i'- f 
 
 ^(^' 
 
 M 
 
 '■^,^ 
 
 
 AN ACCOUNT 
 
 ROLLS OF THE HONOUR OFHALTON 
 
 PART OF 
 
 HEE MAJESTY THE QUEEl^'S 
 
 B'EmG THE SUBSTANCE OF A REPORT RECENTLY MADE UPON THE 
 REMOVAL OF THE RECORDS FROM HALTON CASTLE, 
 \ IN CHESHIRE, TO THE OFFICE OF THE 
 \ PUBLIC RECORDS, LONDON. 
 
 \ 
 
 fik WILLIAM BEAMONT. 
 
 "Far roves the eye across the dewy plains, 
 
 Whither yon lioar, time-tott'ring castle ro'irs 
 Its crumliling ruins on the roclty hill, 
 
 Of Norman Lupus once tlie warlike meed." 
 
 — Bewsey, a Poem, by J. Fitohett. 
 
 WARRINGTON ; 
 
 PERCIVAL PEARSE, 8, SANKEY STREET. 
 
 1 S 7 9 . 
 
 ^m. 
 
(Hatmii ItttUFratta ICtbrarg 
 
 BOUSHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 Henrg M. Sage 
 
 1891 
 
 AMUiL. i<Sin/7... 
 
 9306 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THB 
 
 ROLLS OF THE HONOUR OF HALTON, 
 
 PART OF 
 
 HEE MAJESTY THE QXJEEK'S 
 
 BEING THE SUBSTANGE OF A REPORT RECENTLY MADE UPON THE, 
 
 REMOVAL OF THE RECORDS FROM HALTON CASTLE, 
 
 IN CHESHIRE, TO THE OFFICE QF THE 
 
 ' PUBLIC ^'ECQRDS, LONDON. 
 
 By WILLIAM BEAMOiNT. 
 
 "Far roves the eye across the dewy plains, 
 Whither' yon hoar, tijne-tott'rifig castle^ rears 
 Its crumbling rains on the rocky hill. 
 Of Norman Lupus once' the warlike meed." 
 
 — Bemsey, a Poem, by, J, Fitohexi. 
 
 WARRINGTON: 
 PEROIVAL PEARSE, 8, SANKEY STREET. 
 
 18 7 9. 
 
\^\\ 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028137994 
 
EEPQET 
 
 ON THE 
 
 RECORDS OF THE HONOUR OF HALTON, 
 
 IN OHESHIKE, 
 
 Part of 3|cr JKaJEste's Sitchg of ^mcn&tzt. 
 
 October, 1876. 
 
 These records consist of nuraerous rolls relating to the hondur of 
 Halton, with its dependent manors of Ilunco];'n, Moor, Thelwall, Over 
 Whitley, Oogshall, and Congleton, in the county of Chester, and also 
 with its other dependent manor of Widne's, in the county of Lancaster, 
 which have been kept hitherto in a chest and a cupboard in the court- 
 room at Halton castle^ the same place probably where they were in 
 (5 Jac. i. 1608), when Sir John, Savage, knight, the seneschal, made a 
 report upon them. In this report', which is said to be in the Duchy 
 office. Sir John certified that the above honour, together with the 
 manors of Runcome, More, Over Whitley, and Cogshall, in the county 
 of Chester, and the manor of Widnes, in the county of Lancaster, 
 were holden of his Majesty by copy of court roll within the honour 
 of Halton, and that the fines and customs of the said manors were 
 then in the castle of , Halton, and that the records and court rolls 
 of the same manors were also then in the said castle, where they 
 had been kept from the time of Edward III. (Hist. Lane. iii. 719 
 et seq., where some further ^particula,rs may be seen respecting Widn,es.) 
 If it were not in vain, we might well regret that the records which 
 were at Halton in Sir John Savage's time were not then removed to 
 
4 |ll££oriis of the "^onom of 3^alion. 
 
 a safer place of deposit, for many of them in the meantime have 
 sustained irreparable injury" from damp and neglect, while many others 
 both before and since his time have doubtless been lost. The records 
 consist of plea rolls, suit rolls, court leet rolls, copyhold rolls of the 
 manor, annual court rolls, and presentments, books of account, and 
 the stewards' books. Of all these records, except the older stewards' 
 books which are lost, some specimens of each sort still remain at 
 Halton, and an examination of their contents shews how little the 
 political and, other convulsions of the kingdom have, affected the 
 course of proceedings at Halton during five centuries. The crown 
 has been usurped and the government several times changed, but, 
 except where time has antiquated some of its proceedings, the court 
 at Halton has held steadily on its course. The English, more than 
 any other people, cling to old institutions, modifying them when 
 needful, but careful at the same time not to overthrow them. These 
 records, let us hope, will hereafter find a more fitting place of deposit ; 
 in the meantime, we propose to give extracts from some of them, and 
 set out a ffew of such historical notices and traits of ancient manners 
 and customs as they contain. The rolls, which are on skins of parch- 
 ment, written on both sides, often consist of fifteen or moi'e skins of 
 parchment, forming the record of a single year. Except such as were 
 too fragile, all of them have been completely opened, and those which 
 are fragile have only been opened partially. This opening, airing, and 
 refolding them has been of use to the rolls, and will prevent their 
 sustaining further injury from damp and dust. 
 
 The whole number of rolls is 335, of which there are of 
 
 Edward III. 
 
 - 
 
 - 13 
 
 Charles I. - - 
 
 12 
 
 Eichard II. 
 
 - 
 
 19 
 
 Commonwealth - 
 
 8 
 
 Henry IV. 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 Charles II. 
 
 - 27 
 
 Henry V. 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 James II. 
 
 2 
 
 Henry VI. 
 
 
 - 29 
 
 William and Mary - 
 
 9 
 
 Edward IV. 
 
 - 
 
 - 11 
 
 Anne - _ _ 
 
 7 
 
 Henry \' IL 
 
 
 - 10 
 
 George I. - - 
 
 - 16 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 - 
 
 28 
 
 George II. 
 
 - 31 
 
 Edward VI.. 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 George III. 
 
 2 
 
 Philip and Mary 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Elizabeth 
 
 - 
 
 - 55 
 
 
 335 
 
 James I. 
 
 ,- 
 
 - 34 
 
 
 
Pecorbs of the ^ononv of ^altotr. 5 
 
 These numerous rolls fall naturally under eight classes, of each of 
 which classes in its order we shall give a general account and a short 
 description. 
 
 I. The most important of these rolls are the rolls of court, the 
 oldest of which now at Halton is a roU of 21 Ed. III. 1347, of which 
 the heading, in which the seneschal who held it is not named, is as 
 follows-^" Cwrm de Halton tent. ibm. die Sdbti post festum Sci Michs 
 Atchangeli anno r. r. Edw. tcii post conquestum vicesimo prima." At 
 this court the proceedings, which run to a considerable length, name 
 the sectatores (other rolls name the judicatores first), fine such as are 
 absent as well as offenders for breaking the peace or committing other 
 ofiences, try real and personal actions, and deal with a variety of other 
 matters. Many other courts of the same year, one of which was held 
 at Moor, follow on the same rolL When the judicatores or judgers, 
 who were persons of more importance than the ordinary suitors, are 
 called, most of them ordinarily pay for a license to make an attorney, 
 and to be absent from all the courts of the year except Shotendomes. 
 Constables and other local officers were appointed at the court.; but 
 although Henry, earl of Lancaster, had already begun to have an 
 interest in Halton, no trace of his name' occurs on the roll. In another 
 roll of 22 Rich. II. 1398, which is headed — " Curia feodi de Halton 
 tent. ibm. die Sdbti px post festum Sci Michs anno r. r. Rid sbdi post 
 conquest xdii." there is evidence that John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, 
 was then lord of Halton, for certain judicatores et sectatores paid fines, 
 to the said lord duke to be excused attending any courts in that year 
 ■except Shotendomes. The leets, though called Halton leets, and 
 generally held at that place, were sometimes held at Runcorne, Moor, 
 Thelwall, and Over Whitley. Besides the headings of some of the 
 rolls given in the body of this report, a few others will be found in 
 the Appendix No. '7-. There were separate leets also at Congleton 
 and Widnes. The following, which are the names of the several 
 townships included in the Halton and Widnes ^ leets, shew that both 
 jurisdictions, but more especially the former, were of great extent : — 
 
1K.ccoi*Iis of the lonowr of 
 
 Townships in the Halton leet. 
 
