A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Roger de Stanworth secured the favour of John 

 Count of Mortain, who after his accession to the 

 Crown in 1199 confirmed the charter of protection 

 formerly given.' Roger afterwards sold Stanworth 

 to the monks of Stanlaw, who were to pay the chief 

 rents, viz. \zd. to Adam de Withnell and his heirs 

 for the vill, and 6/ to Adam de Bury and his heirs 

 for the site of the mill-pool and a moiety of the mill- 

 stream.* The monks obtained other lands in the 

 township, including Bradshaw in Stanworth, which 

 had been given to Cockersand Abbey.^ On the 

 confiscation of the Whalley Abbey lands ^ Sir Richard 

 Hoghton acquired their estate in Stanworth and the 

 neighbourhood.* 



The Heskeths of RufFord had a small estate^ and 

 the Brownes another.' One or two other names 

 occur in inquisitions, &c.^ 



Radcliffe Hoghton of Stanworth fell at Preston in 

 1643, fighting for the king, and his estate was 

 sequestered by the Parliament.^ A little later the 

 estate of Elizabeth Girlington, widow, and her 



son Richard was sequestered for recusancy onl) . 



Richard Andcrton of Chorley, Abraham Bate, Andrew 



Bury and John Whittle, as * Papists,' registered small 



estates in 171 7 " 



A manor of Withnell is stated to have been sold 

 in the I Sth century to Henry Sudell " ; after his 

 death it was again sold, and more recently this 

 lordship was held by William Bashall Park of OUerton 

 Hall. He and John Park owned nearly all the 

 township. W. B. Park died in 1906, leaving con- 

 siderable benefactions for Methodist and other 

 charities. His estate at Ollerton, 226 acres, was 

 purchased by Mr. Herbert Thomas Parke of Withnell 

 Fold, owner of the Withnell Hall and Withnell 

 House estates.^* 



The land appears to have become very much sub- 

 divided. Returns of 1783 show that William Talbot, 

 paying double as a Roman Catholic, was the principal 

 contributor to the land tax; In 1798 he, Thomas 

 Dewhurst, William Clayton and Mr. Bilsborrow's heir 

 contributed ^% 6/. out of j^30 raised in Withnell.'* 



928. Afterwards Richard son of Richard 

 de Ollerton sold land called Whitaker to 

 Adam de Hoghton; ibid. no. 686, 659, 

 Cecily widow of Richard son of Richard 

 released her claim for dower in 1281 ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 19^. Richard son 

 of Sir Adam He Hoghton in 1313 re- 

 leased to his son Richard all his right in 

 the manors of OUerton and Withnell ; 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 706. 



Richard de Ollerton gave land in Great 

 Balshaw on the east side of the syke to 

 Richard Banastre } ibid. no. 396. This 

 was afterwards given by Adam son of 

 Richard Banastre to Richard son of 

 Richard de Hoghton j Whalley Coucherj 

 iii, 851. 



Richard son of Richard de Ollerton in 

 1269 gave 2 oxgangs of land in Withnell 

 to Henry son of Henr)' de Tyldesley, 

 together with the homage of Henry de 

 Withnell and Henry de Broomhurst ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. igi. 



' Roger held Stanworth in right of 

 his wife, one of the co-heirs of William 

 de Withnell. The grant by King John 

 was of *firm peace* to him and his land 

 of Stanworth, which was to have (juittance 

 of county and wapentake and all fines and 

 liabilities except murder and robbery ; 

 Whalley CuuJur^ iii, 830. 



" Ibid, iii, 832. Adam son of Roger 

 de Stanworth and Richard son of Adam 

 confirmed the grant; ibid, iii, 8^3, 

 Grants made to Roger of the mill and 

 mill-pool are given ; ibid, iii, 836. Adam 

 de Withnell gave the monks land called 

 Stanworthley, and Richard FItton in 1237 

 gave them a general confirmation of their 

 estate in his fee, viz. Stanworth, Brinscall 

 and Monkshills ; ibid, iii, 835, 845. 



3 Ibid, iii, 852-6. 



*A rental made about 1538 shows 

 that the abbey had eight tenants for 

 Stanworth and New Close, paying 

 £6 4J. 5^. in all ; also lands held by 

 James Brandwood, for which 51. a year 

 was paid ; ibid, iv, iz^;-^.. 



The Brandwood lands were probably 

 those anciently called the Clou2:h, and 

 held in succession by Robert de Angle- 

 zarkc, clerk, and Adam del Bergh ; ibid. 

 iii, S66-7. Adam del Bcrjh claimed 

 lanJ, &c., against the Abbot of Stanlaw 

 in 1291 ; Assize R. 40", m. ^. 



John de Bold, Alice his wife and 

 Amery her sister in 13 u claimed a 

 tenement in Withnell against Cecily and 



Thomas del Bergh and John de Ashton 

 of Euxton ; Coram Rege R. 297, m. 

