A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Turton, Walton Lees in Dalton, &c.; from himself and 

 his wife Ellen, they were to descend to his ' son and 

 heir ' Richard, or in default of heirs to John's brother 

 William." 



Though the succeeding lord of Tarbock is called 

 ' son and heir ' of John de Torbock, it seems quite 

 clear that he was the son of Ellen's former husband, 

 and as ' Richard son of Ellen de Torbock ' or ' Richard 

 son of Henry de Lathom of 

 Tarbock ' he occurs In the plea 

 rolls of the time.' He seems 

 to have died shortly after his 

 mother, leaving a son and heir 

 Richard,' whose brief career 

 was marked by matrimonial 

 entanglements resulting in a 

 forty years' dispute over the 

 heirship. 



First he married Margaret, 

 by whom he had three daughters 

 — Emma, Ellen, and Alice, 

 who were minors at his death. 

 Later he repudiated her and 

 espoused Maud de Standish * 



at the door of the church of Ormskirk, having 

 by her a son (perhaps posthumous) named Henry. 

 Both Margaret and Maud survived him and married 

 again, the former to Henry Russell of Chester' 

 and the latter to Henry son of Bernard. In 1337 

 John de Holland claimed from Emma and her 

 sisters, from their feudal guardians the Lathoms, from 

 Margaret ' late wife of Richard de Torbock chivaler,' 

 and others an annual rent of 3/. \d. from the manor 

 of Tarbock and a robe worth zos. of the suit of his 

 esquires which he alleged had in 1334 been granted 



w 



Torbock or Tarbock. 

 Or, an eagle z leg erased 

 at the thigh gules ,■ on a 

 chief indented azure three 

 plates. 



to him by Richard de Torbock. At the same time 

 John de Dutton (or Ditton) claimed from them a 

 rent of 40/. and a robe (with a hood) of the value of 

 20/. by the year.* In 1341 Maud, then wife of 

 Henry son of Bernard, sought dower against K.itherine, 

 formerly wife of Robert de Lathom, and Sir Thomas 

 de Lathom, the guardians of the lands and heir of Sir 

 Richard de Torbock, and against Henry Russell and 

 Margaret his wife. The defence was that Maud was 

 never legally married to Richard, and the question 

 being referred to the bishop of Lichfield for inquiry 

 he reported that there was no lawful marriage.' Five 

 or six years later there was a contest between 

 Katherine de Lathom and her son Thomas and 

 Henry Russell of Chester as to the custody of the 

 heirs.* 



In the summer of 1344 the daughter Alice had 

 ' entered into religion in the order of the [Gilbertine] 

 nuns at Watton ' in the East Riding ; while Emma, 

 the eldest daughter, had married Sir William Carles, 

 probably a Shropshire man," and fresh suits were 

 instituted and a settlement of the property made.'" 



Henry, son of Maud, put forward his claims about 

 1363, when he must have been nearly thirty years of 

 age. In November, 1364, Urban V sent his mandate 

 to the archbishop of York to take order touching the 

 case of Henry de Torbock, son of Richard de Torbock, 

 knight, who died intestate, and of Maud, now also 

 deceased, who duly married the said Richard ; Henry 

 had been defamed by William Carles, knt., and his 

 wife Emma, who, in order to exclude him from his 

 inheritance, said that he was illegitimate." The 

 prior of Burscough was accordingly delegated to 

 inquire, and at Prescot in July, 1365, declared Henry 

 to be legitimate." At the beginning of 1365 the 



* In November, the same year, as Ellen 

 * lady of Tarbock,* widow, she granted an 

 acre of land in Tarbock to the priory of 

 Burscough, lying between the land of 

 Adam of Old Tarbock, and the lane near 

 the grantor's own demesne. Dep. Keeper: 

 Rep. xxjcvi, App. 200. Then in August, 

 1532, she (Croxteth D. Z. i, 40 j Kuerden, 

 MSS. iii, T. 2, n. 20) granted to Thurstan 

 dc Huyton and Maud his wife land in Tar- 

 bock within the following bounds : Begin- 

 ning at a pit on the bankof Whiston Brook, 

 and going from pit to pit to the old ditch 

 (^fosm) surrounding fiuytonsha'.\, along 

 the ditch to Whiston Brook, and down 

 this brook to the pit first named. The 

 rent was the nominal one of a rose, and 

 the succession was settled— to John son 

 of Thurstan and Maud, William his 

 brother, Henry son of Robert de Huyton, 

 Richard his brother, Robert son of William, 

 brother of Henry de Huyton, Robert son 

 of Henrj- de Huyton ; Croxteth D. Z. i, 4^ 



^ .■\ssize R. 42^, m. i — a Worthington 

 case i 426, m. 9 — a Turton case; De 

 Banc. R. 2-9, m. 5 </. ; 292, m. 53. 



