LEYLAND HUNDRED 



CROSTON 



their surname from the township of that name on 

 the western side of the Douglas. Sir Robert de 

 Dalton was in possession about 

 1 324,1 and died in 1 350.2 

 He and his son Sir John 

 fought at Crecy in 1346.^ 

 Sir John made himself notori- 

 ous by the violent abduction 

 of Margery de la Beche from 

 her manor-house at Beaumes 

 (Beams), near Reading, in 

 1347 ; he afterwards married 

 her.** He was pardoned for 

 this offence and apparently 

 received into the king*s favour 

 once more.^ Sir John died 

 in September 1369 holding the manor of Bispham 



Dalton of Bispham. 

 A-z-u re crustily a lion ram- 

 tarit gtiartiant argetift 



of Sir William de Ferrers and the other lords of I,ey-- 

 landshire by the rent of 3/. 4^^. John his heir, a 

 son by a later wife, was six years of age.^ 



This John, afterwards a knight,^ left two sons, of 

 whom the elder, Richard, by Katherlne his wife, left 

 a daughter and heir Alice. She married one 

 William Griffith in or before 1448,^ and soon after- 

 wards the manor appears to have been sold to the 

 Stanleys of Lathom,^ for in 1521 Thomas Earl of 

 Derby held various lands in Bispham by the ancient 

 rent of ^ai, payable to the lords of Leylandshire-^^* 

 It appears to have descended regularly with Knowsley 

 to the present Earl of Derby.^^ 



John de Dalton's younger son Robert, though he 

 failed in his claim for the manorofBispham,^^ recovered 

 various lands there.^^ His son Richard married 

 Elizabeth, one of the daughters and co-heirs of William 



above - named Amery who married 

 Matthew son of Robert de Holland, for 

 this Matthew and Amery hii wife made 

 an agreement with Sir John de la Mare, 

 perhaps about 1250, regarding disputes 

 as to the woods of Mawdesley and 

 Bispham ; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 44^. 



Henry de Bispham son of Warine 

 Banastre occurs ; Piccope MSS. (Chet. 

 Lib.), xiv, 42. He may be the Henry, 

 defendant in 1292 to a claim for a 

 tenement in Bispham and Chorley 

 brought by William son of Warine de 

 Bispham, who was non-suited ; Assize 

 R. 408, m. 18. In 1294 Adam son 

 and heir of Henry de Bispham recovered 

 the manor of Bispham against William 

 de Ferrers, Roger son of Henry de 

 Bispham and others. Adam was under 

 age, and William de Ferrers had claimed 

 wardship ; it was shown, however, that 

 the manor was not held by knights' 

 service, but by a rent of 40^/. ; Assize R, 

 1299, m. 15. In the same year William 

 son of Warine claimed a free tenement in 

 Bispham against Henry de Charnock and 

 William de Ferrers, but did not prosecute 

 it ; ibid. m. 14.J, 



In Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 275^ is an 

 erroneous pedigree of Bispham of BilHnge, 

 traced to Matthew de Bispham, lord of 

 the manor *in the time of King John.' 

 This may possibly be the Matthew de 

 Holland above-named. 



* In 1324 Cecily widow of Henry de 

 Bispham claimed dower in certain 

 messuages, &c., against Robert de Bisp- 

 ham, John de Burscough, Alice his wife, 

 John de Hoole, Maud his wife, Robert 

 de Taldeford and Henry son of William 

 son of Adam de Wrightington ; De Banco 

 R. 251, m. 98. The first of the defen- 

 dants is probably the Robert de Dalton 

 against whom Richard del Lunt and 

 Maud his wife shortly afterwards claimed 

 a third part of two-thirds of the manor 

 of Bispham. Maud was the widow of 

 Adam de Bispham, and the defence was 

 that she had lived in adultery with 

 Richard at Lunt in Sefton ; De Banco 

 R. 252, m. 79; 25s, m. 144. 



Sir Robert de Dalton, Mary his wife 

 and Thomas son of Roger de Bispham 

 were about the same time defendants to 

 a claim put forward by Robert de Talde- 

 ford and Emma his wife ; Assize R. 426, 

 m. 2. 



2 Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 552. 

 ^ Crecy and Calais (Salt Arch. Soc), 

 35, 39, &c. He was* beyond the seas' 

 in 1343 ; CaL Pat. i343-5)_P- ^S- 



* This outrage was committed on Good 



Friday morning, Sir John being assisted 

 by Sir Robert de Holland, Sir Thomas de 

 Arderne and many others. It was the 

 more scandalous as the king's son Lionel, 

 keeper of England, was then at Reading, 

 and the oftence was committed * within 

 the verge of the Marshalsea of the house- 

 hold of the said keeper.' Margery, widow 

 of Nicholas de la Beche, had been married 

 again to Gerard de I'lsle. Michael de 

 Ponings, * the uncle,' and Thomas the 

 Clerk of Shipton seem to have been 

 killed at the same time, and many were 

 wounded. The arrest of Sir John and 

 his companions was at once ordered. 

