WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



the Serjeant all his land in Melling lying between 

 Thorpsbrook and the moor. 1 In 1327 Henry de 

 Bootle made provision for his sons, granting Abul- 

 thwaite in Melling to Thomas his son and heir, with 

 remainders to his other sons John and Henry ; while 

 to John he gave Northfield, with remainders to his 

 brothers.' Nicholas son of Henry de Bootle has 

 already been mentioned; he was living in 1324-5, 

 when Goditha widow of Thomas de Thorp claimed 

 from him dower in 3 acres in Melling. 3 Robert son 

 of Nicholas de Bootle in 1364 gave to Richard de 

 Rainford a house and some land in Melling (in a field 

 called Lounstowne), and the reversion of a third part 

 held by his mother Cecily in dower. 4 



Thomas Bootle, who died at Melling on 10 Octo- 

 ber, i 597, held of Edmund Molyneux of The Wood 

 by a rent of 5/. 4^. two houses, 30 acres of land, &c. 

 in Melling, besides lands in the neighbouring town- 

 ships. His son and heir was Robert Bootle, then 

 aged thirty, who was the father of two sons, Ferdinand 

 and Edmund. 5 



CUNSCOUGH seems to have been almost entirely 

 the property of the abbey of Cockersand. 6 After 

 the dissolution the abbey land here was granted to 

 Sir Thomas Holt of Gristlehurst ; ' he soon after- 

 wards sold it to Lawrence Ireland, and it has descended 

 with Lydiate. 8 In the inquisition after Lawrence 

 Ireland's death (1566) is recited a lease from him to 

 Thomas Tatlock and John his eldest son of a messuage 

 and land in Cunscough, with right of turbary, which 

 had been held previously by John Tatlock, father of 

 Thomas. 9 Lawrence Ireland, a younger son of the 

 owner, seems also to have settled there. 10 The estate 

 was called a manor, held of the queen in chief, and 

 of the clear annual value of lo. u 



A complaint by Thomas Knowles, one of the 

 Ireland tenants, led to an inquiry in which some of 

 the usages of the old time were stated. For the 

 plaintiff it was alleged that the tenants had their 

 holdings ' by the custom of the manor,' and besides 

 their yearly rent used to pay to the abbot certain 

 capons at Christmas. As a ' fine ' the abbot used 

 commonly to take of an incoming tenant a year's 

 rent, and the cellarer then entered the name in the 



HALSALL 



court roll and in the rental, so that he might have 

 the tenement for life, with remainder to his widow so 

 long as she did not marry again, and then to his 

 eldest son. It was never known that the abbot had 

 ever put any tenant out, and the present complainant 

 had succeeded his father Thurstan and his grandfather 

 Ralph. On the other side it was stated that this 

 Ralph had come in by marrying the former tenant's 

 widow, thus taking away the succession of the sons 

 of her former husband, by favour of her brother, 

 then bailiff of the manor. Sometimes also a younger 

 brother succeeded, as in the case of John son of Henry 

 Tatlock, whose elder brother William was passed 

 over. In the end it was decided that the plaintiff 

 had not proved the custom by which he claimed to 

 succeed." The crops on the land were oats, barley, 

 and flax. 13 



Richard Molyneux, grandson of Sir William, 

 married a daughter of John Molyneux of The Wood 

 and settled in Cunscough, being returned as a free- 

 holder there in 1600." He was a justice of the 

 peace. An abstract of his last will is preserved by 

 Kuerden ; he desired to be buried in the chapel at 

 Melling ; he mentioned his son Richard, who was to 

 buy the capital messuage called Cunscough, and his 

 daughters Mary Wolfall, Frances Lathom, and Elinor. 15 

 The Mossocks of Bickerstaffe also obtained a hold- 

 ing in Cunscough. Thomas Mossock in the time of 

 Elizabeth married Margaret, a daughter of Lawrence 

 Ireland of Lydiate, and in the visitation of 1664-5 

 the family is described as Mossock of Cunscough.' 6 



The Tatlocks can be traced from the thirteenth 

 century down to recent times, especially in con- 

 nexion with this portion of the township." The 

 following notes on their later history are taken 

 from the monograph by A. Patchett, 18 in which may 

 be seen the evidences for the statements made. John 

 Tatlock, who died in 1598, had by his wife Kathe- 

 rine five sons and two daughters. The eldest son 

 Richard was of sufficient standing to be called upon 

 for a composition on refusing knighthood in the time 

 of Charles I ; 19 and he bequeathed 20 to the poor 

 of Melling. By his wife Margaret he had a son John 

 and six daughters. He died in 1 640, and was sue- 



