LEYLAND HUNDRED 



CROSTON 



OOO 



but though the marriage was annulled, and she united 

 herself to one Thurstan Hall, Hesketh appears to 

 have acquired the Lancashire 



part of her inheritance, in- 



eluding this fourth share of 

 the manor. ^ From 1558 the 

 reunited moiety descended in 

 the same way as Ruftbrd^ 

 until about 1 800, when it 

 was sold by Sir T. D. Hes- 

 keth to the Rev. Streynsham 

 Master, rector of Croston, 

 who in 1825 sold it to 

 Thomas Norris of Howick 

 Hall.3 In 1874 the Norris 

 trustees sold it to John Ran- 

 dolphus de Traftbrd, lord of 

 the other moiety.'* 



Isabel's sister Maud married William de Lea, and 

 their grandson William^ and Isolda his wife in 1372 

 made a settlement of their moiety of the manor of 

 Croston and other lands.^ Their daughter and heir 



Fleming of Wath. 

 Azure Hvo bars argent 

 on a chief of the second 

 three lozenges gules. 



Alice married Thomas Ashton, whose son Sir William 

 Ashton was in possession in the first half of the 15th 

 century.^ The Ashtons and their successors the 

 TrafFords were for three centuries the chief resident 

 family. Sir William -Ashton son of Thomas in 



Ashton of Croston. 

 Argent a chcveron be- 

 tiveen three chapUts 

 gules. 



Trafford of Traf- 

 ford. Argent a griffin 

 segreant gules. 



1434-8 obtained a divorce from his wife Alice, 

 daughter of John Lacy,^ and was still living in 



of the manor of Croston with all other 

 their hereditaments there; no. 15555 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 19, m. 29. 



^ See the preceding note and the 

 account of RufFord. Thomas Hesketh 

 and Elizabeth his wife were tenants of 

 half the manor of Croston, &c., in i486 ; 

 Final Cone, iii, 14.2. Hugh Hesketh was 

 the feoffee. In 1487 Thurstan Hall and 

 Elizabeth his wife, daughter and co-heir of 

 William Fleming, agreed to abide the 

 award of Thomas Earl of Derby and others 

 as to their disputes with Thomas son and 

 heir-apparent of Robert Hesketh, con- 

 cerning manors, messuages, lands, Sec, in 

 Wath, Clifton, Rathmell and Dalton in 

 Yorkshire, also in Croston, Mawdesley 

 and Longton in Lancashire ; Towneley 

 MS. RR, no. 622. The wife, as Elizabeth 

 Fleming, had shortly before this ratified 

 the estate of Hugh Hesketh son of Robert 

 and brother of Thomas in the moiety of 

 the manor of Croston, and lands, &c., in 

 Croston, Mawdesley and Longton ; no. 6 3 6, 

 Hugh Hesketh in 1490 and 1498 re- 

 leased his right in the same to Thomag 

 Hesketh; no. 621, 637. Sec Final Cone. 

 iii, 152 ; also Dep. Keeper's Rep, xl, App. 

 540, 543. The Halls retained the York- 

 shire manors. 



The Heskeths had long been land- 

 owners in Croston and Mawdesley, having 

 purchased several small holdings, as appears 

 from their charters. In 1503 Thomas 

 Hesketh purchased lands in Croston, Ulnes 

 Walton and Bretherton from Thomas 

 Banastre of Wigan ; Final Cone, iii, 154. 



George Hesketh of Kirkham (1572) 

 held lands in Croston and Mawdesley of 

 Sir Thomas Hesketh and Roger Croston ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 15. 



^ In 1623 the Hesketh moieties of 

 Croston and Mawdesley were stated to be 

 held of the lords of Lcylandshire ; Lanes, 

 Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 



356. 



* Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1836), lii, 397. 

 The manor of Croston had been regularly 

 named in Hesketh settlements ; e.g. Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdlc. 237, m. 52 

 (1696). 



* Information of Mr. S. C. de Trafford, 

 present lord. The manorial rights of this 

 moiety were considered to be attached to 

 a farm known as Manor House Farm in 

 Croiton. 



