WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



worth and Croft until the beginning of the I yth cen- 

 tury. The service to be rendered was a pound of 

 pepper annually. 7 Thurstan Banastre, lord of Maker- 

 field, confirmed this charter, and reduced the annual 

 rent payable to him to 1 p. \d? The remaining part 

 of Croft was later acquired by the Southworth family ; 

 I oxgang of land therein was granted to Gilbert 

 de Southworth by Agnes daughter of Randle de Croft, 9 

 and 2 oxgangs to Gilbert son of Gilbert. 10 From this 

 time Southworth and Croft have descended together. 



By the marriage of Gilbert son of Gilbert de South- 

 worth and Alice daughter of Nicholas de Ewyas in 

 13253 moiety of the manor of Samlesbury came to 

 the family, 11 which was thenceforward known as South- 

 worth of Samlesbury, continuing till the latter part of 

 the ijth century. In addition the manors of Middle- 

 ton, Houghton, and Arbury, adjoining Southworth, 



WINWICK 



were acquired, and some junior branches of the family 

 settled in them. 12 



As to Southworth itself but little record remains. 13 

 In 1287 and 1292 there was a settlement of the 

 boundary between Croft and Kenyon by the lords of 

 the manors. 14 An inquisition made in 1325 respect- 

 ing ' half the manor of Southworth ' shows that Sir 

 Robert de Holland had obtained a grant of it. 1 * 

 There are a few later charters. 16 



The steadfast adherence of Sir John Southworth to 

 the ancient faith in the time of Elizabeth, with the 

 consequent fines and imprisonments, must have made 

 a serious inroad upon the family resources ; the 

 manors and lands in the Southworth district were 

 mortgaged and sold early in the 1 7th century. 17 



Sir Thomas Ireland of Bewsey purchased South- 

 worth and Croft in 162 1. 18 A century later the 



"' Dods. MSS. liii, fol. 23, no. 4 ; in a 

 collection of Southworth charters. About 

 five hundred of these deeds are contained 

 in the Towneley MS. HH ; and a num- 

 ber of abstracts are in Kuerden's folio 

 volume (Chet. Lib.). 



Gilbert de Croft's charter was made 

 'with the leave of his heir.' The wit- 

 nesses included Thurstan Banastre (who 

 died in 1219) and Robert his brother ; 

 also Henry and Roger de Croft. The 

 pound of pepper does not seem to have 

 been demanded, and Southworth was later 

 described as held directly of the lords of 

 Makerfield. 



For Gilbert de Croft see Lanes. Pipe R. 

 77, 152, &c. 



8 Dods. MSS. loc. cit. ; Gilbert de Croft 

 is called son of Roger. It is possible that 

 in the charter the ' manor ' was South- 

 worth and the ' land ' Croft. 



Later Robert Banastre released to Gil- 

 bert de Southworth his claim on the land 

 outside his park of Lee by the boundary of 

 Southworth, together with all his land out- 

 side the park at Edricshill on the east ; 

 Towneley MS. HH, no. 2086. 



9 Agnes released to Gilbert all her share 

 in Aspshaw appertaining to her 3 oxgangs ; 

 the bounds included Aspshaw Brook as far 

 RS ' the oak marked with a cross ' ; Kuer- 

 den fol. MS. 75, no. 313. The name Asp- 

 shaw occurs also in Newton. 



When a widow she granted i oxgang in 

 the vill of Croft, with two messuages for- 

 merly held of her by Hugh son of Wion 

 and William son of Henry ; rents of id. 

 and <;</. were payable to her and the chief 

 lord respectively ; ibid. 74, no. 119. 



10 Robert ' Sceryswerz ' (? de Erbery or 

 Deresbery) was the grantor ; he had prob- 

 ably acquired them from Agnes daughter 

 of Randle ; Dods. MSS. liii, fol. ijb. The 

 date of this charter is about 1250 ; 'N.' 

 rector of Winwick, otherwise unknown, 

 was a witness. 



Robert son of Robert Banastre released 

 to Gilbert de Southworth all his right in 

 land called Richard's Croft ; ibid. fol. 21, 

 no. 49. 



11 Towneley MS. HH, no. 1729; 

 Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 ii, 62. 



12 See the account of the township. 



13 All the lords of the manor from 

 1220 to 1380 seem to have been named 

 Gilbert, so that it is difficult to determine 

 the succession. In the above-cited grant 

 of two oxgangs, Gilbert son of Gilbert was 

 the recipient. Emma wife of Gilbert de 

 Southworth is mentioned in 1290; Assize 

 R. 1288, m. n d. Gilbert son of Gilbert 

 made a grant in 1294 ; Dods. MSS. liii, 



fol. 1 9, no. 34 ; and the marriage of 

 another Gilbert son of Gilbert was agreed 

 upon, as stated, in 1325. 



14 The land in dispute in 1287 had the 

 following boundaries : Beginning at Strid 

 Lache, where it fell into Kenylaw Lache, 

 up Strid Lache to a ditch in the east, along 

 this southward to Quitslade Lache head, 

 thence to Kenylaw Lache and the starting 

 point. The decision was a compromise, 

 the land to be common to Croft and 

 Kenyon ; Towneley MS. HH, no. 1650. 



