Townships: Great Bolton

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911.

This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.

Citation:

'Townships: Great Bolton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp243-251 [accessed 14 October 2024].

'Townships: Great Bolton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed October 14, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp243-251.

"Townships: Great Bolton". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 14 October 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp243-251.

In this section

GREAT BOLTON

Bothelton, 1212; Botelton, 1257; Boulton, 1288, and common; Bolton, 1307, and common.

This township, (fn. 1) which contains the parish church and about half the town of Bolton-le-Moors, has an area of 825½ acres, (fn. 2) and is bounded on the north and east by the River Croal, flowing east and southeast to join the Irwell. The surface is comparatively level, though rising towards the south-west, except for the clough or steep-banked valley through which the Croal flows. The population, including that of Haulgh, in 1901 was 53,506.

Formerly the south-western part of the township was occupied by the moor, and the first habitations sprang up along the course of the stream, the church standing above it at the point where its course changed from east to south. There were two noted wells, the memory of which is preserved in Silverwell Street and Spa Road. (fn. 3) From the church the road from Little Bolton leads westward by Church Bank, Church Gate, and Deansgate, from which the roads to Chorley and Deane branched off. This main street is crossed, about 200 yards from the church, by the road from Manchester leading north by Bradshaw Gate and Bank Street into Little Bolton. At their crossing was the old market-place, (fn. 4) with its cross. From Deansgate Bridge Street leads northward across the Croal, and in 1874–7 another high level road across was formed, further west, and called Marsden Street. The new market-place, 1824, more recently called Town Hall Square and Victoria Square, is to the south of Deansgate. (fn. 5) Here stands the new Town Hall, and close at hand are the markets and other municipal buildings. From the west end of Deansgate, Moor Lane leads south, and branches out west and south-west as Deane Road and Derby Street. To the west of Moor Lane are the districts called Bullfield, Gilnow, and Pocket. From the junction of Moor Lane and Derby Street, Weston Street and Great Moor Street lead north-east to Bradshaw Gate, and Crook Street and Trinity Street (fn. 6) eastward across the railway station to the bridge over the Croal, leading into Haulgh. To the south of Crook Street were the Lecturer's Closes, now chiefly occupied by a goods station. Rosehill lies to the south-east of the town, by the river.

Trinity Street Station of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company has been mentioned; it was opened in 1871. From it runs south the line to Manchester, with a branch to Bury through Rosehill; to the north and west the lines to Preston and Liverpool, with a branch turning north-west by the church to Blackburn. The London and North Western Company has a terminus in Great Moor Street; from this its lines run south to Worsley and Manchester, with a westward branch to Kenyon. (fn. 7)

Apart from the municipal buildings and churches the most noticeable are the Spinners Hall, theatre, Conservative Club, and infirmary. Near the southern boundary is a recreation ground; close by is the Pike. Bolton Park, opened in 1866, though on the north bank of the Croal, is mostly within Great Bolton; there is a recreation ground on the opposite or south bank. The infirmary adjoins the park. (fn. 8)

Digging sea coal at Bolton is named in 1374. (fn. 9) The woollen manufacture and other handicrafts seem there to have found a home early. Leland, about 1536, says:—'Bolton-upon-Moor market standeth most by cottons and coarse yarn. Divers villages in the moors about Bolton do make cottons [woollens]. Neither the site nor ground about Bolton is so good as it is about Bury. They burn at Bolton some cannel, but more sea coal, of which the pits be not far off. They burn turf also.' (fn. 10) A deputy aulnager was ordered to be appointed at Bolton in 1566, (fn. 11) and the town appears to have prospered.

In religion, though some few of the neighbouring gentry remained attached to the ancient faith, the people of Bolton soon became Protestant and inclined to the extreme party, so that in the 17th century the town was regarded as the Geneva of Lancashire. (fn. 12) During the Civil War, therefore, it naturally took sides against the king, giving assistance to Sir John Seaton, and suffered three different assaults from the Royalists. The first took place on 16 February 1642–3, when Colonel Assheton and his force, to the number of 500, were attacked by Lord Derby's forces from Wigan, by way of Bradshaw Gate. The outworks were taken, but the protection of a mud wall and chain sufficed for the defenders; though gallantly attacked again and again for four hours, they succeeded in driving off the Royalists, who returned to Wigan. (fn. 13) A year later a second attack was made. On the evening of 28 March 1644, Lord Derby, after summoning the town to surrender, made two assaults, but his men were each time compelled to retire. Two months later, 27 May, Prince Rupert and Lord Derby, with an army of 10,000 men or more, attacked the town, defended by Colonel Rigby, who had withdrawn his troops from Lathom. The first assault was repulsed with loss; but Lord Derby, eager to avenge the long siege of Lathom, led a second attack at the head of a body of picked men, while Prince Rupert attacked the town from another side. The defenders were outmatched and the town was taken, Colonel Rigby flying into Yorkshire. The Royalists were said to have used their advantage with great cruelty, refusing quarter (fn. 14) and desolating the town. It was on this account that the Earl of Derby's execution in 1651 was ordered to trke place at Bolton. He was accordingly beheaded there on a scaffold erected by the market cross. The people of the town appear to have sympathized with him, and a tumult had to be forcibly quelled by the soldiery. (fn. 15)

The Man and Scythe Inn, the house where the earl is said to have rested a little before his execution, still stands on the south side of Church Gate, near the old market-place: a low two-story building with modern blue-slated roof, substantially the same as when rebuilt in 1638, though in some degree modernized and repaired. The date of rebuilding, together with the initials A.W., occurs on a stone over the old kitchen fireplace. Two relics of the earl are preserved in the house—a triangular-seated chair on which, according to a brass plate on the back, the earl sat 'immediately prior to his execution,' and a two-handled tankard out of which he is said to have drunk, which also bears an inscription.

The cotton manufacture is said to have been introduced about 1650. Bolton soon revived, (fn. 16) and in 1673 was thus described:—'Seated on the River Irwell, a fair, well-built town, with broad streets, hath a market on Mondays, which is very good for clothing and provisions; and it is a place of great trade for fustians.' (fn. 17) Some Protestant artisans, driven from France by Louis XIV, are said to have settled in Bolton in 1685, to the advantage of its manufactures. (fn. 18) It was not directly affected by the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745. The people were rude and violent, (fn. 19) and the 'barbarous customs' of the place were noticed at the beginning of last century. (fn. 20) The improvement that had then taken place was attributed to the rise of the Sunday school, for in a place where even young children worked all the week round, Sunday was the only day for teaching. These schools began about 1770, that of the Wesleyans being famous. There were numerous charitable institutions, the dispensary being established in 1814. The Mechanics' Institution was founded in 1825. By that time the outward aspect of the town had also improved, the inclosure of the moor in 1792 enabling a great advance to be made. Horse-racing (fn. 21) and cockfighting were among the amusements. In 1793 and 1794 companies of Marines and Infantry Volunteers were raised in view of the national dangers. (fn. 22) The later volunteer movement readily found a response in the town, a company being formed in 1859—largely multiplied since then. (fn. 23)

