BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



WHALLEY 



daughter Alice, who married John Whitaker and had 

 a son James," who died in l 500 holding the moiety 

 of two messuages, &c., in 

 Little Mitton and Clitheroe 

 of the king in chief by knight's 

 service and the rent of 3^. His 

 son and heir Henry was of 

 full age in 1508." Henry 

 Whitaker contributed for his 

 lands to the subsidy of 1 524." 

 He died in or before 1531 

 holding the same estate ; the 

 next in blood was James 

 Whitaker, clerk, but the kin- 

 ship is not recorded." Hen- 

 thorn passed to Nicholas 

 Whitaker, who died in 1 5 5 1 holding it by the for- 

 tieth part of a knight's fee and loa'. rent ; he also 

 held messuages in Clitheroe in free burgage. His 

 son John was eighteen years of age."" A similar 

 record was made after the death of John Whitaker in 

 1585; his heir was his son James, aged twelve." 



The James who died in 1 500 had by Felicia Grim- 

 shaw two daughters, Lettice and Sibyl, who married 

 respectively John Nowell and Thomas Holden. In 



Whitaker. Sc 

 three mascles argent. 



He 



1496 the other moiety of Henthorn was assigned to 

 them," and its descent can be traced, at least in 

 part, for some time." Part was acquired by Robert 

 Shireburne, and became merged in his Little 

 Mitton estate." Another part seems to have been 

 joined to Coldcoats. Robert Leigh held a part in 



1614." 



A few other holdings in the main portion of the 

 township are recorded." 



COLDCOATS, originally a part of Great Pendle- 

 ton,'" which it adjoins, has long been included with 

 Little Mitton and Henthorn." Roger de Lacy con- 

 firmed 4 oxgangs of land in Coldcoats to Geoffrey son 

 of Robert Dean of Whalley, which Geoffrey had 

 received in free marriage. Lands in Towneley and 

 elsewhere were included in the grant. The feeding 

 of Geoffrey's hunting dogs was the reason for the 

 gift.'' It is obvious that these lands were not granted 

 to Geoffrey as dean, and they were alienated by his 

 descendant Roger, a' later dean." The whole was 

 held of the Lacys as the tenth part of a knight's fee." 

 Coldcoats was occupied by a family which used the 

 local name," and in 1363 Richard de Coldcoats gave 

 to Whalley Abbey all his lands there, with the licence 

 of Gilbert de la Legh, the superior lord." 



'* In 1+99 Thomas Holden and Sibyl 

 his wife and Lettice Nowell widow were 

 ordered to render a messuage, &c., in 

 Little Mitton to James Whitaker, who 

 alleged the following pedigree : Lawrence 

 Bailey married Alice -d. Alice -s. John 

 -d, Alice -s. James Whitaker, plaintiff ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Writs Proton. 14 Hen. 



vn. 



James Whitaker's parentage is indi- 

 cated by a fine of 1441, by which John 

 Whitaker and Alice his wife settled a 

 moiety of messuages in Little Mitton 

 and Clitheroe. It was to descend to the 

 issue of James Whitaker by Felicia 

 daughter of Geoffrey Grimshaw, and in 

 default to James's brothers Christopher 

 and Thomas, and to Alice's right heirs ; 

 Final Cone, iii, 108. In a pardon of 

 1479 James Whitaker is styled as of 

 Henthorn otherwise of Padiham, showing 

 his connexion with the High Whitakers 

 family ; Add. MS. 32108, no. 1446. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, 

 no. 20. 



^ Lay Subs. Lanes, bdle. 130, no. 82. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 2 1 ; 

 held of the king as duke. A settlement 

 was made in 1525 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea 

 R. 137, m. 2 d. From a writ of 1538 it 

 appears that James Whitaker (then dead) 

 was brother of Henry, and that by an 

 earlier settlement the estate was the right 

 of Nicholas Whitaker ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Writs Proton. 30 Hen. VIII. James 

 Whitaker was plaintiff in 1526-3; ; 

 Ducatu! Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 133, 153. 



** Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 12 ; 

 the ancestry of Nicholas is not stated. 

 His wife Margaret was still living in 

 158;, as appears by the next inquisition. 



'' Ibid, xiv, no. 68 ; John married 

 Elizabeth daughter of John Baskerfield. 



^ Towneley MS. DD, no. 430. In 

 1484 Thomas Holden, Sibyl his wife, 

 John Nowell and Lettice his wife, claimed 

 a tenement in Henthorn against James 

 Whitaker and John Mitton ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 61, m. 16. 



Felicia was the heir of Geoffrey Grim- 

 shaw and Margaret his wife and had an 

 estate in Little Mitton in right of her 

 mother; Dods. MSS. cxxxix, fol. 14 li. 



