SALFORD HUNDRED 



ECCLES 



and whose son was the first beneficiary under the 

 Bridgewater trust. On the death of the third duke 

 the title of Earl of Bridgewater and part of the family 

 estates passed to a cousin, Lieut.-General John William 

 Egerton, seventh earl,*° who died without issue in 

 1823, and was succeeded by his brother, the Rev. 

 Francis William, eighth earl, originator of the Bridge- 

 water Treatises. On his death without issue in 1829 

 the earldom expired.*' 



The second Earl of Bridgewater divided the Worsley 

 and Tatton estates between two of his younger sons, 

 Sir William and Thomas. The latter became ancestor 

 of the Egertons of Tatton, but the former leaving no 

 sons, Worsley reverted to the main line of the family. 

 Sir William's widow married Hugh, Lord Willoughby 

 of Parham, and they lived at Worsley Hall, though 

 not happily." 



Scrope, first Duke of Bridgewater, devised a naviga- 

 tion system for Worsley, but it was not carried out.*' 

 His son Francis, the third duke, on breaking oiF his 

 match with Elizabeth widow of the fourth Duke of 

 Hamilton, devoted himself to carrying out his father's 

 plans. He lived at the Brick Hall in Worsley, now 

 pulled down, and limiting his personal expenses to 

 ^400 a year, employed the remainder of his income 

 in canal-making. He obtained Acts of Parliament in 

 1758 and 1759 for the construction of a canal from 

 his collieries in Worsley and Farnworth to Salford 

 and to HoUinfare. Starting from the underground 

 colliery workings, the canal reached the surface near 

 the centre of Worsley,""" and was carried, without locks, 

 by a circuitous route and by the famous aqueduct over 

 the IrweU, to Castlefield in the south of Manchester. 

 The engineer was the celebrated James Brindley ; 

 John Gilbert, the duke's agent, also took an active 

 part in the work. The subterranean canal extends 

 nearly 6 miles in a straight line, its terminus being 

 near Deane Church, 5 50 ft. below the surface of the 

 ground ; it has numerous branches intended to serve 

 the collieries ; and though no longer used for carrying 

 coal, it is useful in draining the workings. Before the 

 first canal was finished the duke, in 1 761, obtained an 

 Act for the construction of a more important one from 

 Manchester to Runcorn, at which point a descent is 

 made to the Mersey by a series of locks. By these 

 undertakings the duke, who took the keenest personal 



*' Son of John Egerton, successively 

 Bishop of Bangor, Lichfield, and Durham, 

 ■who died in 1787, and who was son of 

 Henry Egerton, brother of the first Duke 

 of Bridgewater, and Bishop of Hereford 

 1724-46. By the will of the third duke 

 he had the family estates in|Herts., Bucks, 

 and Salop. By the seventh earl's will 

 these have become the possession of Earl 

 Brownlow ; G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 



The Duchy rents of lis. for Worsley 

 and ZJ. for Booths were paid in 1779; 

 Duchy of Lane. Rentals, bdle. 14, no. 25. 



■" He gave his collection of manuscripts, 

 known as the Egerton MSS., to the British 

 Museum. See Diet. Nat. Bhg. 



■•s SirWilliam Egerton was made a Knight 

 of the Bath at the coronation of Charles II 

 in 1661. The grant of Worsley to him in 

 tail male was made in 1674; EUesmere D. 

 He died in 1691 and was buried at Hemel 

 Hempstead. His wife was Honora, sister 

 of Thomas Lord Leigh of Stoneley; their 

 only son died young, while of four daugh- 

 ters one married ; Collins, Peerage. For 

 Lady Honora and her second husband see 

 Hilt. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 417-21. 



interest in the works, rendered important help to the 

 rapidly growing commerce and manufactures of the 

 M.inchester district, and enormously enriched himself. 

 By his will he left his estates in Lancashire and 

 Cheshire, and at Brackley, with Bridgewater House, 

 London, its art treasures and valuable library, on trusts 

 for the benefit of his nephew the Marquis of Stafford, 

 afterwards Duke of Sutherland, with remainder to his 

 second son, Francis Leveson-Gower, and his issue ; he 

 directed that in case Lord Francis or his issue should 

 succeed to the marquisate of Stafford, the Bridgewater 

 estates should pass to the next in succession. The 

 trust came to an end in 1903, but in 1872 the canals 

 had been transferred to a company, and were purchased 

 in 1887 by the Manchester Ship Canal." 