The trade of the town continued to make advances in spite of occasional years of adversity. Dr. Aikin in 1795 wrote: 'This original seat of the cotton trade is still the centre of the manufacture of ornamental or fancy goods. It is only by emigrants from this place that any branches of this trade have been transplanted elsewhere; but the most ingenious part of the workmanship still remains rooted as it were to the soil, and flourishes even amidst present discouragements so far that the poor suffer less here than in any of the surrounding districts. The muslin trade is that which seems to answer best at present. Since the opposition of the populace to the use of machines for shortening labour has been quelled by convincing them of their utility, spinning factories have been erected throughout all the surrounding country, especially where water is plentiful. The streams near Bolton are too near sources to furnish the water that large works require; there are few, therefore, in the neighbourhood of the larger kind, though several of the smaller. Much water is also occupied by the bleachers, who have extensive crofts here. . . . The want of water in this district is made up by the ingenious invention of the machines called mules, or Hall-in-the-Wood wheels,' by Samuel Crompton. Sir Richard Arkwright, another great inventor, was for a time a barber in Church Gate, and there devised his improvements. (fn. 24)

In 1807 Bolton was described as 'noted for its medicinal waters, and more so for its manufactures of fustians and counterpanes, dimities and muslins. . . . It stands amid dreary moors. . . . Market on Monday.' (fn. 25)

Cotton-spinning and the various branches of the manufacture, together with bleaching works, have continued to prosper. Bolton Exchange was opened in 1829. The Bolton and Manchester Canal, for which an Act was obtained in 1791, helped in the development, as did the railways, already projected in 1825, and opened in 1828 and later years. At present, in addition to the many great cotton factories there are in Great Bolton important iron and steel works and machine factories, where boilers, steam engines, &c., are made; also breweries, saw-mills, leather works, and other industries.

The market is now open daily, but Monday remains one of the chief days for business. A number of fairs are held; the old fair in July is kept up on the last Wednesday in that month and the following day; another is held on the second Wednesday and Thursday in October; the dates of these were in 1824 31 July and 14 October, a cattle fair being held on the preceding days.

Beyond the fragments of crosses in the church, there are no remains of any great antiquity in the town. The market cross was removed in 1786. The pillory was last used in 1818. (fn. 26)

A printing press is said to have existed as early as 1761. (fn. 27) The first newspaper, the Bolion Herald, was established in 1813. (fn. 28) At present there are two daily evening papers, the Chronicle and Evening News; the former, founded in 1870, has a larger Saturday issue, and the latter (1887) also has one called the Journal and Guardian. The Cricket and Football Field is printed at Bolton, and there is a monthly paper, the British Skeaf.

Prince Albert visited some local mills in 1851, and King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, opened the new town hall in 1873.

A statue of Samuel Crompton stands in Nelson Square, and one of Dr. Chadwick in Victoria Square.

Among the minor events in the town's history may be mentioned the activities of the Resurrection men about 1829; (fn. 29) appearances of the plague in 1623, cholera in 1832 and 1848–9, and typhus in 1847; the Murphy No-Popery riots of 1868; the antiRepublican riot of 1871; and the municipal scandal of 1875.

'Jannock,' a word of approval, is said to have been the name of the oat bread which was at one time the universal diet of the Bolton artisans.

Manor

Owing to the paucity of records it is impossible to give a full account of the descent of the manor of BOLTON. This formed part of the fee of the Marsey family, (fn. 30) as is shown by the descent of the advowson of the church, and so passed to Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and his heirs the Ferrers, Earls of Derby. (fn. 31) On the forfeiture of the latter in 1266 Bolton escaped, having been granted by Robert de Ferrers to his brother William, (fn. 32) after whose death in 1287 it was found to be held of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, by doing suit to Salford Wapentake court from three weeks to three weeks and to the county court from six weeks to six weeks. (fn. 33) In the time of Henry VIII Bolton did suit to Penwortham. (fn. 34)

Ferrers, Earl of Derby. Vairy or and gules.

Shortly after 1287, but by what title is unknown, the manor was held by Margaret, sister of Sir Robert de Holland, and on her death divided among her four daughters and heirs. (fn. 35) The eldest, Alice, married Sir Robert de Shireburne, and the fourth part assigned to her descended with the Shireburne estates (fn. 36) till 1632, when it was sold by Richard son of Richard Shireburne and Elizabeth his wife, to Roger Lever, (fn. 37) descending in this family till the end of the 18th century. (fn. 38)

Shireburne. Argent a lion rampant vert.

The second daughter, Agnes, was twice married, but appears to have had no children; and in 1336 as a widow, she settled her share of the manor upon the children of her sister Katherine. (fn. 39)

The third daughter, Joan, married Sir Thomas de Arderne, and had issue; but the fourth part, which should have descended to the heirs of this family, seems to have been recovered about 1360 by the heir of the above-named William de Ferrers, (fn. 40) and descended in the line of Ferrers of Groby till the attainder of Thomas, Marquess of Dorset, in 1483. (fn. 41) It was in 14.84 given to the Stanleys, afterwards Earls of Derby, and has since descended with the earldom. (fn. 42)

Ferrers of Groby. Gules seven mascles conjoined or.

The fourth daughter, Katherine, married Sir John de Harrington of Farleton in Lonsdale, and had three sons—Thomas, Robert, and Nicholas; (fn. 43) the inheritance, doubled by the gift of Agnes, descended with the issue of Nicholas to Sir Thomas Harrington and his son Sir John, both killed at the battle of Wakefield in 1460. (fn. 44) The moiety of the manor of Bolton was secured for himself by Sir Edward Stanley, created Lord Mounteagle, who married Anne, one of Sir John Harrington's daughters; (fn. 45) and it descended through his son by a second marriage to William, Lord Mounteagle, who in 1574 sold it to William Slinehead and Ellis Ainsworth. (fn. 46)

The estate was then divided. Ralph Assheton of Great Lever in 1588 died seised of a fourth part of the manor, (fn. 47) and his descendant, Sir Ralph Assheton, sold it in 1630 to John Bridgeman, Bishop of Chester, (fn. 48) with whose descendant, the Earl of Bradford, this part of the manor still remains.

From Ellis Ainsworth the remaining fourth part seems to have passed by the marriage of Jane Ainsworth to Ellis Hey of Monks Hall in Eccles, (fn. 49) and their descendant, another Ellis Hey, in 1658 sold it to Henry Houghton, (fn. 50) after which it cannot be clearly traced. (fn. 51)

At the present time the Earl of Derby and the Earl of Bradford are said to hold each a fourth part of the manor; the holders of the remainder are not known.

Stanley, Earl of Derby. Argent on a bend azure three harts' heads caboshed or.

Bridgeman, Earl of Bradford. Sable ten plates, on a chief argent a lion passant ermines.

Many of the surrounding landowners have held burgages and lands in Great Bolton from an early period, (fn. 52) and the names of other owners occur in various pleadings and charters. (fn. 53) Among the more noteworthy of these were a branch of the Norris family of Tonge. (fn. 54) The returns of 'Papists' estates' in the time of George I include the name of Cope Brooks of Bolton. (fn. 55)

There was a case of treasure trove in 1560. (fn. 56)

The distinction between the trades of tanners and leather-dressers was insisted upon in 1445. (fn. 57)

Richard Rothwell, a Puritan exorcist of the beginning of the 17th century, is said to have been a native of Bolton.