 They fled north to Lancashire, and for a 

 time took refuge in the neighbourhood of 

 Dalton, thus bringing into the number of 

 their 'accomplices ' Sir John's father, Lady 

 Maud de Holland, the Priors of UphoUand 

 and Burscough and others, the offenders 

 having, apparently, taken refuge in the 

 lands of Lady Maud and the rest with- 

 out their knowledge. There are a large 

 number of references to the affair in Cal. 

 Close, 1346-9 and CaL Pat. 1345-8, 

 1348-50. Margery died 30 Sept. 1349 ; 

 ibid. p. 460. See also N. and Q. (Ser. 

 7), ix, 46, &c. 



^ Cal. Pat. 1348-50, pp. 498, 540, 

 552. The pardon was granted for his 

 *good service.* The father Sir Robert 

 and Mary his wife had in 1348 been 

 pardoned for their share, nominal or 

 real, in the same outrage ; ibid, p, 

 99. 



" Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. 31, 

 The manor of Bispham was valued at 

 j^22 gj. 41/. a year. There was a hall 

 with other buildings and garden ; 60 acres 

 of arable land were worth 60s. a year ; 12 

 acres of meadow, 245. ; a several pasture, 

 40J. ; a windmill, 6s. %d, \ a water-mill, 

 6s. %d. The tenants at will held sixteen 

 messuages with tofts, also 300 acres of 

 arable land and 20 acres of meadow ; the 

 annual value was ^^13 I2J. 



Settlements made by Sir John are 

 recited, in which his wife Ellen and a 

 younger son Robert are named. The 

 widow afterwards married Robert dc 

 Urswick of Up Rawcliffe ; Final Cone. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ill, 12, 



43- 



^ In 1381 John son and heir of Sir 

 John de Dalton was re-cnfeoffed of his 

 manor of Bispham and other lands ; 

 Towneley MS. DD, no. 453. A settle- 

 ment of the manor was made the follow- 

 ing year; Final Cone, ill, i2. Sir John 

 was in 1385 pardoned for having married 

 Isabel daughter of Roger dc Pilkinfiton 



lOI 



and widow of Thomas de Lathom with- 

 out the licence of the Duke of Lancaster ; 

 Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App, 524. He 

 appears to have been a lawless man ; 

 Pal. of Lane, Chan. Misc. bdle. i, file 3, 

 no. 82. By charter of May 1399 Sir 

 John de Dalton granted the manor of 

 Bispham and lands In Mawdesley, Hale- 

 wood, Dalton, Holland and Whittington 

 to feoffees, who within the same month 

 rc-enfeoffed Sir John and Isabel his wife 

 in fee-tail, with remainder to the right 

 heirs of Sir John j Dep. Keeper's Rep, 

 xxxlli, App. 3. 



The seal of Sir John de Dalton In 

 1406, appended to a deed respecting 

 lands in Ulnes Walton, is drawn in Harl. 

 MS. 2042, fol. 85^. It shows the lion 

 rampant and crosslets. 



^ The pedigree is given in pleadings 

 of 1443, &c., at which time Alice was a 

 minor and living in Northamptonshire j 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 5, m. 13, 13Z1. 

 Alice and her husband William Griffith 

 were plaintiffs in 1448; ibid. 11, m. 

 10 ; 12, m. 18. For later pleadings see 

 Coram Rege R. East. 381 Hen. VI, m. 

 31, 32. In the pedigree in Harl. MS. 

 2042 the husband is called * of Hcntryn 

 in the county of Carnarvon.* 



^ An Mnspeximus' of the charters of 

 1399 was granted to Thomas Earl of 

 Derby in 1488 ; Dep, Keeper's Rep. xl, 

 App. 541. 



**' Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. v, no. 68 ; 

 the tenure is not stated. In the rent-roll 

 of the estates (In possession of Lord 

 Lathom) are a number of particulars as 

 to Bispham. The rents of free tenants and 

 tenants at will amounted to £\^ os, 7^d, 

 The demesne lands included Ryecroft, 

 Overlee, Bowkerflat, Walkerscroft, Heule- 

 field, Cheker, &c. The water-mill was 

 demised on lease at 56J, %d. a year. The 

 tenants paid 45. for leave to carry turf 

 across the lord's pasture called Horsecarr. 

 No courts had been held during 1523. 

 The outgoings Included the ^od. paid to 

 the lords of the wapentake. 



^' It Is mentioned at various times 

 among the family manors j e.g. Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 487, m. 4 ; 540, m. 11 ; 

 567, m. 3 ; 623, m. \a. 



^^ References to the Plea Rolls have 

 been given In a preceding note ; there 

 may be added Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 8, m. 

 25 ; 10, m. 10. 



'^ Add. MS. 32107, no. 1230. Robert 

 Dalton of Bispham and Richard his son 

 and heir-apparent were parties to deeds 

 in 1472 ; Add, MS. 32104, no. 1470, 

 1473- 



