A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



by the tenants ; two mills were in operation — a 

 windmill and a horse-mill.' During the thirteenth 

 century the descent of the manor followed that of the 

 wapentake and land between 

 Ribble and Mersey, but in 

 I 3 l6 Thomas, earl of Lancaster, 

 gave the manor, with 300 acres 

 of wood, to Robert de Holand,' 

 and about four years later con- 

 firmed the grant with large 

 additions, viz., the manor of 

 West Derby, ' nigh Liverpool,' 

 with its demesnes of the Hay of 

 Croxteth, the manors of Tor- 

 risholme and Nether Kellet, 

 the keepership of the forest in 

 the earl's lands and forests, and 

 the bailiwick of the serjeanty of 



Lonsdale, Fumess, and Cartmel, land in the Hope 

 nigh Manchester, with the bailiwick of the serjeanty 

 of Salfordshire, and manors and lands in many other 

 counties.' In 1322 the manor fell into the king's 

 hands upon the earl's attainder, but upon the restora- 

 tion of the honour to his brother Henry of Lancaster 

 passed again into the earl's demesne and descended in 

 his line. It was completely surveyed in 1323, when it 



HOLAND OF Up- 



HOLLAND. Axure, semie 

 de /is, a lion rampant 

 guardant argent. 



was found that Thomas de Hale and thirteen other 

 free tenants held 250 acres of land and z\ burgages ; 

 Hugh the reeve held twooxgangs by serjeanty ; sixty- 

 nine men held thirty-one burgages and twenty 

 oxgangs of land; and 433 others held 1,816 acres 

 and many houses, the total return being about £']\* 

 In 1348 the issues of the manor amounted to ^^125.' 

 The office of bailiff of the manor appears to have 

 been united with that of bailiff of the vill (not 

 borough) of Liverpool." In the sixteenth century 

 the Molyneuxes of Sefton were stewards of the 

 manor.' 



Some grants of annuities from the issues of the 

 manor are on record.' 



The Act of 1609 relating to the creation and con- 

 firmation of copyhold lands in Lancashire had special 

 application to West Derby.' 



From 1327 downwards the manor was held by 

 the house of Lancaster and by the kings as dukes of 

 Lancaster; but in 1628 Charles I sold it to certain 

 citizens of London, together with all lands and tene- 

 ments within the same, and in Everton and Waver- 

 tree.'° An amended grant was made in November, 

 1638 ;" and in the following year the manor was 

 transferred to James, Lord Stanley and Strange, after- 

 w.irds seventh earl of Derby.'' It remained with his 



(by the long hundred) and \ perch of 

 land, rendering yearly £\ iji. z^d. (or 

 +iy. per acre) ; 234 acres (by the short 

 hundred) and | rood, rendering j^5 175. id. 

 (i.e. 6d. per acre) j and 200 acres (long 

 hundred) less J acre, rendering ^7 igj. 8^. 

 (i.e. id. per acre) ; also I zd. for an acre 

 which Rose held. The perquisites of 

 the court averaged lOf. a year. Inq. and 

 Extent!, 285, 286. 



Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, 

 granted 20 acres, by the perch of 24^ ft., 

 in West Derby to William de Sileby, at 

 a rent of 15J. yearly ; Croxteth D. Cc. 

 ii, I. An earlier grant by William de 

 Ferrers to the same William de Sileby, 

 his bailiff, was the subject of a dispute in 

 1276 ; Assize R, 405, m. 4. 



The ancient * customs of the manor of 

 West Derby and Wavertree,' as recorded 

 in a document of Henry IV's time (?) 

 are printed in Syers' E-venon, 387. 



' Ir.j. and Extent!, 284-5. "^^^ 

 'field called Harhum ' is mentioned. 

 The arable land of the demesne seems to 

 have been let at farm at 4^. to 1 id. an 

 acre, and the meadow at 31. an acre. 

 The men of the vill held 20 oxgangs, 

 paying 40J. a year, and also 26j. id. a 

 year, with 1 zd. for a half oigang ; they 

 paid izd. for a way through the meadow, 

 and zs. for having entry to the 'Worme- 

 stall ' with their cattle, within the forest ; 

 also zs. to have estover of cutting down 

 holly in winter for the sustenance of their 

 cattle. 



The prior of Birkenhead had 1 5 acres, 

 paying 51. a year. It may be added that 

 in 1337 Henrj', earl of Lancaster granted 

 the prior z6 acres of waste near Smith- 

 down and ten acres near Wavertree 

 which William the Clerk of Liverpool 

 had held, in exchange for the release 

 of a right to common of pasture in 

 the earl's waste between Tunbrook and 

 .Stanbrook, and Tunbrook and White 

 Moss, but saving to the prior and his 

 successors estovers of reasonable turbary 

 in Smithdown Moss for their manor of 

 Moss Grange ; Duchy of Lane. Great 

 Cowcher, i, fol. 66. 



