| 1 |
The census of 1901 gives 1,008 acres,
including 12 of inland water, with 35 acres
of tidal water and 17 of fore-shore. |
| 2 |
Perhaps from Vieleur, the (supposed)
original grantee of the manor. |
| 3 |
Trans. Hist. Soc. xxii, 215. |
| 4 |
It was included with Great Sankey
in the subsidy collections; Exch. Lay Subs.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 23. In an
agreement between Sir Richard de Bold
and John son of John de Penketh, made
in 1371, the former granted John all his
rent from 'Penketh, a hamlet of Sankey,'
during the life of Margery daughter of
Richard de Ashton of Penketh; Dods.
MSS. cxlii, fol. 205, n. 86. |
| 5 |
Penketh may be the plough-land
granted to Adam le Vieleur by Pain de
Vilers, about 1160; in 1212 it was
held by knight's service by Robert son of
Robert, Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), 10. |
| 6 |
Ibid. 147. |
| 7 |
This appears from the suits brought
by Richard de Samlesbury and his son to
recover common of pasture in Great
Sankey and Penketh. The defendants in
1284 were Henry son of Gilbert de Penketh, Richard his brother, Margaret de
Penketh, and Robert de Penketh; Assize
R. 1268, m. 12. Four years later they
were Adam del Bruche and Margaret his
wife, Robert de Penketh, Richard son of
Jordan de Kenyon, Henry son of Gilbert
de Penketh, and Richard his brother;
Assize R. 1277, m. 32a. Margaret was
the widow of Gilbert; Adam del Bruche
was son of Dulcia.
Adam and his wife in 1292 brought
suits for dower against Richard son of
Gilbert, and others; Assize R. 408,
m. 32d. 71.
Richard's portion is described as 2 messuages, 40 acres of land, 50 acres of
moor, and reasonable estovers in 20 acres
of wood for housebote and heybote, and
acquittance of pannage for his demesne
pigs.
At the same time Henry son of Gilbert
was plaintiff, claiming as heir of his
father various lands in Penketh from
William le Boteler of Warrington. William replied that Penketh being a hamlet
in Sankey and not a vill by itself, he, as
son and heir of Emery, lord of Sankey,
had approved from the wastes of the vill
and hamlet; further, Gilbert had common
of pasture not solely but together with
one Robert de Penketh; Assize R. 408,
m. 22.
William de Penketh occurs as a witness
to several early charters; e.g. Dods. cxlii,
fol. 193b, n. 7, 8 (about 1240). Hugh
son of William de Penketh witnessed a
charter of about 1270; Bold D. (Warr.),
F. 350; and as Hugh de Penketh his
name occurs more frequently. His son
Adam, a clerk, claimed lands in Penketh
from Richard and Henry, sons of Gilbert,
in 1301 and 1302; Assize R. 1321, m. 9d.;
418, m. 13d. |
| 8 |
Henry is usually named first, as if
he were the elder, but by an agreement
made in 1290 Richard was acknowledged
to be lord of the messuage, plough-land,
and 20s. rent; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), i, 165. See also Cal.
Close, 1288–96, p. 283. Henry had a son
Richard, whose wife was Agnes, and who
was defendant in pleas in 1292 brought
by Adam del Bruche, and in 1301 by
Richard son of Gilbert; Assize R. 408,
m. 32d.; 419, m. 10. The younger
Richard seems to have been living in
1323, as a suit was in that year brought
against Richard de Penketh, senior; De
Banc. R. 250, m. 17d. |
| 9 |
Final Conc. ii, 61. The names of
the heiresses were Margery, then married
to Richard son of William de Ashton;
Margaret, Cecily, Joan, Christiana, Alice,
and Godith. The last-named married
John de Dalton, clerk, from whom Richard
de Dutton (son of John) claimed a messuage and land in 1325–6; and who in
1329 was one of the defendants in a plea
by Henry del Bruche; De Banc. R. 263,
m. 133; R. 277, m. 95d. It does not
appear who their father was, but Henry
son of Gilbert was living and put in his
claim. The deforciant was Thomas son
of Adam, son of Alan de Abram, who may
have been a trustee; he claimed a rent of
6s. 5½d. in Penketh and Great Sankey
from Richard son of Gilbert in 1331; De
Banc. R. 286, m. 348. |
| 10 |
Richard de Ashton of Sankey was one
defendant in suits brought in 1328 by
Thurstan de Holland; De Banc. R. 273,
m. 45d., &c. He paid 3s. 4d. to the
subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec.
Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 23. Licence
for an oratory was granted by the bishop
of Lichfield to Richard de Ashton of
Penketh in 1361; Lich. Reg. v, fol. 4b. |
| 11 |
Pedigrees were recorded in the Visit. of
1567 (Chet. Soc.), p. 112, and 1613, p. 20.
There is a continuation in Piccope's MS.
Pedigrees (Chet. Lib.), ii, 79, bringing it
down to Strange Ashton. The succession
is given as Richard, Thomas, Hamlet,
Thomas, and John. A Thomas de Ashton
was witness to Bold charters of 1429 and
1438; Dods. MSS. cxlii. fol. 205, n. 88;
fol. 203, n. 70.
A settlement was made in 1457 by
Thomas Ashton and Joan his wife, concerning messuages and land in Penketh;
the remainders were to their sons Richard
and Robert for life, and then to their
grandson Thomas son of Hamlet, and his
heirs; in default to Joan and Agnes,
daughters of Hamlet, with further remainders; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle.
6, m. 12.
John Ashton of Penketh did homage
and service to the lord of Warrington in
April, 1507, paying 10s. for relief; Misc.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 20. John
Ashton was living in 1533; Ducatus Lanc.
(Rec. Com.), i, 142. He was succeeded
by his son Thomas, who married Douce,
daughter of William Mascy of Rixton
before 1538; Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.),
iii, 106. In August, 1558, a settlement
was made by Thomas Ashton, the remainders being to his sons William and
John, his uncle Richard, Christopher
Anderton, and the male heirs of his father
John; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 20,
m. 16. A later one was made in 1563;
ibid. bdle. 25, m. 81. The inquisition
taken after his death (1573) states that
Thomas held the manor of Penketh and
lands in Warrington and Martinscroft by
the fourth part of a knight's fee, suit of
court at Warrington from three weeks to
three weeks, and a rent of 21d.; his heir
was his son William, then thirty years of
age; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii,
n. 1.
William seems to have died soon after
his father, being succeeded by his brother
John, who in 1571 had married Juliana,
daughter of John Grimsditch; Pal. of
Lanc. Plea R. 229, m. 4; see also will of
John Grimsditch in Wills (Chet. Soc. New
Ser.), i, 211. John Ashton had various
suits against his neighbours from 1572
onwards; James Ryve and Henry Rigby
he accused of diverting a watercourse; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 2, 51, 120. He was among
the freeholders in 1600; Misc. (ibid.),
239. He and Richard Penketh sold the
fishery in the Mersey to Francis Bold in
1585, and he purchased land in Great
Sankey in 1597; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F.
bdle. 47, m. 167; 58, m. 215. |
| 12 |
Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 245 (quoting
S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, n. 4). There
were only three names of recusants in
the roll of 1628 in Penketh and eight
in Sankey; Lay Subs. 131/318. |
| 13 |
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), ii, 303. He died 6 July, 1620;
his daughters being Christiana, mother of
Thomas Ashton, the heir, who was then
over thirty years of age; Timothea, wife
of John Crosby, aged forty-six; Margaret,
wife of Robert Heywood, aged thirtyseven; Anne, wife of Andrew Mainwaring, aged thirty-nine; and Elizabeth,
widow of Peter Harrison, whose son John
was eight years old. Thomas Ashton,
the grandson, was then in possession, the
property including water-mill, windmill,
dovecote, fishery in the Mersey, and common of pasture in Penketh, Great Sankey,
Warrington, and Martinscroft. Penketh,
which is not called a manor, is said to be
held in socage by fealty and the rent of a
silver penny, showing a commutation of
the old services. From a deed recited in
the inquisition it appears that Thomas
Ashton had been married as early as 1612
to Katherine Brook, of Chester.
