Townships: Withington

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

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'Townships: Withington', 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/pp288-293 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Withington', 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/pp288-293.

"Townships: Withington". 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/pp288-293.

In this section

WITHINGTON

Wythinton, 1212 and usually; Wythington (copy of) 1282 extent, and common in 14th century; Whytinton, 1302.

This township has an area of 2,501 acres. (fn. 1) The general slope of the surface is downward from east to west, the extremes being 144 ft. and 85 ft. above the Ordnance datum. The population in 1901 was 19,112. A brook which is called Gore Brook in Gorton and Chorlton Brook in Chorlton crosses the middle of Withington from north-east to south-west, and is joined by the Ley or Cringle Brook coming from the east.

The principal road is that near the eastern border, from Manchester to Northenden in Cheshire, which goes southward through Fallowfield. It is lined with houses all the way, this side of the township being suburban in character, and has a branch towards Didsbury and Cheadle. The north-western portion, adjoining Moss Side, is also suburban and contains Alexandra Park, of 60 acres extent, opened in 1870, and the residential area called Manley Park. The district anciently known as Yeeldhouses, and later as the Healdhouses, lay near the northern border, stretching into Rusholme and Moss Side.

In Withington and its members there were 447 hearths liable to the tax in 1666; the largest houses were Barlow Hall in Chorlton and Birch Hall in Rusholme. (fn. 2)

A public hall and library were built in 1861.

The Midland Company's railway from Manchester to Stockport crosses the southern end of the township, and from it branches the Great Central Company's line to Guide Bridge, having a station near the centre called Alexandra Park, and another at the eastern border called Fallowfield.

The Manchester Southern Cemetery and Chorlton Union Workhouse are near the southern boundary.

A local board was formed in 1876; the area included part of Withington, Chorlton, Burnage, and Didsbury. (fn. 3) This was changed into an urban district council in 1894, but in 1904 the whole was incorporated with the city of Manchester. A number of small variations in the township boundaries of Withington, Didsbury, Burnage, and Chorlton with Hardy were made in 1882.

MANOR

At its first appearance in the records the manor or fee of WITHINGTON was held of the lord of Manchester by the service of one knight's fee. It included not only Withington proper, but the adjacent hamlets or townships of Didsbury, Chorlton with Hardy, Burnage, Levenshulme, Rusholme, and Moss Side; also the detached portions, Denton and Haughton to the east, and Longworth (fn. 4) far to the north, in the parish of Bolton. The manor-house seems to have been built at Hough in Withington, which was frequently reckoned as a separate manor; thus, after various subordinate manors such as Denton had been separated, the manors of Hough, Withington, and Didsbury were said to be held by the lord of Withington.

By the inquest of 1212 it was found that Matthew and Roger, sons of William, held of Robert Grelley the fee of one knight 'of ancient time,' and were bound to 'find a judge for the king.' (fn. 5) The tenure thus went back to the early years of the 12th century, probably before the creation of the barony of Manchester, when Withington would be held of the king's manor of Salford by the service of finding a judge, which service was still required after the mesne lordship of Manchester had been created. (fn. 6)

The lords had the surname of Haversage, from one of their manors (fn. 7) in Derbyshire. Little is known of them, (fn. 8) but Matthew de Haversage in 1248–9 procured a charter of free warren for his manors, including Withington and Didsbury. (fn. 9) Withington descended to the Longfords of Longford in Derbyshire, who held it until the end of the 16th century, (fn. 10) when Nicholas Longford, (fn. 11) having no children, sold Withington and left other estates to his sister's heir. (fn. 12)

Haversage. Paly of six argent and gules on a chief azure a bar dancetty or.

Longford. Paly of six or and gules a bend argent.

The purchaser of the Withington manor in 1597 was Rowland Mosley. (fn. 13) He was the son of Nicholas Mosley, 'cotton man' of Manchester, to whom, in 1568, Hough End House had been leased by Nicholas Longford, (fn. 14) the freehold being purchased by Rowland and Francis Mosley in 1588. (fn. 15) Rowland was about fifty-three years of age at his father's death; he served as high sheriff in 1615–16, (fn. 16) and died in 1617, leaving a son and heir, Edward, born a few months before the father's death. (fn. 17)

Mosley of Hough End. Sable a cheveron between three pickaxes argent.

