AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



PRESTON 



of 1471. 18 Robert Singleton died in August 1501 

 holding the manor of Broughton with lands, &c, in 

 Broughton, Sharoe, Durton and Fernyhalgh ; Joan 

 his wife died in the following January, and Richard 

 the son and heir succeeded, being twenty-five years 

 of age. 19 He died in September 1504, leaving as 

 heir a son John, aged seven. 20 The manor of 

 Broughton was in 1 5 1 3 stated to be held of the Earl 

 of Derby and others as of their manor of Balderston 

 by the yearly rent of \d? x John Singleton died in 

 1522 and his uncle Thomas succeeded, 23 holding the 

 manor till his death in or before 1535, when Robert 

 his son was found to be his heir. 23 In 1557 Robert 

 was succeeded by his son Richard, the manor and 

 lands in Broughton being held of the king and queen 



by the tenth part of a knight's fee. 24 Richard and 

 Robert his son both died in the course of the same 

 year 1557, and then Edward Singleton, brother of 

 Robert the grandfather, inherited ; he was forty -six 

 years of age. 26 He died in 1567, leaving a son and 

 heir Thomas, only seven years of age. 28 



Thomas Singleton adhering to the Roman Catholic 

 religion was punished for his recusancy, and his son 

 Edward likewise. 27 The father and son joined in a 

 settlement of the manor in 1600, 28 while Edward 

 seems to have been in possession in 1 604 29 and 

 another Thomas Singleton, his son, in 1609. 30 The 

 manor was sold by Thomas Singleton and other 

 members of the family to Roger Langton in 1615. 31 

 It descended in this family till 1732, when William 



had been held for life by Robert de Single- 

 ton the elder in Broughton and Whit- 

 tingham, with the reversion of certain 

 other lands held by Pernell the grantor's 

 mother in dower \ Dods. MSS. cxlix, 

 fol. 47*. 



Nicholas de Singleton the younger in 

 1377 secured lands in Broughton from 

 John son of Adam Singleton of (Light)- 

 workhouses ; Final Cone, iii, I. 



Nicholas son of Gilbert de Singleton 

 had restored to him in 1405 various lands 

 in Dilworth, Bilsborrow, Whittingham, 

 Broughton and Thornton and part of the 

 manor of Little Singleton, formerly the 

 possessions of Sir Alan de Singleton, 

 Nicholas being his next of kin and heir \ 

 Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 38A, 39. Another 

 Nicholas (son and heir of Thomas) appears 

 in 1449, being described as * of Warton ' ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 12, m. \b. 

 Nicholas Singleton of Broughton and 

 Margaret his wife occur in 1454 ; Kuerden 

 MSS. iv, B 34. 



The Preston Guild Rolls give many 

 particulars of the families. Thus in 1397 

 Thomas son of Nicholas de Singleton was 

 admitted to the freedom, paying 40s.; and 

 in 1459 Nicholas Singleton of Brockholes 

 and Richard his brother were among those 

 enrolled by hereditary right ; Preston 

 Guild R. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 6, 

 11. In the latter year James Singleton 

 of Broughton, William and Brian his 

 sons and James the son of William were 

 also enrolled ; ibid. 1 2. 



William Singleton of Broughton had 

 land called Fernyhalgh in 1483 ; the 

 remainder was to Robert Singleton ; Add. 

 MS. 32107, no. 765. William Singleton 

 died in 1490, leaving a son and heir 

 Robert, aged thirty-eight ; Towneley MS. 

 CC (Chet. Lib.), no. 582. Robert and 

 John Singleton were in the same year 

 ordered to give reasonable dower to Agnes 

 widow of William ; Pal. of Lane. Writs 

 Proton, file 5 Hen. VII ; Plea R. 70, 

 m. 9. John Singleton was also son of 

 William, and founder of the Chingle Hall 

 family ; see Whittingham. 



Agnes, the widow of William, died in 

 or before 15 19, when her lands were 

 granted to Thomas Wrightington during 

 the minority of John Singleton the heir ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxii, 47 d. 



There was another Singleton family 

 holding lands in Chipping parish and also 

 in Broughton Row and Ingol, which 

 descended to Leyland and Tyldesley of 

 Morleys in the parish of Leigh. In 1564 

 Thomas Leyland was found to have held 

 his lands in Broughton and Ingol of the 

 heirs of Richard Balderston by id. rent, 

 and in 1587 Edward Tyldesley held them 

 by the same rent of Henry Earl of Derby ; 



Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 20 ; 

 xiv, no. 10. 



