Townships: Clifton-with-Salwick

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1912.

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'Townships: Clifton-with-Salwick', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp161-165 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Clifton-with-Salwick', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online, accessed November 8, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp161-165.

"Townships: Clifton-with-Salwick". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1912), , British History Online. Web. 8 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp161-165.

In this section

CLIFTON-WITH-SALWICK

Cliftun, Dom. Bk. Salewic, Dom. Bk.

This is a composite township, Clifton lying to the south-west and Salwick to the north-east, the respective acreages being 2,101 and 1,388, or 3,489 acres in all. (fn. 1) Lund, with its chapel, is about midway between the two hamlets, but in the Clifton portion. This portion has on the south the marshy land by the Ribble, and on the north some moss land. From the marsh the surface rises at first somewhat steeply, the village of Clifton being on the slope; in general the surface continues to rise gradually from that point to near the northern boundary, but with many undulations, over 100 ft. above sea level being attained. In the northern corner the surface falls away somewhat; it is in this part that Pepper Hill is situate. The population was 413 in 1901.

The principal roads are three crossing westward through Lund, Clifton and the Marsh respectively. The line of another westward road, called the Danes' Pad, is traceable to the north of Lund; it is supposed to be of Roman origin. A cross road goes north through Clifton and Salwick to Pepper Hill, (fn. 2) where it meets another going north-west from Preston. There is also a westerly cross-road near. The Preston and Lancaster Canal winds west, north and east through Salwick. The railway from Preston to Blackpool runs westward to the south of the canal, and has a station named Salwick.

There was formerly a cross at Lund village. (fn. 3)

The land is clayey; wheat, beans and oats are grown, but most of the land is in pasture.

The township has a parish council.

Robert son of John Gradwell was born at Clifton in 1777. Educated at Douay he was imprisoned there on the outbreak of the French Revolution. Afterwards he was rector of the English college at Rome, and in 1828 was consecrated (as Bishop of Lydda) to assist Bishop Bramston as vicar-apostolic of the London district. He died, in 1833. (fn. 4) At Clifton also was born George Hilary Brown (1786); he was appointed vicar-apostolic of the Lancashire district in 1840, and ten years later, on the restoration of the hierarchy, became Bishop of Liverpool. He died in 1856. (fn. 5)

Manors

In 1066 CLIFTON, assessed as two plough-lands, and SALWICK, as one, were part of the Amounderness fee of Earl Tostig. (fn. 6) They were sometimes regarded as separate manors, probably their original status, but, as they were adjacent and held in demesne by one lord, Salwick gradually fell into the position of a dependency of Clifton. After the Conquest they were held of the king in thegnage, and in 1212 formed part of an estate of ten plough-lands so held, a rent of 40s. being paid. (fn. 7)

The owner in the year named was Walter son of Osbert, (fn. 8) who seems to have been in possession by 1170. (fn. 9) Walter was followed in 1217 by his son William de Clifton, (fn. 10) who died in 1258 holding ten plough-lands in chief of the king—viz. eight in demesne and two in service—by a rent of 40s. and by finding a suitor at the courts- of the county and the wapentake. His son Henry was of full age and married. (fn. 11) Of Henry practically nothing is known. (fn. 12) He was ancestor of three successive Williams, the first of whom (fn. 13) in 1318 obtained a charter of free warren in his manors of Clifton and Westby. (fn. 14) He died in 1323. (fn. 15) His grandson, another Sir William, (fn. 16) showed himself a lawless and violent man in a dispute in 1337 with the Abbot of Vale Royal. On arbitration he was ordered to acknowledge his guilt and ask for pardon, submitting himself to the abbot's will, to pay 20 marks and compensate for loss. Those who had assisted him were to bring a large candle, which was to be carried round the church of Kirkham on Palm Sunday and offered to St. Michael. (fn. 17) He appears in another light in 1349, obtaining from the Archbishop of York licence for his oratories at Clifton, Westby and Lund. (fn. 18)

Sir William was about 1370 succeeded by his son Sir Robert, (fn. 19) who died in 1401 holding the manors of Clifton, Salwick and Moorhouses, also the manor of Westby and various lands of the king in socage by the service of 40s. yearly. The heir was his nephew Thomas son of Sir Nicholas de Clifton, then twelve years of age. (fn. 20) The manors descended regularly to Cuthbert Clifton, (fn. 21) who died 14 August 1512, leaving an only daughter Elizabeth, the heir male being his brother William. (fn. 22) A division ensued, Clifton going to the daughter and Westby to the brother, (fn. 23) and thus the Cliftons became known as 'of Westby.' Elizabeth by her second husband Sir William Molyneux (fn. 24) had a daughter and heir Anne, (fn. 25) whose grandson Cuthbert Halsall had a daughter and co-heir Anne. She married Thomas Clifton of Westby, and the whole estate became reunited. (fn. 26)

