WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



Of his sons, Thomas the eldest succeeded him ; he 

 was knighted in 1533 at the coronation of Anne 

 Boleyn.' His wife was Jane Stanley, daughter and 

 coheir of John Stanley, son and heir of John Stanley 

 of Weaver.' She brought him the manor of Melling 

 and other lands. Sir Thomas died in 1539, and in 

 the subsequent inquisition are recited the dispositions 

 he made of the estates.' The manors and services 

 correspond generally with those recorded in the 

 previous inquisition. Henry his son and heir was 

 eighteen years of age.'' 



Henry Halsall lived till 1 574.' He married Anne, 

 daughter of Sir William Molyneux of Sefton by his 

 second wife Elizabeth, the heiress of Clifton, and this 

 daughter herself, by the death of her brothers without 

 issue, became heiress of the same. There was only 

 one son, Richard Halsall, who died before his father, 

 leaving an illegitimate son Cirthbert. 



The inquisition after Henry's death,^ which 

 happened on 2 1 December, 1 5 74, states that he held 

 the manor of Melling in right of his mother ; the 

 paternal manors of Halsall, DownhoUand, and Formby, 

 and various lands ; also the advowson of the church of 

 Halsall ; in addition, there was his wife's manor of 

 Clifton, with various lands and rights north of the 

 Ribble. A settlement was made of this great estate 

 in the spring of 1572, securing the wife's dower ; ' 

 the residue going to the following, in successive 

 remainders : To Edward Halsall, bastard son of Sir 

 Henry Halsall, for life ; to Cuthbert Halsall, bastard 

 son of Richard, and his lawful male issue ; to Thomas 

 Halsall of Melling and heirs male ; to James Halsall 

 of Altcar and heirs male ; to Thomas Halsall, brother 

 of James, and to his first, second, and third sons and 

 their heirs male ; to Gilbert Halsall, bastard son of 



HALSALL 



Sir Thomas, and lawful heirs male ; to Thomas Halsall, 

 of Barton, bastard son of Sir Thomas Halsall and law- 

 ful heirs male ; to Silvester Halsall, bastard son of 

 Henry Halsall of Prescot, and heirs male.' His 

 lawful heirs were his nephew Bartholomew Hesketh 

 (son of his sister Jane), aged twenty-eight, and his 

 sister Maud Osbaldestone, aged forty." Anne Halsall, 

 the widow of Henry, died in June or July, 1589.'° 



Edward Halsall, after coming into possession ot 

 Halsall, occasionally resided there ; he was a member 

 of commissions of array in 1577 and 1580," and held 

 various public offices. His re- 

 ligious leanings are thus de- 

 scribed in the report of 1590 : 

 ' Conformable, but otherwise 

 of no good note.' " He died 

 1594, having founded the 

 He was 

 his son 



Halsall of Halsall, 



Argent^ three serpents^ 

 heads erased azure langued 

 gules. 



school at Halsall. 

 twice married, but 

 predeceased him." 



After his death Cuthbert 

 Halsall succeeded, under the 

 disposition made by his grand- 

 father Henry." He was made 

 a knight in Dublin, 22 July, 

 1599, being apparently in the 



suite of the earl of Essex." He was a recusant in 

 1605, and the profits of his forfeitures as such were 

 assigned to Sir Thomas Mounson.'* He was one of the 

 knights of the shire in 1614" and sheriff in 1601 

 and 161 2."' Within thirty years he had dissipated 

 his inheritance, and in 1631 was in prison for debt. 

 Halsall was sold in 162;, along with the advowson, 

 to Sir Charles Gerard, grandson of Sir Gilbert, who 

 was Master of the Rolls in Queen Elizabeth's time." 



king (as duke) by the fourth part of a 

 knight's fee, except a messuage and lands 

 held of the prior of St. John, by 6d. ; the 

 manor of Westleigh, John Urmeston, 4j. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. v, n. 50. 



The second son, James, appears to 

 have settled at Altcar, originating the 

 Halsalls of that parish ; Richard was 

 rector of Halsall. 



' Metcalfe, Book of Knights, p. 65. 

 Arms : quarterly, I and 4, three dragons' 

 heads ; 2 and 3, three unicorns' heads. 



''Fisil. of 1533 (Chet. Soc), p. 166; 

 see further under Melling. 



3 Provision was made (1525-6) for his 

 son and heir Henry on his marriage ; 

 for dower of his own wife, and for several 

 annuities ; also for illegitimate sons, 

 Thomas (afterwards called ' of Barton '), 

 Gilbert, and Cuthbert — probably the 

 Cuthbert afterwards rector. 



* Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vii, n. 13. 

 Henry had special licence of entry without 

 proof of age, 8 Feb. 1543-4 ; Def. Keeper's 

 Rep. xxxix, App. p. 554. Sir Thomas's 

 daughters were Jane, who married Gabriel 

 Hesketh, and had a son and heir Bartho- 

 lomew ; and Maud, who married Edward 

 Osbaldeston. 



* He was in this year called upon to 

 fiirnish a demi-lance, two light horses, 

 three corslets, pikes, etc. ; Lanes. Lieu- 

 tenancy (Chet. Soc), p. 38- 



^ It is erroneously dated 10 instead of 

 17 Eliz. ; the first date seems to have 

 been taken from his mother's inquisition. 



^ His wife's property eventually re- 

 turned to the Clifton family by default of 

 heirs. See also Duchy of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 34, m. 132. 



8 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiii, n. 34 ; 



Gibson, Lydiate Hall, p. 117. It appears 

 therefore that Henry Halsall himself had 

 no illegitimate children — a fact which 

 deserves notice. 



9 Edward Halsall, first in remainder, 

 was living at Eccleston, near Prescot ; a 

 life interest was no doubt given to him, 

 being a lawyer, as the most suitable guar- 

 dian for Cuthbert, who was still a minor 

 in 1590. 



^^ By her will she directed her body to 

 be buried in the chancel of the parish 

 church, as near as possible to the place 

 where her husband lay. She left numer- 

 ous legacies, including I zd. * to every one 

 that 1 am godmother unto dwelling with- 

 in this parish of Halsall ' ; the remainder 

 of her goods and chattels she left to 

 'Cuthbert Halsall alias Norris, esquire.' 

 Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc), iii, 143-6. 



^^ Lanes, Lieutenancy (Chet. Soc), 87, 

 108. 



1^ Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 244. 



^ By his will he desired to be buried in 

 the church or chancel of Halsall, 'wishing 

 (although it may seem but a vanity) that 

 such parts of the body of Ursula my late 

 wife and of Richard my son as shall then 

 remain unconsumed may be taken out of 

 the parish church of Prescot where they 

 were buried and laid in grave with me, 

 where also I am very desirous to have 

 Anne now my wife (when God shall call 

 for her) likewise to lie, if it may so stand 

 with God's pleasure, to the end that we 

 may all together joyfully rise at the last 

 day, to live (as my hope is we shall) with 

 Christ our Lord everlastingly in His 

 glorious kingdom.' The only other ex- 

 pression of his faith is that ' I trust to die 

 a member of God's Catholic Church.' 



The similar expression, * I pray and hope 

 to live and die a member of the Catholic 

 Church' in the will of Jane Scarisbrick 

 (1599 j see Piccope, fVills, iii, 24), may 

 be noticed, as there is no doubt as to her 

 faith. To his * cousin,' Cuthbert Halsall, 

 who was to succeed him at Halsall, 

 Edward left all his books, which were for 

 ever * to remain in safe keeping in the 

 said house to the use of the owners there- 

 of and of their children apt to the study 

 of the common law of this realm or other 

 learning,' as a memorial of the goodwill 

 he bore (as he was bound) to that house. 

 The house he had built for himself at 

 Eccleston was to be kept in order for his 

 widow, and then according to further 

 provisions he had made. Piccope, Wills 

 (Chet. Soc), ii, 214-18. 



^■^ He was educated at Oxford, where he 

 matriculated early in 1588, being then 

 fifteen years of age, and was at Gray's 

 Inn, 1593 ; Foster, Alumni Oxon. He 

 was a justice of the peace in 1595 ; 

 Kenyan MSS, (Hist. MSS, Com.), 583. 



15 Metcalfe, Book of Knights, 209. 



^^ PaL Note Book, iv, 232. 



17 Pink and Beavan, op. cit. 69. 



ISP.R.O. Lh/, 73. 



1^ A transfer to Richard Shireburne and 

 Edmund Breres was made in 1619 ; Pal, 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 95, m. 43 ; and 

 the sale to Sir Charles Gerard in 1625 ; 

 ibid. bdle. 107, m. 24. In 1626 the 

 purchaser complained that he could not 

 obtain possession of the deeds. He had 

 not bought directly, but through Shire- 

 burne and Breres ' for very great and 

 valuable consideration.' Sir Cuthbert 

 and his wife set up the defence that 

 Barton in DownhoUand was not a mere 



