AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



a son William, who after various disputes obtained 

 the manor from the Prestons. 29 



He died in May 1557 holding the manor of 

 Mowbreck of the king and queen as of their duchy 

 of Lancaster in socage by 4.1. rent, and leaving a son 

 and heir John, twenty-seven years old. 30 This son 

 proved one of the most uncompromising adherents of 

 the old religion in the county. At the beginning 

 of active persecution in 1 568 he was summoned before 

 the queen's commissioners, and replied that he had 

 ' not resorted to the church Sundays and holydays,' 

 as the laws of the realm required, nor ' received the 

 communion in such sort as by the laws he (was) like- 

 wise appointed ' ; he had entertained William Allen 

 (afterwards Cardinal), not as a disloyal subject but 

 regarding him only as a relative. 31 He remained 

 constant, and is found on the recusant lists as heavily 

 fined. 32 In 1585 he sent a petition to the queen 

 asking for some consideration ; he was sixty years of 

 age, he had lately paid £25 for the furnishing of a 

 light horseman, 33 and his goods had been seized 

 for a fine of .£80, though his 'ancient rents' 

 amounted to no more than £4.2 a year. He there- 

 fore desired the queen to accept £10 or 20 marks 

 as a composition.' 4 He died in 1591 in possession 



KIRKHAM 



of the family estates ; the heir was his son John, 

 eleven years old. 36 



The younger John Westby died in 1605, and was 

 succeeded by his brother Thomas, then nineteen 

 years of age. 36 Thomas Westby, who recorded a 

 pedigree in 161 3 " and paid £1 3 6s. id. in 1631 

 on declining knighthood, 38 died at Burn in Thornton 

 in September 1638, leaving his son John heir to a 

 somewhat diminished estate. 39 On the outbreak of 

 the Civil War John Westby and his brothers espoused 

 the king's side, 40 and his estates were sequestered and 

 finally sold for his recusancy and delinquency by the 

 Parliamentary authorities. 41 The estate of his brother 

 and successor Francis suffered a like fate, 42 as did that 

 of his half-brother George. 43 



Francis Westby succeeded in 1661, and recorded 

 a pedigree in 1664, being then forty-four years of 

 age. 44 Mowbreck descended to his son Thomas 46 

 and grandson John, who in 17 1 7 as a 'Papist' 

 registered his estates at Burn in Thornton, Mow- 

 breck, Westby, &c, the Lancashire portion being 

 valued at £230 6s. l i^- P er annum. 46 He left four 

 daughters as co-heirs, and they or their representatives, 

 after the death of his brother Robert in 1 762, obtained 

 the Mowbreck estates. 47 Division and sales followed, 



Thornton in 1445-6 ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. The 

 William named in the text was probably a 

 later member of the family ; for him see 

 the pleadings of 1 5 17-18 printed in Fish- 

 wick's Kirkham (Chet. Soc), 172-4. It 

 appears that John Westby died about 

 1511, and that his son William was then 

 under age. 



Writs of diem cl. extr. after the death 

 of William Westby, probably the grand- 

 father, were issued on 11 Mar. 1515-16 

 and 1 Apr. 1517 ; Towneley MS. CC 

 (Chet. Lib.), n. 754, 787. 



The surname Westby is derived from 

 a place of that name in Gisburn, held 

 of the Percys ; Adam de Westby occurs 

 in 1258 ; Yorks. Inq. (Yorks. Arch. Soc), 

 i, 70. 



29 The agreement was made in 1 5 3 1 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 1 1, m. 102. 

 William Westby was plaintiff, and Law- 

 rence Preston and Beatrice his wife were 

 deforciants. 



80 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, no. i 7. 

 In addition to Mowbreck he held lands 

 in Medlar, Wesham, Kirkham, Newton- 

 with-Scales, Burn in Thornton, Heaton 

 and Urswick. Elizabeth his wife sur- 

 vived him. 



William Westby's will is printed in 

 Richmond Willi (Surtees Soc), 90. He 

 desired to be buried in his pew and under 

 his form in Kirkham Church. He left 

 the manor of Mowbreck to his son John, 

 his wife having been provided for by the 

 assignment of Burn Hall to her. 



81 Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 205, from 

 S. P. Dom. Eliz. xxxvi, 2. 



A pedigree was recorded in 1567 ; 

 Visit. (Chet. Soc), 47. 



