BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



The inquisition after the death of Ralph de Clayton 

 (1324) was taken in 1329, when it was found that 

 he had held lands in Button of the honor of the 

 castle of Clitheroe by the service of 5/. yearly ; there 

 were a capital messuage worth \zd. a year ; 30 acres 

 of land, worth 6d. each ; a pasture, zs. 6d. ; an acre 

 of meadow, I zd. ; rents of free tenants amounted to 

 6s, 6d. Henry the son and heir of Ralph was thirty 

 years of age and more. 43 



In the Clayton family the manor descended regu- 

 larly, 41 " coming about 1400 to the Belfields of Clegg 

 in Rochdale. 8 From their heirs the manor was 

 acquired in or about 1578 by Sir Richard Shireburne 

 of Stonyhurst, 6 and descended in due course to 



RIBCHESTER 



Thomas Weld, who became a cardinal in 1829, and 

 in 1831 sold Button to Joseph Fenton of Bamford 

 Hall, a manufacturer and banker of Rochdale. 7 Mr. 

 Fenton, who also purchased the adjacent manors of 

 Bailey and Ribchester, died in 1 840,8 and was suc- 

 ceeded by his son James, who in turn at his death in 

 1857 was succeeded by his eldest son, also named 

 James. He died in 1902, the present lord of the 

 manor of Button being his eldest surviving son, 

 Mr. Robert Kay Fenton, born in 1853. No courts 

 have been held for a long time. 



After the decay of the Claytons the principal family 

 in the township was that of Townley, appearing about 

 I38o. 9 Their estate is of uncertain origin. John 



to Clayton-le-Dale, also had rights in 

 Button, as appears by various pleadings ; 

 De Banco R. 272, m. 20, &c. In 1314 

 Adam de Huddleston, lord of Billington, 

 made an exchange of lands in the Halgh 

 with Jordan the Clerk ; Add. MS. 32106, 

 no. 187. 



Henry de Clayton left sons Ralph and 

 Philip, of whom the former was living in 

 1322 and the latter in 1340 ; ibid. no. 138, 

 158. Henry gave to Philip his son 

 Hordischale or Longridge in Ribchester, 

 Milnholme in Dutton, Colicroft, and the 

 service (13^.) of John de Huntingdon ; 

 Towneley MS. DD, no. 1 178. Ralph de 

 Clayton in 1308 granted to William son 

 of William de Dutton a plat of his waste ; 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 174. In 1311 it 

 was found that Ralph held his tenement 

 as of the dower of the Countess of Lincoln, 

 doing suit to the court of Clitheroe from 

 three weeks to three weeks ; De Lacy Inq. 

 (Chet. Soc.), 1 8. 



Philip gave some land in Hayhurst in 

 1297 to Robert de Clitheroe, clerk; 

 Towneley MS. OO, no. 1 206. In 1 3 1 8-1 9 

 he granted land in Seedcroft to Richard 

 on of Amery and Alice his wife ; Add. 

 MS. 32106, no. 989. In 1338 four 

 messuages with land, meadow, and 

 wood in Dutton and Bailey were settled 

 upon Philip de Clayton, Isabel his wife 

 and Robert their son ; Final Cone, ii, 

 109. See the account of Towneley for 

 the Clayton-Towneley connexion. 



In 1321 William son of Robert de 

 Dutton appears to have made an attempt 

 to regain his grandfather's lands, at least 

 in part. Against Ralph de Clayton and 

 Sarah his wife he claimed 20 acres of 

 land, &c., and 10*. o\d. rent in Dutton, 

 which William de Dutton gave to Robert 

 de Dutton, Agnes his wife and their issue ; 

 De Banco R. 24.0, m. 138 d. He made 

 other claims against John son of William 

 de Greenhill, Agnes his wife and Margery 

 widow of Adam de Greenhill, also against 

 Jordan the Clerk; ibid. m. n5d. He 

 was eventually (1324) non-suited; ibid. 

 250, m. 2. 



** Inq. p.m. 3 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), 

 no. 39. 



Ralph de Clayton died during 1324, 

 for in Trinity term in that year Henry de 

 Osbaldeston and Isabel his wife claimed 

 the fulfilment of an agreement made with 

 him in 1320 concerning a messuage and 

 lands in Dutton. Ralph had died and 

 Henry his son had entered into possession. 

 Henry appeared, alleging a grant from 

 Henry de Clayton to his son Ralph and 

 Alice his wife, their son and heir being 

 Henry the defendant ; ibid. 252, m. 

 158 d. The dispute went on some little 

 time (Assize R. 426, m. 2 d.), but was 

 concluded in 1328 by an agreement be- 



tween Henry de Clayton and Margery his 

 wife with Henry de Osbaldeston and 

 Isabel; Add. MS. 32106, no. 191. 



4b One of Henry de Clayton's early acts 

 (1330) was to make a release to the free 

 tenants of Dutton Huntingdon, of com- 

 mon of pasture in the vill ; Add. MS. 

 32107, no. 1497. Henry was in 1337 

 called lord of Dutton, being said to hold 

 the whole vill of the Lady Isabella, queen 

 of England, mother of the king, as of her 

 manor of Clitheroe, by the service of 4*. 

 yearly ; Inq. p.m. 1 1 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), 

 no. 10. The tenure was stated a little 

 differently in 1362, when Henry held it of 

 the Earl of Lancaster by thegnage service 

 and 5*. yearly ; Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill, 

 pt. ii (2nd nos.), no. 45. 