It will thus be convenient to give in this place the descent of the manor of Westby. William Clifton died in 1537, (fn. 27) and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who died in 1551, leaving a son and heir Cuthbert, twelve years of age. (fn. 28) Cuthbert was a recusant in 1577, his income being stated at 100 marks a year. (fn. 29) He died in 1580, leaving a son Thomas, eighteen years of age, (fn. 30) who at his death only five years later was followed by his son Cuthbert, three years old. (fn. 31) This son, the purchaser of Lytham, was made a knight at Lathom in 1617, (fn. 32) and died in 1634 holding the manors of Westby, Lytham and Little Marton. (fn. 33) Thomas, his son and heir, was twentynine years of age, and, as above stated, had recovered the manor of Clifton and the other moiety of the ancient family estate by his marriage with Anne Halsall. Pedigrees of the family were recorded at the heralds' visitations in 1567 (fn. 34) 1613 (fn. 35) and 1665. (fn. 36)

Clifton of Clifton and Westby. Sable on a bend argent three mullets pierced gules.

The Cliftons adhered to Roman Catholicism, (fn. 37) and in the Civil War to the king's side. (fn. 38) Thomas Clifton had his estates sequestered as a recusant and delinquent, (fn. 39) and at length they were sold by order of the Parliament. (fn. 40) His eldest son, Colonel Cuthbert Clifton, was taken prisoner at Liverpool in 1644, and died at Manchester, (fn. 41) and three other brothers are stated to have lost their lives in the king's service. (fn. 42) Thomas died in 1657, and his second son Thomas succeeded. (fn. 43) He was made a baronet in 1661 as a recognition of his family's loyalty, (fn. 44) and he was accused of treason after the Revolution. (fn. 45) He died in 1694, and his son having died before him the baronetcy expired, while the manors descended to his nephew Thomas Clifton of Fairsnape, who registered his estates in 1717 as a 'Papist,' the annual value being given as £1,548 17s. 2d. (fn. 46) He died in 1720, and the manors of Clifton and Westby descended regularly to his great-great-grandson, another Thomas Clifton, (fn. 47) who became a Protestant in 1831, (fn. 48) and was sheriff in 1835. He died in 1851, and his son John Talbot Clifton, who represented North Lancashire 1844–47 (fn. 49) and was sheriff in 1853, (fn. 50) died in 1882, having returned to the Roman Catholic religion. (fn. 51) He was succeeded by his grandson Mr. John Talbot Clifton, (fn. 52) born in 1868, the present lord of the manor. The principal residence of the family has been at Lytham since early in the 17th century. Mr. Clifton's possessions include the whole of the townships of Cliftonwith-Salwick, Westby-with-Plumptons, and Lytham (ancient); also Little Marton, part of Great Marton and much of Warton. Manor courts have long ceased to be held, but juries of the farmers in the several townships assemble yearly to make arrangements for the clearing of the watercourses, and officials named constables, byelaw-men, &c., are nominated as a matter of form. (fn. 53)

The Cliftons being the only landowners in the township, there is little to record besides. Richard Clitheroe of Clifton paid £10 on declining knighthood in 1631. (fn. 54) One Thomas Threlfall had twothirds of his house and land sequestered for recusancy in the Commonwealth time. (fn. 55) Several people of Clifton and Salwick registered estates as 'Papists' in 1717, (fn. 56) in addition to the squire.

Of Salwick there is little to record. (fn. 57) There were disputes between the lords of Lea and Clifton as to pasturage on Salwick Waste, Grimes Moss and Clifton Marsh. (fn. 58) William Duddell was a freeholder in 1600. (fn. 59)

Church

LUND was the site of an oratory in 1349, as above stated. The chapel is named again in the partition of the Clifton estates in 1515. (fn. 60) Nothing is known of its earlier history; it is not named among the chantries suppressed in 1547–8, and probably ceased to be used for service (fn. 61) till the time of the Commonwealth, when, the Cliftons' estates being under sequestration, Lund Chapel was rebuilt (fn. 62) and occupied by one Joseph Harrison, 'a godly, diligent and painful pastor,' who received £40 a year from the Committee of Plundered Ministers. (fn. 63) Afterwards it reverted to the Cliftons, but in 1687 was claimed by Mr. Clegg, vicar of Kirkham, (fn. 64) and this claim seems to have prevailed, probably owing to the Revolution, for in 1689 Thomas Ryley, 'conformable,' was minister there. (fn. 65) Bishop Gastrell about 1717 found that there was an income from recent endowments of £6 18s. 4d., and that the master of Kirkham School preached and read prayers there 'every Sunday, Sacrament days excepted.' (fn. 66) Curates were appointed regularly from 1732. The chapel became ruinous, (fn. 67) and was replaced by the present church of St. John the Evangelist in 1825. A district parish was attached to it in 1840, (fn. 68) and the vicarial tithes have been assigned to the incumbent, who is presented by the Dean and Canons of Christ Church, Oxford. (fn. 69) The following have had charge (fn. 70) :—

