WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



The families of Harflynch ' and Eccles ' also appear 

 in the sixteenth century ; and others of the neigh- 

 bourhood, like the Byroms, Parrs, and Woodfalls, 

 were also owners of land. 



The Gerards appear to have made a park, and 

 this portion, WINDLESHAW, is sometimes described 

 as a manor.' 



Manor courts are still held for Windle.* 



Adam Martindale, a puritan divine, born near 

 Mossbank in 1623, has recorded some interesting 

 details as to the neighbourhood.' 



In the time of the Commonwealth the estate of 

 William Mainwaring in Windleshaw was sequestrated 

 for his delinquency and recusancy, and two thirds of 

 the estate of Janet Ball, widow, were under seques- 

 tration for recusancy.* 



PRESCOT 



In 1717 the following ' Papists ' registered estates 

 here : Henry Tyrer, Thomas Unsworth, Alice Lead- 

 better, and John son of Thomas Fletcher.' The 

 land tax returns for 1785 show that the township 

 was then divided into Moss End, Moss Bank End, 

 and Hardshaw. The principal contributor to the 

 tax was Mr. Bailey, paying about an eighth. 



The early history of HJRDSHJ^ is quite un- 

 known. It was the property of the Hospitallers and 

 ranked as a separate manor." It seems to have been 

 held of them by the Orrells,' and from about 

 1330 until the seventeenth century by the Travers 

 family.'" It was afterwards acquired by Edward 

 and Richard Egerton, holders about 1633, under 

 the earl of Derby." Towards the end of the 

 eighteenth century it was held by John Penketh 



^ In 1527 Richard Harflynch settled 

 his property by fine ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. II, m. 159. Richard Urms- 

 ton, one of the feoffees, afterwards (in 

 1545-6) claimed the Harflynch property 

 as reversioner after the death of Roger 

 Harflynch ; but Jane the widow of 

 Richard Harflynch and her daughter Jane, 

 the heir, appear to have maintained their 

 right ; Ducatus Lane, (Rec. Com.), ii, 206. 

 Jane married Thomas Eccles alias Cliff, 

 shortly afterwards ; ibid, ii, 180. Har- 

 flynch may be a misreading of Harffynch ; 

 Harefinch or Haresfinch is in Windle, on 

 the borders of Parr. 



^ Thomas Eccles and Jane his wife 

 made settlements of their lands in 1561 

 and 1575 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdles. 23, m. 185 ; 37, m. 1-7^. Also 

 again in 1580 when Thomas their son 

 and heir toolc part ; ibid. bdle. 42, m. 109. 

 In 1628 Thomas Eccles seems to have 

 been the chief resident owner who paid 

 to the subsidy ; Norris D. (B.M.). 



Adam Eccles alias Cliff, in 1717, as a 

 * Papist ' registered an estate for the lives 

 of Thomas, Ellen, and Anne Cliff, his 

 children ; ^ng. Cath. Non-jurors, 98. 



^ Sir John Port and Margery his wife, 

 widow of Sir Thomas Gerard, had various 

 claims and possessions in Windle Manor 

 and Windleshaw Park ; Ducatus Lane, 

 (Rec. Com.), i, 195, 190; also iii, 302. 

 The earl of Derby in 1547 claimed tithes 

 from Sir Thomas Gerard in Windle Lord- 

 ship and Windleshaw Park ; ibid, i, 223. 

 A year or two later Windleshaw is called 

 a manor, in a dispute between Sir Thomas 

 Gerard and the earl of Derby on one side, 

 and Thomas Eccleston as lord of Eccleston 

 on the other, regarding common of pas- 

 ture on Blakehill Moss ; ibid, ii, 106 ; 

 i, 236 ; see also Royalist Comp. P, (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 57, 170. 



* Formerly a court-leet and court-baron 

 were held in November, at which peace 

 oflicers were chosen ; Baines, Lanes. 

 Directory, 1825, ii, 548. Under these St. 

 Helens was then governed. 



^ Diary (Chet. Soc), 1-40. The 

 chapel at St. Helens, and the schools 

 there and at Rainford are noticed. 



There are also some particulars as to 

 the district in Roger Lowe's diary, pub- 

 lished in Local Gleanings Lanes, arid Ches. 

 i; e.g. on 15 May, 1664, he and his 

 friends went, ' two and two together,' to 

 Cowley Hill to hear the Nonconformist 

 minister preach. 



« Rnyalist Comp. P. iv, 1 1 7 ; i, 1 1 8. 



Of the former family probably were 

 three brothers who entered the English Col- 

 lege at Rome under the alias of Lathom, 

 early in the seventeenth century — George, 

 Christopher, and Edward. George Main- 



waring stated that his father, Oliver, had 

 'suffered imprisonment for the faith more 

 than once.' Edward, the youngest, born 

 in 1604, who afterwards worked in Lan- 

 cashire, on admission stated that * his 

 parents were excellent Catholics, of good 

 family, but had suffered much and were 

 in reduced circumstances from the perse- 

 cution against Catholics ; he named three 

 brothers and four sisters as then (1622) 

 living' ; Foley, Rec. S. J. vi, 254, 282, 

 298. The widow of Oliver Mainwaring 

 appears on the recusant roll of 1641 ; 

 Trans. Hist. Soe. (New Ser.), xiv, 241. 



