SALFORD HUNDRED 



FLIXTON 



century, when the Radcliffe of Ordsall moiety 

 was sold to the Asshaws of Shaw 79 and the RadclifFe 

 of Smithills moiety, which had in the meantime 

 descended to the Bartons and their heirs, was sold to 

 a number of proprietors. 80 In 1779 a total rent of 

 2O/. was paid to the duchy by Greatrix (13*. 9</.) 

 and a number of others. 81 



The Manchester moiety, which included the church, 

 was granted as one plough-land by Albert Grelley 

 senior to Henry son of Siward, to be held by the 

 yearly service of io/. 82 It did not, however, descend 

 like Lathom, having become parted among younger 

 branches of the family, so that about 1200 Roger son 

 of Henry and Henry son of Bernard were in possession 

 * by hereditary right.' ffl The descent is obscure, but 

 the whole seems to have been acquired by the Hulton 

 family, 84 who held the other moiety. After the partition 



of their estates about 1330 one half, called SHAW, 

 was held by the Hultons of Farnworth, and of them 

 by the Valentines, 85 while the other half was divided 

 between the two RadclifFe families, like the Salford 

 moiety, and was in like manner disposed of in the 

 1 7th century. 86 



Thus about 1500 the manor of Flixton was held in 

 a number of fractions, viz., the Salford moiety by 

 RadclifFe of Ordsall and RadclifFe (or Barton) of 

 Smithills ; and the Manchester moiety as to two- 

 fourths by the same families, and as to the other half 

 by Valentine, of Hulton of Farnworth as mesne 

 tenant. 87 



The Valentine family appear early in the I 3th cen- 

 tury. 88 In 1292 William Valentine secured from 

 Richard de Urmston and Siegrith his wife the third 

 part of two messuages and two oxgangs in Flixton ; 89 



was IOCM. ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1480. 

 William Radcliffe held it in like manner 

 in 1498 ; Lanes. Inq. (ut sup.), ii, 124. 

 Sir Alexander Radcliffe in 1549 held it 

 by knight's service and a rent of ioi. ; his 

 son, Sir William, in 1568, held it by the 

 sixth part of a fee and IQJ. ; and this is 

 the statement in later inquisitions ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. ix, 26 ; xiii, 33 ; xv, 

 45 ; xvii, 35. From the above it would 

 seem that the Ordsall family's holding was 

 at some time divided, half being given to 

 the Smithills family, the rent payable 

 being reduced from 201. to lew. 



William son of William de RadclifFe 

 was plaintiff in 1 368 respecting the moiety 

 of Flixton and lands in Blackburn ; De 

 Banco R. 431, m. 408 d. Sir Ralph de 

 Radcliffe claimed a moiety of Flixton in 

 1401 ; Dtp. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 530. 

 Ralph Radcliffe of Smithills, who died in 

 1485, held lands in Flixton of the king 

 by knight's service ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iii, 97. On the other hand the tene- 

 ment of his heir, John Barton, in Flixton 

 was in 1517 said to be held of the lord of 

 Manchester; ibid, iv, no. 82. The later 

 Barton inquisitions state that the moiety 

 of the manor of Flixton was held of the 

 Duchy by the sixth part of a knight's fee 

 and the rent of IQJ., the same as for the 

 Ordsall part ; ibid, ix, no. 27, &c. Among 

 the Duchy rents paid to Queen Elizabeth 

 occurs Richard Barton for half of Flix- 

 ton, ID*.' ; Baines, Lanes, (ed. Croston), 

 i, 447. A similar finding was recorded in 

 1612 after the death of John Barton ; 

 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 211. 



See also Lanes, and Cbes. Recs. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 323, 325, 327. 



' 9 In 1 608 Leonard Asshaw purchased 

 from Sir John Radcliffe the manor of 

 Flixton, with messuages, dovecote, lands, 

 &c., in Flixton and Shaw, and free fishings 

 in the Mersey and Irwell ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 71, no. 26. From the in- 

 quisition quoted later it would seem that 

 this included only the Manchester manor, 

 but nothing further is known of the Ordsall 

 holding. 



80 In an account of Flixton by Dr. 

 Leech (Lanes, and Cbes. Antiq. Soc. iv, 

 187) it is stated that the Bartons' estate 

 ' seems to have been settled on Henry 

 Bellasys and his wife Grace [Barton], 

 but the greater part was sold off before the 

 death of Thomas Barton [her father], 

 One of the deeds in the possession of Mr. 

 Royle of Flixton . . . sets forth that in 

 consideration of ,240 Thomas, Lord Fau- 

 conbridge, Sir Thomas Barton, Henry Bel- 

 lasys, and Grace his wife conveyed to John 



Hyde of Urmston certain lands in Flixton 

 in the occupation of tenants named Platt, 

 Wright, and Harper. This sale took place 

 in 1628 ; and a second deed shows that in 

 the following year a portion of land was 

 conveyed by John Hyde to one John 

 Harper, a shoemaker.' A further sale 

 took place in 1631, the purchaser being 

 Thomas Walkden ; Loc. Gleanings Lanes, 

 and Cbes. ii, 45. The manor of Flixton 

 was included in Barton settlements of 

 1615 and 1627, but does not occur later; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdles. 88, no. 34 ; 

 in, no. 24. 



