A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



as his father ; ^^ Henry, who succeeded, and held 

 Worsley for about ten years, dying in or before 1 304;^^ 

 and Jordan, who had Wardley. Henry de Worsley 

 was twice married, and left two sons, Richard and 

 Robert ; the latter, by the second wife,*® had a share of 

 the manor, known as Booths, assigned to him in 1323, 

 so that in future, out of the free rent, he and his heirs 

 were to pay 2/. to the chief lord, leaving i 8j. to be 

 paid by the lord of Worsley.*^ Richard, who was 

 living in 1332,'*'' was succeeded by his son Henry, dead 

 in 1350 ;^* and Henry in turn was followed by his 

 grandson Sir Geoffrey de Worsley, son of Geoffrey.^* 

 Sir Geoffrey de Worsley, who fought in the French 



wars, married Mary daughter of Sir Thomas de 

 Felton, about 1376 ; but a divorce was procured in 

 1 3 8 1 , and Mary retired to a nunnery,*' Thereon Sir 

 Geoffrey married Isabel daughter and eventual heir of 

 Sir Thomas de Lathom, but died shortly afterwards 

 leaving a daughter by her named Elizabeth, only one 

 year old. His former wife then left her convent, 

 asserting that she had only entered it by compulsion, 

 and as she also established the validity of her mar- 

 riage, the infant daughter of Sir Geoffrey lost the in- 

 heritance as illegitimate, the manors of Worsley and 

 Hulton passing into the hands of Alice sister of Sir 

 Geoffrey and wife of Sir John Massey." 



^® Richard son of Richard de Worsley 

 attested a grant made to his father in 

 1293 ; EUesmere D. no. 143. He 

 had been defendant to a claim made in 

 1292, but it was shown that his brother 

 Henry was in possession of the lands in 

 dispute ; Assize R. 408, m. 72 d. 



^7 Henry may have been the eldest son ; 

 he describes himself as ' son and heir of 

 Richard formerly lord of Worsley,' in a 

 charter of 1296; EUesmere D. no. 218. 

 His first wife Joan was dead in 1293, when 

 he granted a pound of wax for the service 

 of the high altar of Eccles Church for her 

 soul and the souls of his father, ancestors, 

 &c.; Whalley Coucher, iii, 923. He then 

 married Margaret, who survived him 

 (1304) and became the wife of Robertson 

 of Richard de Radcliffe in or before 1305; 

 De Banco R. 149, m. 41 ; 1 5 3, m. 3 1 5 d. 



In 1292 Henry de Worsley made a 

 grant to Adam de Lever and his tenants 

 in Farnworth of certain easements in 

 Worsley by Walkden Brook ; EUesmere 

 D. no. 142. He granted lands in Wors- 

 ley to his brother Jordan, with remainder, 

 in default of issue to the latter, to his own 

 children by Margaret his wife ; no. 130. 



In another grant to Jordan he mentions 

 his uncles John and Geoffrey; no. 131. 

 He made yet another in 1299 ; and a 

 little later Olive de Bolton released all her 

 claim in these lands ; no. 146, 148. 



For a Roger de Worsley, indicted in 

 1299, see Lanes. Inq, and Extents^ i, 305. 



^8 In 1299 Henry son of Richard de 

 Worsley granted to Robert his son land 

 in Worsley called Mokents, the bounds 

 beginning at Acornsyke, where it was met 

 by the fall of Kronkysker, between 

 Worsley and Astley ; along the fall to 

 Blackbrook, thence by the bounds of 

 Astley and Irlam, across the moss to 

 Ringand Pits, and thence going down to 

 the Meadowyard ; EUesmere D. no, 147, 

 This was perhaps the grant confirmed in 

 1301 ; Final Cone, i, 193. In 1322 

 Margaret, formerly wife of Henry, sold 

 and released to Robert her son all her 

 goods in Worsley, movable and immovable, 

 for ^40 sterling which he had paid her ; 

 EUesmere D. no. 140. 



" Ibid. no. 162. 



2° In 1295 Maud, Margaret, and Ellen, 

 daughters and heirs of Robert son of John 

 son of Meuric de Hulton, released to 

 Richard son of Henry lord of Worsley 

 and Margaret his wife all claim on the 

 lands which their father had held of 

 Richard de Worsley according to the 

 charter in possession of the above-men- 

 tioned Richard and Margaret ; EUesmere 

 D. no. 145. In 1299 Richard hadagrant 

 of land in Worsley from his father {Final 

 Cone, i, 187); though Henry the father 

 was still living at the time the sons Richard 

 and Robert (see preceding note) were in 



the guardianship of one Robert de Ashton. 

 Margaret, the wife of the son Richard, is 

 mentioned in 1296; EUesmere D. no. 51, 

 52, 218. In 13H Roger the Barker of 

 Salford, as trustee, granted the third part 

 and the other two-thirds of the manor of 

 Worsley to Richard and Margaret, with 

 remainder to Henry son of Richard ; 

 Final Cone, ii, 1 1. 



Jordan de Worsley, Richard's uncle, in 

 1305 granted him all his lands in the mill 

 house in Worsley ; EUesmere D. no. 149. 

 In 1307 Richard assigned dower to Mar- 

 garet his father's widow In two granges 

 Sec. outside the hall gate on the eastern 

 side by the road to Manchester, in the 

 demesne lands, in the holdmgs of certain 

 under-tenants, together with the miU of 

 Worsley and its appurtenances; no. 151. 

