A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



1821 Joseph Selkirk 



1832 David Rathbone 



1871 John Fish, M.A. (T.C.D.) 



1883 Francis Edwin Waldie 



1904 Thomas Earl Floyd 



The church was nearly rebuilt in 1789, and was 

 enlarged in 1837. It had a separate district assigned 

 to it in i867. 39 



AINSWORTH 



Euenesworth, 1243 ; Aynesworth, 1332. 



Ainsworth lies about 6 miles west-north-west of 

 Middleton Church ; it is quite separated from Great 

 Lever by the townships of Little Lever and Darcy 

 Lever in Bolton, and from the rest of the parish by 

 Radcliffe, and portions of Bury. It measures about 

 2 miles from north to south, and over a mile 

 across. The area is 1,308^ acres. 1 It is an upland 

 slope ; the highest ground, over 500 ft., is in the 

 northern half of the township, near the centre of 

 which are situate the village and church. The eastern 

 side is known as Cockey Moor, part of the moor being 

 in Radcliffe. Blackshaw Brook forms the boundary 

 on the west. The population in 1901 numbered 

 1,718. 



The principal road is that from Bolton to Bury, 

 passing through the southern end of the township. 

 A more northerly road between the same places passes 

 through the village, and runs across Cockey. The 

 Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's Bolton and 

 Bury line crosses the southern corner of the town- 

 ship, where it has a station called Bradley Fold. 



A bronze celt and Roman coins have been found 

 on Cockey Moor. 



This moor was a mustering place for the Royalist 

 troops in 1642.* 



The soil is light, overlying gravel ; wheat, oats, and 

 potatoes are grown, and some land also is devoted to 

 pasture. Cotton weaving is pursued, also bleaching 

 and dyeing. ' Mr. John Wilson of Ainsworth, origin- 

 ally a fustian manufacturer, produced several ingenious 

 inventions by which he brought cotton velvets to the 

 utmost perfection ; he also procured from the Greek 

 dyers of Smyrna the secret of dyeing Turkey red.' 3 

 Stone quarries are worked. 



In 1666 there were fifty-one hearths liable to the 

 tax, but no house had as many as six hearths. 4 



The township was in 1894 extended to include 

 the rural part of Elton. 5 It is governed by a parish 

 council. A small recreation ground and gymnasium 

 was presented to the township in 1902. 



JINSWORTH was a member of Mid- 

 M4NORS dleton Manor, and the earliest notice of 

 it is in the grant of land there to Cock- 

 ersand Abbey, made by Roger de Middleton about 

 1 2OO. 6 It is usually mentioned with other portions of 

 the manor in settlements and inquisitions/ and has de- 

 scended to the Earl of Wilton. 8 



Ainsworth gave a surname 

 to a local family, one of whom, 

 by marriage with Maud de 

 Middleton, held the principal 

 manor for many years. 9 The 

 Ainsworth family, settled at 

 Pleasington, continued to hold 

 land in Ainsworth till the be- 

 ginning of the 1 7th century. 10 

 An estate in Ainsworth,Breight- 

 met, and Harwood was in 

 1588 sold or mortgaged by 



AINSWORTH of Pleas- 

 ington. Azure three 

 spades -within a bordure 



* Land. Gaz. 21 May 1867. The en- 

 dowment was in 1833 said to be derived 

 from 800 private gift, 1,000 royal 

 bounty, and 300 Parliamentary grant. 



1 The census report of 1901 gives 

 1,460 acres, including 18 of inland water. 

 The increase is accounted for by the 

 extension in 1894. 



s Stanley Papers (Chet. Soc.), iii, p. 

 Ixxi. 



8 E. Butterworth, Middleton, 57. 



4 Subs. R. bdle. 250, no. 9, Lanes. 



5 Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31671 ; the 

 extreme western end of Elton was the part 

 added. 



6 Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 

 733. The bounds were Murbrook from 

 the deep moss, Mucklebrook, and the syke 

 from Balshaw. 



7 e.g., Lanes. Inq, p.m. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 105. 



