LEYLAND HUNDRED 



RUFFORD 



rent is now paid by the lord of Ruftbrd to the Dean 

 and chapter of Chester,* Anabil appears to have 

 had no issue, and in 1318, as Anabil Fitton, she 

 settled her moiety of the manor of Rufford upon 

 John de Hesketh/ who had 

 inherited the other moiety 

 from his father, and thus 

 became sole lord. 



William de Hesketh, whose 

 parentage is unknown,' was 

 apparently a 'landless man,* 

 the possessions of the family 

 in Rufford, Great Harwood 

 and Tottleworth being ac- 

 quired from his wife, Maud 

 Fitton,* or by purchase. He 

 had two sons, the above-named 

 John, who succeeded, and 



Adam.* The former, in 1323, made a settlement 

 of the manor of Rafford and two-thirds of the 



Hesketh of Rufford. 

 Argent on a bend sable 

 three garbs or. 



manor of Harwood, the remaindci's being to his 

 children — William, Alice, Katherlne and Margaret.^ 

 He is described later as Sir John de Hesketh,^ 

 and was succeeded by his son William, also a 

 knight.^ 



In 1339 Sir William obtained the king's charter 

 for a weekly market and annual fair at Rufford ; free 

 ivarren also was allowed.'' He fought at Crecy in 

 1346, and for his services in France was exempted 

 from serving on juries, Scc?° He was knight 

 of the shire in 1 360,^^ and was soon afterwards 

 followed by a son or grandson Thomas,'* and he 

 by a son Nicholas,'^ from which time the descent 

 of the manor is clear. Nicholas died in 141 6 hold- 

 ing Rufford of the Abbot and convent of Chester 

 in socage by a rent of 40/., also the manor of 

 Harwood and a messuage in Rishton. His son and 

 heir Thomas was ten years old.^"* 



Thomas Hesketh'^ died in 1458 holding the same 

 estate and leaving as heir a son Robert, thirty-one 



of the receipt of this rent. See also 

 Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 275, 284. 

 ^ The rent of 40J. from the manor 

 was in 15+1 granted to the newly 

 founded Chapter of Chester; Pat. 33 

 Hen. VIII, pt. vli. A grant of the same 

 rent was made by Elizabeth in 1580; 

 Pat. 22 Eliz. pt. xi. 



In 1590 the Dean and chapter of 

 Chester claimed the 4.0J. rent from 

 Robert Hesketh, but he replied that it 

 had been paid to the dissolved monastery 

 under an agreement with the abbot that 

 one of the younger sons of the family 

 should be kept at school in the monas- 

 tery ; Duchy of Lane. Plead. Eliz. cxlix, 

 C 16. 



^ Final Cone, ii, 26. 



^ Dodsworth says that his father was 

 named John; cxlii, fol. no. From the 

 notes to the account of the township of 

 Hesketh it will be found that there were 

 about his time a John de Hesketh and a 

 William son of John de Beconsaw ; 

 William son of Henry de Hesketh had 

 land there in 1246 and William son of 

 William in 1292. There is nothing to 

 connect any of them with Hesketh of 

 Rufford. 



William de Hesketh is named in 1305, 

 1312 and 1 3 1 8 ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 

 1681, 1683, 1686. The executors of 

 Anabil Fitton made claims against the 

 executors of William de Hesketh in 

 1320 ; De Banco R. 236, m. 323 d. 



^ See the accounts of Harwood and 

 Tottleworth. 



^ He occurs in Harwood charters. 

 Adam de Hesketh was pardoned in 1299 

 for having killed Robert son of John de 

 Rufford by misadventure ; Cal. Pat. 

 1292-1301, p. 483. 



Maud sister of John le Fleming and 

 wife of Adam son of William de Hesketh 

 the elder is named in 1339 ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxlii, fol. logb. 



William son of Adam de Hesketh of 

 Rufford is also mentioned ; Add. MS. 

 32104, no. 41. 



^ Final Cone, ii, 49. The trustee or 

 agent in this settlement was John son of 

 Hugh de Hesketh. 



'' John de Hesketh was a suh-custos of 

 Blackburn Hundred in 1323 ; Cal. Pat, 

 1321-4, p. 382. In 1330 the Abbot of 

 Chester admitted him, his wife and 

 children to association in the prayers and 

 good works of the abbey ; Towneley MS, 

 HE Edw. Ill, no. 5. In the following 



year Anabil widow of John de Walbank 

 made a release to Sir John de Hesketh 

 and Alice his wife ; Dods. MSS. cxlii, 

 fol. iioA. 



Alice widow of Sir John in 1347 re- 

 covered 2 acres in Rufford against Sir 

 William de Lea and others, who alleged 

 that the land was In Croston ; Assize R. 



