LEYLAND HUNDRED 



LEYLAND 



In 1 301 the king granted Robert 'de Euxton ' 

 (Holland of Euxton) a charter for a market ever)- 

 week on Tuesday, and a fair every year on the feast 

 of St. Barnabas ; also for free warren in his demesne 

 lands of Euxton.' Here as in many other places 

 Thomas Earl of Lancaster created a mesne manor in 

 favour of Sir Robert de Holland, which was forfeited 

 after the rebellion of 1322. Thus in 1323 it was 

 found that William de Holland had died holding 

 certain lands, &c., in Euxton of Robert de Holland, 

 which were then in the king's hands by reason of 

 the forfeiture ; the manor, demesne lands, and water- 

 mill were held of the king as of the fee of Penwortham 

 in socage by suit at the six weeks' court at Lancaster 

 and at the three weeks' court of the wapentake, and by 

 a rent of lib. of cummin. Other lands were held of 

 the master of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem 

 in England by a rent of 6/. zd. Robert, his son and 

 heir, was eleven years of age." 



Robert de Holland' was succeeded by William, 

 probably his brother,' but ultimately by Joan the 

 daughter of Robert. She married William de Moly- 

 neux (who died in 135S), son of the lord of Sefton,' 

 their son Sir William de Molyneux succeeding to 

 Euxton, in which his widow Agnes had dower after 

 his death in 1372." Down to 1729 the manor 

 remained in the Molyneux family,' but was then 

 sold, with lands in the township, and disappears from 

 the records for nearly a century. It is stated to have 

 been acquired by James Longworth of Liverpool, 



whose descendants afterwards sold it to William Incc 

 Anderton of Euxton,' in whose family it has remained 

 till the present time. 



H-oLLAND. y^cwrc, Molyneux, A%urc 



poit-'dered 'zvith Jlciin lie a cross moliiie or, 



lisalion ra^itpaiitguarjavt 

 aridity o'var all a bendlct 

 gules. 



The growth of this branch of the Andertons is 

 somewhat obscure. They do not appear to have 

 owned any land in the township till 1600, though 

 they resided there from the latter part of the 15th 

 century and long farmed the tithes."-' Oliver Ander- 

 ton of Anderton, who died in 1466, by violence as 

 it is said, had a younger son Hugh, described as ' of 

 Euxton.' He was succeeded in 1516 or 1517 by a 

 son James, who acquired lands in Bretherton and 

 other places,"" and in 1538 claimed lands in Healey, 

 near Chorley.' His son was another Hugh," who 



Grlmbald and William were defendants 

 in a suit about a tenement in Ellel in 

 1301 ; Assize R. 1321, m. 5 d. 



1 Charter R. 95 (30 Edw. I), m. 6, 

 no. 4.9. 



2 Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, no. 54. The 

 whole was valued at about ,^12 a year. 

 The Hospitallers' land comprised an in- 

 closed hey, containing 30 acres of waste 

 and 30 acres of wood. la addition to his 

 Euxton estate William held lands also in 

 Vines Walton, Ellel and Ncwsham. 



The age of the heir and the remarriage 

 of Joan, the widow, to William de ScargiU 

 appear from Cal. Close 1323-7, p. 361. 



Sir Robert de Holland was said to hold 

 three plough-lands in Euxton ; Lansdowne 

 MS. 559, fol. 23, quoted in Baincs, Lanes, 

 (ed. 1870), ii, 692. 



^ Robert son of William de Holland 

 of Euxton appears in an Ellel plea in 

 1332; De lianco R. 288, m. 379. In 

 1327 and 1332 Margery de Holland was 

 a contributor to the subsidy in Euxton ; 

 Lay Subs. R. 130, no. 5 ; ExcA. Lay Subs, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 53. Robert 

 de Holland was in 1335 exempted from 

 serving on assizes, &c. ; Cal, Pat. 1334-8, 

 p. no. Robert son of Roger le Spenser, a 

 minor, in 1337-8 claimed a free tenement 

 in Euxton and Ellel against Robert de 

 Holland and others, the latter asserting 

 that the plaintiff's land washeld by knights' 

 sen-ice, and he was therefore in ward to 

 Robert de Holland ; Assize R. 1424, 

 m. 10 d. ; 1425, m. 5. 



Robert seems to have come to a violent 

 end shortly afterwards, for in 1339 two 

 men were pardoned for their part in the 

 death of Robert de Holland of Euxton ; 

 Cal. Pat. 1338-40, pp. 235-6. 



