A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



however, a family using Turton as a surname." The 

 manor descended with Tarbock until the beginning 

 of the I 5th century. 11 John de Torbock, who died 

 in 1420, left a daughter and heir Elizabeth, who 

 married William Orrell of Orrell, near Wigan, and a 

 partition of the estates was made, Tarbock being 

 secured by the heir male, while Turton became the 

 seat of the Orrells. 14 Each line from time to time laid 

 claim to the whole of the estates, but without success. 15 

 Apart from these lawsuits but little record of the 

 family has survived. 16 Ralph Orrell died at Turton 

 on 24 July 1533, holding the manor of Turton of 

 Sir Thomas West, Lord La Warre, as of his manor of 

 Manchester, the mesne lordship of Lathom having 



probably long been forgotten ; 

 the service was unknown to 

 the jury, but a rent of i8</. 

 was payable. Ralph Orrell 

 also held lands in Dalton and 

 Wigan, and left as heir his son 

 John, then twenty-five years 

 of age." John Orrell died 

 in 1 58 1, 18 and his son Wil- 

 liam made a feoffment of the 

 manor of Turton in that year. 19 

 William, who built Turton 

 Tower in 1 596,* was followed 

 by his son and heir John, 31 and the latter by his bro- 



ORRELL. Argent 

 three torteaux in bend 

 bet-ween two bendlett 

 gules, a chief sable. 



and Emma his wife, then lords of Tarbock, 

 claimed from Sir Thomas de Lathom the 

 elder an acquittal of the service demanded 

 by Sir Roger La Warre ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 4, m. 25. This shows that the 

 mesne lordship of the Lathoms was still 

 recognized. 



la William de Turton is named in 1204 

 as a man of some position ; Farrer, Lanes. 

 Pipe R. 218, quoting Curia Regis R. 34. 

 He may have been lord of the place under 

 the Lathoms, his manor passing to 

 the Torbocks by a daughter's marriage. 

 Nicholas de Turton and Eva his wife 

 complained in 1278 that Thomas son of 

 Henry and Amiria his wife had obstructed a 

 roadway in Turton; Assize R. 1238, m. 31. 

 Alexander de Turton was a defendant in 

 1306 ; De Banco R. 159, m. 7. 



Richard son of Robert de Turton in 

 1278 successfully claimed a tenement in 

 Heaton against Robert son of Henry de 

 Turton and Alice his wife ; Assize R. 

 1238, m. 31 d. 



Ellen widow of Henry de Lathom [of 

 Tarbock] in 1303 purchased a messuage, 

 20 acres of land, &c., in Turton from 

 Richard son of Henry de Turton ; Final 

 Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 201. 



Margery widow of Thomas de Turton 

 in 1371 defended her title to a messuage 

 and lands in Turton against Adam le Ward 

 of Sharpies ; De Banco R. 444 ; m. 1 73d. 



18 Sir Richard de Torbock in 1387 held 

 Turton, with its appurtenances, of the lord 

 of Lathom, by services which were not 

 known ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 3 5. 



In a grant by the feoffees of Sir Henry 

 de Torbock in 1410, the following lands 

 in the manor of Turton are named : an 

 oxgang in the Ridding, Windbarrow ox- 

 gang, Verclough oxgang, an oxgang held 

 by Thomas del Wood, and Morewall ox- 

 gang ; Torhawe, Hinch Place, Timber 

 Bottom, Birchinshaw Hey, Longhurst ; 

 Towneley MS. C. 8, 20 (Chet. Lib.) no. 8. 



14 In 1513, however, Sir Edmund Traf- 

 ford was stated to hold three messuages 

 and land in Turton of Sir William Tor- 

 bock by an unknown service ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 51. An earlier 

 trace of this estate occurs in 1376, when 

 Henry de Torbock and Ralph son of Wil- 

 liam de Radcliffe disputed concerning the 

 custody of lands in Turton, Henry son of 

 Sir Henry de Traffbrd being under age ; 

 De Banco R. 462, m. 89. 



15 Particulars of the descent and the 

 lawsuits are given in the account of Tar- 

 bock. See also Piccope MSS. iii, fol. 444. 



Claims were made by the Torbock 

 family for Turton and Walton Lees also ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 48, m. 6 ; R. 60, 

 m. 7. These show that Ralph the son of 

 William Orrell and Elizabeth Torbock his 

 wife was living in 1478. 



M Land in Turton was in 1442 held of 



William Orrell the younger by Anian de 

 Entwisle ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1478. 

 William Orrell in 1473 held Turton 

 by the eighth part of a knight's fee, ren- 

 dering puture, a rent of i8</., and i<S</. 

 castle ward ; Mamecestre, iii, 479. A 

 little later Ralph Orrell was tenant ; ibid. 



5I5- 



A number of Orrell deeds are copied in 

 Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), vi, fol. 171 

 and foil. They begin with a charge of 

 forgery against the Torbocks. In 1477 

 Hugh Mort of Wigan granted Watsha in 

 Turton to Ralph Orrell (173). In 1491 

 and 1497 are bonds to Ralph Orrell and 

 William his son and heir apparent, re- 

 garding the marriage of Joan daughter of 

 Ralph with Richard Gillibrand (174-5). 