Borough

At the beginning of 1253 William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, then lord of Bolton, by his charter made the town a free borough, and granted the burgesses certain liberties. Each burgess was to have an acre of land, measured by the long perch of 24 ft., and to pay 12d. a year. A reeve was to be chosen each year by the burgesses from among themselves, and pleas were to be heard in the local halmote or portmanmote. The burgesses had rights of turbary, and might take timber from the grove between the great lane and the land of the church; they were to grind at the lord's mill to the twentieth measure, but if they were kept waiting more than two days might take their corn elsewhere. All pleas belonging to the borough were to be decided before the lord's bailiffs by view of the burgesses. (fn. 58) The earl had in December 1251 procured the king's charter for a market at Bolton every Monday, and a yearly fair on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Margaret, 19–21 July, as well as for free warren. (fn. 59)

The borough (fn. 60) did not develop into an independent community, but, like Manchester, was governed by officers appointed at the manor courts. (fn. 61) The growth of the town during the 18th century made a change desirable. In 1792 an Act was passed for the inclosure and allotment of Bolton Moor, for regulating the streets, securing a water supply, removing nuisances, and licensing conveyances. (fn. 62) The Commissioners under the Act had thus considerable powers of government; and a voluntary association for watching the town existed for some years. (fn. 63) In 1838 a charter of incorporation was granted under the general Act of 1835, the townships of Great and Little Bolton, with some alteration of boundaries, becoming the borough of Bolton. (fn. 64) A considerable party in the district, preferring the older order, protested that the charter was invalid, until the Boroughs Incorporation Act of 1842 confirmed it. (fn. 65) The borough was at first divided into six wards—Exchange, Bradford, Derby, Church, East, and West—each with two aldermen and six councillors. In 1839 magistrates were appointed for the borough, and a court of quarter sessions was granted. A number of improvement Acts have been passed; by that of 1847 the waterworks, formed by a private company in 1818, (fn. 66) were purchased, and have since been greatly enlarged; the gasworks, also owned by a private company formed in 1818–20, were acquired in 1872. (fn. 67) Electric lighting works were opened in 1894. Under an Act of 1850 the powers of the Great Bolton and Little Bolton Trusts (fn. 68) were transferred to the corporation, and the erection of a market was authorized; this was opened in 1855, and enlarged in 1894; a fish market was added in 1865, and a wholesale market in 1871. (fn. 69) A free library was inaugurated in 1853, (fn. 70) and this has constantly grown; a natural history museum building, the gift of Dr. S. T. Chadwick, was opened in 1884; the Mere Hall art museum was presented by Mr. J. P. Thomasson in 1890, and Halli' th'Wood by Mr. W. H. Lever in 1899. The baths were opened in 1846, and have been enlarged since. Parks and recreation grounds have been added, and a large part of Rivington has recently been presented to the town by Mr. W. H. Lever.

For a long time the council used the Little Bolton Town Hall, built in 1826, for its meetings; but in 1873 the new Town Hall was opneed. (fn. 71) At the same time the council was enlarged; in the preceding year Daubhill had been taken into the borough as Rumworth Ward, and in 1873 the wards were increased to eight, by constituting a portion of West Ward into an independent one, called North Ward; and the boundaries were rearranged. The two new wards had an alderman and three councillors each. (fn. 72) In 1877 the boundaries were again enlarged, part of Halliwell being included as a ninth ward, with two aldermen and six councillors. (fn. 73) Twelve years later the town became a county borough under the Local Government Act, and in 1898 a further extension of boundaries took place, so that the municipal borough now includes the old townships of Great and Little Bolton, and Tonge with Haulgh, and those of Halliwell, Heaton, Lostock, Rumworth, part of Over Hulton, Middle Hulton, Great Lever, Darcy Lever, Breightmet, and Sharpies. The town is governed by a mayor, twenty-four aldermen, and seventy-two councillors; there are seventeen wards, of which seven—Exchange, Bradford, Derby, Church, East, West, and Halliwell—have each two aldermen and six councillors; and the rest—North, Rumworth, Astley Bridge, Tonge, Darcy-Lever-cum-Breightmet, Great Lever, Hulton, Deane-cum-Lostock, Heaton, and Smithills—have each an alderman and three councillors. A grant of arms was obtained in 1890. (fn. 74) A school board was formed in 1870. Electric tram ways are worked by the corporation. (fn. 75) The cemeteries at Tonge and Heaton, opened in 1857 and 1879 respectively, are regulated by a burial board.

The Parliamentary borough was created by the Reform Act of 1832; the electoral area included Great Bolton, most of Little Bolton, and Haulgh, and was extended in 1868 to include Astley Bridge and Little Bolton Higher End. (fn. 76) It has always been represented by two members.

The parish church has been described above. There is a mission hall in connexion with it. The other churches in this district are:—Holy Trinity, Sweet Green, was erected in 1826 as a chapel of ease, and made the head of a separate parish in 1841; the Bishop of Manchester is patron. (fn. 77) Emmanuel was built in 1838, and made parochial in 1841; the vicar of Bolton presents the incumbent. (fn. 78) Christ Church was built in 1818 by the Methodists, and called Ebenezer; it was transferred in 1841 to the Church of England; the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester present alternately. (fn. 79) St. Paul's, which has a mission church, was built in 1865, and had a district assigned to it the following year; it is in the gift of five trustees. (fn. 80) St. Mark's was built in 1866, and was consecrated in 1871; the Bolton Lectureship Trustees and another body of four trustees present alternately. (fn. 81) St. Bartholomew's, built in 1879, had a district assigned to it in 1880; five trustees have the patronage. (fn. 82) The Saviour's was built in 1882; in this case also the patronage is vested in five trustees. (fn. 83) To St. Philip's, 1898, the Bishop of Manchester and the Bolton Lectureship Trustees present alternately. (fn. 84) Three of these churches have benefited by the Lectureship fund.

A small Methodist congregation was formed about 1742, but John Wesley, on his first visits in 1748 and 1749, met with a brutal reception. (fn. 85) Soon after this there broke out the dispute between Wesley and Whitefield as to Calvinism; the congregation divided, and the few Wesleyans proper kept up a meeting, and Wesley himself several times visited the town. The chapel in Ridgeway Gates, Deansgate, opened in 1777, represents this first congregation. There are now seven other Wesleyan churches in Great Bolton, (fn. 86) and the Victoria Hall, Knowsley Street, built in 1900, is the head quarters of the Bolton mission. The Methodist New Connexion formed a congregation as early as 1797; their first chapel, Ebenezer, built in 1818, has been mentioned above as Christ Church. (fn. 87) They have now no building in Great Bolton. The Primitive Methodists had a meeting-place in Newport Street in 1822, used till 1865; they have continued to increase, and have two chapels in the township. (fn. 88) The United Free Methodists have two chapels, Hanover Street dating from 1834. (fn. 89) The Independent Methodists also have two chapels. The Bible Christians are represented.

Congregationalism in Bolton (fn. 90) traces its origin to the above-mentioned dispute between Wesley and Whitefield. The latter great preacher visited the town in 1750, and the Calvinistic section of the Methodists soon afterwards began separate meetings, a chapel being built in Duke's Alley in 1754; it was in use till recently. (fn. 91) Mawdsley Street, opened in 1808, originated in a secession from the other congregations; it was rebuilt in 1870. There are two other churches of this denomination, (fn. 92) and a mission hall.

