| 1 |
For investigations on the Castle Hill
in 1856 see Trans. Hist. Soc. ix, 61–76.
'Land called the Castle Hill in Penwortham' is named in a deed of 1579;
Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xiv, 61.
A list of copyhold lands belonging to
Henry Fleetwood about 1720 mentions
the Prison house, Blashey (adjoining
Howick), Castle Hill and the Courthouse (north of the churchyard), the
windmill and Aspley Greaves. Paper
in possession of W. Farrer. |
| 2 |
1,975 acres, including an acre of
inland water; Census Rep. 1901; to
this should be added 36 acres for The
Holme. There are also 8 acres of tidal
water and 4 of foreshore. A small part
of Penwortham was added to Preston in
1894; Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31607.
This part contains the Albert Edward
Dock, to make which the course of the
Ribble was altered. |
| 3 |
No bridge was built there till 1756;
the first was badly constructed and fell in
1759, being rebuilt by commissioners.
The earlier crossing was by means of
fords and a ferry boat. |
| 4 |
Adam the Goldsmith of Penwortham
is named in deeds of 1349; Harl. MS.
2042, fol. 103. |
| 5 |
Subs. R. 250, no. 9. |
| 6 |
Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xvii, 5, 6.
A. Hewitson, writing in 1872, says:
'Before the new Burials Regulation Act
came into operation, Catholics, whenever
they had a funeral in Penwortham
churchyard, used to halt with the corpse
at a point opposite this cross, then kneel
down and offer up short prayers. On
the western side of the church there is a
spring of water called St. Anne's Well';
Our Country Churches, 6. There was
formerly the pedestal of another cross
about a mile west of the church. |
| 7 |
Information of Mr. Finch. |
| 8 |
V.C.H. Lancs. i, 287b. |
| 9 |
The story of the barony is told
ibid. 335–6. For details of the infeudations
made by the Bussels see Lancs. Inq.
and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 35–6.
In 1259 Lawrence del Brook, on
behalf of the king, charged Robert
Banastre and a large number of others
with having cut down trees in the wood of
Penwortham and carried the timber away;
Curia Regis R. 164, m. 6; 165, m. 7.
Henry de Lacy in 1292 had wreck of
the sea, infangenthef, &c., at Penwortham; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.),
382. He received a grant of free
warren there in 1294; Charter R. 87
(22 Edw. I), m. II, no. 23.
Accounts of the manor and lordship
for 1296 and 1305 have been printed by
the Chetham Society in De Lacy Compoti,
9, 105. The farm of the assarts and
cottiers was in one year £2 4s. 8d.;
Adam Ploket paid 23s. rent for his land;
the demesne meadows and fishery were
let for £8 13s. 4d., to be increased to
£9 6s. 8d., and a plot between the
priory and the mote hall rendered 1d.
The herbage of Middleforth produced
15s.; peat sold, 4s.; fines for entering
lands, 15s. 4d.; fees of court, £7 14s. 4d.;
while Thomas de Leyland paid 30s. for
the beadlery of Penwortham.
The inquest after the death of Henry
de Lacy in 1311 shows another valuation. The capital messuage at Penwortham was valued at 2s. yearly, and
the perquisites of the three weeks'
court at 40s.; the fees of the serjeanty
of the court were worth 6s. 8d. The
fishery in the Ribble was the most
valuable part of the estate, being worth
£6 13s. 4d. a year, and then came the
24 acres of meadow, worth £3 12s. The
rents of free tenants, as recorded, show
that Thomas de Leyland paid 1s. for an
oxgang of land; Adam Ploket 20s. for
one assart and 3s. 1d. for a second. See
De Lacy Inq. (Chet. Soc.), 20–22.
Accounts for 1323 will be found in
Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 194. The
farm of the assarts and oxgangs was
£2 13s. 10d.; the herbage of Middleforth produced 3s.; the rent of Blackshaw was 26s. 5d.; charcoal sold, 12d.;
turves, 10s.; perquisites of the court
amounted to £6 9s. 5d.; farm of the
serjeanty, 33s. 4d.
