A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



ceeded.^*' HINDLET HJLL, as the residence of the 



Hindleys was called, became the property of James, a 



younger son of Robert Dukin- 



field of Cheshire." In the 



1 8th century it was acquired 



by the Leighs of Whitley Hall, 



Wigan, and Sir Robert Holt 



Leigh lived here till his death 



in 184.3.*^ His estates then 



passed for life to his cousin 



Thomas Pemberton, who took 



the name of Leigh, and made 



Hindley Hall his residence ; 



he was raised to the peerage 



as Baron Kingsdown in 1858.^^ 



After his death in 1867 it passed by the will of 



Hindley. Azure d 

 hart lodged argent. 



Sir R. H. Leigh to Mr. Roger Leigh, the present 

 owner.^* 



The Knights Hospitallers held lands here from an 

 early period.^* 



One of the ancient families here was that of Occleshaw, 

 In 1246 Richard son of William recovered 8 acres in 

 Aspull from Gilbert de Barton, Henry de Occleshaw, 

 and Hugh his brother.^® Thirty years later the prior 

 of St. John of Jerusalem was claimant against John 

 de Occleshaw and another ; *^ and John de Occleshaw 

 and Henry his brother occur in 1291.^® Afterwards 

 Occleshaw was acquired by the Ince family.^^ 



Yet another early family was that of Gidlow, whose 

 residence was long known as GIDLOW HALL. In 

 1 29 1 Robert de Gidlow was a freeholder in Aspull,^^and 

 the name occurs frequently down to the 1 7th century,^^ 



son Robert, then about twenty-four years 

 of age, appearing and renouncing his title ; 

 Duchy Plead, ill, 69. 



Roger's son Robert, one of the * gentle- 

 men of the better sort ' who were ' soundly 

 affected in religion' in 1590 (Gibson, 

 Lydiate Hall^ ^46)> was living at the 

 Visitation of 1613 (p. Ii8), and his will 

 was proved in 1620. Roger Hindley was 

 assessed to the subsidy in 1622, and refusing 

 I knighthood compounded in 1631 ; Misc. 

 \ Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 162, 216. 

 ^0 It appears from the Wigan Registers 

 that he had several children ; his wife 

 Alice died in Jan. 1624-5 5 Roger Hind- 

 ley himself was buried at Wigan, 15 Nov, 

 1651. Robert son of Roger Hindley was 

 baptized at Winwick in 1607. 



Margaret, a ' daughter and co-heir of 

 Roger Hindley of Hindley,' is said by Dug- 

 dale, Visit. (54), to have married Roger 

 Bradshaw of Aspull ; it appears from the 

 registers that the marriage took place in 

 1596, a daughter Elizabeth was bom 

 in 1597, and in the following year the 

 wife died. 



^1 Ibid. p. 100 ; Ormerod, Ches. (cd. 

 Helsby), iii, 817. Old Mrs. Dukinfield 

 and her son James are mentioned in Roger 

 Lowe's Diary^ 1663 ; Loc. Glean. Lanes, 

 and Ches. i, 170, 171, 189. The mother 

 left money to the chapel and school of 

 Hindley. 



^2 Alexander Leigh, the grandfather, 

 procured the Act of 1720 for making the 

 Douglas navigable from Wigan to Preston ; 

 for an anecdote of him see Hist. MSS. Com, 

 Rep. xiv, App. iv, 458. Holt Leigh, the 

 father, of Hindley Hall, Aspull, and Whit- 

 ley Hall, Wigan, married Mary daughter 

 and co-heir of Thomas Owen, of Uphol- 

 land ; acquiring the manors of Orrell and 

 Billinge. Robert Holt Leigh was born 

 at Wigan in 1762. He was educated at 

 Manchester School, and Christ Church, 

 Oxford, but though he passed the examina- 

 tions he did not graduate till 1837. He 

 was made a baronet in 181 5, at the in- 

 stance of Canning, and represented Wigan 

 in Parliament from 1802 to 1820 ; he is 

 described as ' a high Tory and firm Church- 

 man, but strenuous Protestant.' He had 

 a high reputation as a scholar, linguist, 

 and man of culture, but * over the latter 

 years of his life it is better that a veil 

 should be drawn. It is very sad to record 

 folly and profligacy in the mature years of 

 a life in which, otherwise, there is much 

 to admire ; ' Manchester School Reg. (Chet. 

 Soc). He died at Hindley Hall, 21 Jan. 

 1843. 



His brother, Roger Holt Leigh, of Leeds, 

 died 13 May 183 1 from injuries received 

 during election disturbances. 



18 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; G.E.C. Complete 

 Peerage, iv, 401. 



14 Burke, Landed Gentry. 



15 Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 375. 

 The rental compiled about 1540 shows 

 that there were four tenements yielding a 

 total rent of 45,, viz. one messuage held 

 by Thomas Gorsuch, ^d. ; Occleshaw, 

 by Alexander Catterall, 18^. ; Whittington 

 House, by John Byrom, \zd. ; and a 

 messuage by William Houghton, x%d» \ 

 Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 84. 



1^ Assize R. 404, m. 1 1 d. 



17 De Banco R. 18, m. 6 ; 21, m. 26, 



18 Assize R. 1294, m. 9 d. 



1^ By her charter, Cecily daughter of 

 John de Occleshaw granted to her first- 

 born son John all that she had received 

 from her father in Aspull ; Henry de 

 Occleshaw was a witness ; Add. MS. 

