A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



the same year new feoffees of the estates were ap- 

 pointed on the arrangement of a marriage between 

 Frances (or Dorothy) Booth and James the son and 

 heir of Thomas Scarisbrick. James was then about 

 six years of age, and he chose Dorothy, aged four.' 

 Thomas Scarisbrick did not long survive, his will 

 being dated 4 October, 1530.' 



The son James Scarisbrick's lands were in 154.3 

 valued at £20? Soon afterwards a complaint was 

 made against him by Ralph Olgreve of Manchester, 

 that he had carried off the latter's wife Isabel from 

 her father's house and was living with her at his own 

 mansion.* A little later (i 547) Thomas Gorsuch and 

 Margaret his wife complained that he had trespassed 

 on their lands and made illegal claims.' In i 5 5 i he 

 purchased from William Bradshagh the manor of 

 Uplitherland and the third part of the manor of 

 Aughton, but sold it soon afterwards. He sold the 

 manor of Eggergarth and various lands to Lawrence 

 Ireland of Lydiate.* 



His son and heir Edward succeeded early in the 

 reign of Elizabeth. He married Margaret, daughter of 

 Alexander Barlow of Barlow, and had several children. 

 He was ajusticeof the peace, and in religion ' conform- 

 able,' though his wife was a recusant, his children were 

 trained up in Popery and his daughters never came to 

 church.' He died on 27 April, 1599,' and was 

 buried in the Scarisbrick chapel (' his own chancel ') 

 in Ormskirk church. By his will, as he had no sur- 

 viving son, he made Henry son of Thomas Scarisbrick 

 of Barwick his heir, bequeathing to him his sealing 



ring and other heirlooms.' He had previously made 

 a settlement of his estates, described as the manor of 

 Scarisbrick, two windmills, a hundred messuages, 

 3,000 acres of land, &c. ; these were to go to the 

 above named Henry Scarisbrick, who was to marry 

 Anne daughter of Anthony Parker of Radham in 

 Yorkshire, with remainder to Henry's younger 

 brothers, Anthony, Francis, and Thomas ; and then 

 to Edward, son of James Scarisbrick of Downholland.'" 



The new lord of Scarisbrick was only fifteen yean 

 of age on succeeding." The wife chosen for him was 

 a daughter of Anne, sister of Edward Scarisbrick, so 

 that the two lines were re-united by the marriage." 

 He did not long enjoy possession, dying on 1 7 Octo- 

 ber, 1608 ; he was buried in 'his own chapel' at 

 Ormskirk. His son and heir Edward, the only child of 

 the marriage, was not born until the following March." 



Edward Scarisbrick, shortly after coming of age, 

 married Frances daughter of Roger Bradshagh of the 

 Haigh, by whom he had nine children. He had been 

 brought up in the Roman Catholic religion, but appears 

 to have avoided conviction as a recusant; his wife's name 

 is in the list of 1 64 1 . He was at ' the great gathering 

 of Catholics at Holywell' in 1629," and, adhering to 

 the royal side in the Civil War, shared the misfortunes 

 of the defeated. In 1645 and 1649 his name occurs 

 among those ' delinquents and Papists in arms ' who 

 had to supply Liverpool with timber and j^ 1 0,000 as 

 compensation for its losses during the sieges ; and his 

 estates were sequestrated." He died in 1652, and 

 was buried in St. Andrew's, Holborn.'* 



' Scarisbrick D. n. 183 ; rjiit.of 1533 

 (Chct. Soc), 78. 



'^ In this he mentions the marriage of 

 James and Dorothy, his (second) wife 

 Jane, his son Gilbert, and his daughters 

 Margaret, Maud, and Anne ; his uncle 

 James Scarisbrick was to be one of the 

 overseers ; Piccope's PTH/i (Chet. Soc), i, 

 183, &c. He desired to be buried in 

 Ormskirk church before the altar of 

 St. Nicholas, and left his 'best quick 

 cattle ' to the curate as a mortuary. A 

 priest was to say mass, at the altar named, 

 for seven years for the souls of the testa- 

 tor and his parents, receiving 6 marks a 

 year. The prior of Birkenhead was to 

 take charge of the moneys set aside from 

 time to time for his daughters' portions. 

 His son Gilbert was to be kept at school, 

 and the issues of his lands not to be 

 wasted but employed for his use till he 

 should reach twenty years of age. 



The chapel at Scarisbrick Hall has 

 been mentioned ; the following ' heir- 

 looms ' show that it was fairly well fur- 

 nished : two vestments, two chasubles, 

 two albs, a chalice, two mass books, 

 twelve images closed in box cases and 

 two not closed ; with various altar linen. 

