A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The land tax returns of 1787 show that James 

 Hilton of Pennington was the chief landowner, he 

 paying 22 out of ^39 ; smaller owners were 

 Matthias, Boulton, and Wainman. 58 In 1854 there 

 were fifteen landowners in the township." 



For about a century there was constant disputing 

 regarding Theale Moor on the border of Moston, 

 Chadderton, and Alkrington. The Chethams were 

 intimately concerned in the matter, not only as 

 owners of Nuthurst but also as farmers of the tithes of 

 Moston. At last, about 1 600, a settlement was made 

 and a division arranged. 64 



In 1850 a building society was formed which pur- 

 chased 57 acres and laid out the land, the district 

 being called New Moston. 55 



For the Established Church St. Mary's was built 

 in 1869 ; M a school had been built in iS^S 7 The 

 dean and canons of Manchester present. St. Luke's 

 mission district has been formed at Lightbowne. 



The Wesleyan Methodists had a school chapel in 

 i854. 58 There are also chapels of the Methodist 

 New Connexion and United Free Church. 



Mass is said on Sunday in St. Joseph's Chapel in 

 the cemetery. A convent with a chapel stands near 

 the south-west border. 



HARPURHEY 



Harpouresheie, 1327. 



This small township, at one time called Harpurhey 

 with Gotherswick, 1 lies on both sides of the road from 

 Manchester to Middleton, extending westward to the 

 Irk. In 1830 it was described as abounding in 

 pleasant views.* It has long been a suburb of Man- 

 chester, and almost covered with buildings. The 

 area is 193 acres. In 1901 the population was 

 reckoned with that of Blackley. 



The spinning, manufacture, and printing of cotton 

 were carried on in 1833;* in 1854 there were two 

 print works and a spinning shed. Cotton mills and 

 print and dye works continue to exist. 



An ancient stone hammer was found near Turkey 

 Lane. 4 



Harpurhey was included in the Parliamentary 

 borough of Manchester from the first but was not 

 taken into the municipal borough until 1885. It 

 ceased to be a township in 1896, becoming part of 

 the new township of North Manchester. 



HARPURHEY may derive its name 

 MANOR from the 80 acres demised for life to one 

 William Harpour by Sir John La Warre, 

 lord of Manchester, early in the I4th century, loco 

 beneficii. 6 In 1327 the same John La Warre granted 

 24 acres of land and wood called Harpurshey, lying 

 next to the pale of his park of Blackley, to Adam son 

 of Robert de Radcliffe and Alice his daughter, wife 

 of John son of Henry de Hulton, and the heirs of 

 Alice, at a rent of 26s. 8</. 6 This estate continued to 

 be held by the Hultons of Farnworth until the 

 1 6th century, 7 when it passed to the Hultons of Over 

 Hulton. 8 It was sold in 1 808-10 by William 

 Hulton to Thomas Andrew and Robert Andrew, the 

 former purchasing Boardman's Tenement and the 

 latter Green Mount and other lands. Thomas 

 Andrew's estate, as Harpurhey Hall, descended to his 

 son Edward, after whose death it was in 1 847 sold to 

 John Barratt. Robert Andrew died in 1831, having 

 bequeathed the estate to trustees for his daughter and 

 heir Robina, wife of Captain Conran. 9 



GOTHERSWICK, called a hamlet of Manchester 

 in I32O, 10 was also held by the Hultons of Farn- 

 worth n and became merged in Harpurhey, the name 

 having long been lost. 11 



The land tax returns of 1797 show that Joseph 

 Barlow, Robert and Thomas Andrew, and Samuel 

 Ogden were the proprietors. 13 



For the Established worship Christ Church, Har- 

 purhey, was built in 18378." The patronage is 

 vested in five trustees. St. Stephen's was built in 

 1901 ; the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester 

 present in turns. There are mission churches. 