In 1327 and later the manor was part
of Queen Isabel's land; Cal. Pat. 1327–30,
p. 69; Q.R. Memo. R. 143, m. 4 d.
In 1341–2 the receipts of the farms
of the oxgangs and assarts amounted to
53s. A plot of land between the priory
and the hall of pleas yielded 1d., while
repairs to the latter building cost 4s. 6d.
For agistment of beasts in the wood of
Middleforth 3s. 3d. was received. The
demesne meadows and fishings were let
to farm at £6 14s. 4d. Court fees and
perquisites amounted to £4 7s. 2d.;
Mins. Accts. bdle. 1091, no. 6.
The Dowager Queen Isabel, who held
the Lacy manors from 1327, resigned
those of Penwortham, Tottington and
Rochdale in 1348 to Henry Earl of Lancaster; Close R. 22 Edw. III, pt. ii, m. 5.
Henry Duke of Lancaster in 1358
demised the fishery and demesne meadows
to Adam de Skillicorn for six years at a
rent of only £4; Dep. Keeper's Rep.
xxxii, App. 338.
In 1401 the custody of the moss was
given to Henry de Howick and Roger de
Werden for thirty years, at a total rent
of 65s.; ibid. xl, App. 530.
A list of tenants in various parts of
Penwortham fee is printed in Farrer's
Clitheroe Court Rolls, 502–3.
Henry Waring was made bailiff, during
pleasure, in 1444; Dep. Keeper's Rep.
xl, App. 537. Sir John Booth had a
lease of the manor in 1508; Duchy of
Lanc. Misc. Bks. xxi, 61a.
See, for bounds, Lancs. and Ches. Rec.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 24; ii,
278; and for a survey in the time of
James I, ibid. ii, 239. |
| 10 |
See Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.),
passim. William Cowper, a bailiff, distrained two cows belonging to James
Anderton of Euxton in 1537 while the
people were at chapel, and a rescue
followed. Sir William Molyneux seems
to have endeavoured to withdraw his suit
and service. The same Sir William had
taken to his house at Sefton certain casks
of wine cast ashore from a wreck at Kirkdale, parcel of the fee of Penwortham;
Duchy Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
ii, 113–15.
Sir Henry Farington, as the king's
steward, complained in 1543 that Peter
Farington had assembled a number of
armed men within the lordship and forbidden them to wear the red rose or be
sworn to serve the king. It appeared
that Sir Thomas Langton had summoned
them as his tenants to wear the Maiden's
Head (his badge) and accompany him in
the expedition against the Scots; ibid. ii,
185, 189.
William Charnock, farmer of the fee
in 1544, complained that whereas the
tenants of Whittingham had done suit
and service at Penwortham, being there
presented and fined for any 'assaults,
frays, bloodwipes, assizes of bread, ale,
and all other misdemeanors,' Thomas
Leyland and others had levied unlawful
fines upon the tenants; ibid. ii, 200.
About 1590 William Farington, the
farmer of the royal manor and bailiwick
of Penwortham, complained that tenants
had refused to pay the fines levied in the
leet court, and that 'rescues' had been
made of goods distrained; Duchy of Lanc.
Plead. Eliz. cl, F 6. He made a similar
complaint in 1602, pointing out that if
the court fines could not be recovered he
would be at a serious loss, having to 'pay
a heavy rent for the manor'; ibid. ccii,
F 10. |
| 11 |
Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxiv; the lordship
or manor with the whole bailiwick. It
would appear from this grant that Henry
Grey Duke of Suffolk, attainted 1554,
had formerly held the manor. |
| 12 |
In 1679, in a fine concerning the
manor of Penwortham, Hugh Dicconson
was plaintiff and Henry Farington and
Susan his wife were deforciants; and
the same Henry and Susan, together
with William Farington, were deforciants in 1684 in a fine as to the
manor and lordship of Penwortham
and other Farington manors, &c.; Pal.
of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 202, m. 47;
213, m. 30. For later recoveries of the
'manor, lordship and fee' of Penwortham,
free fishery in the Ribble, &c., see Pal.
of Lanc. Plea R. 503 (1715), m. 4 d.;
554 (1742), m. 5; 557 (1742), m. 8. |
| 13 |
The rolls of 1323–4 have been
printed in Lancs. Ct. R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), 36–46. Licence for having
coals in Middleforth was granted; also
for tanning and brewing. Wrecks are
mentioned.