The following are from the late Mr. T. 

 Helsby-Acton's notes of Turton deeds : 

 1483 grant from Ralph Orrell to Thurs- 

 tan his son (confirmed by William the 

 son and heir of Ralph in 1515), and power 

 of attorney by Thurstan to his uncle 

 Robert Orrell ; 1486 William son and 

 heir apparent of Ralph Orrell to marry 

 Katharine daughter of Gilbert Urmston ; 

 James Orrell, uncle of Ralph, is men- 

 tioned, also Isabel widow of William 

 father of Ralph ; 1 506 grant by William 

 son and heir of Ralph Orrell to Margery 

 widow of Ralph ; 1509 grant of all his 

 lands by the same to Ralph his son and 

 heir apparent and other trustees, for the 

 performance of his will ; 1533 John son 

 and heir apparent of John Bradshaw had 

 married Mary daughter of Ralph Orrell, 

 deceased ; 1537 award between John 

 Orrell and Agnes his father's widow ; 

 1575 settlement for William son and 

 heir apparent of John Orrell, who had 

 married Ellen sister of William Clifton of 

 Balam and widow of William Singleton 

 of Bank Hall, with remainders to Francis 

 and Richard, other sons of John Orrell ; 

 1583 William Orrell to Ralph Green of 

 Turton ; 1587 agreement between Wil- 

 liam Orrell and Richard his brother ; 

 Elizabeth their father's widow is men- 

 tioned. 



In 1509 a marriage was arranged be- 

 tween Ralph son and heir of Ralph Asshe- 

 ton of Great Lever, and Margaret daugh- 

 ter of William Orrell ; Raines MSS. vi, 

 199. 



*7 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vii, no. i ; 

 in this is recited a grant in 1506 by Ralph 

 Orrell, grandfather of the Ralph of 1533, 

 to his sons Peter, Robert, and George, of 

 whom Robert was living in 1533. There 

 is also recited a feoffment by William 

 Orrell, son and heir of Ralph the elder, 

 made in 1513, mentioning Valentine and 

 Alexander his sons. Ralph the younger, 

 deceased, was the son and heir of William 

 Orrell. 



A pedigree was recorded in 1533 (Visit. 



274 



Chet. Soc. 201), showing that John was 

 the eldest son of Ralph Orrell by his first 

 wife Anne, the daughter of William 

 Lathom. 



In 1529 Ralph Orrell had purchased the 

 messuage called * Nichall deyne ' from 

 James son and heir of Edward Hunt of 

 Turton ; Raines, op. cit. 176. Nicho- 

 dine Mills were in 1866 demolished to 

 prepare for the Wayoh Reservoir. 



There was a dispute in 1541 between 

 John Orrell and Lord La Warre as to the 

 services due to the lord of Manchester ; 

 Ducafu; Lane. (Rec. Com.), ii, 74. 



18 Earwaker, Mancb. Ct. Lett Ree. i, 

 223 ; William Orrell, the son and heir, 

 was of full age, but the jury of the court 

 had much difficulty in inducing him to 

 appear and do his suit and service ; he 

 held out till 1585 ; ibid, i, 247. 



By his will, made in May and proved 

 in July 1581, John Orrell desired to be 

 buried ' in the Chapel of Jesus, betwixt 

 his father and the church wall, within the 

 parish church of Bolton,' and gave the 

 curate of Bolton IQS. 'to pray for his 

 ancestors' souls, his soul, and all Christian 

 souls' ; ibid, i, 223, n. The family con- 

 tinued to adhere to the Roman religion ; 

 see Raines and Sutton, Humph. Chetham 

 (Chet. Soc.), i, 32. 



The will and inventory of Elizabeth 

 widow of John Orrell, dated 1607, are 

 printed in Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), ii, 

 142. 



The chapel above referred to continued 

 to descend with Turton until about a 

 century ago, when it was sold by James 

 Greene to Robert Knowles, colliery pro- 

 prietor ; J. C. Scholes, Turton Tower, 30. 

 This Robert Knowles was great-great- 

 grandfather of Sir Lees Knowles. 



19 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 43, 

 m. 19. In two other fines of the same 

 time William is called ' son and heir 

 apparent of John Orrell' ; ibid. m. 62,76. 



30 Raines MSS. vi, fol. 184 ; see below. 



81 William Orrell died at Southwark, 

 29 May 1612, holding the manor of Tur- 

 ton and lands there of Sir Nicholas 

 Mosley as of his manor of Manchester in 

 socage, by a rent of i8</. ; John his son 

 and heir was twenty-four years of age ; 

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

 Ches.), i, 223. 



John Orrell, however, seems to have 

 been in possession of the family manors 

 and lands in 1607, when he made a 

 settlement of them ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 72, no. 7. This may have 

 been an arrangement due to his coming 

 of age. He and William Orrell made 

 another settlement in 1618, and John 

 alone in 1625 ; ibid. bdle. 90, no. 33 ; 

 107, no. 41. 



A pedigree of three generations was 

 recorded in 1613 ; Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 50. 