1717 Edward Manwaring
1726 Thomas Cockin
1749 Benjamin Wright
1774 Cuthbert Harrison
1790 Joshua Southward
1790 Charles Buck, M.A. (St. John's Coll., Camb.)
1808 Thomas Stephenson
1820 Richard Moore, M.A. (fn. 71) (Brasenose Col)., Oxf.)
1886 Charles Fullerton Smith, M.A. (Christ Ch., Oxf.)

Ward's House, near Salwick Hall, was formerly the seat of a younger branch of the Clifton family, of whom several became Jesuits, and mass was said in the chapel there in the 17th (fn. 72) and 18 th centuries, (fn. 73) until the chapel at Lea was built in 1801. (fn. 74)

Footnotes

  • 1. The Census Rep. 1901 gives 3,373 acres, including 17 of inland water; there are also 40 acres of tidal water and 83 of foreshore.
  • 2. Thomas Duddell of Pepper Hill in Clifton occurs in 1613; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 14.
  • 3. Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xx, 187.
  • 4. Dict. Nat. Biog.; Gillow, Bibl. Diet, of Engl. Cath.
  • 5. Ibid, i, 320.
  • 6. V.C.H. Lancs, i, 288a.
  • 7. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 46. The fee consisted of Clifton (two plough-lands), Salwick (one), Westby (two), Fieldplumpton (two), and Barton (two). These give only nine plough-lands, but in 1226 Westby and Fieldplumpton together were called five plough-lands; the assessment of Barton in 1066 was four, not two. Though Salwick became subordinate, it occurs occasionally as the leading member. From a tithe suit of 1586 it appears that there were then 19 oxgangs of land in Clifton proper; Fishwick, Kirkham (Chet. Soc), 73.
  • 8. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 46.
  • 9. He attested a charter which may be dated between 1160 and 1170; Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 409–11. Theobald Walter about 1194 took the land of Salwick from him, giving Wrea instead; but soon after the accession of King John he recovered Salwick, paying 10 marks and a palfrey; Rot. de Oblatis (Rec. Com.), 115; Farrer, op. cit. 130. He contributed to a scutage in 1205–6; ibid. 205. Walter son of Osbert and his son William were benefactors of Cockersand Abbey; Chartul. (Chet. Soc), i, 211, 212.
  • 10. Memo. R. (L.T.R.), 1. Walter son of Osbert's name was copied into the roll of 1226, as if he were still living; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 139. William de Clifton was collector of an aid in 1235; ibid. 142. In 1256 he agreed with John de Lea and Henry his son respecting common of pasture within Clifton Marsh; Dods. MSS. lxx, fol. 160.
  • 11. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 212–13. The two plough-lands in service were those in Barton, as appears from the inquest of 1212; ibid. 46. The lands were in the escheator's hands from 23 April till 4 May, being then delivered to Henry, the son and heir. In that time £5 13s. 9d. was received; ibid. 222. It appears that Henry was a younger son, for in 1257 William de Clifton gave 60 marks of silver to Robert de Hampton and Margery his wife for a release of her dower of one-third of the manors of Clifton, Westby and Plumpton, with which Richard de Clifton (formerly her husband) had dowered her at the church door when he married her, with the assent and good-will of William his father; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 130. It appears that Margery was daughter and co-heir of Sir William de Samlesbury. Before 1278 she had married a third husband, Richard Deuias; Assize R. 1277, m. 32b.
  • 12. In 1282 Henry de Clifton and Margery his wife released their right to a moiety of the manor of Thurnham; Final Conc, i, 158. Margery widow of Henry de Clifton was in 1289 the wife of Robert de Holland, and was claiming dower in a messuage and 4 oxgangs of land in Plumpton against Thomas de Clifton; De Banco R. 80, m. 125 d. Thomas was living ten years later; ibid. 138, m. 99.
  • 13. William son of Henry de Clifton in 1298 allowed turbary in Salwick or Moorhouses to William son of Henry de Lea, just as his ancestors had enjoyed it; Dods. MSS. lxx, fol. 160. In the following year he (as Sir William) approved 30 acres in Clifton Marsh with the leave of William de Lea; ibid. William de Clifton was defendant in a claim put forward by Edmund Earl of Lancaster in 1291; Assize R. 1294, m. 11 d. He proved his right; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 380. In 1297 he rendered the old 40s. thegnage rent; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 289. In 1306 he and Aline his wife, through Eustace de Cottesbach, made a settlement of the manors of Clifton and Westby, the remainders being in succession to William, Thomas and Henry, sons of William de Clifton; Final Conc, i, 207. William ion of William de Clifton established his right to the manor of Salwick in 1313–14 against William de Clifton and Aline his wife; Assize R. 424, m. 1. Sir William de Clifton occurs in a bond in 1317–18; Kuerden MSS. iv, C 21.
  • 14. Chart. R. 11 Edw. II, m. 5, no. 18.
