A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



continued to hold this manor 

 which included Haulgh, part 

 of Tonge, and parts of Shar- 

 pies down to the iyth cen- 

 tury. But little is known of 

 them. Roger de Bolton died 

 in 1421 holding the manor of 

 Little Bolton by the services 

 mentioned ; Roger his son and 

 heir was twenty- four years of 

 age. 8 Another Roger Bolton 

 died in 1473 holding the ma- 



Bo L T O N. 



falcon argent. 



Sable 



r / / *-* 



nor, leaving as heir his son Robert, twenty-two years 

 of age. 7 William Bolton, the son and heir of Robert, 

 died 14 October 1554 in possession of the manor and 



lands in Little Bolton, Great Bolton, and Tonge, 

 rendering the services above stated, and leaving his 

 son Robert, then twenty-three years of age, as his 

 heir. 8 Robert died six years later, leaving as heir his 

 son Robert, only eleven years old. 9 The younger 

 Robert died in 1579, and the heir, his son Richard, 

 was again a minor eight years of age. 10 Richard 

 Bolton in 1599 sold or mortgaged the manor and 

 all or most of his lands to Robert Bolton " of Acton 

 Grange near Frodsham, who died in 1604," but he 

 recovered possession of at least a portion of the estate, 

 and in 1 6 1 o transferred the manor to Thomas Ireland 

 and Thomas Heaton. 13 



The former of these, Sir Thomas Ireland of Bewsey, 

 died possessed of the manor in 1625," and a few years 



freedom against Roger de Bolton ; Assize 

 R. 408, m. 29 ; and Ellis son of Henry 

 de Tonge unsuccessfully claimed a tene- 

 ment in Great Bolton against the same 

 Roger ; ibid. m. 8, 44. Roger de Bolton 

 held a third part of Duxbury in 1288 ; 

 Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 270. Robert son 

 of William de Bolton was defendant to a 

 claim for lands m Tonge and Great Bolton 

 in 1278 ; Assize R. 1268, m. n d., I2d. 

 In 1292 Roger and William de Bolton 

 attested a Farnworth charter ; Lever 

 Chartul. (Add. MS. 32103), no. 52. In 

 1299 Robert de Bolton and Roger the 

 Clerk of Little Bolton are witnesses ; ibid. 

 no. 72. Roger de Bolton occurs in 1321 ; 

 ibid. no. 86. 



Roger de Middleton (tie for Little Bol- 

 ton) in 1324 held ' a hamlet called Bolton ' 

 by homage and the service of the twelfth 

 part of a knight's fee ; also paying lod. a 

 year for ward of Lancaster Castle, and 

 zs. 6d. for sake fee ; Dods. MSS. cxxxi, 

 fol. 37^. About the same time Roger de 

 Bolton was plaintiff and defendant in suits 

 concerning Little Bolton and Tonge, his 

 opponent being John de Tonge ; Assize 

 R. 425, m. 2 ; R. 426, m. 7 d. 



Again in 1346 Roger de Bolton held 

 the twelfth part of a knight's fee in Little 

 Bolton and paid zs. 6d. ; Add. MS. 32103, 

 fol. 146. 



In suits of 1351 and later, Robert son 

 of Roger de Bolton and Margaret his wife 

 were parties ; see the account of Moston. 



Roger de Bolton settled his manor of 

 Little Bolton on his son Robert and his 

 issue by Margaret his wife, as stated in a 

 deed of 1385 respecting the marriage of 

 Robert's son Roger ; Rivington D. in 

 possession of Mr. W. H. Lever. The 

 last-named Roger had a son Robert living 

 in 1445 ; see the account of Riving- 

 ton. 



Robert de Bolton was witness to a 

 Great Lever deed in 1378, and Richard de 

 Bolton to an Anderton one in 1399 ; 

 Lever Chartul. no. 101, 105. 



8 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 144 ; 

 in a note it is added ' Roger son of Robert 

 Bolton had a pardon 3 Hen. V. Patent 

 Roll.' John son of Ellis de Bradshagh in 

 1410 acknowledged a debt of 100 to 

 Roger son of Robert de Bolton ; Towne- 

 ley MS. RR, no. 1628. Another version 

 of the inquisition is dated 5 Hen. V, 

 and Roger the son is stated to be twenty 

 years of age ; Harl. MS. 2085, fol. 444^. 

 For the livery of the manor see Dep. 

 Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 20. 



Roger de Bolton held the sixth part of 

 a knight's fee in 1431 ; Feudal Aids, iii, 

 96. 



In 1445-6 it was recorded that Roger de 



Bolton held the tenth part of a knight's 

 fee in Bolton and Tonge ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Knights' Fees, 2/20. At the same 

 time Roger de Bolton and his sons Roger 

 and John are mentioned ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Plea R. 8, m. 2. 