 Three days later Margaret and her husband 

 Robert de Radcliffe demised these dower 

 lands to Richard at a rent of ^^lo, payable 

 in Manchester Church; no. 152; also 

 no. 157(1317). 



In 13 10 William son of Richard de 

 Radcliffe agreed with Richard son of 

 Henry de Worsley that William's son and 

 heir, Robert, should marry Ellen daughter 

 of Richard ; EUesmere D. no. 257. 



Henry's widow Margaret lived on until 

 about 1363, when her will was made; 

 ibid. no. 271, In the same year she gave 

 her son Thurstan de Holland aU her goods 

 movable and immovable ; ibid. no. 270, 

 See further under Denton, and Lanes, Inq, 

 p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 150. 



Richard de Worsley was returned as 

 holding lands of ^15 annual value in 

 1323 ; Palgravc, Pari, Writs, II, ii, 639. 

 Four years later he was one of the com- 

 missioners of array for the Hundred of 

 Salford, in anticipation of a war with 

 Scotland ; Rot. Seot, (Rec. Com.), i, 217. 

 In 133 1 he, as lord of Worsley, made a 

 grant for life to Cecily widow of Adam de 

 Wardley of a messuage and land pre- 

 viously held by Henry the Flecher, son of 

 William de Tyldesley ; EUesmere D. no. 

 165. In the following year he contributed 

 to the subsidy ; Exeh. Lay Suhs. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 39. 



2^ As early as 1305 Henry was one of 

 the defendants to the claims for dower 

 made by Margaret wife of Robert de 

 Radcliffe ; De Banco R. 156, m. 92. In 

 1323 Henry de Worsley joined with his 

 father in the above-cited agreement with 

 Robert de Worsley as to the zs. rent for 

 Robert's portion of the manor ; EUes- 

 mere D. no. 162. In 1332 he seems to 

 have been living in Hulton ; Exeh. Lay 

 Subs. 39. Two years later he had become 

 lord of Worsley ; EUesmere D. no. 58, 



In 1354 Alice widow of Henry de 

 Worsley granted certain lands in Hulton 

 to Thomas Thirlwind and Alice his wife ; 

 ibid, no. 59. Ten years later she gave to 



378 



Henry her son an annual rent of 12i. 

 from lands in Hulton held by William de 

 Shakerley and Margaret his wife (no. 60); 

 while in 1366 she granted to Henry de 

 Worsley all her dower lands at a rent of 

 501. 4</. ; no. 166. Henry son of Henry 

 de Worsley was defendant in a Worsley 

 suit in July 1356 ; Duchy of Lane. Assize 

 R. ;, m. zo. 



^ In 1350 John de Harrington and 

 Katherine his wife laid claim to the custody 

 of the lands and heir of Henry de Wors- 

 ley, the defendants being Gilbert de Hay- 

 dock and Anabel widow of Geoffrey de 

 Worsley; De Banco R. 363, m. 212. 

 From the Legh of Lyme deeds it is evident 

 that Anabel was the daughter of Gilbert 

 de Haydock ; she is named as early as 

 1335 ; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxxviii, 

 43, 165,263, 146. Then, in July 1356, 

 Geoffrey son of Geoffrey de Worsley was 

 the first defendant to a claim for land in 

 Worsley put forward by John son of Agnes 

 daughter of Henry de Hulton j Gilbert 

 de Haydock was another defendant ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 5, m. 20. 

 About the same time Geoffrey de Wors- 

 ley proceeded against Richard de Kenyon 

 of Worsley regarding waste ; ibid. m. 9. 

 It would appear therefore that Henry de 

 Worsley died in or before 1350, leaving as 

 his heir a minor, Geoffrey de Worsley 

 the younger, who had come of age by 1 3 5 6, 

 On the other hand the jury in 140 1 found 

 that Geoffrey the son of Henry succeeded 

 his father, and was in turn followed by 

 his son Geoffrey ; EUesmere D. no. 203. 

 "^ Sir Geoffrey de Worsley in a petition 

 for redress endorsed by the Commons 

 stated that he had served in the wars and 

 took the order of chivaler at the battle 

 in Spain ; he had entrusted his wife to the 

 care of Thomas FuUe, who had abused 

 the trust, and then induced her to seek a 

 divorce. Sir Geoffrey and Thomas after- 

 wards met at Reading, and after high 

 words came to blows, Thomas being 

 wounded, so that when he died his friends 

 tried to make Sir Geoffrey responsible. 

 He, however, averred that Thomas had 

 been cured of his wounds, and had espoused 

 the said wife; Anct. Pet. P.R.0. 103/5109. 

 Mary entered religion among the Minor- 

 esses in London, but after Sir Geoffrey's 

 death appealed to the pope, who issued a 

 commission; ibid. 146/7276. These re- 

 ferences are due to Mr. Francis Worsley. 



^* A full statement of the descent is 

 given in the deed last quoted, the record 

 of a search made in 1593 for the account 

 of the trial of 1401, when Robert de 

 Worsley of Booths and Arthur his son 

 sought the manor of Worsley as the right 

 of Arthur's wife Elizabeth, the daughter 

 of Sir Geoffrey. 



In 1374 Sir Geoffrey de Worsley 

 granted his manors of Worsley and Hul- 



Digitized by IVIicrosoft® 



