SALFORD HUNDRED 



MIDDLETON 



Adam, the son of John de Lever, succeeded. He 

 made considerable additions to the paternal lands, 

 more especially in Farnworth. 7 

 He had several lawsuits, parti- 

 cularly with Henry de Lever, 

 but was usually successful. 8 

 He was followed about 1310 

 by his son John, 9 who, dying 

 about the same time, left as 

 heir a son Adam, under age. 

 Roger de Middleton, as su- 

 perior lord, in 1313 granted to 

 William de Charnock the edu- 



_ . . . . . LIVER of Lever. Ar- 



cation of the heir, promising gent twg hendht ^ the up . 



him 2OS. a year towards Adam's per one engrailed, table. 



keep, and engaging to supply clothing. 10 This was 

 probably the Adam de Lever who was killed, with 

 twenty-six others, in the disturbances at Liverpool on 

 the day after Ash Wednesday 1345, during the visit 

 of the king's justices. 103 Adam had a son John, living 

 about 1356 to 1370 of whom nothing of note is re- 

 corded. 11 John's son, Adam the younger, obtained 

 the Pilkington lands in Great Lever, thus becoming 

 sole lord of the manor ; 12 and by his marriage with 

 Margaret Cundcliffe added lands in Anderton to his 

 patrimony. 13 



Adam had two sons, William " and Henry. The 

 former, who died about the end of 1447, left a son 

 Adam as heir ; a minor, but married to Joan daughter 

 of William Garnet. 15 Adam died early, leaving a 



against Roger the Clerk of Farnworth, 

 holding messuages and land in Great 

 Lever ; against Roger son of Meredith, 

 John son of Adam de Kearsley, and 

 Richard Pierpoint, also tenants of Great 

 Lever; De Banco R. 31, m. 55. Roger 

 the Clerk was probably a son of John de 

 Lever ; Lever Chartul. no. 46. Richard 

 son of Margaret de Lever granted an ox- 

 gang of land in Lever to John son of Roger 

 de Lever ; ibid. no. 36(2). John appears to 

 have been killed accidentally about 1279 

 by William son of Jordan de Burnden ; 

 Cal. Close, 1272-9, p. 522. 



7 See the account of Farnworth in 

 Deane. 



William son of Adam de (Great) Lever 

 released to Adam son of John de (Great) 

 Lever all his land and right in the vill of 

 Great Lever, with homages, services in 

 waters and mills, reliefs, &c. ; Lever 

 Chartul. no. 18. Ellis de (Little) Lever 

 granted to Adam son of John de (Great) 

 Lever all his part of the mill and fishery 

 about which dispute had again arisen, for 

 the rent of a rose ; ibid. no. 26. In 1292 

 Roger son of William the Tailor granted 

 to Adam de (Great) Lever and Amice (or 

 Avice) his wife all his land in Great 

 Lever ; ibid, no 51. Adam was still liv- 

 ing in 1310 ; ibid. no. 78. 



Adam son of John de Lever was one of 

 the jurors in the Grelley inquisition of 

 1282 ; Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 244. 



8 In 1284 Adam de Lever unsuccess- 

 fully claimed certain land against Henry 

 de Lever and Henry and John de Burn- 

 den ; Assize R. 1268, m. 19. 



Eight years later Henry de Burnden 

 was plaintiff, asserting that Adam son of 

 John de Lever and Henry de Lever had 

 disseised him of his common of pasture in 

 30 acres of arable land after the corn had 

 been carried away, and his reasonable 

 estovers in 5 acres of wood (as in house- 

 bote and heybote, to build, burn, and 

 fence) and in 3 acres of turbary in Mid- 

 dleton. The defendants alleged that the 

 land was in Lever, not in Middleton ; the 

 jury said it was in Middleton, but gave a 

 verdict for the plaintiff only in respect of 

 the turbary ; Assize R. 408, m. 9 d. At 

 the same time Adam de Lever was able 

 to refute the claim made by Henry de 

 Lever for certain customs and services in 

 respect of the free tenement held of Henry 

 in Middleton ; ibid. m. 44. Henry de 

 Lever also claimed certain small parcels 

 of land and the moiety of a water-mill in 

 Middleton against Adam de Lever. He 

 failed as regards the land, which had been 

 required for an enlargement of the mill, 

 but succeeded in the other claim, the jury 

 deciding that Henry and Adam were par- 

 ceners of the vill of Middleton, Adam 



claiming to be ' chief lord of the moiety 

 of the vill ' ; ibid. m. 29 d. In these cases 

 it is noticeable that ' Middleton ' is used 

 for ' Lever in Middleton.' The other Lever 

 was in Bolton. Henry de Lever also failed 

 in his claim for 14^. rent from Adam de 

 Lever, John and Roger his sons, and 

 others ; ibid. m. 68d. A rent of 14^. was 

 later paid by the lord of Great Lever to 

 Middleton. Henry was nonsuited in 

 another claim against Adam ; ibid. m. 76. 

 Adam was successful in another suit ; 

 ibid. m. 93 d. Adam son of John de 

 Lever and Avice his wife were defendants 

 in 1 295 ; Assize R. 1 306, m. 20. 



