Townships: Farington

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911.

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'Townships: Farington', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp61-65 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Farington', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed November 8, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp61-65.

"Townships: Farington". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 8 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp61-65.

In this section

FARINGTON

Farinton, 1212; Farington, 1246. Farrington was a common spelling till a few years ago, being used, for example, in the Census Report of 1831.

This entirely inland township has an area of 1,860 acres. (fn. 1) The population in 1901 was 2,005. The River Lostock runs through it diagonally from north-east to south-west, and on each side of it the land rises to over 100 ft. above sea level, a height of about 130 ft. being attained on the south-east border. The principal village is near the northern boundary, but other considerable hamlets lie near the southern boundary.

The chief road through the township is that along the west bank of the Lostock, going north to Preston, and passing through the village; another important thoroughfare is that from Wigan to Preston, which is within the eastern boundary for about a mile. The main line of the London and North Western Railway from London to Scotland, first opened in 1838, passes through, having a station at the northern end, called Farington. This is crossed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's line from Liverpool to Blackburn, with which it has a double junction.

The soil is peaty and red loam, with subsoil of stiff clay. Wheat, oats and potatoes are grown, and there is much pasture land. The wide tract of Farington moss has been almost entirely reclaimed. There is a large cotton spinning factory, built about 1850; in connexion with it is a school with a library and museum.

The hearths taxed in 1666 numbered fifty-nine; the principal houses were those of William Rishton and Mrs. Gardner, having seven hearths each. (fn. 2)

Manor

Warine Bussel, as lord of Penwortham, gave a plough-land in FARINGTON, being the whole of the vill, to the abbey of Evesham, and this was confirmed by his son Richard. (fn. 3) This lordship, which does not seem to have been regarded as a separate manor, descended in the same way as the Evesham portion of Penwortham, all the abbey's rights in Farington as elsewhere being included in Queen Elizabeth's confirmation to John Fleetwood. (fn. 4) It has thus descended to Mr. Lawrence Rawstorne. (fn. 5)

A family bearing the local name is early found in possession, (fn. 6) but the whole or larger part was surrendered to the abbot and acquired by William de Meols, (fn. 7) whose son John de Farington, by his marriage with Avice daughter of Robert Bussel, acquired a moiety of the manor of Leyland. (fn. 8) Their estate also was known as the 'manor' of Farington. John was succeeded by his son William de Farington (fn. 9) and his grandson William (fn. 10); the latter in 1348 obtained a grant of free warren in his demesne lands of Leyland and Farington, and licence to inclose a hundred acres of land and wood in those townships and make a park. (fn. 11) The manors descended (fn. 12) to William Farington, who died in 1456, leaving a son William, fifteen years old. (fn. 13)

William Farington in 1474 acknowledged that he held lands of the Abbot of Evesham by the service of 14s. yearly. (fn. 14) He was made a knight in the Scottish expedition of 1482, (fn. 15) and died in 1501 holding messuages and lands in Farington partly of the abbot and partly of the Earl of Derby, by rents of 5s. 1d. and 8d. respectively; also lands, burgages, &c., in Ulnes Walton, Leyland and Preston. His heir was his son Henry, then thirty years of age. (fn. 16) Henry had been married to Anne Radcliffe of Ordsall, by whom he had three sons—William, Thomas and Robert. He married, as his second wife, Dorothy Okeover, and by her had a son William. A pedigree was recorded in 1533. (fn. 17) He was about the same time one of the commissioners for the suppression of the monasteries, (fn. 18) and was made a knight at Anne Boleyn's coronation in 1533. (fn. 19) Sir Henry's eldest son William died before him, leaving an only child, Joan; the second son, Thomas, also left a daughter; the third son, Robert, had been educated at Cambridge (fn. 20) and instituted to the rectory of North Meols (1530–37), his father having purchased the presentation, and then had forsaken the clerical life and married. (fn. 21) As he is said to have been in holy orders, this marriage could not have been valid by any law. Sir Henry appears to have been so offended that he settled his hereditary manors on his granddaughter (fn. 22) Joan, while the estate of Worden in Leyland which he had purchased was given to his youngest son William, ancestor of the Faringtons of that place. (fn. 23)

Farington. Argent a cheveron gules between three leopards' faces sable.