Edward Mosley, in addition to the large paternal estates, also inherited Rolleston in Staffordshire and other lands by the bequest of his uncle Sir Edward Mosley, attorney-general of the Duchy. (fn. 18) By his marriage he acquired yet further property. (fn. 19) He was created a baronet in 1640. (fn. 20) Adhering zealously to the cause of Charles I he supplied the king with money, and fought in Cheshire, where he was taken prisoner at Middlewich in 1643. (fn. 21) His estates were sequestered, but he at last made peace with the Parliament by a fine of £4,874. (fn. 22) His own dissipated and extravagant habits further impoverished him. (fn. 23) He died at Hough End in 1657, leaving a son and heir, Edward, nineteen years of age. (fn. 24)

The second Sir Edward was nominated as sheriff in 1660, but does not appear to have served. (fn. 25) He died at Hough End in October 1665. He had married earlier in the year, but had no children, and his next heir was his sister Mary, wife of Joseph Maynard of Ealing. (fn. 26) By his will he left all his manors and lands—including his purchase of Hulme —to his cousin Edward Mosley, the second son of Oswald Mosley of Ancoats, but with the obligation to invest £7,000 in land for the eldest son, Nicholas, within five years. (fn. 27) The obligation was not fulfilled and litigation followed, resulting in a compromise which defeated Sir Edward Mosley's desire to preserve the lands in the male line of the family. (fn. 28) Edward Mosley, the beneficiary under the will, was made a knight in 1689; he left a daughter and heir, Ann, wife of Sir John Bland, (fn. 29) and her son, also Sir John Bland, (fn. 30) sold all the Mosley estates that descended to him, including the Withington manors.

The purchaser was William Egerton, (fn. 31) from whom they have descended to the present lord, Earl Egerton of Tatton. (fn. 32)

Egerton, Earl Egerton of Tatton. Argent a lion rampant gules between three pheons sable.

Hough End Hall is said to have been built by Sir Nicholas Mosley shortly after he bought the manor of Manchester in 1596, on the site of an older house which is known to have existed in the middle of the 15th century. The house faces south-west and stands about a quarter of a mile to the north-east of Barlow Moor Road, near to Chorltonwith-Hardy. Its back faces the Midland Railway, and Chorlton Brook runs past it on the north side. It is a picturesque brick building of three stories on a stone base 3 ft. high, consisting of a centre portion with a wing at each end. The principal doorway is central, under a porch, opening to a central passage with a door, formerly external, on the north. The total length of the chief or south front is about 94 ft., the central or recessed portion of which measures 42 ft., and the wings project 6 ft. 9 in. On the north face the western half of the space between the projecting wings is filled by a contemporary square staircase, of equal projection with the wings. The detail is rather rough, and the front elevation very plain, but the general effect is extremely good, owing largely, no doubt, to the colour of the bricks and the grey stone slates, which have weathered a beautiful hue, and also to the fact that the house is partly covered with creepers and set off by a well-kept front garden and rural surroundings. The windows are all square-headed and with stone mullions, those to the top floor, however, being built up across the whole length of the front. The wings are gabled and ornamented with balls, and the centre portion is surmounted with a parapet in the form of three smaller gables with similar finials. The chimneys are square shafts set diagonally on square bases. The bricks are 2¼ in. in thickness, laid in alternate courses of headers and stretchers, and there are no string-courses and no quoins at the angles. A very restful effect has been produced by the simplest means, but principally by the judicious spacing of the windows and a plentiful amount of plain brick walling. The entrance is in the centre of the main front, and was originally through a square-headed door flush with the wall. A projecting porch has since been added. The windows retain their ancient diamond quarries and in the internal angles of the front are two lead rainwater pipes with ornament in relief all down the front of the pipes. The back of the house has been a good deal altered and the windows modernized. It has four gables without copings on the same face, but was originally more broken up and picturesque, a recessed portion or court between the east wing and the staircase having been built upon. The original outer doorway at the back, with the oak nail studded door which opened on to this space, is now inside the house, and a five-light window on the return of the staircase bay is built up and can only be seen from inside. Other additions have been built in later times at the back of the house at both ends. The east wing consists, on the ground floor, of two rooms now used as a toolhouse and blacksmith's shop. A five-light window has been built up on the east side of the front room, and a break in the plinth in another part of the outer wall at the east end, together with a large external cavity which is evidently a former fireplace, suggests considerable alterations at this end of the house. The projection of this now outside fireplace goes up the whole height of the building and finishes in a gable. Lower down, at the level of the first floor, are the marks of a small gable roof, and similar indications are to be seen over what was apparently either a bay window or entrance to the back room. The fireplace may have belonged to a small wing which has been pulled down, or it may have been intended for a purpose to which it was never afterwards put. The interior of the building, which is now used as a farm-house, has few points of interest, having been a good deal modernized and stripped of its old oak, including a handsome staircase at the east end, which was removed by Lord Egerton to Tatton Lodge.

