SALFORD HUNDRED 



BOLTON-LE-MOORS 



left before 1697. The Starkies have left their arms 

 in plaster over the fireplace in a room over the hall. 

 With the 1 8th century Hall i' th' Wood entered on 

 evil days. It rapidly fell from its high estate and was 

 divided into tenements and let to farm labourers and 

 weavers. One of these was the father of Samuel 

 Crompton, the inventor of the spinning mule, who 

 came to live there soon after I/53- 19 Here Cromp- 

 ton spent his childhood and youth, and it was in 

 Hall i' th' Wood that he invented and perfected his 

 machine, which at first was called after the name of 

 the house. The Cromptons lived on the south side 

 of the house, probably in the rooms over the drawing- 

 room and the south end of the great hall. The latter 

 room is still called ' Crompton's Room.' He brought 

 his spinning mule to perfection after five years' arduous 

 labour, and he is said to have hidden his invention in 

 the loft above in fear of the machine-wreckers who 

 were then ravaging the district. Two small subscrip- 

 tions were made for him, 20 and in 1812 the Govern- 

 ment granted him 5,000. This he invested 

 unfortunately, and died in Bolton in 1827 in 

 poverty. 21 The Cromptons left Hall i' th' Wood in 

 1785, and from that date down to 1895 the house 

 was occupied by one family of tenant farmers. In 

 order to evade the window tax the first-floor windows 

 in the east gable were for a long time boarded up. 

 The bottom part of the old newel staircase was cut 

 away and the space made into a pantry. Two other 

 staircases had been introduced, one behind the screen 

 and another between the dining-room and the kitchen, 

 and the building had generally suffered very much from 

 dilapidation and alteration. In 1899 it was purchased 

 by Mr. W. H. Lever, who handed it over to the 

 corporation of Bolton together with a sum of money 



for its restoration. The restoration was very care- 

 fully carried out, the windows which had formerly 

 been blocked up opened out, the old staircase restored 

 in the lower story, and the more modern staircases 

 removed. The building was opened to the public 

 as a museum in July 1902. The exhibits are chiefly 

 meant to illustrate the cotton-spinning industry, and 

 the life and work of Crompton, but there are in addition 

 a large number of pieces of ancient furniture, &c., 

 principally belonging to the i6th and I7th centuries. 



Little further is on record regarding this part of 

 the township. 22 



The manor of HAULGH appears to have been 

 taken from Bolton. 23 It is mentioned as early as 

 1338, when there was a suit regarding it. 24 It was 

 held for many generations by a family using the local 

 surname, who, as above stated, also held a moiety of 

 Tonge.* 5 Roger Haugh died on 25 November 1513, 

 holding ten messuages, 200 acres of land, &c., in ' the 

 Haghe, a hamlet of Bolton,' of Robert Bolton, by the 

 service of a rose annually ; Richard, his son and heir, 

 was fifteen years of age.'" 6 John Haugh died there 

 2 February 15967 holding the family estates, leav- 

 ing a son and heir John, aged twelve. 27 The younger 

 John died in 1619, holding Haulgh by the same ser- 

 vice of Sir Thomas Ireland as lord of Little Bolton, 

 and was succeeded by his brother George, about 

 twenty-seven years of age. 28 About this time the 

 manor was sold to the Bridgemans, and has descended 

 regularly to the Earl of Bradford. 29 



The land tax in 1796 was entirely paid by the 

 holdings of Starkie and Sir Henry Bridgeman. 80 



TongeMoor was inclosed in i8i8. sl 



In connexion with the Church of England St. 

 Augustine's, Tonge Moor, was erected in 1884-6; 



19 The Crompton family occur in the 

 township from the i6th century; thus 

 Lawrence Brownlow's walk-mill was in 

 1550 occupied by a William Crompton ; 

 Irvine, op. cit 25. The will of Betty 

 Crompton of Hall i' th' Wood, widow, was 

 proved in 1799 ; she left her little property 

 to her three children Samuel Crompton, 

 Rebecca Horrocks, and Mary Hamer ; 

 ibid. 41. Samuel was born at Firwood 

 Fold in the north-west corner of Tonge 

 in 1753, produced his invention in 1779, 

 and made it public the following year, 

 without protecting himself by a patent. 



