A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



de Scholefield the elder, made 

 a grant of lands to his son 

 John. 45 At the same time 

 a Henry de Scholefield ap- 

 pears, 46 and in the next cen- 

 tury a Hugh de Scholefield, 

 probably son of the younger 

 John, was in possession. 47 He 

 left a son James, 48 from whom 

 the descent is readily traced. 49 

 Cuthbert Scholefield, great- 

 grandson of James, living in 

 the time of Elizabeth, was 

 party to numerous suits. 40 His 

 nephew Gerard" succeeded, and died at Holt in 



SCHOLEFIELD. Gules 

 a. fesse between three 

 bulls' heads caboised ar- 

 gent. 



Butterworth on I October 1638, holding Schole, 

 field Hall, Windy Hills, and the Holt ; Windy Hills 

 which had been purchased of Sir John Byron, was 

 held of the king by knight's service, but the tenure 

 of the rest was unknown." The son and heir James 

 was eighteen years of age ; he was living in 1665, 

 when he recorded a pedigree at the Visitation, 53 

 and was succeeded by his son Radcliffe, whose son, 

 grandson, and great-grandson were Nonconformist 

 ministers. Scholefield Hall was sold in 1673 to Seth 

 Clayton, and in 1770 to Robert Entwisle of Fox- 

 holes. 



CLEGG 54 gave a surname to its earlier owners, 55 

 who were succeeded by a branch of the Belfields, 56 

 from whom it descended in the i6th century to the 



625 ; John de Scholefield, clerk, was a 

 witness. Ellen de Belfield in 1334 

 claimed lands in Butterworth against 

 Richard son of John de Scholefield ; De 

 Banco R. 298, m. 53 ; while in the same 

 year Nicholas son of Ellen de Belfield 

 released all his title to lands in Clegg to 

 Richard son of John de Scholefield ; 

 Towneley MS. GG, no. 589. Richard 

 son of Roger de Butterworth in 7 Edw. 

 (? 1314) granted to Richard de Scholefield, 

 clerk, the service of 12 J. due to him from 

 lands in Scholefield ; ibid. no. 627. 



45 Ibid. no. 559, 686; the date is 

 1387-8, and the grant was of the Upper 

 and Nether 'Efield.' In 1368 John de 

 Scholefield the elder had given the Upper 

 * Heyfield ' to his brother Richard for life, 

 with remainder to John's son Adam ; 

 ibid. no. 713, 613. From this it seems 

 probable that it is the same John de 

 Scholefield who appears in a number of 

 deeds in the time of Edward III. e.g. 

 ibid. no. 684 (1332), 626 (1347), 586 

 <I 3 6 3 ), 628 (1383-4). 



46 In 1382 Henry de Scholefield released 

 to John de Scholefield and his heirs all 

 his claim to lands, &c., in Butterworth, 

 Whitacres, Brierleys, and Middlehurst ; 

 ibid. no. 634. Henry de Scholefield 

 in 1405 received lands in Spotland and 

 Hundersfield which had belonged to 

 Nicholas Coke of Milnhouse and Alice 

 his wife ; John son of Henry was a wit- 

 ness ; ibid. no. 643. A charter by Henry 

 is dated at Whitacres, 1421, while a 

 feoffment of lands in Butterworth and 

 Hundersfield was made by his son John 

 in 1424 ; ibid. no. 633, 632. 



4 ? In 1436 there was a change of the 

 feoffees of the lands of Hugh de Schole- 

 field ; ibid. no. 714. 



An undated petition shows that Hugh 

 de Scholefield was son of John, brother of 

 Henry de Scholefield, who, in or before 

 1393, was a trustee of Thomas de Chad- 

 derton ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 

 56. It would appear therefore that the 

 John son of Henry had died without 

 issue, or that there were two Henrys. 



Hugh son of Hugh Scholefield came 

 to a violent end in 1451 ; ibid, ii, 58. He 

 may have been the elder brother of James, 

 who succeeded. 



48 James son of Hugh de Scholefield, 

 and Margaret his wife, appear from about 

 1450 onwards. In 1453 James received 

 from the feoffees lands in Hundersfield and 

 Spotland which had formerly belonged to 

 William son of John son of Richard de 

 Scholefield ; Towneley MS. GG, no. 564 ; 

 see also Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 29, m. 2 d. 

 (John son of Richard was living in 1410 ; 

 Towneley MS. GG, no. 618.) Nicholas 

 and Denis, sons of the said William, re- 



leased their claim a month later ; ibid, 

 no. 578, 579. 



In 1455-6 Thomas Pilkington and 

 Alexander Radcliffe as arbitrators gave 

 their decision in disputes which had been 

 stirred between the brothers Hugh, 

 Nicholas, Ralph, Henry, and John Schole- 

 field, and James son of Hugh, on the one 

 side ; and Alexander, son of Alexander 

 Butterworth of Belfield, and his brothers 

 on the other side ; Alexander Butter- 

 worth was ordered to pay 20 to Hugh 

 Scholefield; ibid. no. 584. 



James son of Hugh, and Margaret his 

 wife, in 1456-7 received from the trustee 

 (Richard del Forth, rector of Radcliffe) 

 lands called Turnagh Efields and Ley 

 Boughtanrode,with remainders to Nicholas, 

 Ralph, Henry, and John Scholefield, and 

 the right heirs of Hugh ; ibid. no. 599. 



