A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



1 7th century, while the other half was held by the 

 TrafFords,™ and sold about 16 10 to a Kenyon."" 



Anthony Mosley, father of the purchaser of Ancoats, 

 was the younger brother of Sir Nicholas, and associated 

 with him in the cloth business, looking after the Man- 

 chester trade when the other removed to London. 

 He died in 1607, and is commemorated by a monu- 

 mental brass in the cathedral."' Oswald, his son and 

 heir, the first Mosley of Ancoats, died in 1630 ; he 

 also has a brass in the cathedral.'" His heir, his 

 eldest son Nicholas, was still under age, but came 

 into court in 1633 to do his suit and service to the 

 lord of the manor."' He took the king's side during 

 the Civil War, deserting Manchester for the time. His 

 lands being thereupon sequestered by the Parliament 

 he compounded in 1646 on a fine of ^^ 1 20, his estate 

 in Ancoats, Clayden, and Beswick being of the clear 

 annual value of ^60 ; he had taken the National 

 Covenant and the Negative oath."* He took a con- 

 spicuous part in the Manchester rejoicings at the 

 Restoration,"' but though an Episcopalian and a 

 justice of the peace he did not join in the subsequent 

 persecution of the Nonconformists."* He had three 

 sons ; from Nicholas, the youngest, the present Sir 

 Oswald Mosley descends. 



Sir Edward Mosley, who died in 1665, had directed 

 that £j,ooo should be invested in land for the benefit 

 of his cousin Nicholas ; but this had not been done 

 in 1672, when Nicholas died, leaving his eldest son 

 Oswald as heir. A division of Sir Edward's estates 

 being agreed upon, Oswald received in lieu of the 



/7,ooo the reversion of the manors of RoUeston and 

 Manchester, and in 1695, on succeeding to the former 

 on the death of Sir Edward's widow, he went to reside 

 there, and died in 1726."' His son and heir, Oswald, 

 was created a baronet in 1720, and in 1734, on the 

 death of Lady Bland, succeeded to the lordship of 

 Manchester. This involved him in many disputes. In 

 1693, acting for Lady Bland, he had claimed a duty 

 of zJ. per pack on all goods called Manchester wares, 

 but was defeated ; and a later claim to set up a malt 

 mill was defeated by the feoffees of the grammar 

 school."' His eldest son Sir Oswald succeeded in 

 175 1, and wished to sell the manor of Manchester, 

 but was unable to do so owing to a settlement he had 

 made."' On his death in 1757 the manor, with 

 Ancoats, passed to his brother John, a clergyman of 

 eccentric habits, who died unmarried in 1779, when 

 the baronetcy expired.'^" 



In accordance with the dispositions made by the 

 last Sir Oswald the estates then went to a second 

 cousin, John Parker Mosley, created a baronet in 

 1 78 1. He was the youngest son of Nicholas Mosley, 

 a woollen draper of Manchester, who was son of 

 Nicholas Mosley, an apothecary in London, already 

 mentioned as the youngest son of Nicholas Mosley of 

 Ancoats. The new lord of Manchester, Ancoats, and 

 RoUeston had been established as a hatter in Man- 

 chester, but a passion for cockfighting and other dissi- 

 pations almost ruined him. Steadied by his danger 

 he entered on a new course of life and prospered. 

 He was about forty-seven when he succeeded to the 



Robert son of Simon de Manchester gave 

 all his land in Ancoats to Henry son of 

 Henry de Trafford (no. 27/244), and 

 Robert son of Robert son of Simon de 

 Manchester made a grant to Alexander 

 the Dyer (no. 82/312). Geoffrey and Joan 

 received other land from Thomas son of 

 Geoffrey son of Simon Cocks of Man- 

 chester in 1305 (no. 28/216), and in 1317 

 Geoffrey de Chadderton of Chadderton 

 granted all his land in Ancoats and Man- 

 chester to his son Richard (no. 4/317). 

 This Richard was tenant in 1320, but his 

 rent was only gd, ; Mamecestrcj ii, 278. 

 The lord of Ancoats had at that time 

 common of turbary in Openshaw ; ibid, 

 ii, 291. 



It does not appear how this portion 

 came to the Byrons, but in 133 1 Henry 

 son of Robert de Ancoats leased all his 

 hereditary holding to Sir Richard de 

 Byron, and in the following year sold it 

 outright, together with the reversion of 

 the dower lands held by his mother 

 Agnes ; Byron Chartul. no. 3/238, no. 



4/239- 



In 1473 John Byron held a moiety of 

 two messuages and two ozgangs in An- 

 coats in socage by a rent of 31. 4^. — a 

 moiety of the rent of 121 2 — and was 

 bound to grind his corn at the Manchester 

 mill ; Mamscestre, iii, 482. 