143 5»m- 33- 



® Sir William de Hesketh is named m a 

 charter of 1334; Dods, MSS. cxlii, fol. 

 nob. He in 1354 successfully claimed 

 40 acres in Rufford against Thomas de 

 Lathom the elder and others, the defence 

 being that the land was in Lathom ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Assize R. 3, m. 3 d. (Mich.). 

 Three years later he claimed common 

 of fishery in Lathom, Scarisbrick, &c., 

 against Gilbert de Scarisbrick, but did 

 not prosecute his claim ; ibid. 7, m. 2. 



» Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 83. The 

 market was to be held on Friday and the 

 fair on i May. 



^^Staf. Hist. Call. (W. Salt Soc), 

 xviii (2), 34, 257. 



In 1345 a pardon was granted to 

 Sir William de Hesketh and others, in- 

 cluding Thomas de Ireland of Rufford| 

 on condition of their readiness to serve 

 in Gascony ; Cal. Pat. 1343—5, p. 530. 



Sir William was exempted from serving 

 on juries, &c., in 1346, and was a custos 

 of the peace in 1350; ibid. 1345-8, 

 p. 476; 1348-50, p. 533. 



^^ Pink and Beaven, Pari, Rcpre. of 

 Lanes. 32. 



^^ Dodsworth (loc. cit.) states that 

 Thomas son of Sir William de Hesketh, 

 kt., was living in 1377 and 1385. 

 Thomas de Hesketh had the bishop's 

 licence for an oratory at Martholme in 

 1387 ; Lich. Epis. Reg. vi, fol. 123. It 

 appears, however, that the heir of Sir 

 William in 1362 was a son William, 

 under age, whose wardship and marriage 

 were granted by John Duke of Lancaster 

 to the Abbot of Whalley and Richard de 

 Towneley ; Duchy of Lane. Anct. D. 

 LS 120. It is thus uncertain whether 

 Thomas was a brother or a son of the 

 younger William, but probably the former. 



Thomas son of Sir William de Hesketh 

 occurs; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1160, 

 Ip some pedigrees compiled about 1450 

 the following descent is given : [Sir 

 John] married [Alice] daughter of 

 Richard de Radcliffe -s. Thomas -s. Sir 

 William -s. Thomas -s. Nicholas -3. 

 Thomas, who now is ; MS. In possession 



121 



of W. Farrer, The first Thomas (son of 

 Sir John) does not occur elsewhere, and 

 is probably an error. 



Thomas de Hesketh and others of 

 Rufford were outlawed for debt in 141 1 ; 

 Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvii, App. 173. 

 Thomas married Sibyl, who was a widow 

 in 1413, when she made a lease of her 

 dower lands to Nicholas de Hesketh ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 105. This Nicholas 

 is not called her son. 



^^ Dodsworth (loc. cit.) states that 

 Nicholas was the son of Thomas and 

 Sibyl ; also that he had a brother Gilbert 

 and sons Thomas and Hugh. On the 

 other hand a later note shows that there 

 was another Nicholas then living. 



In 1403 the king pardoned (among 

 others) Nicholas son of Thomas de 

 Hesketh and Gilbert his brother for the 

 murder of Adam de Beconsaw in 1399 ; 

 Cal. Pat. 1401-5, p. 235. From a later 

 record it appears that Nicholas had been 

 outlawed in error, Adam de Beconsaw 

 came to the lidyate in Rufford, and 

 Nicholas struck him on the head with a 

 *dokke spade,' while Gilbert stabbed him 

 in the shoulder and Lawrence de Lea ran 

 him through with a sword ; Coram Rege 

 R. I Hen. V, pt. ii, m. 6. 



Nicholas de Hesketh and Margaret his 

 wife in 1407 made a feoffment of lands 

 in Kendal, Robert de Rufford being the 

 attorney ; Duchy of Lane. Anct. D. 

 L 1023. Margaret daughter and heir of 

 John Ward and widow of Nicholas de 

 Hesketh died at Rufford in 1417 ; Dods. 

 op. cit. fol. III. See also Dep. Keeper's 

 Rep. xxxiii, App. 14. 



'■* Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 126. 

 The clear value of Rufford Is given as 

 ^22. The original inq. is among the 

 Norris D. (B.M,). 



The king at once granted the ward- 

 ship of the heir to Sibyl widow of Thomas 

 de Hesketh and to Gilbert de Hesketh ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xvll, 40 d., 

 pt. iii. A little later it appears that Sir 

 Robert Lawrence was guardian ; Dep. 

 Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 22, 29. 



^^ He proved his age in 1428 ; Lanes, 

 hiq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 2 1 . A Nicholas 

 Hesketh, aged fifty and more, deposed 

 that Thomas was born at the Holmes 

 early in 1406, and baptized at Croston 

 Church, Sibyl Hesketh being his god- 

 mother. 



Thomas Hesketh is usually said to 

 have married Sibyl daughter of Sir Robert 



16 