Waltheof de Withington and some others made grants to Cockersand Abbey. (fn. 33)

Land in Healdhouses was granted to the Traffords (fn. 34) and held by them from the 13th to the 16th century, (fn. 35) when part or all was sold to the Mosleys. (fn. 36) There are some records also of a Fallowfield family. (fn. 37) One or two other small estates appear in the inquisitions. (fn. 38) Near Fallowfield was the place called Aldhulme, mentioned in the Cockersand and other grants; it is now represented by fields called Great and Little Oldham, on the south side of Fallowfield Brook. (fn. 39) Apart from these alienations, mostly on the outskirts of the township, the land appears to have been retained by the lords of the manor; and in 1784 William Egerton contributed three-fourths of the land tax in Withington and Fallowfield. (fn. 40)

About 1567 there were disputes between Edmund Trafford and Nicholas Longford respecting the 'waste grounds, moors or commons called Didsbury Moor, Withington Moor, Moss Green alias Moss Side, and Chorlton Moor.' (fn. 41)

For the Established Church St. Paul's, Withington, was erected in 1841, (fn. 42) and Holy Innocents', Fallowfield, in 1872. (fn. 43) The patronage in each case is vested in trustees, and the incumbents are styled rectors.

The Wesleyans and the Primitive Methodists each have churches in the township. The latter body has also a college for candidates for the ministry. A training college for the Congregational ministry, known as the Lancashire Independent College, Whalley Range, was opened in the north-west corner of the township in 1843. (fn. 44) The same body has had a church in the village since 1883. (fn. 45) The Baptists have a church, founded in 1891. The Presbyterian Church of England is also represented. (fn. 46)

The Roman Catholic church of St. Cuthbert was opened in 1881 and completed in 1902. (fn. 47) At Alexandra Park is the church of English Martyrs. 1876–96. In the same neighbourhood are St. Bede's College, in a building which was formerly the Manchester Aquarium, and convents of the Ladies of the Retreat and the Franciscan Tertiaries.

The Hulme Trustees have opened a Grammar School near Alexandra Park.

