A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



daughter and heir Margaret, only two years of age. 

 Sir Ralph Ashton of Middleton, the superior lord, 

 married her to his younger son Ralph, who thus 

 became lord of Great Lever. This transfer to the 

 Ashtons did not take place without persistent opposi- 

 tion on the part of the Lever family. Sir Ralph 

 Ashton, however, in 1467 proved his right to the 

 wardship against Roger Lever son of William and 

 uncle of the heiress. Not long afterwards Roger 

 Lever and a party of his kinsfolk and friends assembled 

 at Lancaster and took the record of the recovery from 

 its place of keeping in the castle ; whereupon in 1472 

 Sir Ralph petitioned Parliament that his right might 

 be safeguarded in spite of the loss of the record. In 

 the suit referred to it was stated that Adam Lever 

 had held the manor of Great Lever of Richard Barton 

 of Middleton by knight's service ; that his daughter 

 and heir Margaret being under age the custody of 

 the manor belonged to Richard, and after his death 

 to his executors ; then to Sir Ralph Ashton of Middle- 

 ton. In 1479-80 Roger Lever, called 'of Bolton,' 

 received a pardon for any offences he might have 

 committed ; it appears that he was outlawed for 

 murder. The violence was not all on one side, for 

 in 1469 an agreement was made between Sir Ralph 



Ashton and Thomas Pilkington ; the latter was to 

 capture Roger Lever, and if Roger were slain Sir 

 Ralph would bear half the damage or would petition 

 the king to interfere should the death be adjudged a 

 murder. After Roger's death a claim was made to 

 the Anderton estate on behalf of the heir male, a 

 descendant of the above-named Henry son of Adam 

 Lever ; but the Ashtons of Lever established their 

 title. 16 



Ralph Ashton, who, as 

 stated, acquired the manor 

 with his wife, was followed in 

 regular descent by five Ralphs 

 in succession. 17 The last of 

 them, who was also seated at 

 Whalley, was created a baro- 

 net in i6zo. 18 He sold Great 

 Lever and the adjoining es- 

 tates to Bishop Bridgeman in 

 i629, 19 and the manor has 

 descended to the present Earl 

 of Bradford. Bishop Bridge- 

 man, of whom an account will be found among the 

 rectors of Wigan, resided at Great Lever after his 

 purchase, rebuilding the hall and domestic chapel. ?0 



BRIDGEMAN, Earl of 

 Bradford. Sable ten plates 

 in file, on a chief argent 

 a lion passant of the fold. 



which day William Garnet the elder agreed 

 to submit all disputes between himself and 

 Henry Lever the elder, and Giles and 

 Henry his sons, who claimed a rent of 

 25*. from Great Lever as belonging to the 

 manor of Little Lever. From the deeds 

 it appears that William Lever was dead ; 

 his widow Alice is mentioned ; and his 

 son Adam, a minor, had married Joan 

 Garnet; ibid. no. 176-8. Alice the 

 widow shortly afterwards married John 

 Hulme ; ibid, no 181. 



A charter by William Lever of Great 

 Lever to Adam his son and male issue, 

 with remainder to Roger, another son, 

 grants all his lands in Great Lever, Lady- 

 halgh in Anderton, and Farnworth ; it is, 

 however, dated in 1452 ; ibid. no. 182. 

 Towneley may have copied the date 

 wrongly, but it is the same in Dodsworth, 

 cxlii, fol. 143. 



16 There are in the Chartulary numerous 

 deeds relating to these disputes ; some are 

 printed in Roll: of Part, vi, 34, 1 8 1 . There is 

 a record of the suit of 1466 in Co. Placita, 

 Lanes, no. 32 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 30, 

 m. 9. 



In June 1466 the executors of Richard 

 Barton (of Middleton) released to Sir Ralph 

 Ashton their claim to the wardship and 

 marriage of Margaret daughter and heir of 

 Adam Lever ; Chartul. no. 183. In 

 May 1467 Sir Ralph deputed Eleanor 

 Lady Stanley to receive from the sheriff 

 the manor of Great Lever, which he had 

 recovered against Roger Lever, for the 

 minority of Margaret daughter and heir of 

 Adam Lever ; ibid. no. 1 84. In the follow- 

 ing December Roger son of William Lever 

 released to Joan widow of Adam Lever 

 all personal actions ; ibid. no. 186. 



In 1472, and again in 1477, Sir Ralph 

 Ashton addressed to Parliament the peti- 

 tions (printed in Rolls of Par/.) described 

 in the text ; ibid. 187, 1 8 8. In the latter 

 of these is the statement, derived from 

 the record of the recovery of 1466, that 

 Great Lever paid 101. to a scutage of 40^. 

 and 4</. (? 14^.) to the lord of Middleton. 

 The pardon to Roger Lever is no. 193 in 

 the chartulary ; and the agreement as to 

 his capture no. 224. 



