A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



of land, as profitable to Sir Henry as that was to 

 Sir John ; the moor to lie in common to them and 

 their tenants as it used to be, with right of turbary. 1 

 In 1354 he obtained a grant of free warren in all 

 his demesne lands of Speke. 1 



Sir Henry had a son and heir John, who married 

 Cecily, daughter of Hamlet de Mascy of Puddington 

 in Cheshire.' 



Of Sir John le Norreys, the next lord of Speke, 

 but little is known. In 1369 he granted to feoffees 

 his manor of Speke, together with lands in Garston, 

 Hale, Woolton, Walton, Ince, and Lydiate. 4 He 

 died about three years afterwards, leaving a widow 

 and three young children Henry, Katherine, and 

 Agnes. In November, 1372, an agreement was 

 entered into by Cecily his widow with Nicholas le 

 Norreys of Halsnead, 5 and Gilbert le Norreys, 

 coroner, with regard to the children. She was to 

 be responsible for their living and clothing, such as 

 belonged to their estate, for the next twelve years, 

 and to make suitable provision for each of them when 

 they were married. 6 But as already stated Roger 

 Erneys, as superior lord, quickly intervened, 7 and in 

 1379 released to Cecily and her second husband the 

 custody of the heir. At this time Henry was still 

 under age, and the daughter Agnes is not mentioned. 



Except for the dispute with John le Norreys, re- 

 lated in a note, Sir Henry's tenure seems to have been 

 undisturbed. By his marriage with Alice Erneys he 

 became lord of the manor. 8 In 14.16 he made pro- 

 vision for his son William on his marriage with Eliza- 

 beth, daughter of Sir James de Harrington. 9 



William, son and heir of Sir Henry, succeeded 

 about 143 i.' A grant of land was made by him in 

 1433-4, and he occurs in 1453 in a bond for 40 

 from William Gerard." He had a large family, and was 

 succeeded by his son Thomas, who married a distant 

 cousin Lettice," daughter and heir of Thomas Norris 

 of West Derby ; by her he had six (or seven) sons 

 and five daughters. 13 He died in 1487-8, seised 

 of a messuage and land in West Derby, of four 

 oxgangs and other land in Formby, also of the manor 

 of Speke and land, meadow, wood, heath, and pasture 

 in Speke, but the jurors at the inquest did not know 

 of whom, he held the same. William Norris, his son 

 and heir, was then twenty-eight years of age." 



Sir William Norris, the successor, must therefore 

 have been born about 1459. His knighthood appears 

 to date from 1487, after the battle of Stoke, in which 

 case he must have fought there on the Lancastrian 

 side. 1 " He was contracted in marriage as early as 

 1468 to Katherine, daughter of Sir Henry Bold." 



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