SALFORD HUNDRED 



MIDDLETON 



Richard, born in 1619, who became the heir of his 

 great-grandfather in 1624. William Holt, a surviving 

 son of Robert, entered into possession of the estates, 

 probably as guardian of the heir. 20 



Richard Holt came of age just before the outbreak 

 of the Civil War, and, perhaps under the influence 

 of the Greenhalghs, attached himself to the king's 

 side. He returned home dangerously ill in Decem- 

 ber 1645, having taken part in the second defence of 

 Lathom. His estates were sequestered, and having 

 taken the National Covenant and Negative Oath, he 

 compounded for a fine of .551, and took no further 

 part in the struggle. 21 He recorded a pedigree at the 

 visitation in 1 66 5, " but died in 1668, leaving Ash- 

 worth by his will to his eldest son Robert.* 1 Robert 

 appears to have died without issue, for in 1700 his 

 younger brother Richard, then in possession of Ash- 

 worth, joined with the other brothers, William and 

 Thomas, in the sale of the estate to Samuel Hallows 

 of Gray's Inn, for .3,960 and an annuity of .25." 

 The new owner, who appears to have been a Non- 

 conformist, had no children, and left his estates in 

 Ashworth, Newbold in Castleton, and elsewhere, to 

 John Hatfield, son of his nephew John Hatfield of 

 Hatfield, and to another nephew Samuel Hallows 

 Hamer, son of Samuel Hamer of Newbold, expressing 

 the wish that as Ashworth had always been an un- 

 divided property it might so continue on a division. 25 

 Accordingly it was taken by John Hatfield, who in 

 1751 sold it to Thomas Ferrand of Rochdale. 16 By 

 him it was in 1 767 sold to Samuel Egerton of Tat- 

 ton, 27 and has descended to Earl Egerton of Tatton, 

 the present owner.* 8 



Richard Kenyon, a leaseholder in Ashworth, ad- 

 hered to the royal side in the Civil War, and had his 

 property sequestrated. 29 



The chapel of St. James is of ancient 

 CHURCH origin. 50 It had probably been erected 

 by a lord of Ashworth for his family 

 and tenants, and was but poorly furnished. 31 It 

 was a donative, and without endowment. The 

 services were probably maintained but irregularly. 32 

 In 1650 the Commonwealth commissioners recom- 

 mended that it should be made into a parish church, 

 but this was not carried out. 33 Bishop Gastrell in 

 1724 found that the Holts of Ashworth had always 

 allowed 4 to the ministers, but Samuel Hallows, 

 who had recently purchased it, alleged it to be a 

 domestic chapel. 34 It seems to have been at that 

 time used by the Nonconformists. 3 * The owner 

 afterwards gave 200 to meet an equal grant by 

 Queen Anne's Bounty in 1737, and the chapel ceased 

 to be a donative. 36 The patronage remains in the 

 owner of Ashworth, now Lord Egerton of Tatton. 

 The registers begin in 1741. In 1751 the income 

 was stated to be 50, viz., .30 from land and 20 

 from pew rents. 37 The following have been the 

 curates : S8 



1695 George Jackson, B.A. 



1735 Jonathan Heaton, B.A. (Trinity Coll., 



Camb.) 



1737 Peter Blakey, M.A. 



1771 John Sutcliffe (Queen's Coll., Oxf.) 



1806 William Horton, M.A. 



1817 Thomas Hodgson 



30 These statements are from the in- 

 quisitions made in 1624 after the death of 

 Robert and Richard Holt ; Lanes. In j. p.m. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches,), iii, 437-41 ; 

 442-51. The tenures appear to be more 

 accurately given in the second document 

 (p. 45 1). 



31 Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 255-7. Debts 

 amounting to 626 were due by him to 

 Mr. Cudworth of Werneth, Mrs. Chetham 

 of Manchester, and others. The Ash- 

 worth estate was worth ^150 a year ; he 

 also had land in Saddleworth. 



33 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 148 ; it 

 is meagre and inaccurate. Richard Holt 

 was married twice to Jane daughter of 

 John Greenhalgh (at Bury in 1635) and 

 to Jane daughter of Radcliffe Ashton of 

 Cuerdale ; ibid. 126, 10. 



33 Raines MSS. xi, 295. His wife Jane ; 

 sons Robert, Richard, William, and 

 Thomas ; and daughters Elizabeth and 

 Mary, are named in the will. He was 

 buried at Middleton 28 Sept. 1668. Of 

 the daughters, Mary married Thomas 

 Butler of Rawcliffe, and was living in 

 1704 ; ibid. 290. 



