A HISTORY OF LAxNXASHIRE 



her husband RlchnrJ Holker.'' In 1416 Katherine 

 HoUer widow of Richard held the filth part of the 

 vill in thegna^c, and had a son and heir William/* 

 The Holker family continued to hold land in the 

 township/' though in 1595 Roger No well purchased 

 the fifth part of the vill from Thomas Goodale/^ 



Whalley Church about 1 2 1 7 received land in Read 

 from Henr)' son of William " and Hugh son of 

 Siward." Afterwards Luke the Harper by grant of 

 Geoffrey the Dean obtained tkis church land/' and 

 had a confirmation from John de Lacy." It descended 

 in the Harpers family till I333»" ^'^^^ ^^ "'^^ 

 recovered by the monks of Whalley in right of the 



rectory." Ten years later they obtained from Jonn 

 del Clough a messuage and the tenth part of the 

 manor ^ ; they were to pay to Quejn Label, then 



kdv of the honor of Clithcroe, a rent of u. 



and 



perform half a suit of court.^ After the Suppression 

 the abbey's estate was sold by the Crown to John 

 Brad lyll and others/^ bat seems in the main to have 

 been acquired by the No .vells/^ 



The other ancient estates cannot long be traced/' 



The Subsidy Rolls give the following landowners in 



Read : 1 524, Alexander Nowell and Nicholas Holker ; 



is43, Roger Nowell, John Holker and the widow of 



Nicholas Holker; 1600, Roger Nowell and John 



John 8on of John de Holt of Read in 

 1330 granted his son John all his lands 

 in Read and Simonstone ; ibid. no. 525. 

 John (de Holt) of Read the younger in 

 1 ^,33 granted leave to the monks of 

 Whalley to quarry stone in all the wastes 

 of Read i Whalley Couch, iv, 1084. In 

 1356 John son of Thomas son ot Adam 

 dc Read %.\c a mesBjjpc in Read to 

 John son of John de Holt ; Townelcy MS. 

 DD, no. <;24. John de Holt is named in 

 1338 and 1345 i Cal.Vat. 1338-40, p. 75 ; 



^u3-^' F- 531- 



' Towneley MS. DD, no, 531; an 

 cxtr.ict iram a court roll The land was 

 named the Holt ; the lord recovered 401. 

 and the steward for his fee 51. 8./. In 

 1415-16 a settlement was made by 

 K..itherinc widow ol" Richard Holker, in 

 lAhii-h her mother Margaret is named ; 

 ibid. no. 5'5--3. This m.iy be the Mar- 

 gcr) dc \\yi\\. who in 140S was one of 

 t'le 'judges' of Read, John Nowell being 

 the other; Dunkenhalgh D. W'uliam 

 Holker was 'judge' in 1420 \ ibid. 



'■^ DD, no. 537. In I4<;7 Peter 

 Holker agreed to a fine of 2 6j. %d. for 

 the fifth part of Read and 31. \d. for the 

 sixth of a fifth ot Simonstone \ William 

 Holker was bis surety; ibid. no. ^39. 

 In a bond dated 1475 there are named 

 Isabel widow of Peter Holker anJ William 

 his son ; Dunkenhalgh D. 



^'' Randic Holker, Margaret Holker 

 and John Holker occur in pKadings from 

 1 ^54 on ; Ducatus Ljuc. i, 278, 280, 285 ; 

 iii, 21, 225. 



*'' Sec note 23 above. 

 John Holker ia called a * copyholder of 

 the manor* in 1598 ; Ducatus Lane, lil, 

 376. In 1600 he was returned among 

 the freeholders ; iM:s<:. (Rec Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 2 ". 



Randle son of John Holker in 1608 

 deposed that his hereditary c^t.ite was a 

 fifth part of the manor of Read, being 

 'wapentake lands and held by copy of 

 court roll ' ; Duchy of Lane Special 

 Com. 800. 



To this can only be added the state- 

 ment of Whitaker (c. 1800) that *thc 

 Nowells gradually appropriated the whole 

 township, excepting one estate, which 

 continued in the Holkers, a familv of 

 substantial yeomanr}*, down to our own 

 times' ; irhalliy^ li, 38. 



*^ Wh^Ucy Ccuch. iv, 1067. The gift 

 consisted of 8 acres lying in Helme, 

 Wilfchristheland (tOHching the Calder), 

 Syde and Bamland. Another charter 

 (ibid. io6S) calls it 7^ acres. 



^ Ibid. 1069. For the souls of the 

 parents of Gi-hert de Rishton he gave 

 5 acres in Thistleridding in Zwood, 

 Hyndebranceis in Braderidding in Helme. 

 •^ Ibid. 1072--? ; he was to render 

 I lb. of wax and 6J. yearlv. Luke also 

 obtained charters from Henry son of 



William (10 acres at li. rent) and Ellis 

 son of Gamel (5 acres at 6d. rent to 

 \\ halley) ; ibid. 1070-1. 



" Ibid. 1075. Ellis the son of Luke 

 obtained a confirmation from Peter dc 

 Chester as rector, and the chapters of 

 Coventry and Lichfield concurred in 

 1248 9 J ibid. 1075-6. 



In 1246 Ellis the Harper and Alice 

 his wife claimed common of pasture 

 against Ellis de Dene and Thomas de 

 Stanlaw ; Assize R, 404, m. 4 d, 



Alexander de Read, John son of Simon 

 dc Read, John son of Henry de Read 

 and Alexander son of Alan de Read gave 

 all their land in Read to Ellis the Harper 

 and Alice his wife at 6d. rent ; DD, 

 no. 4^. 



