A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Ferrers of Grobjr. 

 Gules seven mascles cr. 



hoMIng the third p.irt (of a fourth part) and the 

 third part of two-thirds of a fourth part of the manor 

 of Chorlcy, in which \vere l 2 

 acres nf arable land (lo;.) and 

 2 acres of meadow (fid.), to- 

 gether worth lo/. id. a year ; 

 the free tenants rendered 

 3/. 3a'., tenants of burgages 

 10/., tenants for life 4/. (>^d., 

 and tenants at will 27/. z^d. 

 The whole was held of 

 Thomas Fleming and \\ illiam 

 de Lea, lords of Croston, by 

 knights' ser^'ice and a rent of 

 2/. ()\d. At the same time 

 John de Arderne and Joan 



his wife held for life, by grant of the said Lord de 

 Ferrers, rendering a rose yearly, the fourth part of 

 the manor of Chorley and two thirds of two thirds 

 of the fourth part of the manor. .Adding the fractions 

 together it will be found that William de Ferrers had 

 in possession an J in reversion a moiety of Chorley.' 



Henry de Ferrers of Groby died in i 3SS, having 

 granted his lands and tenements in Chorley to John 

 de Aldclemc, Katherlnc his wife and John their son 

 at a rent of S marks ; the lands were said to be 

 ' held of the Duke of Lancaster by the service of 

 finding a bailiff in the king's baiii -ick in Leyland- 

 shire.' ' In I+4i Sir Edward Circy and Elizabeth 

 his wife, J.uii;liicr and heir of William de Ferrer; of 

 Groby, m.nde a settlement of the m.in(ir of Chorley, 

 which in default of issue to them w.is to de<icend to 

 the right heirs of William de Ferrers.' After the 

 forkiture of Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset in 

 14S4,' this moiety was held by the Crown for a time, 

 but in the same year was given to Thomas Lord 

 Stank'V and his son Lord Strange.' Joan Lady 

 Strange afterwards held the moiety of Chorley of 

 Thomas Ashton and Roger Dalton as of their manor 

 of Crostrin in socage by a rent of 10;.,° but in 1521, 

 after the death of the second Earl of Derby, the tene- 

 ment was called ' the whole manor of Chorley ' and 



regarded as held of the king by the service of finding 

 a bailiff for the u.ipentake.' This moiety descended 

 like Knnwijcy until 1597, when William Fiarl of 

 Derby sold it to Roger and Alexander Rigby.' 



Returning to the other fourth parts, held by 

 Harrington and Shireburne, it appears that John de 

 Harrington died in I 361 holding in right of his wife 

 Katherine, who had died before him, certain lands, 

 &;c., in Chorley of William de Lea and Isabel widow 

 of Sir John Fleming by a rent of 5/.'; while in 

 1 44 1 it was found that Richard Shireburne held a 

 fourth part of the manor of the king as of his Duchy 

 of Lancaster in socage," but Robert Shireburne in 

 1492 was more correctly stated to hold the fourth 

 part of Chorley with messuages, lands, &c., of Thomas 

 Hesketh in socage by 5/. rent." The Harrington 

 fourth part, like the rest of the Hornby estates, came 

 into the possession of Sir Edward Stanley, created 

 Lord Mounteagle after the victory of Floddcn," but 

 was sold by his heirs in 1574 to Sir Richard Shire- 

 burne of Stonyhurst," who, having the other fourth 

 part by inheritance, became lord of a moiety of the 

 manor of Chorley" ; he died in I 594 holding it of 

 the queen in socage." 



Thus in 1629 it was found that Edward Rigby of 

 Burgh in Duxbury held one 

 moiety " and Richard Shire- 

 burne the other." The Rigby 

 moiety continued to descend 

 like Burgh and Layton " till 

 the dispersal of the estates 

 about 1700, when it was pur- 

 chased by John Gillibrand," 

 v.hose descendant Thomas 

 Gillibrand purchased in 1825 

 the Shireburne moiety," 

 which had descended like 

 Stonyhurst to Thomas Weld 

 of Lulworth." The Gilli- 

 brands thus became lords of 

 the entire manor, and from 

 their representatives it was in 1874 purchased by the 



Rigby of Burgh. 

 Bendy indented of six 

 argent and a-zure on a 

 chief sable three cinque foils 



' Inq. p.m. 4.; Edw. Ill (lit nos.), no. 

