A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



14.66.' His son Thomas succeeded.- The s.imc 

 IT possibly another Thomas Ashton ' dying in 

 1496 left a son Thomj:, a minor, as heir. The 

 moiety of the manor of Croston and M.iwdesley was 

 held of Sir Edward Stanley (lord of Hornby), after- 

 wards Lord Mounteagle.^ The heir's wardship was 

 granted by the king to William Smith, who after- 

 wards transferred it to Hugh Ashton, a kinsman, and 

 a man of some distinction.* Hugh afterwards sold 

 the wardship to Ralph Standish.^ The manor of 

 Croston and other lands were in 1 5 1 8 granted by the 

 feoffees to Thomas son and heir of Thomas Ashton." 

 The younger Thomas enjoyed possession for a 

 short time only, dying about 1528 and leaving 

 a young son Richard as heir. The moiety of the 

 manor of Croston and Mawdesley was held of Lord 

 Mounteagle ly the rent of half a pound of pepper.* 

 Richard Ashton died in December 1582 holding 

 the manor by the same service ; the heir was his son 

 Thomas, thirty-five years of age.' Thomas, who 

 secured a grant of arms in 1588,'*' died in 1622, 

 about six months after his eldest son Richard, and he 

 was succeeded by Richard's son Thomas, seventeen 

 years of age.'* Again there was but a brief tenure, 

 Thomas Ashton being succeeded in 1632 by his 

 younger brother Richard.'- The family seem for a 

 time to have avoided conviction for rccu^.incy,'' but 

 Thomas and Richard Ashton were avowed Roman 



Catholics and Richard's estates were of cour-c 

 sequestered under the Commonwealth, he being 

 charged with both recusancy and delinquency in 

 spite of his assertion that he had ' lived peaceably 

 at home during these troubles.' " John Ashton son 

 of Thomas was also a 'delinquent,' and in 1650 his 

 wife Bridget petitioned for a fifth part of the annuity 

 due to him from Croston." 



Richard Ashton recorded a pedigree in 1664." 

 His heir was his daughter Anne, then wife of John, 

 a younger son of Sir Cecil Traftbrd of Trafford. 

 Their son John Trafford married Katherine daughter 

 and heir of Thomas Culchcth, thus increasing the 

 family inheritance.'' In 1717 as a ' Papibt ' he 

 registered his estates — moieties of the manors of 

 Croston, Mawdesley, Pilling, &c. — entailed, with 

 remainders to his sons Thomas and Humphrey, 

 and subject to an annuity of j^io to his brother 

 Richard.'" Humphrey, the younger son named, 

 eventually succeeded to the manor, and on his death 

 in 1773 was followed by his son John," who six years 

 later succeeded also to the principal family manors of 

 Traftbrd and Stretford, near Manchester. John's son. 

 Sir Thomas Joseph de Traftbrd, who died in 1852, 

 made a partition of the estates, by which Croston 

 Manor became the property of his younger son John 

 Randolphus de Traflbrd. As above stated, he pur- 

 chased the other moiety of the manor in 1874, and 



' Raines MSS. xiv, p. 277 ; grants from 

 N. MillioRion t" Sir William Ashton, and 

 from Sir William to his son Richard. 



Alice Ashton, a/mj Alice widow of Sir 

 Robert Tempest, made a grant of her 

 lands in Longton to Thomas Ashton in 

 14.65; ibid. p. 2-6. She was probably 

 the repudiated wife of Sir William. 



' His claim in I+6S has been named 

 above. 



' Thomas in 1492 set apart certain 

 messuage", *c., for the benclit of his 

 bastard son Richard ; ibid. p. 286. 



* Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 9^, 

 105 ; iv, 79. Hi5 son was only six 

 months old at Thom.is's death ; the 

 widow was named M irgaret. In tiic 

 second of the inquisitions his will is 

 recited. He dcsirci to be buried in 

 Croston Church, and his cxccutnrs were 

 to hnd an able prict — Ctrni^r Dandy 

 being named — to sing for him for twenty- 

 one ye.nrs at a stipend <>\ 6 marks. 

 Such feoffments as he had made for the 

 benefit of Margaret his wife, Richard 

 Ashton his son, and William Banastre 

 were to hold good fnr their liv s and 

 his wife was to have ail the l.indfl, &c., 

 that had come to him by the death of 

 Dame Anne Millinclon. 



^ The fenlfecs of Thomas Ashton the 

 father complained that \\'i:liam Smith 

 had put them out of the manors and 

 lands, on the strength of his patent ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Pleil Hen. VIII, ivii, 

 A ;. For a complaint by Thomas Ashton 

 the son about the feoffees' delay in put- 

 ting him into possession see ibid, xx, 

 A 3. 



