A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



is known of its earlier hiitory.' It appears doun to township, often called a manor, descended in t!i; 



the 1 7th century. ' Crcok family for several centuries,' but the t«o 



The estate of CROOK, in the north-west of the daughtersandco-hcirsof Anthony Crook' in 1569-70 



' The first of the family known seems 

 to be the Henry son of Gilbert who, as 

 stated below, made a grant to the Hospi- 

 tallers. He had sons Thomas and Hugh, 

 the latter perhaps ancestor of the Crook 

 family. 



RiLhard le Boteler in 12^9-60 gave 

 land to Thomas de Whittle j Kuerden 

 MSS. iii, W 22. Thomas made a grant 

 to Hugh his brother, while William son 

 of Thomas confirmed it or made an addi- 

 tional grant to the same Hugh his uncle ; 

 ibid, ii, fol. 265. Ellen widow of 

 Thomas de Whittle released to William 

 her son her dower land ; ibid, iii, W 22. 

 Ellen was living in 1 301 ; Assize R. 

 I 321, m. 8 d. 



William son of Thomas gave lands to 

 Adam de Priestlache ; he also made a 

 grant to Sir Richard le Botclcr, while to 

 Nicholas le Botclcr he gave the service 

 of Adam del Moor (viz. a rent of 6 J.) ; 

 Kuerden MSS. iii, W 22. To Richard 

 de Hoghton he ga\c *wliat he had' in 

 Whittle, and Agnel daughter of William 

 son of Thomas de Whittle released to 

 Master Richard dc Hoghton what she 

 had in the Ilalgh in Whittle j ibid. 

 William son of William dc Whittle was 

 a plaintiflT in 1:92 ; Assize R. 408, m. 

 57 d. He granted to Sir Richard Ic 

 Botclcr a fourth part of the wood and 

 waste, his father being a witness ; 

 Kuerden MsS. in, W 22. William 

 son of Thomas granted the Ttjwnyaril to 

 his daughter EUen, together with the 

 homage of Alice del Crook -, ibid. 



Cecily the widow of William son of 

 Thomas in 1304 claimed dower against 

 Master Richard de Hoghton and Henry 

 son of John del Bank, and it appeared 

 that Emma the daughter (and heir) of 

 Willi.im had married Joha {or Jordan) 

 dc Dilton (Dutton), and had left four 

 daughters, alt under age, viz. Isabel, Avicc, 

 Ahcc and Christiana ; De Banco R. 1+9, 

 m. 177; 151, m. 213, 201 d. 



The following had in l 303 been called 

 to warrant Master Richard ! '1 hcjmas 

 Topping and Alice his wife, Adam del 

 More and Ellen his w;!'-, Jordan dc 

 Dutton, clerk, and Emma h i wife, and 

 Agnes daughter of WiUiam de Whittle ; 

 De Banco R. 14.5, m. 163. 



The above-named Thomas dc Whittle 

 granted land in Famley to Roger de 

 Whittle, who may be the Roger del Crook 

 of other deeds ; Robert son of Roger gave 

 the same to WiUlam his son, while 

 anotJier son, Richard, regranted to his 

 father Robert what he had had ; Kuerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 265. WiUiam (son of 

 Robert) made a grant to his sister Agnes, 

 and firom a charter of hers it appears she 

 had brothers Adam and John and a sister 

 Alice ; ibid, ill, W 22. From a dispute as 

 to a messuage and lands in Whittle in 

 I 33 I it appears that Robert son of Roger 

 de Whittle granted them to Agnes, after- 

 wards wife of William the Disherson ; 

 Robert's son Richard died before his 

 father, leaving (by a second wife) a son 

 and heir Adam, under age ; Assize R. 

 14C4, m. 26. Margeri- the widow of 

 Richard de Whittle was a plaintiff (lor 

 dower) m 13J0 ; De Banco R. 2S3, m. 14. 

 The suit named was still proceeding in 

 I U7 when .\Jam son of Richard de 

 Whittle unsuccessfully claimed three 

 mcssua^vs, 32 acres, ic, against WiUiam 



le Di:herson, Agnes his wife, and John 

 their son j Assize R. 435, m. 39 d., 43 d, 

 Richard had a brother Henr^', whose son 

 was William. 



In the Kuerden deeds cited Thomas 

 son of Richard Hanson de Whittle is 

 several times mentioned, c. 13S0. Other 

 deeds about him and his family are in 

 Add. MS. 32109. 



^ See also the account of Wheelton. 



Oliver Whittle contributed to the 

 subsidy of 1542-3 for lands ; Subs. R. 130, 

 no. 126. In 1595 James Andcrton of 

 Clayton purchased a messuage, &c., from 

 Thomas Whittle ; Tal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 57, m. 54. Richard Whittle 

 died in 1591 holding a messuage, &c., 

 in Whittle of James Anderton and * two 

 falls or perches of land ' lately improved 

 from the waste, held of the king by the 

 two-hundredth part of a knight's fee ; 

 Larjct. Inf. p.m, (Rcc. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Chcs.), I, l~ij. His son Oliver had left 

 a son Richard, who was three years of 

 age at his grandfather's death. 



* The early history of the family is 

 very obscure, but, if it may be assumed 

 that Hugh de Crook was identical with 

 Hugh de Whittle son of Henry, the 

 following is the outline of it. A number 

 of the Crook deeds are in the Kuerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 240; iii, W 13, W 22; 

 and in Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 169. 