Footnotes

  • 1. 2,443 acres, including three of inland water; Census Rep. 1901.
  • 2. Subsidy R. bdle. 250, no. 9. Mr. Barlow had 16 hearths, Thomas Birch 13, Mrs. Holland 10, Robert Hyde 9, Mr. Worsley 8, Hugh Yannis, John Shelmerdine, and — Angier 7 each. This last would be the celebrated John Angier of Denton Chapel.
  • 3. 39 & 40 Vict. cap. 161. Small parts of the township of Withington were included in the local board districts of Moss Side and Rusholme.
  • 4. In a subsidy roll of 1543 (bdle. 130, no. 127) Anglezarke as well as Longworth is described as a hamlet of Withington.
  • 5. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 53. Matthew son of William also held four oxgangs in Chorlton; ibid. 69. In 1282 the fee of Withington owed to the lord of Manchester the ploughing of 15 acres of land, a service valued at 7s. 6d.; it also owed a service of reaping as due from 30 oxgangs of land, worth 2s. 6d. The clear value of the vill of Withington was £31 a year; ibid. 246, 250. From this it appears that Withington was assessed at 30 oxgangs in all. In the later survey of 1320–2 it was recorded that the lord of Withington was one of the judges of the court of Manchester; Mamecestre (Chet. Soc.), ii, 286. Under the title De consuetudinibus arandi it was noted that each oxgang of arable land of ancient (not new) assart alike of Nicholas de Longford as of his tenants in Withington, Didsbury, Barlow, Chorlton, Denton, and Haughton, was liable for the ploughing of half an acre in Manchester, wherever assigned, 1d. being paid. There were about 25 oxgangs in all, including one held by Sir Henry de Trafford, called the Constable's oxgang, which was exempt. From the same tenants was due the service of thirty-six reapers for one whole day, the lord providing a meal; while the exempt oxgang was liable for an overseer to see that the services were duly rendered; ibid. ii, 377–8.
  • 6. A similar tenure was that of Pilkington; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 55. Judges were also to be provided by the lords of Kaskenmoor (Oldham) and Stretford, held directly of Salford.
  • 7. a Now called Hathersage.
  • 8. William, the father of Matthew and Roger, was probably the William son of Wulfric de Withington whose claim to part of Chorlton was decided by wager of battle; see the account of Chorlton upon Medlock. Matthew son of William occurs in the Pipe Rolls from 1177; Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 38, 115, &c. Matthew de Haversage, in the time of King John—no doubt the son of the Matthew of 1212—was according to one story left a minor and in the king's wardship; but according to another was seized by Philip Mark, keeper of Nottingham Castle, and married to his daughter; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 260. Matthew son of Matthew de Haversage was a benefactor of Lenton; Dugdale, Mon. Angl. v, 112. In 1242 Matthew de Haversage held a knight's fee in Withington of the fee of Thomas Grelley; ibid. 154. The accounts of the succession are not in agreement. From the inquisition already cited (op. cit. i, 260) it would seem that Matthew died without issue, the heir being his sister Cecily who married a Longford and was grandmother of Oliver de Longford. On the other hand in 1292 (see below) Oliver's son John was called great-grandson of the Matthew of 1248. Two of Matthew's charters are noted by Booker, Didsbury Chapelry (Chet. Soc.), 319. One of them was to Richard son of H. de Handforth; and in 1361 John son of John de Handforth failed to prosecute a claim against Sir Nicholas de Longford; Assize R. 441, m. 5. These and other Handforth deeds are among the Birch charters in Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 178b, &c. In 1572 Robert Chetham purchased from Hugh Handforth and Anne his wife a messuage and lands in 'Chourton' (probably Chorlton with Hardy); Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 34, m. 128. This may be the land granted to Richard de Handforth, but Hugh's name does not appear in the Honford pedigree in Earwaker's East Ches. i, 250.
  • 9. Charter R. 44 (33 Hen. III); Cal. Chart. R. 1226–57, p. 345.
  • 10. John de Byron held Withington for life in 1282; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 248. The heir was a minor, being John son of Oliver, grandson of Cecily, the sister of Matthew de Haversage; the Bishop of Chester had the right to his wardship: ibid. 260. Noel (Nigel) de Longford made a grant of land in Didsbury about 1260; Booker, Birch (Chet. Soc.), 231. For his ancestry see the account of Goosnargh. The Matthew de Haversage who obtained the charter of free warren was called the proavus of John de Longford, who produced it in 1292; at this time also it was stated that Oliver de Longford, father of John, had died seised; Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 377. John de Longford held the knight's fee in Withington in 1302; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 313. Sir John de Longford and Dame Joan, probably his widow, had inclosed part of Burnage before 1320; Mamecestre, ii, 283–4. Another of Matthew de Haversage's sisters married a Gousill; Thoroton, Notts. iii, 147. In 