WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WIGAN 



descended to the Lathoms of Mossborough ; ld and 

 one of the parts was later held by the Bispham 

 family. 



The Heatons also held BIRCH LET in Chapel End, 

 the service to the lord of Newton being 3/. zd. rent. 16 

 This manor of Birchley was acquired in the i6th 

 century by the Andertons of Lostock, a younger 

 son settling here. 17 It is now owned by Lord 

 Gerard. 18 



Higher End contains Bispham Hall and Billinge 

 Hall, named after the lords of other portions of the 

 manor. The share of the Bispham family 19 was 

 described as a fourth part even in the 1 8th century, 

 when it passed by marriage to Thomas Owen of 



Upholland, 10 and then by his two daughters to Holt 

 and Edward Leigh.* 1 From Holt Leigh it has 



ANDERTON of Lostock. 

 Sable three ihackbolts ar- 

 gent. 



GERARD, Lord Gerard. 

 Argent a saltire gules. 



Alan de Rainford, who, with Agnes his 

 wife, had a quarter of a moiety of the 

 manor in 1366, when it was settled upon 

 them for their lives, with remainder to 

 Robert del Eves and his heirs ; Final 

 Cone, ii, 172. It may be conjectured 

 that this Robert was the son of Agnes by 

 a former marriage. Thus the four co- 

 heirs were in 1374 represented by Win- 

 stanley, Billinge, Heaton and Eves, and 

 each quarter would pay a rent of is. id. 

 to the lord of Newton. 



Some further light on the descent is 

 given by claims for debt made by the 

 executors of the will of Sir John de 

 Dalton in the next year against Geoffrey 

 de Wrightington and Ellen his wife, 

 executrix of the will of Robert de Win 

 Stanley ; Geoffrey de Urmston, execute r 

 of the will of Joan, who had been w'fe 

 and executrix of Robert de Billinge ; 

 Alan the Barker of Billinge, executor of 

 the will of Margery, who was the wife 

 and executrix of Robert de Staverley ; and 

 Robert de Huyton, executor of the will 

 of Agnes, who was the wife of Alan de 

 Rainford ; De Banco R. 4.57, vn. 186. 

 341 d. 



15 Agnes de Rainford being dead, as 

 appears in the last note, Robert del Eves 

 came into possession, and was defendant 

 in 1375 ; De Banco R. 459, m. 162. 

 He died in or before 1398 ; having held 

 Galfhey (? Gautley) in Billinge of Ralph 

 de Langton, baron of Newton, in socage 

 by the rent of \$d. ; Nicholas, his son 

 and heir, was twenty-four years of age ; 

 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 68. The 

 heiress of this family married a Lathom 

 of Mossborough ; Visit, of 1613 (Chet. 

 Soc.), 1 06 ; and in 1620 Henry Lathom 

 died, holding messuages and lands in Bil- 

 linge of the barony of Newton by a rent 

 of iT,d. ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 

 205 ; see also Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 x, no. 2. 



16 The rent appears to be made up of 

 2$. zd. due by the heir of Adam de Bil- 

 linge, and 15. due from the quarter of the 

 manor inherited from the Huyton family. 

 In a later inquisition the rent is given as 

 3>. id. ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxx, 

 no. 7. 



What is known of the Billinge family 

 has been stated in previous notes. A 

 member of the family married one of the 

 Huyton co-heirs, while the heiress of the 

 main branch appears to have married 

 William de Heaton, son of the Richard 

 de Heaton who held another quarter of 

 the Huyton share. In 1398 a dispensa- 

 tion was granted for the marriage of Joan 

 de Billinge with William de Heaton ; 

 Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.) xxxvii. B, 615 

 Dods. MSS. vii, fol. 326. In 1422 a settle- 

 ment was made of the manor of Birchley 

 and messuages and lands in Billinge, &c., 

 the holders being William de Heaton and 



Joan his wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 5, m. 9. In 1530 Richard Heaton 

 gave the manor of Billinge, and his mes- 

 suages, mills, and lands there and in 

 Birchley to trustees, for the benefit of 

 his son William ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 

 151, m. 8. 



" In a fine of 1581 relating to Birch- 

 ley and a quarter of the manor, James 

 and Thurstan Anderton, sons of Christo- 

 pher, were plaintiffs, and William Heaton 

 and his sons Ralph and Richard, defor- 

 ciants; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 43, m. 133. Previously, e.g., in 1542, 

 the manor of Birchley had been included 

 in the Heaton settlements ; ibid. bdle. 12, 

 m. 66, &c. James Anderton, of Lostock, 

 died in 1613, seised among other proper- 

 ties of the capital messuage called Birch- 

 ley Hall, and of various houses and lands 

 in Billinge, held of the Baron of Newton, 

 in socage, by a rent of 31. id. ; Lanes. 

 Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 26, 27. Roger, 

 his younger brother, had Birchley by 

 arrangement with his brother Christopher, 

 of Lostock ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 94, m. 3, and note of Mr. Ince 

 Anderton. In 1631 he paid 10 on 

 refusing knighthood ; Misc. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 213. He was buried 

 at Wigan, i Oct. 1640, and Anne, his 

 widow, on 14 Sept. 1646. 



His son, James Anderton, of Gray's 

 Inn, took arms for the king in the Civil 

 War, and joined in the attack on Bolton. 

 Though comprised within the articles of 

 Ludlow he forebore to compound within 

 the time fixed, being a recusant, though 

 not convicted. In 1649 he petitioned to 

 be allowed to compound. His estates 

 were, however, confiscated, and included 

 in the third act of sale, 1652 ; Index of 

 Royalists (Index Soc.), 41 ; and Thomas 

 Wharton purchased Birchley in the fol- 

 lowing year. Soon afterwards, however, 

 a composition was arranged, the fine of 

 j8oo being reduced to 650 31. 4</., and 

 further afterwards ; Royalist Comp. Papers 

 i, 75-81. Captain Thurstan Anderton, 

 another of the family, was wounded at 

 the battle of Newbury, and died at 

 Oxford, in Sept. 1643 : Castlemain, Cath. 

 Apology. Early in 1654, in a fine con- 

 cerning the ' manor of Billinge,' James 

 Anderton, Thomas Wharton, and Joseph 

 Rigby were deforciants; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 153, m. 81. James 

 Anderton died in 1673 ; Cavalier's Note 

 Bk. 305. His only child was a daughter 

 Elizabeth, who married John Cansfield of 

 Cantsfield. A pedigree was recorded in 

 1664 ; Dugdale, Visit. 5. 



18 Mary, the daughter and heir of the 

 above John Cansfield, married Sir William 

 Gerard, and in 1692 her lands were set- 

 tled as the manors of Robert Hall and 

 Cantsfield, and a fourth part of the manor 

 of Billinge, with messuages and lands in 



these places, including Birchley ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 229, m. 109. 



19 No pedigree was recorded. The ear- 

 liest of this family known is Thomas 

 Bispham, who in 1552 was one of various 

 persons charged with destroying timber in 

 Galtly Wood, and who early in 1558 

 made a settlement of three messuages, 

 and other lands in Billinge and Rainford ; 

 Ducatus, i, 242 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 20, m. 112. Henry and Thomas, 

 jun., appear in a fine of 1571 ; ibid, 

 bdle. 33, m. 39. Two years later, Thomas 

 Bispham (probably the younger, on suc- 

 ceeding), made a settlement of 4 mes- 

 suages and lands in Billinge and Rainford ; 

 ibid. bdle. 35, m. 19. In 1600 he was 

 among the freeholders of the township. 



William Bispham, who appears in 

 1628, on refusing knighthood paid 20 

 in 1631 : Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 212. He died 10 Oct. 1639, 

 holding lands in Orrell and Billinge, the 

 latter of the Baron of Newton by a rent 

 of 1 3</., the regular rent for a fourth part 

 of the manor ; his son and heir, Samuel, 

 was of full age ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xxx, no. 97. William Bispham of 

 Billinge married a niece of Bishop Bridge- 

 man's ; Wigan Ch. 348. See also Fun. 

 Certs. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 198, 

 for further particulars of the family ; 

 Samuel Bispham was one of King 

 Charles's physicians in ordinary, and had 

 a son and heir, Thomas, aged 1 8 months 

 at his grandfather's death. 



In 1641 the manors of Orrell and Bil- 

 linge, and messuages, windmill, and lands 

 there were the subject of a settlement by 

 Samuel Bispham, esq. ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 139, n. 32. Thomas 

 Bispham died 22 Sept. 1677, aged 40 ; 

 Wigan Ch. 746 ; and another of the 

 same name followed, for Frances Bispham, 

 widow of Thomas, and Thomas Bispham 

 were vouchees in a recovery of the manors 

 in 1703 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 477, m. 

 6. Frances died at the end of the same 

 year ; Wigan Ch. loc. cit. 



80 Thomas Bispham had an only daugh- 

 ter and heir Margaret, who about 1731 

 married Thomas Owen ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Plea R. 532, m. 7 ; Feet of F. bdle. 

 307, m. 8 ; Wigan Ch. 746. 



21 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdles. 368, 

 m. 64; 371, m. 137; Plea R. 599, 

 m. 12 ; the ' manor or lordship of Orrell, 

 a fourth part of the manor or lordship or 

 reputed manor or lordship of Billinge, 

 with lands, &c., in Orrell, Billinge, Up- 

 holland, Rainford, and Wigan.' 



Holt Leigh died 1 1 March 1785, aged 

 5 5, and was buried at St. Clement Danes, 

 London ; his widow Mary died 28 Nov. 

 1794, aged 53 ; Wigan Cb. 745, 746. 

 Bispham Hall was about 1850 the pro- 

 perty of John Holt ; Raines, in Gastrell's 

 Notitia, ii, 254. 



