A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



session of the descendants of 

 the grantee, who assumed the 

 name of Piatt ^^ and retained 

 it, paying the rent of 4/. until 

 1625. It was then sold to 

 Ralph Worsley," whose descen- 

 dants and their legatees long 

 retained the estate. ^^ 



The most prominent mem- 

 ber of the family was Major 

 General Charles Worsley, a 

 sincere Puritan, who took an 



WotsLKv of Piatt. 

 Argent on a chief gules a 

 mural crown or. 



active part in affairs on the Parliamentary side,'® and 

 had the doubtful honour of dispersing the remnant 

 of the Long Parliament by force in 1653 and taking 

 charge of the ' bauble ' which Cromwell ordered to 

 be removed/^ He was also engaged in the govern- 

 ment of Lancashire," confiscating the property of 

 Royalists, filling the gaols with ' Papists,' " suppress- 

 ing horse-races, and otherwise promoting the public 

 good according to his light. Worn out with his 

 labours, he died in June 1656, at the early age of 

 thirty-five.^** The estate was until recently owned 

 by Mr. Nicholas Tindal-Carill-Worsley, who married 



^3 The deeds printed by Booker enable 

 the pedigree to be made out fairly well. 

 ' In 1 3 14 William son of Hugh de Lagh- 

 okes released to Robert son of Richard 

 de Farnivorth all his claim to the moiety 

 of Piatt ; Booker, op, cit. 192. Laghok, or 

 LafFog, in Parr, also belonged to the Hos- 

 pitallers. Ten years later Roger del Piatt 

 (of the other moiety) agreed with Robert 

 son of Richard del Piatt as to the division 

 of certain pasture lying between Roger's 

 door and the Geldbrook ; ibid. 193. The 

 above-named Ellen daughter of Henry 

 del Piatt in 1 343-4 sold her land to the 

 second Piatt family; ibid, 194-7. The 

 remainders were to Richard and John 

 sons of Robert del Piatt. 



Certain suits between members of the 

 different Piatt families may here be 

 noticed. Margery widow of Adam de 

 Farnworth in 1290 appeared against 

 Robert son of Richard de Piatt and 

 Geoffrey de Piatt for dower in two mes- 

 suages and 40 acres in Withington ; and 

 against Agnes widow of Richard de Piatt 

 for dower in a messuage and 1 5 acres ; 

 De Banco R. 82, m. 42. Roger del Piatt 

 was a plamtiff in 1295 ; ibid. R, 1x0, 

 m. izd. ; 113, m. 137 d. 



In 1298 Cecily widow of Henry del 

 Piatt claimed 2 acres against Geoffrey 

 del Piatt; ibid. R. 122, m, I95d. In 

 1301 Robert del Piatt did not prosecute 

 his suit against Robert son of Richard de 

 Faryngworth [Farnworth] ; Assize R. 

 1321, m. 10. In the same year Ellen 

 daughter of Henry del Piatt failed in a 

 claim for a messuage and land in With- 

 ington, formerly Geoffrey's, against Cecily 

 del Piatt, Roger her son, Agnes de Mascy, 

 and Robert her son ; the plaintiff was 

 excused because she was under age ; ibid. 

 m. 1 2 d. Geoffrey del Piatt did not pro- 

 secute his claim against Cecily del Piatt, 

 widow of Henry ; Assize R. 419, m. 13. 

 Robert del Piatt was in the following 

 year fined for a false claim against Roger 

 son of Henry de * Bradlow ' ; Assize R. 

 418, m. 3d. In 1307 he claimed a mes- 

 suage and land against Adam son of 

 Henry de* Barlow'; De Banco R. 164, 

 m. 233 d. ; 171, m. 18. 



In 1324 Roger del Piatt claimed a 

 messuage and various lands in Withing- 

 ton against Richard de Holland, Hugh de 

 Cheadle, Thomas de Mascy, Robert del 

 Piatt, Edith widow of Henry del Piatt, 

 Ellen her daughter, and William de Booth. 

 It appeared that the plaintiff had leased 

 the land to John de Byron, and that Hugh 

 and Thomas had wrongfully obtained pos- 

 session and granted to Richard de Hol- 

 land, whose possessions were seized by the 

 king for his adherence to Thomas Earl of 

 Lancaster ; Assize R- 426, m. 8 ; 1404, 

 m. 25. It will be seen that there were 

 two men named Henry del Piatt. Ac- 

 cording to the genealogical note above 

 referred to, one of them was son of Geof- 



frey del Piatt, and Ellen his daughter 

 married Alexander del Booth. The other 

 Henry was father of Roger. 



The Laghok family appear again in 

 1 341, claiming against the Traffords ; 

 Dc Banco R. 328, m. 366 ; and in the 

 following year William son of Hugh de 

 Laghok claimed a messuage and plough- 

 land against Robert son of Richard de 

 Farnworth; ibid. R. 331, m. 140; see 

 also R. 335, m. 301 d, ; 336, m. 511 d. 



Richard del Piatt in 1345 complained 

 of assault by William son of Alexander 

 del Booth, who had also taken his cattle ; 

 ibid. R. 344, m. 353; 345, m, 211 d. 

