A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



thirds of a third part of the 

 manor of Edgeworth, and leav- 

 ing a son and heir Henry, six 

 years of age." This son died 

 in 1408, the manors going to 

 his brother Edmund," known 

 as the Alchemist, from his 

 having procured a licence from 

 the king in 1446 authorizing 

 him to transmute metals."*^ Sir 

 Edmund, at Eccles in 141 1, 

 married Alice daughter and 

 co-heir of Sir William Venables of Bollin, and thus 



Traf^ord of Traf- 

 ford. Argent a griffin 

 segreant gules. 



acquired a considerable estate in Cheshire, which de- 

 scended in the TrafFord family for many generations." 

 Sir Edmund died in 1458 ^^ leaving a son Sir John,^* 

 who was regularly succeeded by five generations of 

 Edmunds.*^ In the latter half of the i6th century 

 the fortunes of the family began to decline ; several 

 estates were sold,*** and Sir Edmund the fourth, 

 having conformed to the Established religion, appears 

 to have attempted, and with some success, to acquire 

 fresh wealth by an active prosecution of the recusants.^* 

 As sheriff he was specially zealous against them. He 

 also arranged the marriage of his son Edmund with 

 Margaret daughter and co-heir of John Booth of 



^8 Lanes, Inq, p,m, (Chet. Soc), i, 63. 

 For the dower of Elizabeth widow of 

 Henry de Trafford and afterwards wife of 

 Ralph de Staveley, see Pal. of Lane. Chan. 

 Misc. 1/8, m. 21, 22. 



^ Lanes. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 21, taken 

 in 1414. By this it was found that 

 Henry son of Henry son of Sir Henry de 

 TrafFord died on 20 Feb. 1407-8, seised 

 of the manor of Trafford and two-thirds of 

 the vill, held of the king as of his duchy 

 of Lancaster in socage by the service of 

 55. yearly, and worth ^^20 per annum 

 clear ; also of two-thirds of three parts of 

 the hamlet of Chorlton-upon-Medlock 

 (* Chollerton '), held of Thomas La Warre; 

 lands in Hulme in Barton, Blackrod, and 

 Edgeworth. Edmund the heir was of full 

 age in 1414. His custody during minor- 

 ity had been granted to Sir Ralph de 

 Staveley. See also Dtp, Keeper's Rep. 

 xxxiii, App. II. Further inquisitions 

 were made in 14 17, after the death of 

 Margery, grandmother of Edmund ; ibid. 

 13 ; Lanes. Inf. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 127; 

 and in 1421 after the death of Agnes 

 widow of the last Henry ; Towncley MS. 

 DD, no. 1505. 



■^5 The licence was granted on 7 April 

 1446, to Sir Edmund Trafford and Sir 

 Thomas Ashton ; Rymer, Foederay Sylla- 

 bus, ii, 676 ; Crofton, Stretford, iii, 112. 



Sir Edmund was knighted in 1426 

 for his conduct at the battle of Vcrneuil ; 

 Metcalfe, Bk. of Knights, 1. In 143 1 

 he was one of the jurors for Salford- 

 shire ; Feud. Aids^ iii, 95. In a plea of 

 1445 he was described as the son and 

 heir of Henry, brother of Joan, mother 

 of Thomas Booth, father of Alice wife 

 of Thomas Duncalf j Pal. of Lane. Plea 

 R. 8, m. 23. 



46 See Ormerod, Ches, (ed. Helsby), iii, 

 589, &e. The Cheshire inquisitions there 

 printed give the descent as follows : Sir 

 Edmund died 24 Jan. 1457-8, leaving a 

 son, John, aged 25 j Sir John died 11 Jan, 

 1488-9, leaving a son Edmund, aged 34 ; 

 Sir Edmund died in 15 13, leaving a son 

 Edmund aged 28 ; Sir Edmund died in 

 1533, leaving a son also named Edmund, 

 aged 26. These may be compared with 

 the Lancashire inquisitions. 



*7 Writs of Diem clausitextr.vitrz Jasued 

 ■n 1460 and 1462 ; Dep. Keeper's Rep, 

 ■xxvii, App. 177, 176. 



■^s Sir John Trafford and Edmund his 

 son, in conjunction with Hugh Seholes, 

 the priest, in 1468 made a lease for 

 ninety-six years of certain chantry lands 

 in Manchester for i^s. 6d. net ; De Traf- 

 ford D. no. 51. Sir John died 20 Jan. 

 1488-9 holding the manor of Trafford, 

 the vill of Stretford, and two parts of the 

 third part of the manor of Edgeworth ; 

 the service for Trafford was unknown ; 

 Sir Edmund, the son and heir, was thirty- 



six years of age ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iii, 85. 



A pedigree drawn up in 1461 illus- 

 trates the claim to the manor of Quick in 

 Saddleworth, purchased by Robert son of 

 the first Sir Henry de Trafford. For de- 

 fault of heirs it came to the second Sir 

 Henry, who granted it to his younger sons 

 Piers and John, with remainder to 

 another son, Thomas [of Garrett in An- 

 eoats] ; from the last-named it descended 

 to his grandson Henry ; Court of Wards 

 and Liv. box 13A/FD10. 



49 (i) Sir Edmund Trafford was made a 

 knight at the creation of Prince Henry as 

 Duke of York in 1494 ; Metcalfe, op. cit. 

