A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



and foresters 8/. in all !S ; 

 that in 1473 John Lever held 

 half the manor by the twentieth 

 part of a knight's fee, a rent 

 of 3/. \d. and 2</. sake fee, 

 rendering puture and other 

 services, while Sir Richard 

 Tempest held the other moiety 

 similarly 14 these moieties be- 

 ing respectively Little Lever 

 and (the later) Darcy Lever; 143 

 and that in the i6th and 

 1 7th centuries the manor is 



LEVER of Lever. Ar- 

 gent two bendleti sable, 

 (At lower one engrailed. 



found to be divided between two Lever families the 

 Chisnalls Bradshaws, and others. 15 It is not possible 

 to trace the subdivisions further. 



The estate of the Levers of Little Lever passed to 

 the family of Andrews of Rivington. This branch of 

 the Levers recorded pedigrees in 1567 16 and 1613 "; 

 while Andrews of Little Lever did likewise in i66>5. 18 

 Of this stock came Thomas Lever, one of the most 

 upright and advanced of the Protestant Reformers of 

 the 1 6th century ; he was master of St. John's Col- 

 lege in 1551, went into exile in Switzerland in the 

 reign of Mary, and returning in 1558 was made 

 master of Sherburn Hospital in Durham. 19 Darcy 



18 Mamecettre (Chet. Soc.), ii, 289, 290. 

 William de Radcliffe paid $d. sake fee for 

 the lands held by Ellis de Lever. It 

 would appear, therefore, that this family 

 secured the guardianship of the heir in 

 spite of the adverse verdict above recorded. 

 The 4</. is probably included in the ji. 

 rent due at the four terms. The I2</. 

 was in lieu of the hawk. 



14 Ibid, iii, 478. As to Little Lever 

 proper there appears in 1477 a claim for 

 dower by Elizabeth widow of James Lever 

 against Robert Pilkington, guardian of the 

 land and heir of Robert Lever ; she re- 

 covered seisin ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 46, 

 m. 2 d. 



14 a Nothing appears to be on record 

 as to the latter manor, or moiety of the 

 manor, from 1310 to 1448, when Henry 

 Lever the elder, Giles, and Henry the 

 younger, a son of Giles, held it on a lease 

 for lives of Alice, widow of Sir Robert 

 Tempest. It appears that Henry the elder 

 was a younger brother of William Lever 

 of Great Lever, and that Giles was his 

 son ; and that a rent of 25*. a year was 

 due from Great Lever to the manor of 

 Little Lever probably for some ease- 

 ment, Darcy Lever being opposite to 

 Great Lever, the Croal dividing them ; 

 Lever Chartul. no. 176, 177. Henry Lever 

 the younger had a son Giles, serving at 

 Berwick in 1 505 (ibid. no. 220) ; and Giles 

 had a son and heir Adam and another son 

 William, living in 1524; ibid. no. 214, 

 215. To the same family apparently be- 

 longed Andrew Lever and Adam his son, 

 living in 1593 and 1599 ; ibid.no. 216,218. 

 There is nothing to show how the 

 Tempests became possessed of this manor, 

 which, as shown in the text, was held by 

 Sir Richard Tempest in 1473 ; it was 

 probably Dame Alice Tempest's inherit- 

 ance. She was the daughter of John 

 Lacy of Gateforth, and married Sir Robert 

 Tempest in 1407. Sir Richard Tempest 

 of Staniforth in Ribblesdale was their 

 son ; he is described as a knight in 1432, 

 and died in or before May 1488. This 

 information is due to Mrs. Tempest of 

 Broughton Hall. Dowsabel, the daughter 

 and heir of Sir Richard Tempest, married 

 Sir Thomas D'Arcy, created Baron D' Arcy 

 in 1509. Lord D'Arcy opposed the 

 destruction of the religious houses by 

 Henry VIII, and taking part in the Pil- 

 grimage of Grace was attainted and be- 

 headed in 1538; Whitaker, Craven (ed. 

 Morant), 71. It is about his time that 

 the name Darcy Lever first appears, to 

 distinguish this part of Little Lever. In 

 1530 it appears that Lever had descended 

 to Sir George D'Arcy, eldest son of 

 Lord D'Arcy, as part of his mother's 

 lands, and that he had given it to his 

 younger brother, Sir Arthur, in exchange 

 fSr Gateforth ; L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii 

 (zVyo, 71. 



15 The following are among the in- 

 quisitions, &c., of the period referred 

 to : 



Richard Lever died 19 March 1587-8, 

 seised of the manor of Little Lever, and 

 eighteen messuages in the township, held 

 of John Lacy as of his manor of Man- 

 chester in socage by a rent of 41. yearly. 

 He also held two burgages in Bolton. 

 Richard, his son and heir, was forty-six 

 years of age 5 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 xv, no. 41. 



There is a memorial brass at Forcett of 

 Anne Underbill, daughter of Richard 

 Lever ; Torks. Arch. Journ. xvii, 276. 



Thurstan Tyldesley was in 1557 in 

 possession of the manor of (Darcy) Lever, 

 together with other manors and lands ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 17, m. 18. 