William Fitton (le Lytton in one 

 place) granted to Hugh son of Henry dc 

 Whittle a moiety of the land between 

 certain bounds — the Croeslrm i, Clough, 

 Horstan, and the Lostock being named, 

 Amlria daughter of William Fitton (de 

 Lydton or Litlton) part of her land 

 within bounds beginning at Hc^rbtan, by 

 the thread of the Lostock to the ditch 

 and so to Castilne Clough, beyond Black 

 Menegate to Penelache, Croysitland, 

 Arc, to the starting place. See Kuerden 

 MSS. ill, W13, W22. Hugh del Crock 

 in 1256-7 made an agreement with John 

 dc Clayton as to common of pasture i 

 ibid, ii, fol. 240A. 



In 1292 it was averred that Hugh del 

 Crook had held land in Clayton and 

 Whittle, to which the heirs were his 

 daughters Alice and Emma ; the latter, of 

 unsound mind, was then dead. Alice 

 married William Ball and had a son 

 William, a minor ; and then married one 

 Thomas Coltman, by whom she had issue, 

 and afterwards died. Henry de Charnock 

 was holding the land for Thomas's life. 

 See Assize R. 408, m. 3. It seems that 

 Alice was living in 1290 ; Assize R. 

 128S, m. 13. William Fitton gave 

 to Emma his daughter, who had married 

 William son of Henry Ball, lands in 

 Snape, Croston, Farnley, &c., and an 

 eighth part of his demesne ; Kuerden 

 MSS. iii, W 22. Richard le Boteler in 

 1259-60 released to William Ball and 

 Eve (?Emma) his wife and to Richard 

 de Hesketh and Amiria his wife their 

 tenement in Whittle, &c. ; Dods. MSS. 

 liil, fol. 95. William de Crook, perhaps 

 the minor of 1292, was a grantor in 

 1303 ; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 240. 



The next step is uncertain. Alice 

 daughter of Richard de Clayton and widow 

 of William de Chorley gave to Richard 

 her father land in Crook in Clayton 

 (i/c) ; and Alice de Crook, apparently the 

 sanie, in 1322-3 gave a moitty of Crook 



34 



field to her brother Robert (son of 

 Richard), with remainders to Ph lip and 

 William, brothers of Robert ; ibid. 



William de Crook, probably the brother 

 of Alice, in I 33 I obtained a part of the 

 waste from Adam de Clayton ; ibid. In 

 the following year William de Crook con- 

 tributed to the subsidy ; Exch. Lay Suhi. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 52. In 

 1349 Margery daughter of John de Clay- 

 ton made a grant to William dc Crook 

 and Ellen his wife j Kuerden, loc, cit, 

 Richard de Crook occurs from 1383 to 

 1401 ; he is described as son of William 

 in 1384 and again in 1401, when he 

 obtained land called Letherland le Hurst 

 on Priestlache moor ; ibid. Hugh son 

 of John dc Crook in 1386 gave Topping- 

 house land, il'C., to Richard de Croolc 

 and Thomas his son ; ibid. In 1387 

 William de Crook and Richard his son 

 appear to have withdrawn from the king's 

 service at sea and in Scotland j Cal. Par, 

 '3'*5-9i FP- ^^°< 284. Richard de Crook 

 in 1400 made a feoffment of his lands in 

 Whittle, Walton-le-Dalc, Heath Char- 

 nock, Howick and Wigan ; Kuerden, loc. 

 cit. His wife Clemency occurs. In 1401 

 Richard gave land on the Withenbutts in 

 the Town field in exchange for the Skinner- 

 butts in the same field given liini by 

 Thomas son of Richard Hanson ; Add. 

 MS. 32109, fol. 67/1. 



Thom.as son of Richard Crook about 

 141 1 married Codith daughter of William 

 Ambrose; and Godith widow of Thomas 

 occurs from 1426 down to 1447 ; Kuerden, 

 loc. cit. Richard the son and heir of 

 Thomas Crook made an agreement with 

 Godith as to her dower in 1436-7, and 

 the following year he secma to have 

 married Janet j ibid. Richard was still 

 living in 1482, in which year William 

 Crook, who from other deeds is known 

 to have been his son and heir, had a wife 

 Agnes, sister of Isabel Wild ; ibid. 



William Crook died in November 1506 

 holding twelve messuages, 300 acres ot 

 land, &c., in Clayton and Whittle, which 

 he granted to trustees in 1494 for the use 

 of Agnes his wife and his heirs. The lands 

 in Whittle were held of John Butler of 

 Rawcliffe and Richard Hoghton by the 

 rent of jrf. His heir was a son Anthony, 

 fifteen years of age ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iii, no. 32. By his will his brother 

 Gilbert, a priest, was executor ; Anthony 

 was to be kept at Oxford and the Inns of 

 Court. Other children are named — 

 Thomas, Cecily, Anne. James Anderton 

 of Worden was a brother-in-law. Testa- 

 tor's first wife was Alice daughter and 

 heir of John Eltonhead, esq. ; she had 

 given loj. a year to keep her obit in 

 Grace Dieu Abbey, Leic. His second 

 wife was named Agnes ; Dods. MSS. 

 xxii, fol. lo+i. 



In the same charters another family of 

 Crook may be traced from about 1 300 to 

 1386. One of them was Joan wife of 

 Richard the Clerk ; see Final C»«. 

 iii, II. 



'Anthony Crook died about 1525. 

 Hi» wife's name was Joan. By his will 

 he divided his manor of Crook and lands 

 between his daughters Kathcrlne and 

 Mary ; Kuerden MSS. 11, fol. 240. In 

 I54> Nicholas Williamson, Mary his 

 wife, George Smalley and Katherine 

 his wife demised the manor of Crook 



