WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



SEFTON 



oxgangs of land to Randle de Litherland by knight's 

 service and a rent of ^s.^ A family bearing the local 

 name appears from time to time.^ 



Among the other holders of land in the fifteenth 

 century and earlier may be named the families of 



Ballard,^ Gorstihill/ Linacre/ Makin,^ Mercer/ 

 Tristram/ and Witlaw.' The Moores of Bank Hall 

 acquired a considerable holding in the township, 

 chiefly, it would seem, by purchase from some of the 

 earlier owners just named. ^" In 1628 the only free- 



^ Inq. and Extents, 13. 

 ^ It is possible that they were also called 

 Demand, acting for the Sefton moiety of 

 the vill. 



Alan de Litherland gave two selions 

 here to Roger son of William de Moly- 

 neux at id. rent ; Croxteth D. G. i, 2. 

 Adam de Litherland granted a selion to 

 William son of Gilbert de Linacre ; ibid. 

 G. ii, 6. 



Sir Henry de Lea about 1280 granted 

 to Richard, son of William de Litherland, 

 a messuage and garden in Orrell ; and 

 Adam, son of William the Demand, 

 granted him free turbary ; Moore D. 

 n. 689-90. The grantee may be the 

 Richard son of William the Judge of 

 other charters. 



Richard de Molyneux granted part of 

 his land in the vill to Richard, son of 

 Alice de Litherland ; Croxteth D. Ee, 7. 

 Then in 13 13 William the Demand, son 

 of Adam, gave to Henry de Lea the 

 homage of Richard son of Richard, son 

 of Alice de Down Litherland ; this was 

 confirmed by fine, Richard doing homage 

 and fealty to Henry in court ; ibid. G. 

 ii, 13, and Final Cone, ii, 28. There 

 appears to have been some disputing about 

 it ten years later ; Assize R. 425, m. 2. 



William the Deemer and Margery de 

 Down Litherland were in the same year 

 charged with depriving the latter's sister 

 Maud of a moiety of a messuage and two 

 oxgangs of land j both sisters claimed by 

 a grant of Adam son of Adam, son of 

 Gilbert, but Maud failed in her suit ; 

 Assize R. 424, m. 2. 



In 1328 the same Margery claimed 

 from Richard son of Richard de la Moor 

 and others a messuage and two oxgangs 

 of land. It appears that she had had them 

 by gift of William the Demand when he 

 married a certain Ellen, who as his 

 widow was one of the defendants. The 

 other defendants included Richard, son of 

 Margery de Down Litherland, and Adam 

 the Little Demand. (Adam the Little 

 Judge was witness to a grant by Richard 

 son of William the Judge of Litherland, 

 to Richard son of Hugh the Reeve of 

 Walton ; Moore D. n. 691. A charter 

 by Adam the Great Judge has been 

 quoted already.) Richard de la Moor 

 was the heir of William the Demand, but 

 the charter of Margery was upheld by the 

 jury ; Assize R. 1400, m. 234. 



Simon, son of William the Demand, 

 occurs in 1329 ; Assize R, 427, m. 3 d. 



^ By fine in 1256 an oxgang of land 

 was granted by Richard de Birches and 

 Margery his wife, of whose right it was, 

 to Robert, son of Adam Ballard, on his 

 marriage with their daughter Emma 5 

 Final Cone, i, 119. 



William son of Adam de Molyneux 

 about 1270 gave to Henry son of Adam, 

 son of Andrew de Litherland, certain 

 lands at a rent of 6d. About the same 

 time Adam the Demand, son of Robert de 

 Litherland, gave two selions to Henry son 

 of Adam Ballard, perhaps the same Henry ; 

 and Alan son of Richard formerly of 

 Litherland gave him the Clayland lying 

 next to land of Robert Ballard's, and 

 extending from the road called Bridgate 

 to the road from the vill of Litherland 

 to Sefton church ; Blundell of Crosby 

 D. K. 4, K. 3, K. I. 



In 1313 Adam son of William Ballard 

 released to his son Richard all his right 

 in certain lands in Litherland near the 

 Wall Syke, In the Long Nares, Gorsti- 

 croft and Nether Brademoor ; Croxteth 

 D. G. ii, 12. Richard Ballard's land is 

 mentioned in a charter of 1336 ; Moore 

 D. n. 696. 



Adam son of Henry Ballard granted 

 land in Orrell to John de GorsthlU in 

 1343 ; Croxteth D. G. ii, 21. 



"* To Henry de Gorsthill William son 

 of Adam the Judge leased half his land 

 In the fields of Orrell, and a halland in 

 Over Brademoor; and in 1320 Henry 

 granted his Litherland estate to his son 

 John ; Croxteth D. G. ii, 5, 17. 



John de Gorsthill had further grants 

 from Richard the Demand in 1328 ; and 

 from Peter de Molyneux in 1348, Agnes 

 his wife and Hugh their son being named 

 In the charter ; and he in 1356 gave all 

 his lands in Orrell to his son Thomas, 

 who was marrying Elizabeth daughter of 

 Richard de Riding ; ibid. G. ii, 19 ; Ee. 

 21 5 G. ii, 24. William de Gorsthill 

 attested a charter in 1401 ; and John 

 Bootle of Litherland gave to William de 

 Gorsthill of Linacre three selions in the 

 Broadmoor in 1437 ; Moore D. n. 699, 

 722. 



