A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



inquests of the time of Elizabeth ; ' in that taken in 

 1594 after the death of Henry Mossock his land in 

 Allerton was stated to be held ' of the heirs of Robert 

 son of John Grelley ' ; but in that of his son Thomas, 

 four years later, ' of Richard Lathom.' 



Robert Lathom of Allerton, who married a daugh- 

 ter of William Norris of Speke, occurs from 1472 

 onwards ; he died at a great age in September, 1516, 

 and was succeeded by his son William, then over sixty 

 years old.' The Lathoms were both royalists and 

 recusants.* Their estates were seized by the Parlia- 

 ment during the Civil War, and the manor was sold 4 

 to John Sumner of Midhurst in Sussex, in March, 

 1654. The price agreed upon was 2,700* It 

 was not, however, till the beginning of 1670 that 

 Charles, son and heir of John Sumner, obtained 

 possession from Thomas Lathom, son and heir of 

 Richard, by further payment ; later in the same year 

 the whole was sold to Richard Percival and Thomas 

 his son for 4,755, of which sum Charles Sumner 

 received 3,300, and Katherine Lathom, widow, 

 and her son Thomas the remainder. 6 



Richard Percival, born in 1 6 1 6, was engaged in 

 business in Liverpool. 7 He and others who refused 

 to make the declaration required by the Test and 

 Corporation Act were removed from their alderman- 

 ships in l66z. 8 He died in 1700, being succeeded 

 by his son Richard. 9 The younger Richard had 

 three sons and four daughters. The eldest of the 

 sons, John Percival, failed in business about 1722,' 

 and the father, apparently overwhelmed by misfor- 

 tune, retired to Manchester, where he died in 1725." 



The Allerton property had been fully settled, but 

 in 1726 Richard Percival of Liverpool, son and heir 

 of John, with the assistance of Thomas Aspinall of 

 Toxteth Park, who had intermarried with this family," 

 cut off the entail in order to aid his mother, who out 

 of her 100 a year had given up 50 to help to pay 

 her husband's debts. Ten years later he sold the 

 estate for 7,700 to the brothers John and James 

 Hardman, the latter being distantly related by 

 marriage ; he then retired upon 100 a year to 

 Wavertree Hall, where he was living in 1760, a 

 recluse, bent upon the discharge of his father's debts. 13 



John Hardman died in 1755 " soon after his elec- 

 tion to Parliament, his brother James having pre- 

 deceased him in 1746. The former had no children, 

 but the latter left three sons and a daughter, all of 

 whom died young, and the widow continued to 

 reside at Allerton till her death, 12 February 1795.'* 



The estate was purchased by William Roscoe and 

 James Clegg, the manorial rights being held jointly." 

 The former resided at the hall for some time, 17 but on 

 his failure in 1 8 1 6 his portion was sold to James 

 Willacey of Barton Lodge near Preston, from whose 

 representatives it passed in 182410 Pattison Ellames 

 for 28,000. In 1836 the purchaser was living at 

 the Hall and Samuel Joseph Clegg, son of James 

 Clegg, at Green Hill in Allerton. 18 After prolonged 

 litigation among the representatives of the families of 

 Willacey and Ellames, the manor or reputed manor, 

 demesne lands, and hall estate were offered for sale in 

 September, 1868, by order of the court of Chancery. 

 A sale was not then effected ; 19 but later the Ellames 



