Townships: Little, Middle and Over Hulton

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

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'Townships: Little, Middle and Over Hulton', 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/pp25-34 [accessed 14 October 2024].

'Townships: Little, Middle and Over Hulton', 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/pp25-34.

"Townships: Little, Middle and Over Hulton". 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/pp25-34.

In this section

OVER HULTON, MIDDLE HULTON, LITTLE HULTON

Helghetun and Hulton, 1235 (same document); Hilton, 1288, 1292; Hulton, 1292; the form Hilton continued in use till the xvii cent.

The ancient district of Hulton, having an area of 4,540 acres, in time became three townships. OVER HULTON, the western portion, has an area of 1,316 acres, (fn. 1) and measures about 2 miles from north to south, by a mile and a half across. Hulton Park occupies much of the southern part of the area. The ground slopes from about 500 ft. in the north to 300 ft. in the south.

The road from Deane and Bolton to Atherton and Warrington runs along the eastern boundary, and is crossed about the centre by that from Manchester and Walkden to Westhoughton and Blackrod. The crossing is marked by the hamlet of Hulton Lane Ends. To the north of the road are several collieries. The London and North Western Company's line from Bolton to Kenyon Junction passes along the north-western boundary. There is no village. The population in 1901 was 1,038. (fn. 2) Some portion of the area was in 1898 incorporated in the borough of Bolton, the remainder being added to Westhoughton.

MIDDLE HULTON, over 2 miles from north to south, and a mile and a quarter from east to west, has an area of 1,517 acres. In the northern half of the township a height of over 500 ft. is attained, but at the southern boundary the land is below the 300 ft. line.

The principal road is that from Manchester and Swinton to Westhoughton, which is joined by one from Farnworth passing west through the hamlets of Hollins and Edgefold. Several roads run from north to south. There is no village, but on the northern boundary dwellings are being built, which are an extension of Bolton. In 1901 its population was included with Rumworth.

This township was in 1898 added to the borough of Bolton.

LITTLE HULTON is of irregular shape, part of it cutting Walkden off from Farnworth. Its area is 1,707 acres. (fn. 3) The surface slopes generally from 380 ft. in the north-west to less than 200 ft. above sea level in the south-east.

The principal road, through the centre of the township, is that from Manchester to Westhoughton —on the line of an old Roman road; from it others spread off to Farnworth on the north and Tyldesley on the south. Along it are dwelling-houses almost the whole way. The district called Peel occupies the centre of the southern half; Wharton lies in the south-west corner. The London and North Western Company's Bolton and Eccles line crosses the centre of the township, and has a station on the main road, called Little Hulton. There are a number of collieries in the township, and these are served by special railways. The population was 7,294. in 1901. (fn. 4)

A local board was formed in 1872, (fn. 5) and this was in 1894. replaced by an urban district council, the twelve members being elected by two wards.

There are extensive collieries in Little Hulton and Middle Hulton. (fn. 6)

The hearth tax return of 1666 yields the following: In Over Hulton 41 hearths, with only one large house, that of William Hulton, 9 hearths; Middle Hulton, 66; Little Hulton, 102, the largest houses being those of Roger Kenyon, Margaret Mort, and Robert Mort, with 15, 14, and 6 respectively. (fn. 7)

Manor

The early history of the manor of HULTON is obscure. It was held by the Barton family, for the most part in conjunction with Worsley in thegnage. (fn. 8) This was held under them by the Worsley family, who, as to part at least, came into possession about 1200. (fn. 9) Their manor was described as three-fourths of Hulton; (fn. 10) the remainder, two oxgangs, being the lordship of the Hulton family, in Over Hulton.

This last family is obviously of Welsh origin; the first Lancashire members of it—Iorwerth and Madoc, sons of Bleiddyn—are supposed to have been among the faithful vassals of Robert Banastre, expelled from Wales about 1167. (fn. 11) Iorwerth de Hulton held two oxgangs in Hulton, and received from King John, when Earl of Mortain, Broughton and Kersal Wood in Manchester. (fn. 12) Iorwerth was living in 1212, when he held in chief the vill of Pendleton, in exchange for Broughton. (fn. 13) He had a numerous family, (fn. 14) and dying in 1215 (fn. 15) was succeeded by his son Richard, who in 1219 had a lease of the Worsley portion of Hulton, (fn. 16) and about the same time secured from Edith de Barton a confirmation of the two oxgangs in Hulton which his father had held of her; a rent of 2s. was payable. (fn. 17) Richard also had a grant of land in Little Hulton from Richard de Worsley. (fn. 18) He was serjeant of Salfordshire in 1222. (fn. 19)

Hulton of Hulton. Argent a lion rampant gules.

Richard de Hulton died before 1230, leaving as heir his son Richard, then a minor. (fn. 20) This son appears to have died without issue, and was succeeded in turn by his brothers William and David, who married Beatrice and Agnes, daughters and co-heirs of Adam de Blackburn. (fn. 21) To David de Hulton William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, in 1251, granted his lands in Flixton and the manor of Ordsall. (fn. 22) David had several children, and was still living in 1282. (fn. 23) About 1285 he died, (fn. 24) being succeeded by his son Richard, (fn. 25) who in 1304 obtained from Edward I a grant of free warren in all his lands of Hulton and Ordsall, also in Flixton and Heaton, outside the bounds of the royal forests. (fn. 26) The 'Park' long continued to be the distinctive name of the estate. Before 1312 he was followed by his son, another Richard. (fn. 27) At this point there is some uncertainty in the succession. Richard son of the last-named Richard, being childless, effected a partition of the estates. (fn. 28) Farnworth and Rumworth went to one branch of the family, while Hulton, with lands in Westhoughton and Rumworth, were bestowed upon Richard de Hulton's uncle Adam, (fn. 29) from whom the hereditary succession is continuous to the present time; Ordsall with Flixton and Halliwell with Blackburn passed to different branches of the Radcliffe family.

Adam de Hulton was in possession in 1335, about two years after the grant by his nephew, (fn. 30) and a settlement was then made of his park in Hulton and Westhoughton, and his lands in Rumworth, Denton, and Manchester, with the manors, mills, and appurtenances. The occasion was the marriage of Adam's son Roger with Aline daughter of Adam de Lever. (fn. 31) Roger had by 1355 (fn. 32) been succeeded by his son Roger, a minor, (fn. 33) and his grandson Adam, (fn. 34) and Adam's son and heir Roger married Ellen daughter of John Hulton of Farnworth. (fn. 35) Their son Roger (fn. 36) had a son and successor, also Roger, who married Katherine, a daughter and co-heir of Sir James Harrington of Wolfage, (fn. 37) and had a son Adam, who married Alice, the daughter and heir of John Hulton of Farnworth. (fn. 38) From this time, and perhaps partly in consequence of the marriages named, the Hultons of the Park became more prominent, and soon outstripped their namesakes of Farnworth.

Adam Hulton was in 1523 summoned to take part in the Scottish expedition led by the Earl of Surrey. (fn. 39) Ten years later a short pedigree was recorded at the herald's visitation. (fn. 40) He was succeeded by his son William, who died in September 1555, (fn. 41) leaving a son and heir Adam, married in infancy to Clemency daughter of Sir William Norris of Speke. (fn. 42) Adam Hulton died in September 1572, (fn. 43) leaving a son and heir William, then of full age, who died in 1624, (fn. 44) having survived his son Adam (fn. 45) and grandson William; (fn. 46) his successor was his great-grandson Adam, born in 1607.