The division into moieties may therefore 

 go back to an earlier time, Margaret 

 being one of the heirs of the Bailey or 

 Henthorn family. 



^ Roger Nowell died in 1507 holding 

 the moiety of a moiety of two messuages, 

 &c., in Little Mitton of the king by 

 knight's service and \%d. rent. He had 

 married Elizabeth, and left daughters 

 Grace and Anne, aged six and four respec- 

 tively. The other moiety of this moiety 

 was held by Thomas Holden (who had 

 survived his wife Sibyl), with reversion 

 to his son James ; the tenure was the 

 same — by knight's service and i%d. rent ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no, 22. 



From a note by Dodsworth it appears 

 that Grace married Richard Dodgson and 

 left a son Roger, while Anne married 

 John Leyburne and had a son John ; 

 Dods. MSS. xci, fol. 160. Roger 

 Dodgson died in 1594 holding a messuage 

 in Henthorn of the queen by the two- 

 hundredth part of a knight's fee and 9^. 

 rent. His brother Richard had died in 

 1592, and the heir was Richard's son 

 John, aged fifteen ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xvi, no. 5, 17. 



James Holden in 1531 gave lands in 

 various places, including Henthorn, to his 

 son Thomas, who married Elizabeth 

 daughter and heir of John Harwood ; 

 Towneley MS. DD, no. 428. These 

 were perhaps the Holdens of Coohill in 

 Witton ; Abram, Blackburn^ 760. 



*" Robert Shireburne in 1563 pur- 

 chased a toft, &c., from Evan Holden 

 and Agnes his wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 25, m. 158. He gave land 

 called Henthorn Ees in Little Mitton to 

 Thomas Catterall and Margaret his wife 

 for life; it was held of the queen by 

 knight's service ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xiii, no. 10. 



'^ Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii,. 104 ; a messuage, &c. 

 held of the king by knight's service. 

 Roger Leigh, the son and heir, was 

 forty-eight years old in 16 1 8. 



" Roger de Whalley, already men- 

 tioned, in 1259 secured an oxgang of 

 land and %s. rent in Little Mitton from 

 Henry son of Margery and Margaret his 



wife. He had paid 20 marks to them ; 

 Final Cone, i, 132. 



John son of Richard de Morlcy had 

 land in Henthorn in 1324-5 \ Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 1 184. 



James Marsden died in 1633 holding 

 messuages in Mitton of Richard Standish ; 

 Towneley MS. C8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), 860. 

 This may have been Great Mitton. 



^^ It is so described in the charter of 

 1363. In the time of James I the 

 tenants of Coldcoats claimed common of 

 pasture and turbary in Pendleton waste, 

 and some allowance seems to have' been 

 made to Thomas Walmesley ; Lanes, and 

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

 ii, 276-7. 



^^ Coldcoats is called a hamlet of Little 

 Mitton in 1537 ; Whalley Couch. (Chet. 

 Soc), iv, 1217. 



^^ Charter in Kuerden, fol. MS. 233 \ 

 quoted by Whitaker, Whalley^ ii, 189. 



« Ibid. 27. 



*^ The tenth part of a knight's fee in 

 Coldcoats, Towneley and Snodsworth was 

 held by Henry Gedleng in 1242 as part 

 of the dower of the Countess of Lincoln ; 

 Lanes. Inq. and ExtentSy i, 148, 150. 



^^ William de Coldcoats occurs in 1258; 

 ibid. 213 ; Whalley Coueh. ii, 962. Hugh 

 de Coldcotes appears also ; ibid. 959. 



Richard son of Hugh de Coldcoats and 

 Joan his wife in 1321 settled their mes- 

 suage and lands in Great Pendleton by 

 the agency of Robert son of Robert de la 

 Crosse of Lathom, various remainders 

 being given; ibid, iv, 11 37; Final Cone. 

 ii, 40. The deed is headed *of Cold- 

 coats.* The lordship at that time was in 

 the Towneley heiresses ; Lanes. Inq. and 

 ExtentSy ii, 134. Richard de Coldcoats 

 was tenant in 1330 {Final Cone. Ii, 75), 

 but died soon afterwards, his widow Joan 

 being plaintiff in 1334; Assize R, 1417, 

 m. 6 ; 1425, rn. 6 d. 



^9 Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 27. Inquiry 

 was made on behalf of the king in 1362 

 concerning two messuages, 66 acres of 

 land, &c., in Great Pendleton held of 

 Gilbert de la Legh as of his manor of 

 Towneley by knight*s service and 6d. 

 rent. It was found not to be to the 

 king's hurt to allow the same to be 



