A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



accordingly Henry de Lea was recorded as holding in 

 all six plough-lands by the king's charter and rendering 

 zor. 13 The two Leas seem then to have been con- 

 sidered as one plough-land, as in 1066, and 3/. \d. 

 was the portion of the rent charged on them 14 ; but 

 in the 14th century they are called two plough- 

 lands. 15 



Henry de Lea 16 was succeeded by his son Sir 

 John de Lea, of whom little is known. 17 He died 

 in 1 265, 18 leaving two sons Sir Henry and Baldwin, 



the former being his successor. Sir Henry was a 

 prominent man in the county ,9 and was at one time 

 sheriff. 20 He died in 1 288, leaving as heir hit son 

 William de Lea, 21 who acquired the manor of Molling- 

 ton Banastre near Chester by his marriage with 

 Clemency Banastre. 2 ' Their son Henry, - J taking 

 part with Adam Banastre in his rebellion in October- 

 November 1 3 1 5, was executed M ; but his sister Sibyl 

 was able to secure the inheritance, which she carried 

 by marriage to Sir Richard de Hoghton of Hoghton." 



13 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 21. The grant to 

 Cockersand made by Henry's father 

 Warine is recorded, as also a further gift 

 by Henry himself. 



The six plough-lands seem to have 

 been made up thus : Ainsdale 2, Ravens- 

 meols 3, Lea I. 



14 The vill of Lea rendered 40^. yearly 

 to the Earl of Lancaster in 1297 ; ibid. 

 i, 289. Richard de Hoghton in 1324 

 held the manor by the service of 3;. \d. 

 at Michaelmas; Dods. MSS. exxxi, fol. 39. 



16 In 1346 Adam de Hoghton held 

 both Leas as two plough-lands by the 

 service of the third part of a knight's fee, 

 giving relief, and paying 35. \d. yearly 

 for castle ward ; Surv. of 1346 (Chet. 

 Soc), 54. The two Leas are again called 

 two plough-lands in 1445-6 ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. They 

 were then held by the third part of a fee. 



16 He confirmed his father's gift to 

 Cockersand ; Chartul. i, 209. He also 

 allowed Walter son of Simon to give part 

 of his land in Lea, by Fulford at the 

 Savock ; ibid, i, 208. He gave land in 

 English Lea near the Outlane and Mere- 

 lich (the boundary between English Lea 

 and Ashton) to Richard son of Owen j 

 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), C 2146. To Uctred 

 son of Edith he gave a toft and croft in 

 Lea, with two nets free in the Ribble, 

 for a rent of izd. ; Add. MS. 32106, no. 

 50. To Peter son of Geoffrey he gave 

 land within bounds which name Blake- 

 mon Syke and Katelaw Syke ; ibid. no. 

 53. To his son Richard he gave land in 

 the Spitalfield ; ibid. no. 69. 



In English Lea he granted 1 oxgang 

 of land to Roger son of Levenot, which 

 the said Levenot had held ; ibid. no. 55. 

 A more important grant was made by 

 him as Henry de Lea son of Warine de 

 Lancaster about 1230, giving his daughter 

 Amice the moiety of the whole vill of 

 English Lea with all its appurtenances 

 at a rent of 31. ; ibid. no. 379. 



There is a charter of William son of 

 Henry son of Warine de Lancaster 

 respecting Sidgreaves, ibid. no. 380. 



' Henry de Lancaster son of Warine ' 

 gave a plot of land in Forton to the 

 monks of Furness in exchange for another 

 piece for the souls of William de Lan- 

 caster, Warine de Lancaster and Mabel 

 his wife, Richard Fitton father of his own 

 wife Margaret, &c. ; Harl. Chart. (B.M.) 

 52 I, 1. The round seal has a bird with 

 the inscription + sigill + henrici de 

 lanca +. William de Lancaster (either 

 I or II) is called the uncle of Warine ; 

 Cockersand Chartul. ii, 366. For the 

 Fittons see the account of Harwood. 



17 He attested various charters. William 

 de Scales son of Gilbert granted Sir John 

 de Lea a selion in English Lea, lying 

 between land of Henry son of Roger and 

 land of Herbert the Clerk, in exchange 

 for a messuage in the same vill ; Add. 

 MS. 32106, no. 411. Sir John occurs 

 several times between 1244 and 1261 ; 



Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 158, 184, 

 227. ls Ibid. 234. 



19 He gave land in the Millfield in 

 French Lea to Cockersand Abbey ; 

 Chartul. i, 210. The seal to this grant 

 is drawn by Dodsworth (cxlii, fol. 17) ; 

 it shows a bend lozengy, with the legend 

 -(- s. henrici de lee. A number of 

 grants to and by him are contained among 

 the Hoghton deeds in Add. MS. 32106. 

 Among them may be cited the following : 

 Henry son of Uctred of English Lea gave 

 Henry son of John de Lea all his land in 

 English Lea, about 1230, Henry de Lea 

 (i.e. the grandfather) being a witness ; 

 no. 80. Henry son of Adam de Leahead 

 gave all his land in Leahead to Henry 

 son of John de Lea, a rent of I2</. 

 to be paid to St. Saviour's in Ribbledale 

 (i.e. Stidd) ; no. 58. The same grantor 

 also gave land in the field called Westley 

 in French Lea ; no. 458. Robert son of 

 Henry of French Lea gave Henry son of 

 John de Lea five selions in Leferirley ; 

 no. 401. Adam son of William Edwin 

 made an exchange of land in the field 

 called the Mekea with Sir Henry de Lea j 

 no. 433. In 1281 an exchange in the 

 Crofts and Geoffreyfield was made 

 between John son of Alan of French Lea 

 and Sir Henry de Lea ; no. 65. William 

 the reeve of Lea was a witness. 