Henry de Clayton seems to have lived 

 for a few years after this, being named in 

 1366. Cecily widow of Adam de Clitheroe 

 in 1346 made a claim against Henry and 

 Ralph his son, and there were cposs-suits ; 

 Assize R. 1435, m. 31, 15. In 1349 

 Henry granted his son Adam a house and 

 garden formerly held by Alice daughter of 

 Ralph de Clayton, and five ridges in 

 Dutton Heghes, with remainders to other 

 sons John, Hamlet and Ralph ; Add. 

 MS. 32106, no. 175. In 1357 Henry's 

 feoffees regranted him his lands and manor 

 in Dutton ; ibid. no. 162. Again in 

 13643 similar refeofi'ment was made to 

 Henry son of Ralph de Clayton of the 

 manor of Dutton, with the services of all 

 the free tenants (except for lands of Cecily 

 widow of Nicholas Moton), with re- 

 rminder to Henry son of John de Clayton ; 

 ibid. no. 194. 



This Henry son of John was no doubt 

 the grandson of the elder Henry. In 1376 

 he granted his right in a plat of meadow 

 between land formerly belonging to Philip 

 He Clayton and to Nicholas Moton ; ibid. 

 no. 150. Five years later he released his 

 right in a moiety of land called Hayre- 

 wasbank, Highacre and Stubbing ; ibid. 

 no. 177. 



Thomas son of Henry de Clayton was 

 in possession in 1388, when he granted 

 land in the Milncroft ; ibid. no. 139. 

 Thomas died in 1393 holding a messuage 

 and lands in Dutton of the Duke of Lan- 

 caster by the service of t,s. yearly at the 

 feast of St. Giles. Ellen his daughter and 

 heir was only five years old ; Lanes. Rec. 

 Inq. p.m. no. i, 2. 



5 The descent in the I5th century is 

 unknown. In 1445-6 the heir of Ellen de 

 Clayton held the manor in socage ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. 

 The manor does not seem to be mentioned 

 again until 1572, when it was part of the 

 inheritance of the Belfields of Clegg ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 34, m. 98 ; 

 38, m. 40. See the account of Clegg 



55 



in Butterworth, and Fishwick, Rochdale, 

 353- 



6 The manor of Dutton was included in 

 a Shireburne settlement in 1579 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 41, m. 199. Earlier 

 Shireburnes were stated to hold lands in 

 Dutton of the Abbot of Whalley in socage; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 46, &c. 

 Their ancestor John de Bailey had held of 

 the heir of Henry de Clayton in 1391 ; 

 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 44. 



In a dispute as to closes called Hich- 

 haugh and Stonyfurlong in Dutton in 1 550 

 Richard Shireburne claimed them as heir 

 of Hugh, who had demised them to James 

 Tarleton, chantry priest of Ribchester 

 deceased. John Talbot of Salesbury, on 

 the other hand, asserted that they had 

 belonged to the chantry endowment and 

 were included in the lease made by Erf- 

 ward VI; Duchy of Lane. Plead. Edw. VL 

 xxvii, T 9. The lands are named in the 

 chantry endowment in Raines' Chantrits 

 (Chet. Soc.), 196, and seem to have ben 

 regarded as within Ribchester. 



In 1565 Sir Richard Shireburne pur- 

 chased a messuage, &c., from Christopher 

 Wilkinson, and another in 1581 from John 

 Woodcock ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 27, m- 55 ! 43, m - !9- In 1583 a 

 messuage, &c., in Dutton was settled on 

 Sir Richard Shireburne ; ibid. bdle. 45, 

 m. 172. At Sir Richard's death it was not 

 known of whom or by what tenure the 

 manor of Dutton and other lands there 

 were held ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xvi, 

 no. 3 ; xxvi, no. 4. 



The manor continued to be named in 

 Shireburne and Weld settlements down to 

 1777; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 625, m. lod. 

 (16). 



7 Information of Mr. R. K. Fenton 

 through Messrs. Greenall & Co. 



8 The particulars of the descent are 

 taken from Burke, Landed Gentry. 



9 An account of the family by W. A. 

 Abram is printed in Lanes, and Ches. 

 Antiq. Notes, i, 182-190. Gilbert de 

 Legh, Richard de Towneley and John de 

 Towneley attested Dutton deeds in the 

 time of Edward III and later. They 

 belong to the principal family, and held 

 land in Dutton, Ribchester and Hother- 

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

 59. The lands were held of the Hogh- 

 tons ; ibid, ii, 112. 



Of the local line Robert de Townley in 

 1379-80 granted land in Huntingdon to 

 Richard Woodroff for life; Add. MS. 

 32107, no. 926. He was a witness to 

 Dutton charters in 1406-7 ; Add. MS. 

 32106, no. 179, 131. Henry son of 

 Robert Townley in 1420 enfeoffed John 

 White, vicar of Preston, of lands in 

 Cliviger, Ribchester and Dutton ; Towne- 

 ley MS. DD, no. 2020. Henry Towniejr 



