AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



PRESTON 



followed at Brockholes about ten years later by his 

 brother Adam " 9 ; by what title is not quite clear, 

 but probably by a. family partition, John's descendants 

 having the manor of Claughton in Garstang. 



Adam de Brockholes, who was living in 1341, had 

 several children, including Nicholas his heir 30 and 

 Roger. 31 Nicholas had at least two sons, 32 but the 

 manor appears to have descended to two daughters 

 or granddaughters : Margaret, who married Roger 



Elston, and another who married Singleton. 33 

 A partition was afterwards agreed upon, by which 

 the former had Old or Higher Brockholes and the 

 latter New or Lower Brockholes. 34 



The Elston moiety descended regularly 35 to Robert 

 Elston, who died in 1662. After some changes it 

 was purchased in 1694 by Thomas Winckley of 

 Preston, 37 and descended to Frances Lady Shelley, 38 

 after whose death in 1873 it was sold to Edward 



John was still in possession in 1322; 

 Mamecestre, ii, 379. 



A dispute in 1323 between William de 

 Ribbleton and Roger son of Richard de 

 Ribbleton concerning 12 acres, &c., in 

 Brockholes shows that the father had 

 held of Nichola de Brockholes by knight's 

 service. John and Adam de Brockholes 

 and Richard Deuyas and Isolda his wife, 

 formerly wife of William (?) de Ribbleton, 

 are named ; Assize R. 425, m. i, 5. 

 John de Brockholes appeared for Nichola 

 and the others. 



29 Nichola widow of Roger de Brock- 

 holes in 1319 procured a messuage and 

 land to be settled on her with remainder 

 to Adam son of Roger de Brockholes and 

 Margaret his wife ; Final Cone, ii, 35. 

 Roger son of Agnes de Brockholes, 

 already named, in 1324-5 made a release 

 to Adam de Brockholes ; HH, no. 1890. 

 In 1329 Adam son of Roger de Brock- 

 holes made a feoffment of a third part of 

 the manor, &c. ; ibid. no. 1874. 



30 In 1339 Robert du Marreys, clerk, 

 regranted to Adam son of Roger de 

 Brockholes and Margaret his wife two- 

 thirds of the manor of Brockholes, with 

 the homage and service of the free tenant 

 William de Brockholes ; with successive 

 remainders to Nicholas, Adam, John, 

 Robert and Henry, sons of Adam, and 

 then to the right heirs of William de 

 Brockholes ; Kuerden fol. MS. fol. 259. 

 An Adam de Brockholes son of William 

 was l : ving in 1349 ; Add. MS. 32108, 

 fol. 289. 



In 1341 Roger son of Roger de Elston 

 exchanged certain land in Brockholes with 

 Adam son of Roger de Brockholes and 

 Margaret his wife ; the remainders were 

 to Adam's sons Nicholas and John ; HH, 

 no. 1894. 



81 In 1349 Roger son of Adam de 

 Erockholes released to his brother 

 Nicholas all right in the manor of 

 Brockholes ; ibid. no. 1906. 



Roger de Singleton of Singleton and 

 Alice his wife in 1348 granted to 

 Nicholas de Brockholes all the lands in 

 Brockholes which had belonged to Adam 

 de Singleton ; J. Harland's note. 



82 The preceding note shows that 

 Nicholas was in possession in 1 349. In 

 1355 he granted leave to get turves in 

 Brockholes; Add. MS. 32108, fol. 289. 

 In 1358 he received from John de 

 Preston a release of all the right in 

 Brockholes which John had had from 

 Edmund de Brockholes ; Kuerden MSS. 

 v, fol. n8A. Three years later he made 

 a feoffment of the manor ; HH, no. 

 1884. Another feoffment was made in 

 1396-7 ; Kuerden MSS. iii, B 14. The 

 seal shews a cheveron between three 

 brocks (?). Nichola* de Brockholes and 

 Margaret his wife occur in 1402 ; HH, 

 no. 1880. 



Roger son of Nicholas de Brockholes 

 in 1377-8 quitclaimed to Nicholas his 

 father and Margaret his wife all right in 

 Brockholes; ibid. no. 1558. Thomas 



de Bredkirk was in 1387 pardoned for 

 the death of Geoffrey son of Nicholas de 

 Brockholes, killed at Preston in 1385 ; 

 Cal. Pat. 1385-9, p. 284. 



In 1378 William del Pole and Margery 

 his wife had some interest in the Brock- 

 holes estate ; Final Cone, iii, 5. 



88 The deeds preserved (those of Elston 

 of Brockholes) are not clear on this point. 

 In 1419 (or perhaps 7 Hen. IV) a moiety 

 of the manor of Brockholes, held for life 

 by Margaret widow of Nicholas, was 

 settled on Roger Elston and Margaret 

 his wife, the heir of Nicholas, with 

 remainder to their son John, contracted 

 to marry Agnes daughter of John 

 Fleetwood ; Add. MS. 32107, no. 548. 



John Elston had a son William, who 

 as early as 1428-9 was contracted to 

 marry Ellen daughter of Thomas 

 Haighton ; Add. MS. 32108, fol. 289*. 