24 Ibid. 283, 284 ; also Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 245, m. 61. Mortgages 

 amounting to over 3,000 had to be paid 

 off, Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton 

 being the creditor. 



Richard Holt does not seem to have 

 married, though he had a ' particular kind- 

 ness ' for one of the Hulton family ; Hist. 

 MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 141. Wil- 

 liam Holt was in 1696 described as 'of 

 York ' ; his wife in 1 700 was Hannabella. 



In a lease granted by Richard Holt in 

 1688 the following services were required, 

 in addition to the rent of 23*. $.d. and four 

 hens at Christmas : Four days' shearing or 



reaping corn ; two days' harrowing with 

 an able horse and a harrow ; loading four 

 cartloads of turf ; keeping a man for the 

 wars, with musket and bandoliers ; rinding 

 a man to sod the stone wall betwixt the 

 common and demesne ; finding three able 

 men to marl while the marling time 

 lasted, or pay 91. a week. Tenants had 

 also to grind their corn at Ashworth Mill ; 

 Raines MSS. xi, 282. 



35 Ibid. 286 ; the will of Samuel 

 Hallows, dated 1736. For his character 

 see Raines in Notitia Cestr. ii, 104. 



36 Ibid. 288-90 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 348, m. 53. John Hatfield, a 

 minor at his great-uncle's death, acquired 

 possession in 1750 ; he had a brother, the 

 Rev. George Hatfield. The advowson of 

 the chapel was expressly included in the 

 sale in 1751. At this time the clear 

 rental was 338 is. gd. There was a 

 coal mine at work. The area was nearly 

 630 customary acres. 



37 William Egerton was sole contributor 

 to the land tax of 1787. 



28 Col. Fishwick in Lanes, and Ches. 

 Antiq. Soc. xx, 30, quoting the title 

 deeds. It appears, however, that there 

 was an intermediate owner or mortgagee, 

 one Samuel Hill, acquiring Ashworth from 

 Thomas Ferrand in 1757; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 359,m. 68. 



The manor of Ashworth was included 

 in a recovery of Wilbraham Egerton's 

 estates in 1806; Aug. Assizes, 46 Geo. Ill, 

 R. 8. 



29 Royalist Comp. Papers, iv, 41. 



80 Gastrell, in Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 1 02, says it was 'very ancient* and 

 founded in the time of Henry VIII. 

 Robert Holt in 15 59 left ' toward the then 

 sustentation of Ashworth chapel 6s. 8<f.,' to 

 be paid 'when the church reeves should 



179 



reasonably require the same ; ' Piccope, 

 Wills, i, 53. The chapel had a warden 

 in Gast roll's time. 



81 Ch. Gds. 1552 (Chet. Soc.), 12. 



83 There was no surplice in 1592; 

 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xiii, 57. 



88 Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 26. Just at that time 

 there was no minister there, ' for want of 

 maintenance.' 



84 Notitia, loc. cit. ; ' it was certified 

 that nothing certain belonged to it.' In 

 1671, however, Richard Whitehead of 

 Pilsworth had given a rent-charge of 3 

 'to the use of such minister as should 

 perform the service and cure at the chapel 

 of Ashworth ' ; ibid, ii, 34. 



85 Ibid, ii, 105. Radcliffe Scholefield 

 was officiating without licence in 1703; 

 he was the Presbyterian minister of Whit- 

 worth in 1718, and afterwards held a 

 charge in Cheshire ; H. Fishwick, Roch- 

 dale, 264. In 1668, though 'with some 

 difficulty,' Oliver Heywood was able to 

 preach at Ashworth ' for one part of the 

 day' ; Diaries, i, 259. 



86 Raines in Notitia Cestr. ii, 104. 



8 ? Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xi, 290. 



88 Church P. at Chester Dioc. Reg. For 

 a biographical account of the curates from 

 1614 onward see Col. Fishwick's account 

 in Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xx, 33-40. 

 The following names are chiefly taken 

 from it : John Ashworth, 1614 to 1622 ; 

 Richard Walker, 1622 to 1625 ; Hugh 

 Brooks, styled ' Vicar of Ashworth,' occurs 

 in 1626 ; Ramsbottom occurs 1648 ; 

 Henry Pendlebury, M.A. occurs 1649 ; 

 Leigh occurs 1652 ; Abraham Ash- 

 worth, B.A., 1665 to 1674 and later. 

 Benjamin Hollinworth, of St. John's 

 College, Cambridge, was there in 1686; 

 Visit. P. at Chester. 