8 On the partition of the Middleton 

 and Radcliffe estates about 1780. The 

 land tax returns of 1787 (at Preston) 

 show that then Lord Grey de Wilton 

 owned the greater part of the township. 



9 See the account of the manor of 

 Middleton. 



William son of Robert de Ainsworth, 

 about the end of the reign of Henry III, 

 granted an pxgang of land here to Roger 

 de Barlow ; and added another oxgang, as 

 well as a toft, with houses and meadows 

 belonging thereto ; Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 

 172/208. Maud, the sister of William 

 de Ainsworth, released her claim in the 2 

 oxgangs to the same Roger de Barlow ; 

 ibid. 



Robert de Ainsworth in 1324 gave land 

 in Ainsworth to Robert his son and heir 

 on his marriage with Isabel daughter of 

 Richard de Woolston ; Towneley MS. 

 GG, no. 1690. Robert son of Robert de 

 Ainsworth occurs in 1353 ; Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 2219. John son of Robeit 

 de Ainsworth and Maud his wife received 

 land at Stakehill in 1342 ; GG, no. 1755. 

 It is perhaps a different John son of Robert 

 who, with Agnes his wife, is mentioned in 

 1398-9 ; DD, no. 2207-12. 



John son of John de Ainsworth and 

 Robert de Pilkington (who had married 

 the younger John's daughter Katherine) 

 in 1383 became bound to James de Rad- 

 cliffe ; a warning had been published from 

 the pulpit of Walton Church ; GG, no. 

 1840. The younger John, who lived at 

 the Peak, by his wife Ellen (no. 1843, 

 2055) had a son Alexander; and Alex- 

 ander in 1419 made a settlement of lands 

 at Mellor in Derbyshire on his son (by 

 Margaret ' Walklate ') Hector, who mar- 

 ried Margaret daughter of William de 

 Clayton; no. 2007, 1784, 2064. Hec- 

 tor, probably illegitimate, afterwards sold 

 his lands to Richard son of Robert de 

 Pilkington ; no. 2033. 



Another Robert de Ainsworth attested 

 a Droylsden charter about 1250 ; Byron 

 Chartul. no. 25/5. John de Ainsworth 

 was among the witnesses of a Farnworth 

 grant in 1295; Lever Chartul. no. 54. 

 Ellis son of John de Ainsworth was de- 

 fendant in a claim by John de Barton and 

 Agnes his wife in 1324; De Banco R. 

 252, m. 43 d. Ellis de Ainsworth con- 



ISO 



tributed to the subsidy of 1332; Exch. 

 Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 36. 



Ellis Ainsworth is named in 1411 ; 

 DD, no. 2216. James Ainsworth of Mid- 

 dleton occurs in 1443 ; PaL of Lane. Plea 

 R. 5, m. 6b. Lawrence Ainsworth in 

 1460 complained that Nicholas Longford 

 and others, including Hugh, Geoffrey and 

 Robert Ainsworth, had disseised him of 

 his free tenement in Ainsworth ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Writs of Assize. 



Robert Ainsworth in 1543 complained 

 that the lands called the Wood and 

 Marled Earth, through which ran 'a 

 brook and other little pirls ' of water, 

 had been damaged by certain persons 

 Lawrence Bradshaw of Breightmet, Joan 

 widow of Thomas Ainsworth of Breight- 

 met, &c. having diverted the water 

 courses ; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii, 176. Robert Ainsworth 

 appears as plaintiff or defendant in other 

 suits about the same time ; Ducatus Lane. 

 (Rec. Com.), ii, 82, 77 ; i, 232, 262. 

 Giles and Thomas Ainsworth occur in 

 1580 ; ibid, iii, 87. Giles and Robert 

 Ainsworth were freeholders in 1600 ; 

 Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 248. 



10 Thomas Ainsworth of Pleasington, 

 who died 1613, held three messuages, 60 

 acres of land, &c., in Ainsworth of Sir 

 Richard Assheton in socage and by yd. 

 rent ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes. 

 and Ches.), i, 247. 



A Richard Ainsworth died in 1629, 

 holding lands in Pleasington and Ains- 

 worth ; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. 

 Lib.), 7. 