Baptist preaching began in 1777; a little chapel in King Street, on the bank of the Croal, was opened in 1793 and used for some years. A new start was made in 1818, as a result of which Moor Lane Chapel was opened in 1822; this was sold to the Primitive Methodists in 1866, and the denomination has now no place of worship in Great Bolton. (fn. 93)

The Moravians had preaching stations at Bolton and Haulgh in the latter part of the 18th century. (fn. 94)

The Society of Friends assembled for a century— from 1721 to 1820—in a meeting-house in Acresfield. (fn. 95)

The Presbyterian Church of England has St. Andrew's, opened in 1846. (fn. 96)

In Bolton, as elsewhere, the original Nonconformist chapel is now in the hands of Unitarians. Richard Goodwin, the vicar ejected in 1662, licensed a house in Deansgate in 1672, during the temporary 'indulgence,' and ministered there till his death in 1685. (fn. 97) He was succeeded by John Lever and Robert Seddon, also ejected ministers; the latter acquired a house in Windy Bank, now Bank Street, and the new chapel was opened in 1696, just after its founder's death. Unitarian doctrine began to prevail about 1750; a number of the members seceded, joining the Duke's Alley congregation. (fn. 98) A second Unitarian chapel, for secessionists, existed from 1821 to about 1840; and in 1868 Commission Street Chapel was opened, (fn. 99) replaced later by one in Deane Road.

There are some unsectarian religious agencies, as the Queen Street Mission and Gospel Union Mission. The Salvation Army has a citadel. There is also a Spiritual Church.

As might have been expected in so Puritan a town Roman Catholicism disappeared, and 'a hundred years ago a man dared scarcely proclaim himself a Roman Catholic in Bolton, so bitter was the popular sentiment against the principles of his church.' (fn. 100) Mass was once again said in the town about 1800 in an obscure room in the Old Acres, near the site of St. Patrick's, and after some years the church of St. Peter and St. Paul was built on Bolton Moor, and opened in 1803; it was rebuilt in 1897. Two other churches were opened in 1861—St. Edmund's and St. Patrick's. (fn. 101)

The original school, near the parish church, was founded in 1524. (fn. 102) It was united about 1656 with the foundation of Robert Lever in 1641, the present grammar school being the representative of both. (fn. 103) Dr. Lemprière, author of the Classical Dictionary, was one of the masters. (fn. 104)

