A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Stanley accompanied the king to France.* At the 

 siege of Berwick in 1482 he took part in the assault 

 which gained the town, and aftenvards made several 

 knights.* He and his brother Sir William stood 

 aloof from Richard III at the battle of Bosworth in 

 1485, and then opposed him, thereby giving the de- 

 cisive turn to the contest.' As a reward he was 

 created earl of Derby/ After the battle of Stoke in 

 June, 1487, more substantial rewards were granted ; 

 the forfeited estates of Sir Thomas Broughton of 

 Furness, Sir James Harrington, Francis Lord Lovell, 

 Sir Thomas ■ Filkington and his wife, and Robert 

 Hulton were conferred on him.* 



After the execution of his brother Sir William for 

 participation in the plot of Perkin Warbeck, the earl 

 received a visit from the king at Knowsley and 

 Lathom, and part of the existing hall at the former 

 place is said to have been erected in anticipation of 

 this visit, which lasted about a month. The earl 

 died 29 July, 1504.® 



His son George, made knight of the Bath in 



1475, had married Joan, daughter and heir of John, 

 Lord Strange of Knockin, and was in her right sum- 

 moned to Parliament from 1482 onwards as Lord 

 Strange. He fought at Stoke and took part in several 

 military excursions, including the invasion of Scot- 

 land in the autumn of 1497 ; ' soon after his return 

 from this he died at Derby House, London, where is 

 now the College of Arms, on 5 December.' His 

 eldest son Thomas succeeded his grandfather in 

 1504 ;* a younger son James, settled at Cross Hall 

 in Lathom, is the ancestor through whom the title 

 has descended to the present earl of Derby. 



Thomas, the second earl, married '" Anne Hastings 

 daughter of Edward Lord Hastings. He took part 

 in various public affairs of the time, as in the French 

 expedition of Henry VIII in 1513 ; and was one of 

 the judges of the duke of Buckingham in 1521. 

 This was just before his own death on 24 May of 

 that year- He died at Colham in Middlesex, and 

 was buried at Slon Abbey." There were several 

 inquisitions taken after his death." 



^ Cal. of Pat. 1467-77 ; Rymer, Foedera 

 (Syllabus), ii, 706. See also Seacome's 

 History and Collins. 



'^ Metcalfe, Book of Knights y 7. 



" It is probable that they had already 

 communicated with Henry ; indeed the 

 old ballad of * Lady Bessie' (Elizabeth, 

 daughter of Edward IV) makes them the 

 principal agents in the coming and tri- 

 umph of the new king. 



The name of Lord Stanley frequently 

 occurs in the Patent Rolls of Edward IV 

 and Richard III ; see printed calendar, es- 

 pecially the grant to him and his son Lord 

 Strange on 17 Sept. 14-84 ; Cal. 1476-85, 

 p. 476. This is recited in the Inq. p.m. of 

 Ferdinando the fifth earl. 



* The letters patent are recited in the 

 Inq. p.m. of the fifth earl. For other 

 grants sec Rymer, Fotdera (Syllabus), ii, 

 716, ^20, 721. 



^ Pat. 4. Hen. Vn,25 Feb. The grant, 

 which was to the earl and his heirs male, 

 included an annuity of ^^40 from the 

 manor of West Derby, the following 

 manors or lordships with their appurten- 

 ances : Holland, Nether Kcllet, Hale- 

 wood, Samlesbury, Pilkington, Bury, 

 Chectham, Cheetwood, Halliwell, Brough- 

 ton-in-Fumess, and Bolton-in- Furness — 

 to be held by the ancient services ; the 

 moieties of the manors of Balderstun, Little 

 Singleton, Bretherton, Thornton ; all the 

 lands belonging to Francis lord Lovell in 

 Holland, Orrell, Dalton, Nether Kellet, 

 Halewood, Samlesbury, Cucrdley, Walton, 

 Lancaster, Wigan, Aughton, Skelmers- 

 dale, and Sutton \ all the lands lately be- 

 longing to Sir Thomas Pilkington, in 

 Pilkington, Bury, Chectham, Cheetwood, 

 Tottington, Unsworth, Saltord, Shuttle- 

 worth, Shufflebottom, Middletoo, Hun- 

 dersheld ; all the lands lately of Robert 

 Hulton in Halliwell, and Sraithills ; all 

 the lands lately of Sir Thomas Broughton 

 in Broughton-in-Fumess, Bolton-in-Fur- 

 ncss, Subberthwaite, Elslack, Urswick, 

 Li'lverston, Merton, Bretby, Cartmell; and 

 all the lands lately of James Harrington 

 in Balderston, Little Singleton, Bretherton, 

 Thornton Holmes, Hambleton, Little 

 Hull, Dilworth, Plumpton, Broughton, 

 Elswick, Sowerby, Goosnargh, Claughton, 

 Much Singleton, Preston, Ribbleton, 

 Stalmine, Lancaster, Medlar, Freckleton, 

 Croston, Halghton, Whittingham, Bils- 

 biTOUgh and Farington. 



