usually described as 'of Highfield' in Aspull. As a 'papist' he registered his estate in 1717, the value being given as £345 17s. 4d.; Richard Gerard, of Highfield, who registered an annuity of £150 out of the manor of Aspull, was no doubt his son; Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 128, 153; he also owned the hall of Southworth; Piccope, op. cit. Two of his sisters were nuns. In 1694 an inquiry was made as to the suspected devotion of the Hall of Ince to religious uses; Exch. Depos. 84.
  • 29. Richard Gerard of Highfield died without issue in 1743. In 1721 he was in the remainders to the Brynn estate. By his will dated 1 Feb. 1734–5, he gave the manor of Ince to his wife Margaret, who was daughter of John Baldwin of Wigan, for life, with remainder to his right heirs; his manors of Southworth and Croft to his brother Thomas; Piccope, op. cit. This Thomas and another brother Caryll were priests; for the latter see Foley, Rec. S.J. vi, 468.
  • 30. Richard Gerard, a younger brother of Thomas, was an apothecary in Wigan. He and his son Richard registered as 'papists' in 1717; Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 107, 148. They mortgaged a messuage in the Market-place in 1731. The son, who died in 1743, married Isabella, another daughter of John Baldwin of Wigan; and their son William, described as an apothecary in 1744, was the heir to Ince. Aspull is not mentioned, having probably been sold. In 1751–2 William Gerard was deforciant of the manor in a fine, which included lands in Ince, Abram, Hindley, Newton in Makerfield, and Wigan; also 'one chapel open to the north side and adjoining the parish church of Wigan'; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 346, m. 108.
  • 31. In 1773 John Walmesley and Mary his wife, Elizabeth Gerard, spinster, William Moss and Margaret his wife, and Richard Baron and Anne his wife were the deforciants in a fine regarding this manor; ibid. bdle. 389, m. 176.
  • 32. The descent is thus given in Burke, Landed Gentry— John Walmesley, d. 1780; son, Richard, d. 1790; son, Charles, d. 1833; son, William Gerard, d. 1868; son, William Gerard, d. 1877; brother, Humphrey Jeffreys, born 1846.
  • 33. Information given by the present owner, who also inherited the house in Hallgate, Wigan, in which the Young Pretender slept in November 1745. For the pedigree of the family see Burke, Landed Gentry, Walmesley of Hall of Ince.
  • 34. a A view of the Hall, as it was a century ago, is given in Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 236.
  • 35. One Thomas Anderton had lands in Ince in 1529, as recorded in a later note; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, n. 14, 30. One of his daughters and coheirs married Thomas Gerard, and a division was sought in 1546; Pal. of Lanc. Writs, file 30. Ralph Gerard and Grace his wife sold lands here in 1548; James Gerard was a purchaser; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 13, m. 133, 136. See also Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 19; a James Gerard was buried at Wigan 21 Sept. 1590. This James may have been the father of Miles Gerard, who in 1600 was one of the freeholders in Ince; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 239. The same name, as 'of New Hall' appears among the landowners contributing to the subsidy of 1628; Norris D. (B. M.). He was buried at Wigan in 1640, and in 1654 Charles son of James Gerard, of the New Hall, was buried, as appears by the Wigan registers. For some 'delinquency' James Gerard's estate was sequestrated about the end of 1651 by the Parliamentary authorities; as 'son and heir of Miles Gerard, late of Ince,' he was admitted to Gray's Inn, 1646; Royalist Comp. Papers, iii, 21; iv, 34. In 1671, on a complaint by Henry Backer and his wife Jane against Ellen Gerard, depositions were taken as to the marriage of John Davies of Manby in Cheshire, with Alice eldest daughter of Miles Gerard, late of Peel Ditch in Ince, and moneys agreed to be paid to Jane and Margaret, daughters of Miles; and touching a sum of £400 lent to Thomas Gerard of Ince; Exch. Depos. 49.
  • 36. a The house is the subject of one of Roby's Traditions of Lancashire, where a view of it in its original state is given.
  • 37. b Manchester City News, N. and Q. iv, 7 (1881).
  • 38. There is a tradition that the Young Pretender slept here when he was in this part of Lancashire, and that there was a skirmish in the hall during his stay in which two men were killed.
  • 39. a They may have descended from the Henry son of Thomas de Ince, of 1292, who had a son Thomas; Assize R. 419, m. 12; De Banco R. 198, m. 136 d. Richard son of Henry de Ince contributed to the subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 6. The Thomas of 1381 may also have belonged to it; a release by Thomas son of Robert de Ince, dated 1379, is in Towneley MS. GG, no. 2439. Robert son of William de Ince, occurs in 1398; Crosse D. (Trans. Hist. Soc.), no. 86. Henry de Ince occurs in 1415; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 107. Thomas son of Henry de Ince was party to a bond in 1428; GG, no. 2655. Henry Ince of Ince was one of the gentry of the hundred in 1512.
  • 40. b Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 6. Miles Ince was his son and heir, and of the age of twenty-five years. The rent payable seems to prove that this was a moiety of the manor. Mr. H. Ince Anderton gives the descent as: Thomas Ince (15 Edw. IV) —s. Henry (20 Hen. VII) —s. Arthur —s. Thomas; from Harl. MS. 1987, fol. 88b. The father of Thomas was Arthur Ince, who in 1546 and later had a dispute with Ralph Brown over the marriage between the latter's daughter Ellen and Thomas Ince, son and heir apparent of Arthur; Duchy Plead. ii, 211. In 1569 Miles Ince, as grandson of Ralph Brown, put in a claim to lands in Ince, Aspull, and Wigan; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 378, 360.