Footnotes

  • 1. Most of the details given in the following account of the modern town are taken from Scholes and Pimblett, Hist, of Bolton, 1892; and Clegg, Chronological Hist, of Bolton, 1879. The township ceased to exist in 1895, when the new township of Bolton was created; Loc. Govt. Bd. order 33407.
  • 2. The area, as increased by changes of boundaries, was 1,096 acres in 1901, including 30 of inland water.
  • 3. For the Spa in 1814 see Bolton Hist. Gleanings, ii, 331.
  • 4. The market was held there till 1826, when it was removed to the new market square. The fish market was held there till 1855, when the market hall was opened.
  • 5. Old Hall Street runs from Deansgate to Victoria Square.
  • 6. About this point was Sweet Green, said to have been named from the prevalence of wild camomile. 'Parson Folds,' the eccentric lecturer of the parish church, lived there; Pilling Well was in the same district.
  • 7. A railway from Bolton to Leigh was opened in 1828; those from Bolton to Kenyon in 1831, to Manchester 1838, to Preston 1843, to Blackburn 1848, to Worsley and Manchester 1875. For theearliest of these lines see Bolton Hist. Gleanings, i, 51,359; for the 1838 line, ibid, ii, 1.
  • 8. The infirmary is a development of the old dispensary.
  • 9. a De Banco R. 455, m. 395 d.
  • 10. Itin. vii, 57.
  • 11. Star. 8 Eliz. cap. 12.
  • 12. 'Poor and pious Bolton'; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 128.
  • 13. The accounts of these events are printed in Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 399–418; also Civil War Tracts, 77,81, 128 (first attack), 133 (second), 188–98 (third); War in Land. (Chet. Soc), 22 (first), 50–2 (third). On the alleged murder of Captain Bootle by the Earl of Derby see ibid. 134–42.
  • 14. The account in Seacome's House of Stanley states that quarter was at first refused because Prince Rupert learned that the defenders had killed some of his soldiers taken prisoners in the first attack.
  • 15. Civil War Tracts, 321; War in Lancs. 82–5; see also Stanley Papers (Chet. Soc.), pt. 3, and Seacome, op. cit. For a curious incident see Lancs, and Cbes. Hist, and Gen. Notes, iii, 9.
  • 16. For several tokens issued 1651–67 see Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. v, 74.
  • 17. Blome, Britannia, quoted by Baines.
  • 18. Baines, Lancs.
  • 19. Oliver Heywood has a story of 'a monstrous, prodigious, barbarous murder' in 1665, arising out of the rejoicings over the repulse of the Dutch; it was 'audaciously huddled up by the justices and others '; Diaries, iii, 94. John Wesley, after a rough reception at Rochdale in 1749, went to Bolton, and found 'the lions at Rochdale lambs in comparison with those at Bolton. Such rage and bitterness I scarce ever saw before in any creatures that bore the form of men'; Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 357 (quoting Wesley's Journal).
  • 20. Baines, Lancs. Dir. i, 537.
  • 21. Races took place in 1752.
  • 22. Scoles and Pimblett, op. cit. 447–53; Local Gleanings Lancs, and Ches. i, 255Light Horse Volunteers were raised in 1798, and disbanded in 1816. A Yeomanry troop was formed in 1819.
  • 23. At present the 9th Lanes. Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers), with three batteries, have head quarters in Silverwell Street; the 2nd V.B. Loyal North Lancs. Regiment, twelve companies, have head quarters at theirbarracks in Fletcher Street.
  • 24. Aikin, Country round Manch. 262–4. At one time, it is said, the manufactures were sold at Bolton, but this part of the trade was gradually drawn to Manchester; Baines, Lancs. Dir. i, 534. Cotton velvets are stated to have been made at Bolton in 1756, and muslins and cotton quiltings in 1763; ibid.
  • 25. Lancs, and Ches. Hist, and Gen. Notes, iii, 115, from the Universal Gazetteer.
  • 26. For the pillory see ibid, iii, 100.
  • 27. Local Gleanings Lancs, and Ches. i, 21, 30.
  • 28. For an account of the local newspapers see Bolton Hist. Gleanings, i, 68.
  • 29. One Hannah was convicted in 1830; he had stolen seven bodies from Bolton.
  • 30. Lancs. Inq, and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.) i, 71; the services due from this part of the fee appear to have been divided among the dependent manors. Several of the later inquisitions state the manor to be held of the lords of Manchester, but this seems to be an error. It was Penwortham rather.
  • 31. See V.C.H. Lancs, i, 296. With the 'manor of Bolton' went lands in Little Bolton, Tonge, Haulgh, Breightmet, Sharpies, &c.; Ormerod, Cheshire (ed. Helsby), i, 37. The later manor of Little Bolton had as dependencies Haulgh and part of Tonge, together with certain 'detached portions' north of Astley Brook, which were probably the Sharpies lands of the charter quoted.
  • 32. William de Ferrers' estates were confiscated, but afterwards restored to him by the king. There is an account of the family in Collins, Peerage (ed. 1779), vi, 331–7; also in G.E.C. Complete Peerage.
  • 33. Inq. and Extents, i, 268. There were in Bolton 69 burgages, each rendering 12d. a year; John de Halliwell held 43 acres and a burgage, worth 20s.; 36 acres of land were worth 5d. a year each. The tolls of fair and market were valued at 43s; the water-mill at 20s.; but the pleas and perquisites of the court were worthless, on account of the poverty of the tenants. The whole value of the manor was therefore £8 7s. a year. Nicholas de Segrave had the custody of lands during the minority of the heir; Cal. Pat. 1281– 92, p. 295.
  • 34. Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 213.
  • 35. Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), iv, 1085; Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 30. The proof that Margaret de Holland held Bolton in her own right is to be found in the descent of it. Some further particulars are given in the account of Chorley; the title in each case may have been the same.
  • 36. Robert son of Robert de Shireburne 'put in his claim' in a settlement of part of the manor in 1331; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 81. This fourth part of the manor occurs regularly in the Shireburne inquisitions. In that after the death of Richard Shireburne in 1441 it is stated to have been held of the king as duke in socage, and worth 100s, a year clear; Lancs. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 30, 31; see also Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 52. In 1506 and 1514 the estate in Chorley and Bolton was said to be held of Thomas Hesketh (and Roger Dalton) in socage by a rent of 5s.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 92; iv, no. 46. In 1528 and 1537 the tenure is described as 'of the king as of the honour of West Derby in socage by the rent of one red sparrow-hawk'; ibid.vi, no. 65; viii, no. 33. Later, in 1594 and 1629, the tenure of Bolton is described simply as in socage of the Crown; ibid, xvi, no. 3; xxvi, no. 4. For the descent see the account of Stonyhurst in Aighton.
  • 37. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 121, m. 44. The estate is described as the manor of Bolton-in-the-Moors, with ten messuages, &c., lands, 19s. 7½d. rent, and views of frankpledge. Richard Shireburne and Elizabeth his wife were the vendors, and gave a warranty against the heirs of Richard Shireburne, deceased, father of the former.
  • 38. Alexander Lever, who was perhaps the son of Robert Lever (Wills, Chet. Soc. [new ser.] i, 221, and see p. 220), as a minor made a claim against Roger Walmersley in 1569; Ducatus Lanc.(Rec. Com.), ii, 378. He died on I Jan. 1613–14, holding sixteen messuages, twenty-six cottages, 1 6 acres of land, &c., in Bolton of Richard Shireburne, Ralph Assheton, and Jane Ainsworth, widow; Roger his son and heir was twenty-six years of age; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 282. Alexander Lever had in 1582 purchased three messuages, &c., in Bolton from Roger Walmersley (or Walmesley) and Roger his son and heir apparent; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 44, m. 178. He was returned as a freeholder in 1600, being described as 'of Chamber'; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 248. Chamber was in Great Bolton. Roger Lever of Chamber paid £10 in 1631 on refusing knighthood; ibid, i, 216. Thomas Lever of Chamber and Alexander his son were enrolled at the Preston Gild of 1662; Preston Guild R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 148, 191. Other sons were Thomas and John; the latter was vicar of Bolton from 1673 till his death in 1691, and had several children; Scholes and Pimblett, Bolton, 276, 277; Foster, Alumni Oxon. The will of Thomas Lever was proved in 1685. A later Thomas's will was proved in 1705. Afterwards a third of the Lever portion came to the Blackburnes of Hale, as will be shown later, and the other two-thirds seems to have descended with the heir male, being held in 1746 by Samuel Lever, clerk, who was a son of John Lever, sometime vicar of Bolton, and died in 1754. He had a son Thomas. See Scholcs and Pimblett, Bolton, 325–7; Foster, Alumni Oxon. Mr. W. Fergusson Irvine gives the Lever succession as follows: Alexander, d. 1613—s. Roger, d. 1645 —bro.Thomas, d. 1679 —s. Thomas, d. 1704 (leaving a daughter and heir, Anne) —nephew Thomas (s. of Rev. John Lever), d. c. 1707 —bro. Rev. Samuel, d. 1754—s. Thomas. Some later particulars are contained on the Lever tombstones in the churchyard; James Lever of Hindley, the latest, having been interred there on 1 Sept. 1811, aged forty-two.
