WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



Roger de Ditchfield was followed by a John de 

 Ditchfield, probably his son, witness to numerous 

 local charters from about 1 310 until his death in 1346 

 or 1347.' His son and heir Thomas succeeded, being 

 mentioned for about three years.' The record of his 

 dispute with the superior lord, John de Ditton, gives 

 the first indication of the portion of the manor held 

 by this family. John de Ditton was the representa- 

 tive of the Richard son of Martin of 1 2 1 2, and in 1347 

 he complained that Thomas, son and heir of John de 

 Ditchfield — ' in mercy for many defaults ' — had, 

 though a minor and in ward, refused a suitable mar- 

 riage which John as superior lord had offered, namely 

 Katherine the daughter of John del Hey or Eliza- 

 beth daughter of Elizabeth de Prescot, and had mar- 

 ried Margaret daughter of Adam de Singleton, whereby 

 the plaintiff had suffered a loss of X^^^- It was 

 found that Thomas held by knight's service and by a 

 rent of 5/. a year — the service of Richard son of 

 Outi in 1 2 12 — paying 10/. to the scutage of 40/. ; 

 the jury fixed the value of the marriage at 40 marks, 

 and it was decided that John de Ditton should recover 

 double this sum.' 



To Thomas succeeded Henry de Ditchfield, pro- 

 bably his brother,' who about 1400 was followed by 

 his son, another Henry.' The latter had several 

 children — William, John, Joan, and Emmota.* Wil- 

 liam, the heir, was in 1438 contracted in marriage to 



PRESCOT 



Katherine daughter of Nicholas Risley;' he was 

 living in 1482,' and was succeeded by his son Henry, 

 mentioned in 1493.' After this Henry's death, the 

 inheritance passed to his nephew Thomas,'" son of 

 Sir John de Ditchfield," and John Ditchfield his son 

 followed him." Dying in August, 1545, he was 

 succeeded by his son Hamlet, then thirty-four years 

 of age," who had a son William and a grandson John, 

 living in 161 3." John's son Edward, born about 

 '593. had an only daughter and heir Elizabeth," 

 who married John Hoghton of Park Hall in Char- 

 nock Richard, having previously been the wife of 

 John Lancaster of Rainhill ; the in>eritance passed 

 to her children by the former union, the eldest of 

 whom, William, was aged five in 1664. The Hogh- 

 tons afterwards inherited Thurnham and took the 

 name of Dalton. They seem to have parted with 

 Ditchfield late in the eighteenth century." It was 

 acquired by Thomas Shaw," and now is owned by 

 his daughter Mrs. James R. Mellor. 



The Norrises of Speke had an estate here from 

 early times connected with the grant of the mill on 

 Ditton pool made by Henry de Walton." Land was 

 acquired in Ditton for the convenience of the mill," 

 and this appears to have been the holding of the 

 family down to 1566, when Edward Norris purchased 

 the lands of William Nicholasson.'" 



Several other families had lands in Ditton.*' The 



^ Jolin de Ditchfield received a grant of 

 a new approvement from Richard de 

 Slynehead and Agnes his wife, Vfhile in 

 1324-5 he had from John de Ditton cer- 

 tain land which had formerly been Richard 

 de Ditchfield'sj Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 24.7, 

 n. 7, 14. In 1330 he made a grant of 

 land in the Townfield to John de Ditton ; 

 ibid. n. 16. In 1346 a John son of 

 Robert de Ditchfield was one defendant 

 to a suit by Henry son of John de Ditton, 

 clerk, concerning the breaking into his 

 close j but he may be a different person ; 

 De Banc. R. 345, m. 95 d. 



' He attested charters in 1347, 1348, 

 and 1349; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 96, n. 

 598 ; 97, n. 655 ; 98, n. 347. He granted 

 land in Steresleigh to his brother William 

 in 1349 ; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 247, n. 

 18 ; but Kuerden gives the name z^John 

 son of John de Ditchfield, and there may 

 have been two Johns in succession. 



' De Banc. R. 352, m. 109. 



* Henry de Ditchfield was witness to a 

 charter in 1356 ; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 99, 

 «. 356 ; as Thomas was a minor in 1347, 

 Henry can scarcely have been other than 

 a brother. There are grants to and by him 

 in Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 247, n. 21, 23, 



* To Henry son of Henry de Ditch- 

 field, Richard brother of Henry (the 

 father) granted the lands which he held by 

 the gift of his brother in 1404 ; ibid. n. 27, 

 26. Henry the father may have survived 

 to this year if he were the husband of 

 Alice de Ditton ; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 99, 

 n, 470. The younger Henry married Ellen, 

 daughter of Thomas Travers of Whiston ; 

 Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 138 A, n. 100 ; ii, 

 fol. 247 A, n. 71. Contemporary with him 

 was another Henry de Ditchfield, the 

 natural son of a Roger de Ditchfield ; 

 ibid. fol. 247, «. 31. 