Sir Henry died about 1550, (fn. 24) when Joan succeeded, and the manor descended to her daughter Dorothy Beconsaw, who married Sir Edmund Huddleston of Sawston. (fn. 25) Farington appears to have been leased or mortgaged to a cousin, Anthony Huddleston, whose son Joseph in 1609 purchased it. (fn. 26) The new owners, who adhered to the Roman Catholic religion, (fn. 27) had several distinguished ecclesiastics in the family. One of them was Joseph's second son John, born at Farington in 1608; he assisted Charles II in his flight from England after the overthrow at Worcester in 1651, and then becoming a Benedictine monk was from 1660 to 1698 chaplain at Somerset House to Queen Henrietta Maria and then to Queen Catherine. It was he who in 1685 reconciled the dying king to the Roman Church. (fn. 28)

Though Joseph Huddleston resided at Farington, the estate, not afterwards called a 'manor,' appears soon to have been sold to relatives, the Penningtons of Muncaster, who long had lands in the township.

A younger branch of the Farington family held an estate called Little Farington, (fn. 29) which descended to the five daughters and heirs of Peter Farington in the time of Queen Elizabeth. About 1655 a large part, or the whole, was purchased by Richard Gardner of Leyland, and seems to have been acquired later by the Crooks of Abram. (fn. 30)

A few other estates in the township appear in the inquisitions and other records, but it is not possible to give connected accounts of them. (fn. 31)

To the subsidy of 1542–3 the following con tributed for lands in Howick with Farington: Sir Henry Farington, John Cheshire, William Woodcock and Thomas Aynscough. (fn. 32) In 1564 the names were Peter Farington and John Charnock. (fn. 33) John Cheshire and William Foster were freeholders in 1600, (fn. 34) and in 1628 a number of landowners contributed to the subsidy for Farington and Howick. (fn. 35) In an agreement as to an inclosure of the commons in 1713 a fourth part was allotted to Henry Fleetwood of Penwortham as lord of the manor, and the remainder to him and other freeholders, of whom the most considerable were Sir William Pennington of Muncaster and Richard Crook of Abram. (fn. 36) James Barton and James Massey were the largest holders in 1783, and James Barton, Rhodes and Barlow, and Edward Pedder in 1798. (fn. 37)

Pennington of Muncaster. Or five fusils in fesse azure.

The Anglican church of St. Paul was built in 1839; a separate district was assigned to it in 1843. (fn. 38) The vicar of Penwortham is patron. There is a Primitive Methodist church.