Adam Hulton had livery of his lands in November 1632, (fn. 47) and died in 1652. (fn. 48) He does not appear to have taken any part in the Civil War on one side or the other. (fn. 49) His son and heir William contested the borough of Clitheroe in April 1660; he had a majority of the free burgesses in opposition to William White, elected by the freemen at large, and the latter being unseated on petition, William Hulton represented the borough from July to December 1660. (fn. 50) He recorded a pedigree at the visitation of 1664. (fn. 51) He died thirty years later, (fn. 52) being succeeded by his son Henry, (fn. 53) who died childless in 1737. The manor then passed to William son of Jessop Hulton, Henry's younger brother, (fn. 54) who was in turn succeeded by his son, grandson, and great-grandson, each named William. (fn. 55) The last of these, sheriff of Lancashire in 1810, and constable of Lancaster Castle, died in 1864; his son and heir, William Ford Hulton, (fn. 56) dying in 1879, was followed by his son Sir William Wilbraham Blethin Hulton, also constable of Lancaster Castle, created a baronet in 1905. (fn. 57) He died in 1907, and was succeeded by his son Sir William Rothwell Hulton, the present lord of the manor.

A number of deeds and other records have been preserved, showing how the Worsleys and their successors dealt with their estate in Hulton. (fn. 58) It has come down, in the same manner as Worsley, to the Earl of Ellesmere. (fn. 59)

In this part of the manor were several subordinate estates or manors. WHARTON or Warton gave its name to the family owning it, (fn. 60) and was afterwards held by the Asshetons of Great Lever and the Morts (fn. 61) It was sold to a colliery company, (fn. 62) and is now owned by the Earl of Ellesmere. (fn. 63) Wharton Hall is a two-story farm-house of brick and timber and plaster construction, facing south. The plan follows the usual type of a central block with gabled projecting wings east and west. The house is in a moderate state of repair, and the half-timber work in the lower part of the east wing, which is coved at the level of the first floor, is original. The north wing is faced in brick, the upper part of which is painted to represent half-timber work, and the gable and upper part of the east wing is similarly treated. The west wing has been extended westward and the pitch of the roof altered, but the line of the old gable still remains at each end. The house has been almost entirely refaced in brick, but the original timber construction shows at both ends of the west wing. With its yellow-washed walls, grey stone slate roofs and red brick chimneys, the house has rather a picturesque if tumble-down appearance, emphasized to some extent on the back by the addition of low modern outbuildings.

PEEL, or Wicheves, was in the 13th century acquired by a branch of the Hulton family, (fn. 64) who appear to have sold it to the Tyldesleys. (fn. 65) From these it passed to Edmund Fleetwood of Rossall, (fn. 66) and afterwards to the Morts. About the middle of the 18 th century Joseph Yates of Manchester purchased it, (fn. 67) and about seventy years later his descendants sold it to Ellis Fletcher of Clifton, a colliery proprietor. (fn. 68) Peel Hall is a modern house erected in 1840 by Matthew Fletcher, from the designs of Sir Charles Barry. It stands in the site of an older hall which was a stone building consisting of a centre and two wings with three gables to the front. All that is left of the old hall is part of the moat, which has been made into an ornamental lake. (fn. 69)

Rigby. Argent on a cross flory azure five mullets or.

Another PEEL, known as Kenyon Peel Hall, (fn. 70) was about 1600 in the possession of Alexander Rigby; he gave it to a younger son George, (fn. 71) whose daughter and heir, Alice (fn. 72) brought it to her husband Roger Kenyon of Parkhead and his descendants, the present owner being Lord Kenyon of Gredington. (fn. 73)

Kenyon, Lord Kenyon. Sable a cheveron engrailed or between three crosses flory argent.

Kenyon Peel Hall is situated about a quarter of a mile south of the ancient highway, running from Manchester in a north-west direction towards Bolton, and is on the southern slope of the high ground lying between the valley of the Irwell on the north and Chat Moss on the south. Before the locality was given over to collieries and manufacture the situation must have been a pleasant one, but today the house lies amidst surroundings which have robbed the country of any of the beauties it formerly possessed.

The house appears to have been built about the years 1631 to 1634. Both dates are on the building, and probably it was in course of construction for some time prior to the latter year. The gatehouse and other detached buildings were erected shortly after. The house is a highly picturesque half-timbered building on a low stone base, two stories in height, facing the south, and occupies the north side of a small courtyard, to the south of which is a larger courtyard, on to which the stables and outbuildings open. Behind the stables to the south is the stable yard—the whole forming a symmetrical arrangement of three quadrangles which gives to the hall and its outbuildings an appearance of size and importance which with less systematic planning it would not have possessed. Though retaining a great many of the characteristics of the older Lancashire houses, both as regards plan and elevations, Kenyon Peel at the same time exhibits the influence of new ideas, these buildings showing evidences everywhere of a well thought-out plan, and a desire for balance and symmetry. In its general arrangement and appearance the hall is not very much altered from the time it was built, though there was a good deal of work done in the interior in the way of fittings and decorations in the 18th century, and a brick wing was added at the back on the west side of the house at the same period. A later extension at the north-east was made as late as 1870.

Owing to mining operations many settlements have occurred and at one time the house was allowed to fall into disrepair and had to be shored up. It was restored, however, in the early eighties, but the work then done has destroyed a good deal of the original detail and has substituted a rather hard freshness in place of picturesque decay. The half-timber front has been renewed in a manner which does not strictly carry out the design of the old work. All the barge-boards and hip-knobs are new, and the old greystone roof coverings have been replaced by blue slates. The building nevertheless retains a picturesqueness which it owes to its arrangement and plan as well as to its more strictly architectural features.

The house itself consists of a main block standing east and west, with three projecting gabled bays, the middle one of which contains the porch. At either end of the main front is another projecting bay, the whole forming a kind of irregular [capital letter M] shape. The principal front thus has seven gables, five facing south and one at each end facing inward to the courtyard. These many gables, especially when seen at a distance from the south-east in conjunction with the gatehouse, give a broken and irregular skyline which is very pleasing. The return ends of the two outer wings are faced with stone, and the remainder of the sides and the whole of the back elevation is in brick. A portion of the timber framing, however, shows at the back of the hall. A lead spout-head on the west side of the house bears the date 1741 and the initials G K P.

The plan of the house itself shows the influence of the old ideas, the great hall occupying the central position, with a passage answering to the screen at the west end opposite the porch. The porch and bay window of the hall are under the central projecting gable, the unusual position of the bay being due to considerations of symmetry in the external arrangement. The great hall, which is in no way emphasized in the exterior elevation, is a low room, 30 ft. in length (including the passage) by about 20 ft. wide, with a bay window 6 ft. wide and 8 ft. deep at the south-west corner, and mullioned windows on the north and south with a fireplace at the north-west. The room was probably used much as a modern diningroom, but is now the drawing-room. The ingle nook in the north-west is now built up and a modern fireplace inserted. There are windows on both sides of the room. The hall is panelled all round, with classic pilasters to the bay window and to the doorcases at the east end. Most of the panelling is the original oak wainscot, but it has been repaired with pitch pine, and the whole is now painted white. The ceiling, which is only 8 ft. 6 in. high, is crossed by four beams and is quite plain. Beyond the hall on the east end of the house is the present dining-room, a small room 17 ft. square, looking on to the inner courtyard. It is lined with 18th-century panelling and has a semicircular recess on each side of the fireplace. Beyond is the main staircase, with twisted balusters and square newels, and half balusters against the walls. Behind the dining-room is another smaller room looking east, also lined with 18th-century panelling and now called the housekeeper's room. At the other side of the staircase, at the end of the east wing, is the oak parlour, or smoke room, which, as its name implies, is also panelled, and has a fine Jacobean chimney-piece, the upper part being divided into three panels by four allegorical female figures. The centre panel has the arms of Kenyon quartering Rigby.