1260 there was a partition of estates between Sir Nigel de Longford and Dame Maud de Gousill; Hibbert-Ware, Manch. Foundations, iii, 125. Sir Nicholas, the son of John, was in possession by 1317, as appears by a Trafford deed. He was living in 1347 (Assize R. 1435, m. 33 d) and was knighted at the siege of Calais in that year; Shaw, Knights, i, 6. He was probably the Nicholas de Longford returned in 1346–55 as holding the fee in Withington which Matthew de Haversage had formerly held; Feud. Aids, iii, 89. In 1345 he obtained a licence to impark at Withington (Cal. Pat. 1343–5, p. 534), and in 1352 he charged Sir John Daniel and another with breaking into his park at Withington and carrying off the deer; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 2, m. 4, 6. The same or a second Sir Nicholas received a licence for his oratory in 1360; Lich. Epis. Reg. Stretton, v, fol. 5. He in 1362 made a feoffment of his manor of Withington, and died in 1373, leaving a son and heir Nicholas, twenty-two years of age. The manor was held of the lord of Manchester by homage and fealty, and a rent of 19s., suit at the court of Manchester being performed from three weeks to three weeks, and at the court of Lancaster from six weeks to six weeks. The yearly value was 20 marks; Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 22. In 1376 Nicholas de Longford was plaintiff and Oliver de Barton and Alice his wife deforciants in a fine respecting the manor of Withington; the right of Nicholas was acknowledged; Feet of F. Divers Counties, Mich. 50 Edw. III, no. 136. Another Sir Nicholas de Longford, son of Sir Nicholas, died in Sept. 1415, leaving a son Ralph, fifteen years of age, and a widow Alice, who married William Chanterell. Withington was stated to be held of the lord of Manchester by the service of one knight's fee; it was worth £40 clear; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 114, 119; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 12, 13; Booker, Didsbury, 111, note. Thomas la Warre, as rector of Manchester, had in 1411 complained that Sir Nicholas de Longford and other evildoers had violently carried off his corn in Withington; Towneley MS. CC, no. 450, 451. Sir Ralph de Longford (Feud. Aids, iii, 96) died in 1431, having made a settlement of his manor of Withington and other lands in Lancashire in 1429; he left a son and heir Nicholas, aged thirteen; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 29. Ralph seems to have been made a knight in 1426 for his conduct at the battle of Verneuil; Metcalfe, Bk. of Knights, 1. This Sir Nicholas, the heir, is named as lord of Withington in 1449, and again (probably) in 1473, when 9s. was due from him to the lord of Manchester (sake-fee) and 10s. for castle ward; Lancs. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 36, 37a; Mamecestre, iii, 481. He was knighted after Tewkesbury; Shaw, Knights, ii, 15. Sir Ralph Longford, knighted in 1487 after Stoke (Metcalfe, op. cit. 17), died in 1513, holding the manors of Hough, Withington, and Didsbury, with 100 messuages, land, meadow, pasture, wood, health, moor, a water-mill and 40s. rent, of all which he made a settlement in 1510. The manors were held of Lord La Warre by one knight's fee, and were worth £80 a year. The heir was his grandson Ralph, son of Nicholas and Margery Longford, four years of age, and in the wardship of Sir Thomas Gerard of Brynn; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 47. The heir was made a knight in 1529; Shaw, op. cit. ii, 47. There are pedigrees of the Longford family in Booker, Didsbury, 113, and Thoroton, Notts. iii, 145.
  • 11. He was son of the last-named Sir Ralph, and in possession in 1544, as appears by the inquisition after the death of Edmund Entwisle, who held land in Withington of the heir of Sir Ralph Longford in socage; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, 30.
  • 12. Among Earl Egerton of Tatton's deeds are a number connected with Nicholas Longford. In 1566 Edward Tyldesley of Morleys conveyed lands, &c. in Withington to Nicholas Longford of Longford. In 1587 Nicholas settled his capital messuage called Hough Hall, with the park and various lands known as Hough Park, Woodhead Meadow, Presefields, Hondirne, Hough Fields, Hough Moss and Moss Green, Willey Leys, Dove Lache Meadow, &c., 'parcels of the demesne lands of the manor of Hough otherwise called the manor of Withington'; also various messuages, lands, &c. in Hough, Withington, Manchester, Didsbury, Chorlton, Rusholme, Haughton, and Denton, for the jointure of Martha, then his wife. His father Sir Ralph Longford is named. Previous dispositions of the estates were recited, when the remainders were to Richard Longford and William his brother, 'being near cousins to the said Nicholas Longford'; to Maud his sister, late wife of Sir George Vernon, and then of Francis Hastings; to Francis Dethick, son of Humphrey Dethick and Elizabeth his wife, another sister of Nicholas, and to the said Elizabeth. The remainders were varied in 1587, and a further change was made in 1588, when Sir Christopher Hatton and his heirs came first in the remainders. The above-named Martha, as 'Martha Southwell, one of the daughters of Sir Robert Southwell, knight, deceased,' also in 1591 released her right to Hatton. In 1595 Sir William Hatton for £2,660 conveyed the manors of Withington and Hough to Sir Robert Cecil and others, Nicholas Longford immediately afterwards selling them the same manors. In Dec. 1597 Cecil and the others, for £8,000, sold the same to Rowland Mosley. Fines relating to these various transactions are: Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdles. 28, m. 121; 29, m. 19; 51, m. 234, 279; 53, m. 16, 23; 59, m. 355.