Thomas de Hollinworth the elder seems 

 to have been a Byron tenant in 1405, 

 when he made a grant to Hugh his son j 

 Hugh made a feoffment of his estate in 

 Ancoats in 1433 ; Byron Chartul. no, 

 5/318,22/319. 



"' Some grants to the Traffords have 

 Seen mentioned in the preceding note. 

 Henty de Trafford in 1320 had land in 

 ^coata, joined with his holding of five 

 sxgangs in Chorlton ; its separate rent 

 ippears to have been 9*^.; Mamecestre, ii, 

 178. He and Richard de Chadderton 



were bound to grind at the mill of Man- 

 chester. 



In 1373 Sir Henry de Trafford granted 

 in fee to John son of Nicholas de Traf- 

 ford all the lands, &c., which John then 

 held for life ; and a release was given in 

 1402 ; De Trafford D. no. 84, 85. 



In 1473 Bartin Trafford held messuages, 

 apparently in Ancoats, by a service of 

 3s. 41/.; M.amecestre, iii, 482. 



^'^^ It was found in October 1610 that 

 Ralph Kenyon had purchased of Sir Ed- 

 ward Trafford a messuage within the 

 town of Manchester called The Ancoats, 

 for which an annual service of 3^. ^d. 

 was due to the lord ; Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. 

 ii, 256. The purchaser was still living at 

 Ancoats in 1631 ; ibid, iii, 180. 



^^1 There is an account of the Mosleys 

 of Ancoats in Mosley Memoranda (Chet. 

 Soc. New Ser.). For Anthony see also 

 Mosley, Fam. Mem. 22, 23 j and 

 Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. ii, 225, where an 

 abstract of his will is given. He several 

 times acted as a constable of the borough. 

 For the Mosley brasses see Lanes, and 

 Ches. Antiq. Soc. xi, 82. 



11" Mosley, op. cit. 25. He purchased 

 Ancoats from Sir John Byron in 1609 ; 

 Mosley Mem. 16. He acquired lands in 

 Cheshire through his marriage with Anne 

 daughter and co-heir of Ralph Lowe of 

 Mile End near Stockport. A rental of 

 Ancoats in i6o8 showi a total of 

 ;^39 1 6s. 6d. Adam Smith and John 

 Ashton appear to have had an interest in 

 a fourth part of the fields, which measured 

 48 acres. The field-names included the 

 HoUin Wood, the Eyes, the Banks, &c. 

 Other surveys, &c., will be found op. cit. 

 31, &c. 



Oswald Mosley was steward of the 

 Court Leet from 16 13 until 1618 ; Manch. 

 Ct. Leet Rec. ii, 278, &c. The inquisi- 

 tionu taken after his death describe his 



238 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



estate as a messuage called Ancoats, held 

 of the lord of Manchester in socage by a 

 rent of 3^. ^d. yearly ; a capital messuage 

 in Millgate, held of the same by a rent of 

 31. id.; two messuages in Clayden ; also 

 two in Beswick, lately belonging to Bes- 

 wick's chantry. Nicholas was his son 

 and heir. Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxv, 

 27 ; xxviii, 83. 



1" Manch. Ct.Leet. Rec. iii, 197. He 

 was borough reeve in 166 1—2 ; ibid, iv, 

 327. 



i" Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc 

 Lanes, and Ches.), iv, 199, 200 ; Civil 

 War tracts (Chet. Soc), 16. 



11^ At the Coronation rejoicings in 1661 

 Nicholas Mosley, ' a sufferer for his late 

 Majesty,' as captain of the auxiliaries 

 raised in the town marched into the field 

 with his company, numbering above 220 

 men, ' most of them being the better sort 

 of this place, and bearing their own arms, 

 in great gallantry and rich scarfs ' ; Manch. 

 Ct.Leet Rec. iv, 282. He had in 1653 

 published Rsychosophia ; ibid. note. In 

 1664 a pedigree was recorded by him j 

 Dugdale, Fisit. (Chet. Soc), 213. There 

 is a notice of him in Diet. Nat. Biog. 



1" Mosley, Fam. Mem. 39. 



"7 Ibid. 40, 41. A number of refer- 

 ences to disputes between Oswald Mos- 

 ley and the Elands will be found in 

 Exeh. Dep. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 94, &c. 



11' Family Mem. 41-9. Here is recorded 

 a tradition that the Young Pretender had 

 early in 1745 stayed incognito at Ancoats, 

 visiting Manchester every day in order to 

 see Jacobite sympathizers and arrange for 

 the invasion. 



1" Ibid. 49-50. The would-be pur- 

 chaser of Manchester was Mr. Egerton 

 of Tatton. 



i''" Ibid. 51-4 ; many examples of his 

 peculiarities are narrated. 