In 1478, by arbitration, Great Lever 



was awarded to Ralph Ashton (son of 

 Sir Ralph), but Roger Lever (son of Alison) 

 was to have Ladyhalgh for life ; ibid, 

 no. 227. The later suits by the heir male, 

 Giles Lever, set out the claim fully ; 

 no. 219, 220, 221. 



Part of Roger's defence in 1466 was 

 that he held jointly with Thomas Pilking- 

 ton and Alice wife of Sir Robert Tempest. 

 Sir Richard Tempest was a plaintiff in 

 1483 respecting lands at Great Lever ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 57, m. 2 d. 



17 Margaret, the heiress, married Ralph 

 Ashton, and lived with him at Fryton in 

 Yorkshire ; but she died young, about 

 1483, leaving a son Ralph I, of tender 

 years; ibid, no 219 (ii). Ralph Ashton 

 the younger, of Lever, agreed to an arbi- 

 tration with Giles son of Adam Lever in 

 1509 ; ibid. no. 210. 



Ralph Ashton II, called Richard by the 

 herald, said to be the son of the last- 

 named Ralph, recorded a pedigree in 

 1533 ; Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 206. He had 

 married Margaret daughter of William 

 Orrell of Turton, and had children, Ralph, 

 Richard, and Ellen. His brother Richard 

 acquired the site and some of the lands of 

 Whalley Abbey. It was probably this 

 Ralph Ashton who was engaged in various 

 local inquiries in the reigns of Hen. VIII, 

 Edw. VI, and Mary ; see also Ducatut 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 161, 274, 275. He 

 was probably also the Ralph who repre- 

 sented Liverpool in the last Parliament of 

 Edw. VI, 1553 ; Pink and Beaven, Parl. 

 Repre. of Lanes. 1 80. 



Ralph Ashton III, called John in the 

 printed yisit. (Chet. Soc.), 28, succeeded. 

 He was born about 1523 ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 86. He married 

 Alice Hulton of Farnworth, who survived 

 him, and after his uncle Richard's death 

 succeeded to Whalley. He died in Aug. 

 1587, holding the manor of Great Lever, 

 with messuages, water-mill, &c. and the 

 tithes, of Richard Assheton of Middleton 

 by the eightieth part of a knight's fee and 

 a rent of \\d. ; also lands in Farnworth, 

 Worsley, and Bolton. Ralph, his son and 

 heir, was thirty-five years of age ; ibid, 

 xiv, 90. He served as sheriff of the 

 county in 1578-9 ;P.R.O. List, 73. 



184 



Ralph Assheton IV died in May 

 1616, holding the manor of Great Lever, 

 with messuages, water-mill, lands, and 

 tithes in the place ; other lands in Farn- 

 worth and neighbouring townships ; the 

 manor of Ladyhalgh in Anderton ; the 

 manor of Whalley, and lands there and in 

 Yorkshire. The tenure of Great Lever 

 is stated as in the previous inquisition. In 

 1604 a settlement of Ladyhalgh had been 

 made in favour of Ralph Assheton son of 

 Ralph and Dorothy his wife daughter of 

 James Bellingham of Levens ; Lanes. Inq. 

 p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 286- 

 290. He married Joan daughter and co- 

 heir of Edward Radcliffe of Todmorden 

 and granddaughter and co-heir of Thomas 

 Radcliffe of Winmarleigh ; Add. MS. 

 32105 (Towneley), fol. 237, 245. 



He had acquired further lands in Great 

 Lever and the neighbourhood ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdles. 50, m. 83 ; 57, 

 m. 86 ; 59, m. 152. He served as sheriff 

 in 1593-4; P.R.O. List, 73. A pedigree 

 was recorded in 1613 ; Fiat, (Chet. Soc.), 



45- 



ld He was thirty-five years of age in 

 1621, when the above inquisition was 

 taken, and had been created a baronet in 

 1620. After the sale of Great Lever he 

 lived at Whalley and Downham. The 

 baronetcy became extinct in 1696, when 

 the estates were divided between the 

 Asshetons of Middleton and of Downham ; 

 G. E. C. Complete Baronetage, i, 149, 150. 

 He was sheriff of the county in 1623-4 ; 

 P.R.O. List, 73. 



19 In August 1628 a fine was made 

 concerning the manors of Great Lever, 

 Farnworth, Kearsley, Wharton in Hul- 

 ton, and Whalley, Sir Ralph Assheton being 

 deforciant ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 1 14, no. 8. At the end of the following 

 year John Bridgeman, Bishop of Chester, 

 acquired the manors of Great Lever and 

 Farnworth from Sir Ralph Assheton, 

 Eleanor his wife, and Ralph the son and 

 heir; ibid. bdle. 115, no. 39. 



20 See Bridgeman, Wigan Ch. (Chet. 

 Soc.), pt. iii, for a full account of the 

 bishop ; also Diet. Nat. Biog. 



After the rebuilding of the hall, and 

 partly in consequence of instructions from 



