A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



A considerable amount of litigation followed ; in- 

 deed there had been some already. 1 At the begin- 

 ning of 1 349 John le Norreys, younger brother of 

 Henry, lord of Speke, married the heiress, Katherine 

 de Huyton, and at once brought actions against 

 Emma de Newton and against Margery widow of 

 Robert de Huyton, on pleas that they were making 

 waste, &c., in the houses, woods, and gardens which 

 they severally held as dower in Huyton, and which 

 were Katherine's inheritance.* 



Shortly afterwards (1350) Sir Thomas de Lathom 

 put forward his claim to the manor of Huyton as 

 against Margaret, then wife of Johnson of Richard the 

 Tailor of Warrington.' 



In 1354 Henry de Walton, archdeacon of Rich- 

 mond, purchased two-thirds of the manor from John 

 le Norreys of Speke. 4 The remaining third was sold 

 in 1357 to William de Walton by Avice de Bret- 

 targh and William de Brettargh. 5 



There were cross suits between the Waltons and 

 the Lathoms as to title. The archdeacon alleged 

 that Sir Thomas held of him, by virtue of his pur- 

 chase, messuages, land, &c., by an annual service of 

 6s. 9>d. Sir Thomas on the other hand asserted the 



disseisin done to his great-grandfather, Richard son of 

 Robert son of Henry de Lathom, and claimed the 

 manor. 6 The suits went on for many years, but in 

 the end the Lathom claim seems to have prevailed.' 

 In i 366 Sir Thomas de Lathom 

 the elder claimed from Richard 

 de Causay, chaplain, the manor 

 of Huyton ; two years later he 

 claimed it from Robert son of 

 Robert de Standen, certainly a 

 Walton trustee ; in the next 

 year the latter prosecuted Robert 

 de Huyton for cutting down 

 trees at Huyton. 8 In 1371 

 Gilbert de Ince of Aughton, in 

 a deed made at Huyton, re- 

 leased William son of John de 

 Walton and the above Robert 

 Standen from all actions. 9 After 



this the Walton connexion with the place seems to 

 have ended absolutely. 10 



The next Sir Thomas Lathom and his wife Joan, 

 after the recovery of the manor, made a settlement 

 of it in 1382 ; the remainders were thus stated : To 



IN or WALTON- 

 LE-DALE. Argfnt. a 



three falcon? heads erased 

 table beaked or. 



1 The records of the suit are so con- 

 fused that it is difficult to give a satis- 

 factory narrative. William de Huyton 



whom he afterwards repudiated the rea- 

 son is not given and he settled upon her 

 and her children lands in Little Woolton, 

 and also some in Huyton. Avice next 

 married Roger son of John the Walker 

 ofTarbock, and a settlement was made 

 in 1324, the remainder being to William 

 de Huyton; Final Cone, ii, 58. Wil- 

 liam's widow Emma having married 

 Robert de Hale sought her dower from 

 William Poyde and the above-named 

 Avice his wife, Roger the Walker having 

 died ; and the defendants called upon Sir 

 Thomas de Lathom to warrant them, 

 as being guardian of Robert the heir of 

 William de Huyton ; De Bane. R. 286, 

 m. 57; 287, m. 156; 288, m. 129. It 

 would appear that the lands in Woolton 

 and Brettargh were an absolute gift to 

 Avice, but her right in Huyton was of 

 the nature of dower, though the marriage 

 had been null. 



Margaret soon afterwards appears as wife 

 of John de Billinge, claiming the manor of 

 Huyton as next of kin, being daughter of 

 Henry dc Huyton. It was alleged that 

 John le Norreys had seized her at Sutton 

 in 1349, kept her imprisoned in a house 

 at Huyton, and by threats compelled her 

 to sell to him all her right in the manor 

 i.e. the two-thirds of it not held as 

 dower by Emma de Newton, and the re- 

 version of the other third ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Assize R. 2, m. ii d. Norreys' reply 

 was that Margery acted of her own free 



Assize R. 435, m. 10. 



Whatever truth there may be in this 

 story, John le Norreys seem, to have 

 thought his tenure insecure, for he made 

 over the whole to his elder brother Henry, 

 who thus for a time was lord of Huyton, 

 perhaps as trustee, and became the 

 plaintiff or defendant in actions as to 

 title ; Assize R. 1444, m. 3 ; Duchy of 



7. Quite a different story is now told. 

 Robert de Huyton is said to have died 



Final Cone, ii, 138. The other claimants 

 all appeared ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 

 2, m. i. 



4 Final Cone, ii, 145 ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 3, m. i d. v d. and vi. Pro- 

 bably Henry was acting for his brother 

 William ; they were of the Walton le 

 Dale family. 



5 Avice de Brettargh's charter gives no 

 clue as to her right or identity ; she was 

 probably a daughter, for in 1355 William 

 de Stockley surrendered to Avice de Bret- 

 targh a third part of the manor of Huyton 

 which he held for the term of his life 

 this implying that his wife Avice wai 

 now dead. See Norris D. (B.M.), 985 ; 

 Final Cone, ii, 156; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 6, m. 6 ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. 

 xxxii, App. 333. 



In the meantime another claimant ap- 

 peared to some land in Huyton Robert 

 son of Robert son of William, who wa 

 a younger brother of Henry de Huyton. 



defendant, and he alleged that the land 

 was within Knowsley; Duchy of Lane. 



170 



