A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



From I 277 until his death about i 290, he was engaged 

 in the wars.' 



He was succeeded by his son Nicholas, who was 

 quickly followed by his brother Robert.' In 1298 

 Robert de Lathom held the m.mor by a service of zos. 

 and doing suit to the county and wapentake.' In 

 1304 he obtained a royal charter for markets and fairs 

 on his manors of Lathom and Roby ; also of free 

 warren. At the former place there was to be a market 

 every Tuesday, and fair on the eve, feast, and morrow 

 of St. Barnabas.' 



He served in the w.irs and in public offices.^ In 

 1324 he was among those returned by the sheriff as 

 holding land of the value of /'l 5 yearly.* His wife's 

 name was Katherine.' Sir Robert died at the be- 

 ginning of I 325,'' and at the subsequent inquisition' 

 it was found that he had held the manor of Lathom 

 as of the honour of West Derby by the service of 20/. 

 and doing suit to the county every si.x weeks, and to 

 the wapentake every three weeks. His heir was his 

 son, Thomas de Lathom, then aged twenty-four ye.irs 

 or more. 



Thomas at once entered into public lite and the 



fulfilment of the duties imposed upon him by his 

 position in the county.'" He had already (1322) been 

 appointed a commissioner of array for Lancashire 

 and in 1324 was one of the knights of the shire 

 attending Parliament ; in the following year he was 

 appointed a conservator of the peace, and shortly 

 afterwards again nominated a commissioner of array." 

 In 1339 he obtained a charter of free warren in his 

 demesne lands of Lathom and elsewhere." In 1340 

 he w.is a commissioner for the taxation of the ninth 

 of sheaves, &c.'' and was frequently engaged in 

 levying forces in the county to repulse the inroads of 

 the Scots in the reign of Edward III." He was one 

 of the knight bannerets with the king in the French 

 expedition of 1344 to 1347, his retinue being a 

 knight, eight esquires, and twenty-three archers.'" 

 The extent of the county made in 1346 records that 

 he held the manor of Lathom,'* and in the inquest 

 taken after the death of Henry, duke of Lancaster 

 (1361), it was found that he held of him a knight's 

 fee in Knowsley, Tarbock, and Huyton." There are 

 but scanty records of his management of his estates." 

 He married Eleanor, daughter of Sir John de Ferrars, 



second wife's family. The grant just 

 mentioned included also a grant of land 

 in Lathom, the boundaries beginning at 

 Gerald's Well ; William, prior of Bur- 

 scough, was a witness. Another charter 

 of about the same date gave to Robert son 

 of Ughtred de Lathom land on the 

 western side of Scakcrsdale, the bounds 

 beginning at Bradeyate Ford, touching the 

 road from Lathom to Ormslcirk as far as 

 Brcchehale Sykc, crossing to Dcepdale 

 and going down to Marcheal Ford j there 

 were reservations as to the use of this 

 ford, as also of mastfall in his park and 

 in Burscough . The charters are from 

 Towncley MSS. GG. 1:78, RR 1060; 

 RR. 891 and GG. 1334.. For a manu- 

 mission by fine in 1246 sec Final Cone. 

 (Rec. Soc), i, 88. 



> Palgravc, Pari. U'r,:,, i, 698. In 

 1277 he was summoned to serve against 

 Llewelyn prince of Wales, and again in 

 12S2 J h\c years later he had to appear 

 with horse and arms at a military council 

 at Gloucester before Edmund earl of Corn- 

 wall, and in 1291 he or his son Robert 

 was called to serve against the Scots. 



One of his latest acts at Lathom was 

 an agreement in 1287 with the canons 

 of Burscough, relating tu certain lands 

 there and the mill, and other points in 

 dispute. The prior and canons surrendered 

 their mills to him, with the right to 

 construct others also, provided that anv 

 new one should not be set up on Scaker- 

 dale Brook nor on the Burscough side 

 of Alton, and that they might have the 

 right to construct mills within their own 

 lands J in return he gave them 4.0 acres 

 of land by the king's highway from 

 Burscough to Wirplcsraoss. Burscough 

 Reg. fol. l6b. 



■^ Nothing seems to be known about 

 Nicholas de Lathom, but the fact of his 

 succession is certain from a pleading by 

 his brother and heir Robert in 1 302 j 

 De Banc. R. 144, m. I 84 rf. 



^ Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 287. 



* Chart. R. 97 (32 Edw. I), m. I, 

 n. 1 2. The market and fair for Lathom 

 were held at Newburgh, as appears by 

 the extracts from the accounts of 1522-3 

 given below. 



' He was one of those charged in 1307 

 with the equipment of a thousand footmen 

 for ser\'ice in Scotland, where the king's 



* enemy and rebel, Robert de Brus, was 

 lurking amid the moors and mosses ' j 

 Cal. Fat. R, 1301-7, p. 509. In l 309 he 

 was again summoned to serve against the 

 Scots. He was also a conservator of the 

 peace for the county and a collector of 

 several subsidies ; Palgrave, Pari, limits, 

 ii (iii), 1078. 