Footnotes

  • 1. 1,862 acres, including 18 of inland water; Census Rep. 1901.
  • 2. Subs. R. 250, no. 9.
  • 3. Penwortham Priory (Chet. Soc.), 3. The land is described as a plough-land in Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 32, where the grant itself is ascribed to Richard. The abbots had in 1313 and 1334 disputes respecting boundaries with their neighbours of Walton-le-Dale; De Banco R. 201, m. 126; Coram Rege R. 297, m. 93. See also Cal. Pat. 1321–4, p. 446. Complaint was made in 1382 that the abbot had obstructed a road in Farington by rebuilding his mill; Q.R. Memo. R. 159.
  • 4. Penwortham Priory, 127.
  • 5. See the account of Penwortham and the inquisitions of John Fleetwood (1591) and his son Richard (1626); Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 34; xxv, no. 22. There was no separate tenure for the manors of Farington, Howick and Longton. The manor of Farington with Howick and a fourth part of the manor of Longton were held by Edward Fleetwood in 1676, by Charles Stanley and Jane his wife in 1749, and by John Aspinall in 1752; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 197, m. 66; 343, m. 77; 349, m. 98.
  • 6. They are supposed to have been descendants of Warine Bussel son of Robert. Albert de Farington gave a toft in Othedis to John son of Siward, and as Albert son of Warine de Farington he granted land to Osbert de Leyland; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xiv, p. 49, from Col. Rawstorne's deeds. Albert made a grant to Edith daughter of Geoffrey de Longton and her sons by Roger the priest, to whom also Richard de Howick gave 4 acres in Farington; ibid. 77. Robert de Litherland son of Edith gave up Albert's land to Evesham Abbey, viz. the Espes, Elnor, &c., a rent of 16d. being payable to the heirs of Albert; Kuerden fol. MS. (Chet. Lib.), p. 247. Albert had two daughters—Alice and Ameria; ibid. p. 132. The latter married William de Wedacre, and they surrendered their moiety of the manor to the Abbot of Evesham in 1242; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 78. What became of the other moiety is not clear. Richard de Farington, another son of Warine, between 1211 and 1232 resigned to Evesham all his lands and rents, with homages, services, &c., the monks having given him 2 marks in his urgent need; from that time those who had held of Richard were to pay their rents directly to the abbey; Penwortham Priory, 12, 13. See also another in Piccope MSS. xiv, 82. This may have been the other moiety. In 1238 the Abbot of Evesham claimed the moiety of a mill and certain land against Richard de 'Crophull'; Curia Regis R. 119, m. 5. John son of Richard de 'Coppel' claimed the same as heir in 1292; Assize R. 408, m. 12 d. William Abbot of Evesham gave land to Robert son of John de Farington; the bounds mention Erneshalgh; Piccope MSS. xiv, 51. To Richard son of Roger he granted land at a rent of 8s. 3d.; ibid. 78. John Abbot of Evesham gave land to John son of Thomas de Clayton, who was to do suit to 'our mill of Farington and court of Penwortham'; ibid. 50. In 1316 he gave him '4 acres of our waste' in Farington; ibid. 53. Richard son of Roger de Garstang granted to his son John, begotten of Mabel de Knolhale, part of land given by the Abbot of Evesham to Roger son of Richard de Garstang at 12d. rent; the bounds recited mention Creswallsyke, Eldesyke and the Lostock; John was to pay 6d. rent for his part; ibid. 50. In 1320 the abbot granted land at the Moshenis to Adam son of Roger de Farington, suit to be done at the abbey's court at Howick; and to Henry son of Roger de Farington he gave a messuage and land in the Milnefield; ibid. 53–4. Roger de Farington had in 1313 given lands to his sons Henry and Adam, the bounds including Blackpool, Lostock water and Fairclough; ibid. 53. Alice widow of Roger de Farington in 1321 claimed dower in 14 acres in Farington against Richard the son of Roger; De Banco R. 238, m. 111 d. Another Alice, as widow of Adam son of Roger son of Henry de Farington, in 1344 claimed a messuage, &c., against Henry Straitbarrel and his sons William and Robert; De Banco R. 338, m. 270.
  • 7. This is an inference only; the grant does not seem to be known; and it will have been gathered from the preceding note that the abbots had other tenants in Farington. William de Meols was perhaps the clerk of that name occurring in local deeds, &c.; e.g. Penwortham Priory, 12. In 1246 he purchased 16 acres in Farington from John son of Robert; Final Conc. i, 102. Robert Bussel granted to Penwortham Priory the service of John son of William de Meols, clerk, for an oxgang of land in Leyland; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 58. Geoffrey Bussel of Leyland granted to John de Farington son of William de Meols the homage and service of certain of his tenants in Longton; Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 101b. In the same collection of charters is a grant to William son of Hugh de Meols; fol. 101.
