A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The family pedigree cannot 

 be traced satisfactorily. 11 A 

 Gilbert Abram died about 1470 

 leaving two daughters as heirs ; 

 Constance married Henry By- 

 rom and Isabel married James 

 Holt ; " and the later holdings 

 of these families probably re- 

 present the inheritance of the 



daughters." The manor, how- ABRAM. Azurtawn 

 ever, continued in the male tplendour or, 

 line 13a to Thomas Abram, who 



died in 1606, also leaving two daughters to divide the 

 property. 14 The elder, Susan, married Henry Lance, 



of a Cornish family, 15 and the manor was assigned to 

 her ; the younger daughter, Mary, married Philip 

 Langton of the Lowe in Hindley. 16 All adhered to 

 the ancient religion, and suffered accordingly under 

 the persecuting laws in force. 17 In 1652, however, 

 Abraham Lance, the son and heir of Henry and Susan, 

 being ' conformable,' petitioned for the removal of the 

 sequestration of his mother's lands, and on condition 

 that he abjured his religion they were allowed to 

 him. 18 It does not appear whether he actually re- 

 gained possession or not, but the ruin of the family, 

 several members of which fell in the Civil War fighting 

 as Royalists, could not be averted. 19 



Shortly afterwards William Gerard and Anne his 



11 Adam de Abram occurs in 1246; 

 Assize R. 404, m. 13 d. In 1270-1 

 Robert de Abram and Robert and Adam 

 his sons were defendants ; Curia Regis R. 

 20 1, m. ijd. From one of these may 

 descend the John son of Richard son of 

 Robert de Abram mentioned in 1 342 ; 

 Towneley MS. GG, no. 2670. 



Richard de Abram, probably the head of 

 the family, was a juror in 1288 ; Inq. and 

 Extents, i, 273. Johnson of Richa d de 

 Abram was a defendant in 1301 ; Simon 

 de Holland was plaintiff; Assize R. 419, 

 m. 4d. ; 418, m. 2. John de Abram 

 seems to have died soon after his father, 

 for in 1 305 the defendants in a case con- 

 cerning land were Richard son of John de 

 Adburgham, Agnes widow of John, Maud 

 widow of Richard (probably the grand- 

 father), Henry de Huyton, William and 

 Roger de Bradshagh, Simon de Holland, 

 John Gillibrand, and William son of 

 Roger de Ashton ; the plaintiff was 

 Richard son of Adam del Lache. This 

 list probably includes all or most of the 

 freeholders ; Assize R. 420, m. 8. Many 

 years later, in 1324-5, Richard del Lache 

 claimed common of pasture from Richard 

 de Abram ; Assize R. 426, m. 9. In 

 1 3 24 an agreement was made between 

 Adam de Kenyon and Richard de Abram 

 that the latter should marry Adam's 

 daughter Godith, her portion being ,40 ; 

 Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 159-9$. 



William de Abram was a juror in 1387 ; 

 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 25. Soon 

 afterwards there are several references to 

 Gilbert de Abram, who was a juror in 

 1416 ; ibid, i, 116. In 1419 a proclama- 

 tion was issued forbidding armed men to 

 go about to the peril of the king's peace, 

 with special reference to Gilbert de Abram 

 and his sons John and William, who had 

 entered the lands of Richard del Lache at 

 Abram ; Def>. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 17. 



John de Abram, probably the son of 

 Gilbert just mentioned, appears to have 

 died about the beginning of 1446, when 

 the writ Diem clausit extremum was issued ; 

 Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 533. 

 William de Abram, gentleman, and Joan 

 daughter of John de Abram, occur in suits 

 of 1445 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 8, 

 m. I, 6. 



12 In the time of Edward IV there was 

 made a settlement of his estate, or part of 

 it, in favour of his two daughters ; Towne- 

 ley MS. CC, no. 651. It is described as 

 seven messuages, 124 acres of land, &c. 

 John Abram was the deforciant. Possibly 

 he was the heir male ; in which case Gil- 

 bert must have been dead at that time. 

 In the Visitations the father's name is 

 given as John. 



About 1500 James Holt with Isabel his 

 wife and Constance Byrom a widow, as 



cousins and heirs of Hugh Boydell and 

 daughters and heirs of Gilbert Abram 

 claimed a right of toll from all who crossed 

 the Mersey between Runcorn and Thel- 

 wall ; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 39-41. In Ormerod's Ches. (ed. 

 Helsby), i, 596, it is stated that Isabel, 

 one of the sisters and co-heirs of Robert 

 Boydell, was married to John Abram as 

 early as 1405 ; Gilbert was the son and 

 heir ; a few years later she was the wife 

 of Nicholas Langton. The other sister, 

 Margaret, married Hugh Reddish. See 

 also op. cit. ii, 723. 



18 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 46 ; 

 Thomas Holt of Grislehurst. In the in- 

 quisition taken after the death of Henry 

 Byrom in 1613, it was found that he had 

 held lands in Abram, &c., of the lord of 

 Newton, but the service was not known ; 

 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 273 ; ii, 12. 



