SALFORD HUNDRED 



From 1260 or 1270 to the beginning of the I7th 

 century the manor descended in the Byron family, 18 

 and during the later part of 

 this period seems to have been 

 their chief residence. 19 In 

 or about 1622 it was sold to 

 the Standishes of Standish, 20 

 and was again sold in 1662 

 to Thomas Percival, probably 

 a trader of Manchester." It 

 continued in this family for 

 a century," when Catherine 

 daughter of a later Thomas 

 Percival of Royton, who died 

 in 1763, carried it in mar- 

 riage to Joseph Pickford 23 of Althill. She died in 

 1765, leaving an only son William Percival Pick- 

 ford. He died in 1815 without issue, and gave 

 Royton to his father, who had married again, and 

 in 1795 took the name of Radcliffe on inheriting the 

 etates of his mother's brother, William Radcliffe of 

 Mills Bridge, Yorkshire. He was created a baronet 

 in 1813, having taken a prominent part in suppressing 

 the Luddite riots of the previous year. 14 Royton has 



BYRON. Argent three 

 bendlets enhanced gules. 



PRESTWICH WITH 

 OLDHAM 



descended with the issue of this second marriage to 

 the present baronet, Sir Joseph Edward Radcliffe, of 

 Rudding Park, Knaresborough. 



Royton Old Hall was de- 

 scribed in 1795 as 'a firm, 

 well-built stone edifice of an- 

 cient date . . . pleasantly 

 seated in a deep valley, sur- 

 rounded by high grounds. In 

 front of the house runs a small 

 stream dividing the gardens 

 from rich meadows.' K This 

 description was substantially 

 repeated thirty years later, 16 the 

 meadows being still ' fertile ' 

 and ' luxurious,' but the sur- 

 roundings have since so much 

 changed that the original 

 aspect of the building is somewhat difficult to recon- 

 stitute, though the stream, now much polluted, still 

 runs at the bottom of the garden. The park and 

 grounds have long disappeared, and the surroundings 

 are now purely industrial. 



The hall was largely rebuilt in the i8th century, 



RADCLIFFE of Royton, 

 baronet. Argent a bend 

 engrailed table charged 

 "with a crescent of tht 

 fold for difference. 



18 The 241. paid by Richard de Byron 

 (in Royton) appears in the extent of the 

 lands of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, in 

 1297 ; Inq. and Extents, i, 301. Richard 

 de Byron in 1 3 24 held a plough-land and 

 a half by a rent of 241. ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Rentals and Surv. 379, m. 13. The mesne 

 lordship of the Luttrells was still remem- 

 bered in 1346, when it was recorded that 

 Andrew Luttrell held 1 2 oxgangs of land 

 in Royton in socage, and by his tenants, 

 Sir James Byron and John his brother, 

 rendered 241. rent, puture, &c. ; Add. 

 MS. 32103, fol. 146. In the inquisition 

 taken soon after the death of Sir Richard 

 Byron of Clayton in 1397 it was stated 

 that he had held four messuages and twelve 

 oxgangs in Royton of the Duke of Lancas- 

 ter by knight's service ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. 

 (Chet. Soc.), i, 65. 



In an extent of 1445-6 Sir John Byron 

 was said to hold twelve oxgangs of land 

 in socage by a rent of 24.5. yearly ; he 

 stated that he held of Andrew Luttrell, 

 and also by feoffment ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. The tenure 

 was less correctly stated in 1498 after the 

 death of Sir John Byron, the four mes- 

 suages and twelve oxgangs being held of 

 the king as of his duchy of Lancaster in 

 socage, by the service of 24*., being worth 

 10 marks clear; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iii, 48. Royton occurs down to 

 1608 in Byron settlements, e.g. Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 15, m. 147 ; 61, 

 m. 347 ; 71, no. 2. 



In 1310 John de Byron granted to 

 Adam de Chadderton 4 acres of the waste 

 in Royton ; Clowes D. 



19 In 1432 a release to Sir John Byron 

 was made by the feoffee concerning lands 

 in Royton and Butterworth ; the deed is 

 dated at Royton ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iii, 70. 



Sir John Byron in 1588 addressed a 

 letter to the Salford justices, dated at 

 Royton ; Lanes. Lieutenancy (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 215. Described as 'of Royton,' he 

 heads the list of freeholders in Salford 

 Hundred in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 246. 



20 In a petition of 1622-3 Sir John 

 Byron the younger is described as ' lord 

 and owner of the manor and lordship of 



Royton'; Shaw, Oldham, 60. In 1622, 

 however, Ralph Standish contributed to 

 the subsidy for lands in Royton ; Misc. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 158. 