 Acton Grange. 
 Alderley Over. 
 AUostock. 
 Antl-obus. 
 
 Appleton and Hull. 
 Aston by Bud worth. 
 Aston Grange. 
 Aston ,by Sutton. 
 
 Barnton. _ 
 
 Barnston by Woodchurcli. 
 
 Barrow Great. 
 
 Barrow Xiittle. 
 
 Bartington. 
 
 Bexton. 
 
 Bu'dworth Great. 
 
 Capenhurst. Oct. 2, 1512. 
 
 Church Hulme. 
 
 Clifton. 
 
 Cliye. 11 Henry IV. 
 
 Clutton. 36 Henry VIII. 
 
 Cogshall, 
 
 Coniberbach. 
 
 Congleton. 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 Cranage. 
 
 Crowley. 
 
 Davenham. 
 Dutton. 
 
 13 Eliz. 
 
 Halton. 
 
 Hatton. 36 Hen. VIII. & 17 Ch. 
 
 Henbury-cum-PexhuU. 
 
 Hollingworth. 
 
 Hulme Walfield. , 
 
 II. 
 
 Keckwick. 
 
 Kirby in Waley. 36 Hen. 
 
 Knutsford Nether. 
 
 Knutsford Over. 
 
 Leigh Little. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Liskeard. 
 
 Longebarn (rents of Market Gilde, 
 
 12 Hen. IV.) 
 Lostock. 
 Lymm. 
 Lythc or Nether Legh, by Chester. 
 
 Marbury. 
 
 Middlehurst in Grappenhall. 
 
 Middlewalk 
 
 (perhaps part of Antrobus). 
 Millington. 
 
 Moore (sold by James I.) _ 
 Moreton Little, vdth Eode. 
 Mottram in Longendale. 
 
 (Sir John Lovel paid relief for 
 
 the manor in 1376.) 
 
 Newton, near Chester. 
 
 Newton, by Daresbury. 
 
 Norton. 
 
 Odd Eode. 
 
 Peover Little. 
 
 Pickmere. 13 Eliz. 
 
 Plumley. 
 
 Preston-o'-th'-HilL' 
 
 Runcorn. 
 
 Sale. 
 
 Seven Oaks. 
 
 Stockham. 
 
 Stretton. 
 
 Sutton, 
 
 Tabley Nether. 
 
 Tabley Over. 
 
 Thelwall. 
 
 Tintwisle. 
 
 Toft. 
 
 Tranmore. 4 Hen. VIII., 36 Hen. 
 
 Walton Inferior. . VIII. 
 
 Walton Superior. 
 
 Weston. 
 
 Whitley Inferior. 
 
 Whitley Superior. 
 
|5,e£orbs of the honour of 3§aIton. 
 
 Astley. 
 
 Cronton. 
 
 Crosby. 
 
 Farn worth. 
 
 Eccleston. 
 
 Huyton-cum-Roby. 
 
 Townships in Widnes leet. 
 
 Kerbie. 
 
 Knowsley. 
 
 Maghull. 
 
 Rainhill. 
 
 Sutton. 
 
 Torboc. 
 
 Only one of all the Ipet rolls has a seal attacheji to it. The roll of 
 17 Ed. IV. is the solitary exception. ' 
 
 II. The rolls of the halmote or copyhold court, which derive their 
 first name from being originally held in the hall of the lord of the 
 manor, and their second from containing a record of all the copyhold 
 or customary tenancies of the manor, are the second class of records 
 which require our notice* The halmotes were held at least three 
 times in the year, and their rolls are very full, often occupying many 
 skins of parchment, covered both on the front and back. The halmotes 
 have sometimes the words "and corrections" added after their name, 
 the reason, being that offences between the tenants were often 'corrected 
 at them. The halmote of Whitley, held 2 Hen. IV., is headed — 
 " Halmot. prim, de Whitlegh tent. ihm. die Mercurii prx ante festum 
 Sci Marci anno r. r. Henrici quarti post conq. secimdo." At this 
 court, at which a jury of twelve persons was sworn, four constables 
 were also appointed, of whom "John le Frenshman" was one, who it 
 is said was appointed " by the unanimous voice of all the tenants." 
 
 III. Amongst the records there occur a considerable number of 
 rolls of the borough of Congleton, which was a part of the honour of 
 Halton, and received its first charter in 1294 from Henry de Lacy, 
 one of the most famous of the barons of Halton. From these rolls 
 we have extracted the names of a series of the mayors of the borough, 
 a list of which, with the form of the entry of their election, will be 
 found in the 1st Appendix to this report. The jury usually consisted 
 of fourteen persons, and besides the mayors, the names of the cachepols 
 and ale tasters are given. The roll is usually headed — ;" Congleton. 
 Visus franci plegii cum curia leta dncB regince," Sec. 
 
8 ^tcorbs of the "^onmv of 3§alton. 
 
 IV. The next series of rolls which occur are the compotuses or 
 accounts of the receivers, bailiffs, and other officers of different parts 
 of the honour, which are given at great length, and enter with great 
 minuteness the receipts and payments of the accounting officers. At 
 the end the sum total is given in Roman numerals, which it must 
 have cost the officer some trouble to cast up, and the auditor equal 
 trouble to examine and correct. The heading of one of these accounts 
 in 44 Ed. III. is as follows — " Whytelegh. Compotus Johis de Burgh's 
 ballivi et collectoris reddit. et firmar. et exit. ibm. deputat. per consilium 
 drli tempore quo infra a festo Sci Michs anno xliiij. usque ad festum 
 anno xlv. Edw. iij." In this roll there is an entry of vii^- paid to 
 Roger Hale and his co-workmen for fencing xxi. roods of the wood 
 called Ashwoode at iiij''' a rood, a sum which contrasts strongly with 
 the rate at which such work could be done now. There is also an 
 entry of xxxvi'- paid for mUlstones at Congleton, and for their carriage 
 frdm thence to Whitley. 
 
 V. Amongst the records there are some rolls of the Curia 'Nun- 
 dinavum, the courts held at Halton fair, a sort of courts of Pie Poudre 
 which were incident to every fair, in order to afford immediate redress 
 to strangers and others resorting to the fairs. 
 
 VI. Some of the rolls at Halton have no relation to any part of 
 the honour. One of these is a court roll of Bostock, in Cheshire, for 
 the year 1585. Two others are court rolls of Ormskirk for 1588 and 
 1595, and two others are similar rolls for Burscough, in Lancashire, 
 for 1588 and 1596. Bostock in the year 1585 was the property of 
 John Savage, esquire, son of the then seneschal of Halton, which will 
 account for the way in which this roll has found its way into the 
 Halton records; but it is difficult to see how the others came to 
 be there. 
 
 VII. In the 2nd Appendix wiU be found a translation from the 
 original in the Bodleian library, of Henry, duke of Lancaster's, return 
 to a writ of Quo warranto issued about 1359, demanding to know 
 what he claimed, and by what right, in respect of the honour of 
 Halton. The return, which sets forth very fully what rights the duke 
 
P^corbs of the Wionout of 3|aIton. 9 
 
 claimed, is a valuable and interesting historical document. Amongst 
 other rights which he claimed was that of executing certain offenders 
 at Halton by beheading them. This, an historian' asserts, was effected 
 by an instrument called the maiden — ^the same engine, by an earlier 
 and less offensive name, as the guillotine, which in later times has 
 acquired so odious a character. J The first creation of the dukedom 
 of Lancaster, by which duke Henry was made a lord palatine for life 
 of his Lancashire and Cheshire possessions, bears date 25 Ed. III. 1351, 
 that is, four years later tfean the earliest of the records now remaining 
 at Halton. Some of the references, which are not many,, made to the 
 duke and his successors in the Halton records, will be noticed in a 
 subsequent part of this report. 
 