  • 8. See the account of Leyland. The descent William de Meols -s. John -s. William -s. William de Farington is given in De Banco R. 300, m. 311 (1334). In 1332 there were three Farington families in the township — William, Henry son of Roger, and John; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 43–4.
  • 9. An agreement of 1314 between the Abbot of Evesham and William (son of John) de Farington, respecting various matters in dispute, is printed in Penwortham Priory, 17–20. The abbot allowed certain approvements from the waste, and the construction of a watermill by John and William; but the demesnes, the ancient services (with 12d. increase) and mast-fall for ten pigs in the wood of Leyland were preserved for the abbot and convent. See also Assize R. 424, m. 1 d.
  • 10. See Penwortham Priory, 18 note.
  • 11. Charter R. 143 (22 Edw. III), m. 30, no. 41. A John son of Robert de Farington occurs about this time; Assize R. 430, m. 1; Coram Rege R. 348, m. 22. Roger de Farington was knight of the shire in 1355; Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of Lancs. 32.
  • 12. In 1394 John Serjeant, vicar of Leyland, released to John son and heir of William de Farington all the messuages, &c., in Farington and Leyland of which he had been enfeoffed by John de Farington the elder; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 382. Two years later the same John son and heir of William de Farington gave to feoffees the lands which had formerly belonged to John son of Robert de Farington in the same townships; ibid. p. 134. The lands were in 1406 settled upon Henry de Farington, with remainders to his brother Nicholas to Thomas son of John de Farington, to Nicholas uncle of Henry and to John de Farington the elder; ibid. p. 130. Another deed of the same year by the elder John gave lands in Farington, Longton and Howick to Master William de Farington, rector of 'Bekenesfeld,' for Henry de Howick and Alice his wife, with remainders to their daughter Joan (wife of Thomas de Farington) and Margaret (wife of Gilbert de Sutton); also for Thomas de Farington (son of John) for life, with remainder to William son of John de Farington the elder; Piccope MSS. xiv, 56. The writ diem cl. extr. after the death of John Farington was issued 8 August 1410; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvii, App. 172. William son and heir of John Farington was in 1411–12 called upon to assign dower in Farington, Leyland, Worden, Walton and Clayton to John's widow, Joan, who had married Thomas Charnock the younger; Add. MS. 32108, no. 1618. William Farington made a lease of lands to Nicholas Boteler in 1438; Piccope MSS. xiv, 58.
  • 13. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 61. Nothing is said as to the tenure of the lands, which were in Leyland, Farington and Preston. It should be noticed that a writ diem cl. extr. after the death of William Farington was issued on 19 March 1438–9; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 38. If this was not an erroneous issue, there must have been two Williams; see ibid. xxxvii, App. 175–7 (three writs).
  • 14. Piccope MSS. xiv, 58. In 1478 a general pardon was granted to William son of William Farington; Add. MS. 32108, no. 1423.
  • 15. Metcalfe, Book of Knights, 7.
  • 16. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 67. Feoffments made by him in 1497 and 1501 are recited.
  • 17. Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 114. Henry Farington was knight of the shire in 1529; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 57.
  • 18. L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii (1), 716, 832. There are other references to Sir Henry in these volumes.
  • 19. Metcalfe, op. cit. 65.
  • 20. Robert Farington seems at one time to have been an agent or dependant of Thomas Cromwell's; L. and P. Hen. VIII, vii, 852, 1635; x, 85.