To the west of the great hall are rooms corresponding to the dining-room and oak parlour, called respectively the pomegranate room and the library. The pomegranate room takes its name from the plaster ornamentation of the ceiling, but is otherwise plain. The library is lined all round with deep bookshelves with wooden fronts of 18th-century date, and there are cellars under these two rooms. Upstairs there are portions of oak panelling in some of the bedrooms, but nothing of special note except in Lord Kenyon's bedroom, over the oak parlour. This room contains some very good 17th-century oak panelling, with richly carved upper panels and cornice. Over the fireplace, forming part of an elaborately carved mantelpiece, are two painted armorial panels with the date 1637. The ceiling, which is plain, is arched in section, and the door is 18th-century work. The bedroom over the drawing-room has also an arched ceiling with plaster ornamentation near the springing. The floors all over the house are very uneven owing to the settlements. There is a second staircase on the west side of the house with old oak treads but modern varnished balusters. The whole plan indicates the period of transition in manners which in other parts was much earlier than 1630, but which was necessarily delayed in the country districts. There are no corridors in the house, most of the rooms being more or less passage rooms.

In a document dated 1783, now at the house, the courtyards are called the 'green court' and the 'flag court,' the former being apparently the outer. The portion of the grounds between the house and the road on the east side is called the 'wilderness,' and mention is made of 'barns, stables, shippons, fold, &c.,' on the south side. The wilderness was an irregularlyshaped triangular piece of ground bounded on two sides by the road, and on the west by a fence wall, with gateways leading to the entrance-way from a lane at the back of the house. In the outer angle of the wilderness was a brick 'arbour,' built presumably in the 18th century, and a small pond. The gardens proper lay along the full length of the west side of the house and outbuildings, with a private walled-in garden directly to the west of the hall.

The courtyard in front of the house is about 80 ft. by 50 ft. It is partly inclosed on the east and west by the projecting wings of the house, and beyond, by a high stone wall. In the middle of the south side is the gatehouse, a two-story building with a central gateway, and one room on each side. The upper floor consists of one apartment, said to have been a court-house, but now used as a servants' dormitory. The gatehouse is a solidly built structure of stone with mullioned windows, a grey stone-slated roof finishing with a stone gable at each end, and at each corner of the building is a tall brick chimney, square at the bottom and set diagonally above. On the ridge of the roof is a bell-cote, now boarded up, and till lately containing a bell reputed to be of silver. It was made by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester in 1731, and was inscribed, 'Come away make no delay,' but was stolen some years ago at the time when repairs to the house were being made. The two bottom rooms of the gatehouse are entered from the inner court only, and not from the gateway passage. The oak doors hung midway in the gateway passage are double hung, and have a wicket. On their top rail is carved 'GRB Peace be within these walles 1637.' The initials are those of George Rigby and Beatrix (Hulton) his wife. On each side of the inner quadrangle leading to the gardens beyond are stone doorways with picturesquely stepped gables of good early Renaissance type, with spiked finials. The gateway on the east side of the court has the date 1631 with the arms of Rigby on the lintel, and the initials G R on a panel in the gable above. The doorway of the opposite side has the initials G R B on both sides, and facing the courtyard the date 1634. These little stone gateways flanking the inner courtyard, taken in conjunction with the rather severe mass of the gatehouse and the black-and-white work of the house, are very effective, and seem to put a touch of refinement into the building which it otherwise would lack. The courtyard itself, crossed in each direction by flagged paths between squares of grass, has a formality quite in keeping with the Renaissance spirit of the gateways.

The outer courtyard is 130 ft. long from west to east and about 70 ft. wide, its area being thus more than double that of the inner courtyard. It extends up to the road on the east side, having a wide entrance gateway with massive stone piers surmounted with balls, and narrow side gates, facing to the road. There is a mounting-block outside the side gate nearest the house. On the west side is a wall with a central stone alcove, surmounted by a figure of a boy, and in front of this a sundial on a pedestal. The court is partly turfed, and has a curved carriage drive, which takes away somewhat from the formality which the classic style of the alcove would suggest as necessary. The range of stable buildings which bounds the quadrangle on the south side is a massive stone structure with a gable at each end facing north, and good mullioned windows with hood-moulds. There has been a good deal of alteration, and the old flat-arched doorways are built up. But generally the building retains its original appearance, and in the part now called the Shippon is a central stone pillar. On its eastern gable is the date 1668 with the arms of Kenyon impaling Rigby. The roofs at this end of the building, together with the great barn, are of grey stone slates, while the rest of the buildings are covered with blue slates. The south front of the stables faces the lower or stable-yard, which has a fine stone-built barn with massive buttresses on its east side. The west side of the yard is bounded by a high brick boundary wall separating it from the house gardens, and the south-west corner is occupied by a picturesque brick dove-house presumably of 18th-century date, with stone dressings and grey stone-slated pyramidal roof. The west end of the stable range facing the garden was erected in 1722 by Lloyd Kenyon, and rebuilt again in 1864, as an inscription sets forth. On this side of the building also is an elaborate shield of arms with helm, crest, and mantling, carved in stone. The Rigby arms occur again on the head of a gate in the fence wall to the north-east of the house.

Among the former proprietors in the townships were the Farnworth (fn. 74) and Valentine families. (fn. 75)

The land tax returns of 1789 show that in Middle Hulton the chief contributors were the Rev. Mr. Bagot and his tenants, who paid over one-fifth; the Duke of Bridgewater, Miss Killer, and others paid smaller sums. In Little Hulton in 1788 Joseph Yates and his tenants paid more than half, the remainder being contributed by Mrs. Ann Kenyon, the Duke of Bridgewater, the Rev. Walter Bagot, Peter Shakerley, and others. In Over Hulton in 1802 the trustees of William Hulton seem to have been the sole proprietors. (fn. 76)

In connexion with the Established Church Peel Chapel, St. Paul's, was built in 1760 by Joseph Yates; several of the Yates family are buried there. (fn. 77) It was rebuilt in 1828 and in 1876, a district chapelry having been formed in 1874. (fn. 78) The patronage is vested in Lord Kenyon. Services are held in St. Andrew's School, Over Hulton.

The Presbyterian Church of England has the old Wharton Chapel, the congregation originating with the Nonconformists of 1662, under the protection of the Mort family; the chapel was rebuilt in 1723. The Moravians held services in it from 1755 till about 1800; afterwards the Congregationalists used it till in 1860 it was given to the Presbyterians. It had been very poorly attended. (fn. 79) A new church was built in 1901.

The Wesleyan Methodists' Chapel dates from 1817, and that of the Primitive Methodists from 1823, Each denomination has since added another.

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, was opened in Little Hulton in 1876, (fn. 80) and rebuilt in 1899.

