SALFORD HUNDRED 



DEANE 



directly and partly of those of Barton. 14 Thus in 

 1282 'a certain plat' rendered $s. a year to Robert 

 Grelley. 16 In 1278 Richard de Redford and Richard 

 the Chief of Farnworth were described as lords of the 

 place. 16 Soon afterwards the heir of Richard the 

 Chief seems to have disposed of his share to the Hul- 

 ton and Lever families. 17 



At the Manchester Barony Survey of 1320 Adam 

 de Lever of Great Lever, Henry de Hulton, and 

 Richard de Redford held Farnworth by homage and 

 fealty, a rent of 6s. , and puture of the Serjeants. 

 Henry de Hulton further paid 3/. a year for the 

 Mossyhalgh ; and John son of Adam de Farnworth 

 held lands by a rent of 6d. and puture ; the total rent 

 was thus 9/. 6d. w In 1326 three parts of the manor 

 of Farnworth was settled on the heirs of Adam de 

 Lever. 19 In 1473 it was found that the Lever por- 

 tion of the manor paid a rent to Manchester of 3*. 6</., 

 the Hulton portion 4^. 6d., and the Redford portion 

 divided between Adam Prestall and Richard Seddon 

 is. ; a total of g/. 10 The 6d. from Geoffrey de 

 Farnworth has been omitted. 11 



Of these different shares of the manor the principal 

 was that of the Hultons, and was usually described 



absolutely as * the manor.' The Lever share has 

 descended with Great Lever to the Earl of Bradford ; 

 the descent of the Redford part, which seems to have 

 been diminished by many alienations, is given under 

 Kearsley. 



The Hultons of Farnworth descended from John, 

 said to have been a younger son of David de Hulton." 

 Henry son of John de Hulton is frequently mentioned 

 about the end of the I3th century, 23 and, as stated 

 above, held a share of the manor in 1320. John the 

 son and successor of Henry " had a grant of Harpur- 

 hey in Manchester from John La Warre in I327, 25 

 and a few years later had Oakenley in Horwich. 26 

 He was followed by William de Hulton, who, appar- 

 ently as a child, had a lease of Mulwardscroft in 

 Manchester in 1337," and made a settlement on his 

 heirs male of the manors of Rumworth and Farnworth, 

 and various messuages and lands in Farnworth, Rum- 

 worth, Lostock, Kearsley, Irlam, Barton, Breightmet, 

 Snydale, Westhoughton, Middleton, Great Lever, 

 Bolton, and Lower Hulton ; also in Worsley, Man- 

 chester, Harpurhey, Denton, Gorton, and Gothers- 

 wick. 18 



William lived on till late in the century, 29 and was 



14 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 54. Sir Gilbert de 

 Barton afterwards released his right in the 

 ' vill ' of Farnworth to Thomas Grelley ; 

 De Trafford D. no. 298. 



15 Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 245. A 

 Leinsig de Farnworth occurs in 1184-5 5 

 Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. 5 5. 



16 Assize R. 1238, m. 34. They were 

 defendants in a plea for common of pas- 

 ture brought by Roger de Farnworth ; 

 Adam son of John de Lever, Adam son 

 of Eve de Prestall, Henry de Blindsill 

 (Blyndeshull), and Matthew son ofSiward 

 de Farnworth, were the other defendants. 

 They asserted that Roger held of them, 

 but the jury found that he held most of 

 his land of Robert Grelley, only 6 acres 

 being held of John father of Richard (? the 

 Chief), still surviving ; thus a verdict was 

 given for the plaintiff. 



J 7 Adam the Chief of Farnworth was 

 living in 1 246 ; Assize R. 404, m. 6. The 

 same Adam granted to Adam son of 

 Robert land in Farnworth beginning at 

 Walkden Brook; Ellesmere D. no. 78. 

 To John son of Emma de Lever he quit- 

 claimed all right in the lands of Leising 

 de Lever except one oxgang in Farnworth; 

 Lever Chartul. (Add. MS. 32103), no. 15. 



Richard the Chief, already mentioned, 

 is the next of the family to occur. He 

 seems to have died before 1295, leaving 

 sons Richard and William. Richard son 

 of Richard, ' called the Chief,' made seve- 

 ral grants to Adam son of John de Lever 

 at the beginning of 1295 ; in one of them 

 Farnworth is described as ' a hamlet in 

 the vill of Barton,' the land being held of 

 the chief lord of the honour of Manches- 

 ter; but in another a share of ' the liberties 

 and easements of the vill of Farnworth ' 

 was included ; ibid. no. 54-6. 



William son of Richard the Chief suc- 

 ceeded his brother very quickly. In Sept. 

 1295 he enfeoffed Richard de Redinall, 

 clerk, of Whitcroft, formerly held by his 

 uncle William, and Hawkley, held by 

 Henry de Hulton, as well as of his lands 

 in Kearsley ; they were held of the lord of 

 Manchester by a rent of 3^.; ibid.no. 61-3. 

