A HIS'JORY OF LANCASHIRE 



CHISXJLL^ w.q. held by the Chisnall family 

 from an cnr!}' time. Roger and John de Chisnali are 

 mentioned in 1277/ and in 1292 the latter recovered 



Chisnall. Argent 

 three cross/ets fitchy 

 •within a bordure gules. 



RiGBY of Burgh. 

 Bendy indented of six 

 argent and azw:^ on a 

 chief sable three cinjue- 



foils or. 



land in Worthington.' Roger de Chisnall and 

 Margaret his wife in 1347 settled a messuage and 

 land on Roger son of Ri-ger and Alice his wife, with 

 remainders to Robert, John and Thomas, brothers of 



the younger Ro^cr.* For a century and a half there 

 is little record of the family,* but John Chisnall, who 

 died in 1525. w.is found to hold messuages and lands 

 in Coppull and Worthington partly of the Earl of 

 Derby by a rent of zs. zd. and partly of Richard 

 Worthington by a rent of zs. ; his son and heir 

 Thomas was only fifteen years old.* A settlement 

 was made in 1554' and a pedigree recorded in iSi^*;/ 

 Thomas Chisnall being still alive. 



His son Edward succeeded before 1600," and by 

 his marriage with Margaret Worthington secured an 

 estate in Shevington.'" Their son Edward took a 

 distinguished part in the first defence of Lathom 

 House in 1644, and afterwards fought at Marston 

 Moor. His estates were of course sequestered by the 

 Parliamentary authorities, and he compounded for 

 them.'' Afterwards he turned to controversy, pro- 

 ducing in 1653 his Ciitholike Histoj-y in defence of * the 

 Reformed Church of England.' *' He died 5 March 

 1653-4,'^ and was succeeded by his son Sir Edward 

 Chisnall, who represented Wigan in 1688-9 as a 

 Whig and Pre;ton in 1690 as a Tory." His 

 daughter and eventual heir married Stephen Ham- 



Final Cone, iii, 38. Chnstnjrher Char- 

 nock of Coppull occurs in 1442 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 4, m. 3. He is mentione i 

 again in 14; 1 as son of William \ Pal. of 

 Lane. WriK of Assi/c, bdlc. 4. 



' Chysinhale, 12-7 ; Chiscnhale, 

 UGuatly. 



* In pleas for dower by Agnes widow 

 of J 'hn de C-ipulI^ De Banco R. 21, 

 m. 'i>^, S5 d. The case was proceeding in 

 I 282 i ibid. 44, m. 26 d. 



•* Assize R. 4oS^ m. 74 d. 



John de Chisnall the yoingcr and Roger 

 de Chisnall were appointed to the assize 

 of ale in Lancashire in 1324 i Fine R- 

 124, m. 16. William de Chisnall occurs 

 in 1331 J Dc Banco R. 2 8-', m. i 27 ; and 

 John and Roger in 1332; Exch. Lay 

 i<ubs. (Rec. See. Lanes, and Ches.), 49. 

 Roger dc Chisnall made a fcctTiient of 

 lands in W-rtliington in 1336; the re- 

 mainder was to John son of Alice de 

 Standish ; Standish D. (Mrs. Tempest's 

 abstract^ no. 51. John dc Chisnall of 

 Longshaw, Juliana his wife and Nicholas 

 his son were defendants in 1338 5 Assize 

 R. 1421;, m. 6. Roger de Chisnall w 3S a 

 plaintiff in 1 ^4;' ; Assire R. 1435, m. 37. 

 The wardship of the heir *'l" John de 

 Chisnall was disputed in 1352; Duchy 

 of Lane. Assize R. i, m. v. 



Roger de Chisnall, a plaintiff in 1324, 

 was son of Robert son of a Roger de 

 Chisnall who in the time of Henry HI 

 had held the lands claimed j De Banco R. 

 253, m. 35. The abstract? of the Standish 

 of Stundish deeds also show that Roger dc 

 Chisnall was son of Robert j he had 3 son 

 John who died without issue between 1 380 

 and 1 399, the estate going to John's sister 

 Joan wife of Henry dc Farnworth, who 

 seems to have had daughters and heirs — 

 Ai'ice and Joan ; Kuerdcn MSS. ii, fol. 

 217, &C. For the above John de Chisnall 

 see Final Cone, iii, 31. 



* Final Cone, ii, 123, 



^ Richard Chisnail of Coppull is men- 

 tioned in 1444 ; PaL of Lane Plea R. 6, 

 m. 3. 



Richard Chisnall in 1487-8 made a 

 feoffment of rart of his demesne called 

 the Longfield^ and the Ridding near the 

 hall; K-uerden fol. MS. SS, C. 