For Hamlet, the father of Thomas, see
the account of Glazebrook. His widow
Christiana married Sir Arthur, second son
of Sir Thomas Aston of Aston in Cheshire, by whom she had two sons; Funeral
Certs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 9. |
| 14 |
He was buried at Farnworth in July,
1645; Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), ii, 9. |
| 15 |
Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 47,
51, 83. |
| 16 |
Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), i, 112. He surrendered as early as November, 1644. The
value of the estate appears to have been
about £210 a year; he claimed reductions in respect of the annuities of younger
brothers, Andrew and William, and a
sister, Christian; the fine was fixed at
£192 8s. 4d. It is added: 'As for his
personal estate he hath nothing but the
clothes to his back.' His mother, Katherine, was still living in 1646. He had
been admitted to Gray's Inn in November, 1634; Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.),
ii, 11. He was buried at Farnworth
18 Feb. 1675–6; ibid. 9.
The hearth-tax return of 1666 shows
Mr. Ashton paying for 6 hearths, and
Mrs. Ashton for 3; Lay Subs. 250–9.
The will of his brother William, proved
in 1669, is printed in Wills (Chet. Soc.
New Ser.), i, 166. The will of Andrew
Ashton, of Liverpool, was proved in 1679;
it mentions his son John, who is believed
to be the John Ashton described as 'late
of Penketh in Lancashire,' who took part
in the Jacobite plot in 1690, and was
executed for it; see the paper, already
quoted, by Dr. John Venn in Trans. Hist.
Soc. (New Ser.), ii, 1–14. |
| 17 |
Ibid. 10; for his will, 7. He had a
son Strange, buried at Ormskirk in 1756,
and three daughters, Anne, Elizabeth, and
Catherine; ibid. 8, 10. |
| 18 |
This 'manor' may, however, be the
superior lordship, and may have been acquired, with Bewsey, by Sir Thomas
Ireland. In the inquisition after his death
in 1625 he is said to have held the
'manor of Penketh' with its appurtenances; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxvi,
n. 58. |
| 19 |
See the references given above. In
Assize R. 1268, m. 11, there is also a
complaint by Robert de Penketh that
William le Boteler and others had disseised him of his free tenement in Penketh, viz. half of 100 acres of moor, but
he failed to prove his case. |
| 20 |
Robert was still living in 1301, when
he and his son Jordan made a settlement
by fine concerning two oxgangs in Penketh; Final Conc. i, 193. In a Great
Sankey case in 1308–9 Richard son of
Gilbert de Penketh, Jordan de Penketh,
and Agnes widow of Robert, held part of
the lands in dispute; Assize R. 432, m. 2.
Jordan's name occurs among the witnesses
to local charters down to 1346. He and
Robert son of Henry de Wetshaw, in
1339 made an exchange of land, described as lying on the Broomhill, on the
north side of Jordan's windmill, for land
in the Brandearth in Penketh, Robert
being bound also to pay a grain of pepper
yearly; Kuerden, fol. MS. 315, n. 473.
Among the witnesses to this were Richard
de Ashton and William de Penketh.
