A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



possessors of the manors of Whiston and Halsnead, 

 the purchaser being John Ogle.' 



John's son and heir Henry, born about 1586,* 

 married in 1 6 10 Elizabeth, daughter of Robert 

 Whitby of Chester,' and had by her a numerous off- 

 spring. He died about 1649,* but does not seem to 

 have taken any part in the Civil War. Two of his 

 sons, hovirever, took arms on the king's side. Cuthbert, 

 the eldest, received a commission from the earl of 

 Derby, but soon retired, and in 1646 took the 

 National Covenant in London and compounded for 

 his estates by a fine of ^^120.' Henry his brother, 

 holding a similar commission, took part in the 

 defence of Lathom House.' 



Cuthbert died in 1670, the heir being his son 

 Edward,' whose daughter and eventual heir Elizabeth 

 carried the manor to her husband Jonathan Case, of 

 the Red Hazels in Huyton.' About the beginning 

 of last century the manor was held by Richard Willis 

 of Halsnead, to whose heirs it has descended ; but 

 the hall was then in the possession of John Ashton 

 Case, a Liverpool merchant, great-grandson of the 

 above-named Jonathan.' 



Richard Travers, as already stated, gave his younger 

 son Henry his land in RIDGATE^' in Whiston, 

 which had been granted to him by the hospital of 

 St. John outside the Northgate of Chester at a rent 

 of 1 2<^." Henry Travers had sons John and Henry," 

 and the latter apparently a son and successor named 

 John," contemporary with the John Travers son of 

 Robert, who was lord of Whiston. The descent 

 cannot be traced with certainty.'* 



At the end of the fifteenth century appears another 

 John, followed by Henry " and Robert early in the 

 next.'* About 1560 the last-named was succeeded by 

 his son John, who died in October, 1583, holding 

 the manor of Ridgate of the queen, as of the late 

 dissolved hospital of St. John at Chester, by a rent of 

 1 2J., and lands in Whiston, Hardshaw, and Rainford." 



His heir was his son John," twenty-three years of 

 age, who soon afterwards became implicated in the 

 Babington plot, for which he was executed as a traitor 

 in 1586, his property being forfeited." William 

 Travers, believed to be a brother, recovered Ridgate 

 and most of the lands held by the father ; dying in 

 1 591 he was succeeded by a younger brother, Henry 



was his son and heir ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xi, n. 4.2. Edward Ogle died 

 in Dec. i<;6-, leaving a son and heir John, 

 only nine years of age ; ibid, zi, n. 23. 



* The above John Ogle, son of Edward, 

 was the purchaser. In a fine of 1609 

 Thomas Brooke and John Ogle appeared 

 as plaintiflfs and Sir Thomas Bold and 

 Bridget his wife as deforciants of the 

 manor of Whiston ; the sale must have 

 taken place about this time ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 75, m. 83. 



In 1590 John Ogle was among the 

 * comers to church but no communicaits ' ; 

 Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 246 (quoting Dom, 

 Eliz. ccxjtxv, B. 4). With him begins 

 the pedigree in Dugdale's Visit. (Chet. 

 Soc), 223. He was living in 1610, when 

 his son's marriage settlement was made, 

 but dead in 161 9. 



' Henry matriculated at Oxford (Brase- 

 nose Coll.) in 1603, aged sixteen ; 

 Foster, Alumni Oxon. 



" Lanci. and Ches. Rec, (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 32. < t'nii. loc. cit. 



' Royalitt Camp, P. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iv, 236 ; he had in Whiston 

 a messuage and lands ; also a windmill 

 and watermill. He was probably the 

 ' Master Ogle ' who attended Lord Strange 

 in the attempt to seize Manchester in 

 1642 ; Civil VVar Traca (Chet. Soc), 51. 



' Henry had fought at Edgehill, where he 

 was taken prisoner ; ibid. 169, 178, 184. 



' Cuthbert Ogle was buried 10 Sept. 

 1670, at Present; administration was 

 granted to his son Edward in 1673. At 

 this point there is an error in Dugdale's 

 Visit, as printed. The children of Cuth- 

 bert Ogle are given as Cuthbert, aged 

 eighteen ; Richard, aged fourteen ; and 

 Elizabeth. From the Preacot registers it 

 appears that out of several sons two — 

 Cuthbert and Edward — were surviving in 

 1664, and that Edward, unnamed by 

 Dugdale, was baptized in 1645, and there- 

 fore older than Cuthbert. He married 

 Margaret daughter of Thomas Preston of 

 Holker in Cartmel, and had a son Cuth- 

 bert, described as ' of Chester,' baptized in 



1673 and buried in 1709, and two daugh- 

 ters, Catherine and Elizabeth, baptized in 



1674 and 1675. His wife died shortly 

 after the birth of the last child, who 

 proved to be the heir. Cuthbert Ogle 

 entered St. John's ColL, Cam., in 1692 ; 

 Admissions, ii, 125. Edward Ogle was 



buried 30 Dec. 1691, and his will proved 

 in the following year. 