There are other early court rolls in
the Record Office, from 1417 onward;
Duchy of Lanc. Ct. R. bdle. 78, no. 1008,
&c. There is little of interest in them, but
in that named (Henry Hoghton, steward)
the proctor of Ribble bridge complained
that the executors of the will of John
Hollins detained 40s. bequeathed to the
bridge.
The court rolls at Worden begin in
1590, William Fleetwood being steward.
They contain long lists of free tenants
and copyholders. The following judicatores are named in 1625—of Standish
with Langtree, Duxbury with Adlington,
Hoghton with Withnell, Warton, Kirkdale, Charnock Richard, Welch Whittle,
Prees, Freckleton, Adlington and Bolton.
The constables for thirty-three townships
were expected, but half of them were
absent. |
| 14 |
The townships were: In Leyland
Hundred—Penwortham, Longton; Leyland, Euxton, Cuerden, Clayton, Whittle,
Hoghton with Withnell, Gunolfsmoors,
Roddlesworth with Wheelton and Heapey;
Brindle; Croston, Bretherton; Eccleston,
Ulnes Walton; Standish with Langtree,
Coppull, Welch Whittle, Charnock
Richard, Charnock Gogarth, Duxbury
with Adlington, Anderton, Shevington.
In West Derby—North Meols, Kirkdale.
In Amounderness and Lonsdale—Freckleton, Carleton, Claughton, Whittingham,
Elswick, Kellamergh, Newton with Scales,
Warton. This is the list of 1625; it has
several peculiarities of grouping, and
Cuerden appears to have been included
in error. Two places not named in it—
Prees and Bolton—had to send judgers.
A later list may be seen in Baines' Lancs.
(ed. 1836), iii, 487. |
| 15 |
Two oxgangs of land appear to have
been given by Warine Bussel together with
the church; they are not named in his
charter, but occur in the confirmation by
his son Albert; Penwortham Priory (Chet.
Soc.), 5. The third oxgang was given by
Richard Bussel, who also allowed a court
to the abbot in Penwortham 'as freely as
my father Warine had his court, or I
mine'; ibid. 4. The same Richard also
gave the fourth fish of all his fishery at
Penwortham; ibid. 5. See also Lancs.
Inq. and Extents, i, 32.
Another oxgang of land was granted by
Richard Bussel to the priory of Bolton in
Yorkshire; ibid. About 1270 the convent there released to Richard son of
Lauys de Knoll their right in the fishery
of Penwortham in the Ribble, which they
had by the gift of Richard Bussel as confirmed by Roger Constable of Chester—
viz. the third fish in the fishery and a
free net—also in an oxgang of land, of
the same donation, held of them by
Thomas Bussel. A rent of 2d. was to
be paid; Dods. MSS. viii, fol. 20b.
The 'land of the parson of Bolton
which Thomas Bussel clerk held of the
abbot' is named in a charter by John de
Clayton; Kuerden fol. MS.(Chet. Lib.), 76. |
| 16 |
The 3 oxgangs appear to have
been confirmed to the abbot in 1204 by
Robert son of Geoffrey (Bussel), who
was to hold them of the abbot by a rent
of 5s.; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), i, 23. See other confirmations in
Kuerden's fol. MS. p. 54, 110. In the
Evesham Chronicle (Rolls Ser.) the grant
is dated much earlier; p. 75.
Among the minor gifts to the abbey of
Evesham or its cell at Penwortham, recorded by Kuerden, are the following:—
Release by Roger son of William le
Spencer of land called the New Close in
Penwortham and of all other lands which
were the queen's; fol. MS. p. 370.
Grant by Adam called the Ferryman to
Philip de Cheldesey, Prior of Penwortham,
of 14 perches of arable land in Penwortham
moor; ibid. p. 130. John de Clayton
released his right in an oxgang of land,
and made other grants; ibid. 76. Right
in the same oxgang was also relinquished
by Richard de Hurleton and Alice his
wife, daughter of William de Heyland;
ibid. p. 170. Also by Alice's son John
son of Walter Linley; ibid. p. 234.
