A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



ccasjJ to reside at Huyton.' Richard Molyneux of 

 New H.ill did not long enjoy the Huyton estates, 

 dying in February 1734. His widow lived on till 

 1 790. Their only son Richard died unmarried a 

 fortnight after his father, leaving his sister Frances sole 

 heir. She married in 1745 Thomas Seel of Liver- 

 pool, and by him had four daughters.' The eldest, 

 Amelia Maria, married Owen Wynne of Llanseck in 

 Denbighshire, but died childless ; ' the two youngest 

 daughters, Margaret and Alice, died unmarried in 

 1819 and 1797, and the second daughter Frances 

 was thus eventually sole heir. Thomas Seel the father 

 had increased the estates by purchasing from William 

 Wolfall the manor of Wolfall in Huyton, and entailed 

 the estate on his grandson. 



This grandson was Thomas Unsworth, son of 

 Frances Seel by Thomas Unsworth, whose father, a 



Molyneux of \tw 

 Hall. .-Izure^ a cross 

 moline or and a canton 

 argent. 



Seel. Per Jesse potent 

 counter-potent pean and 

 azure three tvol'ves heads 

 erased countercbanged. 



Liverpool merchant, had purchased a moiety of the 

 manor of MaghuU, including the manor house. 

 Thomas the heir in 1814 assumed the name and arms 

 of Molyneux-Seel in accordance with his grandfather's 

 will, and on his aunt Margaret's death took possession 

 of Hurst House, and the estate and manor of Huyton 

 Hey.' He had a son and heir, Edmund Thomas, 

 born in Paris in 1824, and still surviving, also two 

 other sons, Charles William and Henr}- Harrington. 



He sold Wolfall to the earl of Derby about 1828 and 

 died at Huyton Hey in 1881. Most of the remain- 

 ing family estates have also been sold, but Huyton Hey 

 remains in the family.' The house so called, now a 

 farm-house, is still occupied. The site of a moated 

 hall is adjacent. 



The Harringtons after the Reformation appear to 

 have adhered to the Roman Catholic religion, but to 

 have avoided convictions for recusancy, probably by 

 occasional attendances at church in Elizabeth's reign. 

 Thus, in 1590, 'Harrington of Harrington in Huy- 

 ton parish, esquire,' was returned among others who 

 showed ' some degree of conformity, yet (were) in 

 general note of evil affection in religion.'" In 1641 

 Robert Harrington ' and his wife for this reason paid 

 to the subsidy.* As one of the more notable recu- 

 sants in Lancashire, John Harrington was in 1680 

 marked for banishment by the Parliament.' Their 

 alliances were with the Roman Catholic families of 

 the district, and their successors — Molyneux, Seel, 

 and Unsworth — have been of the same faith. 



WOLFALL '° was another manor in Huyton," of 

 which mention has already been 

 made. Robert son of Henry 

 de Lathom, who died in 1 198, 

 granted it to a Robert son of 

 Richard for a rent of i ^d. pay- 

 able at St. Bartholomew.'* It 

 is possible that it reverted to 

 the grantor, for his own younger 

 son, Richard de Knowsley, ap- 

 pears to have settled there, and 

 to have had sons who took 

 Wolfall as a surname. Thus 

 Richard de Wolfall, son of 

 Richard de Knowsley, granted 

 land called Huyton Rawe to 

 Henry de Huyton." In 1245 Richard de Wolfall 

 granted to Burscough Priory his millpool in Wolfall." 

 Several sons are mentioned — Richard, John, William, 

 and Adam." 



Wolfall of Wol- 

 fall. Argent^ fwo 

 bends gules and an ermine 

 tail bet'ween them. 



1 Baines, Direct, of 1824, speaks of 

 Huyton Hey showing the results of 150 

 years' neglect. Dorothy Harrington lived 

 at Aigburth ; Charles Harrington died at 

 Scholes in Ecclcston ; the Molyncuxcs 

 probably lived at New Hall. 



'•* The following deeds enrolled at Pres- 

 ton concern the Seels. They are from 

 the Piccope MSS. iii. 



