A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



ever, was the lordship that u hen about 1580 Sir 

 Richard Shireburne, Sir Thomas Hcsketh, John 

 Heet'Aood and Richard Ashton proposed to hoi J a 

 court at Longton the claim fcr joint lordship put 

 forward by John Kuerden and William Charnock, as 

 heir5 of Peter Farington, was enough to prevent any 

 court being held.^ 



In 161 1 Richard Fleetwood, Thomas Ashton, 

 Robert Hesketh and Richard Shireburne were said 

 to be lords of the manor.- There were * five lords 

 of the manor' about 1719.^ In 1806 Sir T. D. 

 Hesketh, Thomas Weld, John TrafFord and John 

 Moss as lords of the manor granted a piece of waste 



ground in the villa-e as a school site."* From this it 

 appears that John Muyi held the fourth part formerly 

 belonging to I^cOiam. The Weld share seems to 

 have been sold to the Stricklands. In 1833 the lords 

 of the manor were represented by Robert Moss, one 

 of them. ^ In 1870 the names of the lords were 

 given a; Sir T. G. Fermor Hesketh, J. R. de 

 TrafFord, William Mo=o and — Strickland ^ ; at 

 present as Messrs, Thomas Richard Wilkins, William 

 and Richard Strickland and Alfred Moss Breakell- 

 Mos?. 



Among the ancient families thoseof Bussel or Bushel/ 

 Longton,^ Pluket or Ploket,^ How,^^ Loxham," 



Shireburne was settled in 1391 j Final 

 Cone, iii, 38. 



By an inquisition taken in 1+41 it was 

 found that Richard Shireburne held, in 

 conjunction with Agnes his wife, the 

 * manor ' of Longton of the king as Earl 

 of Lincoln in socage ; Lanes. Rec. Inq. 

 p.m. no. 30, 31, But by a later one 

 (1446-7) it appeared that Richard and 

 Agnes had held * certain tenements and 

 messuages ' in Longton of Sir William 

 Ashton and William Fleming in socage 

 by a rent of I2j. ; Lanes. !n^. f>.m. {Chet. 

 Sue), ii, 53. 



Richard Shireburne (i ^1 3) was found 

 to have held his messuage and land in 

 Longton of the Abbot of Evesham and 

 Thomas Hesketh in socage ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. Jv, no. 46. Hugh, his 

 son (1528), had messuages, &c., together 

 with a close called Newfield, containing 

 parcel of the manor-place of Longton, 

 held of Robert Hesketh and Thomas 

 Ashton J ibid, \i, no, 65. Hugh's son 

 Thomas {1536), who had also a windmill 

 in Longton, held similarly ; ibid. vi:i, no. 

 3^. In a later inquiry it was found that 

 1 homas Shireburne had held of Sir Robert 

 Hesketh, Thomas Ashton and the Abbot 

 of Evesham in socage by a rent of i6d. ; 

 Add. MS. 32108, no. 617. Sir Richard 

 Shireburne made purchases in Longton in 

 i^^6 from Thurstan Mawdesley and in 

 1^65 from Robert Midgehall ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 17, m. 1 80 ; 29, m. 116. 



The * manor' is named in a settlement 

 of 1579 ; ibid. bdle. 41, m. 199. It is, 

 however, not named m later inquisitions, 

 though the Shireburnes seem to have been 

 accepted a? part lords of the manor. In 

 1628 Richard Shtreburne's messuages, 

 &c.. In Longton were found to be held of 

 the king as Earl of Lincoln ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. xxvi, no. 4. The 

 *manor' again occurs in 1645; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 145, m. 4. Also 

 in 1737 (Mar)', Duchess dowager of Nor- 

 folk), and in 1777 (Thomas Weld) ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Plea R, 544, m. 13 ; 625, m. 

 lod. (16). 



* HarL MS. 2042, fol. 105^. 



^ Lanes. Inp p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 1 8 1-4 J for lands held by 

 William Firington of Worden. 



3 Gastrell, yot.aa Cestr. (Chet. Soc), 

 ii, 388. 



* EnJ. Char. Rep. (Penwortham). 



* Gastrell, loc. cit. in note. 



^ Baines, Lanes, (ed. 18-0}, II, 155. 



' Some particulars of members of this 

 family will be found in preceding notes. 

 Adam son of Geoffrey Busshel in 1292 

 claimed two messuages, &c., against Hugh 

 Pluket, who had received them from 

 Thomas Banastre, who in turn had had 

 them from plaintiflTs father, tenant by 

 the law of England after the death of 

 Mirgcry his wife ; Assize R. 408, m. 18 d. 



'' In 1204-5 Robert son of Geoffrey 

 sued Robert son of L'ctred for 6 oxgangs 

 of land committed to him by Hugh 

 Bussel until defendant should come of 

 age ; Curia Regis R. 36. Geoffrey de 

 Longton is named in the Pipe Roll of 

 1177-S as paying a iine of half a mark 

 * for the forest ' ; Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R, 

 38. A Robert son of Ughtred (de Single- 

 ton) occurs from 1184, but is probably 

 another person ; ibid. 56, &c. 



Robert de Lnnjton son of Geoffrey 

 gave to his brother also named Robert 

 four ridges of arable land in the Marsh 

 field; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1641. 