In 1292 the dispute was concerning 

 land between Kenylaw ends and South- 

 worth Chapel and between Edricshull syke 

 and Kenylaw Lache ; a division of the 

 land was made, a ditch 4ft. wide being 

 ordered to mark the boundary ; ibid. no. 

 1697. 



15 The jury decided that it would not 

 be to the king's injury to allow Gilbert de 

 Southworth to enfeoff John de Middleton 

 of the moiety of the manor of South- 

 worth, which he held of the king in chief, 

 in order that the said John might grant it 

 to Gilbert, with remainder to Gilbert his 

 son and Alice his wife and their heirs. 

 The moiety was held in socage of the 

 king (by the forfeiture of Robert de 

 Holland) by fealty and the service of 

 i$d. yearly at Christmas, and was worth 

 431. 4</. No other lands remained to 

 Gilbert in the county ; Inq. a.q.d. 19 

 Edw. II, no. 35 ; see also Final Cone, ii, 

 62. The service of i$d. indicates that 

 this 'moiety' of Southworth was the 

 three oxgangs in Croft held in 1212 by 

 the heirs of Randle, for $d. to the chief 

 lord was due from one of the oxgangs. 



In 1334 it was declared that South- 

 worth was not a vill, but a hamlet of the 

 vill of Croft ; Coram Rege R. 297, m. 3 d. 



16 Gilbert de Southworth in 1331 granted 

 to Gilbert de Rixton and Denise his wife 

 for life, and their children Richard and 

 Emmota, lands in Croft ; Towneley MS. 

 HH, no. 1534. 



Thomas son of Gilbert de Southworth 

 was a plaintiff in 1353 ; Assize R. 435, 

 m. 4. He is probably the Thomas de 

 Southworth of later settlements. In the 

 previous year a feoffee had delivered cer- 

 tain lands, &c., in Arbury, Middleton, 

 Houghton, and Woolston to Geoffrey son 

 of Thomas de Southworth, with remainders 

 to William and other children of Thomas ; 

 Dods. MSS. liii, fol. 276. William de 

 Southworth and Maud his wife appear to 

 have been in possession in 1404 ; ibid. 



Southworth is named among the family 

 manors in inquisitions and settlements ; 

 e.g. of Sir John Southworth, who died at 

 Harfleur in 1416 ; Lanes. Inj. p.m. (Chet. 



169 



Soc.), i, 117; Thomas, the son of Sir 

 John, and Joan his wife, in 1428 ; Towne- 

 ley MS. HH, no. 1975, 1602, 1706. 

 This Thomas died in 1432 holding lands 

 in Southworth, Croft, Middleton, Hough- 

 ton, and Arbury of the lord of Makerfield 

 in socage by a service of 241. a year ; Lanes. 

 Inq. ii, 45. The service, if correctly 

 stated, must have been made up of the 

 131. \d. due from Southworth, with per- 

 haps is. 3</. from part of Croft and the 

 remainder from the parts of Middletoa 

 which had by that time been acquired. 



In a record of previous inquisitions 

 made in 1511 the service due from the 

 Southworth group is stated as unknown ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 18 ; see 

 no. 41, 100, 103, 104. In later ones 

 e.g. Sir John Southworth' s in 1597 the 

 service is given as 331. nJ., probably 

 made up chiefly of 131. 4^. for South- 

 worth (and Croft) and 20*. for Middleton ; 

 ibid, xvii, no. 3. 



V A settlement was made in 1605, 

 Thomas Southworth and John his son 

 and heir being deforciants in a fine ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 68, m. 5. A 

 year later John Harrington appears to 

 have been mortgagee, John Southworth 

 being in possession ; ibid. bdle. 70, no. 

 80. In 1612 Thomas Ireland was one 

 of the plaintiffs ; ibid. bdle. 82, no. 60. 

 Ten years later the transfer was com- 

 plete ; ibid. bdle. 100, no. 20. 



18 By an inquiry made in 1648 on the 

 petition of Anne Mort, widow of Thomas 

 Southworth, who sought dower, it was 

 found that in Sept. 1621 Sir Thomas 

 Ireland of Bewsey had acquired from 

 Thomas Southworth of Samlesbury the 

 latter's manors, messuages, lands, tene- 

 ments, rents, and services in Southworth, 

 Croft, Middleton, Arbury, Houghton, Win- 

 wick, Hulme, Orford, Warrington, Fearn- 

 head, Poulton, and Woolston, except a 

 few parcels already sold to James Bankes 

 and Thomas Goulden, in accordance with 

 agreements formerly made by Thomas 

 and John Southworth, the grandfather and 

 father of the vendor. The price paid was 

 500, Sir Thomas also undertaking to 

 pay William Southworth his annuity of 

 13 6s. %d. ; Ct. of Wards and Liveries, 



2IA, no. I, 2. 



There was a dispute between Sir Thomas 

 Ireland and the lord of Newton concern- 

 ing a warren, and the inclosing of lands in 

 the manors of Southworth and Middle- 

 ton ; Lanes, and Cbes. Recs. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 241, 292. 



Sir Thomas Ireland died in 1625 hold- 

 ing these and other manors, and was 

 succeeded by his son and heir Thomas ; 



22 