Edmund de Lacy gave land called
Herfordriding, the bounds of which began
on the east side of Wadischegreves and
went south to the land belonging to the
oxgangs of land, thence west and north
to the marsh by the Ribble, and east to
Heggedemorncliff, and along the cliff to
the starting-point; ibid. p. 231. There
are other grants and confirmations by
John de Lacy, Thomas Earl of Lancaster,
and his successors; ibid.
For the inquiry as to the grant of 8 acres
of the waste made to Evesham by Earl
Thomas, see Penwortham Priory, 14–16.
It was found that each acre was worth
4d. a year. The manor was held by the
earl of the king as Earl of Lincoln by the
service of one knight. A release by
Queen Isabella in 1334 of lands in each
township in the parish is printed ibid. 29.
A lease of the Earl's Meadow in Penwortham was made to the abbot in 1446,
at a rent of 33s. 4d., for the term of forty
years; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 539.
The bounds between the Earl's Meadow
in the king's manor of Penwortham and
the township of Howick were decided in
1528; a stone cross on the Eegh Marsh
is named; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.),
xiv, 59. A further dispute was settled
in 1544; Duchy Plead. ii, 203.
For the application of the revenue from
Penwortham see Evesham Chron. 209, &c. |
| 17 |
Penwortham Priory, 35–40. John de
Radcliffe, as seneschal of the liberty of
Penwortham for Queen Isabella, claimed
from the priory a certain puture for himself, his officers and their horses and men,
in food and drink one day and two nights
every three weeks, viz. while the court
was being held. The abbot pleaded that
he held in free alms and was not subject
to such burdens. The seneschal was convicted of an unjust and novel extortion
and was sent to gaol. Henry Earl of
Lancaster in 1350 released any claim to
puture for the sheriff or any of his officers.
See also Assize R. 430, m. 6 d.
A complaint had come from Amounderness in 1334 that whereas a serjeant on
horse with his groom used to perform the
duties of bailiff within the barony, and
whereas 16 oxgangs of land used to provide puture for them, of late puture had
been claimed from the lesser residents
or money in lieu of it; and sheaves and
money from the greater residents; Coram
Rege R. 297, Rex m. 22 d.
In 1382 it was alleged that the abbot
had acquired lands in Penwortham without the king's assent; Q.R. Memo. R. 159.
The Prior of Penwortham in 1409
agreed with William Forshaw as to the
carriage of corn and hay from a field
called the Ro across William's field called
Gargape; this passage would be allowed
on request, but the prior and his tenants
were to inclose the Gargape so that no
damage might be done to the crops there
growing. Any damage was to be paid for
by the judgement of the good folk of
the vill; Penwortham Priory, 59. |
| 18 |
Ibid. 79–83; see the account of the
advowson. It was provided that should
the abbot visit Penwortham 'convenient
meat and drink and bedding, hay and
provender and sufficient stallage for their
horses' for a whole week in any one
year were to be given the abbot and his
retinue by the farmer. |
| 19 |
Pat. 34 Hen. VIII, pt. viii. The
grant of Penwortham and Calwich is
printed in full in Penwortham Priory, 112–
23. John Fleetwood was described as
'of London.' An extent of the lands, &c.,
in the township is also printed; the site
of the 'priory, cell, manor, or grange' of
Penwortham was valued at £1 a year;
the field names include Hereford ridding
at Hangmans bank, Ferryman hey,
Blasshaw, Over eye and Nether eye.
The grant included the eighth part of the
fishery in the Ribble between Evyn or
Ivye pool to the head of the marsh in
Penwortham and Howick; turbary and
a grove of trees adjoining the priory;
also the advowsons of North Meols and
Leyland. A rent of 9s. 11d. was to be
paid to the king, and the lands of the
priory were to be held by the twentieth
part of a knight's fee. |
| 20 |
Ibid. 124–32; Pat. 6 Eliz. part vii.