William Mainwaring's estate was in- 

 cluded in the third confiscation Act of 1652, 

 as was also that of Edward Unsworth of 

 Windle ; Index of Royalists (Index Soc), 

 43,44; Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 3127. 



" £ngl. Catb. Non-jurors, 98, 119, 121. 

 127. John Fletcher's son William en- 

 tered at Douay in 1743. 



Mary daughter of Richard Fletcher of 

 Denton's Green is stated to have been 

 cured in 1768 by the hand of Fr. Arrow- 

 smith i Foley, Rec. S. y. ii, 64. For 

 the family see J. Gillow, Bibliog. Diet, of 

 Engl. Cath. ii, 298. 



8 The Hospitallers had lands in Windle 

 as early as 1292 ; Plae. de Quo Warr. 

 (Rec. Com.), 375. 



^ John son of Adam de Orrell of Hard- 

 shaw occurs in 1318 ; Add. MS. 32106, 

 n. 1185. 



1** For a fuller history of the family see 

 the account of Ridgate in Whiston. 

 William, son of Richard de Holland of 

 Cayley in Haydock, in 1339 granted to 

 Henry Travers of Haureteschagh ' various 

 lands in Haydock ; Raines MSS. (Chet. 

 Lib.), xxxviii, 45. John Travers, jun., 

 of Windle, was pardoned in 1422 for the 

 death of John Barbon at Windle in Dec. 

 1419 ; it was shown that he killed him 

 in self-defence ; Cal. of Pat. 1422-9, p. 7. 

 William Travers of Hardshaw was witness 

 to a Parr deed of 1439 ; and John Travers 

 of Hardshaw occurs in a plea of 1493-4. 



According to the Hospitallers' Rental, 

 c. 1 540, Henry Travers held the manor 

 of Hardshaw of them, paying a rent of 

 12./.; Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 84. In 

 1528 Richard Bold was holding land here 

 of Henry Travers, which his son Richard 

 held in 1558 of Robert Travers ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, «. 25 ; xi, n. 63, 



Thomas Foxe in 1603 held his land m 

 Hardshaw of Henry Travers ; Lane. Inq, 

 p.m, (Rec. Soc. Lane, and Ches.), i, 3-6 ; 

 but in 1623 William Naylor held his 

 lands of the earl of Derby, as of the 

 Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem ; ibid, iii, 

 344. In 1628 ' the occupiers of the lands 

 of James Travers ' paid to the subsidy ; 



373 



Norris D. (B.M.). James Travers was 

 living there in 1662 j Trans. Hht, Soc, 

 (New Sen), xvi, 133. 



Henry Travers of Hardshaw was *a 

 recusant and thereof indicted' in 1590; 

 Gibson, Lydiate Hall^ 246 (quoting S. P. 

 Dom, Eliz. ccxxxv, n. 4). He * could not 

 be found' by the sheriff in 1593, and was 

 assessed ^i 5 in the special tax on recusants 

 for the queen's service in Ireland in 1598 ; 

 Gibson, op. cit. 261, 262 (quoting S.P. 

 Dom. Eliz. ccxxxiii, and cclxvi, n. 80). 

 See also Cal. Com. for Comp. v, 3236. 



The Matthew Travers who was guar- 

 dian of Peter Wetherby of Halsnead was 

 of this family. As one of the 'most 

 obstinate* in adherence to the ancient 

 religion he was among the six summoned 

 to appear before the earl of Derby, the 

 bishop of Chester, and others, when in 

 1568 the queen determined to secure con- 

 formity in Lancashire. He acknowledged 

 that he had not been to church * according 

 to the laws,' nor received the communion 

 * in sort as the same is now set forth,' 

 and he made no promise of amendment. 

 He also acknowledged receiving into his 

 house ' one Ashbrough and one Smith 

 and others as he toke of the ould religion,' 

 but excused himself on the ground that 

 Smith was a kinsman and Ashbrough (or 

 Ashbrook) came with him ; Gibson, 

 Lydiate Hally 207 (quoting S.P. Dom. 

 Eliz. xxxvi, n. 2). He continued his 

 refusal to attend the new services and 

 was constantly reported as a ' recusant * ; 

 at his death in or before 1586 he owed 

 j^4oo for fines; ibid. 226, 228, 238 

 (quoting S.P. Dom. Eliz. cxc, n. 43). 

 He is sometimes called * yeoman ' and at 

 others 'gentleman.' 



11 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 124, 

 m. 35. The fine was between Richard 

 Egerton, plaintiff, and Edward Egerton, 

 Thomas Goulden, Sarah his wife, and 

 Henry Holland, deforciants. Besides the 

 manor of Hardshaw there were houses 

 and lands in Windle and Hardshaw. 

 Four years later there was a settlement 

 of boundaries between Richard Egerton 

 and Richard Parr ; Exch. Depos. (Rec, 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 25. 



The will of Mary Egerton, spinster, of 

 Hardshaw, a benefactor of the poor, 

 dated 30 Jan. 1693-4, was proved at 

 Chester in 1695. In it she mentions 

 her * aunt Mary, now wife of Thomas 

 Ince of Ince ' ; her cousin Edward 

 Cheffers, Elizabeth his sister, and Wini- 

 fred and Anne his daughters ; her uncle 

 John Goulden, her cousin Thomas 

 Goulden and his sister Dorothy, and her 

 cousin Mary Goulden of Barton, spinster ; 

 and her cousin Richard Cotham. She 

 bequeathed Hardshaw to Mrs. Mary 