 The other apartments mentioned are the 

 kitchen and brewhouse, the buttery, 

 chamber, larder-house, and hall. Ex- 

 amples are extant of alabaster images set 

 in wooden cases. 



' Lanes. Lay Subs. bdle. 130, n. 168, 

 fragments D. 8. In the following year the 

 valuation was ;^6o, and he paid 601. to 

 the ' benevolence.' 



* Duchy Pleadings (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii, 221. 



= Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 225 ; 

 Pal. of Lane Pleadings, Edw. VI. i 

 G. 8. 



' See the accounts of Aughton and 

 Lydiate. 



' Gibs n, Lydiaie Hall, 244, 247, 257. 



He was described as 'of fair and ancient 

 living.' 



* Duchy of Lanes. Inq. p.m. xvii, n. 95. 

 » Piccope, fFill, (Chet. Soc), iii, 8. 

 The accounts of his executors, preserved 

 at Chester, show disbursements of ,f 1,335, 

 of which ' blacks for mourners at the 

 funeral' cost ^167. Mr. Rumncy, the 

 herald-at-arms, had a fee of ^10. A 

 signet-ring, a white bell salt, and some 

 apostle spoons had been given to Mr. 

 Henry Scarisbrick ; and a ' treble sove- 

 reign ' to each of the godsons — Alexander 

 Barlow the younger and Edward, son of 

 James Scarisbrick. At the selling of the 

 testator's cattle at Newburgh fair 31. %d. 

 was spent, and lid. paid to Gilbert 

 Waring for carrying cloth to Ormskirk 

 lor sale. The will of Jane, daughter of 

 Edward Scarisbrick, is printed in Piccope's 

 A^/«i, iii, 23. 



'" This James was Edward's brother, 

 mentioned in his will and appointed 

 executor and trustee. It is difficult to 

 understand why he did not succeed to 

 Scarisbrick, unless he was illegitimate. 

 It is supposed that he was one of the very 

 few 'gentlemen of the better sort' who 

 in 1 590 were ' soundly affected in religion' ; 

 Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 246. For the Scaris- 

 brick quarterings in 1590 or thereabouts, 

 see Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), vi, 256, 

 27+. 



^ He was descended from James Scaris- 

 brick, who died about 1495, 3°'' had by 

 his second wife, as mentioned, a son 

 James. The latter married the heiress 

 of Bickerstaffe, by whom he had an only 

 daughter, and afterwards married again ; 

 by this wife he had a son Henry, father 

 of the above-named Thomas Scarisbrick, 

 of Barwick. 



^^ Much of the information in this and 

 the later parts of this account are derived 

 from a paper by W. A. Abram in Lanes. 

 and Ches. Antiq. Notes, ii, 211-54. The 



268 



descent as arranged by Edward Scaris- 

 brick was in accordance with a settlement 

 made by his father, by which the lands 

 were to descend to his son Edward, then 

 to Gilbert brother of James, and then to 

 Henry son of James Scarisbrick of Bicker- 

 staffe, knight ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. (38 Hen. VIII), bdle. 12, m. 308. 

 * Knight ' is an error. 



^ Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 119. Before his death 

 Henry Scarisbrick had demised to James 

 Anderton, of Clayton le Woods, the hall 

 of Scarisbrick and lands belonging to it 

 for the use of Anne his wife ; there are 

 mentioned the Damstead, Townwood, 

 Whawshaw windmill, and Otterstyes 

 moss. The manor was held of the earl 

 of Derby by 8j. yearly rent. 



" Foley, Rec. S. J., iv, 534. In 1631 

 he paid ^^13 61. %d. on refusing knight- 

 hood ; Misc. (Rec. Soc Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 212. 



" Part at least was sold under the 

 second act, 1652, for the use of the 

 Navy ; Index of Royalists, 30 ; Cal. Com. 

 for Comp. iv, 2494. 



" W. A. Abram, quoting from Foley's 

 Recs. S. ]., vii, 1408, and the Cavalier's 

 Note-hook (288-90.) Four of his five sons 

 — Henry, Edward, Thomas, and Francis — 

 entered the Society of Jesus. Henry was 

 priest at the hall from 1679 to 1688, 

 but had to fly at the Revolution, being 

 an adherent of James ; he died in Lanca- 

 shire in 1701, Edward was a chaplain to 

 James II, and published some sermons 

 and other works. He was one of the 

 intended victims of Titus Oates. On 

 the Revolution he took refuge on the 

 Continent for a time, but returned to 

 Lancashire, where he died early in 1709. 

 GiUow, Bihliog. Diet, and under ' Nevill ' 

 in Diet. Nat. Biog. In Foley's Rec. S. J., 

 vol. vii, will be found accounts of several 

 members of the family. 