It is remarkable that nothing is said in
these grants as to the maintenance of
divine worship in Penwortham Church. |
| 21 |
P.R.O. List, 73. |
| 22 |
Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 59. The origin
of the family is obscure, but at this time
it had several prominent members; see
the account of Heskin. |
| 23 |
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 34;
the fortieth part of a knight's fee was
added to the service due by the patent of
Elizabeth. |
| 24 |
Ibid. There is a full account of the
family in the introduction to Penwortham
Priory, pp. lii-lxix. John Fleetwood was
buried at Penwortham, but his monument
is in Ellaston Church, Staffs.; ibid. p. lviii.
An abstract of his will is printed. |
| 25 |
Pat. 42 Eliz. pt. xxvii. It appears
that a twenty-one years' lease of the
rectory had been granted to Thomas
Fleetwood in 1586; Pat. 28 Eliz. pt. iii. |
| 26 |
His will, dated 1626, is printed in
Wills (Chet. Soc., new ser.), ii, 194–6;
his son Edward's (1615) in the same
volume, 183. Papers relating to the
disputes between Sir W. Norris and
R. Fleetwood are among the Norris D.
(B.M.).
A pedigree, signed by Henry Fleetwood,
son of Richard, was recorded in 1613;
Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 122. For notes on
the arms and the family see N. and Q.
(Ser. 10), vi, 264; vii, 303. |
| 27 |
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxv,
no. 22. The tenure of all the manors,
rectories, &c., together is stated as the
tenth part of a knight's fee.
John Fleetwood paid £13 6s. 8d. as
composition on refusing knighthood in
1631; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 214. |
| 28 |
He was appointed one of the commissioners of array in December 1642;
Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 67. After
the defeat at Whalley in April 1643
Lord Derby stayed for the night at Fleetwood's house at Penwortham; War in
Lancs. (Chet. Soc.), 34. |
| 29 |
Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 321–3. An additional fine of £24 was levied on account
of an omission in the statement of his
lands. |
| 30 |
Penwortham Priory, pp. lxv-lxvii. He
desired his heir to provide a preacher for
Penwortham Church, 'endowed with
learning and understanding and of a good
life and conversation,' and to pay him
not less than £40 a year. |
| 31 |
A pedigree was recorded in 1664;
Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 110. |
| 32 |
Penwortham Priory, p. lxviii; Pal. of
Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 197, m. 66. The
deforciants were Edward Fleetwood and
Knightley Purefoy.
Arthur Fleetwood was the son of
Dr. James Fleetwood, provost of King's
College, Cambridge, 1660, and Bishop of
Worcester from 1675 till his death in
1683, who was grandson of Thomas
Fleetwood of the Vache, brother of the
first John Fleetwood of Penwortham.
The bishop's hatchment was in Penwortham Church; an account of his life
is in Dict. Nat. Biog. |
| 33 |
21 Geo. II, cap. 14. The Act contains particulars of settlements, &c., and
provides for the proper distribution of
any surplus from the proceeds of the sale.
Henry's heirs were the representatives of
his sisters Barbara and Honora; the
former's only child, Barbara Goring,
married Walter Chetwynd of Grendon;
while Honora married — Hinton of
Atherstone. |
| 34 |
For pedigree see Whitaker, Whalley,
ii, 107. |
| 35 |
In a fine of August 1752, respecting
the manors of Howick and Farington,
the churches of Penwortham and Longton,
and a fourth part of the manor of Longton, the deforciants were John Aspinall
and Caroline his wife, the plaintiffs being
James Barton and another; Pal. of Lanc.
