A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



manor. 



In 1488 John Butler held his lands of the 

 Earl of Derby by knight's service, 8 but in 1 504 and 

 later the mesne lordship was ignored, and the lands in 

 Greenhalgh and Thistleton were said to be held of 

 the king as of his duchy by knight's service.' 



Greenhalgh gave a surname to some local families, 111 

 of which one retained possession of its lands till the 

 1 6th century." The Bradkirk family held a fourth 

 part of Greenhalgh." 



THISTLETOX, apart from the tenement of the 



Butlers, was largely held by the Cowdnys " and 

 Aughtons of North Meols 1 ' and their heirs, their 

 manor of Thistleton consisting principally of the 

 2 oxgangs of land, a fourth part of the vill, granted 

 to the canons of Cockersand by Ellis son of Roger de 

 Hutton." A number of the tenants of Thistleton 

 which name in former times seems to have been used 

 of the township as a whole, appear in the pleadings 

 and inquisitions " ; some of them, seated in neighbour- 

 ing townships, held of the Crown, the Earl of Derby 



' See a later note ; also the account of 

 Out Rawcliffe. 



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

 1-5 ; tne lands were gala to be in 

 Thistleton. 



9 Ibid, iii, no. 109 ; viii, no. 8 ; xxvi, 

 no. 36 ; Greenhsl^ii alone, or Green- 

 llabgh with ThistletoiL. 



W:llii~ B-tler of Hackinsall i- 1586 

 tel: lanb is Tnlitlercn of the queen ai 

 o: her c_chy in socage ; ibid, xiv, no. 

 4-. 



Wi.ter ce Grr^nhalrh was tenant of 

 Ellis tie Hutrc- abonr 122c ; Cxienad 

 Ckz-rrU. i. 1 56. Robert sen of W 'am 

 c - Grtenniirr. 'c iz^z t W2s a zenerY— cr 

 o: Cciiru^; Abbey, navlng given '.--r.- 

 a Siz.-ri-.zz ; i;ii. 165. He mar haie 

 been R. ben the Clerk ::' Kirkharn .'100 

 of V* : ''f^] 2: wh-m PJchurb 1; Boteier 



ri'e a narr :f hii I3222 wh22bn Green- 



Csri. 22-2^-222- ;f Sirihim : D-.U. 

 liii. Ibb. i.-_ ;;, S2. 2-. Sc=ewb_ir 

 ~rTr~- Mascer w-^s*- ic V — r'-s— , here. 

 sic nf R_-.:-:t~ hire t f-V of g— r"-? — , 

 rr^ iZ 23 .2222 hi 222 Til. ci Green- 



en.irr: 2 s ;■< 



Wiiliafltt sea e: K^ber: br C-rr -~ v ' " 

 fcj? been -i=eb ibcTj 12-2V Ge-2-TbeT 

 sen c;M;-: $?T22-erlT the wire of Rc-frr be 

 Xursi2w released to his brc-ther Henry 

 the rcurth r^rt c: an 2xr2nr -f bm2 zn 

 Thistierm. ani Hearr 2; N-rshiw in 

 1 ; 1 6-1 - rii-e lands there re- Rcbert s:n or" 

 William be Greenwich at a rent of 2-i. ; 

 K-erbtn MSS. iv, T 5. 



11 William son of Thrmas Grcenhaljh 

 was in 1442 re-enr>orted of Ian2$ \zx 

 Greenhalgh, Eft-rick. Comoe, Wesham, 

 Whitacre and the Holmes ; Dods. MSS. 

 liii, foL S6, no. :S. 



Thomas Clifton in 1547 claimed a 

 messuage in the township against Richard 

 Greenhalgh and James Thornton ; Dmcatia 

 Lar.c. (Rec Com.), i, 223. 



James Greenhalgh died in 1559 holding 

 various messuages, &c, in Greenhalgh, 



Comoe Row, Esprick and Whitter (Whit- 

 2cre y of the queen as of the late priory of 

 St. John of Jerusalem by a rent of it. 

 His heir was his grandson George 'son of 

 Richard) Greenhalgh, about twenty years 

 old ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. rii, no. 

 23. Not on? afterwards, in 1566, George 

 Greenhalgh sold the manor of Greenhalgh 

 al'uu Grecnoo, with water-mill, windmill, 

 *e, in Comoe Row, Whitter and Esprick, 

 to Henry Butler ; PaL of Lane Feet of 

 F. bole. 28, m. 203. Soon afterwards 

 Henry B-iler also purchased two :n*j- 

 «-*?=*> **-> in Greenhalgh and Esprick 

 from the Earl of Derby; ibid. m. 49. 

 James Greenhibgh, son of George, in 

 1577 released any right in Greenhalgh to 

 the same Henry Bcner ; Dods. MSS. liii, 

 foLc-rl. 