 VIII. Besides the parchment records at Halton, there are some 
 suit rolls on paper from 1671 to 1724, and also some original surrenders 
 on paper from 1662 to 1698, with a few other miscellaneous papers 
 of little or no value. 
 
 In the Appendix No. 3 there will be found a list of the seneschals 
 who have from time to time filled that office at Halton and Widnes ; 
 and in another list, No. 4, will be found the names of the other 
 officers who appear on the Halton rolls. Some other local officers will 
 be found in the Appendix No. 5. 
 
 Many of the seneschals have found a place in history. One of 
 these, the seneschal of Halton, on 9 April 9 Henry IV. 1408, was Sir 
 Richard Aston, who was then at Calais on the king's business, and 
 wrote a letter from thence which was read at the Halton court. Sir 
 Richard, who had served the king's father in his wars in Spain, and 
 there fearlessly faced danger in the field, came back to confront death 
 in a more hideous form at home, for the plague broke out in his house 
 at Ringey, and carried off his wife and "all his little ones!" 
 
 Priscian's head is often broken in these records, whose writers are 
 often at fault, as well in the genders, cases, numbers, and declensions 
 of the parts of speech, as in subjects of history and grammar. 
 
 'Whittaker'a Hist. "Whalley, p. 261. 
 
10 Pecflris of the 3§onuor xrf ^dton. 
 
 Accidebit is used for accidet. 
 
 Climacem is used with quandam for a stile. 
 
 Coram occasionally governs an accusative instead of an ablative case. 
 
 Eetis is used for retibus. 
 
 The roll for 1608, omitting all inention of the king's English regnal 
 year, is dated in the 41 James I. 
 
 Another gives the year and mentions the 7 th day, but omits any 
 mention of the month, and another leaves oiit the day of the week. 
 
 Some words seem to require explanation,, as, for instance — 
 
 Astrum, which seems to mean a hearth. 
 
 Aynstall, a young tree of some kind. 
 
 Berlagii, meaning Burleymen. 
 
 Budfee, a fee which I cannot explain. 
 
 Busta firewood, the original of fire bote. 
 
 Cervisiarium indigestum, a disorderly alehouse. 
 
 Chethering or Thethering I am unable to explain, unless it means 
 tethiering. 
 
 Chortis, which perhaps means a court. 
 
 Ergasticon is used for a pinfold. 
 
 Excubitum, watch and ward. 
 
 Feris, in the ablative, is used for deer. 
 
 Hameliavit duodecima manu. means that he took home a strange 
 beast, having proved by twelve men that it was his. 
 
 Henne, some kind of habit or cloth. 
 
 Medelect, some kind of cloth, perhaps a blanket. 
 
 Ohringe ripe is said to mean a common ground or chydor, without 
 disturbance of the neighbours. 
 
 Paniherum means a crow net. 
 
 Pondum, a pinfold. 
 
 Quadrum, apparently a tobacco quid. 
 
 Quartrona una means some measure of land. 
 
 Rynhe rord. A person is fined for not repairing one. What this 
 word, so like the modern rynk, means, I do not know, but another 
 man is fined for not repairing his chortis or ring yard. 
 
 Shotendomes means some court of a special nature. 
 
 Spheristerum means a bowling alley. 
 
 Subtenentes means inmates. 
 
|S.e£orbs of the 3^onoxtr of 3^altoii. ii 
 
 Tipulator may mean a publican, though it sounds more like tippler. 
 
 Toptrose, crop or underwood used in making or repairing a weir. 
 The last syllable is the same as the first in trowse-bUl, an implement 
 to cut such wood with. 
 
 A few noticeable names of places occur, as — 
 
 Arthur's Pool, possibly Otter's Pool. 
 
 EUerwarpe, probably Owlwarps in Thelwall. 
 
 Inkle Hall in Congleton. 
 
 Laddes Moss in Halton. 
 
 Powle for Pole in Antrobus. 
 
 Street Gate and Street Moor in Halton, which have a Eoman sound. 
 
 Urthowls in Thelwall. 
 
 There are a few strange names of persons, as — 
 
 Agnes Down-the-Lone. 
 
 Hamor Oldelondes. 
 
 Henry Brocknewynd. 
 
 There are occasionally some noticeable entries. Thus, in 1365, a 
 boy (garcio) is paid xii*- for carrying a letter from Warrington to 
 Preston (30 miles), and from thence to Lancaster (24 miles), to be 
 delivered to Godfrey Foljambe. This person, a Derbyshire knight, 
 who is mentioned in the Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem 
 (pp. 209, 273, and 354), was probably engaged on some public 
 business at Lancaster, but we do not know what the business was, 
 nor what was the purport of the letter which was sent him, though 
 it probably related to the magistracy. The sum the messenger got 
 was but a small reward for going half-a-hundred miles. (See foot note*.) 
 Thomas Kat received the same sum for carrying a letter from 
 Cheshire into Herefordshire, in 1372 ; but postage is one of the 
 few things that has become cheaper, and a letter will now pass 
 over half the globe for a sum equal to that paid to the two old 
 letter carriers we have just mentioned. In 1415, Henry Coup bought 
 from the seneschal a swarm of bees taken in his own garden ; from 
 which it is evident that the lord of Halton claimed all stray swarms 
 of bees as his own. 
 
 * On 5 February, 1362/3, the king addressed a letter on the subject of William le Gentil's 
 misconduct to Godfrey Foljambe and his fellow justices at Lancaster.— (Hist. Lan. I. 306.) 
 
12 l^erorbjs of the ^onom: at 3|aItott. 
 
 Tlie abbot of Norton paid for the pound of pepper xii*- which he 
 was bound to render, and in 1376 the prior there received xii^- for 
 a cart-load of turf sent from the priory to the castle. 
 
 A return is made to the court from time to time that the stocks 
 and whipping-post, are in order, but we find in them no notice of 
 persons sent to be punished in them, nor any such entries as the 
 following, which occur in the Congleton books : — 
 
 "Pay'd for two cordes which whipped two rougs !*■ 
 
 "Pay'd Raufe Stubs for taking say d rougs to Halton castle to 
 be try'd." 
 
 This procedure recalls to mind the practice of Judge ^acus of old, 
 of whom it was said " castigat et audit " — ^he first punishes and then 
 tries oHenders. Such was the treatment which St. Paul is described 
 as having received (Acts xvi. 22). Even Poor Tom in "King Lear," 
 who was whipped and stocked, from tithing to tithing, does not appear 
 to have been subjected to the mockery of a tria,l afterwards. 
 
 In 1443, the judicatores of Kyi;kebetham and Kirkby Gerard were 
 excused from attending all the Widnes courts but one in that year. 
 
 There is occasionally a cheering entry on the roll. Thus, in 1665, 
 the return of one of the townships is that there were in it no public 
 houses and no sabbath-breakers, but that there was a shooting butts. 
 All the townships of the leet are enumerated in that year. 
 
 In 1667, the sequestered vill of Bexton is returned as having no 
 tippler and no beer seller within it ; but in another year, which must 
 have been one of jubilee, the jury returned that they had no offences 
 to present in any of the numerous townships of the leet. 
 
 We propose, now, to notice from the rolls a few particulars either 
 in connection with public history or illustrative of the times, and we 
 shall commence first with those which relate to the religious house 
 of Norton, and some of the other clergy who appear from time to time 
 befote the court. 
 
 The heads of the house of Norton, who were at first priors, began 
 very, early in the fifteenth century to be styled abbots of that house. 
 The following list contains, it is believed, the names of all the priors 
 and abbots from the foundation of Norton to the final dissolution of 
 
Pccorbs of the 3|onoHC of 3ialtott. 
 
