SALFORD HUNDRED ashton-under-lyne 



In the reign of Henry II William de Kirkby 

 granted Ashton to one Orm, probably a relative, who 

 thus became the immediate 

 lord, and whose descendants 

 assumed the local surname.'^ 

 A later Orm de Ashton, who 

 is described as the 'son of 

 Roger' in a fine of 1 1 95,'° 

 was living in 1201." He 

 was succeeded by his son 

 Thomas,'* and Robert de Ash- 

 ton occurs in 1254,'' but the 

 •descent in the absence of 

 evidence cannot be made out 

 quite clearly. In 1274. Thomas 

 de Ashton defended his title 

 to the manor of Ashton against 



John de Kirkby,'* and in 1284 an agreement was 

 made between them by which Thomas's right was 

 acknowledged, a rent of id. being due from him." 

 It is perhaps the same Thomas who occurs a number 



Kirkby of Kirkby. 

 Urgent two bars gulei, en 

 a canton of the second a 

 cross patonce or. 



held the manor of the lord of Manchester, rendering 

 zos. at the four terms and a hawk or 40/. at Michael- 

 mas." In 1335 he procured 

 from the king a grant of free 

 warren in the demesne lands 

 of Ashton.'* John de Ash- 

 ton, apparently the same per- 

 son, died about 1360, leaving 

 a son and heir under age, his 

 wardship and marriage being 

 claimed by Sir John de Kirk- 

 by." The claim no doubt 

 succeeded, for Margaret the 

 widow of John de Ashton 

 sought dower against Kirkby 

 in 1366," and in 1375 John 

 son of John de Ashton called upon him to give 

 account of the issues of his lands in Ashton." 



John de Ashton is said to have distinguished 

 himself at the siege of Noyon in 1370," and repre- 

 sented the county in Parliament in 1382, 1388, and 



Ashton of Ashton. 

 Argent a pierced mullet 

 sable. 



of times to 1 307,'° while in 1320 John de Ashton 1390." He was apparently father of Sir John de 



»» From a plea of 1276 ; De Banc. R. 

 15, m. 4. 



'" Final Cone. {Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), iii, 172. Roger (de Burton) and 

 Orm hia brother are called sons of Roger 

 son of Orm. Their mother was a daughter 

 and co-heir of Richard de Lancaster. Wil- 

 liam de Kirkby was son of Roger son of 

 Orm son of Ailward ; his father was the 

 grantee of Ashton from Albert Grelley. 



'^ Lanes. Pipe R. 116, 153. Orm de 

 Ashton granted part of his land in Ashton 

 to Robert son of Simon de Statlee (Staley) ; 

 the boundaries mention Hurst and Green- 

 lache; Dads. MSS. xxxix, fol. iiib. 

 Orm son of Roger gave land called Muge- 

 hale to Cockersand Abbey ; Chartul. i, 

 214. As Medlock and Sunderland are 

 named in the bounds, the charter must 

 refer to this township, though entered in 

 the section relating to Ashton in Pres- 

 ton. 



^ Thomas son of Orm de Ashton made 

 to Richard de Byron a grant of a moiety 

 of the land between the Reed Brook 

 and Stony Brook, the Medlock and the 

 bounds of Werneth, at a rent of izd. 

 a year; Byron Chart. (Towneley MS.), 



7/19- 



Some early charters arc preserved by 

 Dodsworth, loc. cit. Thomas de Ashton 

 gave to Ralph son of William Ruflus of 

 Staley all his land of Souracre, in the 

 Olerene hey, the Helm rode, and the Ot- 

 ford bottom, which lands had formerly 

 been held by Richard RufFus (Roo) ; he 

 also granted land within the bounds of 

 Loseley (Luzley), the meres beginning at 

 the Bicestal (Bestal). 



™ Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 193. Ro- 

 bert de Ashton released to Robert de 

 Byron the services due from Greenhurst 

 and Sunderland, viz. i8</. a year from 

 each ; Byron Chart. 9/22. William 

 son of Thomas de Ashton released to Sir 

 Richard de Byron all claim in the land 

 called Greenhurst, as contained in the 

 charter of his brother Robert ; ibid. n. 

 S/20. It is possible that William and 

 Robert were the sons of the later Thomas 

 it Ashton, but they may have been 

 grandsons of Orm. 



Robert de Ashton granted to Ralph 

 RufFus de Staley part of his land within 

 the fee of Ashton lying between the Bices- 

 tal and the Water Walsyke ; to which 



charter William son of Olibern de Ashton 

 was a witness ; Dods. ut supra. Richard 

 le Roo and Sir Henry de TrafFord were 

 defendants in 1351 ; John de Heghgren, 

 the plaintifF, did not prosecute ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Assize R. i, m. 5. 



