A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



and in the latter part of the century a Sir Adam de 

 Hoghton becomes prominent.* He extended the family 

 possessions and in particular acquired the lordship of a 

 fourth part of the manor. It appears that Henry son 

 of Henrv de Hoghton, one of the mesne lords above 

 mentioned, held three-fourths of the manor in his 

 own right and the other fourth part of Richard de 

 OUerton by the ser\'ice of 3/. yearly. Adam, who 

 was Henry's tenant for the other three parts, holding 

 by a rent of 6s. 9^., purchased the service of the 

 fourth part from Ollerton ; so that he then held 

 three-fourths of Henry by a rent of 6s, 9^., and 

 Henry held the other fourth of him by a rent of 3J. 

 It was consequently agreed that for the future Adam 

 should pay y. g^. only and Henry nothing.' The 

 descendants of Henr)- can be traced for some time 

 later, but appear to have sold their possessions to 

 Adam's descendants,' the latter thus becoming sole 

 lords of the manor. 



Sir Adam, who died about 1290, had several 



children, including sons Adam, Thomas, Geoffrey and 

 Master Richard.* Adam seems to have died soon 

 after his father, and Master Richard, sheriff of the 

 county in 1298,' succeeded.' In 131 1 »t was 

 found that Richard de Hoghton held Gunolfsmoors 

 and Whittle-le- Woods by the service of half a knight's 

 fee, rendering 2/. for sake fee and doing suit to the 

 court of Penwortham." A number of his charters 

 are extant ; by one he settled his manor of Hoghton 

 upon his son Richard.^ It appears to be this son who 

 married Sibyl, the sister and heir of Sir Henry de 

 Lea, and so acquired Lea and many other manors in 

 this county and in Cheshire.' The family was often 

 called Hoghton of Lea, the chief manor-house having 

 been there at one time. 



Sir Richard in 1337, shortly before his death, 

 procured the king's charter for himself and his son 

 Adam to have free warren in their demesne lands of 

 Hoghton and Withncll and to inclose 500 acres of 

 land for a park.'^ Sir Adam, the son, succeeded, and 



Adam de Hoghton and John hii son 

 attested an early Salcbury charter \ Add. 

 MS. ;:iC9, fol. 7. 



' Ffni the interval of time bctv.een 

 1240 and 1290 it secmi probable thnt 

 there were two Adams in succession. II 

 «n, the relationship between them docs 

 not occur in the evidence. In IZ90, 

 however, Thomas son of Thomas the 

 Dispenser claimed against Adam dc 

 Hoghton, Gcoflrey and Thomas his 

 brothers a tenement in Ilnghton, includ- 

 ing the eighth part of the pannage in 200 

 acres of wood, and stated that he had 

 given an oxgang of land to Adam father 

 of the defendants. It was said that 

 Agnes wife of Adam de Hoghton (the 

 t'lthcr) had given the oxgang to Thomas 

 in her hu«ibanJ'5 absence ; Assize R. 

 12SS, m. 13. In the followin^? year 

 Adam son of Adam de Hogliion claimed 

 an oxgang of I.inJ, &c., against Thomas 

 son of Thomas dc H.-'ghton ; Dc Banco 

 R. 89, m. 13 d. 



' This statement is from pleadings in 

 1292, when Adam the son and heir of 

 Sir Adam claimed the fourtli part of the 

 manor against Henr)- son of Henry dc 

 H-^'S^'"^" j -A'^izc R. 408, m. 1 3 d., 23 d., 

 ;i. The gmnt by Richard de OUerton 

 IS in Add. MS. 32106, no. 668 ; and the 

 agreement as to 6s. 9^. rent, made in 

 12SS, ibid. no. I. See also no. 918 for 

 Henr>- dc Hoghton's confirmation of his 

 manor to Adam. Richard son of Richard 

 de Ollerton released to Sir Adam dc 

 Hoghton all his right in the mill of 

 Hochton and in lands called Lynstan- 

 hurst ; ibid. no. 944, 78 1. 



Adam de Hoghton was plaintiff in 

 1278; Assize R. I2;8, m. ■^2d. In 

 I 2S0 Adam, who had taken possession of 

 the lands of Henry de Withncll until 

 Henry's S-in Adam should come of age, 

 surrendered them to the king ; it was 

 found that Adam was of full age but of 

 unsound mind j Coram Rege R. 49, 

 m. 40 {IVhalley Couchfj iii, 831). 



Adam dc Hoghton is named as the 

 responsible tenant at the time of the 

 transfer of the lordship to Sir Henry dc 

 Lea, as above related. He was dead, 

 and his son Adam in possession, by 129c, 

 as appcnrs by a pleading already quoted. 

 His seal, showing a cross florr, is drawn 

 in Dod?. MSS. Ux, fol. 154. ' 



Ajncs widow of Adam son of Adam 

 de H<^hton was Living in 1306 j Assize 

 R. 42?, m. lod. 



•* Henry de Hoghton and Siward his 

 brother attested local charters in the 

 first part of the 13th century; fr'hjUcy 

 C ucher^ ill, 835-6. Henry son of 

 Henrv, who came to the above-named 

 agreement with Adam dc Hoghion, was 

 living in 1292. It was pr'ib.ibly his son 

 who in 1304 ai Robert son of Henry dc 

 Hoghton gave to his brother Adam the 

 whole tenement he had had from his 

 brother Henry in H'>n;hton at a rent of 

 205. ; AJd. MS. 32106, no. 12, 29. In 

 1321 Henry son of Henry son of Diana 

 de Hoghton held the ei-hth part of the 

 mannr of Richard dc Hoghton by knights' 

 ser\'ice and the rent of 31. ; ibid. no. 726. 