Feet of F. bdle. 349, m. 98. No
'manor' of Penwortham is named, but
lands, &c., there were included. |
| 36 |
In a recovery of the manors of
Farington and Howick and various lands
in 1806 James Barton was vouchee and
Lawrence Rawstorne one of the demandants; Pal. of Lanc. Assizes, 46 Geo. III,
R. 9. |
| 37 |
There are two illustrations in Twycross' Lancs. Mansions, i, 48. Whitaker
(Richmondshire, ii, 428), writing shortly
before 1823, describes the old building
then standing on this site as a 'humble
edifice,' three sides of which were still
entire and inclosed by a moat. The
fourth or north side, which he conjectured
had contained the chapel, had been rebuilt within the recollection of people
then alive. There was a quadrangle
about 40 ft. square, but the structure had
been so modified by the Fleetwoods that
it was impossible to trace from it the
disposition of the original priory buildings. |
| 38 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 33. The
Clayton family does not occur again at
Penwortham. |
| 39 |
Ibid. 149 (1242), 315 (1302). |
| 40 |
Final Conc. ii, 90, 91. Two separate estates were settled on Philip's son
Nicholas, with remainders to daughters
Agnes, Katherine, Joan, Margaret and
Alice.
Penwortham as a surname is found
much earlier; it may have been used by
some of the Bussel family; Farrer, Lancs.
Pipe R. 180. See also ibid. 323; Final
Conc. i, 189. William son of Master
William de Preston in 1310 claimed two
messuages and lands in Penwortham
against William the Harper, in right of
his mother Alice, daughter of Adam son
of Walter de Penwortham; De Banc. R.
183, m. 326. |
| 41 |
Richard de Certeden (as a trustee) in
1365 granted to Ellen daughter of Philip
de Penwortham and her son John land in
the place called Rolegh; and in 1376 the
said Ellen granted the land to John de
Ellisley and Alice his wife; Towneley
MS. DD, no. 271–2.
'Ralee' occurs in a grant by Albert
Bussel, with the consent of Geoffrey his
brother and Lettice his wife, to the church
of Evesham; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.),
xiv. 49. |
| 42 |
He died in 1621 owning a messuage,
&c., called Ellisley Meadow, and other
lands in Middleforth and Penwortham,
held of Richard Fleetwood in socage by a
rent of 10d.; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 459; Duchy of
Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxv, no. 31. |
| 43 |
Subs. R. 130, no. 126, Lancs. |
| 44 |
Ibid. 131, no. 210. |
| 45 |
The name has already occurred
among the Lacy tenants. In 1292
William de Wittingham withdrew a claim
he had made for the fourth part of 60
acres of wood against Henry de Lacy
Earl of Lincoln and Hugh Pluket; Assize
R. 408, m. 63.
William Ploket in 1333 granted to
John del Wich all the land which had
belonged to Hugh Ploket his grandfather,
lying upon the Ribble between Duxupil
and the land of William del Scales;
Kuerden fol. MS. p. 310. See also the
account of Longton. |
| 46 |
Adam son of Adam de la Bower
(Bure) of Penwortham in 1294 claimed
land against Cecily daughter of Robert de
la Bower; Assize R. 1299, m. 14 d. In
1311 and later Henry son of Adam del
Bower claimed a messuage and land
against William the Harper, who alleged
a grant by Cecily 'de Camera,' grandmother of the plaintiff; De Banc. R. 185,
m. 9; 198, m. 87 d. Thomas Bower
made a purchase from Richard Molyneux
and Eleanor his wife in 1556; Pal. of
Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 17, m. 153. The
Molyneux land in Penwortham had been
held of the priory; Duchy of Lanc. Inq.
p.m. ix, no. 2. |
| 47 |
Thurstan Forshaw (son of Thomas
son of William Forshaw) in 1453–4 made
a feoffment of his hereditary lands in
Penwortham, Bolton, Tarleton and
Lathom; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 130. In
1462 one messuage with a meadow called
Croking in Penwortham was restored to
Thurstan; ibid. p. 370. In 1482 this
was granted by Hugh Radcliffe to Hugh
Woodcock; ibid. p. 357. Joan widow of
William Forshaw is mentioned in a deed
of 1445; ibid. p. 410.
James Forshaw died in 1563 holding
messuages and lands in Penwortham and
the neighbourhood, and leaving a son and
heir William of full age. The Penwortham lands were held of the queen as of
her manor of Penwortham in socage by a
rent of 11s. 1d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq.
p.m. xi, no. 41. From disputes in 1592,
after William Forshaw's death about
1585, it seems that he held Banastre
House and Lower Hall, his son John
Forshaw making claim upon it against
Alice his mother and her second husband
Barnaby Kitchin; Duchy of Lanc.
