A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



William his son followed ; a number of his grants 

 have been preserved,' and his name occurs as a wit- 

 ness down to 1275 ;' some traditional verses say that 

 he was made a banneret in Gascony and died in 

 1289.' He certainly died before 1292, when his 

 son Richard was in possession of Sefton, and 

 concerned in various suits.* Richard died about 

 I 320, having shortly before made a number of grants 

 to his younger children by Emma, who was perhaps 

 a second wife.' 



William, the eldest son, succeeded.' In 1327 he 



was one of those charged to engage men in this 

 hundred to serve in the Scottish war.' He died 

 before 29 June, 1336, when the manor of Sefton was 

 released to his son Richard,' who held it for nearly 

 thirty years, dying on 6 April, 1363,' his son William 

 having predeceased him in 1358.'° The new lord of 

 Sefton was William's son William, aged about eighteen 

 years at his grandfather's death." His tenure, how- 

 ever, was but short, for he died in 1372 after distin- 

 guishing himself in the wars in France and Spain." 

 There was again a minority, this time a long one, the 



' As William de Molyneui, son of 

 Adam, he granted to Henry, son of Tho- 

 mas the Reeve, a portion of the demesne 

 of Sefton ; and to Richard Fox and his 

 heirs several portions of land in territory 

 of the vill ; to William, son of Simon de 

 Gragnethe, he gave a part of the demesne 

 lands upon the GorsthiU and a messuage 

 and curtilage in Little Sefton ; and to his 

 brother Roger's son William he made 

 another grant upon the GorsthiU ; Crox- 

 teth D. Ee, i ; Ee, 3, +, 6 ; Ee, 5 ; Genl. 

 i, 2. Speke he granted to his daughter 

 Joan on her marriage with Robert Emeys of 

 Chester ; Norris D. (B. M.), n. +80 •. 



He had a brother Richard to whom he 

 was heir ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. I 2, m. 

 274. 



» Blundell of Crosby D. K.. 278. 

 ' Gisbome Molineux, Mrrr.oin 0/ tbi 

 Molintux Family, 5. No reference is given, 

 but it is possihle that these lines were 

 once inscribed on a tomb in Sefton church. 

 * Assize R. 408, m. 361/. 100 </. In 

 the former of these suits Margery, widow 

 of Robert de Mol)-neux, unsuccessfully 

 claimed certain tenements in Sefton. In 

 the latter Richard himself was plaintiffin 

 conjunction with William de Walton, they 

 alleging that William de Aintrce and 

 others had carried away a cross from a 

 place called Hosyere Cross between Sefton 

 and Walton, probably obscuring the boun- 

 dary i the cross was ordered to be re- 

 placed. An arbitration in 1300 respect- 

 ing the bounds of Aintrce and Sefton was 

 perh.ips a result of this litigation \ Crox- 

 teth D. Genl. i, +. 



* One of the most notable of his grants 

 was made to Thomas his son in 1315, 

 being a quitclaim of all his right in Little 

 Salton and other lands in the Lothiani 

 which formerly belonged to Vivian de 

 Molyneui, ' whose heir I (Richard) am' ; 

 Liiirj. Pif>c R. 428, from Dods. MSS. Ixi, 

 fol. 114. It is possible that Vivian de 

 Molyneux, who has been mentioned in a 

 previous note as living about 1200, was 

 an elder brother of Adam, who succeeded 

 to Sefton in 1213. 



To Peter his son Richard de Molyneux 

 in 1311 granted a plot of his meadow 

 lying in the Little Hestcholm ; and four 

 years later to Thomas his son, with re- 

 mainder to Peter, Richard granted land in 

 Sefton lying between Sefton and Thorn- 

 ton, another piece on the Edge and three 

 acres in the Hesteholm — now Estham in 

 Sefton meadows ; Croxteth D. Genl. i, 

 6, -. 



At the end of 13 18 and beginning of 

 1319 there were a number of grants and 

 re-grants between the father on one side 

 and Peter and Thomas on the other ; 

 ibid. Genl. i, 8-14. Emma, it appears 

 from them, was the mother of these sons, 

 if not of the heir. Emma was still living 

 in 1336 ; ibid. Genl. i, 22. In a claim 

 by her for dower will be found the names 

 of a number of the tenants ; De Banc. 

 R. 240, m. 394 b. 



' In July, 1320, William son of Richard 

 de Molyneux inspected various charters of 

 his father granting lands to Peter de 

 Molyneux, and confirmed them ; Croxteth 

 D. Genl. i, 16-19. In 1321 he demanded 

 from Emma, his father's widow, and from 

 Peter and Thomas, three charters and 

 three bonds; De Banc. R. 238, m. 53. 



In 1324 he obtained from William, 

 son of Robert the Fowler, certain lands 

 lying on the Moiedge in Sefton, towards 

 Great Crosby ; ibid. X, i, 4. 



Beside his heir he seems to have had a 

 son Robert and a daughter Emma ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Assize, R. 4, m. 11 ; De Banc. 

 R. 274, m. \6d. 



In 1324 Richard de Molyneux is given 

 as holding Sefton by the service of half a 

 knight's fee, 61. sakirfce, and jj. castle 

 ward i Dods. MSS. cxxii, fol. 34. This 

 probably refers to William's father, in 

 error. 



^ Rot. Scoriae (Rec Com.), 218. 

