A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Another local family was that of Ormc, of numerous 

 branches ; in the reign of Elizabeth there were Ormes 

 at the Lee, in the Portway, and at Wheathill, in 

 Little Woolton. There was a succession of Thomas 

 Ormes at the Lee ;' one died in March, 1622-3, 

 leaving as heir his granddaughter Jane, daughter of 

 his son Thomas, whose wardship was undertaken by 

 Sir William Norris of Speke. She married Edward 

 Fairhurst of Liverpool.' 



The Little Woolton court roUs of the middle 

 of the sixteenth century have many interesting 

 features.' The officers appointed were the con- 

 stables, burleymen, hill bailiffs,* lay layers, affeerers, 

 bailiff of the vill, and ale fonders ; surveyors 

 of the highway also occur. The ' cross in the 

 Oak lane ' is mentioned ; there were two stone 

 bridges — Astowe bridge and Benet bridge- — and it was 

 forbidden to rete hemp or flax at either of them, or to 

 wash clothes or yarn at the former. Breaches of 

 manorial customs were duly brought before the court 

 for punishment — such as obstructing or diverting the 

 water-courses, fishing in other men's waters, and dis- 

 regarding the orders of the officers of the manor. 

 The morals of the people were also cared for.' In 

 1559 it was ordered that no tenant, free or copyhold, 

 should suffer any crow, commonly called ' ruckes or 

 Whytebyll croeys,' to eyre or breed within his tene- 

 ment. Hugh Whitfield of Gateacre had broken 

 the pinfold and taken a lamb seized in distraint ; 

 perhaps, as a result of this, it was ordered that ' an 

 able pinfold ' be made on the green. Transfers of 

 land made by sale or on the death of a tenant were, 

 of course, important parts of the business of the 

 court. Cases of assault and trespass, and also of debt, 

 came up for trial and sentence. Hospitallers' privi- 

 leges were guarded by an order that every tenant 

 should have a cross set upon his house as was accus- 



tomed. At the same court the 'reeves of our Lady's 

 stock at Huyton ' were summoned for a debt. 



In 1 78 5 the land was owned by a large number of 

 persons, as shown by the land-tax returns ; the prin- 

 cipal were James Okill for Lee, who paid about a 

 fifth of the tax ; James Brettargh for the Holt, and 

 William Barrow. 



In connexion with the Established Church, St. 

 Stephen's w.is built in 1873 as a chapel of ease to 

 Childwall, and made a separate ecclesiastical parish in 

 1893. The bishop of Liverpool is patron. 



GARSTON 



Gerstan, usual to the end of xv cent. ; Gerston, 

 1 201 ; Garston, common from I 500 ; Gahersteng, 

 1205, and final g occasionally, leading to confusion 

 with Garstang. 



The township, bounded on the south-west by the 

 River Mersey, has an area of 1,625 acres.' The 

 division between Garston and Toxteth is marked by 

 Otterspool, a name now given to the waters of the 

 Mersey, where a brook flowing through Toxteth falls 

 into that river. Another brook flows — or did flow — 

 diagonally through the township ; and a third used 

 to pass through the village and discharge by a narrow 

 gorge into the Mersey ; a small portion is still visible. 



The country is flat, covered with the pleasant subur- 

 ban colonies of Aigburthand Grassendale, with streets 

 of houses set in flowery gardens, many running at right 

 angles to the principal main roads, and leading down 

 to the river bank. Grazing fields are scattered 

 amongst the houses and streets, especially near the 

 river. Garston itself is a seaport town, with docks, 

 iron and copper works, and large gas works. On the 

 outlying land are cultivated fields where some crops 

 are grown. These include potatoes and corn. 



testator desired to be buried in the family 

 burial place at Childwall ; no children 

 are named, and the executors were his 

 wife Anne and his brother-in-law Henry 

 Orme ; a deed of 1681 as to the settle- 

 ment of his estates is mentioned. 