20 He received 67 gratuity from the 

 manufacturers in 1780, and 500 by 

 subscription about 1800. After he had 

 been reduced to poverty an annuity of 

 63 was procured by another subscrip- 

 tion. The success of the muslin and 

 cambric trades was attributed entirely to 

 his invention. The Bolton workmen 

 subscribed in 1861 to place a monument 

 over his grave in the churchyard, and his 

 statue was erected in Nelson Square, 

 Bolton, in 1862. 



81 There is a biography by Gilbert J. 

 French, published in 1862. See also 

 Diet, Nat. Biog. 



M An Ellis Bradshaw of Tonge paid 

 icw. to the subsidy of 1541 ; Misc. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 142. Lawrence 

 Bradshaw of Tonge was a freeholder in 

 1600; ibid. 251. He appears down to 

 about 1607, soon after which another 

 Ellis Bradshaw takes his place ; Lanes. Inq. 

 p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 71, 

 129. There was a Bradshaw Hall near 

 Tonge in Alkrington. 



Adam Mort died in 1631 holding mes- 



suages, &c., in Tonge of the king ; the 

 service is not stated ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xxv, no. 33. 



23 Haulgh is named among the lands 

 of the Marsey family ; Ormerod, Cheshire 

 (ed. Helsby), i, 37. 



84 Roger de Bolton, chaplain, claimed 

 the manor of Haulgh in Great Bolton 

 against Roger de Little Bolton and others. 

 In defence it was alleged that John de 

 Tonge had died holding it of Roger de 

 Little Bolton by knight's service, and his 

 son John being a minor Roger had taken 

 possession ; Assize R. 1425, m. 5 d. 



25 In 1421 it was stated that John de 

 Haugh held of Roger de Bolton six mes- 

 suages and 200 acres of land in Haulgh 

 and Tonge in Bolton-on-the-Moors by 

 knight's service and zod. for the thirtieth 

 part of a knight's fee ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. 

 (Chet. Soc.), i, 144. The service does 

 not seem to have been stated correctly, 

 but the portion of Tonge here intended is 

 no doubt that which had belonged to the 

 Marsey fee. The moiety of the thegnage 

 part of Tonge was, as stated above, held 

 by the Haugh family of the duchy by it. 

 rent. 



26 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 14 ; 

 the clear value was 4 131. Roger 

 Haugh also held three messuages, two 

 mills, 40 acres of land, &c., in Tonge, of 

 the king in socage by the yearly rent of 

 is. It is recited that John Haugh and 

 George Haugh, the latter the father of 

 Roger, had settled the Tonge property on 

 John Haugh for life ; then to Isabel 

 daughter of Ralph Barton for life, and then 

 to Roger Haugh and his heirs. 



George Haugh is the next found in 



259 



possession ; he held the manor in 1 546 ; 

 Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), ii, 220. William Bolton was in 

 1554 seised of the service of George 

 Haugh, holding a messuage and 20 acres 

 in Tonge and Haulgh by a rent of zod. 

 a year ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, 

 no. 8. In 1547 he made a settlement of 

 ten messuages, &c., in Tonge and Bolton ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 13, m. 308. 

 He appears to have sold a messuage, full- 

 ing-mill, &c., in Haulgh to Alexander 

 Sharpies in 1556 ; ibid. bdle. 16, m. 3 ; 

 and to have made another sale in 1570 ; 

 ibid. bdle. 32,jn. 85. A further settle- 

 ment was made in 1579 by George 

 Haugh, Jane his wife, and John his son 

 and heir ; ibid. bdle. 41, m. no. George 

 Haugh was a plaintiff in 1578 ; Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 67. Further set- 

 tlements were made in 1589 and 1596 

 by John Haugh and Gertrude his wife ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 51, m. 191, 

 226 ; 59, m. 4. 



Robert Haugh occurs in 1583 ; Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 149. 



27 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 

 42 ; his wife Gertrude is mentioned. 



28 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii, 195. The Haulgh estate 

 included two water-mills and two fulling- 

 mills. The Tonge estate was held of the 

 heirs of Gilbert de Tonge by a rent of 21. 



29 Lands, &c., in Haulgh and Tonge 

 were included in a settlement of the 

 estates of Sir Orlando Bridgeman in 1658; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 163, m. 124. 



80 Land tax returns at Preston. 



81 There is a copy of the award at the 

 County Council Offices, Preston. 