  • 15. His two manors, Clifton and Westby, were held of the king in socage by suit at the county from six weeks to six weeks and at the wapentake from three weeks to three weeks, and by the rent of 40s. The capital messuage of Clifton was worth 2s.; 4 oxgangs were in demesne, each oxgang containing 18 acres of arable land, worth 1s. an acre; also 8 acres of meadow, each worth 1s. 6d.; a fishery in the Ribble worth 6s. 8d. a year, a water-mill 13s. 4d., a horse-mill the same, and a windmill 26s. 8d. Tenants at will held 12 oxgangs, valued as above, 24 acres of meadow and twelve cottages. In a hamlet called the Moor were eight cottages and 80 acres of arable land, worth 44s. in all, and in another hamlet called the Scales were six cottages and 60 acres of arable land, worth in all 33s. His heir was his son William, aged twentyeight; Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 32. William de Clifton in 1324 held the manors of Clifton, Westby and Barton by the ancient tenure of 40s., &c.; Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 39b.
  • 16. In 1346 Isabel widow of William de Clifton had a dispute with William son of William as to dower. The fine of 1306 was referred to. William and Alice (Aline) were dead; also William the son therein named, whose widow had entered into four messuages, 4 oxgangs of land, &c, parcel of the manor of Westby, contrary to the fine, as was alleged by the third William. Isabel alleged that William the grandfather (son of Henry) had given two-thirds of them to John de Venables, with the reversion of the other third (held by Katherine de Singleton as dower), and they had been then given to her on her marriage with William (the father of defendant). An allegation that the senior William was of unsound mind at the time was rejected by the jury; De Banco R. 348, m. 73; 350, m. 122. Katherine de Singleton was probably the second wife of the first William.
  • 17. Fishwick, Kirkham (Chet. Soc.), 34–5, quoting Harl. MS. 2064, fol. 14b. Sir William wished to purchase the tithes of Clifton and Westby for 20 marks, which the abbot refused. He drove away the tithe collectors, and the abbot's tithes were left in the fields to waste; he even entered the church and assailed the priests and clerks, and in contempt of the rectorial rights had had his child baptized elsewhere than in the parish church. Further, with the approval of a number of associates, he had had the abbot's clerk beaten in the Preston streets. William de Clifton appears in 1346 as holding two plough-lands in Westby, two in Fieldplumpton (Great and Little), three in Salwick and Clifton and two in Barton, in socage, paying 40s. yearly at the four terms, giving relief at death, and doing suit to the county and wapentake; Survey of 1346 (Chet. Soc), 46. In 1348 Sir William complained that Edmund de Dacre had entered his free warren at Clifton and hunted therein without his licence, carrying off game; De Banco R. 355, m. 19. Sir William and Margaret his wife were in 1359 engaged in suits with Adam de Hoghton; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 7, m. 7.
  • 18. Note by Canon Raines citing Epis. Reg. Zouche.
  • 19. In 1375 Robert de Clifton made a feoffment of his manors of Clifton and Salwick, receiving them back the next year; Close, 49 Edw. III, m. 46; 50 Edw. III, pt. i, m. 3. In 1385 Sir Robert was alleged to have carried off wreck of the sea at Freckleton; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 22. In the following year he went to Ireland on the king's service; Cal. Pat. 1385–9, p. 214. In 1390 he made acknowledgement of a debt before William de Walton, then mayor of Preston; Pal. of Lanc. Chan. Misc. 1/9, m. 134.
  • 20. Towneley MS. DD, no. 1453. The date of the inquest is given as 18 Mar. 1 Hen. IV; it should probably be 2 Hen. IV, as Thursday in the first (? second) week of Lent could not be 3 Mar.—the day of death—in 1400. Sir Nicholas de Clifton was made keeper of Bolsover Castle in 1396; Cal. Pat. 1391–6, p. 662. The pedigree given in the inquisitions of 1512 and 1514 (hereafter cited) is as follows: William de Clifton -s. Sir William -s. Nicholas -s. Robert -s. Thomas -s. Richard -s. James -s. Robert -s. Cuthbert (who died in 1512). The Robert son of Nicholas appears to be an error, but there is no independent proof of several of the steps. Richard Clifton and John Clifton, each described as 'esquire,' were in 1445 accused by Henry Fleetwood of waylaying him with intent to kill him at Kirkham; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 8, m. 2. Richard obtained licence for his oratories at Clifton and Westby in 1444; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 373. He was in possession in 1445–6, holding Westby, Fieldplumpton, Salwick and Clifton by the ancient service; the relief was 40s.; Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees bdle. 2, no. 20. He seems to have been succeeded by his son James between 1479 and 1482; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 118. The writ of diem cl. extr. after the death of James Clifton was issued 20 Feb. 1495–6; Towneley MS. CC (Chet Lib.), no. 639. For James's possessions see Lancs, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 29.