 Two years later Ellen daughter of Henry 

 del Piatt recovered two messuages, &c., 

 in Withington against the said William 

 del Booth and Robert son of Henry de 

 Trafford ; Assize R, 1435, m. 43 d. At 

 the same time William del Booth began 

 auits against Robert del Piatt and Richard 

 and John his sons regarding a messuage 

 and lands in Withington, and seems to 

 have had some success ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. I, m. V ; 3, m. 4 d. ; Assize R. 

 438, m, 15; 441, m. 5, &c. 



In 1349 Robert del Piatt (of the Farn- 

 worth family) made an elaborate settle- 

 ment of his lands, &c., in Withington ; 

 they were to descend to his sons Richard 

 and John, in default to the Milkwall 

 Slade family, then to a Saddleworth 

 family, and lastly to Margaret daughter 

 of Robert del Piatt ; Booker, Birch^ 

 197-200, He died in 1360, by his will 

 desiring to be buried in the churchyard 

 at Manchester ; ibid, 200. The son John 

 seems to have succeeded, and was in pos- 

 session in 1374 and 1384 ; ibid. 201. 



Nicholas, the son of John del Piatt, in 

 1 391 made a settlement of his lands in 

 the Piatt, with remainder, in default of 

 issue, to his sister Alona and others ; ibid. 

 203. Two years later, perhaps on his 

 marriage, he granted his lands in the 

 Piatt to Sir Ralph de Radcliffe and Ralph 

 his son, excepting the Goosecroft house 

 and the Medhap, and reserving to Wil- 

 liam del Birches a right of way from 

 his dwelling to the common way in 

 Rusholme ; ibid, 204. In 1414 Nicholas 

 made a feoffment of his lands, apparently 

 in view of the marriage of his son Richard 

 with Katherine ; ibid. 205, 206. Richard 

 died abroad (? at La Ferte Melin) about 

 the end of 1439 (ibid. 208), leaving 

 a widow, Katherine (ibid. 207, 209), and 

 a son John, who with his wife Constance 

 received an indulgence in 1456 from the 

 Trinitarians of Knaresborough (Ibid. 209), 

 while in 1479 (the date is doubtful) they 

 associated themselves with the Grey 

 Friars ; ibid. 206. Constance, the widow 

 of John Piatt, and Richard their son 

 appear in 1490 and 1494 ; ibid. 210-12. 



Richard Piatt and his wife Agnes were 

 associated with the Black Friars of Ches- 

 ter in 1506 ; ibid. 218. John Piatt was 



304 



in possession in 1547, when he granted 

 lands in Rusholme to Joan widow of 

 James Lawrence of Manchester, perhaps 

 on marrying her; ibid. 213. A year 

 later he granted the Croft on Rusholme 

 Green to his younger son William ; ibid. 

 214, He died between March 1552 and 

 March 1554 (ibid. 215-17; Manch. Ct, 

 Leet Rec, \, 10), leaving a widow Joan 

 and a son Richard, who in 1577 set apart 

 lands called Hallfield, Brockfield, and 

 Midhope for the benefit of Elizabeth 

 daughter of Thomas Birch on her mar- 

 riage with his son John Piatt ; Booker, 

 op. cit. 220. 



Richard Piatt died in June 1593 hold- 

 ing a messuage and various lands in 

 Rusholme of the queen as of the late 

 Hospital of St, John of Jerusalem by a 

 rent of 41. and a third of his goods at 

 death. John Piatt had died before his 

 father, and the heir was Richard's [grand-] 

 son Edmund, then eight years of age ; 

 ibid. 221. The Manchester jury found 

 that Edmund was the son of John Piatt, 

 and therefore grandson of Richard; Manch, 

 Ct. Leet Rec, ii, jS, 



Edmund Piatt mortgaged the estate in 

 1623 ; Booker, op. cit. 23, Long Eyes 

 and Short Eyes were among the field 

 names. 



^* Booker, op. cit. 23. Charles Worsley, 

 the father of Ralph, was a prosperous 

 linen-draper in Manchester, and pur- 

 chased lands in Rusholme, including the 

 Breadie Butts, Hobearth, &c. in 1614 ; 

 ibid. 25. Ralph's wife Isabel was daugh- 

 ter and heir of Edward Massy of Man- 

 chester ; Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. iii, 90, 



1* See Booker, Birch, 25—70, quoting 

 the family papers. 



1^ Ibid. 39-51, with portrait, 

 17 Ibid. 40. He was chosen as the 

 representative of Manchester in the Par- 

 liament of 1654, the first time the 

 borough was called upon to elect a 

 member; Manch. Ct, Leet Rec, iv, 117. 

 1" Booker, Birch, 42, &c. 

 ^^ The Quakers also gave him work ; 

 * they trouble the markets and get into 

 private houses up and down in every 

 town, and draw people after them ' ; 

 ibid. 46. 



^^ Ibid. 47 ; he was buried in Henry 

 VH's Chapel, Westminster Abbey. 

 There is a notice of him in Diet. Nat. 

 Biog. His father Ralph recorded a pedi- 

 gree in 1664 (Dugdale, ^«/>, Chct. Soc. 

 338), and dying in 1669 was succeeded at 

 Piatt by Charles's son, another Ralph, 

 who built the Nonconformist chapel at 

 Piatt, and in 1728 was succeeded by his 

 son Charles. Peter Worsley, the son 

 and heir of Charles, died in 1759, leav- 

 ing a daughter Deborah as heiress. A 

 settlement of lands in Rusholme, &c., 

 was made in 1759 by John Lees and 

 Deborah his wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 360, m. 116, John Lees took 



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