A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Matthew Hopwood," Abraham Carter," John and 

 George Pendleton," Stephen Rodley,'" Ralph Wardle- 

 worth," William Chetham,^' Patrick Edrington," 

 William and John Cowper," and William Heywood.'^ 

 There were small estates, in most cases resulting from 

 the division of the Byron estate, and held by knight's 

 service. 



Humphrey Booth of Salford also had land in the 

 township," and it descended in the family for about 

 a century." BOOTH HALL was situated about 

 4 miles north of Manchester, on high ground a short 

 distance to the east of the old road to Middleton. 

 It is said to have been built during the years 1639-40 

 by Humphrey Booth for his son, but before demoli-- 

 tion, about 1906-7, had undergone many altera- 

 tions and additions which had robbed it of most of 

 its original architectural features. It was a two- 

 storied house, the oldest portion of which is described 

 as having many gables, and was built of brick, but had 

 been stuccoed and painted over in later years. One 

 addition was made early in the 1 8th century and 

 another in the first half of the 1 9th century. On the 

 front of the original part of the house on a wooden 

 beam was carved ' h b : a e : 1 640,' the initials of 



Humphrey Booth and Ann Booth (born Hough) his 

 wife. In 1855 the old part of the house is described 

 as having suffered much at the hands of recent tenants^ 

 most of the original muUioned windows on the ground 

 floor having been built up or replaced by modern 

 casements, and on the first floor nothing but the 

 hood-moulds remained to show that such windows- 

 ever existed."^ The house was pulled down to make 

 way for the Blackley Hospital, but part of the brick 

 farm-buildings are still standing. The house waj 

 acquired by Richard Worthington of Manchester, 

 grocer ; from him it passed to the Diggles family, and 

 by descent to the Bayleys." Amselford or Hoozle- 

 forth Gate was the name of a farm in the north-east 

 of the township. 



The land tax returns show that the principal 

 proprietors in 1787 were Richard Brown, I'homas- 

 Bayley, Richard Taylor, Lord Grey de Wilton, John 

 Hutton, Peter Legh, and Robert Jackson." About 

 1850 the principal proprietor was the Earl of Wilton,, 

 who owned a third of the land, his interest being, 

 derived partly by inheritance from the Hollands and 

 Asshetons and partly by purchase.*" 



The most famous personage connected with Blacklejr 



tea messuages, 60 acres of land, &c., ia 

 Blackley, and land in Harpurhey and 

 Gorton ; the tenure was of the king, by 

 knight's service, John, the son and heir, 

 was twenty-three years of age. The will 

 of Francis Nuttall is given in MancK Ct* 

 Leet Rec, iii, 19, 20, notes. 



From deeds of this family in the Man- 

 chester Free Library (no. 55-7) it appears 

 that John Nuttall in 1623 leased lands in 

 Blackley to Edward Holland of Heaton 

 for 299 years ; among the field-names are 

 Howgate Meadow, Blackfield, and Gladea 

 Croft. 



^^ Lanes. Inq. p.m, (Rec. Soc), ii, 210. 

 Matthew Hopwood had purchased the 

 reversion of a messuage called the * Dey- 

 house,' with lands, from the Byrons, held 

 of the king by knight's service. He died 

 in 161 3 leaving a daughter Mary about a 

 year old. 



^ Ibid. 235. Abraham Carter, described 

 as ' gentleman,' held a messuage and lands 

 of the king by the hundredth part of a 

 knight's fee, and died in 1621, leaving as 

 heir his son John, nineteen years of age. 



^* John Pendleton died in 1618, holding 

 20 acres by the three-hundredth part of a 

 knight's fee ; his son John was then nine 

 years old ; Lanes, Inq, p.m. (Rec. Soc), ii, 

 258. 



George Pendleton died in 1633, holding 

 a messuage and lands (including the 

 Warping House and Brerehey Field) of the 

 king by the hundredth part of a knight's 

 fee J he left a son and heir George ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxviii, 37. 



In 1650 * in Blackley near Manchester, 

 in one John Pendleton's ground, as one 

 wag reaping, the corn being cut seemed to 

 bleed ; drops fell out of it like to blood. 

 Multitudes of people went to see it, and 

 the straws thereof, though of a kindly 

 colour without, were within reddish and 

 as it were bloody ' ; Hollinworth, Man- 

 euniensis, 123. 