^ In a pleading of 1346 the plaintiff 

 Sir William de Lea is called son and heir 

 of Maud de la Mare, seised of a tene- 

 ment in Croston in the time of Edward I, 

 She had married one John de Walton, 

 who demised the tenement to Benet de 

 Mawdesley, by whom the defendants 

 entered; De Banco R. 346, m. 88 d.; 

 349, m. n8. William son of William 

 dela Lea 101325 granted lands in Croston 

 to William son of Warine de Golborne 

 and Nichola his wife for a pound of wax 

 yearly ; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxv, 

 p. 256. The seal shows a shield bearing 

 three bars. In the same year he granted 

 a burgage in Croston to Walter son of 

 Henry de Croston ; Towneley MS. BE, 

 no. 16 19. William de Lea of Croston 

 was defendant in 1325, and in the follow- 

 ing year is called William son of William 

 de Lea; De Banco R. 258, m, 436 d,; 

 264, m. 276 d. He is called Sir William 

 de Lea in 1331 ; ibid. 286, m. 16. In 

 1344 Sir William purchased a messuage 

 and land from John de Birkin and Alice 

 hiswi%; Final Cone, ii, II g. Sir William 

 de Lea and Alice his wife were plaintiffs 

 in 1347 in a plea already cited ; Assize 

 R. 1435, m. 17 d. 



A grant of land in Croston by Maud de 

 la Mare before her marriage is mentioned 

 in Towneley MS. BB, no. 1498. 



^ Final Cone, ii, 183, The estate com- 

 prised the moiety of the manor of Croston 

 and Mawdesley and the fourth part of the 

 manors of Longton and Litherland. The 

 remainders were to the issue of William 

 and Isolda, to the issue of William, to Sir 

 Adam de Hoghton for life and his son 

 Richard. See also Raines MSS. xxv, 

 p. 258. 



William son of William de Lea and 

 Isolda his wife were defendants in 1374 ; 

 De Banco R. 453, m. yy d. 



Sir Robert de Nevill of Hornby, the 

 younger, in 1375 charged Sir Adam de 

 Hoghton with abducting Alice daughter 

 and heir of William de Lea, under age, at 

 Lea by Preston ; and soon afterwards he 

 made a similar charge against Robert son 

 of John de Standish and Isolda his wife ; 

 ibid. 460, m. 300 d,; 462, m, 330 d. 

 Isolda was no doubt the widow of 

 William de Lear. 



Alice was in 1390 the wife of Fulco 

 dt Standish; Cal. Pat. 1388-92, p. 184. 



93 



As widow of Thomas de Ashton she 

 appears in 1409; Raines MSS. xxv, 

 pp. 264-5. 



^ The pedigree was stated by Thomas 

 Ashton in 1468, when claiming a moiety 

 of the manor of Croston and Mawdesley, 

 and a fourth part of the manor* of 

 Longton and Litherland. William de 

 Lea and Isolda his wife had a daughter 

 Alice, whose son William was father of 

 Thomas Ashton the plaintiff; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 33, m. 7d., 12 d. ; 34, 

 m. 18. At the same time it was stated 

 that Thomas Ashton was lord of one 

 moiety of Croston and William Fleming 

 of the other ; ibid. m. 28. 



The Ashtons were related to the 

 Winwick family, who held the rectories 

 of Wigan and Walton-on-the-Hill and 

 founded the chantry at Huyton. It was 

 no doubt through this connexion that 

 Thomas de Ashton, * esquire of King 

 Henry and formerly lord of Croston,' 

 came to be buried in Lincoln Cathedral ; 

 Peck, Desiderata Curiosa, bk. viii, no. 63. 

 He died 17 Oct, 1407. 



^ Raines MSS. xxv, p. 274. The 

 ground alleged for annulling the marriage 

 was a pre-contract of Sir William and one 

 Alice Brackley. 



William de Ashton was in 1413 

 found to have held one moiety of the 

 manor of Croston and Mawdesley of Sir 

 Robert de Nevill of Hornby, the other 

 half being held by feoffees. The annual 

 rent was I lb. of pepper. Sir Robert held 

 of the king by one knight's fee ; Lanes. 

 Inq, p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 100. 



In 1420 it was agreed that Thomas 

 son and heir-apparent of William dc 

 Ashton of Croston should marry Ellen 

 daughter of Thomas de Urswick ; D. in 

 possession of Mr. J. S. Earle. This 

 Thomas may have been the lord of the 

 manor in 1468, but can scarcely be identical 

 with the Thomas who died in 1496, 



In 1455 Sir John Boteler and othe! 

 feoffees granted lands in Croston, 

 Mawdesley, Longton and Litherland to 

 Sir William Ashton and his wife Anne, 

 daughter of Richard Millington, with 

 remainders to Thomas, son and heir- 

 apparent of Sir William, and to Ralph 

 and William, sons of William and Anne ; 

 and other children are named ; Raines 

 MSS, xxv, p. 272. 