82 In 1586 he was liable to the fine of 

 £260 a year; Gibson, op. cit. 238. In 

 1582 his house had been one of the 

 resorts of one of the missionary priests, 

 a nephew of his; ibid. 222, quoting 

 S. P. Dom. Eliz. cliv, 76. It is related 

 that on one occasion he 'was glad to 

 stand for a whole winter's day almost 

 in a pit of water up to the ears, and often 

 forced to duck under the water lest he 

 should be espied of the persecutors ' ; 



Allen, True, Sincere and Modest Defence of 

 Engl. Caths. 173-4 (quoted in Month, civ, 



5*7)- 



38 This was a special tax on recusants. 



84 Gibson, op. cit. 235, quoting S. P. 

 Dom. Eliz. clxxxvii, 51. The peti- 

 tioner had a wife and four children, of 

 whom the eldest was under six years. 

 He had elder daughters by a former 

 marriage. 



35 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 6. 

 In addition to lands in Lancashire he also 

 had the manors of Holmes, Duffield and 

 Westby in Yorkshire, with lands there 

 and in Gargrave, Thorpe, Settle, Gisburn 

 and York. The tenures of Mowbreck, 

 &c, were recorded as before. His will 

 (recited in the inquisition) names his 

 youngest son William, daughters Ellen 

 and Mary and cousin William Haydock 

 of Cottam. 



Anne his widow was a recusant in 

 1593 ; Gibson, op. cit. 261. 



36 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 33-6. The tenures of the 

 manors of Mowbreck, &c, are recorded 

 as before. 



87 Visit. (Chet. Soc), 90. Two of his 

 sons, John and Thomas, were safely taken 

 to Douay in 1623, but the attendant was 

 captured at Dover on his return ; Cal. 

 S. P. Dom. 1623-5, p. 6. 



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

 i, 221, 



89 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxvui, 

 do. 42. The tenures of Mowbreck and 

 Wesham were recorded as before. John 

 Westby was aged twenty-nine. 



40 It is said that six of the brothers 

 fought for the king ; Misc. (Cath. Rec. 

 Soc), i, 128. In the 1664 pedigree it is 

 recorded that one brother, Thomas, was 

 killed at Preston on that side. This was 

 * the popish doctor, Dr. Westby,* killed 

 in 1643 ; Chil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 



75- 



41 Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 2634 ; Index 

 of Royalists (Index Soc), 44. Mowbreck 

 and other manors were purchased by 

 Thomas Wharton and James Lowd. 

 Though most or all was recovered, the 

 family were impoverished. 



i5S 



41 Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 3124. 



43 Ibid, iv, 3138. George Westby of 

 Rawcliffe was ancestor of the later 

 Westbys of Mowbreck. In this way 

 White Hall in Rawcliffe became the 

 principal seat of the family. 



44 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc), 331. 

 Most of the details as to later descents 

 in the text and following notes are from 

 the pedigree in Foster's Lanes. Peds. 



45 He was one of those charged in the 

 ' Lancashire Plot ' of 1694 ; Jacobite Trials 

 (Chet. Soc), 16, 30, 33. He died in 

 1699. Three of his sisters in 1681 sent 

 405. to the receiver of recusants' estates, 

 * which is ' (they state) ' according to what 

 we always paid since this charge was laid 

 upon us '; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. 

 iv, 127. 



In 1688 John Westby son and heir- 

 apparent of Thomas Westby of Mowbreck 

 was contracted to marry Jane daughter of 

 Christopher Parker of Bradkirk ; Piccope 

 MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 202, quoting 

 2nd~3rd Roll of Geo. I at Preston. 



46 Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non- 

 jurors, 147, 318. John Westby died in 



1722. 



John Westby was succeeded by his 

 brother Thomas, who died in 1729, and 

 was followed by Robert. In 1 73 1 a 

 Private Act was obtained (4 Geo. II, cap. 

 29) by which the manor of Bum and 

 lands in Thornton and Carleton were to 

 be sold for the discharge of debts, &c. 

 Several family deeds are recited in it. 



47 Foster, ut sup. The co-heiresses were 

 Catherine wife of Alexander Osbaldeston 

 (of Sunderland), Mary wife of Rev.Thomas 

 Alderson, Anne wife of Rev. John Benison 

 and Bridget wife of William Shuttleworth, 

 whose only child and heir (Margaret) 

 married Thomas Westby of Rawcliffe in 

 1744. 



In 1740 Robert Westby, having no 

 male issue, settled his estates with re- 

 mainders to the right heirs of Thomas 

 his father ; Piccope MSS. iii, 194, quoting 

 Roll 9 of Geo. I at Preston. Another 

 deed (1756) states that Catherine mother 

 of Alexander Osbaldeston was a daughter 

 and co-heir of John Westby ; Robert, the 