 13 
 
 the house, with the approximate dates when each of them succeeded 
 and ceased to rule the house : — 
 
 I. 
 
 Richard 
 
 1131 to 1159 
 
 II. 
 
 Henry- 
 
 1159 , 
 
 , 1190 
 
 III. 
 
 Roger 
 
 1190 , 
 
 , 1193 
 
 IV. 
 
 Egidius 
 
 1193 , 
 
 ,1210 
 
 V. 
 
 Ranulphus - 
 
 1210 , 
 
 , 1230 
 
 VI. 
 
 John 
 
 1230 , 
 
 , 1233 
 
 VII. 
 
 Andrew 
 
 1233 , 
 
 , 1237 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Hugh 
 
 1237 , 
 
 , 1249 
 
 IX. 
 
 Roger de "| 
 Mamecestre j 
 
 1249 , 
 
 , 1270 
 
 X. 
 
 Roger de \ 
 Lincoln ) 
 
 1270 , 
 
 , 1286 
 
 XI. 
 
 John deOulton 1286 , 
 
 , 1329 
 
 xn. 
 
 Robert Bernard 1329 , 
 
 , 1347 
 
 XIII. 
 
 John de \ 
 Wevirham J 
 
 1347 , 
 
 , 1358 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Walter 
 
 1358 , 
 
 , 1370 
 
 XV. 
 
 Richard \ 
 
 1370 , 
 
 , 1409 
 
 1444 
 
 Abbots. 
 
 *XVI. Johnde 1 j^^g 
 Schroshery J 
 
 XVIL John Sutton 1421 
 XVIII. Thomas ) 
 Westbary J 
 
 XIX. Roger \ ^^^g 
 Plemouth j 
 
 XX. Robert 1 j^^j^ 
 Lef twich j 
 
 *XXI. John - 1465 
 
 XXn. Richard ) Ya«o 
 MalbournI ^*°" 
 
 XXIII. John - 1495 
 
 XXIV. Roger Hall 1497 
 
 to 1421 
 
 „ 1444 
 
 „ 1448 
 
 „ 1451 
 
 „ 1465 
 
 „ 1480 
 
 „ 1495 
 
 „ 1497 
 
 „ 1512 
 
 *XXV. William - 1512 „ 1515 
 XXVI. JohnMalborn 1515 „ 1525 
 XXVII. Thomas ) 
 
 Berket V 1525 „ 1536 
 ultimus domus) 
 
 The three abbots above marked, Nos. XVI., XXI., and XXV., 
 each with an asterisk, who have been taken from the Halton rolls, 
 and appear now for the first time in any list of the heads of the 
 house of Norton, are therefore a fresh contribution to history. It 
 would be satisfactory if we could discover the surnames of aU those 
 who only appear in the list by th^ir Christian names. In four hundred 
 years, there appeair to have been twenty-seven heads of the house — 
 thus giving an average of nearly fifteen years for the government of 
 the house by each head ; which shews that some, at least, must have 
 had but short reigns. 
 
 The priors and abbots of Norton^ perhaps presuming on their 
 spiritual character, seem at times to have assumed almost arbitrary 
 power, of which what is recorded on the rolls of 30 March, 1370, may 
 be cited as one instance. At the court then held it was found that 
 six servants of the prior of Norton, all whose names are given, had 
 by the prior's command entered into a house at Moor, on Saturday 
 
14 flecorbfi of the W)ononv of ^alion. 
 
 before St. Andre-w's day, 1369, and there by force and arms had 
 carried away from thence Margery, the wife of William de Keckwick, 
 and conducted her to the priory, where she was kept in prison until 
 she made fine to the prior to have her liberty. Walter— such is 
 believed to be the prior's name — must have been a bold and lawless 
 man, when he dared to act after this manner., 
 
 In 1393, when a large wood of the lord's was felled, prior Eichard 
 del Wyche, Walter's successor, claimed and took ten of thq_ trees for 
 his tithe ; but he had misgivings as to his right to take them, and he 
 gave the seneschal an undertaking to return them if the law should 
 be against him, as it most clearly was, after the express enactments 
 of 45 Edw. III. c. 3. We hardly wonder 'at the churchman claiming 
 the trees, but we do wonder ait the seneschal's permitting it, the law 
 being so decisive and so recently declared. 
 
 In 1421, the jury present the abbot (he had only very recently 
 assumed that title) and five other persons "quia non fecerunt portam 
 ideo in mla p. eor. defalt." 
 
 In 1427, the abbot appears in cojirt as a plaintiff suing for debts 
 in two separate actions. 
 
 , In 1468, the court fined"" the abbot of Norton for not making his 
 closure at Fresh Pool, (in the Mersey), and in the following year the 
 abbot and one of his canons appear as suitors in an action of debt. 
 
 As judgers of Middleton, the abbots every year obtained a licence 
 to appoint an attorney to appear for them in all courts except the 
 Shotendomes. At all other courts they were excused attendance. 
 
 In 1510, abbot William complained to the court of one Laurence 
 Malborn, and the latter thereupon was bound over in the large sum 
 of forty pounds — shewing that the offence must haVe been a grave 
 one which required so large a baiL 
 
 In 1367, Thomas, the son of Thomas of the Castle, clerk, the lord's 
 born villein (nativus de, sanguine), came and paid the lord a fine of xP: 
 for a licence to take holy orders "at the peril of his father;" meaning, 
 I suppose, that the father was to pay the fin'e. Unless the word 
 clerk is meant to be referred to the son, the father was not a celibate. 
 In the same year, Thomas, the son of Richard Archer, clerk, the lord's 
 born villein (nativus de sanguine), came and paid the like fine for a 
 similar licence, at the like peril of his father. 
 
^croriis of thz 3|onour of 3^d.ton. 15 
 
 This application for the lord's licence was in strict accordance with 
 the provisions of the vi*'' constitution of Clarendon, by which it was 
 declared that the sons of villeins ought, not to be ordained without the 
 consent of the lords in whose lands they were known to have been 
 born ; the reason of which was that ord.aining a slave had ipso facto 
 the effect of enfranchising him, and therefore, the sons of villeins 
 being born in slavery, to free them in this manner, without the lord's 
 express consent, was to rob him of their services. In Hist. Eiehmond. 
 V. II. 333*, two men, each described as "clericus," are given like cattle, 
 with their issue (they were, I suppose, villeins}. The year is not 
 given, but I suppose about 1500. 
 
 Besides the names of the three abbots unknown before, the rolls 
 give us the names of a few of the canons of Norton, of whom we had 
 not heard before. John Torfot, one of these in 1410, was probably 
 a native of Frodsham, where the name is common. Thomas Chestre, 
 the' name of another, bespeaks his own place of nativity. In 1469, 
 Robert del Wyche, probably a collateral relation of a former prior of 
 the house, is mentioned as one of the canons. 
 
 The rolls supply the iiames of some of the vicars whom the convent 
 from time to time appointed to their .livings. In 1368, Thomas de 
 Wotton is mentioned as the vicar of Runcorn, in their gift. In 1399, 
 Richard de Halton is said to have then died vicar of that place. In 
 1425, Robert de Halton, probably one of the same family as his 
 predecessor, was vicar of Runcorn. In 1537, Thomas Fletcher, the 
 last person whom the convent had power to appoint to the living of 
 Runcorn, is found in possession of that living. In 1408, Thomas Page, 
 appointed by the convent, was vicar of Great Budworth. Of Richard 
 Dunham, another vicar there, we shall make mention hereafter. 
 