' Cat. Pat. 1313-17, p. 4-6. Holand 

 .obtained the royal pardon, 18 June, 1316, 



for having acquired the manor and wood 

 in fee without licence. 



' Ibid. 1317-21, p. 431. 

 In 1330 Maud de Holand, Sir Robert's 

 widow, claimed dower in the manors of 

 West Derby and Liverpool ; De Banc. R. 

 281, m. 240, and R. 287, m. 179 ; Inq. 

 p.m. I Edw. Ill, No. 88. 



* Rentals and Surv. m. 3;'g, m. 9-1 1 d. 

 In 1312-13 Thomii, earl of Lancaster, 

 had given 40 acres of land within the 

 wood of West Derby to Thomas de Hale, 

 his valet, and Mabel his wife, in fee ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. izib. The same 

 messuage and 40 acres, having escheated, 

 were in 1354 granted by Henry duke 

 of Lancaster to John Barret, at a rent of 

 zos. Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 

 14;. 



' Duchy of Lanes. Accts. 32/17, 

 fol. 4*. The rents of the free tenants 

 amounted to £-j 91. 8J</. ; of the tenants 

 of 31 J burgages, 321. bd. ; of customary 

 tenants holding 20J oxgangs, 41J. ; also 

 for 'a custotn called scotz,' — the sheriff's 

 scot ; see Pari. R. ii, 401* — 271. 4^. ; of 

 cottars, 6j. i\^d.; of John de Derby, the 

 reeve, for two oxgangs held by serjeanty, 

 nit ; and of the rents of divers tenants, 

 £iiz zs. fsd. 



' The bailiff of the -viH had no juris- 

 diction beyond collecting the rents due 

 from burgesses for lands improved. In 

 1360 Thomas de Fazakerley was ap- 

 pointed to the office for life, at zd. a day 

 wages ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 

 341. Henry, son of Robert le Norreys 

 of Sutton was appointed bailiff of the 

 manor of West Derby and of the vill of 

 Liverpool during the king's pleasure ; 

 Towneley MS. CC (Chet. Lib.), b. 518, 



132_. 



' Several court rolls of this time are 

 preserved at Croxteth ; West Derby, 

 Wavertree, and Great Crosby were all 

 included in the one stewardship. Rolls 

 of 1527-4 are printed in Lanes. Court R. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 90-107 

 123-32. 



'Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 338, 

 34-2- 



'Private Act 7 Jas. I, c. 3 ; also 

 Uuchy of Lane. div. xxvi, bdle. 2, No. 9. 



1 + 



For a reference to a survey made in 1625 

 see Lanes, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc, 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 311. 



Later another private Act was passed 

 (29 & 30 Chas. II, c. i) 'to establish 

 the interest of the lord and copyholders 

 in West Derby and Wavertree in rela- 

 tion to fines and commons.' 



'" See the account by Isaac Greene in 

 Grcgson, Fragments, 146-9. 



The letters patent (4 Chas. I, pt. 35) 

 bore date 14 June, 1628. The grantees 

 were Edward Ditchfield, John Highlord, 

 Humphrey Clarke, and Francis Mosse. 

 The manor was to be held as of the 

 manor of En/ield in Middlesex, at the 

 yearly rent of ^^ 145 6s. yd. 



" Pat. 14 Chas. I, pt. xxii. This amend- 

 ment was necessitated by the omission of an 

 express mention of the manors of Everton 

 and Wavertree in the original patent. 

 The tenants of these manors refused to 

 pay rent or do suit and service at the court 

 at West Derby : and the consequent law- 

 suits continued several years ; Grcgson, 

 loc cit. 



t' A court-baron on behalf of Lord 

 Strange was held in 1641 for the manor 

 and for the vills of Everton and Waver- 

 tree, under the direction of Lord 

 Molyneux, steward ; Ct. R. at Croxteth. 



On the creation of the earldom by 

 Henry VII a rent of ^20 had been 

 granted to Thomas, Lord Stanley, charged 

 on manors in the counties of Nottingham 

 and Derby ; this was resigned and a grant 

 of ^40 substituted chargeable on the 

 manor of West Derby, by letters patent 

 dated 22 Feb. 4 Hen. VII. 



The manor, like other of the earl's 

 estates, was sold by the Parliamentary 

 authorities to Colonel Thomas Birch in 

 1651, but appears to have been repur- 

 chased ; Royalist Comp. P. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, ,63. In Sept. 

 1655, a fine was made regarding the 

 manor of West Derby, with Wavertree 

 and Everton, 200 messuages, 2 wind- 

 mills, 1,200 acres, &c.; hallmote, &c.; 

 James Wainwright was plaintiff, John 

 Parker and Margaret his wife being de- 

 forciants i Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle 

 157. m. 121. 