^ John son of Richard, son of Geoffrey 

 de Linacre was defendant in 1346; De 

 Banc. R. 345, m. 393. Henry son of 

 Thomas de Linacre occurs in 1371 in a 

 grant to Henry de Bootle ; Hugh son of 

 Richard de Linacre in 138 1-2 ; and John 

 de Linacre in 1401 in a grant to Henry 

 Dicconson de Linacre ; Croxteth D. G. 

 ii, 25 ; Blundell of Crosby D. K. 10 ; 

 Moore D. «. 699. In 1415 Margery, 

 daughter of John Johnson of Hale, and 

 Alice her sister, released to John Robinson 

 de Linacre all their right in the lands of 

 Emma, daughter of John son of Richard 

 de Linacre 5 ibid. n. 702. 



® In 1378 the feoffees granted to Richard 

 Makin and Agnes his wife Richard's 

 lands in Litherland ; Moore D, «. 697, 

 Anella widow of Thomas Makin, in 

 1450-1 granted to Henry her son all her 

 lands in Down Litherland lately belong- 

 ing to John Dicconson of Crosby ; with 

 remainder to Thomas son of the late John 

 Makin ; Kuerden MSS. iii, W. 10, «. 30. 

 In 1505-6 Thomas Makin of Litherland, 

 and John his son and heir granted a selion 

 of land to Richard Makin ; ibid. «. 35. 



Thomas Makin in 1477 released to 

 Thomas Molyneux of Sefton all his right 

 in the dower lands of Ellen his mother, 

 and in 1505 gave land in the Moorfield 

 and by the shore to Edward Molyneux 

 son of Sir Thomas, following this with 

 further grants which preserve some field 

 names ; Sperthe In the Longchurchfield, 

 Elringhawes, Cockheys, Tongsharps in 

 the townfield, Croft Agram, and Croft 

 Colke, this last being In the Ford ; Crox- 

 teth D. G. i. 30, 43, 44. Soon after- 

 wards Thomas Makin and John his son 

 and heir joined in the sale of other lands ; 

 ibid. G. ii, 32-3 ; Moore D. n. 711-12. 



7 Roger Mercer of Walton, who had 

 sons, Gilbert and William, made pur- 

 chases in i48z, and William Mercer in 

 1519; Moore D.K. 705-6, 716. Crook- 

 field and Pulverlong occur in this last 

 deed. 



97 



^ In 1361 John son of Gllbeit dc 

 Aughton re-enfcoffcd John son of William 

 Pynnuesson of Litherland of his messuage 

 there, the remainders being to Richard 

 son of Margery daughter of Richard 

 Robinson del Edge, and to Tristram, John, 

 Alice, Margaret and other children of 

 Margery ; ibid. n. 721. 



In 1469 Robert Tristram of Litherland 

 gave to trustees lands In the Gorsticroft, 

 Commongrene, and Marsh ; and John 

 Tristram in 1505-6 granted certain lands 

 to his son and heir Thomas, who married 

 Margery daughter of John RIgnold of 

 Great Crosby ; ibid. «. 704, 708. 



About 1650 there was an exchange of 

 lands between Robert Tristram alias 

 Syme and others, including a*forsyde* 

 for a * hurlinghold ' on Anome halland ; 

 the inventory of Robert Tristram, dated 

 1654, is also preserved; Ibid. n. yz6a, 

 726. 



John Taylor of Ormsklrk In 1662 sold 

 to Edward Moore of Bank Hall the lands 

 in Litherland which he had had in right 

 of his wife Margaret, daughter of Robert 

 Tristram ; they were charged with ^^60 

 for his youngest daughter Katherine, wife 

 of Thomas Harker of Barton. The de- 

 livery of seisin is interesting: * John Taylor 

 in his own proper person did go into the 

 hempyard and did there cast up a sod of 

 earth, and then did likewise take some 

 thatch with some of the dust or clay 

 which was part of the wall of the house, 

 and did all the same deliver as seisin ' ; 

 ibid. n. 728. 



Eleven years later Edward Moore granted 

 a lease of premises in Litherland to Anne 

 Tristram, widow of Henry, their daughters 

 Alice and Anne being named, at a rent of 

 305. payable at ' the compass window of 

 Bank Hall' ; the lessee was to grind at 

 Moore's Mill, and to set a hundred quick- 

 sets every year ; and though * many of the 

 tenants within the lordship of Litherland 

 have usually been accustomed to do boons 

 and services by cart and hand labour,* 

 making a bad name for Edward Moore, 

 this lessee was to pay j^i2 in lieu of such 

 services ; ibid. n. 732. 



^The name is spelt in many ways. 



In 1424 Richard, son and heir of Peter 

 de Ditton, granted to William, son and 

 heir of Thomas Wetlache, land in the 

 Overmoor ; Croxteth D. G. ii, 31. 



Thurstan Whitlegh granted a messuage 

 and land in Ford to Thomas Collins in 

 1535, which was confirmed six years later 

 by John Witlak, as son and heir of 

 Thurstan ; and Thomas Collins sold the 

 same to Richard Molyneux in 1549 (here 

 the name is written Quitlagh) ; ibid. G. i, 

 45-7. In 1555 Thomas Whytlage and 

 Alice his wife sold lands in Litherland 

 and Upholland to Sir Richard Molyneux ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 16, m. 

 119. 



^0 This will be clear from the references 

 to the Moore D. In addition the Moores 

 secured the lands of the Corker family. 



Emmot, wife of William the Corker, 

 In 1385 received the lands of her husband 

 in Litherlaild and the vill of Orrell, from 

 the feoffee, the remainders being to his 

 sons Richard and John, and others ; and 

 in 1408 Peter de Ditton leased to Richard 

 son of William the Corker a house and 

 land in the Ford ; while another Richard 



13 