From a claim to lands at Lincoln in 

 1588 it appears that John Scholefield just 

 named had a son John, whose son William 

 left the land claimed ; the heir was Cuth- 

 bert Scholefield, son of James son of 

 Hugh son of the above-named James 

 Scholefield ; ibid. no. 782. 



49 An outline of the pedigree is given 

 in the preceding note. Hugh son and 

 heir of James Scholefield and his feoffees 

 in 1511 granted to Gilbert and Henry 

 sons of Richard Whitley a messuage and 

 lands known as Overhey and Marterlaw 

 in Scholefield, rendering 85. io</. to the 

 chief lords; ibid. no. 562. In 1514, 

 after an arbitration, Hugh Scholefield was 

 ordered to pay a rent of zs. yd. to Robert 

 Holt, in respect of lands in Spotland ; ibid, 

 no. 688. James Scholefield, son of Hugh, 

 was plaintiff in 1537 respecting Whitacre ; 

 Fishwick, Rochdale, 359. 



50 Ibid. 359 ; he sought a divorce from 

 his wife, and afterwards lived with one 

 Jane Langley, by whom he had issue. 

 Cuthbert, son and heir of James Schole- 

 field, procured a crest to be added to his 

 ancient coat of arms, which was con- 

 firmed, by William Flower, Norroy, in 

 1583 ; Towneley MS. GG, no. 558. He 

 purchased the Holt; ibid. no. 591, 724, 

 733. At one time he was required to 

 make a public apology to Arthur Ashton 

 and Roger Chadwick ; ibid. no. 707. 



In 1565 he settled his estates, with re- 

 mainders successively to his brothers, 

 Alexander, James, and Richard ; to Alex- 

 ander, bastard son of Arthur Scholefield, 

 and Arthur his son ; deed recited in Inq. 

 p.m. of Gerard Scholefield ; see also Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 30 (1568), m. 

 50. 



The will of Arthur Scholefield, 1557, 

 is printed in Piccope's Wills (Chet. Soc.), 



39- 



51 In the Survey of 1626 he is called 



2l8 



grand-nephew of Cuthbert. The estate 

 then included 367 acres ; a chief rent of 

 31. 4</., due to the Saviles, had not been 

 paid for many years ; Raines MSS. xxi, 35. 



52 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxviii, 

 no. 26. 



83 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 256. 

 For the later descents and tabular pedigree 

 see Fishwick, op. cit. 3614. 



54 In 1261 Alice widow of Geoffrey de 

 Buerdsill sought dower in Clegg against 

 various tenants, whose names and hold- 

 ings were as follows : Richard son of Ivo, 

 Alexander de Blackstub, Richard de 

 Turnagh, and John de Newbold, each i ox- 

 gang ; William son of Warine, Richard le 

 Reus, Andrew son of Ellen, Richard Byron, 

 and Agnes the widow, each oxgang ; 

 Curia Regis R. 171, m. 46 d. 



M Hugh de Clegg, early in the I3th cen- 

 tury, gave to Ivo his brother (see the last 

 note) part of Whitacres, within bounds 

 beginning at ' Sallomo ' Bridge on the 

 east, at the cold waters, descending to the 

 brook between Middlehurst and Rudhurst, 

 and to the Brook of Hollinworth, and the 

 balk (liranticuluni) between Blatchinworth 

 and Whitacres, and up to ' Solamio" syke; 

 Towneley MS. GG, no. 702. Henry son 

 of Ralph or Randle de Clegg gave to 

 his son John land in Butterworth in 

 1310-11; the bounds began at Butter- 

 worth ford over the Roch ; ibid. no. 598. 

 Henry granted all his messuages and lands 

 in Clegg to his brother Thomas in 1316- 

 17 ; ibid. no. 566. To another of Henry's 

 charters Roger and Adam de Clegg were 

 witnesses; no. 635. Geoffrey de Clegg 

 attested a deed in 1334 ; ibid. no. 589. 



Eugenia widow of Richard Byron in 

 1284 claimed 7 acres in Butterworth 

 against Ralph and Matthew de Clegg ; it 

 was shown that Matthew held of Ralph, 

 who had had a grant from Alice sister of 

 Eugenia ; Assize R. 1268, m. 12 d, 



68 Matthew de Clegg in 1310-11 

 granted all his lands to Adam de 

 Belfield, and Thomas the son of Adam 

 in 1348 granted land to his brother Adam 

 de Belfield ; Fishwick, Rochdale, 350-1, 

 quoting High Legh deeds. Adam son of 

 Geoffrey de Clegg and Alice his wife in 

 1373 claimed dower in three messuages, 

 &c., in Butterworth against Adam de Bel- 

 field ; De Banco R. 452, m. 373 d. ; 

 454, m. 337 d.; 456, m. 234d. Short 

 abstracts of the Belfield deeds are printed 

 in Lanes, and Ches.Antiq. Notes, i, 41, 50. 



A claim by Alexander Belfiel^ against 

 Elizabeth and Anne Belfield in 1561 ex- 

 hibited the following pedigree : Chris- 

 topher Belfield s. Ralph s. Ralph s. 

 Adam sons Arthur (heir), Charles, and 

 Alexander (apparently the claimant) ; 

 Arthur had sons Ralph (heir) and Charles; 