  • 13. See the preceding note.
  • 14. Earl Egerton's D. A rent of 25s. 4d. was to be paid, and a man was to be provided in time of war 'to wait upon Nicholas Longford and his heirs as hath heretofore been accustomed.' One of the best cattle was to be given as a heriot at the death of every tenant during the seventy years of the lease. In the grant of arms to Nicholas Mosley in 1593 he is said to be the son of Edward son of James son of Jenkin Mosley of Hough or Hough's End; Mosley Family Memoirs, App. He removed to London about 1575, prospered in business, became alderman and lord mayor, and was knighted in 1600. He purchased the manor of Manchester in 1596. At Hough End he built a new house, and retiring from business in 1602, lived there till his death in 1612. He was high sheriff of Lancashire in 1603–4; P.R.O. List, 73. These and other particulars will be found in greater detail in Axon's Mosley Memoranda (Chet. Soc.), 7; Booker's Didsbury, 130–46, where are printed the will of Sir Nicholas and his widow Elizabeth; Mosley Fam. Mem. 5– 10, where a view of his tomb is given; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 4, showing that besides the manor of Manchester he had acquired lands, &c. in Withington and Chorlton from Ellis Hey, others in Farnworth, Kearsley, Hulme, and Barton from Sir Edmund Trafford, and in Heaton Norris from Lady Jane Lovell. From his will it is evident that Sir Nicholas had large estates not named in the inquisition.
  • 15. Earl Egerton's D. Rowland Mosley, then son and heir apparent of Sir Nicholas Mosley of the Hough, made an entail of the estates in 1606 in concert with his father. Rowland was to remain seised of the manors and lordships of Hough, Withington, and Didsbury, and all the messuages, lands, &c. in Withington, Didsbury, Stretford, Turve Moss, Chorlton, Moor End, Birchall Houses, Burnage, Fallowfield, Rusholme, Heaton Wood Green, Hough End, Moss Green, Yeeld Houses, Little Heath, Barricroft, and Ladybarn, with successive remainders (in default of male issue) to his brothers Francis and Edward, to the sons of Anthony (another brother), to Anthony Mosley of Manchester, and to Oswald Mosley, both brothers of Sir Nicholas; ibid. In 1613 a surrender was made by the tenants for life in many of the abovenamed hamlets and in Moss Side and Teand (tithe) barns; ibid.
  • 16. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 17. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 66–70. The manor of Withington was held of the king, as of his Duchy, by the service of a knight's fee. Two indentures are recited in the inquisition, giving the settlements as made in 1617.
  • 18. Mosley Fam. Mem. 13, 14; the uncle's part of the Alport estate, Manchester, was included in the bequest.
  • 19. Ibid. 15; Breadsall Park in Derbyshire and lands in Leicestershire were thus acquired.
  • 20. G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, ii, 79.
  • 21. Mosley Fam. Mem. 17; Civil War in Ches. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 41—'Sir Edward Mosley, a great wealthy baronet of Lancashire and lord of Manchester.' The battle took place on 13 Mar. 1642–3. In the previous autumn Alport Lodge, his house in Manchester, had been used by Lord Strange as a point of attack, and had afterwards been burnt down; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 52, 121.
  • 22. Axon, Mosley Mem. 11; Cal. of Comp. for Compounding, ii, 1060; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iv, 199.
  • 23. Axon, loc. cit. (referring to Harl. Misc. iii, 499) and Booker, Didsbury, 147– 57, where are printed letters relating to a debt of £2,000 with accumulated interest due to Humphrey Chetham. A settlement of the manors of Manchester, Hough, Withington, Didsbury, and Heaton Norris was made by Sir Edward Mosley and Mary his wife in 1653; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 151, m. 152.
  • 24. Axon, loc. cit. Mosley Fam. Mem. 19
  • 25. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 26. Axon, op. cit. 11, 12.
  • 27. See Mosley Fam. Mem. 19–21; an earlier will (cancelled) is printed by Booker, Didsbury, 158.
  • 28. Mosley Fam. Mem. 40, 41. Another reason of the dispute was that Mary, the sister, was quite disinherited by the later will. The compromise resulted in the Leicestershire property going to Joseph Maynard in right of his wife; the Staffordshire estates after the death of Lady North (Sir Edward's widow) reverted to Oswald Mosley of Ancoats, to whom the manor of Manchester was also to be bequeathed in default of male issue to Edward Mosley of Hulme; the remainder of the estates were at the free disposal of the last-named; Booker, op. cit. 161, 162. In a fine in 1680 relating to the Mosley manors and lands, including a free fishery in the Mersey and views of frankpledge in Manchester and Withington, the deforciants were Edward Mosley, Meriel his wife, Oswald Mosley and Mary his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 204, m. 66.