 32104, fol. 117 (509). She is perhaps 

 the same Cecily who, as wife of John de 

 Worthington, in 1323-4 claimed a mes- 

 suage and lands from Richard de Occleshaw 

 and William son of Henry de Occleshaw ; 

 Assize R. 425, m. 3 ; and, as wife of John 

 de Warrington, quitclaimed to Hugh de 

 Ince the land called 'Oculshagh* in Aspull, 

 of which John son of William de Occle- 

 shaw was once seised. Her grandson and 

 heir, Thomas son of Henry son of Robert 

 de Ulneswalton, in 1359 claimed it from 

 Hugh de Ince ; Duchy of Lane. Assize 

 R. 7, m. 2 d. 



Another Cecily, wife of Robert de War- 

 rington, claimed dower here in 135 1 ; 

 ibid. R. I, m. v d ; 2, m. 2, 



^^ Assize R. 1 294, m. 9 d. 5 Henry son of 

 Gunna and Roger de Swinley were other 

 defendants. The Gidlows were probably 

 so named from Gidlow in Wigan 5 the 

 name is spelt Gydclowe, Gudelowe, Good- 

 law, &c. Robert de Gidlow was plaintiff 

 in 1304 ; Assize R. 420, m, 2d. 



21 Somefamilydeedshave been preserved 

 by Towneley (Add, MS. 32107, GG, no. 

 1 586-1619), and these and others more 

 briefly by Kuerden (ii, fol. 244^), but they 

 are not sufficient for a complete history, 



Henry, lord of Ince, gave lands in Ince 

 to William de Gidlow, with reasonable 

 entry from his land in Aspull, by follow- 

 ing the Mill Brook and that part on which 

 the Harleton lies to Ince boundary, ren- 

 dering two white gloves ; GG, no. 1588. 

 Robert de Gidlow gave the mill of Brins- 

 hope to S.ichard de Ince ; Kuerden, loc. 

 cit. no. 27. Henry de Sefton (father of 

 Richard de Ince) gave land in Ince to 

 Robert son of William de Gidlow in 

 exchange for some the latter had from 

 Roger son of Godith ; also the greater 

 hey in Aspull, the bounds mentioning 

 Longshaw, Ballisdene, and the highway 



120 



toWesthoughton ; GG,nos, 1595,1603. 

 This latter was in 1294 transferred by 

 Robert to his son William, except por- 

 tions he had given to his daughter Ellen 

 and another son Robert ; 135. a year was 

 payable to Richard de Ince ; no. 1593. 



William son of Robert de Gidlow in 

 1326 gave the Blackficld to his son 

 Richard ; nos. 1598-9. ' 



Robert son of Roger de Gidlow at 

 Easter 1354 claimed a messuage and 

 lands in Aspull from John son of Richard 

 de Gidlow, Gilbert de Ince, and William 

 de Ince of Aughton ; but Gilbert de Ince 

 showed that the father had held of him 

 by knight's service, so that he had law- 

 fully entered into possession, as guardian, 

 on Roger's death ; Duchy of Lane. Assize 

 R. 3, m. 3 d. 



Another John Gidlow, of the time of 

 Henry VI, is the next of whom informa- 

 tion is forthcoming; GG, no. 1586. Ralph 

 son of John Gidlow was in 1444 con- 

 tracted to marry Joan daughter of John 

 and Elizabeth Parbold ; no. 1591. In 

 1445 Thomas Pleasington accused John 

 Gidlow and others of an assault upon him 

 at Heapey, and Amice Gidlow accused 

 Randle Charnock and others of waylaying 

 her with intent to kill ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Plea R. 8, m. i, \b 5 9, m. 6, 2. In the 

 same year Ralph Gidlow was to be arrested 

 for felony ; ibid. R. 7, m. 16^, In 1471-2 

 the feoffees regranted to John Gidlow, 

 senior, all his messuages and lands in 

 Aspull, with remainders to John son of 

 Ralph son of the elder John ; then to 

 John, William, and Robert, brothers of 

 Ralph ; GG, no. 1600. 



Ralph Gidlow of Aspull referred his 

 disputes with Roger Brown to arbitration 

 in 1514; no. 1529. He was murdered 

 with a dagger 22 Sept. 1531 by one 

 Christopher Shakerley. Thomas Gerard 

 of Ince was called out of his bed by the 

 constables of AspuUto view the body and 

 search for the felon ; and on returning 

 home with a crowd of neighbours, Cecily 

 and Agnes, daughters of Ralph, desired him 

 to take charge of two boxes belonging to 

 their father. The complaint of Anne the 

 widow followed ; Duchy Plead, ii, 25-27. 

 At the inquisition after Ralph's death it 

 was found that he had held lands in Lang- 

 tree, CoppuU, and Aspull ; the jury did 

 not know what knight's service belonged 

 to the last. Robert Gidlow his son and 

 heir was sixteen years of age ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 12, 



In 1535 another inquisition was made 

 at the petition of Robert the heir. It 

 appeared that Ralph Gidlow had in 1520 

 made a feoffment of the Dower house and 

 others of his tenements in Aspull and Ince, 



Digitized by IVIicrosoft® 



