WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WINWICK 



tion in religion ' ; his wife Cecily was then a ' recusant 

 and indicted thereof.' " He died at the beginning of 

 162 1, holding the manors of Ashton and Windle in 

 Lancashire, and Etwall and Hardwick in Derbyshire ; 

 the tenure of Ashton was stated to be ' in free socage, 

 by fealty only.' His heir was his son Thomas, aged 

 thirty-six and more." This Sir Thomas, second 

 baronet, was succeeded in 1630" by his son Sir 

 William Gerard, who warmly espoused the king's cause 

 at the outbreak of the Civil War,*' and was appointed 

 governor of Denbigh Castle ; he sold the Derbyshire 

 estates to provide money for the campaign.** 



Charles II lodged at Brynn 15 August 165 1, on 

 his way from Scotland to Worcester." Sir William's 

 estate was of course sequestered by the Parliament, 

 and being a convicted recusant he was not at first 

 allowed to compound even for the third part retained 

 by recusants who were not ' delinquents ' also. The 

 estates were sold under the confiscation Act of 1652, 

 the purchaser being John Wildman." All or most 

 was recovered in some way, probably by composition 

 with the new owner, and Sir William Gerard of the 



Brynn recorded a pedigree at the Visitation of 1665." 

 He was buried at Winwick in 1 681. 



His son Sir William, aged twenty-seven in 1665, 

 succeeded. The family had been greatly impoverished 

 by their fidelity to their religion and to the cause of 

 Charles I, and it is said that even the stipends of the 

 priests serving the domestic chapels at Ashton could 

 not be paid." Sir William's son, another William, 

 married about 1696 the heiress of the Cansfield 

 family, and this probably helped to restore the fortunes 

 of the Gerards." Sir William died in 1702 ; his 

 son as ' a papist ' registered his estate in 1 7 1 7, and 

 died four years later." For the succeeding century 

 there is but little to record of the family. They 

 were shut out of public employments by the legal 

 proscription of the ancient religion, and do not seem 

 to have produced any distinguished ecclesiastics. 



The development of the coal mines in Ashton 

 during the 19th century brought great wealth to the 

 family. 



The Sir William Gerard last mentioned was suc- 

 ceeded by his son and grandson, each named William." 



Their tutor, Edward Lewknor, followed 

 them, * being resolved to live as a Catho- 

 lic in very deed, and not merely in desire.' 

 For the knighthood see Metcalfe, op. 

 cit. 140 ; and for the baronetcy G.E.C. 

 Comphti Baronetage, i, 21. The fee of 

 j^i,ooo is said to have been remitted in 

 consideration of the father's services to 

 the king's mother. He represented 

 Liverpool in the Parliament of 1597, and 

 Wigan in that of 1621 ; Pink and Beaven, 

 op. cit. 184, 224. 



In 1612 a settlement was made by Sir 

 Thomas Gerard of the manors of Ashton, 

 Garswood, and Windle — the other Lanca- 

 shire manors having been disposed of — 

 and lands in Ashton and neighbouring 

 townships i Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 81, no. 26. 



** Lydiate Hall, loc. cit. In 1592 

 Thomas Gerard of High Carr was re- 

 ported to have had a * notorious recusant ' 

 as his schoolmaster for some years ; ibid. 

 258 (quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxv, 19). 

 His sister Dorothy and her husband Ralph 

 Layton of the Brynn were in like case. 



Dame Anne Gerard, widow of Sir 

 Gilbert Gerard, was in 1590 living at 

 Highley Carr, indicted of recusancy ; ibid. 

 *" Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), iii, 297-301. The fine above 

 cited is given, as also another relating to 

 the Derbyshire manors. The remainders 

 were to Thomas, eldest son of Sir Thomas, 

 and his sons by Frances his wife ; in de- 

 fault to John, the second son, &c. 



^^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxvi, no. 

 57 ; funeral certificate (with coat of 

 twenty quarters) in Lanes, and Ches. Fun. 

 Cert. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 203. 



Sir Thomas had been made a knight in 

 1615 5 Metcalfe, op. cit. 165. He was 

 member for Liverpool in 1624 ; Pink 

 and Beavan, op. cit. 186. As a convicted 

 recusant he paid double to the subsidy of 

 1628 ; Norris D. (B.M.). Gilbert, one 

 of his sons, became a Jesuit priest, and 

 died of a disease contracted while acting 

 as chaplain to some English troops in 

 Belgium in 1645 i Foley, Rec. S.J vi, 

 337; vii, 294. 



Richard, another son, cup-bearer to 

 Queen Henrietta Maria, acquired the 

 manor of Ince in Makerfield. 



*^ Sir William Gerard, Sir Cecil Traf- 

 ford, and four other convicted recusants, 

 joined in a petition to Charles I that their 



arms might be restored to them ' in this 

 time of actual war,' for the security of 

 the king's person as well as of their own 

 district and families, ' who are not only in 

 danger of the common disturbance, but 

 menaced by unruly people to be robbed.' 

