WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



NORTH MEOLS 



OOO 



William's son and heir Robert succeeded about 

 1260,' and was in turn (about 1307) succeeded by 

 his son William, who appears to have married Joan, 

 daughter and heiress of Alan de Meols, who held a 

 quarter of the vill. A grant of all Alan's lands there 

 was made to William de Cowdray in 1326, and it 

 was confirmed by Adam de Meols in 1343.* 



It will therefore be convenient to give an account 

 of the Meols family at this 

 point. The first to be noticed 

 is Alan de Meols, who between 

 1 204 and 1 209 took oath that 

 he would not interfere with 

 the grant in Ratho to the 

 monks of Sawley.' Early in 

 the reign of Henry III he 

 secured from John de Lacy a 

 confirmation of his lands, the 

 charter describing them as 4 J ox- 

 gangs held by homage and a 

 service of Ss. yearly.'' The heir 

 of Robert de Meols was holder 

 in 1243,' and in 1296 another Robert de Meols was 

 tenant of Henry de Lacy, rendering 8/. i Ja'., while 

 to the same Henry in 1311 Alan de Meols rendered 

 8/. yearly by custom.* Alan was still tenant in 1323 

 and 1324.' Adam son of William de Meols, men- 

 tioned above, contributed to subsidies in 1326 and 



I332;\ 



William de Cowdray was thus, in his own right 

 and his wife's, lord of the whole manor. A somewhat 

 earlier acquisition may also be noticed here. Albert 

 Bussel, third baron of Penwortham, who died in 

 1 1 86, granted to Houkell son of Adam the whole land 

 of Swartbank.' Geoffrey son of Houkell (or Houth- 

 kell) afterwards, about 1240, gave this tract to William 

 de Cowdray as trustee, it would seem, for Henry de 

 Pool, ancestor of the Becconsall family, who in turn 

 gave it to Thomas Banastre of Bretherton. In 1298 



Meols of Meols. 

 Argentf three torteaux in 

 chief. 



the latter granted it to William de Cowdray and Joan 

 his wife," and it thus became incorporated with the 

 possessions of the lords of the manor." 



William de Cowdray was succeeded before 1343 

 by his son Robert, who died before 1350,'^ leaving a 

 son and heir William, who died soon after, his heirs 

 being his sisters Katherine and Eleanor. The latter 

 married Henry, son of Gilbert de Scarisbrick, but 

 died about 1346, leaving a 

 daughter Isabel, who died in 

 infancy." Katherine was twice 

 married — to Alan, son of Richard 

 de Downholland, who died be- 

 fore 1345, leaving an only 

 daughter Eleanor, who died un- 

 married ; " and to Richard de 

 Aughton, a younger son of 

 Walter de Aughton.'* The suc- 

 cession was not undisputed, 

 Thomas de Cowdray, uncle of 

 Robert, claiming under an en- 

 tail to the heirs male of Robert's 



father William. This, however, only affected the 

 share inherited from the Meols family, and Thomas 

 appears to have enjoyed this portion for life only, so 

 that the whole manor descended to the heirs of 

 Richard and Katherine de Aughton,'* and in 1380 

 the whole was given to William de Aughton, their son, 

 and his heirs." 



William married Mlllicent, one of the four 

 daughters and co-heirs of John Comyn, lord of 

 Kinsale and of lands in the counties of Warwick and 

 Worcester." He was pardoned some outlawry he 

 had incurred in 1 38 1-2 at the special request of 

 Queen Anne ;" and in 1386 had letters of protec- 

 tion on going to Ireland in the king's service.*" He 

 died at the beginning of I 388, seised of the manor of 

 North Meols, held of the duke of Lancaster by 

 knight's service, and by the service of <)^d., sake fee. 



Cowdray of Meols. 

 Gules, fen biUets, 4, 3, 2, 

 and I or. 



body to be buried at Sawley, This charter 

 also conhrms ' all that the monks have 

 gained from the sea or may hereafter 

 gain ' ; Sawley Chartul. The charters are 

 printed in Farrer's hlorth Meols, 11. 



^ Robert gave to Sawley an acre in the 

 Warsch, and exchanged another acre in 

 *the Backfield within Crospeles ' for one 

 in Wolfpit, which his father had given to 

 the monks ; Sawley Chartul. fol. 71, 72 ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxiii, fol. 238 



In or before 1278 he acquired from his 

 superior lord, the earl of Lincoln, the 

 whole eel fishery, at a rent of two marks ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Anct. D. L. 2369. 