  • 21. The facts are stated in pleadings in 1543 by Anthony Browne of Abbess Roding in Essex and Joan his wife, daughter and heir of William son and late heir-apparent of Sir Henry Farington, who was still living. It appeared that in 1512–13 on the marriage of William with Isabel daughter and co-heir of John Clayton of Clayton a rent from a tenement called the Brex (see Leyland) was settled upon them, and had descended to Anthony and Joan. This and more important estates were now claimed by Robert Farington, gent., third son of Sir Henry, under forged deeds. It is mentioned that Thomas Farington, the second son, had already died without male issue; he had married Cecily Radcliffe. (For some letters relating to this marriage see Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 2–4.) Sir Henry himself deposed that he had made no estate of any of his manors, &c., whereby they should not descend to his heir-apparent Joan wife of Anthony Browne, but he had given an annuity of £4 to his son Robert, who also had a pension from North Meols rectory. Thomas Farington also had been at variance with his father, and had endeavoured to marry his daughter Alice to Sir Robert Hesketh's son, but Sir Henry had stopped the match. Robert Farington was described as 'of Samlesbury,' and forty years of age. A decree was in 1544 made in favour of Anthony and Joan Browne. See Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Hen. VIII, xiii, B 18; xiv, F 10; Decrees and Orders, Hen. VIII, vii, fol. 327. Anthony was Joan's second or third husband.
  • 22. Sir Henry Farington was deforciant in a fine of 1543 relating to the manor of Farington, a moiety of the manor of Leyland, messuages, two mills, lands, &c., in Farington, Leyland, Preston and Ulnes Walton; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 97.
  • 23. See the account of Leyland.
  • 24. His will was dated 12 December 1549, and the inventory was taken in 1551; Raines in Stanley P. (Chet. Soc.), ii, p. xxiv.
  • 25. For the pedigree see the account of Becconsall and Burke's Commoners, ii, 585, from which it appears that Sir Edmund Huddleston succeeded his father at Sawston in 1557 and died in 1607–8, leaving a son and heir Henry, who married Dorothy Dormer. The heirs of Sir Henry Farington had numerous suits with other members of his family. Soon after his father's death Robert Farington, disregarding the decree of 1544, put forward his claim to the 'manor of Farington alias Farington Hall,' and the other estates, so that the tenants were afraid to pay their rents to Anthony Browne and Joan; this went on though Robert was in the Fleet prison for forgery; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. N.D. xxxi, B 10; Eliz. lxxi, F 20. A settlement of the manor, &c., was made by Anthony and Joan in 1558; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 19, m. 7. Soon after this Robert Farington died, but his widow Elizabeth then claimed dower against Anthony Browne and Joan; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. N.D. xxxvii, B 26. Anthony Browne, born about 1510, became a serjeant-at-law in 1555 and in 1558 was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, being considered 'of profound learning and great eloquence.' He was a zealous Roman Catholic, and being a justice in Essex had arrested several Protestants and sent them to Bishop Bonner for trial. He was on account of religion removed from his position by Elizabeth, but was made a knight in 1566. He died the following year, and his wife Joan soon afterwards; they had no children. See Foss, Judges; Foxe, Acts and Monuments (ed. Cattley), vi, 722. In 1567 and later Edmund Huddleston and Dorothy his wife, having succeeded, were disturbed by the claims of John Farington, alleging a settlement made by Sir Henry Farington in favour of Thomas Farington his son, with remainders to Robert Thomas's son (? brother), to the heirs male of Sir Henry, to John son of William Farington (elder brother of Henry), to Cecily daughter of Henry and wife of Robert Charnock, to the elder daughter of Henry, to Peter Farington, to Richard Farington of the Grange in Hutton and Charles his brother (of Little Wood), to Roger Farington of Leyland and to Richard Charnock of Leyland; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. lxxi, F 20; lxxix, F 1, 2. Such a settlement as that alleged might have been made by Henry Farington in 1519–20; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 128, m. 2 d. Edmund Huddleston and Dorothy made a settlement of the manors of Farington and Leyland, the fourth part of the manor of Clayton le Woods, &c., in 1570; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 32, m. 142. Five years later Edmund came to an agreement with John Farington; ibid. bdle. 37, m. 209. Later still, in 1590, Sir Edmund Huddleston (made a knight in 1579) and Dorothy his wife agreed with William Farington (of Worden) and Anne his wife as to the manor of Farington; ibid. bdle. 42, m. 68. Three years later they made a feoffment of their manors and lands in Farington, Leyland, &c.; ibid. bdle. 55, m. 51. In 1606 the deforciants in a fine regarding the same manors were Sir Edmund Huddleston, Dorothy his wife and Henry their son and heir-apparent, the plaintiffs being Sir Robert and Sir John Dormer; ibid. bdle. 70, no. 84.
  • 26. Ibid. bdle. 76, no. 59; the deforciants were Dorothy Huddleston, widow, Henry Huddleston, esquire, and others.
