WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WIGAN 



Birkhead,®' Duxbury," Pres- 



ton,3* Ford,^^ and Scott." The 

 Crosse family, afterwards of 

 Liverpool and Chorley, were 

 long closely connected with 



^ This family held a good posi- 

 tion in the town, and furnished 

 several of the mayors. There is a 

 quaint note concerning the Birk- 

 heads in Leland's Itinerary^ vi, 14 ; 

 he suggests a relationship with the 

 Windermere Birkheads or Birketts. 



In 1308-9 John de Birkhead, son 

 of Ralph, granted a burgage to Richard 

 del Stanistreet; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 253. 

 John de Birkhead attested various local 

 charters down to 1324; Adam de Birk- 

 head others from 1377 to 1417 ; in the 

 last-named year his son and grandson, 

 Henry and John, also attested ; Crosse D. 

 nos. 41, 72, 126. John Birkhead was living 

 in 1434 ; Towneley MS. OO, no. 1301. 

 In 147 1 Richard was son and heir of 

 Henry Birkhead ; ibid. no. 148, John 

 Birkhead appears in 1504 ; ibid, no. 165. 



In 1338 Hugh son of Robert de Birk- 

 head claimed from Richard de Birkhead, 

 litster, various tenements in Wigan, but 

 did not prosecute his claim ; Assize R. 

 1425, m. z,. Thurstan de Birkhead and 

 John his brother were defendants in 

 1356 ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 5, m, 

 26 ; and Matthew son of Thurstan de 

 Birkhead, in 1376 ; De Banco R. 461, m. 

 276 d. Adam de Birkhead and Joan his 

 wife were plaintiffs in 1374 ; De Banco 

 R. 456, m. 10 d. ; 460, m. 364. Euphe- 

 mia daughter of William son of Richard 

 de Birkhead, litster or tinctor, demanded 

 in 1357 20 acres in Wigan from Sir 

 Robert de Langton, Robert his son and 

 others ; Pal. of Lane. Misc. 1-8, m. 3, 4, 

 5 ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 6, m. 3. 

 The younger Robert defended, saying the 

 land had been granted to himself and 

 Margaret his wife and their issue. 



An undated petition, addressed to the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury, as Chancellor, 

 complained that John Birkhead, feoffee of 

 Richard Birkhead, had refused to make over 

 an estate in the latter's land to William 

 Marsh, the cousin and heir ; Early Chan. 

 Proc- 16-528. 



Richard Birkhead, who died in or before 

 1512, held land in Rivington and a 

 burgage in Wigan ; Joan, his sister and 

 heir, was four years of age ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 26. A later 

 inquisition shows that they were the 

 children of Hugh, son of Richard, son of 

 Henry * Birkenhead ' of Wigan. The last- 

 named Henry, who had another son John, 

 had granted nine burgages in Wigan and 

 other lands there, held of the rector by a 

 rent of 435. 4^., to feoffees who had granted 

 five burgages to Maud, the widow of 

 Richard Birkhead for her life, and four 

 burgages to Elizabeth, widow of Hugh 

 Birkhead, who died 16 Jan. 1510-11, ibid. 

 V, no. 23. Joan, the heiress, married 

 Thomas, son and heir of Thomas 

 Tyldesley of Ward ley ; Fisit. of 1567 

 (Chet. Soc), 44. 



'*■' Thomas de Duxbury was mayor .of 

 Wigan in 1402-3 ; he or another of the 

 name was outlawed in 1420 ; Crosse D. 

 {Trans. Hist. Soc), no. 95, 127. John de 

 Duxbury also occurs ; ibid. no. ii6, 130. 



95 In 1277 Maud widow of Orm de 

 Wigan claimed burgages and land in 

 Wigan against William son of William de 

 Preston, and Eleanor his wife and others ; 

 De Banco R. 21, m. 62 d. About the same 



Wigan : Adam del Crosse^® appears in 1277, his son 

 John in the first half of the 14th century.^* John's 

 son Thurstan *°'* was followed by Hugh del Crosse his 

 son,^**^ after whose death the property went to Richard 

 del Crosse of Wigan and Liverpool. He may have 



Crosse. Quarterly 

 gules and or a cross po- 

 tent argent in the first 

 and fourth quarters. 



time Adam del 

 Crosse obtained 

 from the same Wil- 

 liam and Eleanor 

 a messuage and [4 

 acres of land in 

 Wigan J Final Cone, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 153. 

 From one of the Crosse D. (no. 19), 

 dated 1310, it appears that Eleanor de 

 Preston was a daughter of Nicholas de 

 Wigan, clerk ; this charter concerns land 

 in Henhurst Meadow, Hitchfield, Lorri- 

 mer's Acre, Loamy Half acre, Hengande 

 Half-acre, &c. ; the Stonygate is men- 

 tioned. 



Adam Russell of Preston had land here 

 in 1307; De Banco R. 163, m. 2i4d, 

 For Henry Russell see Lanes, Inq. and 

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

 i, 275. 



9^ There were two families of this name, 

 of Swinley and of Scholes \ see Bridge- 

 man, Wigan Ch, 259. They supplied 

 many mayors. In Oct, 1864 representa- 

 tives of James Horrocks of Spennymoor, 

 claiming to be the heir of Robert Ford 

 who died in 1772, took possession of the 

 ' Manor House * in Scholes and were be- 

 sieged for some days, to the excitement of 

 the town. 



97* Roger Scott's land' is mentioned 

 in 1323 ; Towneley MS. GG, no, 2561. 