* In 1346-55 William de Holland was 

 holding part of the tenement in Euxton, 

 &c., formerly held by Robert Busscl ; 

 Feud. Aids, iii, 87. In 1378 it was his 

 heir who was chargeable ; Harl. MS. 

 2085, fol. 421, &c. 



In 1356 William de Holland was 

 custodee of the land and heir of Robert 

 son of Roger le Spenser of Euxton ; 

 Duchy of Lane Assize R. 5, m. I, 9. 



* See the account of Sefton. 



*^ Sir Richard de Balderston and Agnes 

 his wife in 1375 demised to Thomas son 

 of John de Euxton, Margaret his wife 

 and Richard his son the third part of the 

 Maynes of Euxton, with the Pagefield, 

 &c. ; Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 39*. 



The manor of Euxton is usually 

 named in Molyneux inquisitions, &c. ; 

 see Lanes, Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 71 ; 

 ii, 118 ; the tenure is not described, but 

 in each case is mentioned a deed made 

 at Euxton, so that the family occasionally 

 resided there. In 1445-6 Sir Richard 

 Molyneux was stated to hold two plough- 

 lands for the tenth part of a knight's fee ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, 

 no. 20. 



In 1521 it was found that Anne Moly- 

 neux (widow of Sir Thomas) had held 

 lands In Euxton of the Hospitallers ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. v, no. 39. The 

 manor also was in 1548 stated to be held 

 of the king as of the late priory of St. John, 

 by a rent of ys, zd. ; and this is the state- 

 ment in later inquisitions j ibid, ix, no. 2, &c. 



For a claim for the rent due to Pen- 

 wortham from Euxton, see Dueatus Lane, 

 (Rec. Com.), i, 155. 



About 1690 tliere were a court leet 

 and court baron under Lord Molyneux ; 

 KuerdeninHarl. MS. 7386,fol. 217/.. In 

 1693-4 the manor of Euxton was alleged 

 to have been devoted by Lord Molyneux 

 to 'superstitious uses,' i.e. 'for the sup- 

 port of the secular priests of the Church 

 of Rome or maintenance of the Romish 

 religion,' &c. ; Exeh, Dcp. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 84 ; Petty Bag, Spec. 

 Com. bdle. 19, no. 18. 



^ It was one of the manors sold at that 

 time under a Private Act of Parliament, 

 2 Geo. II, cap. 9. 



19 



^ Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 139, 



In the licence for a gamekeeper in 

 1794 the lords of the manor are thus 

 named : John Lowes, John Gosnell, 

 George Clayton and John Johnson ; 

 Preston Guardian Sketches, no. II 26. 



In 1803 the deforciants in a hne re- 

 lating to the manors of Euxton, Eccleston, 

 &c., were Samuel Fleetwood and Betty 

 his wife, Margaret Warren, widow, Nancy 

 Lowes, widow, John Gosnell and Jane 

 his wife, Samuel Warren, Thomas Wiatt 

 and Mary his wife, William Wainwright 

 and Mary his wife, and Tryphosa Johnson, 

 spinster J Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 449 (Lent 43 Geo. Ill, m. 342). 



In 1826 William Ince Anderton was 

 vouchee in a recovery of various messuages, 

 lands, &c., in Euxton and Clayton-Ie- 

 Woods, but no * manor ' is named; Pal. 

 of Lane, Plea R. 753. 



^a In 1600 James Anderton purchased 

 the tithes of Euxton and Clayton ; Lathom 

 House D., Clayton boxes, 



*b Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 11, 

 m. 187 ; Duchy of Lane. Dep. xxv, B 1 ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead. Ixxviii, B 11, 



** These statements are from deposi- 

 tions, &c., printed in Duchy Pleadings 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 87-100. 

 See the account of Anderton. The Healey 

 lands appear to have gone with Anderton, 

 but others in Culcheth and Kenyon with 

 the Euxton family. 



1*^ In 1 5 16 Richard Hawkesbury, Prior 

 of Penwortham, with the assent of 

 Evesham, granted to Hugh Anderton of 

 Euxton, James his son, Agnes wife of 

 James, and Hugh son of James and 

 Agnes the grange called Euxton barn, &c., 

 for sixty years, at an annual rent of ^^i 6 ; 

 Towneley MS. OO, no. 1326. From an 

 earlier deed it appears that the elder Hugh 

 had a second son Thomas, and a daughter 

 Margaret, who was in 1508 espoused to 

 Nicholas son and heir apparent of 

 Nicholas Rigby ; ibid, no, 1313. 