 Of other clerks in holy orders we meet with frequent incidental 
 notices. Thus, in 1368 and at other times, Nicholas, the clerk of 
 Bexton, is mentioned as sitting on the jury; and John Hauk is 
 mentioned as receiving from Thomas Page the surrender of a house 
 situated near the cctstle in Runcorn. Had Page, who was vicar of 
 Great Budworth, exchanged Hvings with Hauk ? The clerk of Bexton 
 must have found himself somewhat of a hermit in that secluded place, 
 and his service on the jury must have occasioned him a pleasant 
 diversion of mind. William Appleton, another clerk, who in 1380 
 
16 pecorbB of the "^onom of ^alton. 
 
 made his compotus or account as bailiff of Halton, and who was 
 
 almost certainly the same person as William the " capp," or William 
 
 the chaplain of the castle, in his many and Varied employments, was 
 
 a great contrast to his brother clerk at Bexton. Appleton, who was 
 
 a grey friar, was the duke's physician, and had charge of the duke 
 
 in mind, body, and estate. His fate was a sad one, for being in the 
 
 Savoy when it was sacked in 1381, he was taken and killed by the 
 
 mob. (Memorials of the Savoy, p. 76.) The keeping and making out 
 
 a compotus seems to" have been quite compatible with a chaplain's 
 
 office, for WiUiam Daas, afterwards rector of Winwick, and probably 
 
 canon of Nostell priory, was also an accounting reeve of Halton. In 
 
 1427, the king's clerk at Halton, by which perhaps we are to under-' 
 
 stand the priest Or chaplain at Halton castle, was declared to be 
 
 entitled by custom to have one pig, or twelve pence instead of it, 
 
 whenever swine were rendered to the king — that is, in his character 
 
 of lord of Halton. In 1424,' Toft is mentioned to have had Thomas 
 
 de Crokeston as a clerk there. Unless he was chaplain to the family 
 
 at the Hall, there could have been little call for his services in so 
 
 small a place. In 1505, the prior of St. John de Magna Woolton, 
 
 was called to do service among the suitors at Widnes. In 1544, 
 
 Thomas Taylor occurs as clerk at Thelwall. Had he been sent to 
 
 officiate there, in this outlying portion of the parish of Runcorn, while 
 
 the abbey of Norton was standing ? In the same year, John Crosbie, 
 
 clerk, is called over as one of the suitors of Lower Walton. In 
 
 1555, Ralph Thomason, possibly the chaplain at Farnworth, makes a 
 
 surrender of certain lands at Widnes. Some of the clergy occasionally 
 
 found the court no little employment, and were certainly not wholly 
 
 men of peace. William de Deresbury, probably the chaplain of that 
 
 church, was presented and fined for committing a breach of the peace, 
 
 by assaidting Matilda Lowe; and he was also summoned to answer 
 
 the complaint of William Lowe, probably Matilda's husband. William, 
 
 the clerk and probably the chaplain of Aston chapel, was fined for 
 
 some offence the same year. In 1381, John Morsel, chaplain, is 
 
 charged with a trespass on the lord's park at Halton ; but above all 
 
 other clerks, Richard de Dunham, vicar of Great Budworth, must have 
 
 been especially troublesome. In 1415, he was fined for feeding his 
 
 swine in the lord's woods without leave, and in the same year he was 
 
'§,zcotii8 of tto 3|onoxtr of 3^aIton. 17 
 
 fined for not repairing his rynke-rord juxta HuUe Moss, according to 
 the order of the burleymen. The next year he was fined twice^first 
 for an assault, and secondly for stopping a high\vay. In 1420, he 
 was thrice fined — first for encroaching on the highway, secondly for 
 applying to. another purpose some wood which had been allowed him 
 towards building a house, and thirdly for enclosing some of the lord's 
 waste; and in the same year he was also sued for a debt. In 1421, 
 he was sued in three separate actions for debt. In 1425, he was sued 
 for debt by his patron the abbot, and by others in several other actions. 
 In 1427, he had another action brought against him, after which we hear 
 of him no more. The abbot must have had some trouble with his vicars 
 if others were as troublesome as Richard de Dunham. But there were 
 some other litigious clerks beside him who had, though not so often, 
 found the court employment. In 1499, WiUiam Percival, chaplain, 
 and Richard Cochet, clerk, each brought several actions in the court. 
 In 1508, William Sutton of Moor, chaplain, possibly the minister at 
 Daresbuiy, was sued for a debt; and in 1513, the year of Floddeh, 
 he was fined for an assault. What a pity the fighting chaplain did 
 not carry his blows to. Flodden, where they might have been of more 
 use in the king's host. In 1532, John Latchford, another chaplain, 
 was bound over to keep the peace. In 1543, Richard Gerard, clerk, 
 rector of GrappenhaU, was struck and wounded with a dagger by ' 
 Sir Thomas Holcroft (the spoiler of monasteries), who probably knew 
 that Gerard disapproved of his proceedings. In 1544, Thomas Fletcher 
 the younger, clerk, was a suitor in the court for a debt. In the same 
 year, William Runcorn of Runcorn, chaplain, was presented for that 
 he,, not .being beneficed to xP- a year, did keep a hare hound and was 
 a common hunter. 
 
 There are in the records occasional notices of villeins as a class, 
 some of them shewing how fast they were bound to the soil. In 1378, 
 two notices referring to them occur : one is the entry of vi""- viii^- xi"^- 
 for rents received from bondage tenants, and the other an entry xxxvi^- 
 being the tallage of the bondmen received every third year. In 1385, 
 from Hodgson, a bondman, there was received the sum of xii"*' for 
 licence to live outside the lord's demesne during the lord's pleasure ; 
 and the same year there was received from Hugh Alkokson and John 
 
18 Pecocbs of the 3|ottour of .^alton. 
 
 Grey, each the like sum for the like licence. In another entry, it is 
 stated that Marger/, late the wife of Eandle Jackson, a born neif, had 
 gone out of the vill without licence and was living in Preston, and 
 that Henry Grymsdich (nativus de sanguine) had quitted the vill 
 without licence. In 1393, John Fitz William, a villein, paid vi"^- for 
 the lord's licence to live out of his demesne. These persons, it must 
 be presumed, were villeins in gros ! 
 
 Some other particulars of the business done at the courts at Halton 
 must not be left unnoticed. In 1370, the jury, which naturally 
 enough had a jealousy of the rights of their own court, fined a person 
 oommorant in the district for carrying his cause to be tried in the 
 court of session at Chester, and not bringing his action in the lord's 
 court at Halton. , In 1381, an action brought at Congleton shews that 
 John of Gaunt was then its lord. The writ, which was in Latin, in a 
 translation runs thus : " Eichard, by the grace of God king of England 
 and France and lord of Ireland, To the bailiffs at Congleton' of John 
 king of Castelle and Leon and duke of Lancaster, greeting : We 
 command you that without delay, and according to the custom of the 
 manor of Congleton, you do right (plenum rectum teneatis) to John de 
 Congultoii of one burgage and two and a half acres of land, whereof 
 WiUiam de Brodock, one of the burgesses of Congleton, and Adam 
 Tyrebak deforce him, unless he claim to be heard for failure of justice 
 ' (ne inde clamat et p. defcu recti). Witness, John de Holand, our 
 justice at Chester, in the fovirth year of our reign." The borough of 
 Congleton, created by Henry de Lacy, had been conferred on the 
 baron of Halton with the rest of the honour by several successive 
 charters. In 1361, the then baron had a partial grant of yura regalia 
 in his duchy of Lancaster, of which he was then created a duke ; but 
 in 2 and 13 Eichard II., John of Gaunt being then duke, the dukedom 
 was made a palatinate to him, first for life, and afterwards to his heirs 
 in tail male. 
 
 In 1370, when Eichard del Wyche, the prior of Norton, presented 
 to the court a letter from tl^e duke of Lancaster, the court declined to 
 accede to the request contained in it, and asserted their independence, 
 as the following entry on the rolls shews: "18 May, 1370. Eichard 
 del Wyche, prior of Norton, produced to the court at Halton a letter 
 
^ccorbs of th£ ^onoux of ^altort. 19 
 
 from the lord duke, under his seal, requiring the court to enquire into 
 certain articles referred to in a packet contained in the said letter, 
 and to do what they could and what right and reason required, 
 whereupon, an inquest being summoned, they returned for answer 
 that they were only bound in that court to swear in certain causes, 
 and at certain'times — viz., twice a year — that is to say, at the first 
 court in the year held at Halton after Michaelmas, and at the. court 
 held once a year at ThelwaU, and in assizes of novel disseizin by 
 consent of parties, and in obstruction of ways at the suit of the party, 
 and in delivering the gaol when it occurred, and therefore the prior's, 
 complaint was respited." 
 
