A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



manor.' In 1488 John Butler held his lands of the 

 Earl of Derby by knight's service, 8 but in 1504 and 

 later the mesne lordship was ignored, and the lands in 

 Greenhalgh and Thistleton were said to be held of 

 the king as of his duchy by knight's service.' 



Greenhalgh gave a surname to some local families, 10 

 of which one retained possession of its lands till the 

 1 6th century." The Bradkirk family held a fourth 

 part of Greenhalgh." 



THISTLETON, apart from the tenement of the 



Butlers, was largely held by the Cowdrays " and 

 Aughtons of North Meols " and their heirs, their 

 manor of Thistleton consisting principally of the 

 2 oxgangs of land, a fourth part of the vill, granted 

 to the canons of Cockersand by Ellis son of Roger de 

 Hutton. 15 A number of the tenants of Thistleton, 

 which name in former times seems to have been used 

 of the township as a whole, appear in the pleadings 

 and inquisitions le ; some of them, seated in neighbour- 

 ing townships, held of the Crown, the Earl of Derby 



7 See a later note ; also the account of 

 Out Rawcliffe. 



8 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 

 (.; ; the lands were said to be in 

 Thistleton. 



9 Ibid, iii, no. 109 j viii, no. 8 ; xxvi, 

 no. 36 ; Greenhalgh alone, or Green- 

 halgh with Thistleton. 



William Butler of Hackinsall in 1586 

 held land in Thistleton of the queen a 

 of her duchy in socage j ibid, xiv, no. 



47- 



10 Walter de Greenhalgh wa tenant of 

 Ellis de Hutton about 1 220 ; Cickcnand 

 Chartul. i, 1 66. Robert son of William 

 de Greenhalgh (c. 1260) was a benefactor 

 of Cockersand Abbey, having given land 

 at Sandyford ; ibid. 165. He may have 

 been Robert the Clerk of Kirkham (son 

 of William) to whom Richard le Boteler 

 granted 2 oxgangs of land in Thistleton ; 

 Dods. MSS. liii, fol. 85, no. 24. A 

 William son of Robert [?de Greenhalgh] 

 had in 12 1 9 obtained a rent of Ss, due 

 from William son of Warine in Thistle- 

 ton ; Final Cone, i, 42* 



Other clerks of KJrkhnm had lands in 

 the township and were possibly ancestors 

 of the Greenhalgh families. Thus Robert 

 on of Rainkell de Treales about 1230 

 gave a part of his land within Green- 

 halgh to Ralph son of Richard the 

 Clerk, co-rector of Kirkham ; Dods. 

 MSS. liii, fol. 8;, no. 27. Somewhat 

 later, Master William de Kirkham, clerk, 

 on of Richard the Clerk of Kirkham, 

 gave all his land in the vill of Green- 

 halgh to his brother Ralph, with remainder 

 to their sister Amabil wife of John de 

 Hackinsall; ibid. fol. 92*. In 1263 Sir 

 Richard le Boteler agreed with Geoffrey 

 de Pleasington and Alice his wife that 

 they should have the ward and marriage 

 of Thomas son and heir of Ralph de 

 Kirkham ; there were 2 oxgangs of land 

 in Greenhalgh ; ibid. fol. 86^, no. 43. 

 To Thomas son of Ralph de Greenhalgh 

 no doubt the same person John son 

 of Adam de Bradkirk in 1281 granted a 

 mall piece of land to enable Thomas to 

 enlarge his dwelling ; ibid. no. 45. 



William son of Robert de Greenhalgh 

 has been named above (1274). Geoffrey 

 on of Maud formerly the wife of Roger de 

 Nutshaw released to his brother Henry 

 the fourth part of an oxgang of land in 

 Thistleton, and Henry de Nutshaw in 

 1316-17 gave lands there to Robert ton of 

 William de Greenhalgh at a rent of id. ; 

 Kucrden MSS. iv, T ;. 



11 William son of Thoma Greenhalgh 

 was in 1442 re-enfeoffed of lands in 

 Greenhalgh, Esprick, Cornoe, Wesham, 

 Whitacre and the Holmes ; Dods. MSS. 

 liii, fol. 86, no. 38. 



Thomas Clifton in 1547 claimed a 

 messuage in the township against Richard 

 Greenhalgh and James Thornton ; Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 223. 



James Greenhalgh died in 15 59 holding 

 various messuages, Ac., in Greenhalgh, 



Cornoe Row, Esprick and Whitter (Whit- 

 acre) of the queen as of the late priory of 

 St. John of Jerusalem by a rent of 21. 

 His heir was his grandson George (son of 

 Richard) Greenhalgh, about twenty years 

 old ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xii, no. 

 23. Not long afterwards, in 1566, George 

 Greenhalgh sold the manor of Greenhalgh 

 alias Grecnoo, with water-mill, windmill, 

 &c., in Cornoe Row, Whitter and Esprick, 

 to Henry Butler ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 28, m. 203. Soon afterwards 

 Henry Butler also purchased two mes- 

 suages, &c., in Greenhalgh and Esprick 

 from the Earl of Derby ; ibid. m. 49. 

 James Greenhalgh, son of George, in 

 1577 released any right in Greenhalgh to 

 the same Henry Butler ; Dods. MSS. liii, 

 fol. 97^. 