  • 21. In 1498–9 Alice widow of James Clifton in conjunction with Cuthbert, next of kin and heir of James, granted to Henry Clifton son of James a moss called Westgrims in Clifton for his life; Kuerden MSS. iv, C 21. Cuthbert Clifton in 1504 gave land in Whittingham (purchased by his grandfather James) in exchange for a burgage in Kirkham; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1884. Alice, the widow named, was one of the daughters of Robert Lawrence of Scotforth; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 163, m. 20. A rental of the estates compiled in 1509 has been preserved by Towneley (OO). It gives the names of the tenants and the various rents due from each; thus Thomas Ryley in Clifton paid 19s. 10d., two days' 'shearing' or 4d., two days' ploughing or 1s., two days' harrowing or 8d., leading four 'foder' of turves or 6d., two hens or 3d., and a goose or 2d. In Salwick-with-Moorhouse the New Hall with three closes and two doles and a half in the Broadmeadow was worth £2 1s. a year, and the Old Hall with half a dole in the Broadmeadow £2 10s. The Westgrims Moss is named. A full description of the boundary of the lordship of Clifton and Salwick is added. It went through the middle of the moor between Clifton and Lea, 'straight betwixt the hepping stones in Sidgreaves Lane and the nook of the new intake.' The Harestones, Wagging Birch, Raholme and Graystone seem to have been on the north-west border of Salwick. It is noted that the friars of Preston paid 1s. to the lord of Westby for certain lands at the Maudlands and a pound of pepper (or 1s.), and that the lord of Barton paid 8s. for that lordship.
  • 22. Two inquisitions were made. That in 1512 (Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 12) gives the pedigree as already recorded and recites several deeds. By one of them (without date) the feoffees of Sir William de Clifton gave to William de Clifton the son the manors of Clifton and Westby, with, messuages, windmill, lands, rents in various places and homages of Sir Nicholas Boteler for a tenement in Whittle, of John de Barton for Barton, and of Richard de Shireburne for Inskip. By another Sir William de Clifton gave to his eon Nicholas messuages and lands in Goosnargh and English Lea (including one in Sidgreaves). Cuthbert Clifton gave certain lands to trustees to pay Lawrence Henregon to celebrate in Kirkham Church for him and his wife, &c., for ten years, when the lands were to go to his brother William. All his messuages, &c., in Kirkham, Newton, Scales, Great and Little Plumpton, Warton, Wrea, Elswick, Greenhalgh, Esprick, Ashley and Barker in Goosnargh were to go to his said brother, together with certain lands in Salwick, Clifton and Westby. The manors of Clifton and Westby and the lands there were stated to be held of the king as of his duchy by the yearly rent of 40s. Salwick is called a 'manor' at the beginning but not afterwards. The second inquisition, in 1514 (ibid. iv, no. 48), quotes the fine of 1306, and recites that Richard son of Thomas Clifton was seised of certain messuages, &c., in Clifton, Westby, Salwick and other places which descended to Cuthbert as his heir (viz. son of Robert, son of James, son of the said Richard), and should descend to his daughter Elizabeth, who was nine years old at her father's death. Elizabeth Clifton became the king's ward, but William Clifton had possession of some or all of the estates, and in 1516 Richard Hesketh, the king's attorney for the county palatine, appeared before the barons of the Exchequer for instructions; ibid, iii, no. 3.
  • 23. In May 1515 it was agreed between Richard Hesketh and Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of Cuthbert Clifton, on the first part, and William Clifton brother of Cuthbert, on the other, that the manor of Westby, demesne lands, &c., property in Much and Little Plumpton, Wrea, Elswick, Poolhouses in Warton, Greenhalgh, &c., and the chantry at Kirkham lately made by Sir Richard Davy, vicar thereof, were to be taken for half the inheritance. The other half consisted of the manor of Clifton, with various lands, the tithe barn there, fishery in the Ribble, lands, &c., in Salwick and other places, chief rents and services of the free chapel and lands of St. Mary Magdalen nigh Preston, the chief rent of Barton, the chantry of Lund Chapel, and other lands. Richard and Elizabeth were allowed six months in which to make choice of one of the moieties; Kuerden MSS. iv, C 21.
  • 24. Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 155, m. 8 d.