 One of these Roberts obtained by ex- 

 change the right of Robert de Clctt in 

 the o>.^':in'^ of land held by Roger son of 

 Agnes, zn-\ from Robert son of Ellis de 

 Hutton A third part of the fishery of 

 Hutton ; ibid. no. 1649, 1651. 



William son of Jordan de Longton held 

 land of Fleming in 1307 j ibid. no. 164^. 

 Robert son of Richard son of Sibyl 

 granted to William de Prees an oxgnng of 

 land formerly held by Walter le Norreys 

 and Gilbert his son ; ibid. no. 1644. 

 William son of Hugh Ploket granted 2 

 acres on Tunsteads to Adam son of Henry 

 son of Adam de Longton ; ibid. no. 1646. 



Roger son of Adam dc Longton gave 

 an acre to his son John ; ibid. no. 1653, 

 He also gave a croft on the Rabls (pre- 

 viously held by his brother Thomas) to 

 his son Geoffrey, as well as 4 acres be- 

 longing to his oxgang (church land) ; 

 ibid. no. 1657. WiUiam de Loxham 

 gave to Geoffrey son of Roger de Longton 

 land in Tormerchakir and in Roskald for 

 a rent of 6J., payable at Preston fair ; 

 ibid. no. 1647. Geoffrey was living in 

 1292 when a claim against him by 

 Beatrice widow of Thomas son of Adam 

 de Longton was non-suited ; Assize R. 

 408, m, 34 d. 



William son of Siward the Clerk of 

 Lcngton called upon Thomas son of 

 Robert de Loxham to v.'arrant to him 

 a messuage and land in Longton, for 

 which he had Robert's charter ; De B;:nco 

 R. 236 (1320;, m. 344. 



Wi'liam son of Thomas the Clerk of 

 Longton acquired a considerable estate 

 about 1326-36. In 1326 he and his 

 wife Joan made a settlement of lands in 

 Hutton and Longton, the remainders 

 being to Joan's sister Alice and then to 

 Robert de Shireburne ; Final Cone, ii, 

 61, 62. In 1331 Alice, John and Adam 

 del How granted 2 acres in the field 

 called Nutgreave to William and his sons 

 William and John ; Towneley MS. DD, 

 no. 1674. Abel son of William son of 

 Abel de Longton gave land from which 

 jiJ. a year was due to Sir William de 

 Lea, to Roger son of William son of 

 Thomas the Clerk; ibid. no. 1676. 

 There are many other deeds of the family 



72 



in the same volume ; from one (no. 1744) 

 it appears that Joan was a daughter of 

 Robert de Loxham. 



Notice of another Longton family will 

 be found in the account of Hutton. 



^ Several references will be found in 

 the notes. A suit which went on for 

 some years related to land claimed by 

 Henry Ploket against John Burgeys of 

 Longton ; Dc Banco R, 201, m. 265 d. ; 

 206, m. 67, &c. In 1 3 17-18 Henry son of 

 Hugh Ploket of Penwortham gave land in 

 Longton to his brother Adam ; Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 1665. Adam son of Adam 

 Ploket demised to Richard de Worthing- 

 ton land In Turneracre and Shortbutts ; 

 ibid. no. 1668, 



'" The place-name How or Haw occurs. 

 The family seem to have been tenants 

 of the Hospitallers, for In 1327 and 13^2 

 the Prior of St. John made claims against 

 Amery and Alice del Haw ; De Banco R, 

 270, m. 72 d. ; 2()2, m. 3 54d. Henry 

 del Haw and Agnes his wife occur in 

 1422 ; Final Cone, ill, 82. Henry made 

 a feoffment of his lands in Longton in 

 1431;; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. 

 Lib.), 688. 



" There may have been several families 

 of the name, formerly spelt Loxum. 

 William de Loxham gave lands in Tor- 

 mereaker and Roskald to Geoffrey son of 

 Roger dc Longton ; Towneley MS. DD, 

 no. 1647. Alice, as widow of William 

 de Loxham, claimed dower in 1292 ; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 54 d. 



Geoffrey de Loxham, Joan his wife and 

 John their son had a charter from the How 

 family in 1331 ; Towneley MS. DD, 

 no. 1659. Geoffrey son ofRobertdeLoxham 

 granted to Richardson of Simon deHowick 

 ten ridges in the Strinds, formerly held by 

 Geoffrey's brother Adam ; four of them 

 lay between the grantor's land and that 

 of the abbot, three between the earl's 

 land and thatof Geoffrey'sbrotherWarlne, 

 and the other three between the carl's 

 land and that of Roger son of Adam ; 

 Kuerden fol. MS. 234. Margery widow 

 of Geoffrey de Loxham in 1287 claimed 

 land in Longton against Michael son of 

 John de Hoole and Simon de Hoolc and 

 Amerj' his wife ; De Banco R. 69, m. 4^. 

 There are charters of William and Warinr 

 sons ot Geoffrey In Kuerden, loc. cit. 



There are a number of Longton charters 

 in the British Museum (Add. Chart. 

 26025-42), the earliest of which {i2>8) 

 is a grant by Robert son of Robert son 

 of Siward de Longton to Robert son 

 of Geoffrey de Loxham. In 1322 John 

 son of William de Loxham gave to 

 William de Breekc land formerly hcid 

 of Robert brother of the grantor. 



In 1424 Thomas Loxham settled the 

 moiety of his messuages, fiaherj-, Ac, on 

 his daughter IsabL-l wife of William 

 Strickland; i-tral C,-;.-. iij, 89. The 



