A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Henry de Eltonhead in 1332 contributed to the 

 subsidy.' In 1337 Alan, son of Henry, put in a 

 claim to the manors of Haigh and Blackrod.' The 

 next of this, the senior branch, to appear is John de 

 Eltonhead, grandson of Henry, who was in posses- 

 sion for about fifty years. One of his earliest acts 

 was the recovery of the share of the manor held by 

 Henry, son of Alan de Eltonhead, by which he 

 became sole lord of the manor.' From this time for 

 more than a quarter of a century there are only 

 fragmentary notices of the family.* From 1500 

 onwards, however, a feirly complete account can be 

 compiled from the inquisitions post mortem ' and the 

 pedigrees recorded at the visitations.' 



The family would appear to have conformed, after 

 a brief resistance,' to the religious changes of Queen 

 Elizabeth, but Richard Eltonhead the elder took arms 

 for the king in the Civil War, and had to compound 

 for his estates.' In 1676 Richard Eltonhead and 



Richard his son conveyed to Thomas Roughley the 

 hall of Eltonhead and the lands belonging to it;' 

 and the sale was completed in 1684."' From Thomas 

 it passed to his sons Henry and Fercival, and then to 

 their creditors, being purchased in 171 z by Isaac 

 Greene," from whom it has descended, through the 

 Gascoynes, to the Marquess of Salisbury, the present 

 possessor." 



Early in the thirteenth century, If^OODFALL in 

 Burtonhead was granted to the canons of Cockersand 

 by Siegrith de Sutton and Richard de Burtonhead ; 

 Emma wife of Simon son of Roger de Rainhill, with 

 the assent of her husband, resigned all her right 

 in it." 



The family called after this estate, of which there 

 are few particulars, began with an Adam son of 

 William Blundell," whose two sons William and 

 Richard had some disputes concerning their in- 

 heritance." The Woodfalls continued here until the 



^ Exch. Lay. Subs. 16. Henry and 

 Robert de Eltonhead are named among 

 the lords of Sutton in 1 302, and Henry 

 and Alan in 13 13; Asiize R. 418, m. 

 15 ; 424, m. 7. Six years later Henry 

 was claiming lands in Sutton from Alan, 

 and a year later was demanding the 

 guardianship of Alan's son and heir from 

 Ellen the widow and others, alleging that 

 Alan had held of him by knight's service ; 

 De Banc. R. 233, m. 20 </. 5 236, m. 204. 

 Henry, the son and heir of Alan, was a 

 minor in 1321 ; De Banc. R. 238, m. 

 139. Robert de Langley and Cecily his 

 wife called upon Henry son of Adam 

 { t Alan) son of Robert de Eltonhead in 

 1345 to warrant them against Alan de 

 Eltonhead ; De Banc. R. 344, m. 475 J. 



^ Final Cone, ii, 106-7. 



'The pedigree in the Fisit. of 1567 

 (p. 119), which appears fairly trust- 

 worthy, makes John's father to have been 

 Thomas son of Henry. 



There were cross-suits in 1353 between 

 the two branches of the family. Henry 

 son of Alan claimed land in Sutton from 

 John and Emma, the widow of Alan, 

 either John's father or his uncle j on the 

 other hand John claimed land from Henry, 

 on the ground that the title was derived 

 from Robert de Eltonhead, who had un- 

 justly disseised John's grandfather Henry 

 of it ^ Assize R. 435, m. 10, 13, 26, 30 </. 

 As the disseisin is said to have taken place 

 in the reign of Edw. HI, the Robert de 

 Eltonhead concerned cannot have been 

 Alan's father Robert. 



In the Lathom inquisition quoted above 

 (ii, n. 7) it is stated that John de Elton- 

 head held the lands and tenements (not 

 manor) called Eltonhead by knight's 

 service, and by rendering yearly one pair 

 of gloves. 



John de Eltonhead the elder was living 

 in 1413; Towneley MS. GG. n. 2819. 

 In 141 7-1 8 a settlement was made by 

 John de Eltonhead and Maud his wife ; 

 perhaps there were two Johns in succes- 

 sion ; Pal. of Lane Feet of F. bdle. 5, 

 m. 2g. 



■■ William de Eltonhead and William 

 his son were in 1446 accused of waylaying 

 Randle de Standiah at Eccleston with 

 intent to kill him ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 

 9, m. 15. William son of William was 

 living in 1458 ; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 

 243. Nicholas Eltonhead was a juror 

 at the Widnes court in 1476 ; ibid. fol. 

 240. 



'John Eltonhead, who, according to 

 the printed pedigree, was a son of the 



above-named Nicholas, died in Oct. 1526. 

 The capital messuage called Eltonhead, 

 with windmills, lands, &c., was held of 

 the carl of Derby by knight's service and 

 a pair of gauntlets. The heir was a 

 grandson Richard, son of John's son John, 

 aged 24 J Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, 

 n. 48, In that taken after the death of 

 Thomas Eltonhead, the estate is called a 

 manor ; Land. Jnq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 277. 



