A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The family of Singleton of Brockholes and Bank 

 Hall in Broughton was represented in Whitting- 

 ham, holding of the Prior of St. John by a rent of 



ASHLET H and COMBERHALGH" gave sur- 

 names to landholders there. Families named 

 Wawne, 78 Fishwick, 77 Taylor, 78 Walton, 79 and Bra- 

 boner w were connected with these parts of the town- 



ship. Comberhalgh now belongs to the trustees 

 of Lady Marling. The house has long since 

 disappeared. 803 



Among the early families of note were those of 

 Bradkirk, 81 who seem to have been followed by 

 Parker of Whittingham House ; Elswick, 8 * perhaps 

 succeeded by Southworth of Samlesbury ; Goos- 

 nargh, 83 and Preston. 84 Later that of Waring 



78 This was the tenure of Robert 

 Singleton of Brockholes in 1525, and of 

 his successor William ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. vi, no. 64 ; x, no. I. William 

 Singleton of Bank Hall, however, was in 

 1573 said to hold of the queen by knight's 

 service, or else of the Earl of Derby by a 

 rent of gauntlets, payable at Preston fair ; 

 ibid, xii, no. 30, 34 ; xvi, no. 50. Compare 

 the grant by Joan Banastre in note 12 

 above. 



'* John de Whittingham gave a moiety 

 of Lower Ashley to Robert son of William 

 de Ashley, and William son of John made 

 a grant to the same Robert ; Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 1894, 1887. 



John de Whittingham granted half the 

 field called Over Ashley to Richard de 

 Ashley ; Add. MS. 32107, no. 1081. 

 This may have been the Richard son of 

 Gilbert de Ashley who released lands to 

 William his brother; DD, no. 1891. 

 John son of Gilbert de Ashley also had 

 land in Ashley from John de Whittingham 

 (DD, no. 1897), but in 1316 released his 

 right in them to Robert son of Richard 

 de Ashley and Avice his wife ; Dods. 

 MSS. liii, fol. 24. Among the witnesses 

 were two named Robert de Ashley. The 

 gift was confirmed or augmented by 

 William de Whittingham; Add. MS. 

 32106, no. 326. 



Margery daughter of William son of 

 Richard de Ashley of Whittingham claimed 

 land in Elston in 1346 ; De Banco R. 348, 

 m. 304. 



75 William son of John de Whittingham 

 gave 9 acres to Richard son of Amery 

 de Comberhalgh and Alice his wife ; DD, 

 no. 1888. Alice daughter of Adam del 

 Eves in 1331 sought two-thirds of a tene- 

 ment in Whittingham against Henry son 

 of Thomas de Comberhalgh (under age), 

 and the other third against Eva widow of 

 Thomas ; De Banco R. 287, m. 582 ; 

 290, m. 276 d. The land called the Eves 

 is named in a much earlier charter ; DD, 

 no. 1876. 



Alice daughter of Roger de Comber- 

 halgh was non-suited in 1360 in a claim 

 against Sir Adam de Hoghton and Gilbert 

 de Hyde ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 8, 

 m. 8. 



A portion called 'a moiety of the manor 

 of Comberhalgh ' was in 1364 in the pos- 

 session of Richard de Pleasington (of 

 Dimples) and Sibyl his wife ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxlix, fol. 72^. A note on the pedigree 

 states that the lands came from Margaret 

 daughter and co-heir of Randlc de Singleton, 

 formerly wife of Thomas de Knoll ; ibid, 

 fol. 73 ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2, m. 8. 

 William Pleasington in 1621 held 

 messuages, &c., in Comberhalgh of the 

 king in socage ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. 

 Soc.), ii, 240. 



Henry Proden (who had a son John) 

 had land in Greenhurst in Comberhalgh 

 in 1412 ; Add. MS. 32104, no. 623. In 

 1583 Richard Crook purchased land in 

 Whittingham, Ashley and Comberhalgh 

 from Edmund Proden and Robert his son ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 45, m. 71. 

 Sir Richard Shireburne made a purchase 



from John Pruden in Ashley in 1589; 

 ibid. bdle. 51, m. 273. 



76 Deeds of this family are in the Court 

 of Wards and Liveries (box I 3 A, FD 17, 

 20, &c.), and there are some in the 

 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 8931, &c. They 

 had lands in Ashley and Comber- 

 halgh. The descent cannot be clearly 

 established. We have Richard -s. William 

 8. John between 1300 and 1350; 

 Thomas in 1372 granting lands to Aline 

 del Chambre (Add. MS. 32106, no. 323) ; 

 John the elder and Alice his wife in 1409 ; 

 John (son of Thomas) in 1423 ; Robert in 

 1525, and Nicholas in 1574. 



Edmund Wawne (son of Nicholas and 

 Ellen) died in or before 1592 holding 

 two messuages in Ashley of Thomas 

 Whittingham by knight's service and 

 6s. rent. His heir was a brother Thomas, 

 thirteen years of age ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xv, no. 13. 



77 Adam de Fishwick obtained land in 

 1383, perhaps part of his inheritance ; 

 Final Cone, iii, 1 7. William Fishwick in 

 1414 gave land in Over Ashley to John 

 Moton, tailor; Add. MS. 32iO7,no. 1125. 