 99 d. 



James Brandwood in 1583 sold lands 

 in Withnell and Duxbury to Hugh 

 Marsden and Margaret his wife ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 45, m. 146. 

 Later there were disputes between James 

 and Lawrence Brandwood {the latter a 

 lessee), which were continued in 1597 

 by the former's daughter and heir Eliza- 

 beth, who married Randle Livesey ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec, Com.), iii, 213, 236, 

 378. Lawrence Brandwood held lands 

 in 1628 ; Miic. (Rec. Soc, Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 171. James Brandwood held 

 land here in 1564 and Lawrence Brand- 

 wood in 1600 ; Subs. R. 131, no. 210 ; 

 131, no. 275. 



^ In June 1539 the king granted Sir 

 Richard a lease of the manor of Wheel- 

 ton, and all lands, &c., in Wheelton, 

 Stanworth and Withnell belonging to 

 the late monaster)' of Whalley and in the 

 king's hands through the attainder of 

 John, the late abbot ; Pat. 31 Hen. 

 VHI, pt, V, m. 36. A year later the 

 grant was made in fee. Sir Richard pay- 

 ing ;^i8o 1 5J. 4(/. and the rent of 

 i8j. yd. ; ibid. pt. \, m. 14. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. v, no, 

 16 ; Ducatui Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 

 112. 



^ This family's chief possessions were 

 in Scales and Newton, and other places 

 north of the Ribble. Their lands in 

 Wheelton and Withnell were held of the 

 Hoghtons by a rent of lo^^/. The 

 pedigree is traced in the inquisitions. 

 One James Browne had three sons, 

 William, Henry and Alexander. William's 

 son George dying in 1567 without male 

 issue, the estate went to Henry's son 

 James, who died in 1586, leaving a son 

 and heir Henry ; and Henry died in 

 1601 at Kirkham, leaving a son James, 

 fourteen years of age ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xi, no. 4 ; xiv, no. 42 ; xviii, 

 no. 42. 



For a dispute as to Forshaw field in 

 Withnell in 1573 see Ducatus Lane, iii, 

 i, 15, 32. 



In 1590 Henry Browne and Mary 

 his wife made a feoffment of their 

 messuage, &c., in Wheelton and With- 

 ntU ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 52, 

 m. 87. 



^ Roger Gillibrand purchased part of a 



48 



holding from John Turner and Margaret 

 his wife in 1594, and next year sold to 

 John Hoghton the younger j ibid. bdle. 

 56, m. 22 i 57, m. 152. 



John Gerard of Warton in Amoundcr- 

 ncss died in 1634 holding a messuage in 

 Wheelton called Alexander House, one 

 in Withnell called Withnell House, and 

 another in Haighton called Rogcrson 

 House ; Duchy of Lane, Inq. p.m. xxvii, 

 no. 20. 



» Gillow, Bibl. Diet, of Engl. Cath. 

 iii, 325 ; Ci'uil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 

 74. Radcliffe Hoghton was a younger 

 brother of Sir Gilbert, 



Some particulars of the estate are 

 given in Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec, Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 294-7, 



^^ Ibid, iii, 72-6. Elizabeth Girlington 

 petitioned in January 16^3-4, but died 

 shortly afterwards, when the trustees for 

 her son Richard renewed the petition. 

 Richard held the manor or capital 

 messuage of Stub Hail, and another 

 capital messuage called Stanworth with 

 land improved from the common ot 

 Withnell, these being of the inheritance 

 of Sir Richard Hoghton, 



*' Engl. Cath. Nott-JurorSf 131, lOl, 

 129. Anderton's estate was at Ollerton. 



'^ Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1836), iii, 457 ; 

 the manor at that time was said to be 

 held by William Talbot of Preston. 



From information supplied by Mr, 

 Joseph Gillow it appears that one James 

 Talbot married Mary Parke (a Pro- 

 testant), and their eldest son, probably, 

 was the William Talbot who appears as 

 chief landowner in 1783. Two other 

 sons, educated at the English College, 

 Rome, served as priests on the mission 

 in England ; one became a Jesuit ; 

 Foley, Reeords S. J. vi, 494-5. William 

 Talbot, who lived at Preston, died in 

 '^'3* ^gcd eighty, and was succeeded by 

 his son William, founder of the Talbot 

 Schools at St. Walburge's, Preston, who 

 died in 1848, leaving several daughters, 

 of whom Dorothy wife of James Sid- 

 greaves ultimately became sole heir. 



Later the lords were said to be Robert 

 Blckerstaff, Robert Park and John Park j 

 Baines, op. cit. (ed. 1870), ii, 141. 



Withnell occurs among Sir Henry 

 Ho3:hton'8 manors Id 171 I; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 493, m. 6. 



'^ Inrormation of Mr. H, T. Parke, 



" Land tax returns at Prcat<-a. 