Footnotes

  • 1. 1,216, including 12 of inland water, according to the census of 1901.
  • 2. The Westhoughton portion only.
  • 3. 1,699, including 39 of inland water; Census Rep. 1901.
  • 4. Pop. Ret. 1901.
  • 5. Lond. Gaz. 25 June 1872.
  • 6. Baines' 1825 Directory shows a cottonspinner in Little Hulton, a muslin manufacturer in Middle Hulton, and dimity and fustian manufacturers in Over Hulton.
  • 7. Subs. R. bdle. 250, no. 9, Lancs.
  • 8. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 65.
  • 9. Hugh Putrell granted to Richard, son of Elias de Worsley half a plough-land in Worsley at the rent of 10s., and half a plough-land in Hulton at 6s. 8d.; ibid. i, 65 (from the Ellesmere D.). Hugh Putrell was the grantee of Edith de Barton in 1195 (Lancs. Pipe R. 94); but by 1212 the manors seem to have reverted to Edith and her husband Gilbert de Notton; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, loc. cit. The Hulton 6s. 8d. was in the time of Elizabeth supposed to be the rent of Middle Hulton; Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), i, 447.
  • 10. In 1323 the whole service of the manor of Worsley due to the chief lord was 20s.; and in 1385 it was stated that the manor of Worsley was held in socage by 13s. 4d. rent, and three-fourths of Hulton by 6s. 7d.; Ellesmere D. no. 162, 172; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 23.
  • 11. A pedigree of the Hulton family, containing illustrative documents, prepared by the late William Adam Hulton of Penwortham and printed privately about 1840, has been used in these notes. Iorwerth de Hulton and Madoc his brother were witnesses to a grant by Gilbert de Lymme; Hulton Ped. 48. Robert son of Iorwerth, son of Bleiddyn de Hulton, released lands to David de Hulton; ibid. 2. See Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 216. By a deed undated Llewelyn son of Madoc de Eueras granted to Griffith his firstborn son land in Hulton; Towneley MS. DD. no. 1288. Six of the witnesses have Welsh names, thus affording additional evidence of a foreign colony in the place.
  • 12. Chart. R. (Rec. Com.), 27b.
  • 13. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 65.
  • 14. Robert, one of his sons, has been mentioned above. Robert de Hulton and his son Robert attested a grant by Gilbert de Barton; Whalley Couch. (Chet. Soc.), i, 50. Ellen daughter of Robert de Hulton remitted all her right in 8 acres in Barton; Hulton Ped. 2. Jordan, a brother of Robert de Hulton (probably the younger Robert), was rector of Warrington; Whalley Couch. iii, 919. Meuric and Meredith de Hulton are said to have been sons of Iorwerth. Roger son of Elias de Halton granted to John son of Meuric de Hulton land between Willamhespittes and Bradebroch; Hulton Ped. 2. William son of Meredith de Hulton released certain lands to Richard son of David de Hulton in 1297; ibid. 3. Paulinus de Haughton granted to Cecily, daughter of Iorwerth de Hulton, a third part of Haughton; Whalley Couch. i, 59.
  • 15. Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 252, 256. Richard, his son, owed 20 marks for relief of his father's lands.
  • 16. Final Conc. i, 41. The six oxgangs had been pledged to Iorwerth de Hulton for a term which had expired in 1219. On Richard de Hulton acknowledging the title of Richard de Worsley, the latter leased them to him for seventeen years, at the end of which term the land was to return quietly to the Worsleys, 'unless in the mean time Richard de Hulton or his heirs, with good intent towards Richard de Worsley or his heirs, should do something whereby the land ought finally to remain to them.' An earlier suit respecting the matter, in which Iorwerth was defendant, is mentioned in Curia Regis R. 42 (1206), m. 18. At a later time David son of Richard de Hulton gave to Richard son of Geoffrey de Worsley a formal release of any claim he might have in the six oxgangs; Ellesmere D. no. 41, 47.
  • 17. Hulton Ped. 1. It should be noticed that the service due from Over Hulton to the lord of Manchester was in the 16th century a rent of 4d.
  • 18. Hulton Ped. 3. The grant included all the land between Holesyke and Wholewhicswaghe Brook and between Farnworth and Tyldesley, the service being a rent of 12d.; it was made when Sir William de Vernon was sheriff of Lancaster, apparently as early as 1204; P.R.O. List, 72.
  • 19. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 133.
  • 20. Final Conc, i, 121, quoting Curia Regis R. 107, m. 29 d., from which it appears that Robert de Hulton, being summoned to justify his assarts in the woods near Pendleton, adduced a charter of Richard de Hulton, and called Richard, son of the said Richard, to warrant him. Richard the son being a minor and in ward to the Earl of Cheater, the case was adjourned. This younger Richard is probably the Richard son of Christiana de Alreton who had four oxgangs of land in Heaton under Horwich in 1241.
  • 21. Final Conc. loc. cit.; Abram, Blackburn, 251. As Beatrice widow of William de Hulton in 1256 claimed dower in the Hulton lands in Salfordshire, it would seem that William was the elder brother and that David had succeeded him. In Hulton itself he held two oxgangs of land, one in demesne and one tenanted by David son of Augerel. David is said to have had two other brothers—Roger and John; the latter was rector of Radcliffe; Hulton Ped. 4.
  • 22. Gregson, Fragments, 347.
  • 23. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 249. His children are stated to have been Richard, Adam, Cecily, and John; Hulton Ped. 4. Cecily Daykins daughter of Hulton was a defendant in 1348; Assize R. 1444, m. 4.
  • 24. Agnes, David's widow, claimed dower in 1285; De Banco R. 59, m. 75.
  • 25. In 1297 Richard son and heir of David de Hulton made an agreement with Richard son and heir of Henry de Worsley, concerning an exchange of a mediety of Little Haughton for lands and easements in Hulton. The former received 5 acres in the Gulnecroft, lying next to his own land, and release of a road leading to his mansion; Ellesmere D. no. 53. Richard de Hulton acted as a juror in 1299; Inq. and Extents, i, 305. In 1301 he withdrew a claim against Richard de Worsley and others respecting common of pasture in 100 acres of land, &c., in Hulton; Assize R. 1321, m. 12d. Hegranted land in Farnworth to William de Priestcroft; Hulton Ped. 4. His wife Margery is said to have been a daughter of Robert de Radcliffe, and to have married secondly Geoffrey de Chadderton; ibid. 5.
  • 26. Chart. R. 97 (32 Edw. I), m. 2, no. 40.
  • 27. As early as 1294 Richard son of Richard son of David de Hulton received from Joan daughter of Austin Crosscliff lands in Halliwell, which she held of the Abbot of Cockersand; Hulton Ped. 5. Richard, John, and Roger, sons of Richard de Hulton, attested a Sharples charter about 1307; Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 145/181. In 1311–12, when Richard was evidently in possession of the lands, he released to the Abbot of Cockersand all his right in the wastes and pastures of Westhoughton, reserving, however, common of pasture and reasonable estovers for himself and his tenants; Hulton Ped. 6. He gave his brother John in 1325–6 certain lands in Hulton with reversion of the dower of his mother Margery in Westhoughton; ibid. 5. In June 1311 agreements as to bounds and an exchange of lands in Hulton were made by Richard de Hulton (probably the son of Richard) and Richard de Worsley; Cartelache is named as the 'true division between Salfordshire and Derbyshire'; Ellesmere D. no. 56–7.
  • 28. In 1331 Richard son and heir of Richard de Hulton, in making a grant to Robert son of Adam de Hulton in Irlam, mentions his grandfather Richard; De Trafford D. no. 267. In 1334 Richard de Hulton of Ordsall, convicted with others of having broken into the king's park at Ightenhill, received a pardon; Coram Reg. R. 298, Rex m. 2. Richard de Hulton had a wife Maud, from whom he was divorced; Assize R. 438, m. 15 d. Sir Nicholas de Langford in 1344 attempted to unsettle the disposition of the estates, alleging that Richard de Hulton had in 1334 granted him a rent of 200 marks, in case that he made an alienation without Nicholas's consent; Assize R. 1435, m. 40. Among the defendants were John de Hulton of Manchester and Roger de Atherton, who had received lands in Rumworth; Adam de Hulton and Avice his wife, who had twelve messuages, 200 acres of land, &c., in Hulton, two messuages, 40 acres ofland, &c., in Westhoughton, and a messuage and land in Rumworth. The defence was that Richard had made an enfeoffment of his lands with the advice of Sir Nicholas.
