A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



succeeded by Cecily de Columbers, 1 and then in turn 

 by Richard, 1 Geoffrey, Adam, and Henry 3 her sons. 



Henry was still living in October, 1260, when 

 William son of Henry de Walton endeavoured to re- 

 cover the manor of Hale, which, as he asserted, Cecily 

 de Columbers had held of him, and which should 

 have reverted to him as an escheat on her death, as she 

 died without heirs, her children being ignored as ille- 

 gitimate. Henry's defence was technical but success- 

 ful ; he did not hold the entire manor, as Herbert, 

 rector of Childwall, had a messuage there with 3^ acres 

 of land and the site of a chapel. 4 Henry retained the 

 manor till his death, which 

 occurred soon after, and was 

 succeeded by his sister Cecily, 

 wife of John de Wolfall. 6 



So far, the settlement made 

 by Richard de Meath held 

 good ; the Walton family were 

 overlords, and Cecily de Co- 

 lumbers and her children suc- 

 cessively held under them. 

 The threat of the Waltons to 

 dispossess them for illegitimacy 

 seems to have led to a com- 

 promise, for Cecily de Wolfall 



granted a third of the manor of Hale to her overlord 

 William de Walton, who was satisfied with that 

 concession. 6 



Other claims interfered. Robert de Ferrers, earl 



of Derby, between 1263 and 1266, granted to 

 Nicholas dela Hosethe wardshipof Richard de Walton, 

 and in addition, granted him the 7 rent due from 

 the manor, and made him 

 mesne lord of Hale, holding 

 directly of the earl, and there- 

 fore superior to the Waltons, 

 under whom were the descen- 

 dants of Richard de Meath. 

 Nicholas de la Hose 7 sold his 

 rights to Robert de Holand, 

 who thus became superior lord 

 of Hale, with the Walton heir 

 in wardship.' HoLAND or UpHO 



But at the beginning of LAND . Azure, umte 

 Edward I's reign another 

 claimant came forward, more <tmt ar ""- 

 important than any of the 



foregoing. This was Adam Austin or Adam de 

 Ireland, son of Cecily de Wolfall's sister Edusa," who 

 had been living in Ireland, where her son Adam was 

 born and brought up. They were in ignorance of 

 the state of the succession in Hale, but Adam on 

 coming into Lancashire claimed his mother's share of 

 the two-thirds not alienated by Cecily, and then 

 sought a writ against Richard de Walton for the other 

 third. 10 



He first appears as a claimant in 1279, when, in 

 conjunction with his aunt Cecily and her husband, he 

 demanded land, meadow, wood, and the third part of 



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