There is a notice of Hugh Ashton in 

 Di;t. .\at. Bkg. ; he held a number of 

 ecclesiastical preferments, including the 

 archdeaconry of York and the rectory of 

 Grasmere, and died in 1522. He was 

 one of the benefactors of St John's 

 College, C.mbri ije, in its e^rly difficul- 

 ties, bequeathing money and plate and 

 desiring to be buried there. His tomb is 

 in the college chapel. He had a brother 



Master William Ashton, and nephews 

 James Ashton and Thomas Mav-ilcslcy ; 

 Will, P.C.C. 4 Bodfelde. For a dispute 

 as to his land in Mawdesley called 

 Cooke's House see Duchy Plead, (Rcc. 

 Soc, Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 172. 



« Raines MSS. xx\; p. 288. 



' Ibid. p. 290. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 8. 

 Richard was se\cn years oil. 



Livery of his lands was made to the 

 heir in M42. The value was returned 

 as follows : Moiety of the manor of 

 Lonjton, ,^8 I2j. ; moiety of the manor 

 of Croston and Mawdesley, ^"43 i js. dd. ; 

 tenements in Litherland, ^^4 iSi. ; in 

 Hnjtnn, gj. ; rent of the manor of 

 Cliorley, loi. ; rent of land in Tarleton (?), 

 81. ; Raines MSS. xxv, p. 295. Agnes 

 widow of Thomas Ashton had an annuity 

 of/;2;. 



Richard son of Thomas son of Thomas 

 Ashton claimed messuages, Ac, in 

 Croston and M iv.desley against Seth 

 Worsley and Anne his wife in 1555; 

 Pal. of Lane. Pica R. 199, m. 5. In 

 the following year he purchased a mes- 

 suage, &c., in Croston and Mawdesley 

 from Joan Dalton, widov/, Robert Dalton 

 and Anne his wife ; PaL of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 17, m. 125. 



' Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, 

 no. 17. 



'»^7j/(. of 1613 (Chet. Soc), 9;. 



In 1602 a settlement of the manors 

 was made by Thomas Ashton ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 64, no. 24. 



" Land. Inj. p.n:. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iii, 330-3. Croston was 

 held of Lord Mounteagle. 



" Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiix, 

 no. 6. The manor was held of the heirs 

 of Lord Mounteagle by the service of 

 half a pound of pepper yearly. 



Thomas Ashton paid ^f 10 on refusing 

 knighthood in 1631 ; Miic. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 214, 



" See Gillow, Bibl. DUi. c/" Engl. 

 CathoHcSy i, 74. 



94 



" Royalhl Comp. Papen (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 96-112. The 

 estate of Richard Ashton, * Papist and 

 delinquent,* was in 1652 let as follows : 

 Demesne lands, milt and kiln at Croston, 

 ^84 1 IJ. \d. ; messuage called Durn- 

 ing House, £z 51. ; tenements in Croston, 

 Mawdesley, &c., ^58 101. \\d, Hilary 

 Ashton, A merchant beyond seas, peti- 

 tioned for the annuity given him by his 

 grandfather Thomas Ashton (d. 1622). 

 It was alleged for the sequestrators that 

 Richard Ashton had lived in *thc enemy's 

 quarters ' during part of the war, and 

 many witnesses deposed to his having 

 seized cattle and also the persons of the 

 agents of the Parliament when in 1644 

 the king's cause for a short time prevailed 

 in the district, in order to recover his 

 losses by the sequestration. 



The marriage contract of Richard 

 Ashton and Dorothy daughter of John 

 Whitmorc of Thurstaston, dated 1638-9, 

 is in Raines MSS. xxv, p. 308. 



^■' Royaliit Comp, Papers, i, 91, too, 

 loi. John Ashton, like Richard and 

 Hilary, was a grandson of Thomas 

 Ashton, His 'delinquency' is not 

 stated, 



'« Dugdale, yUlt. (Chet. Soc.), p. 11. 



" See the account of Culcheth in 

 Winwick. 



A marriage settlement, dated 2 March 

 1692-3, is in Raines, op. ciL p. 311, 

 Anne the mother of the younger John 

 Trafford was living, John was nephew 

 of Edmund Trafford of Trafford, deceased. 

 See also Pal. of Lane, Feet of F. bdle. 

 230, m. 38. 



'" Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Caih. 



Non-iur'j't, p. 113. 



" For the later descents see Srrciftfi 

 Chapelry (Chet. Soc), iii, 100, 147, v. here 

 it is shown that John Trafford died in 

 1727 and was succeeded by a son John, 

 who died in 1760; his son and heir of 

 the same name dying in the following 

 year, Humphrey Trafford came into the 

 estate, as stated in the tcxu 