  • 27. The pedigree of the family in Hutchinson's Cumberland, i, 416, shows the descent—Andrew Huddleston of Hutton John (in right of his wife Mary Hutton) -s. Joseph -s. Andrew -s. Andrew, 'the first Protestant of this house, and a warm friend to the Revolution.' Many details of the family history may be seen in the 'Huddleston Obituary' in Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), i, 123, &c. The first Andrew (who died at Farington about 1601) was one of the 'schismatics' of the time, conforming to the established church to avoid the heavy fines imposed on recusants, but sending his sons Andrew and Richard (the latter born at Farington in 1583) to a Roman Catholic schoolmaster at Grange-overSands, where Richard was reconciled to the Roman Church, and then to St. Omer's and Douay. Richard became a Benedictine monk at Monte Cassino, and in 1619 was sent on the English mission, probably to Farington at first. He died in 1655. A little treatise by him was printed in 1688. See Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of Engl. Catholics, iii, 466–8; Dict. Nat. Biog.; Foley, Rec. S. J. v, 587–91. Joseph was the second son, and in 1603 he and his wife, described as of Farington, were fined for recusancy; he was still living there in 1634, his elder brother Andrew being probably at Hutton John. In 1614 he had a dispute with Richard Fleetwood as to Farington manor; Exch. Dep. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 15; Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 291–2. Joseph's eldest son Andrew succeeded to Hutton John, and, zealously espousing the king's side, had all his estates seized by the Parliament for 'recusancy and delinquency'; Gillow, op. cit. iii, 463; Cal. Com. for Comp. iii, 2226; Index of Royalists (Index Soc.), 39.
  • 28. Gillow, op. cit. iii, 463–5; Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 29. According to the Farington pedigree in the Visit. of 1567 (Chet. Soc. 75), they descended from Thomas, a younger son of Sir John de Farington, mentioned above as husband of Joan de Howick, thus: Thomas -s. Peter -s. Thomas -s. Peter. Some of the family deeds, chiefly referring to Longton, are in Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 104, &c. Thomas Farington died in 1508, leaving a son and heir John, about nine years of age. The estate consisted of a capital messuage and various parcels of land in Farington—Oxhey, Crook, Mabotfield, Green, Kiln field by Baronsgate, &c.— held of the Abbot of Evesham by a rent of 4d.; with messuages and lands in Longton, Howick, &c. These had about 1490 been settled upon Thomas and his wife Agnes; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 41. From a deed of 1521 it appears that Thomas had two sons, John and Peter, and that his widow Agnes married James Anderton of Euxton; Piccope MSS. xiv, 60. Peter Farington in 1567 made a settlement of twenty messuages, water-mill, lands, &c., in Farington, Longton, Preston and other places; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 29, m. 116. The eldest daughter Anne is stated to have married John Farington, and there are several fines concerning their estate; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 39, m. 79; 43, m. 203; 53, m. 76. John died in 1596 holding a capital messuage and lands of the queen as of her priory of Penwortham by a rent of 6d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xviii, no. 7. Henry, his brother and heir, a London merchant, was forty-six years of age, but Little Farington went to Anne Charnock (daughter of Cecily, another of Peter's daughters), who had married Francis Orrell of Wigan. John's widow, Margaret (wife of Thomas Langton), was accused of conveying the deeds to Henry Farington; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. clxxiv, O 1, O 4. Of the other daughters, Elizabeth married John Kuerden and Alice Richard Shelton and then (1577) Henry Norris. In 1580 John Kuerden purchased the reversion of the Shelton share of three messuages, water-mill, dovecote, &c.; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 42, m. 29. Thus when Alice Shelton, widow, died in 1586 this part went to Kuerden; her heirs at that time were Anne wife of John Farington, Elizabeth wife of John Kuerden, Thomas son of Isabel, late wife of Richard Banastre, William son of Cecily, late wife of Thomas Charnock, aged respectively sixty, sixty, twenty-nine and twenty-nine; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 51. Other references to the disputes will be found in Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.). There were other Farington families, but little can be said of them. Thus lands of the gift of Henry Farington were in 1436–7 given to Ralph Farington, with remainder in default of heirs to Thomas Farington the elder; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 130. Protection was granted in 1441 to Geoffrey Farington, going to France on the king's service; Add. MS. 32108, no. 1668. Henry, as son and heir of Geoffrey Farington, claimed in 1479 a messuage and lands in Farington and Leyland against William Farington, esquire; Final Conc. iii, 137.