•See Viiil. of 1 567, p. 1 19 ; of 1 61 3, 

 p. 115; of 1664, p. 103 (Chet. Soc). 

 From these it appears that the Richard 

 Eltonhead in possession in 1^30 left sev- 

 eral children, including Richard, the heir, 

 who married Jane Bradshaw (Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 46, m. 138 5 and 

 Wills, Chet. Soc. New Ser. i, 209), but 

 died without issue about 1589 j William, 

 who succeeded his brother and was in 

 possession in 1600 [Misc. Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches. i, 240), but died shortly after- 

 wards ; and Thomas, who succeeded 

 before June, 1602, as appears by the 

 Present Ct. R. of that year, and died in 

 16 II, and whose inquisition has been 

 mentioned ; also Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 64, n. II. William Bower about 

 1569 gave to Richard Eltonhead certain 

 lands in Eccleston, with remainders to his 

 brothers Thomas and William ; ICuerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 270, n. 41. 



There were several suits in which 

 Richard Eltonhead, Jane his widow, 

 William and Thomas Eltonhead were 

 concerned ; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), 

 i, 272 ; iii, 494, &c. 



The estate passed to Thomas's nephew 

 Richard, son of William, born about 1582, 

 and living in 1664, at which time his son 

 Richard was 53 years of age, and his 

 grandson Richard 21. 



1 Richard Eltonhead, of Sutton, Alice 

 his wife, and William his brother were 

 frequenters of the secret services at Bold 

 Hall in 1582; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 

 221, 226 (quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. cliii, 

 n. 62 ; clxxv, n. no). 



^Royalist Comp. P. ii, 279. Richard 

 Eltonhead had the principal house in 

 Sutton in 1666 ; Lay Subs. 250-9. 



' This account of the descent of Elton- 

 head is from a paper at Hatfield (682-10) 

 drawn up apparently by Isaac Greene. 



"By fine, 17 Aug. 1684; Richard 

 Eltonhead and Anne his wife, and Rich- 

 ard son and heir-apparent, to Thomas 

 Roughley. 



^^On 2 Feb. 1694, Thomas Roughley 

 transferred it, with certain exceptions, to 



360 



his eldest son, Henry, who in Jan. 1695, 

 conveyed it to Philip Foley and otheri 

 appointed by the Land Bank, and four 

 years later granted his equity of redemp- 

 tion to his brother Percival Roughley. 

 A mortgage followed in June, 1700. In 

 1705 Eltonhead was the subject of a 

 settlement on the marriage of Percival 

 with Elizabeth, daughter of Johannah 

 Warner, but the creditors appear to have 

 taken possession in 1710, Isaac Greene 

 being one of their agents. In Nov. 1712, 

 in consideration of certain payments to 

 Thomas, Henry, and Richard Roughley, 

 Susannah and Joshua Palmer, and other 

 creditors, made by Isaac Greene, he 

 acquired the estate. Eltonhead was 

 afterwards included in the fine concerning 

 Chiidwall, West Derby, and other manors 

 purchased from the Ashburnhams ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Plea R. 500, m. 9. 

 ^2 See the account of Chiidwall. 

 " Cockersand Chartul. ii, 598. The 

 boundaries recorded met in the mill 

 brook and the road to Windle. John 

 Woodfall paid a rent of 6d. to the abbey 

 in 1451 and 1461, Gilbert in 1501, and 

 Thomas in 1537; ibid. 1241, 1249, 

 1251, 



" It was a William Blundell who en- 

 feoffed Alan son of Hugh le Norrcys of 

 an estate in Formby ; De Banc. R. 238, 

 m. 191. 



In 1246 Adam son of William Blundell 

 was charged with having disseised the 

 other lords of Sutton of the common of 

 pasture belonging to their free tenement 

 there ; he acknowledged his fault. It is 

 noticeable that two of these lords — Alan 

 and William le Norreys, of Burtonhead 

 and Eltonhead respectively — were his 

 sureties ; Assize R. 404, m. ^d. 



1* Richard de Woodfall and William his 

 brother were among the lords or free- 

 holders of Sutton in 1302 ; Assize R. 418, 

 m. 15. In 1315-16 William de Woodfall 

 claimed from Richard three-quarters of 

 an oxgang in Sutton, of which the plain- 

 tiff's father, Adam Blundell of the Wood- 

 fall, had enfeoffed defendant. The latter 

 alleged a charter which William denied 

 to be genuine; De Banc. R. 212, m. 

 262^, 283 £/. See also Assize R. 425, 

 m. I. 



William de Woodfall*8 wife was Chri»- 

 tiana, daughter and coheir of Richard de 

 Loughfield of Rainford ; De Banc R. 

 209, m. 114. From fines in 1321 it 

 appears that the moiety of an oxgang and 

 lands in Sutton were settled by William 

 and Christiana upon Roger, William's 



