A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Molyneux ; ' and in 1623, at the inquisition after 

 Sir Richard's death, he was said to have held the 

 ' manor ' of Lydiate and various lands there, but the 

 ]\iry did not Icnow^ by what services.' It remained in 

 the possession of the family till the end of the 

 eighteenth century, when it was sold as 'the moiety 

 of the manor,' to Henry Blundell of Ince, who thus 

 became sole lord ; the price paid was ;^46o. 



EGGERG^RTH is not mentioned by name in 

 Domesday Book, being at that time probably included 

 in Halsall. Like Halsall and Lydiate it formed part of 

 the Warrington fee. In the survey of 1 21 2 it is 

 stated that Richard le Boteler had given the two 

 oxgangs in Eggergarth to Matthew de Walton by 

 knight's service (one-fortieth of a fee), and that Henry 

 son of Gilbert was holding it at the date mentioned.^ 

 Henry de Walton granted to the monks of Cocker- 

 sand a ridding in Eggergarth.* 



William de Walton and William de Lydiate held 

 Eggergarth and Lydiate of the heir of Emery le 

 Boteler in 124.2 for the tenth part of a knight's fee.' 

 In 1355 Gilbert de Scarisbrick was holding it of the 

 lord of Warrington,' and it continued in this family 

 until, as stated above, it was purchased about I 546 by 

 Lawrence Ireland from James Scarisbrick, possession 

 being given in 1547.' The delay in payment of the 

 purchase money caused much disputing, the matter 

 remaining unsettled for twenty years.' From this 

 time Eggergarth has descended with Lydiate, in 

 which it has become merged, though mentioned 

 separately in inquisitions and settlements. 



It seems to have possessed a mill from early times, 

 situated on the brook dividing it from Lydiate proper. 

 Willi.im son of Benedict de Lydiate in 1296 granted 

 4J. of annual rent from the mill to Gilbert son of 

 Richard de Halsall ; ° and four years later contention 

 having arisen between Sir William le Boteler, Adam 

 de Pulle and Alice his wife on the one part, and Gil- 

 bert son of Gilbert de Halsall on the other, respecting 

 the diversion of the course of the Alt,'" which flowed 

 to the injury of a certain mill in Eggergarth and 

 Lydiate, an agreement was in June, 1298, made for 

 a diversion of the course." The Halsall lands in 

 Lydiate adjoining the brook were in dispute early in 

 the reign of Henry V'lII, when Nicholas Longback, 

 tenant of Sudell Close, complained that William !\Ioly- 



neux of Sefton, out of his covetous mind and malice 

 towards Sir Henry Halsall, had caused Katherinc 

 Male to claim them in the wapenuke court, where 

 William Molyneux was steward, and the twelve 

 suitors who tried the case were his tenants and forced 

 to do as he told them." A little later Sir Henry 

 Halsall made further complaint as to this aggression." 

 It was in respect of Eggergarth that Sir Thomas 

 Butler early in the reign of Henry VIII claimed the 

 wardship of Thomas son and heir of Gilbert Scaris- 

 brick from the earl of Derby ; by the first award the 

 custody of the manor was allowed, but about 1517 

 the wardship of the heir was confirmed to the earl, 

 and the custody of the manor was transferred to him, 

 Sir Thomas receiving ^^40 as compensation." 



Robert Blundell in 1598 asserted that from time 

 immemorial the lord of Ince Blundell and his ser- 

 vants and tenants and all the people of the manor 

 had had a right of w.iy from Ince, over Alt Bridge 

 and through Altcar, and thence ' through Lydiate to 

 certain lands called Eggergarth, and thence to 

 Aughton, and so to Ormskirk church and the market, 

 and back again the same way by and near to a water- 

 mill in Eggergarth.' Of late the tenant of Lawrence 

 Ireland had stopped plaintiff's servants and tenants 

 near the mill, on their way to the market, and told 

 them that in future they would not be allowed to pass 

 through Eggergarth." 



The Orsha w family appears from time to time. 

 In 1529 Henry son and heir of Richard Orshaw, 

 deceased, complained that Thomas Halsall and others 

 had ousted him from his free holding in Lydiate. It 

 appeared that the lands had been bought in 1520 by 

 Sir Henry Halsall and given to found a chantry in 

 Halsall church.'" 