 25. He died in Aug. 15 13 holding the 

 manor of Trafford of the king by the rent 

 of 51. ; its clear value was 40 marks. He 

 also held twenty me6suages,&c.in Stretford 

 of the heirs of . . . Masey, In socage, by 

 the service of a pair of gloves ; the clear 

 annual value was ^^40. The other estates 

 included a third part of Edgeworth, lands, 

 &c. in Whitfield, Withington (Yeld- 

 houses, Rusholme, Fallowiield, and Moss 

 Side), Chorlton-with-Hardy, Chorlton- 

 upon-Medlock, Ancoati, Manchester, Sal- 

 ford, and Turton. His father Sir John 

 had granted lands in Harwood to Mar- 

 garet on her marriage with Edmund ; 

 Margaret still survived. Sir Edmund had 

 settled lands in Chorlton-with-Hardy, 

 Rusholme, Moss Side, Fallowfield, and 

 Beswick to the use of his son Edmund and 

 Elizabeth his wife. This Edmund, the 

 heir, was twenty-four years of age ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, 51. 



(ii) Edmund Trafford recorded a pedi- 

 gree at the Visit, in 1533 (Chet, Soc. 

 66). He died 28 June in the same year ; 

 the inquisition after his death shows an 

 Increase in his possessions, but Trafford 

 and Stretford were held as before. Ed- 

 mund Trafford, his son and heir, was 

 twenty-six years of age ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. vi, 20. 



(iii) Sir Edmund Trafford was made a 

 knight in the Scottish Expedition of 1544; 

 Metealfe, op. cit. 77. He was sheriff in 

 1532-3 and 1556-7; P.R.O. List, 73, 

 He died on 10 Dec, 1563 holding Traf- 

 ford of the queen as of the manor of Sal- 

 ford by 51. rent, and Stretford of Geoffrey 

 Mascy in socage by the rent of a pair of 

 gauntlets, and other manors and lands. 

 Edmund, his son and heir, was thirty-four 

 years of age ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 xi, II. 'Geoffrey Mascy' must be a 

 mistake. 



(Iv) Sir Edmund Trafford recorded a 

 pedigree in 1567 ; P^isit, (Chet. Soc), 2, 3, 

 He was made a knight in 1578 ; Met- 

 calfe, op. cit. 132. He was high sheriff 

 of the county in 1564-5, 1 570-1, 1579- 

 80, and 1583-4; P.R.O. List, 73. He 

 was knight of the shire in 1580; Pink 



332 



and Beaven, op. cit. 66. In 1 575 he pro- 

 cured a grant from Warden Herle of the 

 stewardship of all the manors, lands, &c. 

 of the Collegiate church ; De Trafford D. 

 no. 75. For his dispute with various per- 

 sons of Stretford regarding Wallroods see 

 Ducatus Lane, (Rec. Com.), iii, 193. The 

 inventory of his goods is printed in Pic- 

 cope's fyUh (Chet. Soc), ii, 72 ; among 

 others the ' chapel chamber * and the 

 ' schoolmaster's chamber ' are named. 

 The inquisition taken after his death (14 

 Apr. 1590) shows a considerable diminu- 

 tion in the Lancashire estates, and recites 

 the provision made in 1538 by his father 

 Sir Edmund for younger sons — Richard, 

 Alexander, Anthony, and John. Edmund, 

 the son and heir, was twenty-eight years 

 of age in 1590 ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 XV, 46. 



(v) Sir Edmund was knighted at York 

 by James I on his journey to London in 

 1603 ; Metcalfe, op. cit. 139. He had 

 represented Newton in the Parliament of 

 1588 ; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 277 ; 

 and was sheriff in 1601—2, 1608—9, ^^** 

 1616-7; P.R.O. List, 73. A pedigree 

 was recorded in 1613 ; yhiu (Chet. Soc), 

 10. He died at "Trafford 7 May 1620 

 holding the manors of Trafford, Stretford, 

 and Barton, with lands, &c, and in i6n 

 had settled all upon his son Cecil. The 

 tenures of Trafford and Stretford were un- 

 altered. Edmund, the son and heir, was 

 thirty-six years of age ; Sir Cecil Trafford 

 was living at Trafford ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 326-9 ; 

 Fun. Certs. (Chet. Soc). Settlements of 

 the manors of Trafford and Stretford were 

 made in 1598 and 1599 ; to these Barton 

 was added in 1611 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdles. 60, m. 470; 61, m. 324; 80, 

 m. 4. 



°^ All the Lancashire estates except 

 Trafford and Stretford seem to have gone, 

 but the Barton marriage brought in some 

 new ones. Among the sales and mort- 

 gages the following are recorded : 1569, a 

 messuage, 40 acres, &c. in Stretford, with 

 remainder to Thomas Brownsword ; 1573, 

 two messuages, 80 acres, &c. in the same, 

 Richard Worsley and George Dykyns, 

 plaintiffs; 1590, forty messuages, &c. in 

 Stretford, &c. sold to Gregory Lovell ; 

 1596, 20 acres, &c. in Trafford to Nicho- 

 las Fenne ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 31, m. 204 ; 35, m. 94 ; 52, m. 4 ; 59, 

 m. 119. Sir Robert Lovell in 1597 ap- 

 pears to have sold or mortgaged his father's 

 purchase to William Johnson ; ibid. bdle. 

 58, m. 74. For the Lovells see the 

 account of Withington and its dependen- 

 cies. 



*' In 1580 Sir Edmund wrote from 

 Trafford to the Earl of Leicester, stating 

 that masses were said in several places, 

 and desiring the offenders to be dealt with 



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