The Wesleyan Methodists have a church. The 

 Salvation Army has a barracks. There is also a 

 Presbyterian Church. 15 



in Fennel Street, lately occupied by 

 Richard Nugent, deceased (Chet. Soc. 

 New Ser. xxi, 138, Chet. evidences penes 

 Dr. Renaud). For the Nugents see E. 

 Axon in Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xxi, 

 127. 



82 Land tax returns at Preston. 



83 Booker, op. cit. 139. 



84 A list of those entitled to get turves 

 on Theale Moor in 1550 is printed in 

 Manch. Guardian N. and Q. no. 1273. 

 There are in the Ducatus Lane. (Rec. 

 Com.) many references to those disputes, 

 and numerous documents, with plans, are 

 among the Clowes D. ; see Chet. Gen. 

 (Chet. Soc.), 15, 21. The 'Equal' in 

 Nuthurst was also the occasion of a 

 tithe dispute, Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), 

 iii, 401, 487. 



85 Booker, op. cit. 139. 



86 A district was assigned to it in 1870; 

 Land. Gaz. 12 Aug. 



*7 Booker, op. cit. 141. 



88 Ibid. 



1 So in 1615 ; Manch. Constables' Accn. 

 i, 19. 



8 Clarke, Lanes. Gazetteer. The hearth 

 tax return of 1666 shows that the 

 dwellings were small, and the total num- 



ber of hearths was only twelve ; Subs. 

 R. bdle. 250, no. 9. 



8 Cotton printing was begun here by 

 Thomas Andrew in 1788. 



4 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. v, 330. 



s Mamecestre (Chet. Soc.), ii, 363 ; the 

 land was valued at T,d. an acre rent. 



8 Hulton D. There was another grant 

 of the same in 1332 ; ibid. 



7 See the account of Farnworth. 

 John Hulton of Farnworth in 1473 



held a messuage near Manchester called 

 Harpurhey in socage, by the rent of 

 261. 8</. ; Mamecestre, iii, 483. He died 

 in 1487, holding six messuages, 200 acres 

 of land, 40 acres of meadow, 100 acres of 

 pasture and 30 acres of wood called Har- 

 purhey in Manchester, by services un- 

 known ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, 26. 

 The estate descended to William Hulton, 

 who died in 1556 ; ibid, x, 32. 



8 Harpurhey passed to Adam Hulton of 

 the Park in Over Hulton by an agree- 

 ment with the last-named William Hulton. 

 Adam died in 1572 holding Harpurhey of 

 William West Lord La Warre in socage, 

 by the rent of z6s. %d. ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xiii, 4 ; see also ibid, xvii, 80. 

 In 1613 the tenure was described as 'of 



270 



the king, by the two-hundredth part of a 

 knight's fee ' ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 267. 



9 The details are given in Booker's 

 Blackley (Chet. Soc.), 124-8. 



The Green Mount estate in 1784 con- 

 sisted of several farms held on lease from 

 the Hultons. Among the field names 

 occur Gutter Twigg, Great Clough, Tough 

 Hey, Bawhouse Field and Pingle ; there 

 was a stream called Moss Brook. 



10 Mamecestre, ii, 281 ; the tenant* 

 were bound to grind at the lord's mill. 



11 Adam de Radcliffe held Gotherswick 

 in 1 3 20 by a rent of i zd. ; Mamecestre, ii, 

 279. It descended like Harpurhey, and 

 in 1473 John Hulton of Farnworth held 

 it by the old rent of izd. ; ibid, iii, 483. 

 It is mentioned in the above-cited inquisi- 

 tion of William Hulton (1556). 



12 It is the Gutter Twigg of a preceding 

 note (1784-93). 



13 Returns at Preston. The landowners 

 of 1847 are named by Booker, op. cit. 128. 



14 The district was formed in 1837 and 

 re-formed in 1854 ; Land. Gaz. 16 June. 



15 It was founded in 1882 ; the mission 

 hall, known as Moston St. George's, was 

 built in 1902. 