James (son of John) Fishwick, who died 

 in 1585, held lands in Comberhalgh, viz. 

 in Savock Hey, of the queen as of the 

 late priory of St. John of Jerusalem by 

 3*/. rent ; he also held messuages, &c., in 

 Whittingham of the queen as of her duchy 

 by the thousandth part of a knight's fee ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 52. 

 His heir was a son John, ten years of age. 



Col. Fishwick supplies the following 

 notes : In 1358 Richard son of Thomas 

 de Greenhall granted to Adam on of 

 Richard de Fishwick all his lands in 

 Comberhalgh and Whittingham, and in 

 1408 Roger Waring granted his lands 

 there to William son of Adam de Fishwick. 

 In 1432 John son of William de Fishwick 

 and Ellen his wife, daughter of R. Hoi- 

 croft, made a feoffment of lands in the 

 place (Shireburne D). In 1607 and in 

 1618 John Fishwick and Jane his wife 

 occur (Plea R.). 



7a Roger Taylor died in 15 86 hold ing 

 messuages, &c., in Comberhalgh of Thomas 

 Whittingham by the hundredth part of a 

 knight's fee and "J\d. rent. Robert his 

 son and heir was three years old ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 43. A later 

 inquisition corrects this by stating that 

 the land was held of Richard Shireburne ; 

 ibid, xvii, no. 19. 



79 William Walton died in 1559 hold- 

 ing lands in Comberhalgh, &c., of Thomas 

 Whittingham by 4$. rent ; ibid, xi, no. 27. 

 His son Richard died in 1594 holding 

 the same estate ; ibid, xvi, no. 42 ; xvii, 

 no. 48. 



80 Braboner's House was in the south- 

 west corner of Comberhalgh. Some 

 16th-century deeds of this family are in 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 388-94. There 

 are references to them in Ducatus Lane. 

 iii, 15, &c., from which it appears they 

 held of the Fishwicks ; one of them was 

 rector of Ashton-under-Lyne ; ibid. 107. 



80a Information of Col. Fishwick. 



81 John de Bradkirk held land in 1330 ; 



212 



De Banco R. 284, m. 304. Adam de 

 Bradkirk died in 1349 holding two 

 messuages and 40 acres of Sir Adam de 

 Hoghton by knight's service and $d. 

 rent ; Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), 

 no. I b. 



This is possibly the estate held by a 

 family named Parker from early in the 

 1 7th century. Its founder was Henry 

 son of William Parker of Bradkirk. Whit- 

 tingham House descended to Martha 

 Parker, who died in 1856, leaving issue 

 by her husband James German of 

 Preston. There is a pedigree in Fish- 

 wick, op. cit. 189. 



82 Adam de Elswick died in 1325 

 holding lands, &c., of Adam Banastre, a 

 minor, by a rent of if^/. and paying 5^. 

 in a scutage of 40.1. There were a 

 messuage, 19 acres of arable land and an 

 acre of meadow, in all worth 141. 4.J. 

 William the son and heir was thirty 

 years old ; Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. II, no. 58. 



Alexander son of Adam de Elswick 

 and William his son were defendants to a 

 claim made by Richard Drury in 1332 ; 

 Assize R. 1411, m. 12. John de 

 Elswick received lands from his feoffees 

 in 1399 ; Kuerden fol. MS. 153, 114. 

 Thomas Elswick of Whittingham and 

 Edmund his son and heir made in 1469 

 a grant of messuages and lands, including 

 one tenanted by Richard Dukedale ; 

 ibid. 115. Edmund Elswick of Witton 

 made a feoffment of his lands in 

 Whittingham and Goosnargh in 1 5067 ; 

 ibid. John son and heir of Edmund 

 Elswick occurs in 1531 ; Add. MS. 

 32107, no. 1048. John Curtes, who had 

 married Margaret daughter and heir of 

 John Elswick, claimed various lands in 

 Goosnargh and Whittingham in 1553-4 ; 

 Ducatus Lane, ii, 1 30. Their deeds are in- 

 cluded among those of Southworth by 

 Kuerden, and Sir John Southworth in 

 1595 had land in the township, but the 

 tenure is not recorded ; see also Ducatus 

 Lane, iii, 314. 



83 Adam son of Sir Adam de Hoghton 

 about 1290 released to Alexander son of 

 Randle de Goosnargh all right in an 

 oxgang of land in Whittingham ; Dods. 

 MSS. Ixx, fol. 154. This Alexander and 

 Alice the widow of Randle appear in 

 pleadings in 1292, the latter claiming 

 land against Robert de Singleton, who 

 showed that he had entry through 

 William de Singleton and not through 

 her husband ; Assize R. 408, m. 46, 

 l8d. 



It appears that Randle de Goosnargh 

 had two other sons, Henry and Hugh, 

 Hugh's sons Richard and Thomas gave 

 lands in Whittingham to William de 

 Whittingham, which gift was confirmed 

 in 1324-5 ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 

 1890. In 1330 Alexander son of Henry 

 claimed messuages and lands against his 

 cousins the said Richard and Thomas ; 

 De Banco R. 282, m. 179 d. 



84 In 1331 William son of John 

 brother of Henry de Tunstall claimed a 

 messuage, mill, &c., in Whittingham 

 against John son of Robert son of Adam 



