A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



John '' and Randle," successively held the manor, 

 which, on failure of male issue, reverted about 1495 to 

 their uncle Nicholas, rector of East Bridgeford,*' 

 whose youngest brother Oliver thus became heir. In 

 the year named he married Douce daughter of Gilbert 

 Langton of Hindley,'' but died in or before I 5 12, 

 leaving Gilbert his heir, born in 1496, a minor.'" 

 Gilbert died in 1559" leaving several children by 

 his wife Margaret daughter of John Holcroft." 



John, the eldest of these, married Cecily daughter 

 of Thomas South worth, and died in 1593.*^ He 

 adhered in heart to the ancient faith, and in 1 590 was 

 reckoned among the ' more usual comers to church,' 



though not a communicant." His son John suc- 

 ceeded him,'' and was followed by another son also 

 named John in 1626. The latter died in 1640, just 

 before the outbreak of the Civil War." His eldest 

 son, John, a ' papist delinquent,' had his estates se- 

 questered by the Parliamentary authorities," and died 

 without issue in 1 647, soon after attaining his majority, 

 of wounds received in fighting for the king.'* His 

 brother Thomas," admitting recusancy, petitioned the 

 Commonwealth authorities to be allowed a third of 

 his estate ; he was also admitted as lessee of the se- 

 questered two-thirds, agreeing to pay ^^86 a year for it.*" 

 His two brothers became Jesuit priests.*' He married 



^ John son and heir of Gilbert Cul- 

 cheth was in 1462 contracted to marry 

 Parnell daughter of Hamlet Mascy of 

 Rixton, deceased, and Joan his wife ; 

 Gilbert was dead, his widow Agnes 

 being the wife of Ralph Langton ; Alice, 

 the widow of Thomas Culcheth, was still 

 living ; Culcheth D. no. 112. 



John Culcheth occurs again ten years 

 later; no. 113. He left two daughters, 

 Agnes and Isabel, living in 1 500 ; no. 

 1 2 1-3. 



^^ In 1483 Thurstan Anderton released 

 to Randle Culcheth his right in Culcheth 

 Carrs, inherited from his grandfather Oliver 

 Anderton and Ellen his wife, to whom it 

 had been given by Thomas Culcheth in 

 1448; no. 114, 106. Three years later 

 arbitrators were appointed in a dispute 

 between Robert Rixton and his wife Par- 

 nell, formerly wife of John Culcheth, and 

 Randle Culcheth, brother and heir of John; 

 no. 116. 



In July 1491 Randle did homage for 

 Culcheth to Thomas Boteler of Warring- 

 ton, and paid los. lod, relief; Miic, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 13, 14. 



^8 Culcheth D. no. 124, dated 1502. 



^^ Ibid. no. 120. Master Nicholas made 

 an estate to her of lands in Hindley of the 

 value of 8 marks a year for her life. At 

 the same time he declared he had not en- 

 cumbered the lands of Thomas his father, 

 or Gilbert his brother, or of John and 

 Randle Culcheth his * cousins,' except 

 certain lands granted for life to Agnes, 

 late the wife of Gilbert but then of Ralph 

 Langton, and to Parnell, later the wife of 

 John. Nicholas was living in 1499 ; 

 B.M. Add. Chart. 17700. 



Oliver Culcheth did homage in 1 503-4, 

 paying lOJ. lo</. relief; Misc. (Rec. Soc), 

 1,16,22. In 1505 he made a feoffment of 

 his manor of Culcheth and his lands there 

 and in Hindley ; Culcheth D. no. 126. 



^ Ibid. no. 128 ; an assignment of 

 dower to Douce widow of Oliver Cul- 

 cheth, with a proviso that when Oliver's 

 son Gilbert came of age it should not pre- 

 judice her claim to a reasonable part of 

 the lands in Hindley held for the use of 

 George Culcheth, brother of Gilbert. 



In 15 1 5 Sir "Thomas Boteler sold the 

 wardship and marriage of Gilbert Cul- 

 cheth to Thomas Langley, rector of Prest- 

 wich, and others, for 80 marks ; ibid. no. 

 130. In the same year bond was given to 

 perform the covenants of marriage in an in- 

 denture between Gilbert Culcheth and Sir 

 William Leyland ; ibid. no. 131. This 

 marriage appears to have been with Jane, 

 daughter and heir of Guy Green of Na- 

 burn, Yorkshire, for in 1533 Gilbert was 

 holding her lands as tenant by courtesy ; 

 ibid. no. 147. 



Gilbert was of full age in 1517, when he 

 covenanted to pay his mother Douce, then 

 wife of James Strangeways, an annuity of 



^6 105. as her dower, in the chapel at 

 Lowe in Hindley ; no. 132, 133. George 

 Culcheth also had an annuity ; no. 141, 



By 1526 he had married Margaret 

 daughter of John Holcroft ; and in the 

 following year his father's trustees released 

 to him the manor of Culcheth; no. 138, 

 140. 



" Maneb, Ct. Lat Rec. (ed. Earwaker), 

 i, 51. 



^^ A pedigree was recorded in 1567 ; 

 yisit. (Chet. Soc), 82. It begins with 

 Oliver Culcheth. 



^ Culcheth D. no. 160-9, ^7 °^^ °^ 

 these (no. 165) John Culcheth in i;66 

 covenanted with Sir John Southworth to 

 levy a iine of his lands to the use of him- 

 self for life, with remainders to his sons 

 John, Thomas, and Gilbert ; in another 

 deed (no. 269) his wife Cecily is named, 

 and his daughter Mary. Cecily was living 

 in 1595 ; no. 182. 