Plead. Eliz. clx, F 19. The whole seems
to have been sold to William Farington
in 1595; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle.
57, m. 160. There are several references
to the family in Ducatus Lanc. |
| 48 |
The tenure of the Hesketh of
Rufford lands is not stated in the inquisitions; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 16.
George, a younger son of Robert Hesketh,
was in possession in 1623; Lancs. Inq. p.m.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 353, 358.
He paid £10 on refusing knighthood in
1631; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), i, 214. An earlier George
Hesketh (Kirkham) had held land in
Penwortham of John Fleetwood; Duchy
of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 15. |
| 49 |
Nicholas Norris died at Longton in
1641 holding a messuage and land in
Middleforth and Penwortham, and leaving a son and heir Nicholas, aged eight
years; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxix,
no. 12. A pedigree of the family (as
Norris of Middleforth) was recorded in
1664; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 219.
For a continuation see Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 199, 200, and the
account of Davy Hulme in Eccles. |
| 50 |
William de Tatham, rector of
Mitton, in 1338 gave to Henry de Pleasington lands in Penwortham to be held
of the chief lords by the service of making daily passage across the Ribble by
boat at his own charge, as in times past,
and enjoining those who crossed to pray
for the soul of Henry de Lacy and
others; Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 138b.
From later deeds it appears that Albert
Bussel had granted a messuage and an
oxgang of land to one Henry de Pleasington for maintaining a boat for foot passengers; in 1358 the lands, which had
been taken into the duke's hand because
Robert son of Henry de Pleasington had
not conveyed horsemen also, were restored
to Robert on his showing that this was
outside the charter; Dep. Keeper's Rep.
xxxii, App. 345. But in 1385 Sir Robert
de Pleasington was further charged with
withdrawing the free passage, it being
this time alleged that Henry de Lacy had
given lands to Robert the Ferryman for
maintaining a free boat, and that Sir
Robert had taken possession of the lands
while the ferryman charged a toll; Lancs.
Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 22. John the
Ferryman died in August 1383 holding
2 acres in Penwortham of the Abbot of
Evesham as of his priory of Penwortham
by a rent of 4d., but having committed
suicide his land was taken into the duke's
hand. Cecily his daughter and heir was
fourteen years old in 1395; Lancs. Rec.
Inq. p.m. no. 15, 16.
In 1387 Sir Robert and John de
Pleasington made a settlement of lands
in Penwortham, &c.; Final Conc. iii, 29.
John Fleetwood in 1582 purchased
Robert Pleasington's messuage, &c., in
Penwortham; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F.
bdle. 24, m. 175. Fleetwood had in
1557 purchased the estate of Alice
daughter and heir of William Smallwood;
ibid. bdle. 20, m. 116. A Thomas
Smallwood had held a messuage and
land in Penwortham in 1504; Pal. of
Lanc. Plea R. 97, m. 9. |
| 51 |
Gilbert Sutton of Penwortham
(son of Richard and Joan) in 1414
agreed to marry Joan daughter of John
Farington and sister of William; Piccope
MSS. xiv, 86. He appears to have married some years earlier Margaret a daughter
of Henry de Howick; ibid. 56.
Gilbert Sutton was in 1518 found to
have held land in Penwortham of the
king as Duke of Lancaster; Duchy of
Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 67. This
descended to Gorsuch of Scarisbrick in
the same way as the other Sutton
estates; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle.
63, no. 94. |
| 52 |
Roger de Werden had a lease of
part of the moss in 1401; Dep. Keeper's
Rep. xl, App. 530. The administrators
of the goods of John Werden (viz.
Lettice the widow and James Werden)
claimed a debt from Sir Alexander
Standish in 1505; Duchy of Lanc.
Ct. R. bdle. 78, no. 1011. William Werden
in 1559 made a settlement of his messuage,
land, &c., in favour of his illegitimate
sons Arthur, Peter and James Werden;
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 21, m. 140.
George Werden of Penwortham, as a
'Papist,' registered a small estate in
1717; Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath.