  • 25. Sir William Molyneux of Sefton died in 1548 holding the manor of Clifton, &c., in right of his wife Elizabeth, who was mother of Thomas Molyneux the heir. Elizabeth died nine months before her husband, viz. on 5 June 1547, and Thomas was of full age. The manor and other lands were held of the king as of his duchy by a rent of 20s. 4d. a year; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 6. It appears from the pedigrees that there were several children of the marriage, but that Anne, a daughter, was eventually the heir and married Henry Halsall of Halsall, by whom she had a son Richard; Visit. of 1567 (Chet. Soc), 94, 104. Settlements of the manor appear to have been made by Henry Halsall and Anne his wife in 1557 and 1571; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 17, m. 55; 33, m. 76. Richard was succeeded by his illegitimate son Sir Cuthbert Halsall, who had two daughters, Anne and Bridget; see V.C.H. Lancs. iii, 195; Visit, of 1613 (Chet. Soc), 59. The manor of Clifton, held by the rent of 20s. 4d., is named in the possessions of Henry Halsall in 1574; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 34. Sir Cuthbert Halsall as lord of the manors claimed services in 1600; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 420.
  • 26. An agreement as to the manors of Clifton and Westby was made in 1612 between Sir Cuthbert Halsall and Cuthbert Clifton; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 307, m. 9 d. The manors were granted to the Earl of Derby and other trustees; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 80, no. 24, 25.
  • 27. His will is printed in Wills (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 70–3. He desired to be buried in Kirkham Church, where his ancestors were buried. Thomas, his son and heir, was under age; William, the younger son, was to be kept to the school until twenty-one; the daughter Ellen is named. Isabel his wife was to have the manor-place of Westby and the demesne thereto belonging. 'A certain pasture called the Peel' is mentioned. Isabel married John Holcar and in 1538 was claiming dower; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 164, m. 3 d.
  • 28. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 18; x, no. 47; xii, no. 12. Thomas died seised of the manor of Westby, messuages, windmill, &c., in Westby, Great and Little Plumpton, &c. The manor of Westby and its appurtenances were held of the king as of his duchy in socage by a rent of 10s. This was only a fourth part of the old service of 40s.; Clifton rendered 20s. 4d. There is nothing to show how the remainder was paid, but the chief rent of Barton (8s.) may account for most of it. The accounts of Thomas Clifton's executors are printed in Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc), iii, 73–80. He left 20s. to the grammar school. To the vicar of Kirkham 10s. was paid as a mortuary, and £4 0s. 4d. was paid at the church the day of his burial.
  • 29. Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 215, quoting S. P. Dom. Eliz. cxviii, 451. The William Clifton, gent, of this and later lists was no doubt his uncle, the younger son named in the will of 1537 above quoted.
  • 30. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 76. The tenure of Westby is given as before. A messuage called Ballam there had been assigned to Cuthbert's brother William.
  • 31. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 21. This recites the will of Thomas Clifton, dated 3 Feb. 1584–5, in which are given particulars of a settlement of his estates. His wife was Jane daughter of Sir John Southworth; he had three brothers—William, John and Cuthbert; his uncle, William Clifton of Ballam, was living. Thomas Clifton as a recusant was in 1584 required to provide a light horseman, armed, for the queen's service in Ireland; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 593. Licence of entry to Cuthbert son and heir of Thomas Clifton was given in 1605–6; Kuerden MSS. iv, C 21.
  • 32. Metcalfe, Bk. of Knights, 171. Sir Cuthbert Clifton obtained a general pardon on the accession of Charles I; Kuerden, loc. cit.
  • 33. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxvii, no. 43. The tenure of Westby is recorded as before. 'The Peel' was said to be held of the king as of his duchy by knight's service. A settlement made in 1611 is recited, the remainder being to Thomas the son and heir and heirs male. There was a younger son Cuthbert. Jane Stanley, widow, formerly wife of Thomas Clifton (father of Cuthbert), and Dorothy, Cuthbert's widow, were living at Westby. The younger son, Cuthbert, entered the Society of Jesus in 1630 and laboured in the Lancashire mission from 1642 till his death in 1675. He is stated to have reconciled the seventh Earl of Derby to the Roman Church while on his way to execution at Bolton, 1651; Foley, Rec. S. J. vii, 139.
  • 34. Visit. (Chet. Soc), 42.
  • 35. Ibid. 88.
  • 36. Ibid. 86.
  • 37. Sir Cuthbert was present at the meeting (or pilgrimage) at Holywell in 1629. It was then stated that he had two priests at his house, at which place were kept Fr. Arrowsmith's clothes and the knife that cut him up; Foley, op. cit. iv, 534, citing S. P. Dom. Chas. I, cli, 13. Two of his daughters were nuns. It may have been this Cuthbert to whom in 1636 licence to travel abroad was given, Rome being the place forbidden; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1635–6, p. 341.