  • 29. In 1333 Richard de Hulton, lord of Ordsall, granted to his uncle Adam de Hulton and his heirs all the grantor's land in Westhoughton, with his manor and tenement in Hulton, and that part of his lands in Rumworth formerly held for life by Richard del Meadow; Hulton Ped. 6. The armorial seal shows the lion rampant, with the legend: SI . RICARDI . DE . HILTVN. Richard son of Richard de Hulton (perhaps of the Farnworth family) and Adam his brother attested a local charter in 1293; Ellesmere D. no. 49.
  • 30. Adam de Hulton was a plaintiff in 1333; Cal. Pat. 1330–4, p. 4.98. In 1334 Richard son of Alexander de Denton claimed a fourth part of the manor of Denton against Adam son of Richard de Hulton and Avice his wife; De Banco R. 338, m. 126 d. Adam and his sons Roger and Robert occur in 1343; Cal. Close, 1343–5, p. 82.
  • 31. Hulton Ped. 7. There were remainders to Robert and Hugh, brothers of Roger. The lands in Denton and Manchester seem to have come to Adam de Hulton with his wife Avice; ibid.; a deed of 1316–17 being quoted. Although the marriage of Roger the son was arranged in 1335, it does not seem to have taken place until 1346, when the parents of the parties agreed as to dower and maintenance; ibid. 8. Roger de Hulton was in 1343 found guilty of overthrowing John de Hulton's house at Rumworth; Assize R. 430, m. 18. Adam de Hulton had two other sons named in a grant of 1347, by which Roger and Robert, already named, gave the reversion of a rent from Tyldesley to their brothers Adam and Lowe; Hulton Ped. 9.
  • 32. Roger son of Roger de Hulton is found claiming the manor as early as 1356; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 14, 18. He was called to warrant in 1355, being then a minor; ibid. R. 4, m. 4.
  • 33. Roger son of Roger de Hulton had the king's protection from all actions in 1371, on his setting out for Calais, in the retinue of Nicholas deTamworth, captain of the town; De Banco R. 444, m. 34 d. Roger de Hulton was living in 1389, when Hugh de Ince and others released all actions to him, his son Roger, William son of Adam de Hulton, &c.; Hulton Ped. 9. In 1396–7 the feoffees of Roger de Hulton restored to him his manor of Hulton, and lands there and in Westhoughton, &c., with remainder to Adam his son; and in 1404 Richard son of John de Hulton of Halliwell resigned to Roger son of Roger de Hulton various lands in Hulton, Westhoughton, and Rumworth which had belonged to Roger's father, Roger, and his grandfather Adam; Hulton Ped. 10. William de Hilton, who, as a witness of the French wars, was called upon to give evidence in the Scrope-Grosvenor trial, was perhaps son of this Roger; ibid.; Scrope-Grosvenor R. 309.
  • 34. In Dec. 1417 the feoffees of Adam de Hulton restored to him the manor of Hulton, &c., with remainder to his son Roger, and a further remainder to the heirs male of Adam's father Roger; Hulton Ped. 11. Adam's daughter Alice married Thomas de Culcheth in or about 1420; ibid.
  • 35. Ellen daughter of John Hulton and 'lately wife' of Roger Hulton of the Park, had lands in Nether Darwen, Bolton, and Rivington in 1459 (3 June 37 Hen. VI); ibid. 12. In 1432 a settlement of boundaries was made between the lands of Sir Geoffrey Massey and those of Roger Hulton in Hulton and James Hulton in Rumworth; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxiii, App. 33. In 1437 Roger Hulton of the Park agreed with Thomas Tyldesley for the marriage of his daughter Alice with James son and heir apparent of Thomas; and in 1459 (17 Aug. 37 Hen. VI) Alice widow of James Tyldesley granted certain lands to Roger Hulton her father, Roger Hulton her brother, and Thurstan Tyldesley; Hulton Ped. 11–12. The last deed is perhaps dated 37 Hen. VI instead of 36 in error; in which case Roger Hulton, senior, died between 17 Aug. 1458 and 3 June 1459.
  • 36. From a deed quoted in the last note it is clear that Roger Hulton had a son Roger, perhaps the Roger Hulton who in 1458–9 arranged for the marriage of his daughter Agnes to Richard son of William Heaton; ibid. 14. Roger son and heir apparent of Roger Hulton of the Park was a trustee for Thomas Tyldesley in 1465; Yates Evidences.
  • 37. Hulton Ped. 14. A dispensation for the marriage of Roger Hulton and Katherine Harrington, related in the fourth degree, was granted by Paul II, and issued by the Bishop of Lichfield in Aug. 1469; Lich. Epis. Reg. xii, fol. 149b. In 1500 Katherine, widow of Roger Hulton, had her dower in Denton. In 1473 Roger Hulton held the manor of Middlewood in Hulton of the lord of Manchester by the twentieth part of a knight's fee and puture, a rent of 4d. and castleward 7d.; Mamecestre, 497.
  • 38. Hulton Ped. 15. The contract of marriage, made 20 Oct. 1485, shows that Roger, Adam's grandfather, was still living; the father is described as Roger Hulton the younger of Hulton Park, and the mother Katherine is named. Adam was to be ready to wed Alice within ten years from the date of the contract; Roger promised to make an estate of 10 marks a year clear value in favour of Alice, and John Hulton would pay 80 marks to the parents of Adam. The parties being related in the fourth degree through the marriage of Roger and Ellen Hulton above recorded, a dispensation was obtained from John de Giglis, papal commissary in England, in 1489, a competent donation being made to the crusade; ibid. 16.
  • 39. Ibid. 16; Adam Hulton had engaged to provide forty able men for the expedition.
  • 40. Visit, of 1533 (Chet. Soc), 209; three descents are recorded—Adam, his son William, and his grandson Adam, with a record of the marriages and the younger children. Adam Hulton, squire, contributed to the subsidy of 1541 as for '£30 in lands'; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 141.
  • 41. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. x, 40; Hulton Ped. 19. William Hulton died seised of the manor of Over Hulton, with messuages, lands, &c., in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, Manchester, and Denton: he had also possessed certain lands of the inheritance of William Hulton of Farnworth lying in Harpurhey, Denton, Openshaw, and Chorlton. The manor of Over Hulton and the lands in Westhoughton and Manchester were held of the lord of Manchester by a rent of 4d. Adam the son and heir was thirty-six years of age. In 1556 after 'certain variances and debates' between Elizabeth widow of William Hulton and Adam Hulton the son and heir, Lord Mounteagle and his son were chosen to arbitrate concerning the widow's dower; among other things they decided that 'sixteen quarters of coals yearly [should] be laid upon the bank of the same coalpit, at [Adam's] own proper costs, to the use of the said Elizabeth for her natural life; and it [should] be lawful for the said Elizabeth to command her said tenants to lead yearly four quarters of coal to her house if she be resident within ten miles of Hulton Park'; Hulton Ped. 18.
  • 42. The agreement for this marriage was made early in 1530, messuages, &c., in Wigan, Westhoughton, Hulton, and Denton to the value of £10 being given to trustees; ibid. 17; Norris D. (B.M.). In 1561 Norroy King of Arms granted a crest to Adam Hulton; Hulton Ped. 21. In 1565 Adam Hulton and Sir William Norris assigned lands in Harpurhey and Gotherswick for the use of Adam's daughter Margaret, she 'being very tender and young,' with reversion to Adam son of William son of Adam Hulton the grantor, and to William brother of the younger Adam; Norris D. (B.M.).
  • 43. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, 4; Hulton Ped. 21. There was no change in the lands recorded.