Adam de Lever, John his son and 

 Agnes his wife, and Roger and Adam 

 other sons, were plaintiffs in 1301, and 

 the three former in 1305 ; Assize R. 1321, 

 m. 3 ; 420, m. 8. No details are given 

 of these cases. 



9 John son of Adam is mentioned in 

 the preceding note. He also occurs in 

 the Lever Chartulary. About the same 

 time there was another John de Lever 

 (son of John) in Farnworth. 



10 Lever Chartul. no. 79. In 1318 

 John son of John de Lever released all 

 his claim to lands in the hamlets of Great 

 Lever and Farnworth to Adam son of 

 John son of Adam de Lever ; ibid. no. 83. 



Adam therefore had probably attained 

 his majority. He married Agnes daughter 

 of Henry de Hulton of Farnworth, and in 

 1326 a moiety of the manor of Great 

 Lever and three-fourths of the manor of 

 Farnworth were settled upon him, with 

 remainders to their children John, Roger, 

 and Aline ; Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii, 62, 63. 



In 1329 William de Lever leased to 

 Adam for life the mill of Great Lever, but 

 William was to have his corn ground free 

 of multure and to be hopper free ; Lever 

 Chartul. no. 89. Agnes widow of John 

 son of William de Lever recovered dower 

 in a mill in Middleton in July 1352 

 against John [de Lever] son of Agnes de 

 Hulton ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2, m. 2. 



10a Cal. Pat. 1343-5, pp. 495, 499; 

 Coram Rege R. 344, m. 8 ; 348, m. 22. 



11 John son of Adam de Lever occurs 

 in Farnworth deeds of 1356 and 1368; 

 his brother Henry occurs also at the 

 former date ; Lever Chartul. no. 96-100. 



13 Ibid. no. 101 ; see further below. 



18 Ibid. no. 109, 112. As Adam de 

 Lever the elder he occurs in 1417 and 

 1423 ; ibid. no. 113, 115. 



14 In 1420 Adam de Lever, Margaret 

 his wife, and William the son of Adam 

 made an exchange of lands in Anderton with 

 the Anderton family ; ibid. no. 1 14. In 

 1423 Adam de Lever enfeoffed Richard de 

 Pilkington of Blackrod and John his 



brother of all his lands in Lancashire ; 

 and in 1432 the feoffees released to William 

 de Lever all their right in Adam de 

 Lever's lands, &c. in Great Lever in the 

 vill of Middleton, in the hamlet of Farn- 

 worth in the vill of Barton, and in the 

 vill of Anderton in Leylandshire ; ibid, 

 no. 115, 119. A further release was 

 given in 1442 ; ibid. no. 134-6. 



William de Lever appears to have had 

 two illegitimate sons Ralph and Law- 

 rence to whom he made various grants, 

 and a daughter Margaret, contracted in 

 marriage in 1437 to John Byrom of 

 Byrom ; ibid. no. 120, 129, 155; 124, 

 126-8. From the deeds cited it does not 

 appear that William had then any legiti- 

 mate issue except Margaret, but the son 

 Adam must have been born shortly after- 

 wards, as he was married in 1445. 



At Michaelmas 1437 William granted 

 to Lawrence, for life, the manor of Great 

 Lever, with the demesnes and lands called 

 Brandearth, Burnden Head, and Lever 

 Moor, &c. at a rent of 20 marks ; 

 ibid. no. 129. In the following April he 

 made a general feoffment of his lands, 

 rents, services, &c. in Lancashire to Sir 

 Robert de Harrington and Edmund de 

 Pilkington ; ibid. no. 131. He may have 

 married a second time. 



In 1442 William de Lever, Alice his 

 wife, and Lawrence de Lever granted 

 leases of lands in Great Lever and Lever 

 Edge ; ibid. no. 137, 138. Three years 

 later he granted to feoffees, who included 

 William Garnet the younger, the site of 

 his manor of Lever, with its gardens, &c. 

 and Starkcliff adjoining, meadow and pas- 

 ture called Near and Further Lever Eeas 

 (Eghes) and Warths, with the water-mill 

 and fulling mill ; Lawrence Lever joined 

 in another grant to the feoffees, and re- 

 ceived certain lands from them ; ibid, 

 no. 146-50. 



15 The feoffees immediately (5 Nov. 

 1445) granted certain of the lands of 

 William Lever to Joan daughter of 

 William Garnet, with remainder to Adam 

 son of William Lever, who had married 

 Joan ; and then to Roger brother of 

 Adam; ibid. no. 151-4. William Garnet 

 paid no marks for the marriage; ibid. 

 no. 159, 169. There are many other 

 deeds relating to this marriage. In the 

 following April William, Ralph, and Law- 

 rence Lever granted to the feoffees the 

 water-mill of Lever with the rydell and 

 watercourse ; but Ralph was to receive an 

 annuity from it until Adam the son of 

 William should attain the age of fourteen ; 

 ibid. no. 158. 



William Lever and Alice his wife were 

 living in Aug. 1447; ibid. no. 169, 175. 

 William died before 28 Jan. 1447-8 on 