  • 38. Thomas Clifton was one of the 'recusants convicted' who petitioned the king on the outbreak of the war to be allowed to provide themselves with weapons; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 39. He entertained the Earl of Derby at Lytham Hall in 1644; War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc), 26.
  • 39. Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 47–63. Major John Wildman, esq., contracted for the purchase of the manors of Clifton-withSalwick, Westby, Lytham and Little Marton. Other members of the family also suffered. The estate of Dorothy widow of Sir Cuthbert was sequestered in 1647 for her recusancy; ibid. 43. The annuity of John Clifton, a lunatic, was suspended for a time; ibid. 46.
  • 40. Index of Royalists (Index Soc), 30; under an Act of 1652, for the use of the navy.
  • 41. He married in 1641 Margaret daughter and heir of George Ireland of Southworth, and his estate was seized by the Parliament in 1643; Royalist Comp. Papers, ii, 60. Colonel Clifton—who must have been very young for such a post—was made governor of Liverpool after the capture of that town by Prince Rupert, and was taken prisoner at its recapture 1 Nov. 1644. He and the others 'were carried to Manchester and there kept. Some of them died within a little time after, as Colonel Cuthbert Clifton of Lytham and Captain Richard Butler of Rawcliffe with others'; War in Lancs. 60; Civil War Tracts, 208. For an anecdote of him see War in Lancs. 51.
  • 42. Gillow, Bibl. Dict, of Engl. Cath. i, 516–17. Their names are given as Francis (killed at Newbury 1643), John and Lawrence. Another brother, Gervase, was with the king's forces till the taking of Shelford Manor, when he was captured; 'as to his recusancy, as he was but young before the first wars he could not be convicted, but his father and all the family being ever Papists, they (the investigators) believed he could never make it appear that he was conformable, nor was he then so far as they knew'; Royalist Comp. Papers, ii, 56, 45.
  • 43. The details in the later part of the descent are taken in the main from Foster's Lancs. Ped. 'Mr. Thomas Clifton of Lytham' was buried at Lytham 17 Dec. 1657; Reg.
  • 44. G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, iii, 170.
  • 45. Sir Thomas and Lady Bridget his wife were indicted for recusancy in 1678–9; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 109. Sir Thomas, then a very infirm man, was arrested on suspicion in 1689, and kept in Mr. Patten's house in Preston, where he avowed his contentment with the government. Again he was captured at Wrea Green 17 July 1694 and lodged at Kirkham, being taken next day to his own house at Lytham, then by Wigan to Chester Castle. Afterwards he was kept in the Tower of London till the trial at Manchester; Jacobite Trials (Chet. Soc.), 98, 46. His brothers William and James were also arrested in 1689; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 314. Lunt, the informer and chief witness, at the trial pointed to Sir Rowland Stanley as Sir Thomas Clifton and vice versa; ibid. 371. The manors of Lytham, Westby-withPlumpton, Clifton-with-Salwick and Little Marton were held by Sir Thomas Clifton in 1692; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 455, m. 11; Feet of F. bdle. 228, m. 127.
  • 46. Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 115; also Bridget Clifton, 94. An agent of the government writing from Preston in 1716 says: 'The family of Thomas Clifton of Lytham, esq., a Roman Catholic of very considerable estate, seems to have been very deeply engaged in the late rebellion. George Clifton, his brother, is actually outlawed on account of that rebellion and I have the copies of several depositions taken against the eldest son of the said Thomas Clifton and one Mr. Mayfield his steward . . . that are very plain and direct !' Again, 'The eldest son of the said Thomas Clifton has absconded ever since the action at Preston and is said also to be fled to France. . . . There are also some depositions against the said Thomas Clifton himself, and I have been assured by a clergyman of the Church of England in his neighbourhood, a very zealous man for the government, that . . . was there but proper encouragement given there might be a cloud of witnesses produced that would fix the matter plainly upon him'; Payne, Engl, Cath. Rec. 87, 100.
