WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WINWICK 



a son Peter, and two daughters, Joan and Agnes. The 

 son died before 1330, and his sisters became heirs of 

 the property. 17 



Joan married William Gerard, son of William 

 Gerard, lord of a moiety of the manor of Kingsley, 

 near Frodsham ; u and Agnes married David Egerton 

 of Egerton, near Malpas, but probably died without 

 issue, as nothing is known of any claim to the Burn- 

 hull manors by her descendants. 19 The heiresses and 

 their husbands were children at the time of their 

 marriage, William Gerard being but thirty years of 

 age in 1352, when his father died.* Two years 

 later he made a settlement of the manor of Ashton, 

 the remainders being to his son Peter, and then to 

 the heirs of Joan daughter of Alan de Burnhull.* 1 



Little is known of the son, except that he became 

 a knight." Sir Peter Gerard died in 1380, and was 

 succeeded by his son Sir Thomas Gerard, who like 

 others of the family is traditionally said to have been 

 engaged in the wars of the time. 13 At his death in 

 1416 he was found to have held the two-thirds of 

 the manor of Ashton of Henry de Langton, baron of 

 Newton, in socage by the service of zos. a year, 

 besides many other manors and lands in Lanca- 

 shire. 14 His son and heir John, aged thirty at his 

 father's death, succeeded. He died 6 November 

 1431, leaving a son and heir Peter, then twenty- 

 four years of age.* 4 This son, afterwards Sir Peter 

 Gerard, had a comparatively short life, dying on 

 26 March 1447, when the manors devolved on 



a minor, his son Thomas being but sixteen years 

 of age." 



Sir Thomas Gerard, who came of age in 1452," 

 was married in childhood to Douce daughter of Sir 

 Thomas Ashton ; afterwards he married Cecily, 

 daughter of Sir Robert Foulshurst, by whom he had 

 a son and heir Peter, and other children.* 8 He died 

 on 27 March 1490 ; w his widow Cecily afterwards 

 made a vow of chastity. 50 The son Peter, aged 

 thirty at his father's death, married Margery 

 daughter of Sir Thomas Stanley of Hooton, and 

 granddaughter and coheir of Sir John Bromley, by 



BROMLEY. Quarterly 

 per fesse indented gules 

 and or. 



GERARD of Brynn. 

 Azure a lion rampant 

 ermine crowned or. 



whom the estate of Gerard's Bromley came to this 

 family. Peter Gerard died four years after his father, 31 

 leaving as heir his son Thomas, only six years of age. 

 He was made a knight, but showed himself a turbu- 



J ' Assize R. 424, m. 2 ; De Banco R. 

 284, m. 119. 



18 It will be seen from the account of 

 Kirkby that William Gerard, the father, 

 had a share of the manors of Kirkby and 

 Melling in right of his wife. 



An account of the Gerards of Kings- 

 ley is given in Ormerod, Chet. (ed. 

 Helsby), ii, 96, and 131, 132. Abstracts 

 of inquisitions and family deeds are there 

 printed. 



19 Ibid, ii, 628. In 1346 inquiry was 

 made as to why William Gerard, jun., 

 and David de Egerton had not been made 

 knights : a list of their possessions was 

 made ; Q.T. Mem. R. 122, m. 123 d. 



20 Ormerod, op. cit. ii, 96. William 

 and Joan were in possession of Ashton in 

 1338, when they made a sale of land ; 

 Final Cone, ii, 108. 



21 Ibid, ii, 143, 144. 



22 The Bishop of Lichficld granted to 

 Sir Peter Gerard a licence for his oratory 

 at Brynn for two years from 7 Oct. 1379; 

 Lich. Epis. Reg. Scrope, v, fol. 33. The 

 writ of Diem cl. extr. after his death was 

 issued 20 Feb. 1380-1 ; Dep. Keeper' t 

 Rep. xxxii, App. 353. 



23 Ormerod, ii, 96. Thomas Gerard 

 was knight of the shire in 1384, 1388, 

 and 1394 ; Pink and Beaven,Pr/. Repre. 

 of Lana. 40, 43, 44. In 1393 Thomas 

 Gerard received the royal pardon for 

 having entered into certain estates during 

 his minority and for having married, 

 when he should have been in ward to the 

 king; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvi, App. 195. 