The manor of Greenhalgh is named 

 among the Butler estates in 1571 ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 33, m. 79. In 

 150.5 Henry Butler complained that John 

 Eccleston of Greenhalgh had obtained 

 certain evidences showing that the parcel 

 of land he held was held of plaintiff, the 

 lord of the manor, and intended to claim 

 a title to the manor ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Plead. 37 Eliz. clxviii, B 6. James 

 Greenhalgh of Greenhalgh was presented 

 as a recusant in 1605 ; Visit. P. in 

 Chester Dioc. Reg. 



After the confiscation of the Butler 

 estates in 1716 the manor of Greenhalgh 

 appears to have been acquired again by a 

 member of the local family, for in 1774 

 and again in 1816 the holder was a James 

 Greenhalgh ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 620, 

 m. I (2) ; Lent Assizes 56 Geo. III. 



" The Bradkirk holding has occurred 

 in preceding notes. Adam de Bradkirk 

 and Ismania his wife in 1349 held two 

 messuages. 2 oxgangs of land, &c., in 

 Greenhalgh of Sir Nicholas le Boteler by 

 knight's service and a rent of i 5</. ; Inq. 

 p.m. 28 F.dw. Ill (2nd nos.), no. li. A 

 Richard Parker was defendant in a claim 

 to Fowflat in Greenhalgh in 1596; 

 Ducatus Lane, iii, 468. 



The Greenhalgh part of the township 

 seldom occurs in the records. William 

 de Greenhills of Preston and Margaret his 

 wife had an interest (for her life) in a 

 messuage, &c., there under John Boteler 

 of Kirkland ; Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 43-4. William 

 Skillicorne and Joan his wife had some 

 land there in 1567; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 29, m. 64. Cuthbert Clifton 

 of Clifton in 1512 held land of John 

 Butler of Rawcliffe, and a similar state- 

 ment is found in later inquisitions ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 12, &c. 

 Edward Worthington died at Weeton in 

 1639 holding a messuage, land and 

 common rights in Greenhalgh of Henry 

 Butler. Lawrence hii son and heir was 

 fifty years old ; ibid, xxx, no. 35. 



15 In 1317 Alice widow of William de 

 Travers claimed dower in Thistleton and 

 Elswick against Robert ton of William de 



1 80 



Cowdray and Margaret his wife j DC 

 Banco R. 219, m. 13 id. Margery widow 

 of Robert de Cowdray in 1349 gave all 

 her land in Thistleton to Adam de Meols ; 

 Kuerten MSS. iv, T 5. 



14 Hugh Aughton of North Meols was 

 in 1417 seised of a moiety of the manor 

 of Thistleton, held of the king as of hia 

 duchy by knight's service and 4^. rent ; 

 Lanes, Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 129. 



14 Cockersand Chartul. i, 173 ; Ellis 

 made an exception of Esprick and his 

 mill, but added 12 acres on the nearer 

 side of Greenhalgh Syke, marked out by 

 crosses, and exemption from multure at 

 Greenhalgh mill. Thomas de Chevilli 

 and Amiria his wife released their title 

 to lands in Thistleton, and the canons 

 received further grants or releases from 

 Robert son of Robert the Clerk of Ulvers- 

 ton, Richard de Freckleton, clerk, and 

 Geoffrey son of Sir John de Hackinsall ; 

 ibid. 1 74-6. Numerous place-names 

 occur in the charters e.g. Fieldingford- 

 wray, Mundegumeland, Otemaste, Ruthe- 

 syke, two tongues (or gores) on Borayns 

 on the lower side of the road to Single- 

 ton, 



Hereward, Abbot of Cockersand, gave 

 the 2 oxgangs to William the Clerk of 

 Kirkham about 1230 at a rent of 21. ; 

 Kuerden MSS. loc. cit. ; Dods. MSS. 



Hugh Aughton, son of the above-named 

 Hugh, held messuages, &c., in Thistleton 

 in 1464 of the Abbot of Cockersand by a 

 rent of id. (2s.) ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. 

 Soc.), ii, 80. No 'manor* is named then 

 or later. A similar tenure was recorded 

 in later inquisitions, e.g. in that of Hugh 

 Aughton, 15205 Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. v, no. 28. After the inheritance was 

 divided, John Bold (1587) was said to 

 hold lands, &c,, in Thistleton of the 

 queen as of the late abbey of Cockersand 

 by 23. rent (ibid, xviii, no. 43) ; but in 

 1603 Barnaby Kitchen held similarly by 

 \id. rent i.e. he had a moiety ; Lanes. 

 Inq* p*m t i, 2 3, 27. The * manor ' of 

 Thistleton was named among the estates 

 of Hugh Hesketh of North Meols and 

 Alice his wife in 1611 ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 79, no. 71. 



16 The estate of John de Thornhill in 

 1242 may have been derived from the 

 Jordan de Thornhill who married Quenilda 

 daughter and co-heir of Richard son of 

 Roger of Woodplumpton ; she afterwards 

 married Roger Gernet, but had no children. 

 John Gernet died in 1 249 holding nothing 

 in chief of Theobald le Boteler, but hold- 

 ing 2 oxgangs in Thistleton of John de 

 Thornhill, which land he had by purchase. 

 His brother Benedict was his heir ; Lanes. 

 Inq, and Extents, i, 177. When, shortly 

 afterwards, the escheators were directed to 

 give seisin to Benedict, the land was said 

 to be held of Richard snn and heir of 

 John de Thornhill j Close R. 64, m. 14. 



In 1292 inquiry was made as to the 

 tenement of Master William de Kirkham 

 in Thistleton ; he was dead and the 