Families in the neighbouring townships also held 

 lands in Lydiate, as the Maghulls, Molyneuxes, and 

 Walshes, but the only freeholders recorded in 1600 

 were Lawrence Ireland and Lydiate." Descen- 

 dants of the Molyneuxes of Melling were settled here 

 in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.'" 



James Dennett of Lydiate registered in 171 7 a 

 small estate in Cuiucough and Sutton ; his son James 

 became a Jesuit."" Among the returns of ' Papists' 

 Estates ' at the same time occurs the name of James 

 Pye of Lydiate, yeoman.'" 



' Croxteth D. bdle. S ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdlc. 59, m. 327. 



* Land. In(f. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), ii), 390. 



* Land, Inf. and Exfenrty lo. Matthew 

 may be the * Matthew son of Rich- 

 ard ' written over the entry * Adam de 

 Walton * in the Pipe Roll of 1203-4, one 

 mark having been received from him for 

 the scutage levied at 2^ marks for a 

 knight's fee ; Lanes. Pipe R. 1-9. 



* Cackersand Cbartul. ii, 541. 



* Lanes. In:^. and Extents, 14". The 

 two together made one plough-land, where 

 10 plough-lands made one fee. 



® FeuJ. j4ids, iii, 90. A grant of land 

 in Eggergarth to Henry Walsh made by 

 Gilbert Scarisbrick is given in Kuerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 262, n. 55. 



^ Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. j 2, 

 m. 164. 



^ Gibson, Lydiate Ha!I, ;o. Lawrence 

 Ireland becoming ' old, impotent, and 

 almost senseless,* entrusted the manage- 

 ment of his property to his son William, 

 who induced William Molyneujt of Sefton 

 to pay part of the money (probably the 

 balance), and entered into a bond for re- 



payment. The matter was left in doubt 

 between the executors of the three parties 

 — Scarisbrick, Mnlyaeux, and Ireland ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Pleadings, Eliz. cxxxix, 

 H. 17. See also Lxxvii, S. 5, where it is 

 stated that Lawrence Ireland, * being 

 moved in conscience,' set apart ^^63 in 

 goods to meet part of the claim, but his 

 son William had refused to hand them 

 over ; also S. 10, and Ixxxiv, S. 7, S. 22. 

 ' Dods. MSS. xxxix, fol. 143, n. 65. 



'" The SudeU or Lydiate Brook. 



" Gibson (op. eit. 13, 14), remarks : ' It 

 is interesting to find that this diver- 

 sion exists at this day exactly as it was 

 made nearly 600 years ago. It extends 

 about 200 yards on a right line to the 

 site where the mill formerly stood, and is 

 still useful for turning a mill for churn- 

 ing.' 



" Duchy of Lane. Pleadings, Hen. VIII, 

 xxi, L. I. 



'^ Ducby Pleadings (Rec. Soc. Lanes. 

 and Ches.;, i, i:;;; the date should be 

 9 Hen. VIII (as at the end). 



" Duchy of Lane. Pleading", Hen. VIII, 

 iii, B. ,. 



'■ Ibid. Eliz. clxxx, B. 22. A curious 



206 



right of way still exists in connexion 

 with it, the Scarisbrick estate receiving a 

 small acknowledgement from the owner 

 of the adjoining property for the use of a 

 bridle path leading from the Liverpool 

 road (from a point nearly opposite the 

 ruined chapel) towards the mill ; Gibson, 

 op. cit. 15, 



'« Duchy Pleadings (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 174-9. Sec deeds in 

 Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 262, etc. n. 91, 

 117. 



1^ Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 238-9. 



" Henry Molyneux, of Holmes House, 

 had a son Othniel, who died in 173 I, and 

 bequeathed the bulk of his property in 

 Lydiate and Maghull to the Society of 

 Friends. Henry's sister Jane married 

 John Torbock of Sutton, also a Quaker ; 

 their grandson John Torboek inherited 

 from Alice Molyneux, a granddaughter of 

 Henry's brother Robert, various proper- 

 ties in West Derby. He died in 1805. 



" Engl. Calh. Non-jurors, 1 08 ; Foley, 

 Rec. S. y. vii, 200. 



^ Lanes, and Ckts. Rec. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 194. 