•^ Will in P.C.C. 19 Holgrave ; see 



also Bishop Stanley's poem and Diet. Nat, 

 Biog. In his will he desired that his 

 body should be buried in the midst of the 

 chapel, in the north aisle of the church of 

 Burscough Priory, where lay the bodies of 

 his father and mother and others of his 

 ancestors ; the tombs he had prepared 

 with the * personages ' to be duly set up, 

 that those there buried might for ever be 

 remembered in prayer, and the * per- 

 sonages* of his parents and other ances- 

 tors to beset in the arches in the chancel. 

 He had already made to the priory 'great 

 gifts in money and jewels and ornaments 

 and also done great reparations/ and now 

 added ^^20 provided that the prior be- 

 came bound to cause one of the canons 

 * daily to say mass in the said chapel for 

 my soul, and that of my good lady now 

 my wife after her decease .... and for 

 the souls of them that I have in any way 

 offended unto, and for all Christian souls 

 for ever more. And at every mass, before 

 the Lavatory, audiently to say for the said 

 souls appointed by name, and all others 

 in general De profunda damo'vi and such 

 orations and collects as are used to be 

 said therewith.' He confirmed the join- 

 ture of his wife, and the provision for his 

 son Sir Edward, desiring also that he 

 should have Hornby Castle and its lands 

 for life, as well as other manors and lands 

 up to the annual value of 100 marks. 



He had in April, 1 500, enfeoffed his 

 son James and others of his properties in 

 Freckleton, Preston, Manchester, and 

 various places named, formerly the lands 

 of William Huddleston and others, and 

 now he made a number of bequests of 

 annuities to servants and officials for good 

 services they had done, * and also to pray 

 for my soul.' Among others Reynold 

 Stanley was to have the office of keeper 

 of the Little Park at Lathom, at i*/. a 

 day, in addition to the annuity from the 

 priory of UphoUand. Sir Geoffrey Traf- 

 lord was to be continued in the benefice 

 given him, with board wages whenever 

 there should be no household kept at 

 Lathom, on condition that he prayed and 

 said mass for his benefactor in the chapel 

 there. Other gifts were made to the 

 bishop of Man, several priests, and the 

 abbeys of Whalley and Cockersand. 



Then * to the purchase of the rent and 

 toll of Warrington Bridge 300 marks of 

 ready money, that is to say after the rate 

 of the yearly farm and value thereof by 



160 



twenty years or above, to the intent that 

 the passage shall be free for all people for 

 evermore, without any further toll or 

 farm there to be asked, and also I give to 

 the making up of the said bridge at War- 

 rington 500 marks.' He also left /"lo 

 for the building of Garstang Bridge. 



The will was made on 28 July, i 504, 

 and proved by John Legh in the follow- 

 ing November. 



7 Metcalfe, Book of Knights^ 31. 



^ Bishop Stanley's rhyming history 

 states that he * at an ungodly banquet 

 was poisoned.' 



* To his father's possessions licence of 

 entry had been given him in the previous 

 March ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 

 560. 



1*" After 24 Nov. 1505. The marriage 

 agreement is printed in the Memoirs of 

 the House of Hastings, 36. 



^^ For certain complaints against the 

 carl see Brewer, L. and P. Hen. VllI, iii, 

 824. 



^2 The Cheshire one is abstracted in 

 the Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 95. 



That taken at Lancaster (Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. v, n, 63) recites his lands 

 in the county. From Henry VH's grant 

 to the first earl came the manors of West 

 Derby, UphoUand, and many more. Fur- 

 ther Lord Strange had held the lands of 

 Wraysom (by grant of Henry VII) and 

 Oxcliff and Osmotherley. Sir Thomas 

 Lord Stanley had received from Henry VI 

 the park of Toxteth and Smithdown moss, 

 and all these had descended to the late 

 earl. The more ancient possessions of 

 the family with some recent additions are 

 then enumerated, as the manors of La- 

 thom, Childwall, Knowsley, Roby, and 

 others, with houses, lands, woods, moss, 

 and rents, and the advowsons of Win wick 

 and Eccleshill. 



Various grants made by the deceased 

 are next given. They include the steward- 

 ship of Knowsley, Roby, Kirkby, Bootlc 

 and Formby to Sir William Leyland, 

 knight, who was also to be keeper of the 

 manor and park of Knowsley for life, at 

 a stipend of ^10 ; and the stewardship ot 

 Thomley and other manors in north Lan- 

 cashire to Sir E, Stanley, Lord Mountcagle. 

 A feoffment made in 1513 is recited in 

 the Inq. p.m. of the fifth earl. 



His will (in English) is appended to 

 the inquisition. He desired to be buried at 

 Burscough, should he die in Lancashire ; 