 These were soon afterwards restored to him 

 by the feoffee ; no. 65. He sold his lands 

 to Adam de Lever and Avice his wife in 

 1277, with all buildings and gardens, 



corn and hay, homages, rents, reliefs, 

 &c. ; ibid. no. 64. Avice was probably the 

 widow of Richard the brother of William 

 the Chief ; she had already granted lands 

 to Adam ; no. 66. William sold some of 

 his estate to Henry de Hulton ; no. 45. 

 He does not appear again except in releases 

 of actions in 1299 and 1304 ; in the for- 

 mer case to Adam de Lever and his sons, 

 Henry de Hulton and his son Henry, 

 Adam de Heaton, and others ; in the 

 latter case also to the parties named 

 (except the younger Henry de Hulton) ; 

 no. 70, 74. John the Chief made a similar 

 release of actions in Oct. 1303 ; no. 73 ; 

 There does not seem to be any later notice 

 of the family. 



It seems very likely that this was the 

 family which held the 'plat' in Farn- 

 worth of the lord of Manchester by a rent 

 of 5*. 



18 Mamecestre (Chet. Soc.), 289, 290. 

 From the later rental it would seem that 

 Adam de Lever paid 3;. 6</. of this sum, 

 Henry de Hulton is. 6d. t and Richard de 

 Redford it. The two former amount to 

 51., the rent from the 'plat' in 1282, of 

 which 3;. 6</. is about three-quarters. 



19 Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), ii, 62. Adam son of John de Lever 

 had married Agnes daughter of Henry de 

 Hulton, and in 1322 had settled upon her 

 son John various lands in the hamlet of 

 Farnworth, the bounds beginning at Lam- 

 ford Brook ; Hulton Fed. 36. 



20 Mamecestre, 478. At this time John 

 Hulton of Farnworth was life tenant of 

 the Lever portion in right of his wife 

 Joan, previously wife of Adam Lever ; 

 Henry Grundy and Richard Halliwell 

 were the actual occupiers. 



21 The list of free foreign tenants 

 made about the same time includes 

 Ralph Ashton, John Hulton, and Richard 

 Redeworth (? heirs of Richard Redford) 

 for Farnworth ; John Hulton for Moss- 

 hulme in Farnworth ; and Geoffrey de 

 Farnworth for tenements in Farnworth ; 

 ibid. 517. 



22 Hulton Fed. 5. For Richard de 

 Wicheves, younger son of John de Hulton, 

 see the account of Little Hulton. 



23 Henry son of John de Hulton granted 

 to Adam son of John de Lever the White- 

 croft with the sparth adjacent, and his part 



35 



of the hey between Whitecroft and Walk- 

 den ; Lever Chartul. (Add. MS. 32103), 

 no. 25. This had been purchased by 

 Henry de Hulton from William son of 

 Richard the Chief; no. 45. Henry de 

 Hulton was a witness in 1297 and 1302 

 (no. 64, 75), and made a grant in 1299 

 (no. 72). 



24 In 1316 John son of Henry de Hul- 

 ton granted to his father all his lands in 

 Farnworth, Great Lever, and the Wich- 

 eves ; ibid. no. 80. John de Hulton made 

 a grant in 1341 ; no. 93. 



25 Hulton Fed. 36. The grant was made 

 to Adam son of Robert de Radcliff and 

 Alice his daughter, wife of John son of 

 Henry de Hulton, and to the heirs of Alice. 



26 Ibid. 20 Jan. 1333-4. In 1341 

 John de Hulton gave his son Adam and 

 his issue certain land in Manchester, lying 

 on Thourishul ; ibid. 37. 



Margaret daughter of John de Hulton 

 in 1332 released to her brother William 

 all her claim to a burgage in Manchester 

 lying between burgages of Adam de Chorl- 

 ton and Roger de Radcliffe ; ibid. 



2 ? Ibid. The lease was for nine years. 

 It is possible there is some error as to the 

 William de Hulton to whom this lease 

 was granted. William son of John de 

 Hulton in 1353 had a dispute with Wil- 

 liam son of Robert de Worsley, who had 

 married Ellen, next of kin to the plaintiff, 

 concerning Harpurhey and lands in Hul- 

 ton and elsewhere ; it appeared that Alice, 

 William de Hulton's mother, was a bas- 

 tard, and that William had been left a 

 minor; Assize R. 435, m. 9 d. 



28 This was quoted in the 16th-century 

 suits narrated below. In 1369 William 

 de Hulton and John de Lever made an 

 agreement by which the former granted 

 to the latter the homage, relief, and rent 

 of 2s. due from John son of Adam Quin- 

 neson ; and John de Lever in exchange 

 released all claim for the spoiling and cut- 

 ting down of woods and timber in Wil- 

 liam's several tenements in Farnworth 

 and Great Lever ; Lever Chartul. no. 99. 



29 William de Hulton died in Oct. 1392; 

 his son John was of full age and married 

 to Elizabeth daughter of Sir William de 

 Atherton ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), 

 i, 48 (the editor points out that there is 

 some error in the dates). 