For his death see Mancb. Ct. hat. Rec, 

 ii, 76. 



"^ Gibson, Lydiate Hall, quoting S.P. 

 Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, 4. 



^* John the son was married in 1576 

 to Maud daughter of John Poole of 

 Wirral ; her portion was 500 marks ; 

 Culcheth D. no. 171. The marriage 

 licence was granted 23 Aug. ; Henry 

 Pennant's Acct. Bk. (Ches. Dioc. Reg.). 

 For fines relating to his lands in 1594 and 

 1597 see Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 56, 

 m. 78 ; 58, m. 30. In 1598 he settled 

 his lands and manors in Culcheth, Hind- 

 ley, Ince, and Manchester, with remain- 

 ders to his son John and the father's 

 brothers, Thomas and Gilbert ; Culcheth 

 D. no. 186. In 1601, as stated in the 

 text, he purchased the enfranchisement of 

 the manor of Culcheth ; no. 190. He 

 was deforciant in 1603 in a fine regarding 

 the manors of Culcheth and Hindley, and 

 messuages, water-mill, windmill, dovecotes, 

 lands, &c., there and in Ince and Man- 

 chester ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 63, 

 no. 367. 



He died 24 Sept. 1625 ; Culcheth D. 

 no. 21 1. The inquisition taken after 

 his death is given in Towneley MS. C. 8. 

 13 (Chet. Lib.), p. 267 ; the manor of 

 Culcheth with water-mill, houses, and 

 lands, was held of John Southworth (as 

 trustee) ; the son and heir John was said 

 to be twenty-six years of age ; see Manch. 

 Ct. Leet Rec. iii, 122. 



'^ John Culcheth was baptized at New- 

 church 10 Dec. 1599, as appears by the 

 registers. Before he was five years of 

 age he was contracted in marriage to 

 Christian, daughter of John Hawarden of 

 Appleton in Widnes, 'if the young persons 

 agree when they are of age ' ; Culcheth D. 

 no. 193. 



In the Fisit. of 161 3 (Chet. Soc. p. 88) 

 Christian is entered as ' wife of — Cul- 

 cheth ' ; but she probably died soon after- 



158 



wards, and John Culcheth married her 

 half-sister Jane, as appears by his will 

 and the f^isit. of 1664 (Chet. Soc. p. 91). 

 He paid a fine of ^15 in 1631 on 

 refusing knighthood ; Mhc. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 2X2. 



In 1626 he purchased the tithes of 

 Culcheth from Sir Edward Fitton for 

 ,f 1,000 ; Culcheth D. no. 208-10, 213. 



He died 17 July 1640. The manor of 

 Culcheth and the lands there were found 

 to be held of John Minshull of MinshuU 

 in Cheshire, by the tenth part of a knight's 

 fee and a rent of Ss, lod. ; the manor o{ 

 Hindley was held of Sir Richard Fleet- 

 wood in socage ; a tenement in Man- 

 chester was held of Sir Edward Mosley 

 as lord of Manchester ; and the tithes in 

 Culcheth of the Earl of Derby, being 

 worth per annum clear 20J. John Cul- 

 cheth was his son and heir, and fifteen 

 years of age on 8 Feb. 1 640-1 ; Jane, the 

 widow, was in possession ; Duchy of Lane, 

 Inq. p.m. xxix, no. 67 (printed in Lanes, 

 and Ches. Hist, and Gen, Notes, i, 307). 

 In his will (ibid, 374) he desired to be 

 buried in his ancestors' burial place in his 

 chapel called the Chapel of the Blessed 

 Virgin Mary in Winwick Church, The 

 inventory showed a total of ^^908 2s. %d. 



The premises in Manchester were called 

 Oldgrave Hall, or Culcheth or Langley 

 Hall. 



'7 From reports of the Committee of 

 Lords and Commons for Sequestrations in 

 1 648, preserved among the Culcheth family 

 papers. These recite a settlement of 1601 

 made by John Culcheth the grandfather, 

 and other deeds. Jane Culcheth, the 

 widow, was living, and a recusant, and it 

 was submitted to the judgement of the 

 committee whether the jf 60 a year pay- 

 able to her during the minority of her 

 sons Charles and William should not be 

 paid instead to ' some well-affected Pro- 

 testant,' who should educate them in the 

 Protestant religion, the said committee to 

 take care that they and also the daughters 

 Mary and Katherine be so educated. 

 See also Flund. Mins, Accts. (Rec. Soc, 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 73. 



^ So st^fed in Dugdale, Visit, loc. cit. ; 

 and in Castlemain, Apology, quoted in 

 Gillow, Bihl. Diet, of Engl. Cath. i, 608. 



»' Baptized at Newchurch 5 May 1628, 

 and therefore still under age at the time 

 of his petition. His brother Charles was 

 baptized 11 Apr. 1631, and his sister 

 Mary 23 Apr. 1633 ; Lanes, and Ches 

 Hist, and Gen. Notes, i, 310. 



■"' Culcheth family papers as above. 

 See also Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 108. 



" Foley, iJ«.S.7.vii, 188, 189. Charles 

 Culcheth died at Ghent, 1 667, in attending 

 the victims of the plague. William Cul- 

 cheth served on the mission in Durham 

 and Lincolnshire, and died in 1684. 



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