  • 29. Axon, op. cit. 17. His will is printed in Booker's Didsbury, 162–5; by this he gave the manors of Withington and Heaton Norris to Sir John Bland and his wife, with remainders to their sons, with further remainders to sons of Dame Bland by a possible later marriage, and to Oswald Mosley of Ancoats. He had sold a tenement in Withington to William Alcock, and in compensation gave Sir John Bland tenements near Bury.
  • 30. For the Blands see Booker, loc. cit. The will of Dame Bland is there printed. By it she charged her manor of Withington and lands there with the payment of her funeral expenses, debts, and legacies, and her husband's debts. She died in 1734. In a recovery of the manors of Hulme, Withington, and Heaton Norris in 1712, Sir John Bland, Ann his wife, and John Bland were the vouchees; and in a later one (1717) Ann Bland, widow, and Sir John Bland so acted; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 496, m. 5; 507, m. 5.
  • 31. Mosley Fam. Mem. 29.
  • 32. Wilbraham Egerton was vouchee in a recovery of the manors of Withington, Heaton Norris, &c., in 1806; Pal. of Lanc. Aug. Assizes, 46 Geo. III, R. 8.
  • 33. Waldeve or Waltheof de Withington son of Hutred granted the land of Whitcroft within bounds starting from Telebrook; also the land of Alrebarrow, in the bounds of which are mentioned Saltersgate and Aldehulme; Cockersand Chart. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 730. Odo son of In gerith de Withington gave 8 acres on the south side of the great ditch (Nico Ditch), as marked by crosses; also 4 acres extending from the great ditch along the churchway towards the land of Walter de Withington, &c.; Cockersand Chart (Chet. Soc), ii, 729, 731. The Traffords were tenants of these lands in 1451 and later; ibid. iv, 1238. As the charters cited were afterwards among the deeds of Worsley of Platt (Harl. MS. 2112, fols. 46, &c.) this family no doubt acquired the land. In 1292 the Abbot of Cockersand was called upon to justify his claims in Withington; Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 379.
  • 34. The de Trafford evidences contain the following: Ellis son of Robert de Pendlebury to Henry son of Robert son of Ralph de Trafford all the land of 'Gildehusestide' within bounds beginning at Gooselache, thence to the pool where Matthew son of William raised a dyke to turn the water for his mill; by another dyke to the moss and so back to Gooselache; with all the liberties which the freemen of the said Matthew his lord enjoyed, but Matthew would have a road across the land for carrying his hay. A rent of 4s. was payable; De Trafford D. no. 310. Another charter concerning the same land (as it seems) reduced the rent to 3s.; no. 311. Roger de Pendlebury afterwards released to a later Henry de Trafford all right to rent for the land in the Gildhouses; no. 312, 128. At that time Sir Simon de Gousill was the chief lord of the land; no. 313. Meantime Matthew son of Matthew de Haversage had granted land near Gooselache to Richard de Trafford; it measured 20 acres by the perch of 22 ft., and the bounds began at the Great Moss, went up Gooselache to the boundary of Platt and thence across to Grenclowlache, with common of pasture of the vill of Withington; the rent was an iron spur or 3d.; no. 129. The seal shows a coat of five pales with a chief, and part of the legend:— . . . EV: DE: HAVER . . . E. Simon de Gousill released to Henry de Trafford his claim to the 3s. rent due from the Gildhouses, or rather reduced it to 2s.; and he granted all his part of the land outside Henry's ditch within bounds beginning at the corner of the Twenty Acres (held by Henry of Simon) as far as the ditch called the Hules towards Withington, so that the ditch of the Hules might extend straight across the moss as far as the corner towards Trafford. A rent of 1d. was due; ibid. no. 131, 132. The charter last quoted is endorsed, 'For the Moss green and boundary of the same,' and the above grants seem to relate to lands partly at least in the later townships of Moss Side and Rusholme. A further charter from Simon de Gousill remitted the rent above-named, substituting the annual gift of a pair of gloves or 1d.; ibid. no. 133. Nicholas de Longford, lord of Withington in 1317, granted to Sir Henry de Trafford a portion of his waste in the vill of Withington within these bounds: Beginning at Gooselache to the out-lane of the Platt, following the highway north to Greenlowlache, down this lache west to Kemlache, and thence south (by pits and ditches) to the 'Yhildhouse' Ditch and by it to the starting point. A rent of 17s. was payable; ibid. no. 136. Common of turbary in the 'Yhildhouse' Moss was also allowed to Sir Henry de Trafford and his tenants; no. 137. The seal of Nicholas de Longford shows a coat of three pales with a chief, debruised by a bend. In 1449 some dispute had broken out between Sir Nicholas Longford and Sir Edward Trafford respecting lands 'called the Moss Green, otherwise called the Yeldehouse Moss green,' and it was referred to the arbitration of Sir Thomas Ashton and others; no. 139, 318. A dispute as to 20 acres in Moss Green occurred in 1600. Richard Percivall had in 1597 obtained a lease from Sir Robert Cecil and others; this he transferred to Thomas Goodyer, whose right descended to his son Robert. Rowland Mosley, having purchased the fee simple, ejected Robert Goodyer, alleging non-payment of the rent of 20s. due; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. cxcviii, G. 2.