 Five years later the Darcy Lever estate 

 was entrusted or mortgaged to Richard 

 Chisnall and Thurstan Barton ; ibid, 

 bdle. 24, m. 14. A similar grant or sale 

 was made by Thurstan Tyldesley and 

 others in 1566 to Oliver Chisnall and 

 Thomas Lassell. The manors of Darcy 

 Lever, Lever, and Great Lever are named ; 

 also messuages, dovecote, two fulling- 

 mills, gardens, and rent in the Levers, 

 Bolton, and Rivington ; ibid. bdle. 28, 

 m. 246. 



Richard Chisnall, who died 3 May 

 1587, held half the manor of Little Lever 

 and various messuages and lands in Little 

 and Great Lever, as well as lands in Bol- 

 ton, Hindley, Rivington, Lostock, Lan- 

 caster, Heath Charnock, Preston, and 

 Furness ; also Chisnall's buildings in 

 Holborn, near Gray's Inn. Little Lever, 

 by which Darcy Lever seems meant, 

 was held of the lord of Manchester in 

 socage by a rent of i8</. yearly. The 

 heir was John Chisnall, son of Thomas 

 the brother of Richard ; he was thirty- 

 six years of age ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xiv, no. 39. 



Edward Chisnall or Chisenhale died in 

 1635, having a rent of 5 151. from half 

 the manor of Little Lever alias Darcy 

 Lever ; ibid, xxviii, no. 8. For the family 

 see the account of Coppull. 



The Bradshaws of Darcy Lever re- 

 corded a pedigree in 1665, from which 

 it appears that John Bradshaw, who 

 died in 1662, married a daughter of 

 Robert Lever, also of Darcy Lever ; 

 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 51. It 

 has not been ascertained how this 

 family acquired their estate in the town- 

 ship, in which they continue to be large 

 proprietors, the modern Darcy Lever Hall 

 being their property. Some documents 

 relating to them will be found in Pal. 

 Note Bk. iv, 17; Local Gleanings Lanes, 

 and Ches. i, 1 1 1 . 



" Vhlt. of 1567 (Chet. Soc.), 9. 



V Visit, of 1613 (Chet. Soc.), 33. The 

 succession is given thus : Robert s. John 



8. Richard s. Richard s. Thomas 

 (living) s. John, aged 18, and five other 

 sons and nine daughters. 



In 1613 was a settlement of the manor 

 of Little Lever and lands in Little Lever 

 and Darcy Lever ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 83, no. 52. In 1624 Thomas and 

 Nicholas Andrews purchased the manor 

 from Thomas Lever, Thomasine his wife, 

 and John, Richard, Robert, Ralph, and 

 James, the sons of Thomas ; ibid. bdle. 

 103, m. 5. For disputes as to the sale see 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead. Hil. i Chas. I, 

 bdle. 305. 



is Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 8. 

 Nicholas Andrews married Heath, a 

 daughter of Thomas Lever. He died 

 26 Aug. 1626, holding a third part of the 

 manor of Little Lever, and various lands 

 there, of the lord of Manchester, at the 

 third part of 41. rent. John, the son and 

 heir, was ten years old he is called forty- 

 five in 1665 and the trustees held two- 

 fifths of the estate for the use of Thomas, 

 brother of Nicholas ; Towneley MS. C 8, 

 13 (Chet. Lib.), fol. 9/10. John Andrews 

 was ' accounted well of for religion ' ; O. 

 Heywood, Diaries, ii, 141. There is nothing 

 to show what became of the other two- 

 thirds of the manor, but John Lever, the 

 heir of Thomas, is stated to have sold 

 Little Lever o his nephew John Andrews 

 in 1640; Piccope MS. Pedigrees (Chet. 

 Lib.), ii, 148. 



In 1701 a later John Lever claimed 

 the manor, suing all purchasers of tene- 

 ments in Little Lever except Mr. Andrews, 

 who had agreed with him ; O. Heywood, 

 Diaries, iv, 176. 



19 See Diet. Nat. Biog. : Cooper, Athen. 

 Cantab, ii, 366, 565 ; Baker, Hist. St. 

 John's College (ed. Mayor), i, 130. Thomas 

 son of John Lever became fellow of the 

 college in 1543; ibid, i, 284; M.A. 

 1545. He was ordained or re-ordained 

 by Ridley in 1550-1 ; he had been a col- 

 lege preacher in 1548. Though he re- 

 tained the Hospital of Sherburn till his 

 death in 1577, he was deprived of his pre- 

 bend in Durham in 1567, refusing even 

 the small amount of conformity in the 

 matter of vestments required by Queen 

 Elizabeth. Among his good actions the 

 preservation of Sedbergh Grammar School 

 from the rapacity of the courtiers of 

 Edward VI deserves a record. 



His brother Ralph was made fellow of 

 St. John's College in 1549 by the royal 

 visitors of the university ; D.D. 1578. 

 He also was an exile in Mary's reign, and 

 an extreme Calvinist, but conformed suffi- 

 ciently to retain his ecclesiastical prefer- 

 ments in the time of Elizabeth. He was 

 archdeacon of Northumberland, Canon of 

 Durham, in 1575 rector of Stanhope, and 

 in 1577 succeeded his brother as master 

 of Sherburn. See Diet. Nat, Biog. ; 

 Cooper, Atben. Cantab, ii, 506. 



264 



