LEYLAND HUNDRED 



CROSTON 



Near the eastern boundary is a place called Blue 

 Stone ; about a mile to the south is a saline spring, 

 known as Salt Pit.* 



Charles Leigh about 1700 noticed a sulphur water 

 spring at Humblescough Green in Mawdesley.* 



In 1666 there were ninety-three hearths recorded 

 in the hearth tax list. The chief house was that of 

 Mr. Mawdesley, with eleven hearths ; no other had 

 as many as six.^ 



The manor of AUIVDESLET was 

 MANOR anciently joined with that of Croston/ 

 and had identically the same history until 

 a century ago, when the moieties of both were held by 

 Hesketh and Traftbrd. The moiety of Mawdesley, 

 however, was not sold by Sir T. D. Hesketh together 

 with his moiety of Croston ; and thus the present 

 lords of the manor are Sir Thomas George Fermor 

 Hesketh of Rufford and Mr. Sigismund Cathcart de 

 Trafford of Croston. Manor courts are held annually. 



The townships having been thus closely connected* 

 Mawdesley being sometimes described as a hamlet of 

 Croston,* those who held land in the one usually held 

 it in the other, but some of 

 the resident freeholders seem 

 to have assumed the local 

 nanie.*^ One of these families 

 about the i6th century be- 

 came prominent/ and their 

 house was known as Maw- 

 desley Hall. Pedigrees were 

 recorded in 161 3® and 1664.^ 

 The estate descended to the 

 Rev. Thomas Mawdesley, who 

 died in or before 173.7,'° and 

 his executors then sold it to 

 Alexander Kershaw, who 

 resided in the adjacent town- 

 ship of Heskin.'* In 1 870 it was sold by the Kershaw 



Mawdesley. Sable on 

 a che'^cron betiveen three 

 pickaxes argent as many 

 annulets of the field. 



* Baines, Lanes, (ed, 1836), iii, 405. 



* Nat. Hist, of Lanes, bk. i, 31. 



^ Subs. R. Lanes, bdle. 250, no. 9. 



* About 1250 an agreement was made 

 between Matthew son of Robert de 

 Holland and Amery his wife on one side 

 and John de la Mare on the other re- 

 specting woods, wastes, &c., pertaining to 

 John's manor in Mawdesley j Add. MS, 

 32106, no. 1480. 



° In 1364 Thomas son of Roger de 

 Tunstall made a feoffment of his lands in 

 ' Mawdesley, a hamlet of Croston * ; 

 Towneley MS. DD, no. 443. Later, 

 in 1373, Thomas Fleming demised a 

 messuage in Mawdesley, a hamlet of 

 Croston; ibid. BB (Add. MS. 32104), 

 no. 1434. 



On the other hand Amery aaughter of 

 Richard son of AHcock In her widowhood 

 gave to John the Tailor land in Alicock's 

 Riddings in the * viU of Mawdesley ' (no. 

 1494) and in 1332 Mawdesley appears 

 as a distinct township ; Exch, Lay Subs, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 45. In 

 1360 also Richard de Hale of Bowdon 

 and Alice his wife released to Sir William 

 de Hesketh all their title to lands in the 

 vill of Mawdesley belonging to Ralph son 

 of Roger de Tunstall, formerly husband 

 of Alice ; Towneley MS. BB, no, 1495. 



•" William de Lea in 1324 demised to 

 Richard son of Adam son of Alan de 

 Mawdesley all his land in Donkannes- 

 car niestre ; no. 1478. To the same 

 Richard Sir John Fleming in 13 16 gave 

 two messuages, an oxgang of land, 

 &c., for 8j. rent; no. 1523. This is 

 probably the Richard whose lands, with 

 the wardship of his son and heir Roger, 

 were about 1356 granted to Roger de 

 Wlnstanley ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, 

 App. 344. Richard had held of the 

 duke in chief. Alice widow of Roger de 

 Mawdesley in 1374 claimed dower 

 against William son of William de Lea 

 and Isolda his wife ; De Banco R. 453, 

 m. 77^' ; 457» "i. 187. 



John son of Adam son of Alan de 

 Mawdesley in 1325 gave to William 

 Palmer and Joan his wife a house and 

 land for life ; Towneley MS. BB, no. 

 1479. John son of Adam de Mawdesley 

 made a grant to his son William in 

 1332 ; no. 1499. William son of John 

 son of Adam de Mawdesley in 1342 re- 

 leased to Sir William de Hesketh all his 

 lands in Mawdesley in the vill of Croston ; 

 no. 1456. Roger son of Ralph son of 

 Adam son of Alan de Mawdesley was a 



defendant in 1360; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 8, m. 14. 



William de Bartalll in 1327 com- 

 plained that Richard son of Adam son of 

 Alan de Mawdesley and others had made 

 a rescue of eattle seized for customs and 

 services; De Banco R. 269, m. 65 d. 

 Anabil widow of William de Bartalll in 



1346 sought dower in forty messuages, 

 &c., in Mawdesley; ibid. 346, m. 285. 



