WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



followed ; probably he was a younger son of John.' 

 Then another John son of Robert de Ditton was the 

 holder for about thirty years, dying in October, 1350.' 

 His son Robert, as late as 1346, married Cecily 

 daughter of Alan de Eltonhead, who afterwards 

 married Henry Walsh,' and left two daughters as co- 

 heirs, Alice and Emma/ The former married Henry 

 son of Ralph de Tyldesley ; * what became of the 

 latter is not ascertained ; perhaps she married the 

 Matthew de Tyldesley who witnessed many deeds of 

 the time.' 



Henry and Alice had a son Ralph who inherited 

 their half of this moiety, and was succeeded by a son 

 Henry.' The latter in turn was followed by Hugh 

 Tyldesley,* from whom the descent is obscure until 

 the time of Henry VIII, when Richard Tyldesley 

 was in possession.' Various disputes followed his 

 death,'" and though a Tyldesley was reckoned among 

 the freeholders of Ditton in 1600," the name dis- 

 appears, and the inheritance was probably sold. In 

 1750 Tyldesley Hall changed hands again, the 



PRESCOT 



vendors being the daughters and heirs of John 

 Hurst of Scholes, near Prescot. It was soon after- 

 wards held by Henry Pippard, and has descended 

 with the Blundell of Crosby estate." 



In 1823 Ditton House was owned by John 

 Watkins, who claimed the lordship of the manor, but 

 this was not acknowledged." 



II. From the account of 1323 it may be gathered 

 that the descendant of Henry son of Ralph held a 

 twelfth of the manor, and the Fish or Fisher family 

 another twelfth, indicating that a third part of this 

 moiety had been divided between coheiresses.'* 

 Another third— i.e. a sixth of the whole manor — 

 was held by the heir of the Henry de Ditton of 

 1 2 1 2 ; " while the other third was held in two un- 

 equal parts — a ninth and an eighteenth — by families 

 surnamed Ditton and Smith.'* 



Henry de Ditton son of Ralph was living about 

 1250. He had a grant of land from Richard son of 

 Philip de Ditton," and himself granted land in 

 Thelisacre to Richard son of Robert." He had two 



^ A release by Cecily widow of Roger 

 Fish of Ditton to Heary the Smith of 

 Tarbock was witnessed in the first place 

 by * John son of Robert, Robert his son,' 

 followed by John de Ditchfield ; the date 

 may be placed about 1307. As Robert 

 the clerk he attested a number of deeds ; 

 at first his name appears as the last of the 

 witnesses ; then it takes the place next 

 after John de Ditton, and then the first 

 place among the local witnesses, down to 

 1320; Norris D. (B.M.), n. 246, 243, 

 249 ; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 136, n, 383. 



'^ He is sometimes described as John son 

 of Robert the clerk, but more commonly 

 as John son of Robert de Ditton, or John 

 de Ditton only. In 1324-5 he granted 

 to John de Ditchfield lands formerly held 

 by Richard de Ditchfield in Ditton ; Kuer- 

 den MSS. ii, fol. 247, «. 14. About the 

 same time he had a dispute respecting 

 common of pasture here with John son of 

 John del Marsh ; Assize R. 426, m. 8. 

 He made a settlement of his estates in 

 1342 by enfeoffing his brother Robert 

 of all his manor of Ditton, with wards, 

 reliefs, escheats, &c., to be held by a rent 

 of jQ^o ; and Robert immediately after- 

 wards re-granted it, with the homage of 

 all the free tenants, for a period of thirty 

 years ; Blundell of Crosby D. K.. 91, 298. 

 In 1347 he again appears as plaintiff, the 

 lords of Tarbock in one case, and John de 

 Ditchfield' s heir in another, being defen- 

 dants ; Assize R. 143S, m. ^7 J. ; De 

 Banc. R. 352, m. 109. On 13 Oct. 1350, 

 Henry and Roger de Ditton, executors of 

 the will of John son of Robert de Ditton, 

 formally reported to the court that he was 

 dead ; ibid. 



^ Kuerden fol. MS. p. 97, n. 641 ; and 

 Bold D. (Warr.), G. 3 6. John de Ditton's 

 grant to his son on this occasion com- 

 prised land in Mucklehurst in the New 

 Wood, Liverdleigh Hough, Copped Wood 

 and Hoke Lane, and Haywards Acre. 



* In 1364 Ralph le Bruen, citizen of 

 Chester, claimed from John Mulward of 

 Thorp by Daventry the custody of Emma, 

 one of the daughters and coheirs of Robert 

 de Ditton, which had been granted to him 

 by Henry Walsh and Cecily his wife — the 

 latter no doubt the widow of Robert ; De 

 Banc. R. 418, m. 392. Somewhat earlier 

 Alice daughter of Robert son of John de 

 Ditton, and her sister Emma applied for a 

 writ of novel disseisin concerning tene- 

 ments in Ditton ; Dep, Keeper's Rep. 

 xjtxii, App. 334. 



' See the note below. Henry de Tyldes- 

 ley frequently occurs as a witness to 

 charters from 1366. 