 The 265. %d. duly appears in the De Lacy 

 inquests ; the fishery was at Otterpool. 



2 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 238, 23 84. 



^ Sawley Chartul. 



■• Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 239. 



'^ Inq, and Extents, 149. In 1241 he 

 established a claim to an oxgang in Meols, 

 also claimed by Beatrice, wife of William 

 son of Walter, clerk of Much Hoole ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 238. 



^ T>e Lacy Compoti (Chet. Soc), pp. 9, 

 106 ; Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. II, n. 51. 



7 Rentals and Surveys, n. 379, m. 8 ; 

 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1 148, n. 6. 



8 Exch. Lay Subs. bdle. 130, «. 5 ; 

 AzoExch, L. 5. of 1332 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), 15. 



^ The grant was made in pure alms 

 for the souls of the grantor, his wife, and 

 others, the service required being *the 

 maintenance of a certain place of enter- 



tainment for those who might have need 

 thereof — probably those waiting for an 

 opportunity to cross the Ribble 5 there 

 was, at least later, a crossing at Hesketh 

 Bank, four or five miles from Crossens, 

 and there may have been one at the latter 

 place at the time of the charter. The 

 bounds mentioned are : From Blackpool 

 on the east across to the west of Brade- 

 land ; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 225. There 

 is a Brade Lane in Crossens. 



10 Ibid. fol. 225A, 226. 



^^ Galway, or Galwathlands, in North 

 Meols, yielded a rent of i2.d. to the Lacys 

 about 1300 ; see DeLacy Inq. (Chet. Soc), 

 9, 106. 



^^ In 1 346 he accused certain persons of 

 killing a tame buck of his ; De Banc. R. 

 346, m. 113 (^. His widow Eleanor 

 before 1350 married Adam de Formby. 



^ Scarisbrick deeds [Trans. Hist. Soc. 

 New Ser. xii), «n. 74, 75 ; Duchy Plead- 

 ings (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 22. 



" Dods. MSS. xxxix, fol. 138*. 



^* His parentage is decided by De 

 Banc. R. 436, m. 58 </. Richard and his 

 wife Katherine were in 1350 enfeoffed 

 of * all lands and tenements, with ward- 

 ships, escheats, &c.' in North Meols, 

 Crossens, and * Foly ' (? Sollom) ; also the 

 Cowdray part of Barton by Halsall ; Dods. 

 MSS. cxlii,' fol. 233. 



" In the Pleadings (1350) Thomas's 

 claim is said to refer to the ' third part ' 

 of the manor, while the defendants alleged 

 it was only a sixth part. The story is 



231 



given very fully in Assize R. 1444, m. 

 4 £/. The entail was made by Alan de 

 Meols in November, 1326, and Thomas's 

 claim under it was admitted to be just. 

 Shortly afterwards (13 54) the former 

 defendants became plaintiffs, it being 

 alleged that William, the elder brother of 

 Katherine de Aughton and uncle of 

 Isabel de Scarisbrick, had held this sixth 

 part, which should have descended to them, 

 and not to Thomas de Cowdray. The 

 latter does not seem to have contested the 

 matter, so that some agreement had prob- 

 ably been made beforehand. An allied 

 suit had reference to the boundaries j it 

 was decided that the lands In dispute were 

 within North Meols, the bounds being 

 *from Snoter Pool to Snoter Stone, and 

 so to the thread of Ribble stream ' ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 3, pt. ii. m. 

 3, 3 d. In 1 361 North Meols was held, 

 as the fourth part of a knight's fee, by 

 Henry de Scarisbrick and Richard de 

 Aughton in right of their wives ^ Inq. 

 p.m. 35 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, «. 122. 



17 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 1, «. 

 24. Ina previous fine (1359) Katherine 

 daughter of William de Cowdray, first 

 cousin of Richard de Aughton's wife, had 

 put in her claim ; Final Cone, (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 160. 



^^ The Aughton family adopted the 

 Comyn arms — sable, three garbs or — as 

 their coat. 



19 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 232^. 



20 Cal. Pat, R, (1385-9), 114, 189. 



