AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



GARSTANG 



king in chief by a rent of 6d., being assessed 

 as 2 oxgangs of land. Alan son of Richard 

 (de Singleton) and John de Bilsborrow were the 

 tenants. 4 Afterwards the grant seems to have been 

 enlarged and the service changed and augmented, for 

 in 1226 Alan de Singleton held 2 oxgangs of land 

 there in drengage by a rent of 2/., 6 while a century 

 later, in 1346, his heir Thomas Banastre held half 

 a plough-land in Bilsborrow by the twentieth part 

 of a knight's fee and zs. a year, payable at the 

 four terms. 6 Several free tenements existed in the 

 1 3th century. 7 The manor descended, like other 

 Singleton manors/ 3 to the heirs of Balderston, and 

 on the division in 1564 was assigned to Gilbert 

 Gerard. 8 Afterwards the manor was held with 

 Barton by the Shuttleworth family. 8 



The Bartons of Barton, predecessors of the Shuttle- 

 worths, had long held lands in Bilsborrow. 10 



In 1324 it was stated that the Banastres held the 

 hamlet half in demesne and half in service. 11 The 

 latter half seems to have been held for several cen- 

 turies by a family named Cottam. Thus Richard de 

 Cottam held an oxgang of land in I227, 1 * and a 

 later Richard in 1548 held a third part of the manor 

 by the fortieth part of a knight's fee and 6d. rent 

 i.e. a moiety of the military service and a fourth part 

 of the rent. 13 The principal estate passed to the 

 Parkinsons, but the Cottam family are found in 

 the township down to the beginning of the igth 

 century. 14 



There are numerous references to families using 

 the local surname, but they are disconnected." 



* Lanes. Inq, and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and dies.), i, 48. 



5 Ibid. 140. In 1244 Alan died seised 

 of 2 oxgangs of land in Bilsborrow, 

 held in chief of the king by zs. rent ; 

 ibid. 1 60. 



The Earl of Lancaster in 1297 had 

 2J. a year from this vill ; ibid. 289. 



In 1 3 24 Adam son and heir of William 

 Banastre held the manor of Bilsborrow 

 by the service of zs. yearly ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxxxi, fol. 3 9 A. 



6 Survey of 1346 (Chet. Soc.), 50. 



7 Alan de Singleton about 1220 granted 

 all his land in Bilsborrow to his brother 

 Richard for a rent of two iron spurs, 

 reserving timber from the wood for 

 building hi* house, &c. ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxlix, fol. 52. 



Adam son of John de Goberthwaite 

 granted Richard de Singleton an acre of 

 land ; ibid. fol. 51^. Alice widow of 

 Richard de Singleton gave Thomas son 

 of Gilbert de Hetom a release of her 

 right in the lands held by Thomas ; ibid. 

 Avice daughter of Richard de Singleton 

 in her widowhood gave her son Henry 

 all her land ; ibid. fol. 52. This grant 

 was attested by William de Singleton and 

 Alan his son. 



Alan de Singleton about 1280 granted 

 to his son Thomas all his land in Bils- 

 borrow with its appurtenances ; also a 

 fourth part of the wood. Heybote and 

 mast for pigs were reserved for the grantor 

 and his men of Singleton. The services 

 of the following free tenants were ex- 

 cepted : Geoffrey de Cottam, Eustace 

 de Bilsborrow, Michael de Greenhalgh, 

 William son of Roger son of Maud, 

 Richard son of William Pelle. The 

 service from land held by Sir Richard le 

 Boteler of John de Bilsborrow was also 

 excepted ; ibid. fol. $zb. 



7a Land here was among Joan Banastre's 

 possessions in 1303 ; Final Cone. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 201. Thomas 

 Banastre acquired 2 acres from Henry 

 son of Avice de Singleton and a release 

 from Walter son of Jordan de Goosnargh ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 46, 48. 



Richard Balderston in 1445-6 held 

 half a plough-land for the twentieth part 

 of a knight's fee ; Duchy of Lane. Knights' 

 Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. 



In the 16th-century inquisitions Bils- 

 borrow is named among the Balderston 

 lands in those of Edmund Dudley, Rad- 

 cliffe of Winmarleigh, the Earl of Derby 

 and Sir Alexander Osbaldeston. 



8 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 216, m. 10. 

 Gerard obtained an increase of his pos- 

 sessions in the township on the partition 

 of the Butler of Rawcliffe inheritance in 



1571 ; ibid. 231, m. 8. Gilbert Gerard 

 and Anne his wife made a settlement of 

 the manor in 1574 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 36, m. 269. 



James Anderton of Lostock acquired 

 the manors of Clitheroe and Bilsborrow 

 from Sir Thomas Gerard in 1602 ; ibid, 

 bdle. 64, no. 70. 



9 Both manors were held by Richard 

 Shuttleworth in 1709, by Richard Shuttle- 

 worth and James his son and heir-apparent 

 in 1742, and by Robert Shuttleworth in 

 1773 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 490, m. 6 ; 

 557, m. 7 ; 618, m. 6. 



