WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WARRINGTON 



Ireland of Bewsey. 

 Gules, six Jleurs-de~lis^ 

 3, 2, and I, argent. 



The manor descended in the same way 

 MANOR as the barony of which it was the prin- 

 cipal member, although the Botelers' chief 

 residence had long been at 

 Bewsey in Burtonwood.' It 

 was purchased by Thomas Ire- 

 land, afterwards a knight, in 

 1597. In 1628, however, his 

 son Thomas Ireland of Bewsey 

 and Margaret his wife, together 

 with George and Robert Ireland, 

 joined in selling the manors of 

 Warrington, Orford, and Arp- 

 ley, with various lands and rents, 

 to William Booth, eldest son of 

 Sir George Booth, baronet, of 

 Dunham Massey in Cheshire.' 



William's son George, a Presbyterian, fought for 

 the Parliament in the Civil War, and took part in 

 one of the successful attacks on Warrington in 1643 ; 

 he was, like many of his party, 

 dissatisfied with the Protector 

 and his son and in 1659 en- 

 deavoured to raise the country 

 in favour of Charles II. His 

 attempt was defeated, and he 

 was committed to the Tower, 

 but when the Restoration took 

 place the king raised him to the 

 peerage as Lord Delamere.' 



He died in 1684, and was 

 succeeded by his son Henry, 

 who adhering to his father's 

 politics fell under the suspicion 



of James II at the time of the Monmouth insur- 

 rection and was charged with high treason. He 

 was acquitted, but took part with other Whigs in 

 the Revolution and was rewarded by an advance in 

 the peerage, being created earl of Warrington in 



Booth of Dunham. 

 Argent, three boar{ heads 

 erect and erased sable. 



Grey of Stamford. 

 Barry of six argent and 



1690. He died three years later and was suc- 

 ceeded by his son George, who, dying in 1 768, left 

 an only daughter Mary as 

 heiress, the earldom * becoming 

 extinct. 



This daughter married Henry 

 Grey, fourth earl of Stamford, 

 and in the year after her 

 father's death joined with her 

 husband in the sale of the 

 manor of Warrington to John 

 Blackburne of Orford.' The 

 lordship descended in the same 

 manner as Orford and Hale 

 until 1 85 1, when it was pur- 

 chased by the corporation.* 



William le Boteler, who died in 

 BOROUGH 1233, created a borough in Warring- 

 ton. His charter does not seem to 

 have been preserved, but the burgage had an acre of 

 land with it and was liable to a rent of 1 zd. Wil- 

 liam's son and heir Emery 

 died in 1235, leaving a son 

 William, a minor, as heir. 

 William de Ferrers, earl of 

 Derby, who was the guardian, 

 created some new burgages, 

 but about forty years afterwards 

 William le Boteler appears to 

 have become alarmed at the 

 growing claims of ' the Com- 

 monalty of Warrington,' and 

 set himself to resist them.' In 

 1292 he granted a number of 

 privileges to his ' free tenants ' 

 in the town,' but at the same time succeeded in 

 destroying the borough court which had grown up. 

 Eight years later the free tenants and burgesses finally 

 renounced all claim to have such a court {curia 



Boteler. Azure, a 

 bend bettjueen six covered 

 cups or. 



1 The manor of Warrington occurs 

 regularly in the Boteler inquisitions and 

 settlements. It with Burtonwood (or 

 Bewsey) and Great Sankey remained in 

 the hands of the lords. 



The later history of the manor is told 

 in detail in W.Bamoat's Annals 0/ IVarr. 

 from 1587. 



> Pal. of Lane. Feet, of F. bdle. 116, 

 m. 3. The sale did not include Bewsey, 

 Little Sankey, and the advowson of the 

 church. An * instruction ' by William 

 Booth concerning the purchase is printed 

 in the Chet. Misc. (Chet. Soc), iii, pt. 4. 



The boon services performed by the 

 Boteler tenants had been 36 ploughs 

 valued at \5. Zd. each ; 40 harrows, "jd. ; 

 66 shearers (reapers) and fillers of dung, 

 4</. ; Warr. in 1465, p. Ixii. 



^ For an account of Lord Delamere see 

 Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 531 ; 

 G.E.C. Complete Peerage ; Diet. Nat. 

 Biog. 



* Authorities as above. There are 

 notices of the first and second earls of 

 Warrington in Diet. Nat. Biog, 



* Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 370, 

 m. 132. Though the lordship of War- 

 rington had thus been relinquished the 

 son of the vendors was granted the title 

 of earl of Warrington in 1796. 



' The date of purchase was 10 April, 

 1 85 1. Under the Improvement Act of 

 1854 the power to levy tolls within the 

 manor was extended to the portion of 

 Latchford within the borough. 



"* These statements are borne out by 

 various suits in 1292. In one of them 

 the community of the vlll of Warrington 

 asserted that William le Boteler, grand- 

 father of the then lord had by his 

 writing granted to his burgesses of War- 

 rington that they should have their 

 free court. The lord, on the other hand, 

 stated that Emery his father, in all his 

 time, had his court of all the free tenants 

 in the said vill and died in seisin thereof 

 more than forty years previously ; after 

 his father's death all his tenements were 

 by reason of his own minority in the 

 hands of the king, who granted the cus- 

 tody to the earl of Ferrers, so that the 

 men of the vill never had a free court in 

 the time, and he (William) had not allowed 

 it ; Assize R. 408, m, l ; see also Inq. 

 and Extents, 146 note. 



In another suit William claimed sepa- 

 rate acres from various holders. The 

 jury found that Emery his father had died 

 seised of the soil thereof, but that the 

 custodians during minority had demised 

 from the waste to the defendants' ances- 

 tors, a rent of izd. to be paid for each 

 acre * as ancient burgages of the said vill * 

 of Warrington with ^d. increase for entry, 

 payable to the lord, and id. to the bailiff. 

 When William le Boteler came of age he 

 received the services of the tenants, and 

 his present claim against them was sus- 

 tained ; Assize R. 408, m. 16. 



The suit of the burgesses respecting the 

 court of the community appears in the 



rolls as early as 1275 ; De Banco R. to, 

 m. 45 ; i3._m- 75^- 



^ The original charter is in the War- 

 rington Museum ; see Beamont, Lords of 

 Warr, i, 102—12. The eleven points con- 

 ceded were : — 



i. The free tenants were to be exempt 

 from tolls in the markets and fairs of 

 Warrington ; 



ii. Their measures to be free, according 

 to the king's standards ; 



iii. Damages for trespass to be awarded 

 according to the injury done, as adjudged 

 by good and lawful men of the town ; 



iv. Acquittance of pannage granted ; 



V. None against his will to be put to take 

 an oath except by the king's precept ; 



vi. Fines to the lord to be fixed accord- 

 ing to reasonable taxation in a full court, 

 by the view of their neighbours in War- 

 rington. 



vii. The lord not to take inquisition 

 upon his free tenants without their con- 

 sent ; 



viii. The tenants were not bound to 

 keep any man taken or attached by the 

 lord's bailiffs, except according to the 

 custom of England ; 



ix. They were not bound to drive cattle, 

 &c. distrained in the town ; 



X. They were not to do ward or pay 

 relief, except according to the tenor of 

 their feoffments ; 



xi. The officers for the assize of bread 

 and beer were to be chosen by the free 

 tenants themselves. 