* Matthew de Tyldesley' s name usually 

 follows Henry's. In 1367 he made com- 

 plaints against Roger son of Stephen and 

 Ellen his wife, and against Roger de Ditch- 

 field for cutting down trees at Ditton j 

 De Banc. R. 429, m. 12. In 1369 he 

 made an exchange of land with Henry de 

 Ditchfield ; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 247, 

 n. 21. 



7 A settlement was made by fine in 

 1389, Henry son of Ralph de Tyldesley 

 and Alice his wife being plaintiffs. The 

 property was described as seven messuages, 

 90 acres of land, 5 acres of meadow, &c., 

 and 4J. 3^^. of rent in Ditton. The re- 

 mainders were to Ralph their son and 

 Nicholas his brother ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 3, m. 54. In 1416 Ralph de 

 Tyldesley of Ditton granted to Henry his 

 son and Joan daughter of Simon de Lang- 

 tree of Penketh, on their marriage, lands 

 in the Flats and elsewhere ; Blundell of 

 Crosby D. K. 14. 



^ Hugh Tyldesley of Ditton was one 

 of a number of Ditton men charged with 

 breaking the peace in 1442 ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Plea R. 4, m. I d. He was an arbitrator 

 in 1472 ; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 207^ ; and 

 witness to a charter in 1474 ; Kuerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 247*, K. 58. Hugh Tyldes- 

 ley, described (perhaps by an error in 

 copying) as son of Hugh, married, before 

 1448, Alice daughter of Henry Ditchfield ; 

 ibid. n. 71. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vii, n. 21. 

 He held the capital messuage called Tyldes- 

 ley Hall of the king, at a rent of 51. — 

 half the ancient rent of this moiety — and 

 lands in Sutton of Tuger Bold. His heir 

 was a grandson, Richard son of Hugh 

 Tyldesley, aged six years. Richard seems 

 to have died soon afterwards, leaving 

 Francis as heir — probably a younger 

 brother. 



'" John Tyldesley, clerk, and Thomas 

 his brother, two of the sons of Richard, 

 claiming as feoffees of Tyldesley Hall and 

 other lands, complained in 1548 that 

 Robert Williamson of Ditton and Eliza- 

 beth his wife, the guardians of the heir, 

 Francis Tyldesley, with the countenance 

 of ' divers great men of the county,' had 

 obtained unlawful possession to the dis- 

 seisin of Francis. The latter, on the 

 other hand, complained that John and 

 Thomas Tyldesley and others, ' conspiring 



397 



together, assembled with force of arms 

 and weapons of war,' and drove him out, 

 broke open his chests, and took away his 

 evidences, and still retained possession ; 

 Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), iii, 36. 



John Tyldesley, by his will made some 

 time in Mary's reign, bequeathed Tyldes- 

 ley Hall in Ditton to his daughter Mar- 

 garet, then a minor, with remainders to 

 his brother Henry, also a clerk, and the 

 Tyldesleys of Huyton ; ff^ilh (Chet. Soc. 

 New Ser.), i, 229. He purchased land 

 from Michael Willoughby and Katherine 

 his wife in 1550 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 14, m. 283. 



Francis Tyldesley's right seems to have 

 been acknowledged, and in 1564 John 

 Tyldesley, as son and heir of Francis 

 Tyldesley, deceased, was claimant against 

 William Marsh and others, who held in 

 right of Elizabeth Tyldesley, as daughter 

 and heir, the legitimacy of the plaintiff 

 being disputed. Elizabeth Tyldesley was 

 plaintiff in another suit ; Ducatus Lane. 

 (Rec. Com.), ii, 299 ; iii, 516. An inven- 

 tory of the goods of John Tyldesley of 

 Ditton was taken in 1588 ; Wilh (Chet. 

 Soc. New Sen), i, 229, 



1^ Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 

 239. John Tyldesley was a freeholder in 

 1628, contributing to the subsidy ; Nor- 

 ris D. (B.M.). 'Mr. John Tyldesley' 

 and his two sons are mentioned in the 

 will of Henry Tyldesley of Ditton, 

 shoemaker, proved at Chester in 1677. 



" Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 362, 

 from R. 24 of Geo. II at Preston. 

 Duchy of Lane. Rentals and Surv. bdle. 5, 

 No. 13. 



1' Sherriff's map of 1823 ; Tram. Hist, 

 Soc. xxii, 220. 



1* See note above : John son of John 

 (son of Henry), a twelfth, paying i8i/.j 

 Richard Fish, the same. 



IS Thomas de Ditton, as shown below, 

 was son of Stephen, a grandson of Henry 

 de Ditton. 



1^ Robert son of Richard de Ditton, a 

 ninth, paying 2s.; and Thomas (son of 

 Richard) the Smith, an eighteenth, pay- 

 ing 11. 



17 Kuerden fol. MS. p. 98, h. 66z. 



1* Ibid. n. 664. His widow Margery 

 granted to her daughter Agnes all the 

 land, called Longfield, which her mother 

 Quenilda had given Margery on her 

 marriage ; ibid. p. 97, n. 638. 