The manor of Greenhalgh is named 

 amtna- the Butler estates in 1 5-1 ; PaL 

 •zi Lane Feet of F. bdk. 3:, m. 79. In 

 1525 Henry Bntier complained that John 

 Ecrbescm of Gr^nhalzh had obtiined 

 certain erideaces sh-win? rfiar 'Jr c parcel 

 of laar he held was heir o: plaintin^ the 

 Joed ot 12- — znrr. and intenbed to claim 

 a rrrle tr the =anrr ; Duchy of Lane 

 Pfead. 3- Eliz- clrriL B 6. James 

 Greenhilzi: ot Greenhaldi was presented 

 as a rec — hp i in 1605 ; \"isit- P. in 

 rhrgrr Disc. Reg. 



he connsratirn of ize Butler 

 in I - l5 the manor of Grrenhalrh 

 to haTf been arqzirei again by a 

 ■ of thr Ircal family, for in i~"4. 

 arrc i^xin im lSl6 tbr h^rerwas a hm;i 

 Grr<--igh; Pal of Lane Plea £ 620, 

 ssu 1 2 : Lent Aa"m zi Geo. HI. 



a The Brariiri holr ng has occurred 

 in 2-ere2inx notes. Adam de Bradkirk 

 m= Ifrmnli his w:e in 1349 ^ c -- tw0 

 mesr_i2TS. 2 cirranr? of land, &c^ in 

 G-eenb_i sfa of Sir N cholis le Brteier by 

 inbjhr's serrire and a rent of 15J.; Inq. 

 r.22. 2S Erw. HI (2ci nos-\ no. tr. A 

 p : --»— Parker was defeniant in a claim 

 ;_- Frwnat in Greenhilfh in 1596 ; 

 Hxrjrir heme jn. i65. 



The Greenhalih jirt of the township 

 sricom CCC2IS in the reccrbs- William 

 be Greenhais of Preston and Margaret his 

 wire had an inte-est (:'cr her life) in a 

 meriroze. Jke, the-e oncer John Boteler 

 of K.rilmd; Fl-ui Cmc (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, anci Ches.;, iii, 43-4. WiXiam 

 Skbllirrme and ]oan his wife had some 

 land there in 1 \i- : PaL of Lane Feet 

 of F. hble. 20, m. 04. CLthbert C.:rt:n 

 of Clinton in 15 12 held land of John 

 Butler of RawcUffe, and a similar state- 

 ment is found in later inquisitions j 

 Djchr of Lane Inq. pjn. ir, nr. 12, Sec. 

 Edward Worthington d'ta at Weeton in 

 1639 holiinj a messuage, land and 

 common rights in Greenhalgh of Henry 

 Butler. Lawrence hii son and heir was 

 fifty rears old ; ibid, m, no. 35. 



u In 13 1 7 Alice widow of William de 

 Travera claimed dower in Thistleton and 

 Elswick against Robert son of William de 



ISO 



Cowdray and Margaret his wife; De 

 Banco R. 21.9, m. 131 d. Margery wide- 

 of Robert de Cowdray in 1 349 p n ,u 

 her land in ThisUeton to Adam de Meoli ■ 

 Kuerden MSS. iv, T 5. 



" Hugh Aughton of North Me^ii was 

 in 14 1 7 seised of a moiety of the manor 

 of Thistleton, held of the king as of hii 

 duchy by knight's service and 4,/. rem j 

 Lj-.c:. Inpp.m. (Chet Sot), i, 129. 



u Cockirimd Chtrtul. i, 173; Ellis 

 made an exception of Esprick and his 

 mill, but added 12 acres on the nearer 

 side of Greenhalgh Syke, marked out by 

 crosses, and exemption from multure at 

 Greenhalgh milL Thomas de Chevilli 

 and Amiria his wife released their title 

 to lands in Thistleton, and the canons 

 received further grants or releases from 

 Robert son of Robert the Clerk of Ulren- 

 ton, Richard de Freckleton, clerk, and 

 Geoffrey son of Sir John de Hackintall; 

 ibid. 174-6. Numerous place-names 

 occur in the charters — e.g. Fieldingford- 

 wray, Mundegumeland, Otemaste, Ruthe- 

 syke, two tongues (or gores) on Borayni 

 on the lower side of the road to Single- 

 ton. 



Hereward, Abbot of Cockersand, gave 

 the 2 oxgangs to William the Clerk of 

 Kirknam about 1230 at a rent of 21. ; 

 Kuerden MSS. loc. cit. j Dods. MSS. 



Hugh Aughton, son of the above-named 

 Hugh, held messuages, *•.■„ in Thistleton 

 in 1464 of the Abbot of Cockersand by a 

 rent of id. (21.) ; Lanci. Inf. p.m. (Chet. 

 Soe), it, 80. No * manor' is named then 

 or later. A similar tenure was recorded 

 in later inquisitions, e.g. in that of Hugh 

 Aughton, 1520; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. ▼, no. 28. After the inheritance was 

 elvidei, John Bold (1587) was said to 

 hold lands, &e, in Thistleton of the 

 queen as of the late abbey of Cockersand 

 bv 2;. rent (ibid, xviii, no. 43) ; but in 

 1603 Barnaby Kitchen held similarly by 

 I2if. rent — i.e. he had a moiety; Lj- 1. 

 Inq. pjt. i, 23, 27. The 'manor' of 

 Thistleton was named among the esLitrs 

 of Hugh Hesketh of North Meols and 

 Alice his wife in 161 1 ; PaL of Lane 

 Feet of F. bdle -9, no. 71. 



'* The estate of John de ThomhiU in 

 1242 may have been derived from the 

 Jordan de Thornhill who married Quenilda 

 daughter and co-heir of Richard son of 

 Roger of Woodplumpton ; she afterwards 

 married Roger Gernet, but had no children. 

 John Gernet died in 1 :+ 1 hr.; ling n .thing 

 in chief of Theobald le Border, but hold- 

 ing 2 oxgangs in Thistleton of John de 

 Thornhill, which land he had by pi r, W. 

 His brother Benedict was his heir ; Lima. 

 I*j. and Ex:nn, i, 177. When, shortly 

 afterwards, the escheators were directed to 

 give seisin to Benedict, the land was said 

 to be held of Richard s n and heir of 

 John de Thornhill ; Cose R 64, m. 14- 

 In 1292 inqu 17 was made as to the 

 tenement of Master William ic Kirkham 

 in Thistleton; he was dead and the 