 Widnes was dependent upon Halton, and the manner in which 
 this came about may be seen in the History of Lancashire (vol. iii. 
 720-1.) 
 
 In 1393, a writ was addressed to the bailiffs of Congleton, as the 
 officers of John of Gaunt, duke of Aquitaine, and on Saturday after 
 Michaelmas 22 E,ic. II. 1398, when the king's throne was tottering, 
 and the judicatores and sectatores applied for the usual licence to be 
 absent from the manor courts for the year, and paid their fines for 
 such licence, the fines were paid over to the duke of Lancaster, and 
 we have on the rolls of the court this notice of it, which is quite an 
 historic document : " Be it remembered that at the first court of the fee 
 of Halton, held by Thomas de Holford, the seneschal appointed by the 
 grant of our lord the king and the duke of Surrey (who was one of 
 the characters in Shakspere's Kich. II. Act iv. s. 1), by letters patent 
 of the said king and the said duke, in the place and stead of Sir 
 Richard de Aston, knight, the late seneschal, who was removed from 
 his office immediately after the death of John, duke of Lancaster and 
 Aquitaine, on Saturday next before the feast of St. Matthew the 
 apostle, in 22 year of king Richard II. (14 Sept. 1398), which letters 
 patent granted by the said Thomas, duke of Surrey, to the said 
 Thomas Holford, of the office of constable .and seneschal of Halton, 
 bear date the 20th day of February in the aforesaid year of the king's 
 reign. And be it remembered that the castle of Halton, with the 
 lordship of Halton and all its goods and chattels, were seized into the 
 king's hands by the said Thomas de Holford, on the 7th -day of 
 February in the aforesaid 22d year of the king's reign, as by the 
 
20 ISlecorbs of the 3|ononr ot WtnUon. 
 
 letter and warrant of the same Thomas, duke of Surrey, doth more 
 fully appear." « 
 
 In 5 Ed. IV,, the inquest at the court make this short return: 
 "Nil presentant propter breve tempus." 
 
 In 1468, the manor of Eocleston paid 2/- at the Widnes court 
 for various customs " ex aMiquo usitatos ut patet per cartam" That 
 is to say, that they might appoint their own officers and bd excused 
 attending at the Farnworth court. 
 
 At the Halton court held in 4 Hen. VIII. 1512, Elizabeth Heath, 
 feervant to John Blinsten, and Agnes, wife of John Owen, were found 
 to be common carriers away of the poles of the park, and were fined 
 for it ; and Agnes was further charged with stealing the racks placed 
 in the park to hold the hay whifth' had been placed there for the 
 king's deer (feris). 
 
 In 5 Hen. VIII. 1513, at the Widnes court, the following 
 sectatores were called : — 
 
 The earl of Derby se'ctator for KnoWsley. 
 
 John Daniel for Eccleston. 
 
 Thomas Gerard, esquire, for Kirkby. 
 
 The abbot of Whalley for Crouton. 
 
 The prior of St. John of Jerusalem for Great Woolton. 
 
 Henry Blundell, esquire, for Little Crosby. 
 
 Thomas RadcHff for Astlgy. 
 
 Mathew MaghuU for Maghull. 
 
 In 1544, the jury' at Thelwall presented Robert Bold and Thomas 
 Heypey for keeping cards, " tabs " (dice), et alia joca illicita, in 
 their houses, " contra firmam statuti." 
 
 In 1559, a tenant was presented at the court for not ringing his 
 swine. 
 
 In 1598, Richard Heypey was fined "quia s'ervavit unum spheris- 
 terium," — anglice, a bowHng-alley, and some of the bowlers were fined 
 for playing there. 
 
 In 1544, the court at Halton was very full of business. 
 
 In 1558, it is stated that Sir John Savage, knight, judicator of 
 CHfton, owed suit at Halton court from fortnight to fortnight to give 
 judgments there, and that he had appeared in his proper person. 
 
of tkz '^ononv of Spdton. 2i 
 
 On the 22d March 1 Eliz. 1559, it is recorded that the mayor and 
 baihffs of the borough of Congleton had not returned to the court 
 their precepts, and it is added that they were excused any fine 
 " quia pestilentia in eddem villa valde fuit." This seems to have 
 been one of those local plagues which have Escaped mention in general 
 history. 
 
 In 1608, John Lawton was fined 3/4 for allowing Thomas Whitley 
 to remain tippling in his house, which it is presumed was public, for 
 one hour. 
 
 In 1553, a man was fined for watering flax in another man's pit. 
 Whoever has smelt the river Lys when it is discoloured by its infusion 
 of flax water, will be at no loss to understand the reason of this. 
 
 During the interregnum, the court was held and the jury sworn 
 "in the name of the Commonwealth," and in 1655, ten persons were 
 fined five shillings each for refusing to be sworn to enquire for the 
 Lord Protector. , 
 
 In 1655, a man was fined for sufiering his wife to fight and draw 
 blood. He deserved his fate, and worse than it, for his cowardice and 
 want of gallantry. 
 
 In 1656, the old complaint of obstructing the river by fish yards 
 is repeated. The evil seems to have been inveterate ; but the dis- 
 appearance of all fish from the stream, by the water being poisoned, 
 is an evil that ought to be remedied. 
 
 In 1375, there was an officer called a taxator, who was to take 
 an account of the" swine feeding in the lord's woods, and to receive 
 the pannage due for them. This year, the sum received for pannage, 
 " thistletake," and the perquisites of the halmote was — twenty -two 
 pence for the pannage arid thistletake, and thirteen shillings and five 
 pence for court perquisites. 
 
 In 1378, John Tallock paid six pence for a place called Shiplode 
 Manway in Runcorn, and William Enlowe paid the same sum for a 
 licence to build a house on Runcorn heath. 
 
 In 1380, John Danyers paid xiii''- in lieu of a pound of pepper; 
 which, judging from the price, shews that that article was then dear. 
 
 In the same year, the vill of Millington rendered one penny instead 
 of a Manchester knife. Manchester did not rival Sheffield in work of 
 this kind. 
 
22 ^£coi'i)£i of the 3|onottr of 3|alton. 
 
 On 20 April, 2 Hen. IV., a number of. the Halton men were bound 
 over to keep the peace. The late dethronement of Eichard II. > \^hose. 
 memory lay like lees in Cheshire hearts, doubtless shook and staggered 
 people in their allegiance to the new king, and' led at this time to 
 their being required to enter into sureties of the peace. 
 
 On 25 Oct. 1403, Eichard Hey, Thomas de Newhall, and -John 
 Carre, three of the king's tenants at "Whitley, were reported to have 
 died at Shrewsbury, whither they had gone to fights for the king, 
 against Harry Percy, on the 21 July preceding. As they had fought 
 and fallen on the king's side, their wives were at once admitted to 
 their lands. 
 
 On 5 Oct. 11 Hen. IV. 1409, Thomas Warburton, the king's 
 attorney for the county, made a presentment to the court that William 
 Walys (Wales), otherwise called William de: Euncorn, who had fled 
 with Owen Glendower into Wales, held of: the king one acre, of land 
 between' the PoTte in Euncorn and the Slaghland, and*, half an acre 
 in the Porte and a selion in Balgrave, and, that he being dead, the 
 land had escheated to the .king. 
 
 There are a few other notices which recall some historic events. 
 
 In 1380, Eobert le Grosvenor paid six. pence as a free rent in lieu 
 of a pair of spurs due from him for Plumley. This Eobert became, 
 soon after this time, a party in the celebrated case, of Scrope and 
 Grosvenor, the most remarkable, genealogical controversy on record, 
 and in which more witnesses and of greater rank were examined than 
 in almost any other ancient cause. 
 