^ A Jonathan Case, aged eleven, ap- 

 pears as eldest son of John Case of Huy- 

 ton in the pedigree m Dugdale's Visit. 

 (ChcL Soc), 70, Gregson {Fragments^ 

 176) makes the Jonathan who married 

 Elizabeth Ogle to be a generation later. A 

 pedigree of the family may be seen in Greg- 

 son, loc cit. In 1744-5 a settlement of 

 the manor of Whiston, &c. was made by 

 Thomas Case son of Jonathan and Mar- 

 garet his wife, in conjunction with their 

 son Jonathan ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 332, m. 158. 



* Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1836), iii, 719. 



^° The older spelling was usually Rud- 

 gate ; but Ryddegate occurs in 1332. 



** Ogle R. as above. Henry Travers 

 was in 1292 non-suited in a complaint of 

 novel disseisin against Roger Travers ; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 36. 



^'^ John son of Henry Travers brought a 

 suit against his father as early as 1292 ; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 36. Henry son of 

 Henry Travers occurs m 1356; Duchy 

 of Lane. Assize R. 5, m. 25. 



" John son of Henry Travers in 1368 

 claimed certain lands held by John Hauke 

 and Clemency his wife ; De Banc. R. 

 432, m. 68. The descent suggested in 

 the text as most probable must not be 

 taken as certain. 



In 1386 John Travers of Whiston 

 had the king's protection on proceeding 

 to Ireland in the retinue of Sir John de 

 Stanley; Cal. of Pat. 1385-9, p. 156. 



" John, William, and Henry Travers 

 are mentioned early in the fifteenth 

 century. Alan de Ditton in 1425-6 

 entered into a bond with William Travers 

 of Ridgate concerning the manor of 

 Hardshaw, which he was not to hold 

 longer than twelve years from the death 

 of John the father of William ; Henry 

 son of William was a party ; Blundell of 

 Crosby D. K. 64. Two years later Henry 

 Blundell and Alan de Ditton released to 

 William Travers of Whiston, son and heir 

 of John Travers of Hardshaw, all the 

 messuages and lands they held by the 

 feoffment of John Travers ; ibid. K. 54. 



1* See the account of Hardshaw in 

 Windle. A free rent of -^d. from John 

 Travers of Ridgate is mentioned in the 

 above-named grant by Thomas Travers 

 in 1480. 



" Robert Travers of Whiston, Maud 

 his wife, and John his son and heir ap- 

 parent, occur between 1549 and 1557; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 13, m. 25 ; 

 15, m. 46 ; 19, m. 83. 



'7 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, n. 65 ; 

 the other land in Whiston was held of 

 Richard Bold, by the rent of 3</. John 

 Travers was in possession of lands in 

 Hardshaw, Whiston, and Rainford in 1 569; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 3 1, m. 50. 



'* John Travers, apparently the younger, 

 was about 1583 involved in disputes with 

 Richard Bold as to the exact tenure of 

 Ridgate. The latter asserted that John 

 Travers of Hardshaw held certain lands of 

 him in his manor of Whiston by homage, 

 fealty, escuage, and suit of court ; but, 

 having casually become possessed of cer- 

 tain court rolls and writings, had refused 

 to do any service, and the other free 

 tenants had also begun to withdraw. John 

 Travers, in his reply, repeated the state- 

 ments as to the tenure given above from 

 the inquisition ; to which Richard Bold 

 answered that it was no manor at all, but 

 a freehold, and had never been held by the 

 Hospital of St. John of Chester ; Duchy 

 of Lane Pleadings, Eliz, cxxviii, B, 18; 

 cxxv, B. 34 ; ex, B. 23. 



The inquisition after the death of 

 William Travers repeated the disputed 

 statement as to the tenure from the Hos- 

 pital, from which it may be inferred that 

 Richard Bold lost the day. On the other 

 hand, on the Ogle roll is a decision by 

 the Chancellor affirming the right of 

 Richard Bold as lord of Whiston. 



" A curiously bitter account of Travers* 

 behaviour at his execution is given by a 

 spectator. ' When he liad ascended the 

 ladder he said ** he was never guilty of any 

 treason in his life," ' though the others 

 made a formal acknowledgement of guilt. 

 He gave not the slightest attention to the 

 political and religious arguments addressed 

 to him, only saying, 'I die a true Catho- 

 lic, and do believe all that the true 

 Catholic Church doth.' ' He hanged in 

 all men's sight till he was dead, and when 

 the hangman had his heart in his hand it 

 leapt and panted. Even thus concluded 

 the last part of this obstinate fellow, who 

 had fully purposed, as it was to be conjec- 

 tured, to live a seditious person, and reso- 

 lute to die a papistical traitor' ; Ken/on 

 MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), 617. 



