WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WARRINGTON 



lands of Hollinfare chantry.' Dying 15 July, 1579, 

 he was succeeded by his eldest son William, then 

 twenty-seven years of age,' who had married Dorothy, 

 daughter and heir of Peter Daniell of Over Tabley.' 



William Mascy was described in 1590 as 'in 

 some degree of conformity, yet in general note of evil 

 affection in religion, and a non-communicant.' * Two 

 years later it was reported that he had formerly had 

 one Peel, a recusant and an ' old priest ' as school- 

 master for his children ; then he took James Gar- 

 diner, a seminary priest, and afterwards Gale alias 

 Simpson, also a priest, for the same duty, in defiance 

 of the statutes ; the informer adding that he had * a 

 good living, and therefore to be placed among the 

 best.' ' At the same time he insisted on his rights in 

 the family chapel in Warrington church.* He died 

 in 1595,' and was succeeded by his son Richard 

 Mascy, who married Anne daughter of Edward 

 Middleton of Middleton in Westmorland.' He 

 purchased the enfranchisement of the manors of 

 Rixton and Glazebrook in 1598 from Thomas Ire- 



land, who had recently become lord of Warrington.' 

 In 161 5, on the marriage of his son Hamlet to 

 Dorothy daughter of Richard Bradshagh of Haigh, a 

 settlement of the manors was made, with remainder 

 to uncles and cousins.'" On the accession of Charles I 

 he procured a general pardon," probably on account 

 of his adherence to the old religion, and four years 

 later, as a convicted recusant, made a composition with 

 the crown for himself, his son, and their wives." His 

 wife and his son Hamlet died about the end of 1636,'* 

 but he lived on until 1645,'* his estates having been 

 sequestered shortly before that time by the Parlia- 

 ment." His grandson and heir Richard was then 

 serving the king in Lord Herbert's regiment.'" Being 

 both a recusant and a delinquent Richard Mascy's 

 estate — or his life interest in it — was of course sold 

 by those in power." The purchaser was Gilbert 

 Ireland of Hale and Bewsey ; after renewing the 

 leases of most of the tenants and securing the fines, he 

 disposed of his interest to trustees for Richard Mascy, 

 who thus regained possession of his hereditary estates." 



^ This purchase took place in 1556 ; the 

 price paid to Sir Thomas Holcroft was 

 j^20o; Mascy D. R. 160-2; W. 100 j 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle 17, m. 189. 



In 1563 he bound himself to pay zod. 

 yearly to the lord of Warrington for his 

 homage and fealty ; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 39. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, n. 83 ; 

 Mascy D. R, 169. He died seised of the 

 manor of Rixton with its appurtenances, 

 twenty messuages, water-mill, windmill, 

 fifty acres of land &c,, in Rixton, the 

 manor of Glazebrook and lands there, and 

 a fishery in the Mersey, held of Thomas 

 Butler by knight's service and a rent of 

 225. i\d., the clear value being ^^16 a year, 

 also of the lands of the dissolved chantry 

 of Hollinfare, held of the queen by knight's 

 service and a rent of 305. ; also of two 

 burgages in Warrington, &c. 



Lively was granted 16 May, 1580, to 

 William Mascy ; ibid. R. 170. 



^ Ibid. R. 164.; an indenture dated 19 

 Dec. 1 571, by which Richard Mascy of 

 Rixton granted to trustees for Dorothy, 

 daughter and heir apparent of Peter 

 Daniell, deceased, and then wife of 

 William Mascy, son and heir apparent of 

 Richard, certain lands of the annual value 

 of ^20 OS, id. in fulfilment of the 

 marriage covenant made five days before 

 between Richard Mascy and Thomas 

 Daniell of Over Tabley. See Ormerod, 

 C/5«. 1,475, 



About three years afterwards William 

 Mascy and his wife granted the ,f 20 to his 

 father and uncle on condition that suffi- 

 cient lodging and maintenance be provided 

 for them, including a man servant and 

 maid servant ; Mascy D. R. 167. 



* Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 24.5, quoting 

 S.P, Dom, Eliz. ccxxxv, n. 4. 



' Ibid. 259, quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. 

 ccxv. His widow Dorothy in 1598 was 

 as a recusant called upon to pay ^j los 

 for the queen's service in Ireland ; ibid 

 262. 



* Some alterations in the parish church 

 had necessitated an encroachment upon the 

 Mascy chapel. On William Mascy com- 

 plaining, the bishop's chancellor allowed 

 him £^, which he agreed to accept as 

 compensation ; Mascy D. R. 171. 



' In August, 1595, a settlement of the 

 manors of Rixton and Glazebrook was 

 made by William Mascy and Richard his 

 son and heir apparent ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 57, m. 68. 



8 Dugdale, Vhit. of ffatmorland (ed. 

 Foster), 1664, p. 90. In July, 1597, 

 Edward Norris of Speke, Henry Stanley 

 of Bickerstaffe, and Richard Mascy of 

 Rixton agreed to pay ^^12 to IVIiles 

 Gerard of Ince, who undertook to furnish 

 a demi-lance for the queen's service, and 

 a further payment of ^2 each in case he 

 should be called out for active service ; 

 Mascy D. W, 106. 