81 Duchy of Lane. Rentals, bdle. 14, no. 

 25 m. 



88 Inq. and Extents, i, 57. Albert Grelley 

 died about 1162. The 'heir' of Henry 

 son of Siward, who held in 1212, is not 

 named, but the manor seems to have been 

 given to the Parbold branch of the Lathom 

 family. 



88 Lanes. Pipe R. 353, 355. These 

 deeds concern the church, but the manor 

 no doubt descended in the same way. 



In 121 2 William de Flixton was de- 

 fendant against Henry son of Bernard in 

 a plea of land, but there was no trial as 

 Henry did not appear ; Curia Regis R. 

 56, m. 15. 



84 It must have been this moiety which 

 wasini255 held by Jordan de Hulton, when 

 he assigned dower in seven oxgangs and i 5 

 acres of land in Flixton to Amiria, widow 

 of Robert de Hulton ; Final Cone. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 150. Richard 

 son of David de Hulton in 1292 success- 

 fully defended his title to the manor of 

 Flixton probably the Manchester moiety 

 against Henry Whythoud of Coppull, 

 Almarica his wife, William de Anderton, 

 Almarica his wife, and others ; Assize R. 

 408, m. 48 d. 



A rent from Flixton is named in the 

 inquisition after the death of William 

 Hulton of Farnworth in 1557 ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m., x, no. 32. 



85 See the account of the Valentines 

 later ; the mesne lordship of the Hultons 

 of Farnworth was often ignored. In 1 320 

 Richard de Hulton and Richard Valentine 

 held a moiety of Flixton in serjeanty, ren- 

 dering iSd. for sake fee and puture of 

 the Serjeants ; and Richard de Hulton 

 [? alone] rendered IQS. and puture for a 

 moiety of Flixton ; Mamecestre (Chet. 

 Soc.), ii, 289. The word 'moiety' may 

 refer to the whole of the Manchester part 

 of Flixton, or to two parts of it held by 

 different services. The total rent was 

 us. 6d. The sake fee for the moiety of 

 Flixton occurs about 1300 j Inq. and Ex- 

 tents, i, 301. 



47 



86 In the above cited inquisition after 

 the death of Sir Richard de Radcliffe in 

 1380 he was found to have held a fourth 

 part of a moiety of Flixton of John La 

 Warre, lord of Manchester, by knight's 

 service and the rent of zod. a year ; in 

 this part, as in the other part he held, 

 there were six messuages and 80 acres of 

 arable land, each worth is. a year. It is 

 mentioned once again as ' a messuage in 

 Flixton,' in 1569, after the death of Sir 

 William Radcliffe ; it was held of Lord 

 La Warre in socage by a rent of zod. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 33. 



Ralph Barton of Smithills was in 1593 

 recorded to have paid zod. to the lord of 

 Manchester for a 4 moiety ' of Flixton ; 

 Maneb. Ct. Leet Rec. ii, 69. 



87 The Manchester moiety was thus de- 

 scribed in 1473 : Thomas Valentine, half, 

 by a rent of 8s. zd. and puture ; Ralph 

 Radcliffe, a quarter, by zod., and Alex- 

 ander Radcliffe of Ordsall, a quarter, by 

 zod. ; in all, in. 6d. t the same total as 

 that in 1320 above recorded ; Mamecestre, 

 iii, 479. The division as thus described 

 has been followed in the text, but as the 

 rent for one oxgang was ie,d. it would 

 appear that the Radcliffes had one ox- 

 gang each and Valentine six, i.e. perhaps 

 the original moiety together with two 

 oxgangs acquired in 1292. The sake fee 

 seems to have been divided thus : 5 d., </., 

 and 8d. 



88 William le Valentine attested a Bar- 

 ton deed in 1222; De Trafford D. no. 

 250. In 1261 William Valentine of 

 Flixton, in a suit against Jordan de Hul- 

 ton in a plea of land, made William his 

 son his attorney ; Curia Regis R. 171, m. 

 84 d. Somewhat later William son of 

 Valentine de Flixton attested another 

 Barton deed ; De Trafford D. no. 206. 



In 1278 Richard de Urmston convicted 

 Jordan de Hulton and William son of 

 William son of Valentine de Flixton of 

 levying a ditch in Urmston to the hurt 

 of his free tenement, the passage of his 

 cattle being impeded; Assize R. 1238, 

 m. 33. The defence was that it was in 

 Flixton. Six years later in another suit 

 in which the same plaintiffs and defen- 

 dants occur Richard the brother of Wil- 

 liam Valentine was among the latter ; 

 Assize R. 1265, m. 5 d. 



89 Final Cone, i, 1 74. Richard and Sieg- 

 rith also in 1292 recovered two parts of 

 two messuages and two oxgangs against 

 Richard de Hulton and Thomas the Pro- 

 vost ; Assize R. 408, m. 30 d. In the 

 preceding year there had been suits between 

 William Valentine on the one side and 

 Richard de Urmston and Siegrith his wife, 



