WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



le Norreys, in pleas concerning lands and encroach- 

 ments at Speke. 1 



In 1379 he made an arrangement with Cecily, 

 widow of Sir John le Norreys, as to the custody of 

 the heir, Henry le Norreys. 1 The next step seems 

 to have been the marriage of Henry le Norreys with 

 Roger's daughter Alice ; and as the latter became 

 heir of the Erneys properties on the death of John 

 her brother about 1396,* the Norreys family acquired 

 the lordship of Speke, in which their subordinate 

 tenancy of a moiety became merged. 



It now becomes necessary to trace the story of this 

 family. Alan le Norreys of Formby 4 had at least 

 three sons, Henry, Alan, and John. The son Alan 

 about 1275 married Margery daughter of Sir Patrick 

 de Haselwell. As dowry Sir Patrick granted ' half his 

 part of the vill of Speke, to wit the fourth part of 

 the whole vill, retaining nothing,' to Alan and his 

 heirs by Margery, performing the knight's service be- 

 longing to half a plough-land where 21^ ploughlands 

 made the fee of a knight. 5 About the same time 

 Sir Patrick gave the other half plough-land to his 

 daughter Nicholaa and her heirs, who is found shortly 

 afterwards to have married John le Norreys, a brother 

 of Alan. 6 Thus the Haselwell moiety passed to the 

 Norreys family. 7 



It is from the younger pair that the Norrises of 

 Speke derive their origin, for Alan 8 and Margery left 

 a son Patrick who died without issue in 1313, having 

 granted to his uncle John, son of Alan le Norreys, all 

 his lands and tenements, homages, rents and services 



CHILDWALL 



of free men and natives and their sequel and chattels, 

 mills and sites of mills. 9 John le Norreys thus be- 

 came sole possessor of the Haselwell share of the 

 manor. He made several purchases and exchanges of 

 land, and by the lease in 1332 

 from Richard Erneys he further 

 improved his position. 10 He 

 died shortly afterwards, his son 

 Alan succeeding. In 1334 the 

 three lords of Speke, Sir John 

 de Molyneux, Alan le Norreys 

 and Richard Erneys, made an 

 agreement with Robert de Ire- 

 land, lord of Hale, respecting 

 the boundaries between the two 

 vills, as to which there had 

 recently been debate in a plea gules, 

 of novel disseisin at Wigan. 11 third < 

 Alan pursued his father's policy, 

 purchasing additional plots of 



land, making exchanges with Sir John de Molyneux, 

 and renewing the lease of the manor from Richard 

 Erneys." 



Alan died in 1349 or 1350." Henry his son, 

 who succeeded him as lord of the manor, had begun 

 to add to the estate, and in 1360, being made a knight 

 about that time, :4 exchanged certain lands with 

 Sir John de Molyneux, agreeing on the view of four 

 men that Sir John should have 4^ acres lying be- 

 tween Speke Greves and the vill of Speke, saving to 

 Sir Henry his mill, and should grant the same amount 



"f" 



133 