 Roger son of Roger Scott of Wigan in 

 1345 complained that Robert del Mouri- 

 hiUes had been wasting lands *held by 

 the law of England' ; De Banco R. 345, 

 m. 95 d. Further particulars of the family 

 will be found in the account of Pember- 

 ton. 



^8 About seven hundred of the family 

 deeds are contained in Towneley's MS. 

 GG (Add. MS. 32107), no. 2196-905. 

 Some of these and others are printed in 

 the Trans, Hist, Soc. (new ser.), v-ix, 

 Crosse D. no, 1—224. 



The first of the family of whom any 

 particulars can be stated is the Adam del 

 Crosse, 1277, mentioned in a preceding 

 note. Two grants to him are known, 

 one being of land in Holywell Carr; Crosse 

 D. no. 7; Tov/neley's GG, no. 2535. To 

 his daughter Ellen he gave land in the 

 Rye Field and Holywell Carr ; Crosse D. 

 no. 13. She was living in 1292 ; Assize 

 R. 408, m. 32 d. Adam del Crosse was 

 also living in 1292 ; ibid. m. 32. The 

 Adam son of Richard del Crosse of 1311 

 (Crosse D. no. 20), was probably a different 

 person. The de Cruceoi Latin deeds also 

 appears as *de la Croyz,' ' atte Crosse,' 

 and *del Crosse.' The family seems to 

 have come from Lathom ; Crosse D. no. 5, 

 In 1277 Richard, rector of Wigan, had 

 a dispute with William del Crosse as to 

 whether the latter's toft belonged to the 

 church of Wigan or to a lay fee ; De 

 Banco R. i8, m. 54. 



99 John son of Adam del Crosse was 

 defendant, with others, in a plea of mort 

 d'ancestor in 1295 ; Assize R. 1306, m. 

 20 d. Later he had various disputes with 

 Alan son of Walter the Fuller, husband 

 of his sister Ellen. As early as 1299 he 

 released all his right in the lands his 

 father had given Ellen on her marriage, 

 and in 1315 a final agreement was made ; 



75 



Towneley MS. GG, no. 2638, 2435 ; 

 Crosse D. no. 14, 23. He was a de- 

 fendant in 1292 in two Wigan cases, 

 Henry de Leigh being one plaintiff, and 

 Hugh son of William the reeve the 

 other i Assize R, 408, m. 54, 76. 



In 1304 he had a grant of land in the 

 Strindes in the islands of Wigan, on the 

 east side of the high road from Wigan to 

 Out-town Bridge ; Crosse D. no. 14*. In 

 1324-5 he granted to his son Thurstan 

 on the latter's marriage the burgage upon 

 which his capital messuage was built ; 

 another burgage which he had received 

 from his sister Margeryj the Greater Hey 

 called the Elclyves, and other lands ; 

 with remainders to the grantor's son 

 William, and to his daughter Maud, wife 

 of Henry Banastrc ; ibid. n. 36. In 

 1329, by fine, Henry Banastre of Walton 

 secured from John del Crosse four messu- 

 ages and lands in Wigan ; Thurstan son 

 of John and the rector of Wigan putting 

 in their claims j Final Cone, ii, 73, 



About the same time Robert de 

 Clitheroe the rector called on John del 

 Crosse to render an account for the time 

 he was the rector's bailiff In Wigan, viz. 

 from Michaelmas 1313 till the end of 

 August 1316, during which time the 

 profits of three mills, markets, and fairs 

 amounted to £160 j and from September 

 13 16 to 4 April 1324, during which 

 time the issues of the church as in 

 corn, hay, beasts, great tithes, small tithes, 

 oblations, obventions, and other profits, 

 amounted he said to ^^1,500. The money 

 receipts during the same period amounted 

 to ,^335 lis. yd. At the trial John did 

 not appear, but the jury decided against 

 him and he was committed to the Fleet 

 Prison ; De Banco R. 279, m. 61. In the 

 following year the rector sought to make 

 it clear that four messuages and lands 

 held by John del Crosse and Thurstan 

 his son were Iree alms of the church of 

 Wigan and not their lay fee j De Banco 

 R. 283, m, 147. John seems to have 

 died about this time, and Thurstan only 

 is named In the following year ; ibid. R, 

 285, m. 15 d. 



^^^ Thurstan del Crosse and Emma his 

 wife were plaintiffs in a Wigan dispute in 

 1334 ; Coram Rege R. 297, m. 6, 

 Thurstan appears as witness to charters 

 from 1346 to 1367 ; Towneley MS, GG, 

 no, 2753, 2423. He was defendant in a 

 suit of 1355 ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R, 

 4, m. 6. 



^"1 Hugh son of Thurstan del Crosse 

 made sundry grants in 1370, charging an 

 annual rent of i mark on his Wigan lands 

 in favour of William son of Adam de 

 Liverpool, who seems then to have 

 married Katherine widow of John son of 

 Aymory ; Towneley MS. GG, no, 2269, 

 2896. In 1382 he made a feoffment of 

 his lands in Wigan and Leigh ; Crosse D, 

 no. 75 J and in 1386 he was mayor of 

 the town j Ibid. no. 80. He appears to 

 have died about 1392. Katherine his 

 widow, afterwards wife of Thomas de 

 Hough, In 1403 granted to trustees the 

 lands she had had from her late husband j 

 Towneley MS. GG, no. 2343. In 1395 

 the feoffees of Hugh del Crosse gave lands 

 received from him to his son Henry, with 

 remainders to his widow Katherine (for 



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