A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



one, Thomas, became rector of Warrington.' He 

 died 20 June, 1436, holding the manors of Rixton 

 and Glazebrook of the Botcler 

 trustees by knight's service and 

 the rent of zos. ; his son and 

 heir, William, was thirty-one 

 years of age.' Little is known 

 of William de Mascy, but 

 by his marriage with Pamell, 

 daughter and heir of Richard 

 de Warburton of Surges in 

 Cogshall, he increased his Che- 

 shire lands.' Hamlet, his son 

 and heir, was in 1438 married 

 to Joan daughter of Sir Robert 

 Booth,* and succeeded his father 

 in 1448 ;' three years later 



the bishop of Lichfield granted him a licence for 

 an oratory at Rixton.* In 1453 Hamlet made a 

 settlement of his esutes.' He died in April, 1462, 

 leaving a widow and eight children.' 



Of these the eldest son, Hamlet, succeeded to 





Mascy of Rixton. 

 Quarterly gules and argent^ 

 on the second quarter a 

 mullet sable. 



Rixton. He acquired lands in Warrington and Glaze- 

 brook,' and among other acts endowed a chantry in 

 the chapel of Hollinfare in the latter township.'" He 

 married Alice, daughter of Sir John le Boteler," and 

 left two daughters, who had some of the Cheshire 

 lands as their inheritance." Rixton and the moiety 

 of Glazebrook passed to Hamlet's }ounger brother 

 John, who in 1 500 was contracted in marriage to 

 Anne, daughter of Sir John Booth." John Mascy 

 made some addition to the estates." He twice com- 

 pounded for refusing knighthood," and was killed at 

 Flodden 9 September, 15 13, where also fell his 

 father-in-law. William, his son and heir, then 

 aged nine years, became the ward of Sir Thomas 

 Boteler.'* 



William Mascy was married in 1518-19 to Anne, 

 daughter of Richard Aston of Aston near Frodsham," 

 and died in May, 1538." In the previous month he 

 had made various settlements." His son and heir 

 Richard was then thirteen yean of age, but had 

 been married some years before to Anne, daughter of 

 Thurstan Tyldesley." He repurchased the confiscated 



• Masqr D. R. 9; ; a deed of release 

 dated 1452 to Hamlet Mascy of Rixton, 

 by Richard son of Hamlet Mascy, Thomas 

 Mascy, rector of Warrington, and others, 

 concerning lands which they held by the 

 feoffment of William Mascy of Rixton ; 

 one of the seals shows a pelican feeding 

 her young, with the legend thomas 

 MASCY. In the following year Hamlet 

 Mascy granted all his manors, lands, 

 &c. to the above-named Thomas Mascy, 

 Richard Mascy brother of Thomas, and 

 others, and they in turn granted them to 

 Master John Booth and other trustees in 

 1461 ; ibid. R. 106. The three genera- 

 tions are shown by these deeds — Hamlet, 

 William, Hamlet ; Thomas and Richard 

 being sons of the former Hamlet and 

 uncles of the latter. William Mascy in 

 1436 confirmed a grant of lands in 

 Cheshire recently made to his brother 

 Richard by their father Hamlet ; ibid. R. 

 101. 



» Towneley MS. DD. n. 1495. The ser- 

 vice of 20J. is clearly made up of the 

 mark for Rixton and the half mark for 

 the moiety of Glazebrook. The value of 

 the manors was forty marks a year. 



' SeeOrmerod, C^«. i, 655, 656. The 

 dispensation for the marriage of William, 

 son of Hamlet de Mascy, and Pamell, 

 daughter of Richard de Warburton, re- 

 lated within the fourth degree, was granted 

 by John XXIII in 1415; ibid, i, 571 

 (quoting Lich. Epis. Reg. vii-viii, fol. 22). 

 Two of William Mascy's deeds are printed 

 in Trans, Hist. Soc, (New Sen), iv, 164, 

 165 (W. 45, 46). He was a trustee of 

 Geoffrey Warburton of Arley in 1 447. 



' Mascy D. W. 47. 



' In 1444 William Mascy of Rixton 

 was one of the Boteler trustees, but in 

 1448 Hamlet Mascy had taken his place ; 

 Beamont, I,ords of fVarr. (Chet. Soc), 

 ii, 263, 264. 



" Mascy D. R. 102 ; masses and other 

 divine services might be said in a low 

 voice by fit chaplains in the presence of 

 Hamlet and Joan and their family. 



^ Ibid. W. 50, R. 103. The trustees 

 were changed in 1461, and regranted the 

 manors to Hamlet; ibid. R. 108, 107. 

 At the same time provision was made for 

 Joan, in case she should survive her hus- 

 band, that she might be able to ' marry 

 and help ' their children and to find priests 

 ' to do divine ser\'ices for the soul of the 

 said Hamlet and his ancestors, and for the 



good prosperity and soul-heal ot the said 

 Joan and of the said children, and for all 

 Christian souls' ; ibid. R. 109. 



^ The will is dated 9 April, 1462, and 

 was proved on 26 April; ibid. R. 110. 