  • 47. The descent is thus given in Foster, op. cit.: Thomas, d. 1720 -s. Thomas, d. 1734 -s. Thomas, d. 1783 -s. John, d. 1832 -s. Thomas, 1788–1851. It was the second Thomas Clifton who married Mary daughter and co-heir of Richard (fifth) Lord Molyneux. The same Thomas, as son and heir of Thomas Clifton and nephew and devisee of James Clifton of Preston, in 1727 transferred to William Clifton (son of Cuthbert, eldest son of said James) and John Winder land on the Freshes of the River Potomac in the province of Virginia, lately in the possession of James Clifton and of Thomas his second son; Piccope MSS. Chet. Lib.), iii, 232, from rolls 1 & 2 of Geo. II at Preston. For the will of Thomas Clifton, 1734, see ibid. 256, quoting 2nd 5th roll of Geo. II; it mentions Mary his wife daughter of Richard Lord Molyneux and his four daughters. Eleanor, one of the daughters, was a nun at the Bar Convent, York, 1720–85; Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), iv, 360. The third Thomas in the descent married Anne daughter of Sir Carnaby Haggerston in 1752. The marriage covenant, from which it appears he owned Fairsnape and Todderstaffe, is abstracted by Piccope (ibid. 278) from R. 26 of Geo. II. He had made a settlement of his manors of Clifton, Salwick, Westby, &c., in 1750; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 570, m. 7. The last Thomas similarly occurs in 1809; Draft Docquets, bdle. 27, R10.
  • 48. Some particulars are related in Gillow's Haydock Papers, 237.
  • 49. –50 Burke, Landed Gentry (1906), 335.
  • 50. Ibid.
  • 51. His brother Charlet Frederick took his wife's surname of Abney-Hastings, and was raised to the peerage in 1880 as Lord Donington. He died in 1895, his son being the Earl of Loudoun, as heir of his mother; G.E.C. Complete Peerage, iii, 137.
  • 52. Son of Thomas Henry Clifton, who died in 1880.
  • 53. Information of Mr. James S. Fair.
  • 54. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 222.
  • 55. Cal. Com. for Comp. v, 3202. Threlfall was dead, but had been succeeded by another of the same name. The claim of Thomas Cottam in 1654 was allowed 'unless the County Commissioners find that Margaret wife of Thomas Threlfall it the Margaret Threlfall of Poulton who has been convicted of recusancy.'
  • 56. Of Clifton—Robert Hoskar, James Hoskar and Robert Gradwell; Estcourt and Payne, op. cit. 103, 133, 136. Of Salwick—James Hardman and Anne widow of John Charaock; ibid. 92, 140.
  • 57. The New Hall and the Old Hall in Salwick are named in 1591; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 256.
  • 58. Ibid. 113, 323; Lancs, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 279.
  • 59. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 232.
  • 60. Quoted in a former note. See Raines' notes in Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 424.
  • 61. The chantry chapel and its lands, including three messuages in Kirkham and the 4 acres and a windmill in Clifton, certainly came into the hands of the Crown, for James I sold them in 1606 to William Brown and others (Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. xvi), who no doubt sold to the lord of Clifton.
  • 62. In 1645 an allowance of £40 out of Thomas Clifton's sequestered tithes was voted for the maintenance of a minister, 'when the said chapel of Lund shall be re-edified'; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 9. The grant became effective in 1648; ibid. 62.
  • 63. Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 155. The allowance was increased to £50; Plund. Mins. Accts. i, 94, 245. Harrison was 'a good scholar and a methodical preacher; fixed in a dark corner, where he was wonderfully followed and very useful'; Calamy, Nonconf. Mem. (ed. Palmer), ii, 97. For his family see Lancs, and Ches. Hist, and Gen. Notes, ii, 159.
  • 64. Raines, ut sup. quoting Cartwright's Diary (Camden Soc.), in which the bishop states he dismissed the claim for want of evidence. The claim must have originated somewhat earlier, for in 1680 Alice Clitherall left £5 towards an endowment; in 1682 John Dickson left money, half the interest on which was 'to be paid to such minister as should be legally authorised to teach and preach in the chapel of Lund, according to the Church of England,' or in default to the poor; and in 1685 Thomas Smith left £20 for 'a lawful minister'; while in 1690 Alice Hankinson left £2 for the use of the chapel; End. Char. Rep. (Kirkham), 18. The chapel was first repaired at the charge of the parish in 1688; Fishwick, Kirkham (Chet. Soc), 56.
  • 65. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 229. Ryley is not named in Stratford's visitation list, 1691, so that he did not stay long.
  • 66. Notitia Cestr. loc. cit.
  • 67. The royal brief for a collection on behalf of the rebuilding, dated 1822, is printed in Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Notes, ii, 200.
  • 68. Order in Council, Aug. 1840.
  • 69. Raines' notes, Notitia Cestr. The benefice was declared a vicarage in 1866; Lond. Gaz. 25 May.
  • 70. This list is from the church papers, Chester Dioc. Reg.
  • 71. Hewitson, Our Country Churches, 303.
  • 72. See the account of Kirkham Church.
  • 73. Foley, Rec. S. J. vii, 140–1. In 1716 it was reported 'that Lowick [? Salwick] Hall, the reputed inheritance of Thomas Clifton esq. of Lytham, about four miles from Preston, belongs to some popish priests or is appropriated to some other superstitious use'; Payne, Engl. Cath. Rec. 89.
  • 74. John Clifton (d. 1832) suppressed Salwick Chapel, and made an unsuccessful claim for the plate and vestments; Gillow, Haydock Papers, 237, 207.