A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



the inheritance was ultimately divided between his 

 daughters Ellen, who married Joseph Yates of Peel 

 in Little Hulton,' and Elizabeth, who married 

 Edward Aspinwall.' The manor was purchased by 

 Thomas Unsworth of Liverpool, and descended to 

 his grandson William Gillibrand Unsworth, after whose 

 death it was sold to Hugh 

 McElroy. The present owner 

 of the manor-house, by pur- 

 chase from H. McElroy's exe- 

 cutors, in September, 1880, is 

 Mr. Thomas Curry Mather of 

 Lydiate, but no manorial rights 

 belong to it.' 



Gilbert de Maghull, above 

 mentioned, had a daughter and 

 heir Joan, who married Ralph 

 Molyneux.' Ralph left sons — 

 Richard, who married Isabel, 

 Thomas, and Geoffrey.' Richard 

 had two sons, Robert and Ed- 

 mund. The elder married 

 Margery daughter of Robert 

 Gore, about 1498,° and they 

 Elizabeth and Anne, who 

 netshead and other property, 

 (i) 



Mather of Lydiate. 

 Barry of six azure and 

 jrgcnrj ru-'o flaunches er- 

 mine^ on a chief of the 

 ucjiiA an eicallot befivceji 

 two mulleti of six points of 

 the first. 



had two daughters, 

 were co-heirs of Ken- 

 Elizabeth married 

 ■ Melling and (ii) Humphrey Ley/ and Anne 

 married Henry son and heir of Thomas Pye of 

 Lydiate.** Elizabeth and Humphrey Ley and their 

 son Edmund sold their land in Maghull to Richard 

 Maghull in 1570.^ Nevertheless at the inquisition 

 after the death of Edmund Ley (made in 1589) it 

 was found that he died on i 7 January, i 587-8, seised 

 of a house and lands there, held of Richard Hulme ; 

 and that his son Richard was his heir.*° 



It has been convenient to narrate the history of 

 the Maghull family first, as it bore the local name. 



The superior lordship of the Halsalls was replaced some 

 time between 1370 and 1380 by that of the Hulmes, 

 it is supposed by marriage. The first of this family 

 to appear in connexion with Maghull is Richard de 

 Hulme, who contributed to the poll tax of 1381." 

 David de Hulme, who was probably his son, died 

 6 December, 141 8, seised of the manor of Maghull," 

 and holding it of the king as of his duchy of 

 Lancaster, viz. of the honour of Halton, by knight's 

 service and a rent of \^d. per annum. It was worth 

 clear 10 marks.'^ His son and heir, Lawrence, was 

 nine years of age, attaining to his majority before 

 March, 1432, when his lands were delivered to him. 

 It was proved that he was baptized in Maghull 

 chapel ; Henry Blundell of Crosby, aged forty-three 

 and over, was in the church on the same day, being a 

 'love day' or settlement between Sir Thomas Gerard 

 and Sir John Bold.'* 



Lawrence Hulme in 1442 gave certain lands to 

 his son Richard on his marriage with Joyce daughter 

 of Robert Molyneux.** He lived on until 1483,'® 

 in July of which year he settled various lands in 

 Maghull (held by his son and heir Richard and others), 

 Scarisbrick, and Ainsdale on Ellen daughter of Henry 

 Becconsall, who was to marry his grandson Edmund.'^ 

 This Edmund died on Christmas Eve, 1525, holding 

 the manor of Maghull and messuages, land, &c., in 

 Maghull, of the duchy of Lancaster by the twelfth 

 part of a knight*s fee. He also held lands in 

 Lydiate, Halsall, Barton, and AspemoU in Scaris- 

 brick, and the manor of Ainsdale with lands there. 

 His son and heir Richard was aged thirty-five and 

 more in 1529.'** Richard Hulme died on 21 Novem- 

 ber, 1539 ; *^ Edmund Hulme, the son and heir, was 

 nearly thirteen years of age. 



Edmund Hulme after coming of age complained 

 that his mother Anne, who had married for her 



her husband and her son Edward. She 

 mentions her daughters Ellen, wife of 

 Joseph Yates of Manchester, gentleman 

 (their son was Maghull Yates), and 

 Elizabeth, wife of Edward Aspinall. 



* Joseph Yates of Manchester purchased 

 land in Maghull from Robert Molyneux 

 of Mossborough and William his brother 

 in 1772 ; Piccopc MSS. {Chct, Lib.), iii, 

 214, from R, 4 of Geo. I, at Preston. 



^ Baines, Lana. (cd. Croston), v, 279. 