Jordan de Penketh and Margaret his wife
claimed the reversion of the Holland
manor in Sutton in 1323; Final Conc.
ii, 51. |
| 21 |
The above-recited exchange was ratified in 1339 by Richard son of Jordan;
Kuerden, loc. cit. n. 415. William, son
of Richard de Penketh, and Amice his
wife occur in 1348; De Banc. R. 355,
m. 226. Jordan had another son, Robert,
to whom he granted certain lands, which
Robert granted to his son John in July,
1359; ibid. n. 414, 416; also Duchy of
Lanc. Assize R. 7, m. 1. |
| 22 |
Roger being a minor, his wardship
was claimed by Richard de Ashton, in
right of his wife Margery; but the jury
decided that Richard de Penketh had held
this moiety of the manor in socage, and
not by knight's service, so that Roger
succeeded without wardship; Duchy of
Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. jd.
William de Penketh and John his son
occur in July, 1359; Duchy of Lanc.
Assize R. 7, m. 1. In 1374 there was a
dispute between Alice widow of William
de Penketh and John his son concerning
land in Sankey; De Banc. R. 454, m.
132d. The poll tax of 1381 shows John
de Penketh among the contributors; Lay
Subs. 130–24.
Thomas Penketh, an Austin friar, a
zealous upholder of Richard III, is supposed to have been a member of this
family; for an account of his career see
Warr. in 1465 (Chet. Soc.), xxxix; Dict.
Nat. Biog. and Cal. of Pat. 1476–85,
p. 543.
Hamlet de Penketh occurs in 1490;
Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 14.
Also in the list of the gentry of the hundred, compiled about 1512. |
| 23 |
Visit. (Chet. Soc.) of 1567, p. 124,
and of 1613, p. 132. Gillow, in Bibliog.
Dict. of Engl. Cath. v, 258, mentions that
a pedigree, 'copious, but very incorrect
and unreliable,' was printed at Manchester in 1896.
From the Hamlet or Hamon Penketh
of the preceding note the 1567 pedigree
traces the succession through Richard,
Thomas, and Richard, to the Richard
Penketh living at the time. This
Richard had sons Richard and Thomas,
and the latter, who succeeded, had a son
and heir Richard, living in 1613. He
had a numerous family, the eldest son,
Thomas, having been born about 1610.
The only inquisitions appear to be
those taken after the death of Alice
Penketh in 1541. Her father, John, had
held lands in Penketh, Ditton, and other
places; she was an idiot, and her heirs
were her sisters, Joan, the wife of George
Ward, and Elizabeth, wife of William
Reeve; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. viii,
n. 6, 7. The Reeves or Ryves continued
to hold land here for a century at least;
the inquest after the death of Robert
Reeve in 1640 shows that his land was
held of Margaret, daughter and heir of
Thomas Ireland; ibid. xxx, n. 37.
Richard Penketh was in 1553 involved
in a dispute with Thomas Butler as to the
title to Penketh Hall; Ducatus Lanc.
(Rec. Com.), i, 280. A settlement of his
property in Penketh and Sutton, including
'pasture for three horses on Penketh
Warth,' was made in 1556; Pal. of Lanc.
Feet of F. bdle. 16, m. 92. Another
settlement, by his son Richard, was made
in 1592; ibid. bdle. 54, m. 146. |
| 24 |
Beamont says: 'Penketh Hall, the
ancient seat of the Penkeths, seems to
have changed owners much about the
same time that Bewsey passed into the
hands of strangers; for in the year 1624
we find Sir Thomas Ireland exchanging
with Thomas Ashton the hall and demesne of Penketh, late the inheritance of
Richard Penketh, but at the same time
carefully reserving to himself . . . . the
right to remove all and every the grafts,
plants, and young trees of fruit there
growing'; Warr. in 1465 (Chet. Soc.),
p. xl.
In 1682 Peter Bold wrote: 'Mr. Penketh
was with me before I went to Yorkshire,
and acquainted me that he had very hard
usage from some of your officers, and, he
believes, without your order. I know the
gentleman very well; he is a near neighbour to me and his condition is not unknown to me. He faithfully served his
majesty all the first war, and in that
service behaved himself very gallantly
and with great loyalty. He received
many wounds and was so great a sufferer,
that he was reduced to a very poor condition. He now lives an undertenant to
a small messuage in Bold, not above
5 acres.' Kenyon MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com).