  • 39. In 1331 Robert de Horncliffe and Agnes his wife seem to have settled the fourth part of the Bolton and other manors on the heirs of the husband; Final Conc, ii, 80. In 1336, however, Agne9, as widow of Robert, granted the succession of her part of Great Bolton to Robert son of John son of John de Harrington, with remainder to Adam brother of Robert, and then to the right heirs of Agnes; ibid, ii, 101.
  • 40. Henry de Ferrers, grandson of William, in 1329, claimed the manors of Bolton and Chorley, with exceptions, against Robert son of Robert de Heppehale, and Margaret, late wife of Adam Banastre (i.e. Margaret de Holland); De Banco R. 279, m. 61 d. In the following year he made his claim against John de Harrington the younger and Katherine his wife, Robert de Shireburne and Alice his wife, Robert de Hornclitf and Agnes his wife, and Thomas de Arderne; ibid. R. 282, m. 112. The latter claim he prosecuted the following year, setting out his descent as son of William son of William de Ferrers, to whom the manors had been given in the time of Henry III by Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, brother of William; ibid. R. 285, m. 144. The claim seems to have been revived again in July 1354 by Henry's son Sir William de Ferrers, who set forth his claim to the manors of Bolton and Chorley against Alice, widow of Sir Robert de Shireburne, Sir John de Harrington of Farleton and Katherine his wife, Robert son of John de Harrington of Farleton, and Sir Thomas de Arderne, each holding a fourth part of the manor of Bolton; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. 8a. At Michaelmas he claimed the Arderne part against certain persons, including Margaret Banastre, who were probably trustees; ibid. m. 6. Alice de Shireburne, sister and one of the heirs of Agnes de Lea, and Sir Thomas de Arderne, the other heir, were called to warrant; Alice de Shireburne, for her own share of the manor, called Sir William de Plumpton to warrant her; ibid. R. 4, m. 4 d. 28. Agnes de Lea was so called from her first husband, Sir Henry de Lea. Robert de Harrington and Sir Thomas de Arderne had the king's protection, and the trial of their cases had therefore to be deferred; ibid. m. 15 d. The claims were renewed in subsequent years (R. 5, m. 18; R. 6, m. 5, 6), and in 1358 Robert and Thomas sons of Sir John de Harrington, each holding a fourth part, were summoned; Assize R. 438, m. 3. In 1359 Sir Thomas de Arderne claimed the fourth part of the manor against the same trustees; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 7, m. 5; and Sir William de Ferrers continued his suits. Some settlement with Arderne was afterwards arrived at, for in 1362 Sir William's claim was against Nicholas son of John dc Harrington for a moiety of Bolton, and against Sir Richard de Shireburne for a fourth part; De Banco R. 408, m. 79 d. Five years later there was a claim against John de Swinford and Elizabeth his wife, holding a third of two-thirds of the fourth part of the manor; ibid. R. 428, m. 226; while in 1370 a further attempt was made to recover the moiety held by Nicholas de Harrington; ibid. R. 439, m. 92. Sir William died on 8 Jan. 1370–1, holding a third of the fourth part and a third of the remaining twothirds of that part of the manor of Bolton, worth 20s. 2d. a year, all being held of the Duke of Lancaster by knight's service as of the manor of West Derby, and by suit at the county and wapentake courts, and also at the Penwortham court; the remaining portion of this part of Bolton was held for life by John de Arderne and Joan his wife, by the grant of Sir William; Inq. p.m. 45 Edw. III (2nd nos.), no. 22. Soon afterwards Margaret, the widow, claimed dower in the holding of John de Arderne in Chorley and Bolton; De Banco R. 460, m. 129. There are allusions to the Ferrers holding in the Close R. of 1 Ric. II, m. 24 d.; 19 Ric. II, m. 26. In the inquisitions (1388) after the death of Sir William's son and heir, Sir Henry de Ferrers of Groby, certain tenements in Bolton, held for life by John de Aldelem, Katherine his wife, and John their son, are stated to be held of John La Warre, lord of Manchester, by knight's service; Inq. p.m. 11 Ric. II, no. 26; 16 Ric. II, pt. i, no. 11. John de Arderne died in 1392, holding for life three parts of a fourth part of Bolton, by grant of Sir William de Ferrers, grandfather of the William de Ferrers of Groby of whom he held at the time of his death; the value was 60s. a year; Inq. p.m. 16 Ric. II, pt. i, no. 35; 18 Ric. II, no. 1.
  • 41. See the preceding note and Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 51, where again the tenure is stated to be of Lord La Warre.
  • 42. It was among the manors and lands granted by Richard III on 17 Sept. 1484 to Sir Thomas Stanley and his son Sir George, as a reward for their assistance against various rebels; Cal. Pat. 1476–85, p. 476. In the inquisition after the death of Thomas Earl of Derby, in 1521, it is stated that the moiety of the manor of Chorley and the fourth part of the manor of Bolton—this was the description of the Arderne estate in 1354—had been held by Joan Lady Strange 'in her demesne as of fee,' and had descended to the earl on her death. In his case the manors were said to be held of the king as of his Duchy, but in Lady Strange's to be held of Thomas Ashton and Roger Dalton as of their manor of Croston; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 68; iv, no. 18. The accounts of the Derby estates during the minority of the third earl show that the free tenants of Bolton paid 25s. 9d. at the Feast of St. Margaret, and 12d. was derived from a toll called Weketoll; Derby Rental (1522) in possession of Earl of Lathom. During the Commonwealth Charles Worsley contracted to purchase the confiscated manor of Bolton; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 240. The manor occurs regularly in fines and recoveries of the Earl of Derby's estates.
  • 43. Sir John de Harrington of Farleton died holding in right of Katherine his wife, deceased, certain tenements in Bolton of Henry Duke of Lancaster; viz., 10 acres in the hands of tenants at will rendering 5s. a year; rents of free burgesses, 21s.; the fourth part of a fair, held at St. Margaret's Feast, 10s. Robert, the son and heir, succeeded, and died abroad in 1361, on which the Duke of Lancaster took possession, but died soon afterwards. Nicholas, another son of John and Katherine, was the heir both of his parents and his brother; Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. III, pt. i, no. 90. The jury ignored the other fourth part of Bolton held by Robert in right of his aunt's gift.
  • 44. The estates descended to Sir James Harrington, brother of Sir John, who forfeited them in 1486 as a Yorkist; Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 509.
  • 45. The manor of Bolton-le-Moors, worth 40s. a year, is stated in the inquisition after Lord Mounteagle's death in 1523 to have been held together with Hornby, Farleton, &c., by virtue of a grant from Henry VII in 1489, of the king in chief by the service of one knight's fee; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 64. Thomas his son and heir died in 1560, holding all by the same service; ibid, xi, no. 1. William the son and heir of Thomas was the vendor. In the time of Henry VII Sir Edward Stanley had some difficulty in securing the tolls of the July fair, a number of the neighbouring gentry, with their men, coming armed and creating a great riot, so that had not the curate of Bolton interfered, standing between the combatants with the Blessed Sacrament upon him, Sir Edward's servants would have been taken and murdered 'out of hand'; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 44. These tolls were granted to Sir Edward on 12 July 1507; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xxi, fol. a/59d.
  • 46. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 36, m. 142; the sale included the manor of Bolton, and lands there and at Ashton in Makerfield. For other Ainsworth acquisitions see ibid, bdles. 30, m. 70; 58, m. 352; 59, m. 9.
  • 47. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 90. There is nothing to show how he became possessed of it. The fourth part of the manor, with four burgages, &c., is said to be held of the queen in free burgage and socage; see also Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 289.
  • 48. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 115, no. 39; see the account of Great Lever.