 Ten years later there is further evidence 

 that Ralph Standish was in possession ; 

 Shaw, op. cit. 75. 



21 On 27 Mar. 1662 Thomas Percival 

 and Richard his brother purchased Royton 

 of Edward Standish and William his son 

 and heir apparent for 2,530. The pur- 

 chase included cottages, &c., and all their 

 interest in Royton and Chadderton ; the 

 rents amounted to 120 a year; Shaw, 

 op. cit. 157. 



23 There is an erroneous pedigree in 

 Burke's Commoners, iv, 612, stating that 

 Thomas's son Richard was baptized in 

 Drogheda in 1675, and Thomas was him- 

 self made an alderman of that corporation 

 in 1690 by William III. It is further 

 stated that his will was made in 1702 and 

 proved in Dublin in 1703 ; but Thomas 

 Percival of Royton was buried at Man- 

 chester 10 Dec. 1694; Shaw, Oldham, 

 214. At Royton he apparently acted as 

 banker for the neighbourhood ; see the 

 list of his loans in Shaw, 196, 197. 

 Thomas's elder brother Richard Percival 

 purchased the manor of Allerton in Child- 

 wall. In 1664 Thomas Percival of Royton 

 was summoned to attend the Herald's 

 Visitation, but no pedigree is recorded ; 

 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), p. v. He was 

 a trustee of Oldham Grammar School in 

 1673 ; Shaw, op. cit. 1 80. By his will, 

 dated 1693, he gave 150 to the poor of 

 Manchester, to be laid out by his execu- 

 tors and his cousin Richard Percival ; in 

 1826 this was supposed to be represented 

 by an estate of 10 acres in Royton ; 

 Char. Rep. (1826), xvi, 148. 



In 1682 John Gilliam of Manchester 

 married Jane daughter of Thomas Percival 

 of Royton ; he was buried 20 July 1688, 

 and an account of the funeral expenses, 

 &c., is printed by Shaw, Oldham, 187, 200. 

 Their daughter Jane married John Greaves 

 of Culcheth in Newton. 



Richard Percival of Royton married 

 Katherine daughter of Thomas Norris of 

 Speke, and their sons Thomas, William, 

 and Richard were baptized in 1688, 1690, 

 and 1696, the two former at Manchester ; 



"3 



ibid. 199, 203, 205, 217. Richard was 

 buried 27 Apr. 1697 ; 220. His widow 

 Katherine appears as granting a lease in 

 the next year ; 221 ; see also 229. 



Thomas Percival, ' of Royton, esquire,' 

 was buried 19 Mar. 1710-1 ; his father 

 and grandfather had been described as 

 ' gent.' ; ibid. 248. His brother William 

 succeeded, and in 1713 took part in the 

 settlement of the boundaries of Hollin- 

 wood in Oldham, but did not sign the 

 agreement; 253. He married Dorothy 

 daughter of Thomas Kenyon of Salford 

 (Butterworth, op. cit.) ; his son Thomas 

 was born i Sept. 1719 ; Shaw, op. cit. 269. 

 William was buried 12 July 1721 ; 275. 



Letters from Thomas Percival to one 

 of the Kenyon family, 1759-61, are 

 printed in Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. 

 iv, 496-8. In one he speaks of himself 

 as ' enlisted among the men of speculative 

 learning' ; in another, though 'sincerely 

 for the good of the Church of England,' 

 he objected to the interference of the 

 clergy in state affairs, and affirmed, 'when- 

 ever you want a key to a priest's conduct, 

 that interest is his ruling motive.' James 

 Butterworth in his history of Oldham (ed. 

 1817) states: 'To Sir Joseph Radcliffe, 

 Bart., of Mills Bridge in the county of 

 York, I owe all my most material in- 

 formation, chiefly collected by his father- 

 in-law, T. Percival, Esq., of Royton Hall 

 (who appears to have been a great lover 

 of antiquity) ; his pedigrees of the Lanca- 

 shire families, collected by himself, with 

 the great additions made by the before- 

 mentioned worthy baronet, are an in- 

 valuable treasure, and with them I have 

 been kindly favoured by him ' ; p. xi. In 

 the same work (102) is a Percival-Radcliffe 

 pedigree. 



There are monuments in St. Paul's 

 Church to Katherine Pickford, 1765, and 

 to Sir Joseph Radcliffe, 1819. 



23 Joseph Pickford in 1779 paid 241. to 

 the Duchy for Royton ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Rentals, bdle. 14, no. 25m. 



24 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xiv, 1 6 1. 



25 Aikin, A Description of the Country 

 from Thirty to Forty Miles round Man- 

 chester, 239. 



26 Corry, Lanes. 1825, ii, 527 ; Butter- 

 worth, Oldham, 1826. 



15 