Lord Francis in 1833, in accordance with the duke's 

 will, took the surname and arms of Egerton, on suc- 

 ceeding his father as the beneficiary of the trust. He 

 determined to reside at Worsley, conceiving, as he said, 

 that ' his possessions imposed duties upon him as bind- 

 ing as his rights.' He found it ' a God-forgotten 

 place ; its inhabitants were much addicted to drink 

 and rude sports, their morals being deplorably low. 

 The whole district was in a state of religious and 

 educational destitution ; there was no one to see to 

 the spiritual wants of the people, and teaching was all 

 but nullity itself The women working in the coal- 

 mines were at once withdrawn, and helped to maintain 

 themselves till they could find more suitable occupation. 

 Churches and schools were built ; a lending library 

 instituted ; the cottages of labourers and artisans re- 

 paired and rebuilt ; and Lord Francis and his wife 

 afforded a suitable example of life. He built Worsley 

 Hall, rebuilt Bridgewater House, and added to its 

 literary and artistic collections, and also made his 

 mark in literature ; nor did he neglect public duties, 

 serving the state in Parliament and in office. He was 

 created Earl of EUesmere in 1 846, refusing the offer 

 to revive the earldom of Bridgewater.'* Dying in 

 1857 he was succeeded by his son George Granville 

 Francis, who only lived till 1862, being followed by 

 his son Francis Charles Granville, born in 1 847, the 

 third earl, who in 1903, on the close of the trust, be- 

 came not only the beneficiary, but the owner of the 

 estates in Worsley and elsewhere. 



At the beginning of last century courts baron were 



Sir William's daughter Honora married 

 Thomas Arden Bagot of Pipe Hall, Staffs., 

 whose descendants own land in Worsley 

 and Hulton. 



*' The IrweU and Mersey Navigation 

 was begun by Act of Parliament in 1720 

 (7 Geo. I, cap. 15) ; it effected improve- 

 ments in the waterway between Manches- 

 ter and Warrington. In 1737 the Duke 

 of Bridgewater procured an Act (10 Geo. 

 II, cap. 9) for making Worsley Brook 

 navigable from Worsley Mill to the River 

 IrweU. 



Two settlements of the Worsley manors 

 by Scrope, Earl and Duke of Bridgewater, 

 are recorded — in 1703 and 1739 j Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 250, m. 17 ; Plea 

 R. 549, m. 6. 



'» In the formation of the canal this 

 order was no doubt reversed, the canal 

 being driven in underground till a seam 

 was reached ; the coal was then worked 

 and carried away by the canal, the mines 

 and canals progressing together ; note by 

 Mr. Holme. 



^^ From an account in the Times of 25 

 Aug. 1903, derived from one in the 



Quarterly Reii. of Mar. 1 844, by the Earl 

 of EUesmere. 



A pamphlet describing the Bridgewater 

 Navigation was published in 1766, with 

 later editions in 1769 and 1779 ; it con- 

 tains a map of the canals and gives an 

 abstract of the Act of Parliament. There 

 are early notices of the canals by A. Young, 

 Six Months Tour (1770), iii, 251, and 

 Aikin, Manchester (1795), 112-16 ; see 

 also Diet. Nat. Biog. and Smiles, Engineers. 

 For a note on the portraits of the duke, 

 see Pal. Note Bk. ii, 130. 



'" From a Guide to ff^orsley (Eccles, 

 1870) : also G.E.C. Complete Peerage, and 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. The earl was the first 

 president of the Camden Society, and 

 wrote a Guide to Northern Archaeology. 



One of his sons, the Hon. Algernon 

 Egerton, M.P., resided at Worsley Old 

 Hall, and was superintendent of the Bridge- 

 water Trust for many years. After his 

 death in 1891 a memorial fund of ,f 1,100 

 was raised, the interest of which is given 

 in exhibitions or scholarships to pupil 

 teachers proceeding to college. 



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