3 He is often but not invariably called 

 Sir Richard de Torbock, knt. He ap- 

 pears to have died about 1334 ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Forest Proc. 1-17 ; cf. m. 3 (/. 

 (living) and m. 6 (dead). 



In 1333 Richard, son of Henry de 

 Lathom of Tarbock, and in 1334 Richard, 

 son of Richard de Torbock were suc- 

 cessively plaintiffs in the same Parbold 

 suit ; De Banc. R. 293, m. 90 ; 297, 

 m. 12. In the latter year Richard de 

 Torbock is called grandson of Ellen de Tor- 

 bock ; ibid. R. 298, m. 30. But while 

 the earlier pleadings speak ot Richard, son 

 of Richard de Torbock, as the husband 



of Maud, in a suit of Edward IV's 

 reign (Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 60, m. 7) a 

 charter was produced from Ellen de Tor- 

 bock 'to Richard her son and Maud his 

 wife.* 



* So named in Assize R. 1435, m. 

 38 rf. 



' Perhaps the Henry Russell who was 

 the lessee of the Dee Mills in 1341; 

 Morris, Chest, under the PlaTttageneti, 104. 



Margaret was claiming dower against 

 Maud in 1336; De Banc. R. 307, m. 

 200 </. 195 ^. 



'Assize R. 1424, m. 8 </. 9. These 

 suits are mentioned in later rolls, e.g. R. 

 1425, m. 4</.-6. 



' Lichfield Epis. Reg. V. fol. 48 

 (quoting roll 288 of the pleas at West- 

 minster, I 5 Edw. III). Maud's claim was 

 for a third part of a third of the manor. 



' De Banc. R. 346, m. 285 d. ; 351, m. 

 zbyd. -io^d.; 353, m. 22^.; 355, 

 m. zozd. 



® He was a steward and warden of 

 the forest of Lancaster in 1 3 54 ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Forest Proc. 1-20, m. 8. He 

 was one of the knights of the shire in 

 1353 and 1354 ; Pink and Beavan, Parfy. 

 Rep. of Lanes. 31. 



1° In a suit of 1368 by Robert 

 (? Thomas) de Lathom the elder, and his 

 wife Joan against Emma wife of Sir 

 William Carles, the defendant is described 

 as great-granddaughter of Henry de 

 Lathom of Tarbock ; De Banc. R. 432, 

 m. 414. See also Geneal. xvi, 201-6. 



A settlement by fine was made in 1354 

 of the manors of Tarbock, Welch Whittle, 

 and the quarter of Dalton, with various 

 lands, Hugh Carles being the intermediary; 

 Final Cone, ii, 139-41. 



178 



Among the various lawsuits were the 

 following : — 



Henry Lascelles ofWalton Lees sought 

 against Gilbert de Haydock the fourth 

 part of two oxgangs in Dalton, &c. The 

 defendant called to warrant Maud latt 

 the wife of Richard de Torbock, who 

 stated that 'Richard son of Richard de 

 Torbock' granted her for life the manor 

 of Walton Lees (of which the disputed 

 lands were part), and that on her death 

 it would revert to Emma, wife of William 

 Carles, and her sisters Ellen and Alice, as 

 daughters and heirs of the said 'Richard 

 son of Richard ' ; De Banc. R. 349, m. 

 243 d. There is no mention of Maud's 

 son Henry, and she appears in this plead- 

 ing to have acquiesced in the legitimacy 

 of the former wife's children and their 

 claim. 



Henry son of John de Ditchfield 

 claimed a messuage and lands in Tarbock 

 from Sir William Carles and his wife, 

 who afterwards counter-claimed. Sir 

 William and his wife claimed lands from 

 Richard del Bridge. Assize R. 1435, m. 

 401/., 48</; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 3, 

 m. ]d. ; 4, m. 17 ; 5, m. 19, 24^.; 4, 

 m. 1 d. 2. 



In 1362 Sir William had to complain 

 that William de Brettargh and others had 

 broken into his park at Tarbock, ci.t 

 trees and done other damage, and t> at 

 similar injuries had been suffered at 

 Walton Lees and Turton ; De Burc. R. 

 408, m. 163. 



" Cal. of Papal Letters, iv, 5 i 



"Coram Reg. R. 420, ny Jo. Sir 

 William Carles attempted t bring the 

 appeal within the royal prob ition of suits 

 to Rome. 