  • 49. This is an inference from the pedigree in Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 133, and the statements in several inquisitions that lands, &c., in Bolton were held of Ralph Assheton and either Jane Ainsworth, widow, or Ellis Hey; e.g. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 116; ii, 274.
  • 50. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 162, m. 102.
  • 51. The following were lords of the manor in the years given:— 1442—Lord de Ferrers,Thomas de Harrington, and Robert Shireburne; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1478. 1508—Thomas Earl of Derby, Sir Edward Stanley, and Sir Richard Shireburne; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 26. 1578—Henry Earl of Derby, William Lord Mounteagle, and Richard Shireburne; ibid. xii, no. 19. 1604—William Earl of Derby, Richard Shireburne, Ralph Assheton, and Ellis Hey; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 22. 1635—William Earl of Derby, John Bishop of Chester, Roger Lever, and Ellis Hey; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxvii, no. 42. 1691—William George Earl of Derby, Sir John Bridgeman, Thomas Lever, and Roger Thropp; End. Char. Rep. for Bolton, 1904, p. 66. The heirs of Roger Thropp are named (ibid. 16), but his share of the manor did not descend to them. ' Thropp's house' in Bradshaw Gate was in 1773 owned by John Moss, woollen draper; Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 149. The Lever share descended in part (one third, as it appears) to the Blackburnes of Orford, by the marriage of Jonathan Blackburne with Anne daughter and heir of Thomas Lever of Chamber, who had previously been the wife of Christopher Lockwood of Leeds; she died in 1732, aged seventy-seven; Beamont, Hale and Orford, 183–6; Thoresby, Ducatus Leod. 48. For a demise in 1742 of Chamber Hall and the Blackburne estate see Bolton Hist. Gleanings, ii, 59. 1746—Edward Earl of Derby, Sir John Bridgeman, John Blackburne, Samuel Crooke, Rev. Samuel Lever; ibid, i, 35. 1764—The same, except that the Rev. Thomas Lever had succeeded Samuel; ibid. 1792—Edward Lord Derby, Sir Henry Bridgeman, John Blackburne, James Lever, and Samuel Crooke; Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 465. In 1803 David Claughton purchased 'the manor or lordship of Great Bolton,' and lands there, from John Blackburne and his wife, Adam Mason and his wife, and William Maire; Pal. of Lanc. Assize R. Lent Assizes 43 Geo. III. In the following year Samuel Crooke was vouchee in a recovery of the manor of Whittle-le-Woods, and the fourth part of the manor of Bolton; ibid. Lent Assizes, 44 Geo. III. 1824—The Earl of Derby, Earl of Bradford, Rev. — Freeman, each onefourth part; and — Claughton onetwelfth; and the representatives of the Lever family one-sixth; Baines, Lancs. Dir. ii, 530. The statement was repeated in 1836; Baines, Lancs. iii, 55. Thomas Claughton and his wife appear to have made a settlement of the manors of Great Bolton and Houghton [in Winwick] in 1812; Pal. of Lanc. Assize R. Aug. 52 Geo. III, fine 5; see also the account of Houghton. Two years later a similar settlement was made by Robert Rowbottom and his wife, Henry Varley and his wife, and others; ibid. Hil. 54 Geo. III, fine 27; while in 1826 Robert Rowbottom and his wife were in possession of the third part of a fourth part of the manor; ibid. Hil. 7 Geo. IV, fine 34. A moiety of the manor of Bolton-onthe-Moors was in 1664 granted to Charles Lord Gerard; Pat. 16 Chas. II, pt. vi, no. 10. It is stated to have been the portion of Sir James Harrington attainted.
  • 52. Anian de Entwisle held lands in 1442 of the three lords of the manor, by unknown services; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1478. George Entwisle sold messuages, &c., in 1546; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 217, 271; see alsobdle. 15, m. 79. Thomas de Longworth in 1448 held a burgage in Bolton; Lancs. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 36, 37a. Margaret and Ralph Longworth purchased six messuages, &c., in 1549; Pal. of Lanc Feet of F. bdle. 13, m. 4. Christopher Longworth in 1608 held two messuages and certain land in socage by 12d. rent of Ralph Assheton and Jane Ainsworth; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 116. John Hulton of Farnworth in 1487 held lands in Bolton of the three lords, worth 3s. 4d. a year; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 26. His successor, William Hulton, nearly seventy years later also held burgages and lands in Bolton of the three lords in socage; ibid, x, no. 32. The estate appears in 1422; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 6. For another Hulton estate see Final Conc, iii, 118. Richard Radcliffe of Smithills in 1502 held lands, &c., in Bolton of the lords by the rent of 12d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 98. His successor, John Barton, was said to hold of Thurstan Holland of Dalton [? Denton] in socage; ibid, iv, no. 82. In 1580 Robert Barton's ten burgages, &c., were found to be held of the Earl of Derby by a rent of 2s.; ibid, xiv, no. 24. See also Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), i, 211. John Radcliffe of Radcliffe in 1513 held a burgage of the lords of Bolton by the rent of 12d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 7, Richard Radcliffe of Langley in 1578 held ten messuages, &c., in Bolton of the three lords by a rent of 5s. 8d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xii, no. 19. His son Edmund in 1604 held them of the four lords by fealty only; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 22. The Hollands of Denton also had an estate here. Richard Holland in 1481 held five messuages, 100 acres of land, &c., which descended to his grandson Thurstan; they were said in 1510 to be held of Lord La Warre in socage; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 36, 58. The tenure is more correctly stated in 1571 and 1635 as of the lords of Bolton in eocage by a rent of 6d.; ibid, xiii, no. 20; xxvii, no. 42; see also Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 146. Adam Mort of Astley in 1631 held a messuage in Bolton of the Earl of Derby; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxv, no. 33. Adam Byrom of Salford at his death in 1558 held five cottages, &c., of Lord Mounteagle by a rent of 12d.; ibid, xi, no. 65; also xvii, no. 39. Ralph Byrom in 1581 had the reversion of an estate in Bolton belonging to James Bradshaw; it included a burgage, fulling mill, &c.; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 43, m. 102; see also bdle. 30, m. 63; 40, m. 206. Robert Lever of Darcy Lever in 1620 held a messuage and gardens at Bolton of Richard Shireburne by 5½d. rent; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 257. Ellis Crompton held messuages, &c., and an approvement of the wastes of the king as of his duchy; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxviii, no. 69. Roger Walmesley of Rogerstead in Heaton held 27 messuages, 8½ burgages, &c., in Bolton of the Earl of Derby in 1622; Towneley MS. C.8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), fol. 1287.
  • 53. Emma daughter of Roger Steel of Bolton claimed dower in a toft and acre of land against John son of Hugh the Chaplain in 1292; Assize R. 408, m. 61. Alice widow of William de Pendlebury in 1307 claimed dower in Bolton among other places; De Banco R. 164, m. 206. Some charters of a family surnamed Bolton are contained in Add. MS. 32104. By one of these, dated 1316, Richard the Cook of Harwood gave a burgage to Richard the Carpenter of Hutton; no. 1235. In 1322 Adam son of Walter the Fuller of Bolton released his claim in a certain curtilage to Ellis Bulling son of William de Oakenbottom; no. 1220. Maud daughter of Ellis the Skinner released her right to a toft and buildings sold by her mother Emota to Robert de Pontefract; no. 1231. John son of Geoffrey de Bolton appears in 1353 and later; he had a burgage in Bayard Street, and land in Bromycroft and elsewhere; no. 1185, 1182, 1204. Alice his widow had a grant in 1369; no. 1225. Adam de Bolton made a feoffment of his lands in 1403, and he and his wife Isabel received them back in 1407; a new feoffment was made in 1411; no. 1215, 1236, 1209. About thirty years later the property appears to have come to Robert de Habergham of Burnley; no. 1229, 1218, 1230. The above-named John son of Geoffrey de Bolton was at Easter 1354 a defendant in a suit respecting a messuage, &c., at Bolton, claimed by Henry son of Richard son of Roger de Bolton; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. 4. John Parke of Bolton died in 1621 seised of messuages and lands which were held of Richard Shireburne by a rent of 18½d.; the heir was his grandson Robert son of John Parke; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 253. Abraham Holme died in 1614 holding a messuage, &c., of Ralph Assheton and Jane Ainsworth; his son William was seventeen years of age; Add. MS. 32108, fol. 90. William died in 1621 holding similarly, his brother George being heir; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 274.
