LEYLAND HUNDRED 



and in 1578 was sheriff of the county. 1 A pedigree 

 was recorded in 1567.^ He died in 1590 holding 

 among other estates the manors of Penwortham, 

 Farington, Howickand Long- 

 ton, the grange of Penwortham 

 with the demesnes, fishings 

 and turbaries there, various 

 messuages, lands, water-mill, 

 windmill, rents, fisheries in 

 Ribble and Asland, &c., in 

 Penwortham, Middle forth, 

 Howick, Longton, Hawe, 

 Hutton and Leyland ; the 

 manors and lands being held 

 of the queen in chief by the 

 fortieth part of a knight's fee, 

 and the grange with its ap- 

 purtenances, including the 

 advowsons of the rectory of 

 North Meols and vicarage of 

 twentieth part of a knight's fee.* 

 in Staffordshire to his eldest son, 

 Penwortham on his second 

 son Richard Fleetwood, who 

 in 1582 married Margery 

 daughter of Thomas Leigh of 

 Egginton in Derbyshire.'' 



Richard Fleetwood in 1 599 

 purchased from the Crown 

 the rectories of Penwortham 

 and Leyland, of which he 

 already held the patronage.^ 

 Richard's eldest son Edward 

 died before his father, having 

 married a daughter of Sir 

 William Norris of Speke. This 



gave the father great offence on religious grounds, and 

 by his will he strictly ordered that the wardship of his 



Evesham Abbky. 

 Azure a ch.i'ui in cheve- 

 ron padlocked tit one end 

 and ringed at the other 

 betzveen three mitres all 

 argent, 



Leyland, by the 



Leaving his lands 



he in 1568 settled 



Fleetwood. Per pale 

 nehuly azure and or six 

 martlets counterchanged. 



PENWORTHAM 



heirs, Edward's children, should 'by no ways or 

 means ' come into the hands of Sir William Norris 

 ' or any other who is not conformable to the laws 

 ecclesiastical now established.'^ In 1625 he made 

 provision for his wife Margery, and died in April 

 1626, being succeeded by his grandson John, aged 

 fifteen, son of Edward.' 



John Fleetwood at first took the king's side in the 

 Civil War, sending men and arms, but he does not 

 appear to have served personally.* His estates were 

 sequestered by the Parliament, and in 1647 he com- 

 pounded for them, paying a fine of ^617 3/. i^d.'> 

 He died in February 1656-7,1" and was succeeded 

 by his son Edward," who, being childless, settled his 

 manors and lands on Arthur Fleetwood of Westminster 

 and his male issue, with remainders to other Fleet- 

 woods.'^ Henry, the son of Arthur, who succeeded 

 Edward Fleetwood in 1704, had no children, and 

 after his death in 1746 the estates were found to 

 be burdened with a debt of ^^ 16,000, while the 

 rents were under £800 ; it was therefore resolved 

 to sell the estates, a Private Act of Parliament being 

 obtained in 1748 by Henry's trustees and repre- 

 sentatives.'* 



John Aspinall " purchased them in 1 749, and in 

 1752 sold most of the Penwortham lands to James 

 Barton of Ormskirk,'^ by whose representatives they 

 were sold to Colonel Rawstorne of Hutton.'^ They 

 have since descended with Hutton. 



The Fleetwoods made their residence in the old 

 Priory buildings. 



The later house called The Hall, but at present 

 known as Penwortham Priory, is a picturesque modern 

 brick building of two stories with gables and muUioned 

 windows, erected in 1832 on part of the site of the 

 Priory buildings.''' 



Albert Bussel granted 4 oxgangs of land in Pen- 

 wortham to Gerald de Clayton, who was to act as 



It is remarkable that nothing is said in 

 these grants as to the maintenance of 

 divine worship in Penwortham Church. 



* P.R.O. List, 73. 



" yisit. (Chet. Soc), 59. The origin 

 of the family is obscure, but at this time 

 it had several prominent members ; see 

 the account of Heskin. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. rv, no. 34 ; 

 the fortieth part of a knight's fee was 

 added to the service due by the patent of 

 Elizabeth. 