  • 44. Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. iii, 122; the date given in the Inq. p.m. of his grandson (7 Chas. I) is 2 Jan. 1628, which must be erroneous. He is said to have been eighty-four when he died, and had therefore seen the important changes in religion and dynasty which distinguished the times. William Hulton of the Park and his wife were in 1586 reported to be 'obstinate' in their adherence to the ancient faith; Baines, Lancs, from Harl. MS. 360, fol. 33. Six years later one of the Government informers stated that 'Mr. Hulton of the Park hath this day a recusant to his schoolmaster whom he hath kept in house many years'; Lydiate Hall, 259 (from S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxv). Margaret Hulton and Cuthbert her son, Mary Hulton and Elizabeth her daughter were presented as recusants in 1592; Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xiii, 60. William Hulton of Hulton, esq. ('infirm') and Cuthbert Hulton were recusants in 1619; Manch. Sess. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 82. In 1574 he was required to furnish a light horse, a caliver, and a morion for the county muster; Gregson, Fragments, 30. A settlement of the manor of Over Hulton and the family lands was made by him in 1582; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 44, m. 22. William Hulton of Park was the only freeholder in the township named in 1600 and 1622; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 246, 160. In his will, made in Aug. 1624, he confessed 'to die a true Christian Catholic,' and desired to be buried in his chapel in Deane Church, near the burial-place of Margaret his late wife. In fulfilment of a covenant made 1 Apr. 1557 between his father Adam and his mother-in-law Elizabeth Kighley of Lightshaw, he directed that certain of his goods should be regarded as heirlooms; they included two standing beds in Pendlebury chamber, valued at £5; Hulton Ped. 22. The writ of Diem clautit extr. after the death of William Hulton is dated 16 June 1625; ibid. 25.
  • 45. Adam Hulton, of Brasenose College, Oxford, matriculated in 1579, aged fifteen; and his brother William two years later; Foster, Alumni Oxon. There is a reference to him in Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 504. Adam died in Dec. 1597, and was buried in the collegiate church at Manchester; he had married Alice daughter of William Baguley, of Manchester, clothier, and his son and heir William, then ten years old, came of age in or before 1612; Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. ii, 275; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvii, 80. He had a messuage in Deansgate, Manchester, in right of his wife, whose mother Ellen Baguley was a widow in 1587; Hulton Ped. i, 24.
  • 46. William Hulton the younger, described as 'of Manchester, gentleman,' died 6 Sept. 1613 holding Harpurhey and other lands near Manchester, as well as some in Hulton, Farnworth, Heaton, and Wigan; those in Hulton and Farnworth were held of the lord of Manchester by the hundredth part of a knight's fee. In 1610 he engaged that before Whitsuntide 1612 he would provide for the jointure of his wife Katherine daughter of Robert Hyde of Norbury in Cheshire, mention being made of 'mines of coal and cannel' on his land. Adam Hulton the son and heir was six years of age on 5 July 1613; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 265. Some time after the death of William Hulton a further inquisition was taken (1631), and it was found that the manor of Over Hulton, with a capital messuage called the Park, with messuages, orchards, lands, dove-house, two water-mills, &c., was held of Rowland Mosley as of his manor of Manchester; there were other lands in Westhoughton and Rumworth, also held of the manor of Manchester. In default of heirs male of William Hulton the grandson, the remainders were to William, Robert, Henry, and Rowland Hulton, younger sons of William Hulton the grandfather; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxv, 20. Katherine widow of William Hulton the grandson was living at Todmorden in 1631. She married Saville Radcliffe, called 'father' in Adam Hulton's will.
  • 47. Hulton Ped. 26. The endorsement of the writ has 'Adamus Hulton, infra etatem,' though if the inquisition of 1613 as correct he must in 1632 have been twenty-five years of age.
  • 48. Ibid. where his will is printed in full; his son William was the principal legatee, but his 'mother Radcliffe' and other relations are mentioned.
  • 49. Either Adam or his brother Edward (stated to have died in 1645) was a captain in the Parliamentary army, for in Jan. 1643–4 a correspondent of George Rigby of Peel mentions that 'Captain Hilton, your brother-in-law,' was then a prisoner at Chester; it was proposed to exchange him 'for one Mr. Browne, a minister, now prisoner at Manchester'; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 61, John Hulton of Darley also stated about the same time that 'the last man living upon my land that was able to bear arms as with Captain Hulton's company'; ibid. 63.
  • 50. Pink and Beaven, Parl. Rep. of Lancs. 253
  • 51. Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc), 159; this records William Hulton's age as thirtyeight, and states that his son William (not entered in the printed Pedigree) was then five years of age.
  • 52. He seems to be the 'Mr. Hulton' frequently mentioned in Henry Newcome's Diary and Autobiography (Chet. Soc). He sympathized with the persecuted Nonconformists of the time; Oliver Heywood, Diaries, i, 197. By his will he devised all his estates at Hulton and elsewhere in Lancashire and at Bryanstown in Westmeath to his eldest son Henry and heirs male; then to his other sons Jessop, Charles, Francis, and Edward successively in tail male; Hulton Ped. 28.
  • 53. His name occurs in the list of 'Papists'' estates returned in the time of George I; Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 195.
  • 54. 'Upon the death of William the testator his eldest son Henry entered on the several estates devised to him as aforesaid and continued in possession thereof till his death, which happened in the end of the year 1737, when he died without issue, having a short time before his death married Eleanor Copley. Jessop, the second son, died in the life of his brother, and left issue one son, William. Charles, Francis, and Edward also died in the life of Henry, without issue. Upon the death of Henry the said William Hulton the son of Jessop entered into possession of the several estates descended to him, and his uncles Charles, Francis, and Edward having all died without issue, the remainder in fee expectant, as well as the estate tail, vested in him'; Hulton Ped. quoting an old abstract of title. In 1740 he made a settlement of the manors and lands of Over Hulton, Rumworth, Farnworth, Kearsley, Denton, Longworth, and Clegg Hall in Butterworth; ibid. 29; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 321, m. 3. William Hulton died in April 1741, aged twenty-five.
  • 55. William Hulton, only son of the last-named William, matriculated from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1757, being seventeen years of age; Foster, Alumni. In 1763 he made an arrangement with his mother and her second husband (Edward Clowes of Manchester) regarding lands in Hulton and Westhoughton; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 369, m. 89. In 1772 an Act was passed to enable him to charge his settled estates in Lancashire as a provision for his wife (Ann Hall) and younger children. The timber growing upon the manors of Westhoughton, Harpurhey, and Denton was valued at £4,200; Hulton Ped. 29. He died in the following year. One of his sons, Henry (born 1765, died 1831), entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1784, and became Captain 1st Royals and afterwards lieutenant-colonel commandant of Lower Blackburn local militia, and treasurer of the county, had a son William Adam Hulton (1802–87), barrister and judge of the county court, who compiled the Hulton Pedigree already quoted, and edited the Whalley Coucher for the Chetham Society; a notice of him will be found in the Dict. Nat. Biog. William Hulton son of the abovenamed William was sheriff of Lancashire in 1789, and died in 1800. His son and heir William matriculated from Brasenose College in 1804, aged seventeen, and was created M.A. in 1807; Foster, Alumni. For recoveries of the Hulton manors in 1783 and 1809 see Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 638; Assize R. Lent 49 Geo. III (R. 9).
  • 56. Of Christ Church, Oxford, 1830; Foster, Alumni.
  • 57. See also Foster, Lancs. Pedigrees; Burke, Commoners, iv, 29; Burke, Landed Gentry; and Baines, Lancs. (ed. Croston), iii, 138.