Geo. n, R. 18. — Thomas and Samuel 

 Seel of Liverpool, merchants, son-in-law 

 of William Barlow, deceased. 



Ibid. R. 23. — II Oct. 1750. Thomas 

 Seel, eldest son and heir of Thomas Seel 

 of Liverpool. 



Ibid. R. 30. — 5 June, 1756 ; Thomas 

 Seel of Liverpool married Frances sister 

 and heir of Richard Molyneux, deceased 

 (only son and heir of Richard M. of New 

 Hall) ; mentions the moiety of the manor 

 of Huyton and Huyton Hey, demesne 

 lands, water com-mill, &c., formerly 

 held by Charles and John, sons of John 

 Harrington ; also New Hall, the moiety 

 of Huyton and Wolfall, &c. 



Among the Croxteth D. are two leases 

 which illustrate the pedigree: (i) 1742: To 

 Thomas Seel of Liverpool, merchant, for 

 lives of his sons Thomas (aged 38), and 

 Samuel (aged 34), and his grandson 

 Thomas Seel (aged 12); (2) In 1753: for 

 lives of Thomas Seel of Liverpool (aged 

 23), Frances his wife (aged 20), and E^len 

 his sister, wife of Owen Wynne. 



^ She and her husband were vouchees 

 of the manor of Wolfall in 1802 j Lent 

 Assizes, 42 Geo. Ill, R. i 5. 



■* See Michael Jones MS. Coll. in pos- 

 session of Mr. Jos. Gillow. So Gregson, 

 writing about 1817 : 'The hamlet of 

 Wolfall is the property of Mrs. Unsworth 

 of MaghuU (sister of Miss Seel), whose 

 son takes the name of Seel . . . The 

 township and manor of Huyton are the 

 property of Miss Seel, who resides at 

 Hurst House* ; Fragments^ 231. 



' See Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 231. 



« Ibid. 245. 



' Apparently the eldest son of John 

 Harrington, of Huyton Hey. 



" Recusant R. in Tram. Hist. Soc. (New 

 Ser.), xiv, 242. In 1653 Anne Harring- 

 ton of Huyton, widow of Percival Har- 

 rington, a younger brother of Robert, 

 asked for an order from the Parliamentary 

 Commissioners discharging the sequestra- 

 tion of two-thirds of his small property 

 which had been incurred by his recusancy, 

 in order that she might have means to 

 bring up their infant son ; Royalist Comp. 

 P. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 

 150. 



' Gibson, Cavalier's N'Ae Book, 166. 



" Wulfhal, 1242; Wlfal or Wolfal, 

 1292. 



" The ' manor of Wolfall,' and ' a 

 moiety of the manor of Huyton,' seem to 

 have been terms used indifferently for it. 



172 



I'' Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 270, n. 1. 

 The boundaries are named as — the Hache, 

 Alt, Altley, middle of the wood. Stock- 

 bridge, Roby boundary, also the assart 

 called Leonards and Sewardsgate. In 1284 

 Richard del Bury, son of Robert de Wol- 

 fall, gave his brother Adam all his right in 

 the land which his brother John had in 

 Huyton ; ibid. No. 4. 



Though a large number of Wolfall 

 charters have been preserved by Kuerden 

 in the volume cited, a satisfactory pedigree 

 cannot be constructed from them. The 

 identification of the son of Richard de 

 Knowsley, brother of Adam de Huyton, 

 with the first Richard de Wolfall has been 

 adopted as least objectionable. 



"Ibid. V, fol. 138*, B. 94, II ; fol. 

 247, n. 3. 



" Burscough Reg. fol. 44. He is de- 

 scribed as Richard de Knowsley, son of 

 Robert son of Henry and Amabel his wife. 

 Richard de Wolfall was one of the collec- 

 tors for the Gascon scutage in 1 242 ; 

 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), 146. 



" Richard, Adam, and William, brothers, 

 were witnesses to an early (1230-64) 

 charter ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvi, App. 

 20Q. Robert de Wolfall was another. 

 'Richard de Huyton, Adam, and Wil- 

 liam (his) brothers,' also occur ; ibid. 



20I . 