A John Pendleton of Blackley married 

 Rhoda, daughter and heir of Robert 

 Clough, the son of Thomas Clough of 

 Blackley ; and he and his son John Pen- 

 dleton in 1676 sold their land to Robert 

 Litchford of Manchester, saddler, a bene- 

 factor of the old Baptist chapel at Clough 

 Fold, The house at Blackley, known as 



Litchford Hall, and the estate went to 

 his nephew Litchford Flitcroft, who de- 

 vised it to other relatives, and it was sold 

 in 1783 to Thomas Braddock of Man- 

 chester, On the purchaser's bankruptcy 

 it was sold to his brother-in-law, Richard 

 Alsop, who already resided there, and he 

 gave it to his daughter Marianne wife of 

 George Withington, On her death in 

 1835 it descended to her only son, George 

 Richard Withington, who owned this and 

 the adjoining Yew-tree estate, purchased 

 from the Byrons in 161 1 by one John 

 Jackson, and sold by the Jacksons in 1809 

 to Richard Alsop. See the full account 

 in Booker, op. cit. 39—46 ; an abstract of 

 Robert Litchford's will is given. The 

 following field-names occur : Hoose Lee, 

 Red Hill, Moyle Hill, Hagg, Fossage 

 Meadow, Lockitt Croft, and Causeway 

 Field. A number of deeds relating to this 

 estate and others in the township are in 

 the possession of the Manchester Corpo- 

 ration. 



^^ Some notice of this family has been 

 given under Manchester. Stephen Rodley 

 died in 1630, holding four messuages with 

 land, moor, and moss in Blackley, charged 

 with a rent of 24-!. to the lord of Man- 

 chester and an annuity of j^i2 to Leonard 

 Kopwood ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 zzv, 46. 



^' Ralph Wardleworth died in 1623, 

 holding a messuage and land of the king 

 by knight's service ; his son and heir, 

 John, was over twenty-seven years old ; 

 ibid, xxvi, 19. 



AJohn Wardleworth in 1620 sold lands 

 in Blackley to James Hulme ; Manch. 

 Ct. Leet Rec, iii, 23. 



^William Chetham died in i6i2, 

 holding half a messuage ; his son Wil- 

 liam was thirty-nine years old in 1630; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxviii, i o. 



^ The name is also given as Ethering- 

 ton, Patrick held a messuage, &c., of 

 the king by the four-hundredth part of a 

 knight's fee, and dying in 1625, left as 

 heir his daughter Mary, about ten years 

 old ; ibid. 45. 



** In 1621 William Cowper made a 

 settlement of his estate — including a 

 messuage, with garden and closes called 

 the Clough, the Shutt, &c. — with re- 



256 



mainders to his wife Dorothy, to his heir 

 male, to his brothers Richard and John, 

 to Helen and Margaret Ridgeway, and ta 

 the heirs of Ralph Cowper. He died in 

 1626, holding the estate of the king by- 

 the two-hundredth part of a knight's fee. 

 The heir was his elder brother John, thea 

 over thirty years of age ; ibid, 47, 



John Cowper died in May 1638, hold- 

 ing a messuage and lands in Blackley of 

 Edward Mosley 'as of his manor of 

 Blackley' ; Ralph, the brother and heir, 

 was over fifty years of age ; Towneley 

 MS. C. 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), 242. 



^5 William Heywood died in 1637,, 

 holding two messuages and lands of the 

 king by the two-hundredth part of a 

 knight's fee. His wife Ameria survived 

 him, and his heir was his son Anthony 

 Heywood the younger, nineteen years old ;. 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxix, 17. 



^ Ibid, xxvii, 44. 



^ Apian of the estate in 1637 is given 

 in Lanes, and Ches, Antiq, Soc, xxiii, 30. 



i"?' Booker, A Hist, of the Anet, 

 Chapelry of Blackley, 1855, P- *^) whert ' 

 an illustration is also given. The writer 

 further adds : ' The interior presents little 

 to call for remark, the apartments beings 

 for the most part small, and exhibiting an 

 appearance altogether modern.' 



^ A full account of the descent of thi«- 

 estate is given by Booker, op. cit. 22-38^ 

 with wills and pedigree of the Diggler 

 family, John Diggles of Manchester (c. 

 1 7 1 7) was a Dissenter ; Notitia Cestr, 

 (Chet. Soc), ii, 82. 



The Bayleys were connected with Cross- 

 Street Chapel, Manchester ; see the ac- 

 count of Hope in Pendleton. Thomas 

 Bayley, who died in 1817, left the estate- 

 to his sons for sale, and in the following 

 year it was purchased by his son-in-law. 

 Dr. Henry, for ^^9,000. A few years 

 later it was sold to Edmund Taylor of 

 Salford, whose son Edmund resided there 

 till his death about 1850; Booker, op. 

 cit. 37. 



^ Land Tax returns at Preston. 



'" Booker, op. cit. 21. At the beginning: 

 of the 1 8th century, Abraham Howarth 

 of Manchester, linen draper, purchased 

 many small estates in the township. 

 Dying in 1754 he was succeeded by his- 



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