10 John de Barton in 1299 claimed 

 moieties of small parcels of wood in Bils- 

 borrow against a number of persons ; 

 De Banco R. 130, m. 213 d. John was 

 called to warrant in 1304; ibid. 152, 

 m. 22 d. In 1370 there was a suit as to 

 the manors of Barton and Bilsborrow 

 between Katherine daughter of William 

 de Barton and Richard de Catterall ; ibid. 

 438, m. 253. Gilbert Barton of Barton 

 in 1476 released to Katherine Urswick a 

 messuage, &c., in Bilsborrow ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 45, m. 14. 



In the first inquisition after the death 

 of Gilbert Barton (1516) his estate in 

 Bilsborrow was said to be held of Edmund 

 Parkinson in socage by id. rent, but in 

 the later inquisition the tenure was un- 

 known ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, 

 no. 8 1 ; v, no. 33. Thomas Barton in 

 1554 was said to have held three mes- 

 suages, &c., of Henry Cottam in socage, 

 as also was Richard Barton in 1572 ; ibid. 

 x, no. 50 ; xiii, no. 8. 



John Barton of Claughton in 1623 

 held a little land in Bilsborrow, tenure 

 not recorded ; ibid, xxvii, no. 7. 



11 Lanes. Inq. and Extents, ii, 160. 



1J Geoffrey de Glazebrook and Edith 

 his wife in 1227 released to Richard d 

 Cottam an oxgang of land in Bilsborrow ; 

 Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 47. He is believed to be the Richard 

 son of Robert who granted land to Cocker- 

 sand Abbey (Chartul. [Chet. Soc.] i, 269), 

 Robert being son of Uctred and brother 

 of Richard de Singleton, also benefactors 

 of the abbey ; ibid. 264, 268. John 

 de Cottam was plaintiff in 1304 and 

 William de Cottam defendant in the 

 following year; De Banco R. 152, 

 m. 22 d.; 155, m. 144. William de 

 Cottam was again defendant in 1311 ; 

 ibid. 184, m. 23 d. He contributed to 

 the subsidy of 1332 ; Exch. Lay Subs. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 60. 



Sir Adam de Hoghton (as guardian of 

 Thomas the heir of Sir Adam Banastre) 

 gave Adam de Singleton the wardship of 

 John son and heir of John de Cottam 



331 



of Bilsborrow, the tenure being of Banastre 

 by knight's service ; Dods. MSS. cxlix, 

 fol. 1 1 8. 



The Cottams then fall into obscurity, 

 but from a pleading of 1570 it appears 

 that in the time of Henry IV Richard 

 son of William Cottam married Margaret 

 daughter of John de Fleetwood and then 

 had land in Bilsborrow settled on him. 

 The descent continues : s. Oliver -e. 

 Richard -s. John s. Richard sons 

 Richard (who had a son John), Nicholas 

 and Henry. Henry's daughter Elizabeth 

 married Christopher Parkinson, and these 

 were plaintiffs in 1570, Joan Topping, 

 widow, being defendant ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Plea R. 228, m. 10 d. The duchy rent 

 was claimed by the king's bailiff in 1522 ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 212. 



13 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 24. 

 He had married Margaret Clerk of Preston, 

 and left a son John, two years old. Dubber- 

 field, Holecroft and Wheatfield are named ; 

 also a water-mill. 



Christopher and Henry Poulton in 1552 

 obtained land from Nicholas Cottam : Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 75. A 

 settlement of twenty messuages, &c., in 

 Bilsborrow, Scotforth and Lancaster was 

 in 1585 made by Christopher Parkinson 

 and his wife Elizabeth daughter and beir 

 of Henry Cottam ; ibid. bdle. 47, m. 127. 



Thomas Parkinson (son and heir of 

 Edmund) was defendant in 1564 ; Ducatus 

 Lane, ii, 299. He had lands, &c., in 

 1587 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 49, 

 m. 260. William Parkinson of Goosnargh 

 in 1592 held Holme and Scotsholding in 

 Bilsborrow ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 xvii, no. 2i. The tenure is not given. 

 He purchased from Richard Walton (Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 40, m. 188), 

 whose father William had had a rent of 

 35. from Bilsborrow ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xi, no. 27. Edward Parkinson 

 in 1617 held a chief messuage of the king 

 as duke by knight's service ; Lanes. Inq. 

 p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 

 215. 



14 William Cottam and Oliver his son 

 registered their estates as ' Papists ' in 

 1717 ; Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. 

 Nonjurors, 136. 



There is a short continuation of the 

 Cottam pedigree in Fishwick's Garstang 

 (Chet. Soc.), 256. 



15 John de Bilsborrow in 1212 has 

 been named. He was probably the John 

 son of Matthew who gave land to Cocker- 

 sand Abbey (Chartul. i, 262), for Paulin 

 de Garstang, a contemporary, in granting 

 land in Stiholmes mentions land formerly 

 belonging to Matthew de Bilsborrow as 

 adjacent ; Add. MS. 32104, fol. 231. 



