A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



his nephew William son of Richard Massey." 

 William died eleven years later ; " his son and heir 

 Sir Geoffrey'^ left an only child Joan, who by her 

 first husband, William Stanley,^^ also left an only 

 daughter Joan, heiress of Worsley, aged eighteen at 

 her mother's death in 1511.^^ 



By John Ashton, her first husband, who died in 

 1 513, Joan Stanley, the daughter, had no Issue; 

 but by her second. Sir Richard Brereton, a younger 

 son of Sir Randle Brereton of Malpas, she had two 

 sons and a daughter.^* The eldest, Richard, died 

 without issue, before his parents ; " the second, 

 Geoffrey, died in 1565, leaving an only son Richard, 

 who at his grandfather's death in 1570 succeeded to 

 Worsley." He married Dorothy daughter of Sir 

 Richard Egerton, of Ridley in Cheshire, but their 

 only child Richard died in infancy. It was no doubt 

 by Dorothy's influence that the Worsley manors were 



then granted by will to her father's illegitimate son, 

 Sir Thomas Egerton, a distinguished lawyer, who 

 rose to be Lord Chancellor, and was created Viscount 

 Brackley in 1616." Richard Brereton died in 1598; 

 his widow Dorothy afterwards married Sir Peter Legh 

 of Lyme, and dying in 1639 was buried at Eccles 

 with her former husband.*' 



Shortly after Lord Brackley's death in 161 7 his son 

 John was created Earl of Bridgewater ; " he succeeded 

 to Worsley in 1639, as above, and died ten years after- 

 wards,*^ being succeeded in turn by two namesakes, 

 the second and third earls, who died in 1686 and 

 1 70 1 respectively. Scrope, the son of the third earl, 

 was created Duke of Bridgewater in 1720, He died 

 in 1745, leaving three children — ^John, second duke, 

 who survived his father but three years ; Francis 

 third duke, the great canal-maker, who died in 1803' 

 and Louisa, who married the first Marquis of Stafford 



8* In 1453 William Maascy son and 

 heir of Richard, brother of Sir Geoffrey 

 Massey, released his claim to manors, 

 lands, services, &c, in Worsley, Hulton, 

 Salford, Manchester, Tatton, OUerton, 

 Leigh, Northwich, Knutsford, and Ros- 

 therne, then in the hands of his uncle's 

 feoffees ; Elleamere D, no. 187, 262. 



s» Ormerod, loc. cit. 



88 Sir John Boteler in July 1457 re- 

 ceived 6 marks from Sir Geoffrey Massey 

 towards the maintenance of Geoffrey son 

 and heir of William Massey, who had 

 married Isabel daughter of Sir John 5 

 EUesmere D. no. 275, In 1466 William 

 Massey of Worsley and Geoffrey his son 

 and heir, leased to Henry Buckley land in 

 Nether Acres at the south end of Man- 

 chester at a rent of 2j. ; ibid, no. 125. 

 As Sir Geoffrey Massey of Worsley, he 

 made a lease of Hulton Hey in 1484 ; no, 

 71. Sir Geoffrey is frequently named in 

 the Chester Recognizance Rolls from 

 1475 to 1489 ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvii, 

 App. 526-8. 



Sir Geoffrey died 28 Sept. 1496, and 

 his daughter and heir Joan, widow (1499) 

 of William Stanley, was then twenty-four 

 years of age. The manor of Worsley was 

 found to be held of the king as Duke of 

 Lancaster by knight's service and the 

 yearly rent of loj. j Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iii, 68. 



87 The marriage took place in or before 

 1480, for in a charter of that year the 

 remainders are to Joan daughter of Sir 

 Geoffrey Massey and her issue by William 

 son and heir apparent of Sir William 

 Stanley; Ellesmere D. no. 190. This 

 Sir William was the brother of the first 

 Earl of Derby, afterwards executed for 

 high treason, all his lands being forfeited, 

 A further settlement was made in 1488 ; 

 ibid, no, 191, 



Joan was left a widow in or before 

 1499 ; she married Sir Edward Pickering 

 shortly afterwards, and after his death 

 about 1503 she married Sir John Brere- 

 ton, who was living in 1510 ; Ellesmere 

 D, no. 211, 280, 284. There was a 

 recovery of the manors of Worsley and 

 Hulton in 1501, Sir Edward Pickering 

 and Joan his wife being tenants j Towne- 

 ley's MS. CC (Chet. Lib.), no. 705. Sir 

 John Brereton and Dame Joan his wife 

 were defendants in a case relating to the 

 Massey chantry at Eccles in 1510; Duchy 

 Plead. (Rec. Soc, Lanes, and Ches.), i, 49. 



88 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, 95 

 (now illegible). An old abstract states 

 that Dame Joan with William Pickering 



held the manor of Worsley and Hulton, 

 with lands, wood, &c., rents of 30J., a 

 pair of spurs, two arrows, a pair of gloves 

 in the same, in socage by a rent of 185, 

 The value was £60 a year. She also 

 held lands, burgages, &c. in Salford, 

 Wigan, Manchester, Kearsley, and Farn- 

 worth, Joan wife of John Ashton was 

 her daughter and heir. 