"' De Banc. R. 11, m. 3 ; 15, m. 4 

 (printed in Lanes. Pipe R. 405) ; 21, 

 m. 8 d. ; 27, m. 29 ; 28, m. 24 d. Six 

 oxgangs of land and the advowson of the 

 church were excepted from the claim for 

 the manor. The oxgangs were perhaps 

 in the hands of free tenants, while the 

 advowson belonged to the lord of Man- 

 chester. 



'* Final Cone, i, 162 ; the dispute had 

 therefore occupied ten years. 



Thomas de Ashton was a juror in 1282, 

 when he was said to owe the rent of a 

 sor goshawk annually as one of the free 

 foreign tenants of Manchester ; he also 

 did suit for Parbold, Dalton, and Wright- 

 ington ; Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 244, 

 246, 248. 



" Thomas de Ashton in 1292 was de- 

 fendant to claims made by Richard de les 

 Lees of Ashton for a right of way and for 

 common of pasture ; Assize R. 408, m. 2 1. 

 At the same time inquiry was made 

 whether or not Adam son of Simon the 

 Serjeant of Ashton had held a messuage 

 and lands, which should descend to his 

 son John, --^ minor ; Thomas de Ashton 

 held them, alleging a grant by Adam, 

 made long before his death ; ibid. m. 

 34 d. 



Henry de Ashton recovered a messuage 

 and land against Gervase de Ashton, who 

 claimed as brother and heir of William de 

 Ashton. It was shown that William had 

 made the grant to Henry while under 

 age, but had given a release when twenty- 

 three ; ibid. m. 1 1 d. 



Thomas de Ashton and Cecily his wife 

 in X305 made a feoffment of a messuage 

 and land in Ashton ; Final Cone, i, 206 ; 

 De Banc. R. 162, m. 200 d. 



A settlement of the manor was made 

 in 1307, Thomas de Ashton granting it 

 to John son of Thomas de Ashton, a 

 minor, with remainders to Robert the 

 brother of John ; to William son of Adam 

 Banastre ; to Alexander brother of 

 Thomas for life ; and to Robert brother 

 of Richard de Ashton for life ; Final 

 Cone, i, 212. 



87 Mamecestre (Chct. Soc), li, 290. 

 The mesne lordship of the Kirkbys is 

 omitted. 



John son of Thomas de Ashton was 

 defendant to a number of claims made in 

 1337 by Richard de Staley, John del Hcy- 

 rod, Richard de Clayden, Robert del 

 Hurst, William de Bardsley, and John de 

 Audenshaw ; Assize R. 1424, m. i x, x I d. ; 

 1425, m. 2d. The claimants were per- 

 haps the holders of the 6 oxgangs. John 

 son of Thomas de Ashton was a de- 

 fendant again in 1346 } De Banc. R. 346, 

 m. I. 



38 Chart. R. 9 Edw, III, m. 5, no. 23, 

 He had licence to impark Lyme Park in 

 Ashton in 1337 ; Cal.Pat. 1334-8, p. 406. 

 In 1346 John de Ashton, in virtue of 

 these grants, proceeded against John de 

 Ainsworth and William son of Robert de 

 Newton for breaking hii park and taking 

 deer ; De Banc. R, 348, m. 98 d, ; see 

 also Coram Rege R. 3x7, m. 133. 



In the same year he appeared to show 

 cause why he had not received knighthood, 

 his defence being that his landed estate at 

 the time of the royal briefs of 1341 and 

 1344 had not been worth ^^40 a year ; 

 he held six messuages at Ashton yearly 

 worth 4J, each clear, 40 acres of land 

 worth 12^. an acre, 12 acres of meadow 

 worth zs. each, 20 acres of wood worth. 

 X2i/. each, and looj. rent ; Q. R. Mem. R. 

 122, m. 137 d. 



John de Ashton appears as plaintifF or 

 defendant in various suits in subsequent 

 years. In 1357 he charged John le Hunt, 

 * smithy man,' and Adam de Tetlow, with 

 others, with cutting down his trees, and 

 with breaking a close ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 5, m. 8. 



89 Assize R. 441, m. 3, 5 ; De Banc. 

 R. 408, m. 136 d. The defendants were 

 William son of Robert de RadclifFe ; Wil- 

 liam son of William de RadclifFe, and 

 Margaret his wife ; John Massy, rector 

 of Sefton, and Robert son of Robert de 

 Lcgh. 



*^ De Banc. R. 422, m. 332 d. ; Mar- 

 garet had married William de RadclifFe, as 

 above. 



^ Ibid. 457, m. 3i2d. ; see also Dep. 

 Keeper^s Rep, xzxii, App. 36X. 



^^ See notice of him in Diet. Nat, Biog. 



^3 Pink and Beaven, Pari, Rep, of tana. 

 39) 43. 44-. 



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