 In 1402 he made provision for the mar- 

 riage of his son John with Alice daughter 

 of Sir John Boteler ; ibid. 196. 



24 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 123; 

 the clear value was 100 marks. His 

 name does not occur in Sir Harris 

 Nicolas's account of the Agincourt 

 campaign. 



25 Ormerod, loc. cit. The writ of 



Diem cl. extr. was issued 10 Dec. 1431, 

 and writ of livery 14 Mar. 1431-2 ; Dep. 

 Keeper' t Rep. xxxvi i, App. 301. The 

 writ of Diem cl. extr. on the death of 

 Alice, widow of John Gerard, was issued 

 27 Feb. 1441-2 ; ibid. 



26 Ormerod, loc. cit. The Lancashire 

 inquisition taken after his death is pre- 

 served in Towneley MS. DD, no. 1465. 

 This recites among other deeds, that 

 John Gerard, the father, had in 1428 

 granted lands in Rainhill, with Smalley, 

 Lawneld, and other parcels in Ashton to 

 his son Peter and Isabel his wife. It 

 also appears that Peter was ' esquire ' in 

 1440, when various lands were settled on 

 Douce, daughter of Sir Thomas Ashton, 

 in view of her marriage with Thomas 

 Gerard, son of Peter. The said Peter 

 died seised of 'the manor of Ashton, 

 otherwise called the manor or capital 

 messuage of the Brynn,' but the jury did 

 not know by what rent it was held of the 

 chief lord, Henry Langton. The custody 

 of the lands of the heir was granted to 

 Thomas Danyell, and afterwards to John 

 Ashton } Isabel, widow of Sir Peter, had 

 dower ; Dep. Keeper' t Rep. xxxvii, App. 

 302. 



V Proof of age was given at St. Mary's 

 Church, Chester, on 2 Aug. 1452. John 

 Leicester said that Thomas was of age on 

 15 July ; he remembered being at Win- 

 wick Church on pilgrimage to St. Rhade- 

 gund on the day of the baptism. John 

 Abram remembered Sir Peter Gerard 

 asking Sir Thomas Stanley to be god- 

 father to his son ; Richard Clive re- 

 membered the same, and held a lighted 

 candle at the baptism. Others were at 

 Winwick Church attending a funeral, 

 when they heard of Thomas's birth, and 

 others heard of it while staying at Ashton 

 for a ' love day ' between Sir William 

 Atherton and Henry Kighley ; Ormerod, 

 loc. cit. 



A pension of 20 to Sir Thomas 

 Gerard granted by Edward IV was ex- 

 cepted from the Act of Resumption in 

 1464 ; Part. R. v, 546. 



28 This appears from the later inquisi- 

 tions, in which Peter is called the son of 

 Cecily. Other sons were Robert, men- 

 tioned in the will of Thomas Gerard, and 

 John, a clerk, to whom the Cheshire 

 manors were granted for life by his father; 

 Ormerod, loc. cit. ; Dep. Keeper' t Rep. 

 xxxix, App. 132. 



29 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 

 21 : the inquisition was not taken until 

 1508. 



80 Lich. Epis. Reg. Hales, xiii, fol. 

 I2ii; commission to receive the vo\v 

 and give the widow's veil, ring and 

 mantle, dated 22 May 1491. She died 

 24 May 1502, having a life interest in 

 the Gerard lands which had been assigned 

 to her as dower by her son Peter ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 95. 



81 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 21, 

 where the date is given as 20 June 1494. 

 This does not agree with that on the 

 memorial brass in Winwick Church, 

 which sets forth the lineage of his wife. 

 In 1502, after the death of Dame Cecily, 

 the manors were granted to Margary, 

 widow of Peter, during the minority of 

 the heir ; Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxi, 

 320. Cecily Gerard's Inq. p.m. states 

 that the Bromley lands were in Bromley, 

 Whittington, Beddill, Chadkilne, Ridges, 

 Podmore, Kaunton, Milwich, Woolsall, 

 and Selfort, with a moiety of the manor 

 of Hextell, in Staffordshire. 



Margery, the widow of Peter Gerard, 

 requested that as various lands had been 

 assigned to feoffees on the marriage of Sir 

 Thomas Gerard with Cecily daughter of 

 Sir Robert Foulshurst, which Cecily was 

 still living, she should have the rule of 

 Thomas her son during his minority ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 112. 