« Ibid. 



? She survived him and married, 

 secondly. Sir John de Denum, who, 

 however, did not live long. Kathcrine, 

 as widow of Sir Robert dc Lathom, 

 continued to hold a share of his estates 

 for many years ; see e.g. the account of 

 Huyton and Final Cone, ii, 138. 



^ The writ Diem clausit extremum was 

 issued on 7 Mar. 1324-5 ; Fine R. 124, 

 m. I. He made an agreement in 1322 

 as to boundaries with the prior of 

 Burscough, by which it would appear 

 that the present southern boundaries of 

 Ormskirk were secured; * the highest 

 point of a place called Scarth ' stood on 

 the line. Burscough Reg. fol. 11. Two 

 of his charters have been preserved by 

 Towneley. One is a grant of land in 

 Lathom to John son of Hanne and 

 Alice his wife j and the other, of land in 

 Lathom * lying towards Wolmoor,' to 

 Adam son of Richard son of Osbcrt ; 

 Towneley MSS. GG. nn. 2245, 1342. 

 ICuerdcn mentions 3 grant to Robert the 

 Tailor; iii, W. 30. See also Final Conc- 

 i, 189-91 ; ii, 31, 47, 59; Assize R. 

 420, m. I ; R. 423, m. 2 1/. 



' Chanc. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, n. 79 ; 

 printed in Whalley Coueher, ii, 552. The 

 account of Lathom states that the 

 messuage was worth yearly, as in the 

 fruits of the garden, 61. id. There were 

 200 acres of arable land, worth ^5 ; 

 40 acres of ridded land (terra frissa), 

 worth 131. 4</. ; 40 acres of meadow, 

 worth 601. ; plots of several pasture, 

 worth yearly in summer 551.; the park, 

 as for grazing in the summer, was worth 

 261. %d. There was a water-mill rented 

 ^' £,^ ; ^'*° 2 windmill, ruinous and 

 decayed, worth 6j. id. The rent of the 

 free tenants amounted to £z6 i 31. 4//. ; the 

 profits of the hallmotes, held twice a year, 

 averaged about los. An enfeoffment of part 

 of his estates had been made to him and 

 his wife jointly ; this included a messuage 

 and plough-land and wood of 3 acres in 



2S0 



Lathom, held of the prior of Burscough 

 by the service or 3^. yearly. 



t" The inquest of 1324-7 states that he 

 held the manors of Lathom and Scaris- 

 brick and the advowsons of the priory of 

 Burscough and the church of Ormskirk ; 

 Dods. MSS. cxxxi, 3 3 A. This inquest, 

 made in 1323, was imperfectly corrected 

 to bring it up to date ; thus after stating 

 that ' Thomas de Lathom tenet,' &c., it 

 proceeds in the next paragraph, ' Idem 

 Robertas tenet,* &c. 



t' Palgrave, Pari. IVriis, ii, 1078, where 

 many details of these and the like ap- 

 pointments will be found. Also Cal, Fat. 

 R. ; Pink and Beavan's Lanes, Pari, 

 Representation, 20. 



1» Cal. Pat. R. 1338-40, 396. 



^^ Ibid. 1 340-3, p. 27. 



" R. Seot. i, 282, &c. 



1* Staff, Hist. Coll. xviii, pt. 2, passim. 

 He was in the third division, the king's, 

 at Crcssy (p. 35). 



^^ Ancient MS. copy in possession of 

 W. Farrer, fol. 17. The entry reads ! 

 ' Thomas de Lathom, knight, holds the 

 manor of Lathom, which is 3 plough-lands, 

 with the patronage of the priory of Bur- 

 scough and of the Church of Ormskirk, in 

 thcgnage, rendering yearly at the four 

 terms 20j., with relief, suit to county and 

 wapentake, and puture ; whereof the 

 prior of Burscough holds the moiety of 

 the aforesaid land.' In the aid granted 

 to the king in the same year he was re- 

 turned as holding those fees which Robert 

 de Lathom formerly held. In 1361 also. 

 Sir Thomas had licence for his oratories 

 within the diocese of Lichfield ; Lich. 

 Epis. Reg. v, fol. 7. 



'" Inq. p.m. 3; Edw. Ill, pt. i, n. 122. 



l*' In 1357 he acquired from William 

 de Clives of Aughton and Ellen his wife 

 two messuages and 20 acres of land and 

 acres of moor in Lathom ; Final Cone. 

 11, 155. The plot of pasture called 

 Horscar, with the issues (le pele) of the 

 Thorny thwait and Malkins Yard and 

 from there to the bounds of Rufford, was 

 in 1364 let to farm to Gilbert son of 

 Richard de Ince of Aughton, 160 marks 

 being paid down and a rose to be the annual 

 rent. The ground included meadows be- 

 tween the Douglas and town fields ; a 

 right of way for carrying turf was reserved. 

 Duchy of Lane. Anct. D. L 1 2 ii . 