 8 Croxteth D. Genl. i, 26 ; by this 

 Richard de Molyneux, rector of Sefton, 

 appointed Richard del Lund, clerk, to 

 deliver to Richard, the son of William de 

 Molyneux, deceased, the manor of Sefton 

 with the appurtenances, and the homage 

 and service of the free tenants, &c. This 

 Richard seems to have immediately re- 

 feoffed the rector ; ibid, i, 27. 



In 1332 he was defendant in a suit 

 respecting houses and land in Sefton 

 brought by William son of Hugh de 

 Standish ; and plaintiff in another case ; 

 De Banc. R. 291, m. 185 ; 292, m. 554 </. 

 ' Inq. p. m. 42 Edw. Ill, n. 40 (ist 

 Nos.) \ he had held the manor of Sefton 

 and the advowson of the church, with 

 remainder to his son William and heirs 

 male, of the duke of Lancaster, by homage 

 and suit at the wapentake of Derby from 

 three weeks to three weeks. The value 

 was about ,^55 a year, made up, £zo 

 from the rents of tenants at will, and 

 the rest from the estimated worth of 

 the capital messuage and its appur- 

 tenances, 140 acres of arable land at 2J. 

 an acre, and 80 acres of meadow at 

 55. an acre. He had also held the manors 

 of Down Lithertand and Thornton. 



In 1346 he was found to hold five 

 plough-lands in Sefton, one in Thornton, 

 and two in Cuerden by the service of half 

 a knight's fee and by paying yearly Ilr. 

 for sake fee and ward of Lane. Castle, 

 doing suit to county and wapentake by 

 his tenant Thomas the Demand ; Survey 

 of 1346 (Chet. Soc), 32. Litherland is 

 given separately, and said to be held in 

 socage. 



He was twice married — to Agatha and 

 to Isabel — and nine sons and daughters 

 are mentioned, viz. William, Richard, 

 John (who had sons Thomas and Nicholas), 

 Robert, Thomas, Peter, Simon, Ellen and 

 Joan ; see Croxteth D. Bb, i, 3, and Dep. 

 Keeper^i Rep. xxxii, App. p. 346. 



In i}37 the manor of Down Lither- 

 land was settled on Richard, son of 



68 



William de Molyneux, and Agatha his 

 wife, and their sons William, Richard, and 

 Thomas ; and seven years later to Gilbert 

 de Scarisbrick Richard granted a rent of 

 40 marks for the life of Agatha his wife ; 

 Croxteth D. G. i, 8 ; Ee, 19. 



In October, 1361, the feoffees gave to 

 Richard de Molyneux and Isabel his wife 

 the lands and tenements in Sefton, Thorn- 

 ton, &c., which they had had from 

 Richard. At the beginning of the follow- 

 ing year Richard de Molyneux enfeoffed 

 Thomas del Hall and others of his manor 

 of Sefton and the advowson of the church, 

 and Thomas, son of Richard, released all 

 his right in the same ; ibid. Gent, i, 35, 

 31-3. At the same time the father 

 released all his right in the same to his 

 son Richard ; ibid. 34. 



Isabel survived her husband and is men- 

 tioned in charters of 1365 and 1369 ; 

 ibid. Y. i, 8 and Genl. i, 37. In 1368 

 she, as widow of Richard, made a claim 

 against William de Molyneux for a third 

 part of the manor of Sefton. In the 

 pleadings it is stated that William was 

 son of William the son of Richard by his 

 first wife Agatha; De Banc. R. 431, 

 m. 29. 



•" Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill, n. 99 (2nd 

 Nob.) ; on his marriage with Joan, daugh- 

 ter and heir of Robert de Holland of 

 Euxton and EUel, William had received 

 from his father the manor of Larbreck. 

 He died on i October, 1358, at Chateau 

 Neuf en Thimerais, a district to the north- 

 west of Chartres, his son William being 

 then stated to be twelve years of age. 

 A latci inquisition (Inq. p. m. 36 

 Edw. Ill, pt. i. No. 120) makes the same 

 statement, but he was about two years 

 older. 



An agreement was made in 1359 as to 

 the wardship and marriage of William son 

 of William son of Richard de Molyneux, 

 between Richard son of William de Moly- 

 neux, and John de Winwick, rector of 

 Wigan : the right of wardship was in 

 dispute, the king claiming it ; Dep. 

 Keepet^t Rep. xxxii, App, p. 346, 



^^ He did homage to the duke of 

 Lancaster 29 Sept. 1366, and had livery 

 of his lands ; Inq. p. m. of his grand- 

 father Richard. 



'^ He is called a knight in the inquisi- 

 tion after his son's death. The tradition 

 is that he was made a banneret in 1367 

 after the battle of Navarette, but there is 

 no confirmation to be found in the Chroni- 

 cles. He is further stated to have been 

 buried in Canterbury Cathedral, on his 

 return from abroad, but Weever, who 

 gives the inscription from a document at 

 Croxteth, states that there was no sign 

 left of the tomb. The inscription, stat- 

 ing that the deceased had been loved by 

 Edward as a friend, and that he had 

 fought in France and Navarre, gives the 

 date of his death as 1372, which seems 

 to be correct. See Weever, Fun. Man. 

 (ed. 1631), 234 ; and Fuller, H^orihiet. 



