A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



and in 1 308 Richard Valentine obtained from William 

 Valentine an acknowledgement of his title to certain 

 messuages and lands in Flixton, which William was to 

 hold for life. 90 Richard Valentine was a tenant in 

 I320, 91 and Richard and Robert his son were among 

 the defendant landholders of Flixton in I338. 92 



Richard de Langley and Joan his wife at Pentecost 

 1352 claimed the wardship of John son and heir of 

 Robert Valentine, against Thomas del Booth and 

 John son of Robert de Worsley, on the ground that 

 Robert had held a messuage and 80 acres in Flixton 

 of Joan La Warre in socage, and Joan the plaintiff 

 was next of kin to the heir on his mother's side, * to 

 whom the inheritance could not descend.' The heir 

 had already been married to a Worsley, and the 

 plaintiffs' claim being upheld damages were awarded 

 to them. 93 If this refers to the main line of the 

 family the heir must have died shortly afterwards, for 

 in 1355 William son of John de Hulton successfully 

 claimed the rent due from John son of Richard 

 Valentine and heir of his ' ancestor ' Robert Valentine, 

 for lands in Flixton held of the plaintiff, who in turn 

 held of the lord of Manchester in socage by a rent of 

 8s. a year. Plaintiff and defendant were both minors 

 and had been taken into ward by the Lady La Warre, 

 on the allegation that they held by knight's service, 

 and the wardship of John Valentine had been granted 

 by her to William son of Robert de Worsley. 94 



John Valentine died in 1395-6 holding land called 

 the Shaw in Flixton, and leaving as heir his grandson 

 John son of Richard Valentine, fourteen years of 

 age. 95 



Nearly eighty years later Thomas Valentine held a 

 moiety of the Manchester part of Flixton of Lord La 

 Warre in socage by a rent of 8/. 2</., giving puture 

 of one serjeant and doing suit 

 to the court of Manchester. 96 

 In 1476 John son and heir 

 apparent of Thomas Valentine, 

 on his marriage with Joan, 

 apparently a daughter of Wil- 

 liam Holland of Clifton, made 

 a settlement of the estate in 

 Flixton granted him by his 

 father. 97 Joan the daughter 

 and eventual heiress of John 

 Valentine is stated to have 

 married Lawrence Asshaw of 

 Shaw ; she had no children 

 by him, but made him a grant 

 of her lands, which he in turn bequeathed to his 

 nephew Leonard, a younger son of Roger Asshaw 

 or Ashall of Hall on the Hill in Charnock. 98 



The younger Leonard died on 31 December 1594 

 holding the manors of Astley and Shaw, and various 

 lands in Flixton, Tyldesley, Worsley, Hulton, Barton, 



ASSHAW. Argent on 

 a che-veron between three 

 martlets vert at many 

 crosses formy Jitchy of the 

 field. 



and Richard de Hulton and others ; Assize 

 R. 1294, m. 8. 



In 1290 Richard de Urmston and Sieg- 

 rith his wife had claimed a third of two 

 oxgangs against William son of William 

 de Flixton no doubt Valentine ; Coram 

 Rege R. 122, m. 9. 



Richard son of David de Hulton in 

 1292 was non-suited in a claim respect- 

 ing a tenement in Flixton against William 

 Valentine, William Valentine, and Rich- 

 ard son of William Valentine ; Assize R. 

 408, m. 32 d., 21. On the other hand 

 William Valentine also was non-suited in 

 a claim against Richard de Hulton and 

 Thomas de Urmston for throwing down a 

 dyke in Flixton, &c. ; ibid. m. 32 d. 



A fine in 1303 between Richard de 

 Hulton and William Pyke of Flixton and 

 Alice his wife may refer to the Valentine 

 holding ; Final Cone, i, 202. 



90 Final Cone, ii, i. Richard Valen- 

 tine, clerk, attested an Irlam deed of about 

 1310; De Trafford D. no. 263. Later 

 (in 1351) there is mention of a Joan 

 wife of John son of Robert de Worsley, 

 who was sister and heir of a Richard Va- 

 lentine, who had had lands in Urmston ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. i, m. i. 



91 Mamecestre, ii, 289. Richard le Valen- 

 tine contributed to the subsidy of 1332 ; 

 Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 38. 



93 Hugh de Walkden claimed and re- 

 covered a rent of zos. and robe with hood 

 (worth 201.) granted him by Richard de 

 Hulton the elder out of his lands in Flix- 

 ton. The defendants included the said 

 Richard and Maud his wife, also Robert 

 de Legh, Richard de Hulton the younger 

 and Margaret his wife, John de Radcliffe 

 the elder (holding half the mill), and Rich- 

 ard de Radcliffe (holding the other half) ; 

 Assize R. 1425, m. 3, 3 d. 