Jonathan was followed by his son 

 James, educated at Jesus College, Cam- 

 bridge ; Pal. Note Bk. iii, 268, and in- 

 formation of Dr. Morgan, master of the 

 College. He married Anne, daughter and 

 coheir of John Hurst of Scholes near 

 Prcscot ; Lana. and Che:. Anciq. Notesy 

 ii, 17; the licence was granted 2^ July, 

 1695, the marriage to take place at 

 Newton. This seems to have interfered 

 with the husband's academical career, as 

 he did not graduate. Anne Brettargh, 

 his widow, a professor of the ancient 

 faith, was living at Prescot in 1750; 

 Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 362, from 

 23rd roll of Geo. II at Preston, where her 

 sister, the other coheir, is described as 

 Catherine Cobham, widow. From the 

 same document it appears that James 

 Brettargh was living in 1741. The will 

 of Anne Brettargh, widow of James 

 Brettargh, esq. of Brettargh Holt, made 

 in 1758, with a codicil of 1762, was proved 

 in 1763, and again at Chester in 1788, 

 after the death of James Brettargh the 

 elder, her son . The other children men- 

 tioned are John Brettargh and Elizabeth 

 Wagstaffe, widow ; they were living in 

 1788, when James Brettargh the younger, 

 ' of Pendleton, Schoolmaster,'was described 

 as Anne's grandson and heir ; Peter 

 Brettargh and Catherine Royle of Salford 



are also mentioned. See also Baines' 

 Land. (ed. 1836), iii, 744. 



James Brettargh was in 1702 recom- 

 mended for appointment as a justice of 

 the peace, but it was objected that he was 

 *in debt and young'j Norrh Paf>eri[C\ict. 

 Soc), pp. Ill, 164^ He is described as 

 *of Aigburth,' but was then offering the 

 estate for sale. He died between 1 741 

 and 1765, his son and heir being James 

 Brettargh, who was the last of the family 

 to dwell at the Holt, and was buried at 

 Childwall 28 January, 1786, aged eighty- 

 five. The will of James Brettargh of 

 Brettargh Holt, gentleman, dated 23 

 January, 1786, and proved in 1789, men- 

 tions only his 'daughter Holt,* the wife of 

 Robert Clelland of Wavcrtree j the value 

 of the estate was between ^^I 00 and jj300. 



Members of the family settled in 

 Liverpool, Manchester, and elsewhere ; 

 and one of them, also a William Bret- 

 targh, an attorney's apprentice in Man- 

 chester, joined the Young Pretender in 

 1745, becoming an ensign in the Man- 

 chester Regiment ; he was captured at 

 Carlisle, condemned for treason and trans- 

 ported in 1749 \ Pal. Note Book, ii, 118. 

 * Mr. Brettargh ' and his son Tom (of 

 Manchester) were friends of John Byrom's 

 about 1 724-8 J Remains (Chet. Soc), i, 97, 

 295. 



Richard Brettargh, steward of Henry 

 BlundeU of Ince, caused the births of his 

 children to be recorded in the Sefton 

 registers — they were not baptized at the 

 church. One of his sons was Jonathan 

 Brettargh, 'the devil's darning-needle,' 



120 



steward at Trafford House ; another, 

 Richard, was one of the victims of the 

 French Revolution ; being then at Douai 

 he was imprisoned and died of fever 

 24 June, 1794; Lanes, and Cfies. Antiq. 

 Notes, 13 ; Stretford (Chet. Soc), ii, 156 ; 

 Gillow, Haydock Papers, 141, 159 } 

 Gillow, Bibl. Diet, of Eng. Catholics, i, 

 290. 



* In 1582 it was found by the jury of 

 the manor court that Thomas Orme, or 

 Ormeson, had died seised of a messuage 

 called the Lee, and 19 acres of free land, 

 held by rent and service of two barbed 

 arrows ; also of customary land for which 

 he paid at the rate of I zd. per acre. 

 Thomas Orme was his son and heir, and 

 of full age. 



2 Norris D. (B.M.). 



' Ibid. 



•* Otherwise hill haywards, hill lookers, 

 moss reeves, bailiffs of the common. Turf 

 was dug upon the hill. 



' Alice, widow of George Ormc, was a 

 'common chider' of the neighbours, and 

 must leave the township. Margaret 

 Hastie kept Anne Dosen in her house, 

 ' being a priest's woman,' and must send 

 her away under penalty of 31. 4^. Thomas 

 Orme had kept unlawful 'gamoning' in his 

 house J another had ' bulling and a bull- 

 ing alley." Peter Skillington as a re- 

 setter of 'vagabonds and valiant beggars,' 

 was fined 6d. 



'■ The census gives 1,673 acres, includ- 

 ing 22 of inland water ; to this must be 

 added 888 acres of tidal water and 524 

 acres of foreshore. 