  • 41. Miles Ince was one of the 'comers to church but no communicants' in 1590; Lydiate Hall, 246 (quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, 4). He was buried at Wigan 7 Apr. 1593; Reg.; and was succeeded by John Ince, probably his son, returned as a freeholder in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 241. With him begins the pedigree recorded in 1664; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 163. In 1628 he paid double to the subsidy as a convicted recusant; Norris D. (B.M.); and died the following year, being buried at Wigan.
  • 42. In 1643 two-thirds was sequestered for Thomas Ince's religion only, and so remained till his death in Feb. 1653–4; it does not appear that he took arms for the king. John Ince was the only son and heir, thirty-four years of age, and in 1654 had a wife and four small children depending on him. He mortgaged his property in order to pay his father's debts and provide for his wife Margaret and his children Thomas, Hugh, &c.; Royalist Comp. Papers, iv, 1–13.
  • 43. Dugdale's pedigree is supplemented by that of Piccope (MS. Pedigrees, ii, 291), who consulted the Roman Catholic deeds enrolled in the House of Correction, Preston. It appears that Thomas, the eldest son of John, mentioned in the preceding note, had no issue, and the estate descended to Christopher Ince, a younger brother, who in 1717 as a 'papist' registered his estate, being described as 'of Aughton;' Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 112. His four sisters, Dorothy, Anne, Ellen (wife of James Twiss), and Elizabeth also registered; ibid. 124. Christopher was executor of his brother Thomas's will (dated 1703), and by his own will, dated 12 Dec. 1728, he left Ince Hall to his grandson Christopher; John, the son, to have 'the profits of part of Brook House,' if he behaved himself to the satisfaction of the trustees. Thomas, a younger brother of John, had lands in Aughton and Billinge, divided between his sons Thomas and James; Piccope, op. cit. Mr. Ince Anderton adds that papers in Chest. Dioc. Reg. show that Christopher Ince died in 1735, leaving two sons, John and Thomas; and that administration of the goods of John Ince of Ince was granted on 14 Jan. 1739–40. Christopher Ince, son of John, accordingly succeeded to Ince; in 1740 he married Mary Catherine Parry of Holywell; and their daughter and heir, Frances Sobieski Ince, married in 1769 William Anderton of Euxton; Piccope.
  • 44. In a suit in 1609 respecting a place called Rundiefield in Ince, the following pedigree was adduced:—Roger le Brown, to whom the rent of 4s. from the land had been granted by William de Ince—s. Rowland —s. William —s. Ralph. Ralph in 1545 granted the rent to William Brown, whose son Roger was defendant in 1609; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 303, m. 16. Roger Brown of Ince, in August 1517, granted to Cecily daughter of Richard Urmston a burgage in Scholes for her life, with remainder to Ralph Brown, junior, son and heir of William Brown; and at the same time this Ralph Brown, describing himself as next of kin and heir apparent of Roger, granted his burgages, &c., in Scholes to the same Cecily, probably on his marriage with her; Towneley MS. OO, no. 1109, 1108. Thomas Anderton of Ince died in August 1529, seised of messuages and lands in Ince held of Thomas Gerard of Ince, by a rent of 2s. 8d.; and other lands in Thingwall, Walton, Halewood, and Aughton. His heirs were his daughters Margaret, Ellen, and Cecily, said to be ten, nine, and eight years of age in 1534. They were in the wardship of Ralph Brown of Wigan, who accordingly took possession; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 14, 30. Ralph Brown next appears in 1535 in a dispute with Thomas Gerard as to lands in Whitreding; Ducatus Lanc. i, 201; and then in 1546 regarding the marriage covenant with Arthur Ince, already referred to. William Brown, feoffee of Ralph, and James Brown appear in 1568 and 1569 in the disputes with Miles Ince. In 1581 William Brown made complaint as to Charles Bank, Miles Gerard, and Lawrence Wood regarding lands called Foxholes, &c.; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 92, 107. William Brown died 13 May 1596 leaving a son and heir Roger, then about sixteen years of age; he had held two messuages and various lands in Ince of Miles Gerard, by a rent of 4s. 6d. and sixteen messuages in Wigan; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 157. Roger Brown, in 1597, alleged that Miles Gerard was withholding suit; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 350. He died 2 Jan. 1619–20, seised of the paternal lands, and leaving as heir his son William, aged seventeen; there was a younger son Ralph, as appears by a feoffment made in 1611; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 202. He had lived 'roguing about London,' in Bishop Bridgeman's opinion; Bridgeman, Wigan Ch. 249.
  • 45. William Brown died in 1626, for his uncle Ralph, brother of Roger Brown, tendered his relief on succeeding; he was buried at Wigan 11 Mar. 1626–7, and succeeded by his son; Bridgeman, op. cit. 250. The 'heirs of Ralph Brown' are mentioned in the Wigan rental of 1627; ibid. 310.
  • 46. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1836), iii, 568; Gregson, Fragments, 176.
  • 47. Mascy of Rixton D.; a subsidy roll.
  • 48. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 241. In 1546 was a fine between Nicholas Pennington (or Pinnington) of Wigan and John Pennington of Ince, respecting property in the latter place; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 167. In 1559 John Pennington was again deforciant; ibid. bdle. 21, m. 134. In 1600 Gilbert Bank sued Robert and Nicholas Pennington concerning a cottage and lands called Emme Fields; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 412.
  • 49. Local Glean. Lancs. and Ches. i, 209–14. He states that the Browns had the Cockersand lands.
  • 50. Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 125, 152.
  • 51. Bridgeman, Wigan Ch. 787; a district had been assigned in 1862; Lond. Gaz. 4 Nov.
  • 52. Bridgeman, loc. cit.
  • 53. Liverpool Cath. Ann. 1901.
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