Six years later Adam de Hulton made 

 a similar claim against John son of Rich- 

 ard de Radcliffe, holding a moiety of the 

 manor, Richard the son of John, William 



son of Robert de RadclifFe, Robert Valen- 

 tine and Agnes his wife, John son of Henry 

 de Hulton and Alice his wife, and many 

 others; Assize R. 1435, m. 34 d.; also 

 m. 39. 



The above-named Maud wife of Richard 

 de Hulton afterwards married Robert de 

 Legh, and made a number of claims in 

 1351 and later against the Radcliffes re- 

 specting the moiety of the manor and the 

 mill of Flixton ; Duchy of Lane. Assize 

 R. I, m. 5 d. ; R. 2, m. i ; R. 4, m. 6 d., 

 m. 29. John de Radcliffe, as holding the 

 estate of Robert son of Roger de Rad- 

 cliffe, defended by producing a quitclaim 

 by the Leghs to the said Robert ; ibid. R. 

 5, m. 25 d. ; see also Dep. Keeper' t Rep. 

 xxxii, App. 332, 336, 33 8. 



The rent of a robe, or 20*., was claimed 

 again in 1360 by Thomas son of Henry 

 de Trafford ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 8, 

 m. 1 3. He had in 1 3 34 claimed 20 marks 

 rent from Richard de Hulton ; Coram 

 Rege R. 297, m. 1 1 5 d. 



93 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2, m. 5 d. 

 Joan was daughter of Jordan [de Tetlow] , 

 brother of Agnes wife of Robert Valen- 

 tine the father. A ' de ' is here and in 

 some other cases inserted before Valen- 

 tine ; usually ' le ' is inserted. 



94 Ibid. R.4, m. 13. William de Wors- 

 ley stated that the service due was 241. a 

 year, but William de Hulton corrected 

 this. Damages of 6or. were granted and 

 a fine of io*. imposed. 



95 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 69 ; 

 the tenure is not stated. John Valentine 

 attested an Urmston deed in 1445 ; Had. 

 MS. 21 12, foL 1 60. 



96 Mamecestre, ut supra. 



97 Vawdrey D. One field was named 

 the Broadhey. 



Another Vawdrey deed is the decision 

 of the arbitrator in 1508 regarding close* 

 within the demesne of the Shaw, in con- 

 sequence of disputes between Joan widow 

 of Gilbert Langtree and Katherine widow 

 of John Valentine. 



48 



From deeds cited in the account of 

 Bentcliffe in Eccles it appears probable 

 that Joan Langtree was the widow of the 

 John Valentine of the text, and Katherine 

 the widow of his elder son John. The 

 other son Thomas left two illegitimate 

 children, one of whom was the ancestor of 

 the Valentines of Bentcliffe, so that on 

 Thomas's death about 1550 the Shaw 

 estate went to his sister or her heirs. 



There is a legend of a ' Sir Ralph 

 Valentine ' who in setting out for Bos- 

 worth field vowed that he would return 

 alive or dead. He was slain, and his wife 

 on receiving his body at Flixton fell down 

 dead ; R. Lawson, op. cit. 52. 



98 Piccope's Wills (Chet. Soc.), i, 81 n, 

 quoting Harl. MS. 1987, fol. 2, 5. The 

 will of Lawrence Asshaw ' of the Shaw,' 

 here printed, dated 4 July 1558, directed 

 that he should be buried at Flixton, and 

 that 20 marks should be spent on bells 

 for the church, and in making a parclose 

 within it, requiring the parish priest and 

 parishioners there to pray for the souls of 

 himself and others ; and that other sums 

 should be given to the poor of the neigh- 

 bourhood and expended on the paving of 

 the highway between the tithe barn and 

 the church. There are numerous be- 

 quests, but nothing is said as to the descent 

 of the manor. Settlements of his estates 

 had, however, been made in 1521 (when 

 Joan his wife was joined with him) 

 and in 1554; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. ii, m. 197 5 bdle. 15, m. 82. 



Lawrence Asshaw had before his death 

 to defend his title to lands in Flixton ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 279. 



The feoffees complained that Thomas 

 Asshaw, nephew of Lawrence, and others 

 came to the Shaw just before Lawrence's 

 death and took away a number of deeds, 

 and afterwards Thomas obtained possession 

 of the house and demesne lands. One of the 

 defendants alleged that he took the deeds 

 at the desire of Joan wife of Lawrence ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Pleadings, xxxvi, M. 4. 