  • 54. Robert Norris of Bolton, clothier, son of Alexander Norris of Tonge, died in 1620 holding six messuages, &c., of Richard Shireburne, by the rent of 18½d. George Norris, the son and heir, was twenty-three years of age; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 211. William, a younger son, received part of the estate, and died 15 July 1628, leaving as heir his son Robert, then four years of age. His will mentions George and William, younger sons, and Robert Norris, son of his brother John; Towneley MS. C.8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), fol. 915. Isabel Norris, said to be the widow of Robert the father of William, died in 1637, leaving a messuage and land held of the Earl of Derby to her daughter and heir Margaret, wife of Thomas Blackburne of Newton; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxx, no. 77. An Alexander Norris of Bolton in 1646 compounded for his estate by a fine of £15. He had absented himself from home and spent some time in the king's quarters, but had since taken the National covenant; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), iv, 218.
  • 55. Lancs, and Ches. Recs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 195.
  • 56. Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 228.
  • 57. Sir Ralph de Radcliffe complained that Roger Jenkinson of Bolton-on-theMoors, and two others, all using 'the mystery of leather-dressing,' had exercised also 'the mystery of tanning' contrary to the statute ordaining that should any leather-dresser use the office of tanner during the time that leather-dressing is used he must forfeit 6s. 8d. to the king for each skin tanned by him, as well as 6s. 8d. for each defective skin; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 7, m. 1b.
  • 58. The charter has been printed in full by Miss Bateson in Engl. Hist. Rev. xvii, 291–3. She describes it as 'another version of the Salford and Stockport charters of Ranulf de Blundeville's model (p. 285). As in the Salford charter, freedom from toll within the grantor's lands was allowed, and no one might exercise his trade as shoe-maker, skinner, fuller, or the like, within the wapentake of Salford unless he were in the borough. The burgages, with their rent of 12d. each, have frequently occurred in inquisitions referred to above. Thus in 1288 there were sixty-nine (or seventy) burgages, each rendering 12d. The number may have been greater, for the revenue of the Harrington quarter in 1362 was said to include 21s. from the burgages, implying a total of eighty-eight.
  • 59. Cal. Chart. R. 1226–57, p. 374. The charter was exemplified in 1331 at the request of Henry Earl of Lancaster; Cal. Pat. 1330–4, p. 192. In a writ of Quo Warranto in 1498 the market day is called Friday; Pal. of Lanc. Writs Proton. 13 Hen. VII. In 1602 a citizen of London put forward his claim to be exempt from tolls in the markets and fair of Bolton; Ducatus Lanc, iii, 483.
  • 60. Account was rendered in 1257 of 45s., the farm of the borough of Bolton for two terms; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 205.
  • 61. It was in 1825 governed by a borough reeve, two constables, and inferior officers elected annually at the courts leetinOct.; see Scholes and Pimblett, Bolton, 480. 'The privilege of holding a court-baron for the recovery of small debts under 40s. is vested in the lords of the manor of Great Bolton, and formerly a court-baron was held here, but in the 6th of George III it was discontinued, owing to the clerk having absconded and conveyed away part of the records'; Baines, Lancs. Dir. i, 538.
  • 62. The account in the text is mainly drawn from Scholes and Pimblett, Bolton, 464–512, where full details are given. The Act for inclosing the moor differed from most others in allowing one-fifteenth to the lords of the manor, and directing the remainder to be sold on chief rent or let on long leases in aid of the poor rate; Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. vi, 123.
  • 63. The 'Watch and Ward ' committee, from 1812 to 1820; Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 470.
  • 64. Ibid. 483.
  • 65. Ibid. 486. The new police superseded those of the borough reeve and constables in 1839.
  • 66. Ibid. 472, 494.
  • 67. Ibid. 472, 506.
  • 68. Created by the first Improvement Acts.
  • 69. Scholes & Pimblett, op. cit. 496,497.
  • 70. Ibid. 497.
  • 71. Ibid. 502–6.
  • 72. Ibid. 506; 35 & 36 Vict. cap. 78.
  • 73. Ibid. 510; 40 & 41 Vict. cap. 188, and 42 & 43 Vict. cap. 103.
  • 74. Scholes & Pimblett, op. cit. 511. The old arms were Gules two bendlets enhanced or; crest, an elephant.
  • 75. The first tramways were laid in 1880; ibid. 509.
  • 76. Ibid. 509–11.
  • 77. Lond. Gaz. 12 Nov. 1841; endowments of £810 in all have been notified in the Gazette. It was built out of Parliamentary funds. There is a peal of eight bells.
  • 78. The name of the church was suggested by the vicar, who was of Emmanuel College, Cambridge; Lond. Gaz. 12 Nov. 1841 for district; 22 Oct. 1841 and 2 Aug. 1864 for endowments.
  • 79. Ibid. 3 June 1844.
  • 80. It stands on the site of a chapel built in 1803 for Scottish Presbyterians. See ibid. 13 Apr. 1866 for district.
  • 81. Ibid. 29 June 1866.
  • 82. Ibid. 28 May 1880; for endowments ibid. 20 May 1881 and 10 June 1881.
  • 83. Ibid. 3 Mar. 1882. The building funds were provided by Nathaniel and Thomas Greenhalgh, two brothers. There is a peal of eight bells.
  • 84. A temporary iron church is used.
  • 85. This account is from Scholes and Pimblett, Bolton, 355–8. The first Wesleyan meeting-place was in Hotel Street; the authors refer to J. Musgrave's Origin of Methodism in Bolton (1865). Wesley visited Bolton again in 1752, 1753, and many later years; the last visit was in 1790, when he 'preached in the lovely house at Bolton, to one of the loveliest congregations in England, who by patient continuance in well doing had turned scorn and hatred into general esteem and good will.'
  • 86. Fletcher Street Chapel was opened in 1819, Bradshaw Gate in 1849–51, Fern Street 1871, and Victoria 1872.
  • 87. Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 366. Owing to internal disputes and financial difficulties, Ebenezer Chapel was disposed of in 1841; the minister conformed to the Established Church and was ordained as perpetual curate, and most of the congregation followed him, and continued to worship in the old building, which was consecrated in 1844. From 1841 to 1852 there was a New Connexion chapel in Lever Street.
  • 88. Ibid. 366. In 1865 the Primitive Methodists acquired a Baptist chapel in Moor Lane, rebuilt in 1877.
  • 89. Ibid. 367. This denomination began in Bolton about 1820 as Independent Methodists. Hanover Street Chapel was due to a secession from the Wesleyan schools in Ridgeway Gates.
  • 90. Ibid. 369–74; B. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. iii, 16–43.
  • 91. There seem to have been two successive chapels on the same ground, which was the place where Whitefield preached. The chapel was in use in 1892; Nightingale, op. cit. 26–7. A history of it, under the title Centenary Memorials, was published by the Rev. William Hope Davison, the minister in 1854.
  • 92. Rose Hill was the meeting-place of a vegetarian society, nicknamed Dumplingites and regarded as Socialists. It was then used by Wesleyans, and in 1841 was acquired by the Mawdsley Street congregation for a Sunday school; in 1864 a school chapel was erected, and in 1870 a separate church was constituted; Nightingale, op. cit. 41.
  • 93. Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 375–7. King Street Chapel, said to have passed from the Baptists in 1806, appears as a Baptist chapel in a map of 1824.
  • 94. Moravian Ch. in Lancs. (1888), 16, 17.
  • 95. Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 353. There were Quakers in Bolton as early as 1675.
  • 96. A number of Scotchmen attending Duke's Alley Chapel formed a separate congregation in 1803, building a chapel at the junction of Moor Lane and Deansgate, now occupied by St. Paul's Church. After a few years the Presbyterian Chapel had to be closed, and was used by several denominations in succession. A new start was made in 1837, and this led to St. Andrew's being built; Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 374–5. The old chapel was occupied by Baptists in 1819, and afterwards by Unitarians; ibid. 376.
  • 97. Afterwards the Woolpack Inn; see Lancs. and Ches. Hist. and Gen. Notes, ii, 159.
  • 98. Nightingale, op. cit. iii, 3–15; Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 345–53. Reference is made to Baker's Rise and Progress of Nonconformity in Bolton.
  • 99. Ibid. 353.
  • 100. Ibid. 378.
  • 101. Ibid. 379.
  • 102. Ibid. 393.
  • 103. End. Char. Rep. for Bolton County Borough, 1904; Gastrell, Notitia, ii, 13. For the school library see Christie's Old Lancs. Libraries (Chet. Soc.), III.
  • 104. Pal. Note Bk. ii, 58.