 The king writing from Chester, 27 Sept. 

 1642, very readily granted the permission; 

 JVar in Lanes. (Chet. Soc), 12-14. 



*s Etwall is said to have been sold to 

 secure the barony of Newton, but the 

 money was spent in providing funds for 

 the campaign of 1651 ; see Visit, of 1533 

 (Chet. Soc), 184. 



^' ' The last night this king lodged at 

 Brynn, six miles from Warrington, being 

 Sir William Gerard's house, who is a 

 subtle jesuited Papist ' ; letter dated 

 Stockton Heath, 16 Aug. in Civil War 

 Tracts (Chet. Soc), 288. 



5" G.E.C. op. cit. and Royalist Comp. 

 Tapers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 

 51-71, where details are given of a settle- 

 ment made in 1632 ; see also Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 122, no. ;. It 

 appeared that in 1632 Sir William had 

 compounded with the king for a lease of 

 two-thirds of his Lancashire lands seques- 

 tered for recusancy, he having been in 

 ward to the king until April of that year ; 

 Royalist Comp. Papers, iii, 62. ' Getting 

 coals ' is named among the disbursements ; 

 d^. A survey of the lands in Ashton, 

 taken in 1652, is printed on p. 68 ; it 

 gives the names, areas, and values of the 

 fields. Tootell, Leachfield, Tunstall 

 Heads, Coalpit Banks, Mill Hill and 

 Pingotts appear among the field names. 



For the sale see ibid. 70 ; Index of 

 Royalists (Index Soc), 42. 



" Dugdale, Visit. 116. Sir William 

 Gerard and William his son were recusants 

 in 1678 i Hist. MSS. Cam. Rep. xiv, App. 

 iv, 109. Two of the younger sons went 

 to the English College in Rome — Thomas 

 who entered in 1660, and became a 

 Jesuit, and died in Yorkshire in 1682, 

 while attending victims of an epidemic ; 

 and Cuthbert who entered in 1662, and 

 left for England two years later ; Foley, 

 op. cit. vi, 401, 404 ; vii, 296. 'Thomas, 

 on entering, gave details of his parentage, 

 stating that *his parents and himself had 

 suffered much for the Catholic religion' 5 

 he had been baptized by Fr, Howard in 

 .64.. 



°2 Foley, op. cit. v, 361 ; the time re- 



ferred to seems to be early in the i8th 

 century. 



An anecdote of Sir William Gerard is 

 given in Hut, MSS* Com. Rep. xiv, App, 

 iv, 142. He remained loyal to James II, 

 and was carried off to Preston a prisoner 

 in 1689, and accused of a part in the 

 * Lancashire Plot* of 1694.; ibid. 294, 

 3^9, &c.; inquiry was also made as to 

 whether Garswood Hall was not devoted 

 to 'superstitious uses'; Exck. Dep. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 84.. His son 

 William was also among the accused. A 

 number of the baptisms of Sir William's 

 children are recorded in the Winwick 

 registers. 



^^ See the account of Cansfield of 

 Robert Hall. 



^^ Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non- 

 jurors, 114. The estate was the 'manor 

 of Ashton, &c., entailed with remainders 

 successively to sons by Mary his wife, to 

 John his brother, to Thomas Gerard of 

 Ince, and to Richard Gerard of Wigan ; 

 subject to ;^ioo per annum to Dame 

 Mary Gerard of Birchley. Also the rec- 

 tory of Childwall, for lives of his wife 

 Mary, the granddaughter of James Ander- 

 ton, and of his daughters Anne and Eliza- 

 beth — ^1,272 1 1 J. 8(/.' 



The brother, John Gerard of Garswood, 

 registered an annuity of £%o ; and the 

 father's widow, Dame Mary of Birchley, 

 also registered ; ibid. 99, 97. 



^* The brief summary of the descent 

 here given is quoted from G.E.C. Complete 

 Baronetage, loc, cit. The following refer- 

 ences to Pal. of Lane. Plea R. may be 

 useful : Lent 1693 — Recovery of the 

 manors of Ashton and Windle, &c., Sir 

 William Gerard and William Gerard 

 vouchees 5 R. 457, m. 9. Aug. 1703 — 

 King's Silver, manor of Windle, &c.. Sir 

 William Gerard and Mary his wife, John, 

 Thomas, and Richard Gerard ; R. 478, 

 m. 8. Lent 1721 — Recovery of manor 

 of Ashton, Sir William Gerard and Wil- 

 liam Gerard vouchees; R. 512, m. 6. 

 Aug. 1745 — Recovery of manors of Ash- 

 ton and Windle and a fourth part of 

 Billinge, Sir Thomas Gerard vouchee ; 

 R. 563, m. 4, Lent 1796— Recovery of 

 manors of Ashton, Windle, and AspuU, 

 and parcels in Aspull, Billinge, Ince, Gol- 

 borne. Parr, Winstanley, Prescot, Wigan, 

 Hindley, Hale, Halcwood, and Halebank; 

 Lent Assizes 1796, R. 12, 



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