145. A Lieutenant Penketh was one of
the defenders of Lathom House in the
first siege, 1644; Civil War Tracts (Chet.
Soc.), 173, 177. |
| 25 |
John Penketh, on entering the English
College in Rome in 1651, gave the following account: 'My name is John Penketh alias Rivers. I am son of Richard
Penketh of Penketh in the county of
Lancaster, esquire, who married the
daughter of Thomas Patrick of Bispham,
in the same county, gentleman. I was
born and bred up in my father's house,
and am now twenty-one years of age.
My father, before his death, had spent
nearly all his fortune and left very little
to my mother. … Most of my relations
are Protestant, but my father, with all
his family, one brother excepted, were
always Catholic. I have made my studies
in England under private tutors and at
private schools. I was always a Catholic,
and left England on 13 August, 1651, to
proceed to Rome, where in the family of
Christ I shall be more sure to avoid the
vanities of the world and its dangers;
being moved also to this by an ardent
desire of gaining souls, if found worthy of
the priesthood'; Foley, Rec. S. J. v,
330. The account which follows states
that he had spent some time in the king
of Spain's army in Belgium. |
| 26 |
The John Penketh above-named was
ordained priest in 1656, and in 1663
entered the Society of Jesus, going on the
English mission in the following year.
He in 1678, in the excitement of the
Oates plot, was betrayed, tried at Lancaster, and condemned to death for his
priesthood. He was reprieved, but kept
in prison for some years, being liberated
on the accession of James II. The
Revolution brought fresh troubles, but
he continued his ministrations until his
death in 1701. See the account in
Foley, op. cit. v, 331; vi, 383; vii, 581,
1401.
Other priests of the same family included William Penketh, then of Crossbrook, Orrell, convicted of recusancy in
1716; he was the author of Rivers'
Manual, frequently reprinted, and died
about 1762. See Gillow, Bibliog. Dict.
of Engl. Cath. v, 257, 258; Foley, Rec.
S. J. vi, 450, 455; v, 335. |
| 27 |
Report by Edward Eyes in Trans. Hist.
Soc. xxii, 215. The boundaries had been
walked about twelve years before. Fishing was free. |
| 28 |
In 1285 and later there were disputes
between William de Quyke, clerk, and
Adam son of Dulcia de Birches, who
married Margery, as to the bounds of their
lands in Penketh; Assize R. 1271, m.
12d.; 1277, m. 32a d., 31d. William also
brought actions against Henry son of
Gilbert de Penketh; Assize R. 408, m.
9; &c. |
| 29 |
The Wetshaws were a Ditton family.
Robert son of Henry de Wetshaw had a
daughter Aline, who sold her land to Henry
de Ditton in 1349; Kuerden MSS. iii,
P. 4, n. 613, 617. The purchaser was soon
involved in disputes with Hugh de Kelsall and others, who broke into his
houses in Penketh; De Banc. R. 362,
m. 137, 26d. Shortly afterwards, in
1350, he made further purchases from
William de Widnes and Margery his wife;
Final Conc. ii, 128. |
| 30 |
In 1366 Richard, the prior of Norton, complained about a rescue of cattle
here made by a number of people; De
Banc. R. 462, m. 148. |
| 31 |
Inq. and Extents, 275. |
| 32 |
Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 239. |
| 33 |
Norris D. (B.M.). |
| 34 |
Kenyon MSS. 230. George Fox
visited Penketh and Sankey in 1667 and
1669 and founded a meeting; Journ.
This was held in Great Sankey until in
1681 a meeting-house was built on the
land bought in 1671 for a graveyard; it
was rebuilt in 1736. |
| 35 |
The schoolhouse was not built till
1692; it adjoined the meeting-house.
This was the first school John Bright
attended, 1821. |
| 36 |
This and other details about Penketh
are derived from information supplied by
Mr. J. Spence Hodgson of Didsbury. |