18 Towneley MS. HH, no. 1524. 



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

 59, 63. Lands in Broughton had been 

 held for life by Margaret widow of Nicholas 

 Singleton and Agnes widow of William 

 Singleton. One Thomas Singleton had 

 land in Fernyhalgh. Joan wife of Robert 

 was one of the daughters of Edmund 

 Lawrence ; William, Henry and Thomas, 

 younger sons of Robert and Joan, are 

 named. The tenure of the manor of 

 Broughton was (erroneously) said to be 

 by the twentieth part of a knight's fee of 

 the king as Earl of Lincoln, a rent of 

 6s. %d. being paid. There was probably 

 a confusion with the tenure of 

 Warton. 



See Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 542-3. 



20 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 70. 

 There was a younger son Richard. Jane 

 the widow married Arthur Standish, who 

 after her death (151 3) continued to take 

 the profits of the manor, &c. This led to 

 disputes with the heir ; see Fishwick, 

 Preston, 251—3, where the depositions are 

 printed. 



21 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 15. 

 This was a traverse of former inquisitions, 

 and corrects the tenure previously recorded. 



In 1508 a certain Robert Singleton 

 and Margaret his wife, widow of William 

 Balderston, had an estate in Broughton 5 

 ibid, iv, no. 13. 



22 Ibid, v, no. 45. The disposition of 

 the estates made by John Singleton is 

 recited in full. It provided for 80 marks 

 to advance the marriage of his sister 

 Elizabeth and ^20 to be distributed in 

 deeds of charity. The tenure of the 

 manor was recorded as the tenth part of 

 a knight's fee. 



23 Ibid, xxvi, no. 56. Henry Singleton, 

 brother of Thomas, was still living, hold- 

 ing a messuage in Sharoe and land in 

 Durton, given him for life by their father 

 Robert. Elizabeth widow of Henry 

 Singleton of Fernyhalgh is named in a 

 lease of 1594, in which Richard son of 

 William Singleton of Killinsough is also 

 named ; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xiv, 

 68. 



24 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, no. 29. 

 It recites the provision made for Richard 

 the son and his wife Joan daughter of 

 Thomas Cowell ; also for Brian brother 

 of Robert Singleton. 



25 Ibid, x, no. 16. 



William Singleton had an estate in 

 Broughton and Goosnargh in 1563 ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 25, m. 161. 

 The will of Anne widow of William 

 Singleton of Broughton (1565) is printed 

 in PTilh (Chet. Soc. new ser.), iii, 132. 



119 



26 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 17. 

 Edward Singleton granted to Andrew, a 

 younger son, three messuages in Broughton 

 for life and one in Lightworkhouses in 

 Broughton, and made provision for other 

 sons — William, Richard and George. The 

 place-name Durton is given * alias Urton 

 alias Overtowne.' 



It is possible that two of the sons 

 became priests. Dr. William Singleton, 

 educated at Douay, was sent on the 

 English mission in 1590, but was arrested 

 and banished in 1606. He died in 1620 

 at Liege. Richard Singleton entered the 

 English College at Rome in 1583, being 

 then seventeen years old ; he became a 

 Jesuit and died in 1602, having petitioned 

 to be sent on the English mission. See 

 Foley, Records S. J. v, 997, 1008. An 

 undated return of the latter part of 

 Elizabeth's reign reports 'Mr. Single- 

 ton, a Jesuit, at Mr. Singleton's of 

 the Tower'; Gillow, Haydock Papers, 

 59, quoting S. P. Dom. Eliz. clxxxv, 



85. 



Thomas Singleton made a settlement 

 of the manor of Broughton and lands in 

 Broughton, Preston and Warton in 1586 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 48, m. 

 295. 



27 Fishwick, Preston, 257-8. 



28 Piccope MSS. xiv, 68. A large 

 number of deeds relating to the estate 

 are given ibid. 67-75 i they range from 

 1583 to 1810. Thomas Singleton, 

 Edward his son and Thomas son of 

 Edward were burgesses of the Guild of 

 1602 ; Preston Guild if. 55. 



29 Piccope MSS. xiv, 67 ; a lease by 

 Edward Singleton of Broughton Tower 

 to Henry Birches of Cadeley of 4 acres 

 called Mowbank. From an agreement 

 of 1598 it appears that Edward married 

 Grace daughter of Thomas Bradley of 

 Arnside. 



30 Named in Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec, Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 137. He was son 

 of Edward ; see pedigree in Fishwick, op. 

 cit. 254-5. 



31 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 86, 

 m. 46. The deforciants were Thomas 

 Singleton, esq., Anne his wife, John 

 Massye, esq., Thomas Singleton of Scales, 

 Cuthbert, George and Thomas Singleton 

 and Grace Singleton, widow. The estate 

 was the manor of Broughton, with mes- 

 suages, windmill, dovecote, lands, &c, in 

 Broughton, Urton alias Durton, Ferny- 

 halgh, Fulwood, Haighton and Cadeley, 

 with certain small tithes. 



Among the Roman Catholics killed 

 while fighting for the king in the Civil 

 War were Captain George Singleton, 

 Captain Thomas Singleton (Newbury) and 

 Lieutenant William Singleton (Marston 



