A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The next considerable estate was that of HULME 

 HALL. As early as the 1 3th century a family named 

 Hulme was seated in the township ; * 7 part at least of 

 their estate was acquired by the Hulmes of Man- 



chester, a trading family which can be traced back to 

 the early years of the I5th century. 28 Ralph Hulme 

 purchased in 1601, 29 and died in 1623* being suc- 

 ceeded by his eldest son William, who died in 1637." 



Y > Jordan in the time of Henry III 

 held a messuage and 50 acres of land in 

 Reddish, which descended to his son 

 Jordan ; the latter had a son William, 

 whose son and heir Robert de Hulme in 

 134-5 demanded the same against Richard 

 del Edge ; De Banco R. 334, m. 113. 



Margaret widow of Robert de Hulme 

 in 1365 claimed dower in a messuage, 38 

 acres of land, &c., in Reddish against 

 Richard de Reddish; ibid. R. 421, m. n. 

 William son of Robert de Hulme was a 

 defendant in 1366 ; ibid. R. 42$, m. 



James Hulme of Reddish, the elder, 

 and Robert his son and heir apparent, 

 were bound to Thurstan Holland and 

 others in 1456 ; Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 



Nicholas Hulme in 1523 possessed by 

 inheritance ' manors, lands, &c.' in Red- 

 dish, Hulme, Heaton Norris, and else- 

 where, and settled them upon his heirs 

 male, with remainders to Hugh Hulme, 

 and to Ralph Hulme of Manchester, 

 ' which Ralph is next heir male, after the 

 said Hugh Hulme, to the said lands.' 

 The evidences, in a chest under three 

 locks, kept by John Fitton of Gaws- 

 worth, were not to be delivered to James 

 Hulme, son of Nicholas, until William 

 Davenport of Bramhall, John Reddish of 

 Reddish, and Hugh Hulme of Tottington 

 judged proper ; Hulme D. no. 42. 

 Two years later Nicholas made a further 

 settlement of his lands in Lancashire and 

 Cheshire in favour of his son James ; 



ianet, the wife of Nicholas, was to have 

 er dower ; ibid. no. 45. 



In Aug. 1550 Ambrose Aspenhaugh, 

 perhaps as trustee, obtained from George 

 Hulme, son and heir apparent of James 

 Hulme, a capital messuage and lands in 

 Reddish and Manchester ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 306. In the 

 following spring James Hulme, the father, 

 made a settlement of his estate in Hulme, 

 Denton, Withington, Heaton Norris, and 

 Reddish, comprising twenty messuages, 

 200 acres of land, &c. ; the remainders 

 were to Robert, son and heir apparent of 

 George Hulme, son and heir apparent of 

 James ; to Richard, Ralph, Nicholas, 

 John, and Edmund, younger sons of 

 James ; ibid. bdle. 14, m. 1 96. Robert 

 Hulme appears to have succeeded, for in 

 1568 he and Robert Aspenhaugh (alias 

 Asmall) sold or mortgaged some land in 

 Reddish ; ibid. bdle. 30, m. 22. He was 

 concerned in some family disputes ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), ii, 243, iii ; 

 22. Robert Hulme in 1584 suffered a 

 recovery of his messuages and lands in 

 Reddish, Withington, and Heaton, in 

 order that he might dispose of them by 

 his last will or otherwise ; Hulme D. no . 



54- 



Robert Hulme died at Hulme on 7 

 Mar. 1599-1600 holding a capital mes- 

 suage, &c., in Reddish of Alexander 

 Reddish in socage ; also messuages, &c., 

 in Heaton Norris and Withington. He 

 had in the previous year made a settle- 

 ment of his estate, the remainders being 

 to his uncle John (brother of George 

 Hulme), rector of Wickham Bishops in 

 Essex, and then to the heirs of his great- 

 uncle Robert Hulme of the Hudash. 



John Hulme, uncle and heir, was fifty 

 years of age and more 5 Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xviii, 10. 



28 Their kinship to the Hulmes of Red- 

 dish is asserted by Nicholas Hulme in a 

 deed quoted in the last note. 



Lawrence Hulme had lands in Man- 

 chester in 1421, 1430, and 1434 ; Hulme 

 D. no. 10, 11-13. J n X 4^7 a declara- 

 tion was made that Margaret widow of 

 Lawrence Hulme had appeared in the 

 baron's court of Manchester before Sir 

 John Trafford, then steward, to state that 

 after her death all her meases, lands and 

 tenements were to descend to Geoffrey 

 her son ; ibid. no. 15. Margaret was 

 probably dead, and in the following year 

 Geoffrey Hulme made a feoffment of his 

 estate in Manchester ; ibid. no. 1 6. A 

 similar deed was executed in 1477 ; ibid, 

 no. 1 8. In 1478 the feoffees gave to 

 Cecily wife of Geoffrey Hulme a burgage 

 called the Gravers House, another half- 

 burgage, and a field called Ashley, con- 

 taining 5 acres, with remainder to the 

 heirs of Geoffrey Hulme ; ibid. no. 19. 

 The year afterwards they gave lands in 

 Manchester called the Overfields of Mil- 

 ward Croft, alias 'the Over my lord's 

 crofts,' to Elizabeth daughter of Richard 

 Beswick the elder, who was to marry 

 Ralph son of Geoffrey son and heir of 

 Lawrence Hulme ; ibid. no. 20. 