Hugh de Mawdesley, apparently the 

 head of another line, acted as a juror in 

 1293 ; Lanes. Inq, and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 281. Sir William 

 de Lea in 1328 gave a small piece of 

 land called Peycroft, by the Millhey 

 Clough, to Henry son of Hugh de Mawdes- 

 ley ; Towneley MSS. GG (Add. MS. 

 32107), no. 1317 ; RR(32io4), no, loii. 



In 1344 Sir John Fleming demised 

 lands in Mawdesley formerly held of him 

 by Henry Hulcockson to William son of 

 Richard Hudeson de Mawdesley, Eliza- 

 beth daughter of Henry Hulcoekson and 

 the said Henry and Alice his wife ; ibid. 

 BB, no. 1395. About the same time Sir 

 John granted lands for a term to William 

 son of John son of Hugh de Mawdesley, 

 Joan his wife and John and Henry their 

 sons ; no. 1450. John de Lawfield in 



1347 made a claim against John son of 

 Roger Elotson of Mawdesley, Roger son of 

 Hugh de Mawdesley, Warine Banastre 

 of the same, Robert son of Warine de 

 Bispham, Richard son of Hugh de 

 Mawdesley, and John de Burscough of 

 Ryecroft ; De Banco R. 350, m. 122. 

 Richard son of William de Mawdesley 

 was a plaintiff in 1359 ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 7, m. 6. Thomas de Mawdesley 

 attested a claarter in 1379 ; Towneley MS. 

 BB, no. 75. He appears again ten years 

 later ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), I, 28. 



^ Some of the above may have been 

 among the ancestors of the later Mawdesley 

 family ; see Baines* Lanes, (ed. Croston), 

 iv, 131, where the pedigree is traced back 

 to Thomas son of William Mawdesley, 

 who had confirmation of his lands in 

 1481. Edward and Thomas Mawdesley 

 are named in 1467 ; Pal. of Lane. Writs 

 Proton. 7 Edw. IV. Ottwell Mawdesley 

 of Mawdesley was in 1532 excused from 

 serving on juries, he being seventy years 

 of age ; Rev, W. Michell's D. 



Thomas Mawdesley occurs in various 

 pleadings of 1540-55, and Richard son 

 of Thomas later ; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. 

 Com.), i, 174, &c. ; ii, 171. Thomas 

 Mawdesley was the only landowner 



97 



named as contributing to the subsidy in 

 1564 ; Subs. R, Lanes, bdle. 131, no. 210. 



Richard Mawdesley in 1557 purchased 

 some land from Richard Ashton and Jane 

 his wife; and Thurstan Mawdesley in 1574 

 made a settlement of his lands, &c., in Maw- 

 desley, Heskin and Leyland ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdles. 17, m. 169 ; 36, m. 63. 



Robert Mawdesley in 1583 was alleged 

 to be withholding the rent of 151. due 

 for his oxgang of land (14 acres), &c., In 

 Mawdesley to Thomas son of Richard 

 Ashton of Croston, lord of the manor ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead. Eliz. cxxxv, 

 A 62. Robert Mawdesley replied that 

 more than sixty years previously his 

 grandfather William had held the capital 

 messuage called Mawdesley Hall and 40 

 acres of land, and had been succeeded by 

 a son and heir Thomas, whose son was 

 Robert above named ; ibid, cxxxvlii, 

 A 9. Robert Mawdesley in 1584 made 

 a settlement of five messuages, lands, 

 »S:c., in Mawdesley and Wrightington ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 46, m. 112, 

 He is no doubt the Robert son of 

 Thomas of the pedigree recorded in 1613. 



Richard Mawdesley in 1597 claimed a 

 right of way to Longshaw In Mawdesley 

 over lands bought by Sir Thomas Hesketh 

 from Robert Dalton ; Exch. Dep. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 8. 



8 Visit. (Chet. Soc), 75. 



9 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc), 195. 

 Robert Mawdesley, who died In 1659, 

 and was called 'esquire,' left to his son 

 and heir Alexander two signet rings, 

 ' wishing he would make them both into 

 one signet or sealing ring and thereon to 

 set his coat of arms, and to leave the 

 same to the heir male.' The inventory 

 of his goods amounted to ^^40, and ^^368 

 was owing to him. 



Alexander's son and heir Robert was 

 Sheriff of Lancashire in 1720 ; P.R.O, 

 Listf 74. Robert's son and ultimate heir 

 was the vendor of the estate. 



"^ These particulars are from the pedi- 

 gree in Croston's Baines, above referred 

 to, and that in Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), 

 II, p. 90. See also Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. 

 Notes, i, 143. This Thomas left his 

 estates to a cousin and namesake, the 

 Rev. Thomas Mawdesley of Astley, but 

 they were so encumbered that they had 

 to be sold, which was done under an 

 order of the Court of Chancery ; Inform, 

 of Mr, F. L. Mawdesley. 



'* See the account of Heskin in Ec- 

 cleston. 



I 