" Ibid. R. 173, 173 B. The old tenure 

 is described as knight's service, suit to 

 the court-baron at Warrington from three 

 weeks to three weeks, suit to the queen's 

 court-leet held twice yearly at Warrington, 

 and rents of 225. i^d, for Rixton, \zd. 

 for Glazebrook, and 55. i^d. for premises 

 in Warrington. Claims for ward, marriage, 

 &c., were given up ; the new tenure was 

 socage, a rent of id. being paid to the lord 

 of Warrington and appearance being made 

 thrice a year at the court-leet. By a 

 second deed Thomas Ireland relinquished 

 all his manorial rights in Rixton and 

 Glazebrook, including the 6s, id. chief rent 

 due from John Ashton of Glazebrook, 



^^ Ibid. R. 174 ; after Hamlet's sons in 

 tail male the remainders were to Richard 

 Mascy, uncle to Richard Mascy, father of 

 Hamlet ; to James Mascy, another uncle ; 

 to John Mascy of Layton ; and to William 

 Mascy of Cadishead and Thomas his 

 brother, A further settlement was made 

 in 1620 ; ibid. R. 176. 



" Mascy D. R. 177. 



"Ibid. R. 178. 



W Warr. Reg. Hamlet Mascy left seve- 

 ral children besides Richard his heir. A 

 younger son, Thomas, desiring the priest- 

 hood, entered the English College at Rome 

 in 1642, when twenty years of age, under 

 the alias of Middleton. He stated : ' I 

 was born and brought up near Warrington 

 in Lancashire. My father is (? was) a 

 gentleman and a Catholic, as all my friends 

 likewise are, and possess sufficient incomes. 

 I studied to the end of poetry at St. Omers 

 College, and was always a Catholic' He 

 was ordained in 1 647 and next year sent 

 on the English mission ; Foley, Ric. S.^. 

 v, 408 ; vi, 356. 



" Warr. Reg. An inventory of his 

 goods was taken 19 Jan. 1645-6. The 

 rooms in Rixton Hall were the great and 

 little parlours, closet, hall, kitchens, store- 

 house and cellar, and numerous 'cham- 

 bers' called chapel, bride's, great, green, 

 kitchen, stairhead, Isabel's, Mr. Thomas's, 

 Mrs. Eltonhead's, Mr. Mascy's, and 



337 



Richard Robinson's. The * chapel chamber* 

 contained a meal-chest and other miscel- 

 laneous articles. The total valuation was 

 j^347 I05. 4f/.; Mascy D. R. 189. 



1^ Royalist Com/). P. (Rec, Soc, Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iv, 125. He had married a 

 second wife, Alice, daughter of Sir Cuthbert 

 Clifton, and her petition in 165 1 mentioned 

 that her late husband's estate had been 

 sequestered for his recusancy, and that a 

 rifth had been allowed her in 1647, which 

 was afterwards stopped. 



^^ His commission is dated 18 Aug, 

 1643 ; Mascy D. R. 188. His will, made 

 the following February, provided for his 

 son and heir apparent, for his wife Anne 

 and such younger child or children as he 

 might have at the time of his death, and 

 for the payment of his debts 5 ibid. R. 187. 



The agreement for his marriage with 

 Mary, daughter of Francis Plowden the 

 younger of Plowden in Shropshire, was 

 made in May, 1640; ibid. R. 183. A 

 settlement was made in the following 

 March, after the marriage, by which the 

 Rixton estates were settled on Richard 

 Mascy the younger and heirs male, with 

 successive remainders to his brothers 

 Thomas, George, and William, to Thomas 

 and Hamlet, sons of William Mascy, de- 

 ceased (son of Richard Mascy the elder), 

 to Thurstan Mascy of Southwark. and 

 Thomas Mascy of Rixton, sons of Richard 

 Mascy (uncle of Richard Mascy the elder), 

 to Robert Blundell of Ince and his male 

 heirs by Joan wife of William Bayldon, and 

 then lastly to Edmund Veale of Whinny 

 Heys and his heirs by Joan wife of William 

 Westwood ; ibid. R. 183 B.; Pal. of Lanc» 

 Feet of F. bdle. 138, m. 34. 



^7 Index of Royalists (Index Soc), 30 j 

 Royalist Comp, P. loc. cit. John Peers or 

 Pearse had a lease of the estate for seven 

 years granted i Jan. 1651-2, at a rent 

 of ,^158 J the ferry at Hollinfare was like- 

 wise leased to him at a rent of 50^., he 

 building the boats and leaving them in 

 sufficient repair at the end of the term. 



Two-thirds of the estate of Dorothy, 

 widow of Hamlet Mascy, was under se- 

 questration *for recusancy only'j she was 

 allowed to contract for it in 1654; ibid, 

 iv, 124. 



1^ Trans, Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), iii, 1 32-4; 

 Mascy D, R. 196, The price was 

 j^i,722 loj. 2-J(/.; the lands excepted were 

 those charged with various jointures and 

 annuities; ibid. R. 194, 195. Richard 

 Mascy was living at Rixton Hall in April, 



43 