X8a Thomas Abram seems to have been 

 lord about 1500 and John Abram in 1528 5 

 Duchy Plead, i, 162, 163. In 1540 Thomas 

 Abram was defendant in a claim to mes- 

 suages, &c., in Abram put forward by Gil- 

 bert Hindley and Elizabeth his wife ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 163. 



14 In 1 567 Thomas Abraham, the last of 

 the family, was deforciant of the manor of 

 Abram, and lands in the township ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 29, m. 68 ; and 

 again, in conjunction with Mary his wife, 

 in 1600; ibid. bdle. 62, m. 275. The 

 remainders in the former settlement are 

 thus stated : To Peter brother of Thomas, 

 Sir Thomas Gerard, Thomas and George, 

 sons of the late Richard Abraham of 

 Westleigh ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 223, 

 m. 1 8. Thomas Abraham, in October 

 1606, was buried at Wigan, as 'father-in- 

 law to Mr. Henry Lance of Abram ' ; 

 Wigan Reg. He was on the recusant list 

 of 1599-1600; Gillow, Bill. Diet, of 

 Engl. Catb. iv, 112. 



15 Visit, of Corn-w. (Harl. Soc.), 124. 

 The story of the marriage is curious. 

 'Abram of Abram, a gentleman of 100 

 land in Lancashire, put his daughter 

 and heir unto my lady Gerard of the 

 Brynn. Sir Thomas and my lady being 

 here in London, one Dwelles, a fencer 

 near Cecil house, and his wife, by indirect 

 means being of kin to the girl did in- 

 vite all my lady's children and gentle- 

 women unto a breakfast. They came 

 thither, and at their coming the youths 

 and serving men were carried up to the 

 fence school. My lady's daughters and 

 gentlewomen must needs play at the cards, 

 will they nill they. The girl Abram, by 

 the wife of the house, was conveyed into 

 a chamber and shut the door after her and 

 there left her. The girl found in the 

 chamber four or five tall men. She knew 



112 



them not. And immediately the girl fell 

 into a great fear, seeing them to compass 

 her about. Then began an " old priest " 

 to read upon a book. His words she 

 understood not, saving these words: "I 

 Henry take thee Susan to my wedded 

 wife," etc. This done they charged the 

 wench never to discover this to anybody 

 living ; and so sent her down to her 

 fellows. And dinner being done the 

 wench told to her fellows very lamentably 

 what had been done ; and they over to 

 Sir Thomas and my lady.' The date of 

 this deposition is 1583. Quoted in Ley- 

 land's .Abram from Ellis's Original Letters 

 (Ser. i), ii, 292. 



16 By an indenture of 10 Dec. 1598 

 the estate was secured to Mary wife of 

 Thomas Abram for life, with reversion 

 to Henry Lance and Susan his wife, eldest 

 daughter of Thomas Abram, and their 

 heirs ; in default, to Philip Langton and 

 Mary his wife, younger daughterof Thomas 

 Abram ; Leyland, op. cit. 1 1. Mary 

 Abram gave 90 to the school at Hindley. 



17 An informer gave evidence that Abra- 

 ham Lance and Abraham Langton so 

 named from their mother's family were 

 ' present at a meeting of some of the 

 leading Catholics of the county, held at 

 the house of Widow Knowles in Ashton 

 the day before Newton Fair, 30 July 1623, 

 at which Sir Thomas Gerard is asserted to 

 have made a treasonable speech. In 1626 

 Abraham Lance, of Abram, gent, and 

 Emma his wife are found in the recusant 

 rolls' ; Gillow, op. cit. iv, 112. 



In 1628 Henry Lance the father, as a 

 convicted recusant, paid double to the 

 subsidy ; Norris D. (B.M.). He was 

 buried at Wigan, 7 Jan. 1629-30. 



18 Cal. Com. for Compounding, iv, 2967 ; 

 Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iv, 55. No reason is assigned 

 except the recusancy of the petitioner's 

 mother, who was buried at Wigan 9 Sept. 

 1648, as 'Old Mrs. Susan Lance of Dai- 

 ton.' Emma wife of Abraham Lance 

 was buried at the same place 17 Mar. 

 1651-2. 



19 Abraham Lance certainly had issue, 

 for a son Henry was baptized at Wigan 

 in 1619, and another was buried in 

 1620; Wigan Reg. Hence the Cap- 

 tains Abraham and Robert Lance stated 

 by Lord Castlemain to have been slain at 

 Rowton Heath may have been his sons ; 

 John Lance was another of the family, 

 killed at Islip ; Gillow, loc. cit. A Cap- 

 tain Lance was taken prisoner 6 Mar. 

 1 643-4 ; Civil War Mem. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.) 125. Abraham mar- 

 ried again, Elizabeth daughter of Richard 

 Mascy of Rixton, and afterwards wife of 

 George Mascy, being his second wife ; 

 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 194. 



