SALFORD HUNDRED 



BOLTON-LE-MOORS 



issue, the other two ultimately had each a moiety of 

 the manor. 9 



Of these Cecily married Sir John D'Ewias, and her 

 moiety descended to the Southworths of Samlesbury, 

 who retained it till the beginning of the i6th century. 10 

 In 1510 it was in the possession of the Gerards of 

 Aughton, 11 then of the Ainsworths, 12 from whom, in 

 the I /th century, it passed to a branch of the Banastre 

 family. 13 In 1725 Breightmet Hall and estate were 

 purchased from the Baguley family by John Parker, 14 



high sheriff of the county in I73Z, 1S in whose family 

 it remained for over a century. 16 No manor seems 

 now to be claimed in respect of this part. 



The other daughter, Elizabeth, married Sir Robert 

 de Holland, 17 and her moiety of the manor de- 

 scended in the male line of this family 18 until 1461, 

 when it became forfeit together with the other pos- 

 sessions of Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter. 19 In 

 1484 it was granted by Richard III to Thomas, 

 Lord Stanley, and his son Lord Strange, 20 and this 



9 In 1292 John D'Ewias and Cecily his 

 wife complained that Robert de Holland 

 and Elizabeth his wife would not agree to 

 make a division of two parts of the manor 

 of Breightmet, the inheritance of Avina 

 de Samlesbury, mother of Cecily and 

 Elizabeth ; 401. damages was awarded ; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 3d.; De Banco R. 92, 

 m. ii. 



Robert de Holland and John D'Ewias 

 in 1302 jointly contributed to the aid, in 

 respect of the eighth part of a knight's 

 fee held by them in Breightmet of the 

 Earl of Lancaster ; Lanes. Inq. and Ex- 

 tents, i, 314. 



Nicholas D'Ewias held the moiety of 

 the hamlet of Breightmet in 1324 by the 

 service of the sixteenth part of a knight's 

 fee, 4.5. for castle ward, and if. ^d. for sake 

 fee ; and Robert de Holland held the other 

 moiety by the like service ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxxxi, fol. 37/>. It is noticeable that 

 Breightmet is called a ' moiety of the vill 

 of Bolton,' showing that the former Marsey 

 holding in Bolton parish was regarded as 

 a unit. 



Again in 1346 Maud de Holland and 

 Gilbert de Southworth held a plough-land 

 by the eighth part of a knight's fee, 

 rendering 8. and puture, as well as 

 is. 6d. sake-fee; Add. MS. 32103, fol. 

 146. 



John de Holland and Richard de South- 

 worth held the manor in 1445-6 for the 

 eighth part of a fee ; the relief due was 

 1 21. 6d., payable by each equally ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Knights' Fees, 2/20. 



In a later Feodary (1483) it is stated 

 that Christopher Southworth held one 

 moiety of the manor, and that the Duke 

 of Exeter lately held the other ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Misc. Bks. cxxx. 



10 See the preceding note. Richard 

 Southworth, who died in 1472, and his 

 son Christopher, who died in 1487, held 

 messuages and land in Breightmet of the 

 king as of his Duchy of Lancaster by the 

 eighth part of a knight's fee, a rent of 81. 

 and 21. for sake-fee ; the clear annual 

 value was iooj.; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iii, no. 103, 41. John Southworth, 

 the son and heir of Christopher, a few 

 years after coming of age, sold or mort- 

 gaged the manors of Breightmet and 

 Harwood in 1506 to Sir John Cutt, 

 Miles Gerard, James Molyneux, Peter 

 Gerard, and William Standish ; Final 

 Cone, iii, 161 ; see also a writ of 

 1511 ; Pal. of Lane. Writs Proton, file 

 Z Hen. VIII. They are not found later 

 among the Southworth manors. 



11 Miles Gerard, Elizabeth his wife, 

 and Peter Gerard, clerk, were deforciants 

 in a fine of the manors of Breightmet 

 and Harwood ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. n, m. 247. The manors were 

 probably sold, as they do not appear later 

 among the Gerard estates. From the 

 Hulton inquisition quoted below it seems 

 that in ISS7 Sir Edmund Trafford and 



Giles Ainsworth were lords of the manor, 

 or of this portion of it. 



12 Joan widow of Thomas Ainsworth 

 of Breightmet is named in 1 542 ; Duchy 

 Plead, (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 

 177. Thomas Ainsworth of Ainsworth 

 held fourteen messuages, a water-mill, 

 &c., in Breightmet and Harwood of the 

 queen as of her manor of East Green- 

 wich in socage ; he died in 1594 leaving 

 his brother Peter's son Robert his heir ; 

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

 The estate is not called a manor. 