  • 35. Lands in Withington, Yeldehouse, Rusholme, Fallowfield, Moss Side, and Chorlton are mentioned in the inquisition after the death of Edmund Trafford in 1563; they were held of Nicholas Longford in socage by the rent of 17s. 1d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, 11. See also ibid. xv, 46, in which the tenures are not stated.
  • 36. Rowland Mosley in 1597 bought a messuage and lands in Withington from Edmund Trafford; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 58, m. 300. Rowland Mosley held lands in Yeeldhouses, &c., at his death in 1617; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 67.
  • 37. In a Birch Deed of 1301 mention is made of Jordan son of William de Fallowfield; Booker, Didsbury, 124. Thomas son of John de Fallowfield (Falufeld) in 1317 granted to Nicholas son of Sir Henry de Trafford land and wood called Ditchflat in Fallowfield in the vill of Withington. The bounds began at the corner of the assart formerly belonging to John son of Alexander de Fallowfield, went down to Huthunbethum lache, followed the Heystowe between Ditchflat and the lache named as far as the Mickle Ditch, up this to the land of the said John son of Alexander, and so to the boundary; De Trafford D. no. 105. In 1348 Robert de Fallowfield claimed a messuage and 2 acres in Withington against Sir John de Strickland and Alice his wife. The plaintiff alleged that he was heir of one Odo Ingeson (? son of Ingerith) who in the time of Edward I had demised the tenement to Thomas son of Odo for a term, and he put forward the following pedigree: Odo –s. Robert –s. John –dr. Cecily –s. Robert (plaintiff); De Banco R. 356, m. 140. A Fallowfield dispute of the time of Henry VIII may be mentioned here. James Siddall, apparently a weaver, tenantat-will to Sir Edmund Trafford, died about 1530 leaving a widow Alice and sons James and Henry. Henry's widow married one Edward Holt, who tried to gain possession of a chest kept in Alice's house in 'the township of Fallowfield,' which contained the family money and goods. It is mentioned that Henry had been executor of Thomas Siddall, a priest in Eccles Church. George Siddall of Moss Side and John Siddall of Fallowfield, both Trafford tenants, are also named; Duchy of Lanc. Deps. Hen. VIII, xxxvi, S. 1; xlv, S. 1.
  • 38. The Hulmes of Reddish had a barn and lands in Withington, held of the Mosleys as lords of Withington; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xviii, 10; xxix, 70. The origin of the holding is probably a grant made by Matthew son of William to Henry de Trafford of his right in a croft called Aldehulm, viz. three parts of that croft within these bounds: From Thelebrook by the ditch near Saltegate as far as the head of the ridge of Alrebarrow, down to Shepherd Croft, and by this croft to Thelebrook and the starting point. A rent of 12d. was due; Hulme D. no. 1. The name of the grantor shows that the charter must be placed early in the 13th century. The Strangeways family held a messuage and 8 acres in Withington; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 42, m. 130; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 132.
  • 39. Matthew de Haversage granted to Richard de Trafford land which Adam son of Alexander de Didsbury had formerly held of him, within bounds beginning at Cringle Brook, following the ditch to the north as far as 'Holdholm' Brook, along this brook to the boundary between Richard's land and Theumannes Croft, following west to the high road (alta strata), by the road to Holdholm Brook, and by the ditch going south to Cringle Brook, with common of pasture and other easements in Withington. A rent of 2s. was payable; De Trafford D. no. 130.
  • 40. Land tax returns at Preston. For the chief landowners about 1850 see Booker, Didsbury, 123.
  • 41. Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. lxxiv, T. 7. The parties desired arbitration.
  • 42. Booker, op. cit. 128, 129. For district see Lond. Gaz. 16 June 1854.
  • 43. Mission services had been held for some years previously. A district was assigned to the church in 1873; Lond. Gaz. 2 Sept.
  • 44. Booker, op. cit. 125. It originated in 1810 in Salford; J. Thompson, The Owens College, 33. See also Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. iii, 185. The library has some early printed books.
  • 45. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. v, 71; services began in 1881.
  • 46. The church was built in 1869.
  • 47. It was preceded by the temporary church of the Holy Ghost and St. Cuthbert in 1877.