* Ibid. There is a full account of the 

 family in the introduction to Peniuortham 

 J i iory, pp. lii-lxix. John Fleetwood was 

 buried at Penwortham, but his monument 

 is in EUaston Church, Staffs.; ibid. p. Iviii. 

 An abstract of his will is printed. 



* Pat. 42 Eliz. pt. xxvii. It appears 

 that a twenty-one years' lease of the 

 rectory had been granted to Thomas 

 Fleetwood in 1586 ; Pat. 28 Eliz. pt. iii. 



^ His will, dated 1626, is printed in 

 Wills (Chet. Soc, new ser.), ii, 1 94-6 ; 

 his son Edward's (16 15) in the same 

 volume, 183. Papers relating to the 

 disputes between Sir W. Norris and 

 R. Fleetwood are among the Norris D. 

 (B.IVl.). 



A pedigree, signed by Henry Fleetwood, 

 son of Richard, was recorded in 1613 ; 

 Visit, (Chet, Soc), 122. For notes on 

 the arms and the family see iV. and Q. 

 (Ser. 10), vi, 264 ; vii, 303. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxv, 

 no. 22. "The tenure of all the manors, 



rectories, &c., together is stated as the 

 tenth part of a knight's fee. 



John Fleetwood paid ;^I3 Ss. %d. as 

 composition on refusing knighthood in 

 1631 ; Misc. (Rec Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 214. 



^ He was appointed one of the com- 

 missioners of array in December 1642 ; 

 Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 67. After 

 the defeat at Whalley in April 1643 

 Lord Derby stayed for the night at Fleet- 

 wood's house at Penwortham ; War in 

 Lanes. (Chet. Soc), 34. 



' Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 321-3. An addi- 

 tional fine of j^24 was levied on account 

 of an omission in the statement of his 

 lands. 



1" Pentvortham Priory, pp. Ixv-lxvii. He 

 desired his heir to provide a preacher for 

 Penwortham Church, 'endowed with 

 learning and understanding and of a good 

 life and conversation,' and to pay him 

 not less than £^o a year. 



^1 A pedigree was recorded in 1664 5 

 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc), no. 



'2 Penwortham Priory, p. Ixviii ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 197, m. 66. The 

 deforciants were Edward Fleetwood and 

 Knightley Purefoy. 



Arthur Fleetwood was the son ox 

 Dr. James Fleetwood, provost of King's 

 College, Cambridge, 1660, and Bishop of 

 Worcester from 1675 till his death in 

 1683, who was grandson of Thomas 

 Fleetwood of the Vaehe, brother of the 



59 



first John Fleetwood of Penwortham. 

 The bishop's hatchment was in Pen- 

 wortham Church ; an account of his life 

 i6 in Diet. Nat. Bwg. 



^^21 Geo. II, cap. 14. The Act con- 

 tains particulars of settlements, &c., and 

 provides for the proper distribution of 

 any surplus from the proceeds of the sale. 

 Henry's heirs were the representatives of 

 his sisters Barbara and Honora ; the 

 former's only child, Barbara Goring, 

 married Walter Chetwynd of Grendon j 

 while Honora married — Hinton of 

 Atherstone. 



^■* For pedigree see Whitaker, Whalley^ 

 ii, 107. 



^^ In a fine of August 1752, respecting 

 the manors of Howick ana Farington, 

 the churches of Penwortham and Longton, 

 and a fourth part of the manor of Long- 

 ton, the deforciants were John Aspinall 

 and Caroline his wife, the plaintiffs being 

 James Barton and another ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 349, m, 98. No 

 * manor' of Penwortham is named, but 

 lands, &c., there were included. 



1^ In a recovery of the manors of 

 Farington and Howick and various lands 

 in 1806 James Barton was vouchee and 

 Lawrence Rawstorne one of the demand- 

 ants ; Pal. of Lane. Assizes, 46 Geo. Ill, 



^■'^- . . ^ 



" There are two illustrations m Twy- 

 cross' Lanes. Mansions, i, 48. Whitaker 

 [Richmondshire, ii, 428), writing shortly 

 before 1823, describes the old building 