According to the pedigree the other 

 heiress married Thomas Singleton ; 

 Fishwick, Preston, 288. 



34 John Elston was bound in 1437-8 

 to Nicholas Singleton for the performance 

 of an agreement as to lands in Brock- 

 holes ; Kuerden fol. MS. foL 115. 

 From notes by Kuerden (MSS. vi, fol. 

 74) it seems that a division was made in 

 1453-4 and an award relating to it in 

 1478. In 1458-9 William son of John 

 Elston granted a lease of Old Brockholes ; 

 ibid. 



Another note of agreement between 

 Nicholas Singleton and Roger Elston 

 states that the latter was to have Old 

 Brockholes for life; Add. MS. 32107, 

 no. 2987. Again in 1445-6 Roger 

 Elston, whose son John had granted 

 Nicholas Singleton the reversion of a 

 moiety of the manor of Brockholes, 

 released his own life interest in the 

 same ; HH, no. 1901. The moiety of 

 the manor was the subject of a settlement 

 in 1453-4, when the elder John, son 

 and heir-apparent of William Elston, was 

 contracted to marry Agnes daughter of 

 Nicholas Singleton of Brockholes ; Add. 

 MS. 32108, fol. 289*. The parties 

 being near akin a dispensation was 

 obtained ; Kuerden MSS. vi, fol. 74.. 

 William Elston had a younger son also 

 named John. 



Robert son and heir-apparent of John 

 Elston, senior, was in 1483-4 married to 

 Anne daughter of John Singleton of 

 Withgill; Add. MS. 32108, fol. 28o/>. 

 In 1515 John Elston agreed with 

 Margaret daughter of Robert Waddington 

 as to her marriage with his cousin and 

 heir Ralph Elston (apparently son of 

 Robert); ibid. Again in 1553-4 

 William Elston, who had married 

 Katherine daughter of Evan Browne, 

 was to have Brockholes ; ibid. It 

 appears that he was the younger son of 

 Ralph Elston ; Richard the elder son 

 had died. 



Ralph Elston and Richard his son 

 were out-burgesses of the guild of I 542 ; 

 Preston Guild R. 19. In the same year 



III 



two messuages, &c., were settled on 

 Ralph Elston and Richard his son and 

 heir-apparent ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 12, m. 81. Ralph Elston occurs as 

 vendor (or trustee) in 1553 ; ibid. bdle. 

 14, m. 48. 



In 1538-9 Roger Asshaw and Jane 

 his wife claimed a 'form or kneeling 

 place ' in Preston Church in right of his 

 manor of Elston, but Ralph Elston of 

 Old Brockholes asserted his right to it. 

 The churchwardens, seeing that ' man- 

 slaughter, sedition, and great unquietness 

 were like to have ensued,' took away 

 the form till a legal decision could be 

 given ; T. C. Smith, Preston Church, 

 250-1. 



85 Ralph Elston, named above, died 

 4 Nov. 155^ holding a capital messuage 

 and lands in Brockholes of the executors 

 of the will of Lord La Warre in socage 

 by a rent of 4^. yearly. The kinsman 

 and heir was Richard Elston, aged five 

 years ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, no. 

 3. The following field-names, &c., are 

 given : Grey Bank, Margaret Acre, Boat- 

 field, Holme, Eases, Oldhouse, Brew- 

 house, &c. 



Richard Elston, a minor, made com- 

 plaint in 1571 as to invasion of his 

 grandfather's lands by John Shireburne 

 and Katherine his wife ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Plead. Eliz. Ixxxii, E I. 



From the Preston Guild R. (p. 27) it 

 would seem that Richard was the son 

 and heir of Richard (? William) Elston, 

 deceased. A settlement of Richard 

 Elston's estate in Brockholes or Over 

 Brockholes was made in 1574 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 36, m. 73. He 

 died in 1592 holding the same estate of 

 John Lacy (as- of his manor of Man- 

 chester) by the twenty-sixth part of a 

 knight's fee and a rent of j\.d. ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 14. The service 

 was that due for a moiety of Brockholes. 



William the son and heir was thirteen 

 years of age. He died in 1636 holding 

 his Brockholes estate of Edward Mosley 

 of Manchester by the fourth part of a 

 knight's fee and \d. rent ; Robert his son 

 and heir was twenty-eight years of age ; 

 ibid, xxix, no. i. William Elston, a 

 scholar and a Puritan, was the author of 

 a history of his family (Harl. MS. 1727, 

 fol. 336), under the title of Mundana 

 Mutabilia : Ethelestophylax. Extracts 

 from it were printed in the Preston 

 Guardian of 1 88 1, Feb. 5, 19, &c. 



86 Robert Elston's son William died in 

 1664 without issue, and Robert's six 

 daughters in the same year sold the estate 

 to Paul Moreau of Knowsley, who settled 

 at Brockholes. 



37 The vendor was Paul Moreau, 

 grandson of the purchaser in 1664. Paul 

 Moreau, James his son and Paul his 

 grandson, &c., were out-burgesses of the 

 guild of 1682 ; Preston Guild R. 191. 



38 For pedigree see Fishwick, op. cit. 

 276. Thomas Winckley was son of 

 John Winckley, curate of Garstang 