' U .^ti\ of Lane Inq. p.m. vi, no. '66 ; 

 John Chisnall also had land in Wnghting- 



ton and a burgage in Wigan. It is re- 

 cited that Thomas the father of John 

 had made a settlement of the capital 

 messuage of Chisnall and lands in fa\nur 

 of Maud daughter of Thurstan Anderton 

 on her marriage «ith John Chisnall, and 

 that John had made a feoffment ot his 

 estate. 



^ Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdlr. 15, 

 m. 9^. RicharJ Chisnall was plaintiff 

 and Thomas Chisnall wjs deforciant. The 

 property included a water-mill, do\ecotc, 

 &c For Richard, a brother of Thoma'*, 

 see the account of Little Lever. 



^ yisit. 1567 (Chet. Soc), 71. It 

 appears that Thomas died before 1588, 

 when his son John, thirty-six years of 

 age, was heir of his uncle Richard ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 39. 



^ Edward came of age by 159", when 

 he was summoned to do service for lands 

 in Darcy Lever ; Mjrch. Ct. Leet Rec. ii, 

 121. He was a freeholder in 1600 ; 

 Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Chcs.), i, 

 244. He recor.led a pedigree in 1613, 

 in which it is stated that arms had been 

 granted in 1595; lisit. of 1613 (Cliet. 

 Soc), 24. He was the most consider- 

 able landowner in the township, and in 

 1631 paid j^25 as composition on de- 

 clining knighthood ; Misc. (Rec Soc), i, 

 214, 



He died 23 Apr. 1635 holding the 

 capital messuage called Chisnall Hall, -a 

 dovecote, messuages and lands in Cop- 

 pull and neighbouring townships \ also 

 3 messuage in High Holborn called 

 Chisnall's Buildings, adjoining Gray's 

 Inn. The lands in Coppull were held of 

 Alexander Rigby and William Worthing- 

 ton in socage by a rent of 41. zd. 

 Edward his son and heir was sixteen 

 years of age \ Duchy of Lane Inq. p.m. 

 xxviii, no. 8 ; Funeral Cert. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 202, 



*° See the account of Shevington. 



" Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches,), 11,35-38. His* de- 

 linquency' was that, * being newly called 

 to the bar at Gray's Inn, he adhered to 

 and assisted the forces raised against 

 the Parliament.* He compounded in 

 1648. 



There was afterv-nrds some trouble be- 

 cause his mother had been a recusant, but 



226 



nothing is said as to his having assisted 

 Prince Charles at Worcester, The 

 annual rental of the estates was about 

 ^120. 



'^ The Epistle Dedicatory, dated at 

 Chisnall 1 1 Feb. 1 65 1-2, is addressed 

 * to the Right Reverend the Legal Clergy 

 of the Reformed Protestant Church of 

 England'; the author ignores as far as 

 possible the changes which had made *thc 

 Establishment Presbyterian,' *our Engl ah 

 Sion being now laid waste.' At the end 

 the printer apologises for the numeroi'»' 

 misprints, * occasioned by the difficult and 

 uncouth character of the author's hand, 

 whose remote abode admitted of no inter- 

 course to instruct me therein.' The book 

 has an interesting engraved title. 



There arc notices of Edward Chisnall in 

 Diet. Nat. Biog.f Ci'vil War Tracts (Chet. 

 Soc), 341, and War in Lanes. (Chet, 

 Soc), 125. In the last-named work he 

 is called Colonel Chisnall, and is said 

 to have been taken prisoner at Wigan. 

 He was again captured at Appleby in 

 1648; Ci'vil War Tracts^ 275. In the 

 same collection will be found particulars 

 of his conduct at Lathom, 170, &c. 



In a fine respecting the 'manor' of 

 Chisnall in 1652 the deforciants were 

 Edward Chisnall and Elizabeth his wite ; 

 Pal. of Lane Feet of F. bdlc. 150, m. 17. 



'-* Memorial tablet in Standish Church. 

 Another inscription records two commis- 

 sions, one by Prince Rupert, the other by 

 Charles II, dated in Aug. 1651. 



'* Pink and Beaven, Pari. Repre. of 

 Lanes. 229, 158. He was made a 

 knight in 1671, and died about 1728. 

 A settlement of the manor of Chisnall 

 and various lands was made in 167 1 by 

 Sir Edward Chisnall, Elizabeth his wife, 

 Sir William Coney and Edward Moore ; 

 Pal. of Lane Feet of F. bdlc. 187, m. 

 28. A pedigree was recorded in 1665, 

 when Edward, eighteen years of age, was 

 the husband of Anne Atkinson ; Dug- 

 dale, Fisit. (Chet. Soc), 78. 



There are a number of references to 

 Sir Edward in Hist. MSS, Com. Rep. xiv, 

 App. iv (Kcnyon MSS.), and a letter of 

 his (p. 248). A bill for the settlement 

 of his estates is named in 1678 j Hist. 

 M.SS. Com. Rep, ix, App. ii, lotb. See 

 also Lc Ncvc, Ped. of Knights (Harl. 