89 Ormerod, Ches, i, 442. 



*^ An annuity for Dorothy, Richard's 

 widow, was settled in 1560 by Joan 

 Brereton, widow, and Geoffrey her son 

 and heir ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 22, m, 146. Dorothy Brereton adhered 

 to * the old religion,' and was accordingly 

 in trouble in 1584 ; Gibson, Lydiate Rally 

 227 (quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. clxvii, 40). 



^1 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xii, 5, 

 Richard Brereton paid lu. ^d. to the 

 Duchy for Worsley, 6j, %d, for Middle 

 Hulton ; the other 2j. of ancient rent was 

 paid by Robert Worsley for Booths ; 

 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1868), i, 447. 



^2 Ormerod, loc. cit. See Foss, Judges ; 

 G.E.C, Complete Peerage^ and bict. Nat. 

 Biog, He was created Baron of EUes- 

 mere in 1603. As to his religious posi- 

 tion his contemporary Fr, John Gerard 

 states that *he had been a Catholic ; but 

 went over to the other side, for he loved 

 the things of this world ' ; Morris, Life of 

 Gerardj 185, He was one of the feoffees 

 in a settlement of the manors in 1577 ; 

 Pal. of Lane, Feet of F. bdle. 39, m. 6. 



In Nov. 1599 Sir Thomas Egerton 

 and Dorothy Brereton, widow, stating that 

 Richard Brereton had died in the pre- 

 vious December, recited that he had about 

 1593 conveyed his manors of Worsley, 

 Hulton, and Bedford with other lands in 

 Lancashire to the use of himself for life, 

 then of the said Dorothy for life, and 

 then of Sir Thomas and his heirs male ; 

 and his Cheshire manors and lands to 

 the use of Sir Thomas. After Richard's 

 death Anne Davenport, widow of Sir 

 William Davenport, George Legh of 

 High Legh and Anne his wife, Henry 

 Cocker of High Legh, and Richard Swer- 

 ton had entered upon the lands, claiming 

 as the next of kin; Duchy of Lane. Plead, 

 clxxxviii, E2 ; cxcvii, E5 ; ccx, E7. Anne 

 Davenport was the aunt of the deceased 

 Richard Brereton and next of kin ; she 

 had married (i) John Booth of Barton, 

 their daughter and co-heir Anne being the 

 wife of George Legh, and (2) Sir William 

 Davenport of Bramhall ; Earwaker, East 

 Cbes. i, 437 i Dugdale, Visit, (Chet. Soc), 

 179. 



380 



After the death of Viscount Brackley 

 it was found that his heir male was the 

 Earl of Bridgewater, but an elder son had 

 left two daughters — Mary wife of Sir 

 Thomas Leigh, and Vera wife of William 

 Booth ; Chan. Inq. p.m. II, v, 396, 151. 



*^ Brereton monument in Eccles 

 Church ; and Funeral Cert. (Chet. Soc), 

 80. The will of Dame Dorothy 

 Legh, with inventory, is printed in Pic- 

 cope's pyUh (Chet. Soc), iii, 201-12, 

 She desired to be buried in the tomb of 

 her former husband, made a large number 

 of bequests to the Egertons and others, 

 and to servants ; to the poor in Worsley 

 20 nobles, to those in Eccles 401., in 

 Middle Hulton 40J., and about Deane 

 Church 201. &c. ; to twelve old persons 

 her tenants in Worsley and Hulton a 

 black coat or gown ; ' there is armour in 

 the armour house at Worsley which be- 

 longeth to the late tenants of my former 

 husband, Mr. Brereton, both in Cheshire 

 and Lancashire ; my will and desire is to 

 have it kept and preserved for use.' By 

 a codicil she gave loj. each to *the work- 

 men in or at the coal pits and cannel pits 

 in Middle Hulton.' 



Her ghost was said to haunt an ash 

 tree near the hall, and an account of its 

 laying by seven clergymen of the district 

 is given in Mancb. Guardian Nota and 

 Queries, no. 805. A live cock chicken 

 was offered to appease itj but a human 

 life should have been offered ; hence the 

 spirit was allowed to appear at Worsley 

 Hall once a year in the form of a swal- 

 low. 



<■* This sketch of the descent is from 

 Ormerod's Cheshire, and the Peerages. I 

 There are lives of several in Dicu Nat, 

 Biog. 



^* He married Frances daughter and co- 

 heir of Ferdinando, fifth Earl of Derby. 

 The chief residence of the family was at 

 Ashridge, Herts., and the monumental 

 inscriptions in Little Gaddesden Church 

 are in Collins's Peerage. According to 

 them the iirst earl * was a profound scholar, 

 an able statesman, and a good Christian ; 

 he was a dutiful son to his mother the 

 Church of England, in her persecution as 

 well as in her great splendour ; a loyal 

 subject to his sovereign in those worst of 

 times when it was accounted treason not to 

 be a traitor.' His estates do not seem to have 

 been interfered with by the Parliament. 

 An extent of the holdings of the Worsley 

 tenants of John, Earl of Bridgewater, made 

 in 1653, is in the Exch. of Pleai (CaU W. 

 238). 



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