 He bequeathed his soul to God Almighty, 

 to Blessed Mary and all the saints, and 

 his body to be buried in the parish church 

 of Warrington (no doubt in the Mascy 

 chapel) ; to the rector he left his best 

 beast as a mortuary ; a proper chap- 

 lain was to celebrate for his soul for a 

 year in his chapel at Rixton, receiving 

 seven marks of silver. To Joan his wife 

 he bequeathed the lease of lands in the 

 parish of Bowdon and of the tithes there. 



In 1465 grants of tenements in Rixton 

 were made to John and William, sons of 

 Hamlet Mascy, and an agreement as to 

 disputes between them and Joan, the 

 widow, was arrived at ; ibid. R. 1 1 5-1 20. 



" Mascy D. W. 65, &c. •, R. 124, &c. ; 

 the dates range from 1474 to 1497. 



'" Ibid. R. 151A i see further below. 



"Ibid. R. 114; by this deed, of 

 27 Feb. 1463-4, the Mascy feoffees 

 granted for her life to Alice, daughter of 

 Sir John Boteler, lands in Thelwall and 

 Rixton, those in the latter including the 

 ten-acre in Swallesegh, the Stramard, the 

 Branderth, the Netherfields, &c. ; the re- 

 version being to Hamlet, son and heir of 

 Hamlet Mascy deceased. Hamlet's wife 

 is named as Alice in a settlement made in 

 1497 ; ibid. R. 151. 



" The settlement referred to provided 

 that Hamlet's lands in Bowdon, Hale, 

 Altrincham, and Yarwood should descend 

 with Rixton and Glazebrook to his heirs 

 male, with remainder to his brother John, 

 while the lands in Cogshall, Over and 

 Nether Whitley, Thelwall, and Comber- 

 bach should, with those in Pennington in 

 Lancashire descend to his heirs general, 

 ' which as yet were his daughters.' 



^ Ibid. R. 142 ; Hamlet Mascy agreed 

 to make an estate of 12 marks a year 

 for his brother John and heirs male, and 

 Sir John Booth to pay a sum of 20 

 marks. 



Hamlet Mascy probably died shortly 

 afterwards. His daughters were — Mar- 

 garet who married John Holcroft, and 

 Alice who married Robert Worsley of the 

 Booths ; Ormerod, Ches, ii, 198 ; yisit, of 

 1567 (Chet. Soc), 131. 



" John Mascy paid to the lord of 

 Warrington 201. i od. as relief on 7 March, 



1 501-2, and did homage about three years 

 later ; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Chei.), 

 i, 13, 14. He did not pay the relief for 

 his Cheshire lands until 1507; Mascy 

 D. W. 88. He purchased lands in War- 

 rington and in Glazebrook ; ibid. W. 93, 

 R. 147, 148. 



1' The first occasion was on 'the crea- 

 tion ' of Prince Henry as Prince of Wales 

 in 1503 ; ibid. R. 146, 146/1 ; the second 

 probably at the coronation of the same as 

 Henry VIII ; R. 145. He paid 10 marks 

 on the former refusal and 53J. 4^. on the 

 latter. 



1° Duchy of Lane Inq. p.m. v, n. 9 ; 

 the manor of Rixton and lands in Rixton 

 and Glazebrook were held of Sir Thomas 

 Boteler as of his manor of Warrington by 

 the fifth part of a knight's fee and the 

 yearly rent of 241. 5j(/. made up thus :— 

 For the manor and lands in Rixton 

 20r. i\d, \ for soke and ward 20^. ; for 

 the lands in Glazebrook i id. ; and for 

 soke and ward lod. ; also by suit at the 

 court at Warrington every three weeks. 

 The clear annual value was zo marks. 

 Lands in Pennington and Warrington were 

 also held of Sir Thomas Boteler by 

 the seventh part of a knight's fee and a 

 rent of 31. lod, ; and lands in Poulton of 

 Thomas Langton of Newton by fealty 

 only. It will be noticed that the moiety 

 of the manor of Glazebrook is not ex- 

 pressly mentioned. 



'7 Ormerod, Ckes, i, 723. 



^* Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. viii, "• 17 ; 

 the rent payable to the lord of Warrington 

 was recorded as 211. oji/. His will, dated 

 the day before his death, is printed in Pic- 

 cope's IVills (Chet. Soc), ii, 201 ; he de- 

 sired to be buried in the Rixton chapel in 

 the parish church, and among other be- 

 quests left a calf to Hollins Green chapel 

 to maintain divine service there. In 1533 

 he recorded his arms, the quarterings being 

 Rixton, Mascy, Pennington, and Hortoa ; 

 yisit, (Chet. Soc), 220. 



" Mascy D. R. 156-9. 



^ The marriage was recorded by the 

 herald in 1533 ; he remarked that 'the 

 elder of them passeth not seven years.* In 

 1538, at the request of Thurstan Tyldes- 

 ley, William Mascy had made a settlement 

 of his ' capital messuage in Rixton called 

 Rixton hall,' with his various lands in Lan- 

 cashire and Cheshire ; the remainder being 

 to his son Richard and Anne his wife and 

 their male heirs ; Mascy D. R« 159. 