Henry de Lea appears as the king's 

 bailiff in 1256; Lanes. Inq. and Extents, 

 i, 205-6. He became tenant of the 

 Cockersand land in Lea in 1262 ; Final 

 Cone. (Rec Soc. Lanes, and Chei.), i, 

 141. He was defendant to a claim for a 

 tenement in French Lea made by Alice 

 daughter of Robert de Staining in 1278 j 

 Assize R. 1238, m. 31 ; 1239, m. 39. 



M P.R.O. List of Sheriffs, 72. 



31 Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 273. In 

 addition to Lea Sir Henry held Charnock, 

 part of Wheelton and Ravensmeols. He 

 held Lea of Edmund Earl of Lancaster 

 by the service of 40*/., having 2 oxgangs 

 of land in demesne there, each worth 

 c,s. a year, and 6 oxgangs in service, each 

 worth zs. a year ; also a water-mill, 

 worth half a mark yearly. William the 

 son and heir was thirty years old. 



25 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 3 zb. Clemency 

 was daughter of Robert Banastre. 



As William son of Sir Henry de Lea 

 he made an exchange of land on the east 

 side of Baddebridgegate for land on the 

 west side thereof with William son of 

 Roger of French Lea ; Add. MS. 32106, 

 no. 39. John son of Alan de Lea granted 

 his lord William de Lea certain land in 

 French Lea, lying in Merclie, in Gild- 

 homefield, in Overthemarketgate field, 

 also selions called Staniggefethir and 

 Crauthornland ; ibid. no. 44. Roger son 

 of Mille of English Lea in 1284 gave 

 William de Lea, his lord, an acre in 

 English Lea, a candle having to be given 

 yearly to God and St. Mary ; ibid. no. 

 47. Richard the Miller of Lea con- 

 firmed to William his lord two butts of 

 land in English Lea, lying in the Merst- 



I3O 



holme between the Scalebanki and the 

 new bridge ; no. 308. 



In 1292 William de Lea was sum- 

 moned to prove his title to the manor, 

 which he did by showing the grants 

 above cited ; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Ret 

 Com.), 380. In 1296 Margery widow 

 of Alan de Ingol released to her lord 

 William de Lea all right in lands which she 

 and Alan had sold to him, which lands 

 were in the fields called Beconesfurlong 

 and Eastgreaves in English Lea in Syke 

 Meadow, in Wadebridgeholme, Wade- 

 bridge Meadow and Mill Carr ; Add. MS. 

 32106, no. 388. In 1301 an agreement 

 was made between William de Lea and 

 Robert de Haydock ; Dods. MSS. lxx, fol. 

 1546. William de Lea appears to have 

 died in April 1302, leaving his son and 

 heir Henry, a minor j Mins. Accts. 771, 

 no. 1. 



S3 In 1 31 1 Sir Henry de Lea granted 

 to Thomas son of David de Sidgreaves and 

 Alice his wife 3 acres in the field called 

 Williamcroft in the vill of Sidgreaves at 

 a rent of 101. ; Add. MS. 32106,00.436. 

 In 1 3 12 William son and heir of Gilbert 

 de Ashton released his right in Brookfield 

 (? in Ashton) to Sir Henry de Lea ; ibid, 

 no. 485. Roger son of Roger ion of 

 Emma de Sidgreaves in 1313 gave all his 

 land in Lea to Sir Henry $ ibid. no. 347. 

 24 The insurgents were defeated on 4 

 Nov. 1315, and Henry de Lea for a week 

 or more remained hiding in the moors and 

 woods, being captured by William de 

 Holland, and afterwards beheaded by order 

 of the Earl of Lancaster ; Coram Rege 

 R. 254, m. 52. 



M Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 32*. Henry 

 de Lea had two brothers (or half brothers), 

 William and Thomas, mentioned in 1 301 ; 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 889. Sir William 

 de Lea, son of William de Lea, in 1337 

 released to Sir Richard de Hoghton, 

 Agnes widow of Sir Henry de Lea, Sir 

 Adam de Hoghton and others all right in 

 the manors of English Lea, French Lea, 

 Ashton by Preston, &c. ; ibid. no. 891. 

 For Sir William see the account of 

 Croston. 



In 1 3 20 Thomas son of Roger son of 

 Emma of English Lea released to Sir 

 Richard de Hoghton and Sibyl his wife 

 all that land which Sir Henry de Lea, 

 brother of Sibyl, had had by the gift of 

 Thomas's brother Roger in English Lea ; 

 ibid. no. 735. Sir Richard in 1313 

 acquired from Henry son of John de 

 Lea land given him by William son of 

 Sir Henry de Lea ; ibid. no. 52. Later, 

 in 1327, Avice widow of Richard de 

 Claughton granted Sir Richard two butts 

 of her land in the vill of English Lea, 

 near the tithe barn of Lea and adjoining 

 the king's way from Preston to Kirkham i 

 ibid. no. 43 



Adam de Hoghton in 1341 granted 

 common of pasture in Lea Marsh to 

 certain tenants of John son of William de 

 Lea ; ibid. no. 765. Wilkin de Dutton, 

 clerk, apparently the trustee of Thomas 