^■^ Ellis dc Read the Harper gave all 

 his land in Read (15 acres) to his son 

 John, who was to pay \zd. and i lb. 

 of wax to Whalley Church ; IVhalUy 

 Couch, iv, 1076. John (living in 1333) 

 afterwards gave the same to his son John, 

 and the younger John in 1330 to his son 

 John ; ibid. 1077—8. 



In 1292 Simon de Altham and Maud 

 his wile (as widow of Ellis the Harper) 

 claimed from John son of Ellis dower in 

 two messuages, half an oxgang and 15 

 acres of land in Read, and it was decided 

 that plaintitrs should recover part from 

 Maud (wife of Richard de Winkley) and 

 Alice, minors, who were next-of-kin and 

 heirs of Ellis de Read, and therefore 

 bound to warrant ; Assize R. 408, m. 

 38 d. 



^ Whalley Couch, iv, 1079. }^^^ ^^^ 

 of Ellis de Dene and his son Joim at the 

 same time gave quitclaims; ibid. 1081. 

 See also *De Banco R, 288, m. 351 d. ; 

 291, m. 127 ; 293, m. 272 d. 



John son of John son of Ellis dc Read 

 was dcfen lant in 1332 ; Coram Regc R. 

 2S.,, m. 104. 



William Dene and Thomas his son 

 occur in 1442 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 4, 

 m. 15. 



" Whalley Couch, iv, 1082^3 ; C^/. Pat. 



13 + 3-5. P-49- 



■^ In(j. p.m. 17 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), 

 no. 48. 



Alexander and Roger Nowell occupied 

 the abbey's lands In Read in 1537 at 

 rents of ^i and 125. ; Whalley Couch. 

 iv, 1218-19. 



*^ To John Braddyll in 1544-5 was 

 granted, among other lands, 'Marshnlls 

 place' in Read; Pat. 36 Hen. VIII, 

 pt. xi. This may be the 'Smarshalis 

 farmhold,* or Lower Hall, of bter inqui- 

 sitions, and probably refers to the Smerles- 

 halgh (or Smereshalgh) family, of whom 

 there are many traces in the records. 



William the Harper of Read, who, as 

 appears below, was a son of Ellis, in 1 290 

 complained of disseisin by Henry son of 

 John de Read, John son of Simun de 



506 



Read, William son of AI in dc Read, 

 Adam de Smerleshalgh and his sons Ellis, 

 Richard and John ; Assize R. 1288, 

 m. 14. It appeared that William w.19 

 engaged to teach John the son of Henry 

 son of John six legei on the harp, and 

 that Henr)' was to grant William certain 

 messuages, &c. In 1292 Henry de Read 

 In court acknowledged the charter by 

 which he had given William son of EUis 

 de Read the Harper a messuage and 

 various lands, the rents of Adam de 

 Smereshalgh 5J.A, John del Clough 6t/., 

 Adam son of Robert de Read 4^1/., Richard 

 de Smereshalgh i^/., the heirs of Ellis de 

 Read the Harper i^./., the heirs of Ellis 

 de Sidcnhalgh 14^./., Adam dc Stanlaw a 

 barbed arrow, John son of Ellis dc Read 

 \d.\ also the homage, &c., of free tenants; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 56, 60. 



John son of Adam de Smerleshalgh in 

 1298 obtained from Adam dc Smerles- 

 halgh a messuage and 16 acres in Read ; 

 Final Cone. I, 186. In 1310 Adam son 

 of Ellis de Smereshalgh appeared by his 

 guardian to claim this tenement ; De 

 Banco R. 180, m. i84d. In the follow- 

 ing year Margery daughter of Richard de 

 Church recovered 5 acres in Read against 

 John dc Smereshalgh; ibid. 187, m. 55. 

 Adam son of Roger son of Matthew de 

 Read and Alice his wife in 1335 recovered 

 a messuage against Adam de Smereshalgh; 

 ibid. 304, m. 30 d. 



Another grant was made by the Crown 

 in 1585 when land In the holding of 

 Hamlet Ashton and lately belonging to 

 the abbey was sold to Walter Spendlow 

 and others ; Pat. 27 Ellz. pt. vi. 



*^In 1575 John Braddyll obtained from 

 John Forster and Joan his wife a tene- 

 ment called Light Hazels ; PaL of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 37, m. 181. Roger Nowell 

 in 159X had a rent of 4/. id. from land 

 called Light Hazels ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. XV, no. 33. As already stated, Roger 

 also had the Lower Hall, which in the 

 inquisition of 1624 is said to have been 

 purchased from Hamlet Ashton and 

 Elizabeth his wife. Raven House and land 

 had been purchased from John Braddyll 

 and Foster Field from Ralph Assheton 

 of Whalley; Im. of 1624. Sec note 28. 

 John Chow in 1596 purchased a mes- 

 suage in Read from Edward Braddyll and 

 John his son ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 59, m. 177. 



"^ The Stanlaw family has occurred 

 incidentally. In 1269 Thomas dc Stan- 

 law (Stanlcnwre) and Ellis his brother 

 obtained judgement in their favour against 

 Adam the Harper; Curia Regit R. 191., 

 m. 7 d. William son of Jordan the Car- 

 penter gave to — dc Stanlaw the lands 

 claimed by Adam son of Ellis the Harper ; 

 DD, no.42. In 1308 Margery dau^httT 

 of Richard de Church claimed land ajainct 

 Adam son of Ellis Stanlaw ; De Banco R, 