 A pedigree and several of the charters 

 here quoted are printed in Alnc. Gen. et 

 Herald, i, 300. 



^ Ex inform. Mr. Mather. 



■• Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 4^^. Gilbert 

 was dead in 1465. Joan is described as 

 heir of Thomas Maghull of the Clcnt ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 44, m. 2 i/. 



5 HarL MS. 2042, foL c; ^ 



6 Ibid. 



' The Ley or Lee family occur much 

 earlier in Maghull. K.uerden has an 

 abstract of charter (11 Edw. IV.) men- 

 tioning Richard de Lee, son and heir of 

 Alice [daughter] and coheir of Richard 

 Renacres, formerly of Maghull ; also 

 Robert Lee and Ameria his wife, daughter 

 and coheir of Richard Renacres. Kuer- 

 den MSS. ii, foL 262, n, 25. The rents 

 and services of Ralph Lee (4^^-) are men- 

 tioned in the marriage covenant of Richard 

 Hulme and Joyce Molyneujc ; Croxteth 

 D. T. ii, 2. 



* Harl. MS. 2042, foL 35A (bis) ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 22, 

 m. 13. 



^ Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 52. 

 *" Croxteth D. T. ii, 18. 



Richard was a minor, and the lord 

 took possession of the tenements in the 

 name of wardship. The widow Eliza- 

 beth Ley strongly objected ; she would 

 be beggared by this ^guardianship in 

 chivalry.' As to an accusation of en- 

 croachment by building on Maghull Clent 

 she admitted setting up *a little cot for 

 hogs, of very small compass,' and believed 

 that part of her little cottage was two 

 yards over the boundary, but she thought 

 plaintiff would not object as she only 

 had an acre on which to maintain herself; 

 Duchy of Lane. Pleadings, Eliz. cxivi, 

 H. 2. 



Richard Ley died early in 1597, holding 

 the same lands of Richard Hulme by 

 knight's service (as the two-hundredth 

 part of a fee) and a rent of 6j. \ his 

 brother John was his heir ; Croxteth 

 D. T. ii, 20, John was a minor, and his 

 wardship was claimed from his mother 

 by the lord of the manor ; ibid. T. ii, 

 19. John eventually succeeded and had 

 a son William, whose wife was named 

 Mary ; ibid, T. ii, 23. 



^^ He was a witness in 1390; Crosse D. 

 [Trans. Hist, Soc.)^ n. 83 ; and 1 391-2; 

 Croxteth D. Genl. i, 42. Richard de 

 Hulme of Liverpool (18 Ric. IL) is 

 described as son and heir of Margery son 

 of Adam del Birches (Huyton) ; Kuerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 270A, n. 93. 



^^ He had received it from certain feof- 

 fees in Oct. 1408 ; Croxteth D. T. ii, i. 



^ Lanes. Inq, p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 135. 

 He held Ainsdale lands also. 



^^ Ibid, ii, 30. 



1^ Croxteth D. T. ii, 2. His daughter 



218 



Isabel was in 1467 contracted to marry 

 Richard son and heir of Ralph Molyneux 

 of Maghull ; Raines MSS. (Chct. Lib.), 

 xxiv, fol. 23. 



^^ In the feodary of this date he is 

 called Lawrence de BotehuU. 



17 Croxteth D. T. ii, 8. 



1^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, «. 28. 

 A number of complaints had to be settled. 

 His widow Ellen asserted that she and 

 her younger children had been forcibly 

 expelled from the house a week after 

 her husband's death by Thomas Halsall 

 and others (Including Richard Hulme) 

 and imprisoned in Halsall mansion-house 

 for a day and a night ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Pleadings, Hen. VIII, iii, H. 7. 



The daughters complained that Edward 

 Molyneux, priest (rector of Sefton), had 

 taken the profits of the lands assigned to 

 them, but his answer was that he was 

 charged to keep the money towards their 

 marriage ; ibid, xix, H. 4. 



The widow and the younger children 

 were also charged with having taken the 

 profits of their lands without suing out 

 livery ; in consequence the eschcator was 

 charged ^15 which should have been 

 paid to the king, and when he tried to 

 recoup himself by distraint Richard 

 Hulme and others rescued the twenty 

 oxen and kinc he had seized ; ibid, xx, 

 B. 17. In December, 1535, Ellen Hulme 

 widow, granted her son Richard the 

 Halthwait, Sec, , for an annual rent ; 

 Wapentake Ct. R. at Croxteth. 



^' Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vii, n. 9. 

 The provision for Richard's younger bro- 

 thers and sisters is recited. 



