A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



next of the family known is John Tonge, the son of 

 Thomas, who died in 1551, holding various lands in 

 Tonge of the king by the hun- 

 dredth part of a knight's fee ; 

 Richard his son and heir was 

 only two years of age. 16 

 Richard died at the end of 

 1568, being still in ward- 

 ship ; he left a son Christo- 

 pher, two years of age, about 

 whose legitimacy there was 

 some doubt, and apart from 

 whom the heirs were Ric- 

 hard's sisters Ellen, Jane, and 

 Dorothy, aged twenty - one, 

 nineteen, and nineteen years. 17 



Christopher's right must have been established, for 

 he held possession of the estates in Prestwich, Mid- 

 dleton, Tonge, and Alkrington. 18 In 1590 he made 

 provision for the jointure of Jane daughter of William 

 Bamford, whom he married. He died 10 February 

 1600 i, and was buried at Middleton. Richard the 

 son and heir was not quite three years old. 19 In 

 1631 he paid jio after refusing knighthood. 10 From 

 this time little can be said of the family, except the 

 details in the pedigree ; " its members do not appear 

 to have taken any conspicuous part in the Civil War 



TONGE. Azure a bend 

 between two cotises argent 

 and tix martlets or. 



or the Revolution. Richard Tonge, who died in 

 1713, bequeathed his newly-purchased lands in Hop- 

 wood to his elder son Jonathan, subject to an annuity 

 of 20 a year to his wife Alice, and a sum of 500 

 to his younger son Thomas, then a minor." In spite 

 of this bequest he appears to have died insolvent, and 

 the executors refusing to act, administration of his 

 estate was granted to creditors. By his second 

 wife he left two sons, Jonathan and Thomas, of 

 whom the latter had issue. The son Jonathan 

 in 1725 demised his estate to his brother Thomas, 

 with instructions to sell it. w In the following year it 

 was purchased by John Starky of Heywood,* 4 whose 

 grandson James Starky in 1846 left it to his rela- 

 tives, Mrs. Hornby of St. Michael's, and Joseph 

 Langton of Liverpool. 24 The trustees of the late 

 Charles Langton are stated to be the present lords 

 of the manor and chief landowners. 



Tonge Hall passed through several hands. About 

 1890 it was purchased by Mr. Asheton Tonge of 

 Alderley, stated to be a descendant of the old family. 26 

 The hall, a picturesque fragment of a black and 

 white timber and plaster house standing on a low 

 stone base, is now completely dismantled, and in a 

 sad state of decay and dilapidation. The house was 

 originally of much greater extent, and a drawing of 

 the building as it was about 1845 i7 shows that the 



16 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. ix, 7 ; 

 the will of John Tonge is recited, as well 

 as the provision for his wife, Dorothy 

 daughter of Roger Downes. His wife, 

 son, and three daughters are mentioned 

 in the will ; his half-brother Richard was 

 to have sufficient turf from the moss in 

 Tonge to burn in his house, and thirty 

 loads of thorns. 



In 1547 there had been a dispute be- 

 tween Edmund Chadderton and John 

 Tonge (and others), as to turbary on the 

 moor ; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 223. 



John Tonge died 31 July 1551, and 

 was buried at Middleton on 6 Aug. The 

 wardship and marriage of Richard, the heir, 

 were granted to Thurstan Rawstorne ; 

 Dtp. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 561. 



17 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xii, 9. 

 No reason is given for the qualification 

 'if not admitted by law,' respecting 

 Christopher. 



Richard died 10 Nov. 1568, and im- 

 mediately afterwards Margaret his widow, 

 the daughter of James Heywood, made 

 a claim under a marriage settlement against 

 Elizabeth Heywood, widow ; Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), ii, 371. 



18 During his minority the wardship 

 was granted to Gilbert Sherington, and 

 by him transferred to Thomas Legh of 

 Alkrington. The latter gave Christopher 

 to understand that his uncle Peter Hey- 

 wood would do nothing for him, whereby 

 his lands would be lost, and prevailed on 

 the youth of fifteen to marry 'a notorious 

 harlot,' Katherine Jackson, by whom 

 Thomas Legh had had several children. 

 A divorce was granted in 1583 ; H. Fish- 

 wick as above (p. 29), quoting a deed in 

 Raines MSS. xiii, 174. 