  • 58. In 1292 Joan daughter of Richard de Worsley claimed the manor of Hulton against Henry de Worsley and John de Brunscales. Her right being acknowledged it was agreed that 'Henry should find all necessaries, as in sustenance and clothing, for the said Joan at his house during the term' of two years, for which he had a lease of the manor, and then pay her 80 marks, 'for which she granted that the manor should wholly remain to him and his heirs in perpetuity'; Assize R. 408, m. 30 d. In 1305 Margaret widow of Henry de Worsley claimed dower in Hulton from Henry son of Richard son of Henry de Worsley; she had married Robert son of Richard de Radcliffe; De Banco R. 153, m. 124; R. 156, m. 92; R. 159, m. 98; 182 d.; R. 161, m. 92, 155. In May 1341 Geoffrey son of Henry de Worsley came to Hulton with force and arms, entered his father's house, and broke the beer barrels, consuming beer to the value of 4s.; he also broke the hedges of Richard de Hulton of the Wich; Assize R. 430, m. 16. In 1350 Alice widow of Henry de Worsley sought dower in Hulton against Amabel widow of Geoffrey de Worsley; Geoffrey, the kinsman and heir of Henry, though a minor, warranted Amabel, and it was ordered that Alice should have equal lands as her dower; De Banco R. 363, m. 107. See also Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 7, m. 7 (Lent 1359), at which time Amabel was the wife of John le Comyn of Newbold. The Worsley family acquired lands from the smaller holders. Thus Richard de Worsley repurchased from Richard son of John de Hulton land, called the Meres, which his father Geoffrey had sold to John de Hulton, and of which the latter's son Robert was the tenant. The purchase included all the vendor's rights in Hulton except housebote and heybote in the wood for 'his man' dwelling in Baldman's Head; Ellesmere D. no. 46. This also was acquired by Henry son of Richard de Worsley in 1293; ibid. no. 39. The above-named Robert son of John de Hulton left a widow Maud and daughters Margaret, Ellen, Maud, and Margery; and a part of his land was given to Margaret in 1293 on her marriage with Richard 'called the Legate' of Ince; in 1334 Margaret daughter of Robert de Hulton released to Henry de Worsley all her right in Hulton; ibid. no. 49, 58. Geoffrey de Worsley granted to David son of Henry the Knight lands within bounds starting at David's house and going by the Out Lane (Hot Lane) to the brook coming down from the hall; then by the brook and clough and ditch to the starting-point; also land called Cookman Croft; the rent for all to be 2s.; ibid. no. 48. David afterwards gave the land to his eldest son Adam; no. 42. John son of Richard de Bradshaw gave all his lands in Hulton to Geoffrey son of Thomas son of Litkoc de Salford; and in 1307 Geoffrey sold it to Henry de Worsley; ibid. no. 44, 55. Henry de Worsley in 1296 gave the mill of Hulton to his son and heir Richard and Margaret his wife; ibid. no. 51. Alice widow of Henry de Worsley in 1354 gave her life interest in the demesne of Wood Hall in Hulton (viz. in Wood Hey and Moor Hey) to Thomas Thirlwind and Alice his wife at a rent of 23s.; the grant included pasturage, mast, profits of sparrow-hawks, bees, &c., and wood for building and burning; ibid. no. 59. She had a further rent of 12s. from land tenanted by William de Shakerley and Margaret his wife; ibid. no. 60. Hulton Hey, a piece of inclosed pasture, was the subject of grants in 1467 and 1484 by William Massey and Sir Geoffrey Massey respectively; ibid. no. 70, 71. The lessees in 1484 had leave to build and marl on the ground 'at their own oversight,' while Sir Geoffrey undertook to maintain the hedges and ditches. The rent was a peppercorn for four years, and then 5 marks a year. See also Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 21. In 1556–7 Richard Brereton and Joan his wife and Adam Hulton, as holders of Hulton Moor, were summoned to answer Robert Grundy of Rumworth for a seizure of his cattle on what he alleged to be Rumworth Moor; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 201, m. 11.
  • 59. See the account of Worsley.
  • 60. Some early deeds of the Wartons (or Wauertons) are given in Towneley's MS. DD, no. 939–44. Gilbert de Warton was witness to an early Worsley charter; no. 951. William son of John de Warton about 1310 gave lands to John son of William de Warton. In 1335 William's son and heir Thomas married Margaret, daughter of John de Chisenhale. In 1356 John de Warton claimed a messuage and land in Wharton by Eccles against Hugh de Rylands; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 4. Denis de Warton attested deeds in 1407; De Trafford D. no. 302, 303; and one of the same name, if not the same person, a Hulton yeoman, occurs in 1444; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 3, m. 16. Denis Warton in 1446 granted to feoffees, including his son John, all his lands in Tyldesley and Hulton. He had received them in 1440 from the trustee of his brother John, the heir apparent being Ralph son of Denis. Ralph Warton in 1469 granted to Katherine his wife, daughter of John Bradshagh, deceased, various lands in Hulton lying to the north of the highway from Blacklow to Walkden Moor and between Hollow Syke and Goodrich Brook; together with the 2s. service of William Warton for the Intake. These notes are from the Yates Evidences. Robert Langton in 1587 purchased from William Warton five messuages, a windmill, dovecote, lands, &c.; and four years later Richard Ashton of Mawdsley and Jane his wife were in possession; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 49, m. 44; bdle. 53, m. 87 William Warton's difficulties are said to have arisen from his adhesion to the old religion. He is described as 'attainted' in leases of his possessions by the Crown in 1593 and 1595; Pat. 35 Eliz. pt. iv; 37 Eliz. pt. ix.
  • 61. Ralph Assheton of Great Lever, who died in 1616, held 'the manor, lordship, or capital messuage called Warton hall' of Sir Peter Legh and Dorothy his wife (heiress of Worsley), by fealty and the rent of a pair of gloves, price 4d. each of them; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 289. Robert Mort, a strict Nonconformist, owned it in the second half of the 17th century. He was about to leave for America in 1688, when the Revolution occurred and promised a cessation of the persecutions to which he had been subjected for religion. Matthew Henry called him 'one of the greatest examples of humility, charity, and primitive Christianity that our age has known.' He was followed by his son Nathan, whose son John, born in 1702, removed to Chowbent, where he carried on a fustian cutting business; he was 'an active member of the society of Unitarian Christians at Chowbent, and was noted for his piety and benevolence'; Pal. Note Bk. iii, 251, where is a notice of his funeral sermon. Nathan Mort, who died about 1723, was succeeded by his son Adam, who died about 1730, leaving his daughter Mary his heiress. She married Thomas Earle of Liverpool and died in 1785, leaving two daughters to inherit Wharton Hall and the other Mort estates. The elder daughter Maria married her cousin Thomas Earle of Spekelands; and the younger married Richard Gwillym of Bewsey; Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), vi, 76, 39, 44.
  • 62. It was about 1870 sold by the Earles and Gwillyms to John Gerard Potter and others, who formed the Wharton Hall Collieries Co., Ltd., and worked the mines.
  • 63. The Bridgewater Trustees purchased it from the Colliery Company in 1881. The information in this and the preceding note is due to Mr. Strachan Holme, Walkden.
  • 64. Gilbert de Lymme, with the assent of his wife Jocasta, granted to Maurice son of Ithel land in the Wich, with bounds beginning at Fairhurst Brook and going up to the middle of Wichiard, thence by the bounds of Farnworth to Alrenehead, and down Wichshaw to the bounds of Tyldesley; Hultor. Ped. 48 (from the Yates Evidences). Alice daughter of Gilbert released her right in the same to Richard de Wicheves; Yates Evidences. Henry de Tyldesley granted to Richard son of John de Hulton [of Farnworth] certain lands in Tyldesley, the bounds of which began at Herbertsclough, followed Cartlache to Wich Brook, and by this to Cartlache and Fairhurst Syke, and thence back by the marked oaks to the starting point; Hulton Ped. 33. This land in Tyldesley adjoined Wicheves, the estate which gave a surname to Richard. Henry de Worsley in 1299 granted to Richard son of Richard son of John de Hulton all his land in the Wyt [Wich] between Hulton and Worsley as described in the charter from Gilbert de Lymme and Jocasta his wife to Thomas their son; Ellesmere D. no. 54. Thomas de Lymme granted land in Wicheves to John son of Meuric, at a rent of 2s.; Yates Evidences. Henry son of Henry de Tyldesley granted a rent of 18d. from the hey called the Ral to Richard son of John son of Meuric; Hulton Ped. 48. Henry son of Henry de Tyldesley was defendant in a Hulton suit in 1313–14; Assize R. 424, m. 4 d. Hawise, as widow of Richard de Wicheves, demised to Henry son of John de Hulton her Tight in the Hope Hey in Wicheves in the vill of Worsley; Hulton Ped. 34. Hawise is said to have been a daughter of Gilbert de Lymme. Richard son of Richard son of John de Hulton in 1295 released to the same Henry de Hulton all his right in the Hope Hey, held of Gilbert de Lymme and his heirs by the rent of a rose; ibid. At the same time John son of Hugh de Hulton released to Henry his uncle his land in Wicheves in the Hope Hey, the bounds touching those of Farnworth at one point; ibid. Joan widow of Adam son of Richard de Hulton of the Wicheves in 1336 released to her father-inlaw all her dower lands in Worsley and Tyldesley; ibid. 35.