 21. 



John dc Arderne died in 1392 holding 

 for life two fourth parts of the manor of 

 Chor:c\ of William dc Ferrer* sin of Sir 

 Henry i Inq. p.m. 16 Ric II, pt. 1, no. 

 3§. Another inquisition gives liis holding 

 as a fourth p.irt and three parts of a fourth 

 part, for lite only, by the grant of William 

 de Ferrers, father of Hcnn,' father of 

 WiLliam ; Chan. Inq. p.m. i8 Ric II, 

 no. I. The Arderne interest in Chorley 

 then terminated. 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. 11 Ric II, no. 26 ; 

 16 RiC. II, no. II. Tr.c service named 

 was probably due for the bailiwick of the 

 wapentake. See also Ljncs. Inj. p.m. 

 (Chet. Soc), v., 51. 



A charter concerning dower lands in 

 Bolton and Choriey by Joan Lady dc 

 Ferrers in 1197 is preserved in Add. M5. 

 32104, no ifi^6. ^ i".Tj.' C:nc. iii, ill. 



* G.E C. C^"i^.V.v Peerage^ iii, 14S. 

 ' Cj.. Pat. i+'-6-S5, p. 4.-6. 



* D'jchy of Lane Ir.^. p.m. iv, no. 18. 

 ' Ibid. T, no. 68. In the rental of 



the same t:me ^in possession of Lord 

 Latham) it is stated that the rents of the 

 free tenants and tenant= at will in 1495 

 amounted to ,^15 or. iji. j the demesne 

 ijnii were farmed for f\, and seven- 



teen autumn \s^'-ks of the tenants at will 

 were worth 21. 10^. The wht'lc had in 

 1512 been let out to farm by Joan Lady 

 Strange. Allowance had formerly been 

 made for the moiety of the rent (21.) of 

 a chamber at Chorley in which the courts 

 were held. 



" Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdlc. i;8, m. 

 258. Geoffrey Prescott in 1598 claimed 

 the manor of Chorley, &c., agninst Edward 

 Rigby, who called Lord D rbv to warrant 

 him ; Pal. of Lane Plea R. 282, m. 1. 



* Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. 99 ; 

 the rents of his free tenants and tenants 

 at will amounted to £y i8j. %d. His 

 grandson Sir William acquired Hornby 

 by marriage and thus became chief lord 

 of Croston and Chorley. 



*^Lanc3. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. ;o, 31. 



'■Duchy of Lane Inq. p.m. iii, no. 93. 

 In 1528 and later it is stated to be held 

 of the king as of the honour of West 

 Der'ry ; ibid, vi, no. 65. 



^ Ibid. ^, no. 64 ; xi, no. i. 



Sir James Harrington of \Voif:i?'*, who 

 died in 149-, held lands in Chorley of 

 the Earl of Derby in socage ; ibid, iii, 

 no. 40 ; T, no. 2. 



" PaL of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 36, 

 ui. 138; Shireburne Abstract Bk, at 

 Leagram. 



'* Chorley is mentioned in a settle- 

 ment of the Shireburne manors in 1579 ; 

 ibid. bdle. 41, m. 199. 



** Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 3. 



'* Ibid, xxvi, no. 5. The tenure was 

 by being bailiff of the wapentake and by 

 the two-hundredth part of a knight's fee. 



*' Ibid, xxvi, no. 4. The tenure was 

 sorn?;': as before. 



'^ The * manor of Chorley ' appears 

 among the estates of Alexander Rigby in 

 1655 and again in 1681 ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 157, m. 93 ; 206, m. 

 32. The bailiwick of the hundred is not 

 named in cither of these fines. 



'® In his will (quoted below) he names 

 *the manor or moiety of the manor' of 

 Chorley which he had purchased. 



^ This and other information as to the 

 recent descent of the manor is due to Mr. 

 Walter Mayhew of Duxbury and the 

 town clerk of Chorley. 



^' Chorley is named among the manors 

 of Sir Nicholas Shireburne in 1690, 

 Thomas Duke of Norfolk and Mary his 

 wife in 1721, and the same Mary 

 Duchess of Norfolk in 1737 ; PaL of 

 Lane. Plea R. 452, m. 7} 511, m. 7; 

 54+, m. 13. In 1777 it was held by 

 Thomas Weld and others ; ibid, 625, 

 m. 10 d. (16]. 