  • 30. From Crook deeds in the possession of W. Farrer it appears that Francis and Anne Orrell made a settlement of 'the capital messuage called Little Farington' in 1601. John Kuerden's lands went to four co-heirs—Jane wife of Augustine Wildbore of Lancaster, D.D.; Alice wife of Richard Burgh of Larbrick; Margaret wife of Edward Smith of Knowsley; and Cecily wife of James Martin of Walton-le-Dale and widow of Robert Taylor (son, John); and some of these between 1633 and 1650 disposed of their shares to Richard Orrell, and all or most was purchased in 1655 by Richard Gardner of Leyland. Richard Orrell had in 1649 to compound for his estate with the Parliamentary authorities by a fine of £22 10s. His 'delinquency' was that he had provided a man armed for the king in the first war; Cal. Com. for Comp. iii, 2057. Thomas Clayton and Abigail his wife had lands in Farington in 1754; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 350, m. 8.
  • 31. In 1502 William Holland was ordered to surrender to Henry Farington of Farington a messuage and lands which one William Farington had (apparently about 1400) given to Henry his son (s.p.), with remainder to Nicholas and John Farington; and from Nicholas the descent was -s. Ralph -s. Ralph -s. Thomas. Henry Farington was claiming as heir of the said John; Pal. of Lanc. Writs Proton. Aug. 17 Hen. VII. This may indicate the origin of the Holland of Clifton holding in Farington and district. William Holland died in 1521 holding messuages and lands in Farington of the abbey of Evesham by a rent of 7s.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 49. This estate descended to Elinor Slade in 1613, whose heir was a cousin Thomas Holland of Clifton; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 285. Lands in Leyland and Farington occur again in a Holland settlement in 1637; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 128, no. 19. See also Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 2787. Lands in Farington were held in 1383 by Sir Thomas Banastre of Bretherton, and these descended like Balderston to the Earls of Derby; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 14, 15; ii, 63; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 13; v, no. 68. Sir Richard Molyneux (1569) and his successors held lands in Farington as part of the Hospitallers' estate in Euxton; ibid. xiii, no. 35, &c. In 1649 it was found that a parcel of land and the moiety of a corn-mill were demised to William Farington of Worden; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 287. Thomas Hesketh of Rufford in 1523 held land in Farington, but the tenure was not known; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 16. Henry Sherdley's land (1563) was held of John Fleetwood by a rent of 18s.; ibid. xiii, no. 27. The tenure of the messuages and land of Henry Banastre of Bank (1641) was unknown; ibid. xxix, no. 15. William de Aykescogh of Farington in 1356 granted lands to his son John; Thomas de Ayscough was in possession in 1410; while Robert de Ayscough made a feoftment in 1450 in favour of his bastard sons Thomas and Robert; Piccope MSS. xiv, 54, 55, 58. Thomas Ayscough and Alice his wife sold a messuage, &c., in Farington in 1564 to John Fleetwood; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 26, m. 46.
  • 32. Subs. R. 130, no. 126.
  • 33. Ibid. 131, no. 210.
  • 34. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 245.
  • 35. Ibid. i, 169; William Pennington, Richard Sherdley, Anne Orrell, George Hesketh, — Burrowes, also (together) Edward Smith, George Rigby, Augustine Wildbore and Robert Taylor. For the Sherdleys see Ducatus Lanc. iii, 178, 228, &c. Richard Sherdley's messuage in Farington (1639) was found to be held of John Fleetwood of Penwortham; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), p. 1091. A parcel of the open moss ground or uninclosed waste (12 acres) was in 1655 conveyed to Richard Orrell by John Fleetwood of Penwortham, Joseph Pennington of Muncaster, James Anderton of Clayton, Henry Banastre of the Bank, William Holland of Clifton, Richard Gardner of Leyland, Robert Farington of Farington, James Sherdley and Richard Cheshire of Farington; Deed in possession of W. Farrer.
  • 36. Ibid.
  • 37. Land tax returns at Preston.
  • 38. Lond. Gaz. 8 Nov. 1843.