 In 1385, when the duke of Lancaster, the baron of Halton, was 
 about to set out to Spain to prosecute his claim to the throne of. 
 Castilleand Leon, Thomas Maisterson and Eichard Massey, two of 
 his tenants at Halton who had at first engaged, to accompany hirn, 
 are reported to have disloyally drawn back and refused to go with 
 him ; but no doubt some of the other tenants were found ready, and 
 did accompany their lord on his search for his chateau en Espagne. 
 
 In 1409, John Machel of Congleton having died, his chief weapon, 
 a hazel bow worth two pence, fell to the lord of the fee as a principal. 
 Another tenant having died, his principal weapon, a pole, axe worth 
 
^ecortis of ihz 3|onoitr of 3|aIton. 23 
 
 four pence, fell to the lord in like manner; and a third tenant being 
 dead, his chief weapon, a bow worth four pence, fell to the king, who 
 was now lord of the manor in like manner as of old tinie. There is 
 no war recorded to be going on at this time, but Glen dower's rebellion 
 was hardly over, and these men might have been using the forfeited 
 weapons in the king's service. 
 
 In 1415, six pence and a bow were found to be due as a principal 
 after the death of Richard Kronkworth, and another bow worth six 
 pence had fallen due in like manner by the death of Richard de 
 Daresbury. 
 
 Hugh de Astbrook being called to do his suit and to answer a 
 process, was excused on the express ground that he was with the king 
 in France. Kronkworth and Daresbitry had doubtless both fallen 
 either at Agincourt or at Harfleur, and Astbrook had come back 
 with his laurels. 
 
 In 1415, William Jenne was reported, to be at sea on the king's 
 business. 
 
 The next year, some women are presented for calling each other 
 foul names, but no mention is made of the brank having been put in 
 requisition on the occasion ; nor, though a brank was kept in almost 
 every vill, has any mention been found of its use. 
 
 In 1416, an ox worth eight shillings, which had fallen to the king 
 by the death of John del Fere, doubtless another of "those slain at 
 Agincourt, was sold to his widow, who was also admitted tenant in 
 his room. 
 
 On Thursday before St. George's day, 4 Hen. VIII. 1512, William 
 Hicson was excused attending at the Moor court because he was going 
 with the king on his wars in France. This man probably went with 
 the Marquis of Dorset's unfortunate expedition — with which, however,, 
 the king did not go. 
 
 In 1560, a swoi'd worth two shillings fell to the queen as a heriot, 
 and was presented at the Congleton court. 
 
 In the 42 Edward III. 1370, Hamon de Warburton is fined by the 
 court for taking a hare in^the lord's warren at Whitley. There was 
 thus early a jealousy against people taking the four-footed game. The 
 warren here spoken of must mean the lord's free warren, for , hares are 
 not, like rabbits, confined in an enclosed warren. 
 
24 p^corbB of the W)onmv of 3|alton. ■ 
 
 In 1505, five persons, one of them a flesher or arrow maker and 
 the rest yeomen, were presented by the Halton jury for that, on the 
 14 September preceding, they did keep certain "leporarios licistas 
 (sic) et alios canes ad venarid," not having lands or tenements to the 
 value of X? a year, and were common hunters, contrary to the form 
 of the statute. Eugenias thus alludes to the dog Lycista, in a line 
 quoted by Ducange — 
 
 "At lupus et catula formant cocundo Lyciscam." 
 
 Was the arrow maker of this party expected to second the- dogs with 
 his weapons? If so, it was hardly fair to the game, but the bow 
 would be less noisy than the crack of a modern fowling-piece. 
 
 In another entry, which I have mislaid, some dogs which are 
 alluded to as broken-haired might possibly be deer-hounds. 
 
 In 1505;, the jury at the Halton court held at Thelwall presented 
 John BoUyng of Warrington, yeoman, for that he on 1 February, and 
 on divers other days as well before as after, at Appleton and elsewhere 
 within the fee, of Halton, with greyhounds and other dogs (cum 
 greyhitches venaticis et aliis canihus), was a common hunter, " vi et 
 armis," not having lands and tenements to the value of xl^- a year, 
 and it is added, "nil habet ideo capiatur." 
 
 In 1512, at the Runcorn halmote, the jury, as we have before 
 mentioned, presented William Euncorn of Runcorn, chaplain, for that 
 he, not being beneficed to xP- a year, did keep a hare-hound and was 
 a common hunter. . 
 
 In 1539, George Thelewall and Hugh Raynshaw were charged 
 with having taken, at Halton, twenty partridges with nets and other 
 engines, against the form of the statute, they not having lands and 
 tenements of the value of xl^- a year. 
 
 From time to time notice is taken of repairs going on at the castle, 
 which as a place of confinement for prisoners seems to have been very 
 insecure, seeing that they who were sent there frequently made their 
 escape. 
 
 Some workmen who were employed there, in 1421, received each 
 six pence a day. 
 
 In 1423, a man employed there eight weeks in making a prison 
 house under the Hurle's chamber (Earl's), received six pence a day — 
 
Pccorbs of the ?|onotti' of Spalton. 25 
 
 working tM'o weeks beside the resale tower (sally tower?) — repairing 
 the base of the round tower, two weeks — making good defects in the 
 castle chapel, two weeks — and for a thousand spike nails there was 
 paid four shillings. 
 
 Among the dffences noticed was a robbery of a curious nature, 
 which must, we think, have been committed by some person in the 
 priory, who was compelled to abandon in his flight as waif the 
 property he had stolen. In 1367, the bailiff of the court at Halton 
 presented,- that near to the Endleigh houses in Norton he had found 
 a sack abandoned as a waif, and that in it there were the following 
 articles, namely ^three footstools (tria bapetia), seven slevynges of 
 mixed shalloon (septem slevynges de chalon myxen), one furred tunic, 
 with a hood and collar of the same colour (una tunica furrata cum 
 capicio et collobio ejusdem colons), and another hood and a piece of 
 medelecto (blanket) cloth (aluid capicium cum una pecia panni de 
 medelecto), one apron and one henne (unum barmcloth et unum henne); 
 all which articles, after proclamation made, were sold to the prior of 
 Norton for xvi^- viii"*- of which xiii'- iiij**- went to the lord of the fee, 
 and the rest was given to the bailiff for his pains. Nothing is said 
 of the punishment of the thief, and probably if he was an inmate of 
 the house, "Walter, who was at this time its prior, would, desire to 
 hush up the scandal. If the inmate was a canon of the order, his 
 crime was little less than sacrilege. 
 
 In 1380, one William Harper, who had been tried at Chester and 
 found guilty of the murder of Adam Mushet, was brought back to 
 Halton and there hanged by the bailiff, and the lord of the fee 
 received six pence for the value of his goods. 
 
 In the same year, six pence was paid to the gaoler at Chester for 
 a prisoner taken there to be put in irons. 
 
 In 9 Henry IV. 1407', Thomas Yaughan, a debtor who had been 
 sued, waged his law, and. at the proper time when the case came on, 
 he duly made his law, and was acquitted of the debt; and the next 
 year, Hondekm de Hatton, who was 'charged with keeping a dog that 
 had worried Eoger Madoc's ewe lamb, waged his law by three men, 
 and in due time made his law and was acquitted. 
 
 On 5 Oct. 1409, Matilda the wife of Eichard Rhys, Bertram the 
 presteswoman, and Mabot wife of John Wersley, were presented as 
 
26 perQrtijs of thz 3|onottr of 2|dton. 
 
 common scolds, but nothing is said of the brank or the cucking-stool 
 being ordered to be inflictdd. 
 
 In 1415, the jury at Halton presented Adam Jenne and William 
 Jenne for that they, by a ladder reared against the wall, had entered 
 the castle at Halton by night, and had then and there stolen and 
 carried away " divers astabulas ;" that Adam having been taken for it, 
 had been delivered to main prise, but that William was at sea and 
 had not been arrested. 
 