Geoffrey made a grant of certain rents 

 to Ralph, his son and heir apparent, in 

 1482, and provision was made for younger 

 sons, Lawrence and Geoffrey, in 1484 ; 

 ibid. no. 23-5. Cecily, the widow of 

 Geoffrey, had dower assigned her in 

 148890 ; ibid. no. 26-8. In one deed 

 Edmund Hulton is called brother of 

 Cecily. Ralph Hulme occurs in various 

 deeds down to 1520. In 1511 he made 

 a feoffment of all his messuages and 

 lands, the remainders being to his son 

 Stephen, and in default of issue to his 

 daughter Margaret Trafford (of the Gar- 

 rett), and Henry her son ; ibid. no. 



37- 



Stephen Hulme succeeded in or before 

 1522, when he made a feoffment of his 

 lands, and in 1524 the feoffees granted 

 dower to Elizabeth, widow of Ralph ; 

 ibid. no. 41, 43, 44. In 1540 Thomas 

 West, Lord La Warre, granted to Stephen 

 Hulme of Manchester a footpath from 

 Stephen's Close called Dovecroft, over a 

 headland lately Richard Hunt's, to Ste- 

 phen's pasture called ' Hodgekin hey of 

 Hulton,' as accustomed ; ibid. no. 47. 

 In 1544 Alice daughter of Isabel and 

 Robert Laboray was wife of Stephen 

 Hulme ; ibid. no. 48. 



Stephen died in or before 1553, when 

 Robert, his son and heir, came into court 

 and did his fealty ; Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. 

 i, 8. Robert Hulme, to whom there 

 are many references in the records just 

 cited, in 1556 gave to Anne widow of 

 Richard Shalcross his burgage in Man- 

 chester adjoining ' the highway sometime 

 called the Cornmarket-stead and now the 

 Conduct (conduit) place,' at a perpetual 

 rent of 13*. 4^. ; Hulme D. no. 49. 

 In the following year a settlement was 

 made of disputes between Robert Hulme 

 and George Hulton of Normanton, co- 

 heirs of the Laborays ; ibid. no. 50. In 



328 



1566 Robert Hulme was described as 'of 

 Newton,' where he had lands inherited 

 from Robert Laboray, the house being 

 known as Hulme Hall ; see Crofton, 

 Newton Cbapelry (Chet. Soc.), i, 231, &c. 

 In 1575 he purchased four burgages in 

 Manchester; Hulme D, no. 53. He 

 died 29 Dec. 1584, and was buried at 

 Manchester, leaving a son Ralph, of full 

 age, to inherit the estates ; Mancb. Ct. 

 Leet. Rec. i, 248 ; Newton Chapelry, ii, 

 64. His inquisition has been preserved, 

 recording his lands in Manchester ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, 64. 



29 The vendors were Abdias Hulme of 

 Braxsted in Essex, Nicholas Hulme of 

 Holborn, John Hulme of Wickham 

 Bishops, and Edward Hulme of Holborn. 

 The estate is described as ' that capital 

 messuage or mansion house called Hulme, 

 with all the messuages, lands &c. now or 

 late in the occupation of Margaret Hulme, 

 late wife of Robert Hulme, Mrs. Hulme, 

 late wife of James Hulme and grand- 

 mother of the said Robert Hulme, Robert 

 Hulme of Hudash, Ralph Hulme ' and 

 others named, ' commonly occupied as 

 parcel of the said capital messuage,' and 

 situate in Hulme, Reddish, Denton, and 

 Heaton Norris. The price named is 

 850 ; Hulme D. no. 57, 58. 



A fine concerning a further part of the 

 estates was made in 1606, Abdias Hulme 

 and the others being deforciants; Mr. Ear- 

 waker's note. 



80 Ralph Hulme was a party to deeds 

 of 1605 and 1615 ; Hulme D. no. 59, 

 62. For his marriage and death see 

 Manch. Ct. Leet. Rec. iii, 72 and notes, 

 and Booker, Didsbury, 214. Family 

 quarrels were followed by an award in 

 1628 by William Bourne, B.D., and 

 others, by which John Hulme, younger 

 brother of William, received lands in 

 Ashton-under-Lyne and in the Heaths 

 near Newton Lane in Manchester, parts 

 of his mother's inheritance ; Hulme 

 D. no. 63. Thomasine, the mother, 

 had died in 1 627 holding lands in Man- 

 chester and Ashton, which she bequeathed 

 to her son John, because he had been 

 dutiful and taken great pains for her in 

 her old age, whereas the elder son had 

 shown himself the reverse ; ibid. no. 66. 

 Ten years later (1637) William made a 

 further grant to his brother John ; ibid, 

 no. 67, 68. 



81 Shortly before his death William 

 Hulme made a settlement of Hulme Hall 

 and his lands in Reddish, Denton, and 

 Heaton Norris, with remainders to John 

 Hulme (his brother) as guardian, until 

 William, the son and heir, should come 

 of age ; ibid. no. 61. 



The inquisition gives an account of the 

 messuages and lands in Reddish, Heaton 

 Norris, Withington, and Manchester 

 (Withy Grove, Fennel Street, Shude Hill, 

 and the Tuefields), and Ashton. Hulme 

 Hall and the rest of the estate in Red- 

 dish were held of Edward Coke, lord of 

 the manor, in socage ; William, the son 

 and heir, was under seven years of age at 

 his father's death ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xxviii, 3 ; xxix, 70. William 

 Hulme's will is printed in Booker's Did:- 

 bury, 214-16. 



