SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



practically the whole manor, but part was afterwards 

 held by the TrafFords of Garrett.^^ The hall and 

 its demesne lands were in 1590 sold by Sir Edmund 

 TrafFord to Ralph Sorocold of Golborne," who sold 

 it to Ellis Hey of Eccles, and in 1 644 it was sold by 

 the younger Ellis Hey '^ to Thomas Minshull, 

 apothecary of Manchester.** The Minshulls also 

 acquired the adjacent Garrett estate, and Hough Hall 

 in Moston, The whole came by marriage into the 

 possession of Roger Aytoun of Inchdarney in Fife, 



described as captain in the 72nd Regiment of Foot or 

 Manchester Volunteers.** He squandered the estates, 

 which were sold in 1775. Chorlton was purchased 

 by John Dickenson of Manchester, and settled upon 

 his nephew William Churchill Dickenson, who in 

 1793 obtained an Act of Parliament authorizing him 

 to let the land on building leases.** 



The two oxgangs of land held by the Chorl- 

 ton family ** afterwards came into the hands of the 

 Entwisles of Entwisle.*® This part was sold in the 



township is included, together with the 

 ■Garrett estate in Ancoats. 



John Grelley retained an interest in 

 the lands for his life, and in 1363 com- 

 plained of waste of Houses, &c., in Chorl- 

 ton by Robert son of Sir Henry de Traf- 

 ford ; De Banco R. 416, m, 257. 



Henry de TrafFord in 1389 granted to 

 Sir Ralph de RadclifFe and Margery his 

 wife (widow of Henry's father), for her 

 life, * two parts of his manor of Chorlton, 

 which lately remained to the said Henry 

 as his right after the death of John 

 Grelley,' at a rent of 4 marks ; De Traf- 

 ford D. no. 125, 



The tenure of this portion of Chorlton 

 -seems to be defined in an inquisition of 

 1410, where Thomas de Traffbrd*s six 

 messuages, 100 acres of land, 20 acres of 

 meadow, and water-mill are stated to be 

 held of the lord of Manchester by render- 

 ing a clove gillyflower ; Lanes, Inq. p,m, 

 (Chet, Soc), i, 96. For other Trafford 

 inquisitions, in which the statements vary, 

 «ee ibid, i, 128 ; ii, 16. Ellen widow of 

 Thomas de TrafFord, in 1448, claimed 

 ■dower against Henry de TrafFord (a minor) 

 in Chorlton and Manchester ; Pal. of 

 Lane, Plea R, 11, m. 14A. 



According to the Manchester Rental 

 ■of 1473 Henry TrafFord held Chorlton by 

 a rent of 6i. ; M.amecestre, iii, 483. 



Sir Edmund TrafFord, being seised of the 

 manor of Chorlton, with meadow, pasture, 

 ^nd arable land appurtenant, leased the 

 same in 1 507 for thirty years to Richard 

 Bcswick and Margaret his wife. When left 

 a widow, Margaret was expelled by Ed- 

 mund TrafFord and others in 1523 ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Plead, Hen. VIII, xvii, B, 5. 



Edmund TrafFord died in 1563 holding 

 lands in Chorlton of the lord of Manches- 

 ter by a rent of i zd, only, so that some, 

 probably, had been sold ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xi, II. 



1^ See the account of Garrett in Man- 

 chester. 



20 The statement of the descent of the 

 manor is taken from Canon Raines in 

 Notitia Cestr, ii, 83, 84, except where 

 further references are given. It will be 

 -seen that it requires some correction. 



Sir Edmund TrafFord was in 1578 

 seised of the vill of Chorlton, parcel of 

 the manor of Manchester ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Plead, cviii, W. 1, He died in 

 1590, and his son Edmund, who appears 

 to have sold various parts of his inherit- 

 ance, in Sept. 1590, demised or mortgaged 

 Chorlton Hall and its lands to Ralph 

 Sorocold, and followed this with further 

 leases, including one of the tithes of 

 Stretford (on lease from the warden and 

 fellows of Manchester). He took pos- 

 session again in 1598 after Ralph's death, 

 alleging payment of his debt ; for the 

 widow Katherine, who had married 

 Thomas Goodyear, made complaint ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead. Eliz. clxxxvi, T. 14. 

 Four years, later Edmund TrafFord, then 

 high sherifF, complained that Adam Hol- 



land of Newton, after agreeing to pur- 

 chase Chorlton Hall, paying ^^550 and a 

 ground rent of 20j., had refused to pay, 

 ' to the great inconvenience of the plain- 

 tiff, who was in need of the money ' ; 

 ibid, ccvii, T, 4, 



21 Some part at least of the Hey lands 

 in Withington and Chorlton was sold to 

 the Mosleys before 1614 ; it was held of 

 the king by the hundredth part of a 

 knight's fee ; Lanes, Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 4, 66, 69. 



Ellis Hey is described as *of Chorlton 

 Hair in 1665, when he recorded a pedi- 

 gree ; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc), 133. 



^ Ibid, 1 99, The family were near akin 

 to Elizabeth Minshull, Milton's third wife ; 

 Earwaker, East. Ches. i, 391. Thomas Min- 

 shull is frequently named in the Mancb, 

 Ct. LeetRec. but is not styled * of Chorlton,' 

 He was the son of Richard Minshull of 

 Wistaston ; he married Anne daughter 

 of James Llghtbowne, by whom he had 

 several children, and died in 1698. 