^ The marriage of John son of Henry 

 and Isabel in 1444 was accompanied by a 

 grant of land in Sourfield ; the remainders 

 were to Thomas, Roger, Joan, and 

 Emma ; ibid. fol. 247A, «. 44. Joan 

 married Richard Smith of Cuerdley and 

 granted to William Ditchfield the lands 



which had descended to her in Ditton 

 and AUerton ; ibid. n. 45. There appears 

 to have been another daughter, Alice, wife 

 of Hugh Tyldesley ; ibid. n. 71. 



' Ibid. «. 43 ; see also «. 55-62, 64- 

 67, 71. 



^ Ibid. n. 56, 61, 67. In h. 70, how- 

 ever, dated a year earlier, Henry Ditch- 

 field is given as in possession. The date 

 may be erroneous. 



^ Ibid. «. 67, 80. His wife was Ellen 

 Eston. 



1° Ibid. B. 72, dated 1 506-7, in which 

 Henry Ditchfield is described as the uncle 

 of Thomas. Thomas married Isabel, sister 

 of James Wetherby of Halsnead ; Ibid. 

 n. 73. 



^^ Nothing appears to be known of 

 this Sir John ; his widow Margery, by 

 whom he had a son William, was living 

 in 1506 ; ibid. n. 75, 76, 82. 



^2 Ibid. H. 78, from which it appears 

 that John, the son and heir, married 

 Katherine, daughter of Richard Birkhead. 

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

 19. His capital messuage in Ditton was 

 held of Richard Tyldesley, by a rent of 

 2j. 'j\d. ; other lands in Ditton were held 

 of the king as duke of Lancaster by a rent 

 of 2J. 5 he had lands also in Whiston and 

 AUerton. 



" See the pedigrees recorded at the 

 Visitations of 1567 and 1613, published 

 by the Chetham Society {1567, p. 123 ; 

 1613, p. 131). 



" Dugdale, Vhit. (Chet. Soc), 172, 

 155. John Ditchfield, as a convicted re- 

 cusant, paid double to the subsidy in 1628; 

 Norris D. (B.M.). Edward Ditchfield 

 his son had two-thirds of his estate se- 

 questered for recusancy before 1 649 ; then 

 he was charged with ' delinquency ' also, 

 and the whole of his property taken from 

 him ; but one-third seems to have been 

 restored, and in 1653 he petitioned to be 

 allowed to contract for the remainder ; 

 Royalist Comp. P. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), ii, 254. He was described in 

 1650 as 'an arch-papist' by Colonel 

 Gilbert Ireland ; ibid, iv, 22. In Sept. 



.401 



1663, a settlement was made of the 

 manor of Ditton and half the manor 

 of Charnock Richard ; the deforciants 

 being Dorothy Ditchfield, widow, and 

 John Hoghton and Elizabeth his wife ; 

 Pal. of Lane, Feet of F. bdle. 171, m. 

 99. 



^^ Ditton was included among the 

 Dalton manors in a fine of 1753 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 351, m. 191. In 

 1755 Robert Dalton sold (or mortgaged) 

 his Ditchfield Hall estate, and sold Marsh 

 Green to William Woods, skinner ; Pic- 

 cope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), Hi, 366, 284, 

 from Rolls 27 and 29 of Geo. II at 

 Preston. 



^7 By fine m 1777 Thomas Shaw and 

 Sarah his wife conveyed to Thomas Moore 

 (no doubt as trustee) the manor of Ditton 

 and various lands there, together with the 

 moiety of a seat or pew in Farnworth 

 chapel, and three pews in St. Thomas's 

 Church, Liverpool j Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 379, m. 82. SherrlfFs map of 

 1823 gives T. Shaw as the owner; by 

 Gregson he Is called * of Everton.' 



18 Norris D. (B.M.), n. 234. 



19 Ibid. n. 235-6 ; also «. 278-9. 



2» Ibid. n. 281-4 i Pal- of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 28, m. 139. 



The deeds show that these lands had 

 been acquired at various times In the 

 thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the 

 Smiths of Tarbock, beginning with Henry 

 the Smith and his son Richard ; Norris D. 

 (B.M.), n, 237 onwards ; over forty deeds. 

 Some of these have been cited in the notes 

 already given. Henry the Smith of Tar- 

 bock was succeeded by a son Richard, who- 

 had sons Henry, Robert, and Roger. See 

 also P.R.O. And. D. A9081. 



"1 Some of them held lands in the neigh- 

 bouring townships, as Adam de Ireland j, 

 and in later times, as the inquisitions 

 show, the Moores of Bank Hall, the 

 Breres, Mossocks, and Bolds. 



Thomas de Hale and Mabel his wife 

 acquired a holding early in the fourteenth 

 century. Thomas de Hale died in or 

 before 1330, in which year Mabel is called 



51 