Giles Ainsworth is found in 1576 

 claiming lands in Breightmet and Har- 

 wood against Thomas Ainsworth and 

 others ; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 

 38. By a fine of 1588 Ralph Booth 

 appears to have acquired the estate of 

 Thomas Ainsworth ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 50, m. 29. In 1597 the Earl 

 of Derby sold to Ralph Booth of Ains- 

 worth and William Bromeley the elder of 

 Breightmet, in consideration of 20 paid 

 by Giles Ainsworth of Ainsworth, a 

 tenement in Breightmet formerly occu- 

 pied by Abraham and Margaret Crompton 

 and then by the said Margaret Crompton 

 and Giles Ainsworth ; Hulme D. no. 

 107. 



The Ainsworth estate was in 1609 

 'put into the Crown to prevent a remain- 

 der, and granted out again to Thomas 

 Twisden and others' ; Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. 

 xxvi. 



A decree was made in 1563 in a suit 

 between Ainsworth and Isherwood respect- 

 ing lands in Breightmet and Harwood ; 

 Lanes, and Cbes. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii, 252. 



From the later history it may be 

 inferred that Giles Ainsworth left two 

 daughters as co-heirs Katherine, who 

 married Richard Banastre, and Jane, who 

 married Richard Meadowcroft. 



18 In 1623 there was a fine of the 

 manors of Breightmet and Harwood, the 

 deforciants being Richard Banastre and 

 Katherine his wife, Richard Meadowcroft 

 and Joan his wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 100, no. 10. From the 

 Visitation of 1664-5 '* appears that 

 Richard Banastre of Bolton was a younger 

 son of William Banastre of Bank, Chris- 

 topher being another son ; the name of 

 Richard's wife is not given, but he had 

 three sons Henry, William, and Alexan- 

 der ; Dugdale's Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 23. 

 Richard Meadowcroft, who died about 

 1660, married Jane, a daughter and co- 

 heir of Giles Ainsworth; ibid. 196. 

 From this the parentage of Richard 

 Banastre's wife may be inferred. In 

 1632 the whole estate appears to have 

 come into the possession of Richard and 

 Katherine Banastre ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 119, no. 37. By a further 

 fine three years later Christopher Banastre 

 acquired, perhaps as trustee, a moiety of 

 the manors of Breightmet and Harwood 



267 



from Richard and Henry Banastre ; ibid, 

 bdle. 125, no. 24. 



William Hulme, father of the bene- 

 factor, married Christine daughter of 

 Richard Banastre of Oakenbottom ; Ear- 

 waker in Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. iii, 265. 



14 Bolton Hist. Gleanings, ii, 325. In his 

 will, William Hulme the son mentioned 

 Richard Baguley his brother, Christopher 

 and Alexander Baguley his uncles, and ' 

 William Baguley his cousin ; Notitia Cestr. 

 (Chet. Soc.), ii, 72. 



Alexander Baguley and Katherine his 

 wife are mentioned in 1655 ; she may 

 have been the widow of Richard Banastre; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 157, 

 m. 50. William Baguley of Kearsley 

 in 1698 leased an acre in Breightmet to 

 William Hilton of the latter township ; 

 Hulme D. no. 115. 



William Baguley by his will dated 

 1725 left 200 towards founding and 

 endowing a charity school in Breightmet, 

 which was afterwards built on the site of 

 an ancient messuage at Roscow Fold, 

 granted by William Hulton ; End. Char. 

 Rep. for Bolton Boro. 1904, p. 23. 



15 P.R.O. List, 74. There are pedigrees 

 of the Parker of Astle family in Orme- 

 rod, Cbes. (ed. Helsby), iii, 714, and 

 Earwaker, East Ches. ii, 363. From 

 these it appears that John Parker married 

 Alice daughter of Thomas Smith of 

 Breightmet, and died in 1778 ; his son, 

 the Rev. John Parker, died in 1795, 

 leaving a son and heir Thomas, who died 

 in 1840 without issue, his heirs being his 

 five sisters or their representatives. See 

 also Bolton Hist. Gleanings, i, 176, 274; 

 Local Gleanings Lanes, and Ches. i, 251. 



16 John Parker in 1779 paid a duchy 

 rent of zs. -jd.\ Duchy of Lane. Rentals, 

 14/25 m. The land of the Rev. John 

 Parker contributed nearly a third of the 

 land tax of 1789 (returns at Preston), the 

 rest of the township being apparently 

 much divided. 



V See preceding notes. 



18 A moiety of the manor of Breight- 

 met was included in 1322 in a settlement 

 of various manors of Robert de Holland 

 and Maud his wife entailed on the heirs 

 male ; Final Cone, ii, 193. It was also 

 among the possessions of Maud widow of 

 Sir Robert de Holland in 1349, and of 

 her son Sir Robert de Holland, Lord 

 Holland, who died in 1373, being at the 

 latter date held of the Duke of Lancaster 

 by a rent of 21. only ; Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. 

 Ill (ist nos.), no. 58 ; 47 Edw. Ill (ist 

 nos.), no. 19. A similar return was 

 made in 1451 after the death of Sir John 

 Holland, except that the service was 

 stated as 51.; Lanes. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 

 45, 46. 



19 See Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 3. 



80 Cal. Pat. 1476-85, p. 476. See 

 also Lanes, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 330. 