 Thomas, the eldest son, aged twenty-five 

 in 1664, succeeded to Chorlton and died 

 in 1 702, the heir being his brother Rich- 

 ard, who died in or about 1722. His son 

 Thomas died in 1 749, leaving a son 

 Thomas Samuel Minshull, who died 

 without issue in 1755 ; his daughters and 

 his brother George's daughter also died 

 without issue, and by bequest the estates 

 passed to Barbara Nabb, the widow of 

 Thomas, who married Roger Aytoun in 

 1769, and died in 1783. This statement 

 is from Piccope's MS. Pedigrees (Chet. 

 Lib.), ii, 296. 



The bequest mentioned is recited in a 

 lengthy abstract of the title of William 

 Cooper, Samuel Marsland, Peter Mars- 

 land, and George Duckworth to a capital 

 messuage called Chorlton Hall, with the 

 lands, &c., belonging thereto, in Chorlton 

 Row. By his will Richard Minshull of 

 the Inner Temple (1722) devised all his 

 lands to his wife for life, and then to his 

 sons Thomas and George in tail male, 

 and to his right heirs. Thomas the son 

 in 1 742-3 suffered a recovery to bar the 

 entail, and by his will of 1744 left his 

 estates to his son Thomas (Samuel), sub- 

 ject to the dower of his wife Barbara, and 

 j^i,5oo, the portion of his daughter Eliza- 

 beth, who afterwards married James 

 Rivington, bookseller, of London. 



The son by his will of 1754 left Chorl- 

 ton Hall to his mother for life, charged 

 with an annuity to his grandmother 

 Dorothy Nabb, then to trustees for his 

 sister, his uncle George and daughter, 

 and their issue, with final remainder to 

 his mother (Barbara). In 1769, by the 

 failure of all the heirs named, Barbara 

 became possessed of the Minshull estates, 

 and in 1770 there was a fine concerning 

 Chorlton Hall, Garrett Hall, and other 

 lands, Roger Aytoun and Barbara his wife 

 being deforciants (Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 384, m. 8), quickly followed by 

 various mortgages. 



253 



Chorlton Hall was advertised for sale 

 25 Oct, 1774, and again in 1775 (Adams, 

 Courantf 3 Jan.), being described as 'de- 

 lightfully situated' and commanding an 

 extensive prospect in the counties of 

 York, Derby, and Chester, being about 

 a mile from Manchester, and at 'an 

 agreeable distance* from the great road 

 from Manchester to London. A con- 

 siderable part of the land lay up to the 

 end of the town of Manchester, and 

 was * very proper for building upon.' The 

 hall contained five rooms on a floor, in- 

 cluding the entrance or hall part, which 

 was large and elegant ; there was a very 

 large kitchen with brewhouse, laundry, 

 servants* hall, pantries, etc., all with 

 good chambers over ; the outbuildings 

 included stabling for sixteen horses, &c. 

 Hough Hall and Garrett Hall were adver- 

 tised at the same time. In the same 

 year Joshua Marriott secured from Roger 

 Aytoun and Barbara his wife Chorlton 

 Hall, Garrett Hall, and various lands ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F, bdle. 394, 

 m. 16. 



The abstract quoted shows that Roger 

 Aytoun's interest in the hall and various 

 parcels of the land did not cease with this 

 sale, as he went on mortgaging them. 

 In 1779 he was residing in Scotland, and 

 made a further release to Joshua Marriott 

 and others. His wife died in 1783. 

 William Nabb, probably a relative, died 

 between 1787 and 1789; and Roger 

 Aytoun's interest in the estate seems to 

 have finally ceased in 1792, the sum then 

 paid being ^42,914 for the portion to 

 which the abstract refers. His debts in 

 1787 amounted to ^16,900, the princi- 

 pal creditor being RadclifFe Sidebottom, 

 j^i 1,000, It does not appear for whom 

 William Cooper and the others were 

 acting. 



^ The regiment was raised chiefly by 

 the efforts and money of Roger Aytoun ; 

 it took part in the defence of Gibraltar in 

 1 78 1-2, 



^33 Geo, III, cap. 50: *An Act to 

 impower William Churchill Dickinson, 

 esquire, to grant building leases, renew- 

 able leases, and make conveyances in fee, 

 of and upon all or any part of the estates 

 at Chorlton Row, devised by the will of 

 John Dickinson esquire deceased, situate 

 near the town of Manchester in the 

 County Palatine of Lancaster.* 



^ A few particulars of this family will 

 be found in preceding notes. 



^^ The eighth part of the manor of 

 Chorlton was in 1420 settled upon John 

 Entwisle and his wife Margaret, with 

 remainder to the latter's heirs ; Final 

 Cone, iii, y6. 



Ellis Entwisle in 1473 held a messuage 

 and lands in Chorlton of the lord of 

 Manchester by the (ancient) rent of 

 3s. ^d. ; Mamecestre, iii, 482. A similar 

 statement is made in the inquisition after 

 the death of Edmund Entwisle in 1544 ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vii, 30, 



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