Non-jurors, 96. |
| 53 |
In 1394 it was returned that William
son of William Grayveson, outlawed in
1391, had in right of Ellen his wife held a
messuage and land of the duke in socage;
Margery wife of Robert de Charnley
was the daughter and heir of Ellen;
Lancs. Rec. Misc. Inq. p.m. no. 4, 5;
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 49.
Thomas Kuerden purchased a messuage
and land in Middleforth in 1551 from
Nicholas and William Ambrose; Pal. of
Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 235.
Elizabeth Kuerden was in 1579 a defendant in a suit as to Estmar intakes;
Ducatus Lanc. iii, 62, 88.
Oliver Breres of Preston died in 1572
holding the Spence in Penwortham, but
the tenure was not stated; Duchy of
Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 13.
John Charnock of Fulwood died in
1574 holding a portion of turbary called
Penwortham moss of the queen by the
fortieth part of a knight's fee; ibid. xii,
no. 35. In his will he says that he had
purchased the turbary from Sir Thomas
Gerard and the copyhold lands from
Thomas Serjeant; he bequeathed the
former to Robert Charnock of Astley
and the latter to Alice wife of Barnaby
Kitchin and widow of William Forshaw;
Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), ii, 209–10.
William Charnock of Leyland in 1598
held messuages, &c., in Penwortham of
the queen in socage; Duchy of Lanc.
Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 5. Robert Charnock
of Charnock Richard in 1616 held a
messuage, &c., in Penwortham of the
king by knights' service; Lancs. Inq. p.m.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 38.
Charnock moss lies to the south of the
township.
William Kirkby of Up Rawcliffe in 1596
held two messuages, &c., of the queen as
of her manor of Penwortham; Duchy of
Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 16.
Richard Serjeant in 1628 held three
messuages, &c., in Middleforth, his heirs
being his ten daughters; ibid. xxvii, no.
27.
Henry Banastre of Bank in 1641 held
a messuage in Middleforth; ibid. xxix,
no. 15. |
| 54 |
Ibid. v, no. 64. The lands in
Penwortham seem to have been called
Cuerdale lands; they were held of
Thomas Langton (of Walton-le-Dale)
by services unknown.
John de Cuerdale had lands (Blodhey,
&c.) in Penwortham in the time of
Henry IV, which seem to have descended to his son Geoffrey; Kuerden
fol. MS. pp. 211–13, 246.
Banastre House seems to have been
part of the Mounteagle estate; Ducatus
Lanc. iii, 242. See Forshaw above.
Thomas Hesketh in 1596 purchased
lands in Middleforth and Penwortham
from Lord Mounteagle; Pal. of Lanc.
Feet of F. bdle. 59, m. 338. |
| 55 |
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), i, 181–4; it was held of the
king by the hundredth part of a knight's
fee. His purchase of the Forshaw
estate has been recorded above. In 1572
he bought two messuages with lands
from Robert Aughton and Ellen his wife;
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 34, m. 47.
About 1590 he had disputes with James
Ayscough and others as to tenements
called Hollins, Brandlewood, &c.;
Ducatus Lanc. iii, 217, &c. |
| 56 |
References to the moss will be
found in preceding notes. In 1403 the
moss was let for £3 4s. a year; Lancs.
and Ches. Recs. ii, 304. The turbary in
the moss was included in the grant of
Ulnes Walton and other manors by
Edward IV to Thomas Molyneux of
Sefton in 1481; Duchy of Lanc. Misc.
Bks. xix, 20. For various claims see
Duchy Plead. ii, 183; iii, 11.
In 1551 it was with the same manors
sold to Anthony Browne; Duchy of Lanc.
Misc. Bks. xxiii, 70 d. His tenants had
disputes with others as to the right of
turbary in 1565, and there were later
conflicts; Ducatus Lanc. ii, 304; iii, 109.
See also Lancs. and Ches. Rec. ii, 261,
279.
In 1595 the people of Preston claimed
right of way over Middleforth moor and
Penwortham moss; Ducatus, iii, 327, &c. |
| 57 |
Land tax returns at Preston. |