SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



was made a knight the year following at the corona- 

 tion of Edward IV,'" but died in 1462," when he 

 was succeeded by Sir John Byron, above mentioned. 

 Sir John, made a knight by Henry VII as he came 

 from York in 1486," died 3 January 1488-9, holding 

 the manor of Clayton of the lord of Manchester in 

 socage, by 7/. rent, also the manor of Blackley, with 

 lands there and in Gorton, Royton, Butterworth, 

 Ogden, and Ashton. His heir was his brother 

 Nicholas, who in 1498 was stated to be thirty years of 

 age." Nicholas was made a Knight of the Bath in 1 501 

 at the marriage of Prince Arthur," and died three years 

 later." It would appear that before this Colwick had 

 become the principal residence of the family,'* and 

 John, son and successor of Sir Nicholas," is usually 

 described as * of Colwick ' ; he was • nbt at home ' at 

 the Heralds' Visitation of Lancashire in 1533." In 

 1540 he procured a grant of Newstead Priory, Not- 

 tinghamshire," which afterwards became the chief 

 seat of the family. He had no issue by his wife, and 

 his connexion with Lancashire led to his living in 

 adultery with Elizabeth daughter of John Costerdine 

 of Blackley and wife of George Haugh. He had 

 several children by her and afterwards married her.™ 

 In 1547 he made a settlement of his estates in favour 

 of his bastard son John,*' and died in 1567, ex- 

 pressing penitence in his will," which contained his 

 open profession of adherence to the old religion, as in 

 his desire that an honest priest be hired to sing or say 

 mass for his soul in Colwick Church,*" and confirmed 

 the grant of all his manors, lands, 'leases, &c., to his 

 ' base son ' John, whom he appointed executor. 



This son, who was made a knight in 1579," died 

 in 1603, leaving as heir his son, a third Sir John 

 Byron," who, having many children and being en- 

 cumbered with debts, sold the Lancashire estates, so 

 that the connexion of the family with the county 

 almost ceased. The manor of Clayton, with the 

 appurtenances in Droylsden and Failsworth, was pur- 



chased by the brothers George and Humphrey 

 Chetham in 1 621.** By a settlement made in 

 1625 it was agreed that the survivor should take 

 the whole in fee.*' George Chetham died at 

 Clayton about the end of 1626, without issue,*' 

 and Humphrey seems to have lived there for 

 some years,*' afterwards granting the hall on lease.™ 

 He died at Clayton on 20 September 1653, un- 

 married, and by a settlement he had made this manor 

 passed to his nephew George, son of James Chetham 

 of Crumpsall." George Chetham died at the hall 

 in 1664," but the family do not seem to have resided 

 there afterwards. Clayton descended, like Turton, to 

 the heirs of Alice Bland, who is now represented by 

 the Freres and Hoares." Clayton Hall became part 

 of the share of Peter Richard Hoare, as husband of 

 Arabella Penelope Eliza Greene, great-granddaughter 

 of Alice Bland." 



Clayton Hall stands in an open space on the north 

 side of the new road from Manchester to Ashton- 

 under-Lyne (Ashton New Road). It is entirely 

 surrounded by a moat, about 100 yds. square, still 

 filled with water, the inclosed space measuring about 

 2 acres, the south-east portion of which is occupied 

 by the house. The approach is from the south by a 

 stone bridge of two arches across the moat. 



The present building is but a fragment of the 

 original house, and consists of a two-story block of 

 timber construction measuring about 33 ft. in length 

 from north to south and 20 ft. in width, to which has 

 been added on the north a brick building probably 

 of early 18th-century date, and on the west a cor- 

 ridor 6 ft. wide with a projecting staircase and gable 

 over, which appears to be of 17th-century date. 

 There are no traces of the rest of the building, which 

 must have been considerably larger than at present, 

 probably quadrangular, or of three wings. It is said 

 that the north-west corner of the inclosure was the 

 site of the chapel which was standing till the beginning 



'» Metcalfe, Bk. of Knights, 3. 



*l The writ of Diem Clausit extr. was 

 issued in 1462; Def. Keefer'sRef. xxjtvii, 

 App, 176; see also CaL Inq. p.m. iv, 319 

 (he held no lands in Nottinghamshire and 

 and Derbyshire). 



s' Metcalfe, op. cit. 13 ; the arms are 

 given. 



™ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, 48, 

 61, 70 ; for livery to Nicholas see Dep, 

 Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 544. The inscrip- 

 tion on Sir John Byron's monument at 

 Colwick states that he died 3 May 1488 ; 

 Collins, Peerage (ed. 1779), vii, 126. 



The descent is given in a pleading in 

 1 547, reciting a settlement made by Sir 

 John Byron about a century before in 

 favour of his son Nicholas, wii remainder 

 to another son named Ralph ; it pro- 

 ceeds : — Sir John-s. Nicholas (who had 

 a brother Ralph) -s. Sir Nicholas -s. Sir 

 John (1547) ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 

 183, m. 48^. 



" Metcalfe, op. cit. 35. 



" Collins, op. cit. vii, 127. 



^ Sir John Byron had a monument in 

 Colwick Church and his brother Nicholas 

 put a window in the church, with a 

 petition for prayers for himself and his wife 

 Joan \ ibid. 



W He was a minor m ward to the 



king, as appears from a complaint by one 



( of his tenants at Clayton ; Duchy Plead. 



(Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 31. De- 



•cribed as ' squire of the body ' he was in 



1 5 18 made chief steward of the lordship 

 of Stoke Bardolph, Nottinghamshire ; L. 

 and P. Hen. VUI, iii, g. 55 (29). He was 

 a knight two years later ; ibid, iii, 2267, 

 and p. 1546. 



" Visit. (Chet. Soc), 55. 



«»i. and P. Hen. VUI, xv, g. 733 (66). 



™ Booker, Blackley (Chet. Soc), 184 ; 

 the wife's name is given as Ann. 



" Pal. of Lane Feet of F. bdle. 13, 

 m. 303. The remainders in default of 

 issue were in succession to Thomas Wim- 

 bish ; to Richard Townley and Frances 

 his wife, Francis Norton and Habrea his 

 wife, and the heirs male of Francis and 

 Habrea ; to Sir William RadclifFe of Ord- 

 sall, Sir Henry Sutton of Aram, Notting- 

 hamshire, John Booth of Barton, Sir John 

 Savage of Croxton, Leicestershire, Sir Ed- 

 mund Molyneux, king's serjeant-at-law. Sir 

 Richard Assheton of Middleton, and Ed- 

 ward Griffin, solicitor-general. 



A pedigree was recorded in 1567 ; 

 Visit. (Chet. Soc), 4. 



62 Printed in Wills (Chet. Soc. new 

 ser.), ii, 133-6. 



™ ' If the said stipend by any law or 

 laws heretofore made and hereafter to be 

 revive* be made to cease, it [is] to go to 

 the poor and needy people, amending and 

 repairing of highways and bridges, or 

 o^er charitable deeds' ; ibid. 136. 



" Metcalfe, op. cit. 134. 



A settlement was made in 1582 of the 

 manors of Clayton, Droylsden, Failsworth, 



285 



&c. with lands, mills, dovecotes, &c. in 

 those places and many others in the Man- 

 chester and Rochdale district, view of 

 frankpledge in Clayton and Royton, and 

 free warren in Clayton, Royton, Droyls- 

 den, Failsworth, and Butterworth ; Sir 

 John Byron, Alice his wife, and John his 

 son, were among the deforciants j Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 44, m. 223, 



A further settlement of Clayton Hall 

 and Newstead was made in 1600 after the 

 marriage of John Byron the younger (son 

 of John Byron the elder, and grandson of 

 Sir John Byron of Newstead) with Anne, 

 eldest daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux 

 of SefCon ; Chet. Papers. 



^^ He was made a knight in 1603 ; 

 Metcalfe, op. cit. 14.0. 



^^ See the account in Humph, Chetham 

 (Chet. Soc), 18-21. 67 Ibid. 21. 



*8 Ibid. 22 ; his will is printed. 



M Ibid. 30. 



7" In 1635 the hall was leased to James 

 Jollie, afterwards known as Major Jollie, 

 a clothier, at the rent of ;^300 ; a few 

 rooms and part of the demesne were re- 

 served ; Higson, Droyhden, 40. The lessee 

 was afterwards provost-marshal for the 

 Parliamentary forces, and died in 1666; 

 two of his sons were ministers, ejected in 

 1662 ; ibid. 48, 49. 



71 Humph. Chetham, 204, 242-4 



73 Chet, Gen, (Chet. Soc), 50. 

 78 Ibid. 63. 



74 Higson, Droylsden, 44, 



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