7 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 101 ; 

 the clear value of the manor is given as 

 52*. 4</. There was, however, another 

 inquisition made many years later, in 

 1504, when it was found that Roger 

 Bolton died 3 Apr. 1482, and that Robert 

 his son and next heir was then twenty- 

 four years of age. The estate is called 

 the manor of Little Bolton, ten messuages, 

 100 acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, 

 10 acres of wood, 60 acres of moor, and 

 200 acres of pasture, held of the king as 

 of his duchy by knight's service, and 

 worth 10 clear a year. Robert the son 

 was living in 1504; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. ii, no. 13. 



Roger Bolton in 1472 complained of an 

 assault upon him at Little Bolton by 

 Roger Hulton of Hulton and others of the 

 family ; Pal. of Lane. Writs Proton, file 

 12 Edw. IV. 



Robert Bolton in 15 28 granted to Roger 

 Brownlow certain lands in Little Bolton 

 and an attachment of the stream at Long- 

 eyes in exchange ; Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 

 132^/168^. William the son and heir of 

 Robert Bolton had livery of the manor 

 and estates in 1551 ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. 

 xxxix, App. 550. 



In 1549 there was a suit between Wil- 

 liam Bolton and Ellen Bolton, widow, 

 alias Rawson ; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), 

 ii, 99. 



8 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, no. 8. 

 The inquisition recites a grant by Robert 

 the father of William to Agnes widow of 

 Richard Worthington, including Howcroft, 

 with lands in Little Bolton, for her life ; 

 she was still living. William Bolton was 

 also seised of the services of George 

 Haulgh, Archdeacon William Knight, and 

 Roger Lever, for certain lands in Bolton, 

 &c. For the livery to Robert son and 

 heir of William, see Dep. Keeper's Rep. 

 xxxix, App. 551. 



9 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 54. 

 William Bolton the father of Robert had 

 held Bolton Hall, twenty messuages, a 

 water-mill, &c., and had in 1 545 granted 

 to a younger son, Edmund Bolton, a tene- 

 ment in Little Bolton for life. Robert 

 Bolton had granted annuities to George 

 Bolton of Clement's Inn, and Edmund 

 and Peter Bolton ; the two last were his 

 brothers. Before his death he made some 

 provision for his daughters Jane, Barbara, 

 and Margaret. 



A settlement by Robert Bolton the 



252 



elder was made in 1558; Pal of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 20, m. 19. 



Edmund Bolton was defendant in 1586; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 189. 



The wardship and marriage of the heir 

 were granted to Christopher Anderton ; 

 Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 551. 



10 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 15. 

 Particulars of former grants are given ; 

 Edmund the son of William Bolton the 

 grandfather was still living ; Elizabeth 

 the widow of William was in possession 

 of her dower lands and living at Chester ; 

 Eleanor widow of Robert son of William 

 was living at Pennington. Robert the 

 son of Robert had a wife Lettice and 

 daughters Alice, Margaret, Harebottell, 

 and Jane ; he had bequeathed to Robert 

 Bolton, son of the above-named Edmund, 

 the house, &c., held by Edmund for life. 

 An entail on the heirs male had been 

 made in 1579, the day before Robert's 

 death. 



11 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 61, 

 no. 173. The purchaser was probably the 

 Robert son of Edmund of the preceding 

 note. The grant included the manor, 

 with messuages, water-mill, and lands in 

 Great and Little Bolton, Sharpies, Tonge, 

 and Haulgh. 



12 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, ii : the 'manor' is not named, 

 but there were twenty messuages, a fulling- 

 mill, 100 acres of land, &c., which Robert 

 Bolton by his will gave to his brother 

 Peter, together with all moneys due for 

 the redemption of the same. Eleanor 

 widow of Robert the grandfather of Richard 

 Bolton was still living at Pennington as 

 widow of James Starkie ; and Lettice 

 widow of Robert the father was living at 

 Little Bolton as widow of Thomas Mort. 

 The next-of-kin of the deceased Robert 

 Bolton was his nephew Robert son of 

 William Bolton. 



Peter Bolton, to whom the estate had 

 been bequeathed, died in 1605, but the 

 inquisition was not taken till 1612. 

 Eleanor Starkie died in 1609, but Lettice 

 Mort was still living ; the heir, as before, 

 was Robert son of William Bolton ; ibid, 

 i, 196. 



18 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 78, 

 no. 43 ; the manor of Little Bolton and 

 lands, &c., in that township only were 

 included. See also Lanes, and Cbes. Recs. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 242, 244. 

 There was a recovery of the manor in 

 1622; Com. Pleas Recov. R. Hil. 1 9 Jas. I, 

 m. 9. 



14 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxvi, 

 no. 58 ; the tenure was knight's service. 

 Sir Thomas also held the tithes of the 

 township. 