19 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xviii, 14, 

 in which the marriage settlements are set 

 forth. The estate is described as twelve 

 messuages, a cottage, twelve gardens, two 

 orchards, 80 acres of lands, &c., in Tonge, 

 &c. The remainders after Christopher's 

 issue were to Jane, his aunt, Gervase 

 Utterus son of Ellen, another aunt, and 

 Margaret sister of Gervase. Some field 



names are given, as Bent Meadow, Cross 

 Field, and Rye Hill. Besides his sons 

 Richard and Ashton he had daughters 

 Mary, Jane, and Winifred. 



Immediately after his death disputes 

 arose as to lands leased to the Hiltons ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 461. 



Richard son of Christopher Tonge was 

 baptized at Middleton 7 May 1598. 



20 Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 215. 



Richard Tonge was buried at Middle- 

 ton 3 Apr. 1678. 



21 A pedigree wat recorded in 1664; 

 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 303. It 

 begins with Christopher Tonge, and shows 

 the descent through Richard to his son 

 Jonathan, aged 28, who had a son Richard, 

 aged six. 



Jonathan son of Mr. Richard Tonge 

 was baptized at Middleton, 12 Aug. 1636. 

 He was married to Sarah White-head, at 

 Prestwich, on 27 June 1655, and was 

 buried at Middleton 25 May 1680. His 

 son Richard is named in the text. 



22 Booker, Presnvich, 209, 210. The 

 author remarks : 'Though a family of 

 note it does not appear that arms were 

 ever granted to them. . . . From an im- 

 pression of the seal of Richard Tonge in 

 the latter part of the I7th century he 

 appears to have borne a bend cotised 

 between six martlets." These arms were 

 recorded in 1664 according to the printed 

 Visitation, which is not quite trustworthy 

 from the letter S onward. 



28 Col. Fishwick's article, as above 



(P- 30- 



24 The deed is enrolled at Preston, 

 R. 12 of Geo. I; see Piccope MSS. 

 (Chet. Lib.), iii, 230. The price named 



^4.350- 



The pedigree is thus given : John 

 Starky, d. 1749 s. John, d. 1780 s. 

 James, high sheriff, 1791, d. 1846 ; Hey- 

 wood N. and Q. (ed. Green), iii, 35. 



James Starky in 1795 paid more than 

 half the land tax for Tonge ; there was 

 no other considerable holder ; Returns at 

 Preston. 



86 



88 Canon Raines in Gastrell, Notitia 

 Cestr., ii, no. From the pedigree of the 

 Langton family in Foster, Lanes. Pedigrees, 

 it appears that Joseph Starky, M.D., of 

 Redvales, Bury, younger son of John 

 Starky, the purchaser of Royton, had two 

 daughters Mary, who married William 

 Langton, and was succeeded by her son 

 Joseph and grandson Charles ; and Anne, 

 who married the Rev. Hugh Hornby of 

 St. Michael's. 



26 Fishwick, loc. cit. 



For the pedigree see Booker, op. cit. 

 212, and Gen. Mag. iii, 349, 406, 

 where it is shown that the last Richard 

 Tonge was thrice married (i) in 1681 to 

 Esther daughter of William Richardson of 

 Crompton ; (ii) in 1691 to Jane daughter 

 of Thomas Percival of Royton and widow 

 of John Gilliam ; (iii) in 1699 to Alice 

 daughter of Benjamin Wrigley of Chamber 

 Hall. 



The Tonge family had several branches. 

 Henry Tonge of Farnworth died in 1614, 

 holding lands in Farnworth, Kearsley, and 

 Worsley, leaving his brother John as heir; 

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

 Ches.), i, 283. 



In 1722 administration of the goods of 

 Richard Tonge of Middleton was granted 

 to his brother Ashton Tonge. In the 

 following year administration of the goods 

 of Ashton Tonge of Tonge, weaver, were 

 granted to his widow Dorothy. In 1772 

 administration of the goods of Ashton 

 Tonge of Worsley, carpenter, were granted 

 to his widow Jane. The will of Richard 

 Tonge of Worsley, yeoman, was proved 

 in 1798 ; it mentions his shares in ships, 

 a blacklead pencil factory at Worsley, and 

 various lands, including a house in Deans- 

 gate, Manchester ; Mary his wife, and 

 Thomas Fletcher his brother-in-law, were 

 two of the executors. Jane Tonge of 

 Worsley, widow, by her will of 1808 left 

 her estate to her four daughters. 



2 ' Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc, x. ; in 

 Booker, Presnvicb, is another view, dated 

 1852. 