  • 65. The Peel of Hulton is named as early as 1395 among the lands of Thomas son of Henry de Tyldesley, whose son Peter appears to have married Maud daughter of Richard Mort; Yates Evidences. In 1465 Thomas son and heir of James Tyldesley, who was son and heir of Thomas Tyldesley, was a minor in ward to Sir Geoffrey Massey of Worsley; ibid. James Tyldesley had married Alice daughter of Roger Hulton of the Park; the contract is dated 1437; Hulton Ped. 12. Thomas Tyldesley of the Peel in 1501 leased the Fennyslack in Worsley to James son of Thomas Mort; ibid. In 1523 the feoffees of Thomas Tyldesley made provision for an annuity for Elizabeth his wife; ibid. The wardship and marriage of Thomas son and heir of James Tyldesley of Peel was claimed by Sir John Brereton in 1530; Ellesmere D. no. 76. To Lora Browne, widow, formerly wife of the above-named James Tyldesley, dower was assigned in 1546 from the lands of William Tyldesley of the Peel of Hulton, or Wicheves Hall, with ten messuages, a water-mill, &c.; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 278.
  • 66. In 1550 William Tyldesley seems to have mortgaged or sold his estate, Robert Fleetwood and John Stokes being plaintiffs in a fine of that year; ibid. bdle. 14, m. 153. Thirty years later Edmund Fleetwood, esq. was in possession; ibid, bdle. 42, m. 39. From the Yates deeds it is evident that Edmund Fleetwood was owner in 1574, Thomas Mort of Damhouse being in possession. Edmund Fleetwood of Rossall died in 1622, holding a capital messuage with 120 acres in Worsley and Little Hulton of the lord of Worsley; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), iii, 316.
  • 67. For a notice of this family see Abram, Blackburn, 408, 409; also Baines, Lancs. (ed. Croston), iii, 150. Joseph Yates of Manchester married Ellen daughter and co-heir of William Maghull of Maghull; he died in 1773, and his eldest son having left three daughters the Peel estate passed to the heir of his younger son, Sir Joseph Yates, justice of the King's Bench, and afterwards of the Common Pleas. Sir Joseph had settled at Cheam in Surrey, and was buried there in 1770; Foss, Judges; Dict. Nat. Biog. His son Joseph sold Peel to Ellis Fletcher. Some deeds relating to the estate are given in Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 147. The Rev. William Allen, author of Collectanea Latina, at one time resided in the house. He was minister of Peel Chapel, and had a boarding school.
  • 68. From Ellis Fletcher it has descended to his granddaughter, Mrs. Wynne Corrie. She married the Hon. Robert Wellington Stapleton Cotton, son of Lord Combermere, but was divorced in 1879. There was no issue of this marriage. She afterwards married Mr. Wynne Corrie; Burke, Family Rec. 181. See also the account of Clifton in Eccles.
  • 69. a Trans. Antiq. Soc. xvii, 242.
  • 70. For a view see N. G. Philips, Old Halls of Lancs, and Ches. 57.
  • 71. Leonard Asshaw of Shaw in Flixton was in 1595 found to have held lands in Hulton of the lord of Worsley; Duchy of Lancs. Inq. p.m. xvi, 11. A daughter married Alexander Rigby, who appears to have had her portion in Hulton; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 332, 350. Alexander Rigby of Goosnargh, who died in 1621, held a messuage and lands in Hulton and Tyldesley, which with land in Turton he gave to his younger son, George Rigby; Lancs. Inq.p.m. (Rec. Soc.) iii, 458.
  • 72. Alice Rigby, spinster, made a settlement of the manor of Peel, with lands in Over Hulton, Little Hulton (otherwise Lowest Hulton), Worsley, Goosnargh, Turton, Wigan, Hopwood, Thornton near Chadderton, Clayden, Manchester, Hundersfield, Rochdale, and Rivington; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 160, m. 63. A further settlement was made in 1680 by Roger Kenyon, Alice his wife, Leftwich Oldfield, Alice his wife, and Jane Haworth, widow; ibid. bdle. 202, m. 101.
  • 73. Dugdale, Visit. 166; Abram, Blackburn, 752. Roger Kenyon made Peel his residence. He represented Clitheroe in Parliament from 1690 to 1695 as a Tory; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 257. He was also clerk of the peace for Lancashire and Governor of the Isle of Man; a very large amount of information about him is contained in the Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, passim. His eldest son Roger, named at the Visitation of 1664, died before him, and George Kenyon, a younger son, Tory representative of Wigan from 1710 to 1714 (Pink and Beaven, 232) succeeded to Peel. A third son, Thomas, was grandfather of Lloyd Kenyon, successively Attorney General, Master of the Rolls, and Lord Chief Justice, created a baronet in 1784, and raised to the peerage as Baron Kenyon of Gredington in 1788; see Kenyon MSS.; Life, by the Hon. George Kenyon; Foss, Judges; Dict. Nat. Biog. George Kenyon married his cousin Ann daughter of Edward Kenyon, rector of Prestwich, and dying in 1728, was succeeded by his son and grandson, both named George. Roger and George Kenyon sons of George Kenyon, a lawyer, entered St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1719, being aged seventeen and sixteen respectively; R. F. Scott, Admissions, iii, 17. The last George Kenyon, who died in 1770, left several daughters, co-heirs, of whom the eldest married Sir Thomas Hanmer, bart. The first Lord Kenyon married Mary daughter of the second George Kenyon—cousin by both father and mother; and his son, the second lord, also married a cousin, Margaret Emma, daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Hanmer. Their grandson, the present Lord Kenyon, is the owner of Peel Hall. Alice Kenyon, sister of Mary, Lady Kenyon, held Peel Hall till her death in 1836, when it passed to her nephew, the second Lord Kenyon. For an account of the family see G.E.C. Complete Peerage, iv, 358–60; also pedigree, Baines, Lancs. (ed. Croston), iii, 148, and Piccope's MS. Pedigrees (Chet. Lib.), i, 218. See also Pal. Note Bk. iv, 56, 143.
  • 74. Geoffrey de Worsley granted to Hugh rector of Standish land called the Edge and Hope Croft, at a rent of 12d.; Ellesmere D. no. 45. Rector Hugh afterwards gave all his land—that which Richard the clerk of Irlam farmed and Hope Croft—to Adam de Farnworth; a pair of white gloves was to be paid yearly to the grantor and 12d. to the chief lord of the fee; ibid, no. 43. William son of Hugh de Standish claimed a messuage and lands in Hulton from Roger son of Adam de Farnworth in 1292, alleging that Hugh had demised them to Adam. The claim failed; Assize R. 408, m. 43 d. Adam son of Roger de Farnworth in 1301 sought estovers in 60 acres in Hulton against Richard son of Henry de Worsley and others; Assize R. 321, m. 8d. In 1370 Henry de Farnworth leased lands in Hulton Edge (except Hopecroft), which were part of his mother Maud's dower; Ellesmere D. no. 63. Another lease was made by Richard son of Henry de Farnworth in 1397; no. 65. Eight years later the Hulton lands were granted to Richard son of Richard de Farnworth and Alice his wife, daughter of Thomas the Roper; no. 69. Nicholas Farnworth and Margery his wife in 1494 assigned to trustees an annual rent of 7s. 3d. from the Edge in Hulton; no. 74. A few years later this and other Farnworth lands were sold to Joan Dame Stanley, the heiress of Worsley; no. 110–14. A family named Edge resided on this estate. In 1551 there was a suit between George Grundy and Ellen widow of John Edge respecting Hobb Croft in Hulton, held under the manor of Worsley; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 119). In 1564 John Edge sought lands in Middle Hulton from Dame Jane Brereton and others; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 281; iii, 458.
  • 75. In 1487 Thomas Valentine and John his son and heir apparent granted to George Valentine son of Thomas for life lands in Hulton called Woodcroft, Herbercroft, Dowers, and Wood Hey; Vaudrey D.
  • 76. Land Tax Ret. at Preston.
  • 77. Baines, Lancs, (ed. 1836), iii, 42.
  • 78. Lond. Gaz. 20 Mar. 1874.
  • 79. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconformity, iv, 108. An account of its endowments may be seen in the Endowed Charities Rep. (Deane) of 1903, p. 32.
  • 80. Kelly, Engl. Catb. Missions, 252.