 Joan, Cecily and Alice, daughters of 

 Adam son of Henry son of Diana dc 

 Hoghton in and alter 1313 gave their 

 rights to th^ir uncle John, another son 

 nf Henry; ibid. no. -, 13, 71^, 933. 

 John son of Henry also had a grant from 

 Richard son of Richard dc Hoghton in 

 1 U r ^ 8 i ibid. no. 949. Henr)' son of 

 Hrnrv son of Diana made a grant to 

 Sir Richard dc Hoghton in 1321 ; ibid, 

 no. 14. 



Their descendant was probably the 

 Robert de H'-':;h[on of Preston who in 

 I 3S7-8 sold his lands, &c., to Sir Richard 

 de Haghton ; ibid, no, 30, 742. Robert sen 

 of AJjmde Hoghton had them from John 

 8 -n of James dc Hoghton ; ibid. no. 707. 

 * See preceding notes, also the account 

 of Wrightington. 



^ P.R.O. Li r, 72 ; he seems to 

 have held tlie office for three years. 

 Richard de Hoghton was defendant 'n 

 pleas of 1 301 and 1302 ; Assize R. 

 1^21, m. I; 418, m. 6a. He was a 

 clerk ; Paigrave, Pari. Prriti, i, 670. 



^ In 1307 after trial it was found that 

 Master Richard de Hoghton, son of Sir 

 Adam, was older than his brother Thomas 

 by eight ycnrs, and was therefore the 

 true and right heir of Sir Adam ; Lanes. 

 In J. p.m. (Chct. Soc), i, z. Master 

 Richard was still living in 131^, when a 

 similar decision was given in a Wright- 

 ington claim. Again in 1316 Thomas 

 son of Sir Adam de Hoghton gave a 

 general release of his claim on the 

 manors of Alston and Hoghton and lands 

 in Hothcrsall, Dilworth, Gooinar^h, 

 Chippingdale, Ollerton and Wheelton, 

 Howath and Ashbrennerhurst, to Richard 

 de Hoghton son of his brother Richard ; 

 also he released his claim on the sixth 

 part of Wrightin^on to Richard son of 



38 



William de Greystock and his heirs ; 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 710. 



' Dc Lacy Inj. (Chct. Soc), 22. 

 8 Add. MS. 32106, no. 8 J without 

 date, but Henry dc Lea, rector of Halsall, 

 was a witness. Fines respecting various 

 parts of his estates show that the elder 

 Richard had a daughter Joan, wife of 

 William dc Greystock ; Final Cone, i, 

 192, 207; ii, 14. 



The identification of Richard son of 

 Master Richard with Sir Richard seems 

 fully proved, considering the settlement 

 of the manor of Hoghton and the quit- 

 claim by Thomas dc Hoghton above 

 cited. It Is usually stated, however, 

 that Sir Richard was son and heir of the 

 Adam who appeared as son and heir of 

 Sir Adam in 1292. The legitimacy of 

 Richard son of Master Richard seems 

 doubtful, considering the way in which 

 his mother Christiana is referred to in a 

 deed made while the father was still 

 living; fVhaJley Coucher, iii, 851 note. 

 On the other hand it does not seem that 

 there were any disputes about the 

 succession. In a pleading of 1305 

 defendants, who alleged a fcofJ'ment by 

 Adam dc Hoghton, called Richard, his 

 son and heir, to warrant them ; and at 

 the same time Master Richard de 

 Hoghton asserted that Agnes widow of 

 Adam, who was another defendant, had 

 nothing in the tenement claimed, 'except 

 dower, of the inheritance of the said 

 Richard ' ; Assize R. 420, m. 10. 



In 1 3 17 Richard son of Richard dc 

 Hoghton granted lands to John son of 

 Henry de Hoghton, the bounds beginning 

 where Roddlcsdcn fell into the Darwcn, 

 going up Roddlcsdcn to Finesdenbrook, 

 80 to the highway and Lynistanhurat and 

 back by Whltacrc and Whitacre Clough 

 to the Darwcn ; Add. MS. 32106, no. 

 34. For Richard de Hoghton see also 

 Paigrave, op. cit. ii, 1012. 

 » Dods. MSS. cxlli, fol, 32A. 

 >« Charter R. 1 1 Edw, III, m. 35, no. 

 75 ; Add. MS. 32106, no. 359. 



One of the charters referred to above 

 (Add. MSS. 32106, no. 14) shows that he 

 was a knight in 1321. After his death 

 an inquisition was made in 1337 as to 

 his manors in Cheshire, and it was found 

 that he had held MoUington Banastre, 

 and had given it to his son Sir Adam 

 de Hoghton ; Dods. M5S. cxlli, fol. 51, 

 Sir Richard represented the county in 

 several Parliaments from 1322 to 1337; 