 At the Halton Curia Nundinarum, held on St. Catherine's day 
 (Nov. 25, 1415), no tolls were received, but at the fair held on the 
 Feast of the Blessed Virgin iiii"'- xiij^- were received. Had the war 
 in France, then going on, interrupted the November fair by taking 
 away many of the able hands 1. 
 
 In 1450, six or more persons were charged with feloniously entering 
 and breaking into a dwelling-house at Halton, and stealing thereout 
 money and goods. 
 
 In 1474,. there is a notice of a more serious charge, ' Two Welsh- 
 men from Mold having committed a burglary at Keckwick, and stolen 
 thereout among other articles a sheaf of arrows, and having been com- 
 mitted for it, broke out of the castle, taking with them their fetters 
 and chains, which must have helped to discover theih, for they were 
 soon afterwards retaken and tried before Thomas, lord Stanley, the 
 seneschal, and being found guilty were hanged at Halton. 
 
 In 1499, a great number of affrays were presented, and sorae 
 persons were bound over to keep the peace until a future court; a 
 number of others essoined, by paying two pence each for their non- 
 appearance in person. At the same court, thirty brewers, of whom 
 twenty-six were ale-wives, were fined for selling ale in unsealed 
 measures. The bailiff, serjeant William Sothron, complained that 
 William Heath had rescued an ox which he had seized for fines due 
 to the court; and Richard Cochet, clerk, complained that one John 
 Aburgham, having contracted to carry ten quarters "brasii" from 
 Runcorn to Beaumaris, had broken his contract, but the jury upon 
 the trial found that the defendant was not guilty. 
 
 At the Curia Nundinarum held at Halton on Saturday next after 
 the Feast of the Virgin, 22 Hen. VII. 1506, there was nothing par- 
 ticular recorded as being done, though what was the summary power 
 
flworlis of tk 2§onoin: of ^alton. 27 
 
 of such a court may be seen by a record of what took place at a court 
 of a similar nature held at New Sarum in 1457, only a few years 
 before this time. At that court, we read that Clement Hegge having 
 been attached by his body for picking the purse of one John Thomas 
 of London, capper, of an account book, and being unable to disprove 
 the charge, was adjudged to stand in the piUory for two hours during 
 the fair, which sentence was executed accordingly. ^ 
 
 At the "Widnes court, in 4 Hen. VIII. 1512, Eobert WoodfaU was 
 charged with walking at night through the King street in Farn worth, 
 in front of the houses of the king's tenants, and with" force and arms 
 — ^namely, a staff and a dagger — calling out, " Whoever wishes to fight' 
 me, let him come out," whereby the king's subjects were disturbed 
 and put in fear ; wherefore he was fined by the court. 
 
 In the same year, three persons were presented for " lucrum 
 excessum," by which I suppose usury was meant; though, in 1375, 
 some butchers were presented "quia ceperunt lucrum excessivum," 
 meaning that they had charged too much. In 1512, some men were 
 presented for using bows and arrows to drive a man off some land 
 where he was digging turf 
 
 In 1521, Sir John Warburton, constable of the castle, it is said had 
 a prisoner under his charge, but it is not said who the prisoner was 
 or what was his offence, though both his name and his offence are 
 probably those referred to in the following writ : — ■- 
 
 Johes Warburton miles ac senescallus feodi et honoris de Halton, Ballivo 
 feodi pr'defi saltm ex p'te dni regis tibi precipio <^d venire facias coram me p^fato 
 senll" apud Halton ad p'x. cur. ibm. scilt die Sabbi px. post festu scti Jacoli aplipx. 
 futur xxiiij'"'- judicator' et sectatores de ballia tud quor quliht habeat centu solidat 
 'ten 'terr vel reddit' p. anru ad minus p. quos Veritas meli^- sciri pot'it et qui Thomas 
 Plant nup' de Buglauton in com. Cestr, yoman nulla affm attingunt ad recogrC super 
 sacrm suum si p'dciis Thomas Culpabilis sit de quddam felonia super ipfn p'sent 
 unde indicatus est p'ut Thomas Aston armig' qui p. dno rege sequit. 'in hac p'te ■ 
 dicit neene, Et tmdepd'tus Thomas Plant de'beno et mulo posuit se in jurudm illam, 
 Et hoc non omittas periclo incwmbente. Et habeas ibi noia jur' summ' et hoc p. ceptu 
 Dat. apud Halton xii"- die Julii anno regni regis Henrici octavi post conquest. 
 
 Anglie quarto decimo. 
 
 1 Madox's Formulate. 
 
28 '^ecoxbs ssf ike 3|ono«r of 3|dton. 
 
 In the panel annexed to the writ the names of the jurors sum- 
 moned are given, and on the panel the names of those actually called 
 are marked as sworn, and Thomas Grymsdych, as bailiff Serjeant of 
 Halton fee, signs the return to the writ. 
 
 Thomas Plant, the prisoner named, had at first been committed for 
 felony to the Congleton gaol, and had, there broken prison and escaped. 
 
 At the Halton court, held 4 Oct. 1544, the grand inquest of 16 
 persons found that Sir John Holcroft, knight, did on Aug. 5, 1543, 
 assault, strike, and wound on the arm with a dagger, one Richard 
 Gerard, clerk (rector of Grappenhall), so that the blood flowed copiously 
 from -the wound. Sir John, the assailant, who was the notorious 
 spoiler of monasteries, had no good feeling towards Gerard or his 
 brother clergy, who were opposed to his proceedings 9,t the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 In 1544, one George Amery of Barnton was presented for that he 
 did keep and harbour crows in his grounds, and did permit them to 
 build in his woods, to the injury of the country and contrary to the 
 statute in such case made ' and provided. 
 
 In 1555, a man who had uttered in the dourt seditious words 
 against the Queen was fined for it. Queen Mary was then unpopular, 
 and he may have only said, and not have said so well, what Knyvett 
 said to "Wyatt: "Awake ! or our stout old island wUl become a rotten 
 limb of Spain ! " 
 
 In the • same court, Thomas Horobyn of Warrington, and others, 
 were sued " pro /also clamore," in an action of trespass. 
 
 In 1 Eliz. 1559, one of the tenants was presented for allowing his 
 swine to go at large without ringing them, and another " quia custo- 
 divit joca illicita." 
 
 On 3 Oct. 1561, Helena Ditchfield was charged with a trespass, 
 in pulling down her neighbours' fences. 
 
 In 1592, a resiant in Halton was presented for bringing an action 
 in the court of session at Chester, instead of in the court at Halton. 
 
 In 1593, a grievous murder having been committed at Grappenhall 
 heath, on the person of John Fjj|ttdley, a hawker of Scottish cloth, the 
 crime was brought home to one William Geston, a servant of the 
 bishop of Chester. The jury at Halton presented the fact, and the 
 prisoner having been tried for it and convicted at Chester assizes, was 
 
^ccovis of th£ 3ioiiDxtr of 3|altoit. 29 
 
 hanged in chains on 27 April, 1593, near the spot where the nlurder 
 was committed. 1 
 
 On the 15 April, 1595, this entry occurs On the Congleton roll: 
 " Jurdt dicunt quod Ricus Passe miles ad hella exercitatus tormento 
 sese exercens et eod. interfecit avem (ovem f) ideo est in mia dnce regince." 
 
 In 1598, the jury at the Thelwall court presented Hamo Webster 
 "quia hospitavit quandam.levem et turhulentam mulierem suam quw 
 lavavit in coi fonte ideo in m,ia w*" We do not quite see whether 
 her offence consisted in her washing herself, or only her clothes, in 
 the town well ! 
 
 In 1608, one Stockton was presented for selling ale without the 
 justices' licence, and taking in and entertaining irregular and pernicious 
 persons, to thfe disturbance of his neighbours ; and one Lawton, for 
 permitting a man to tipple in his house for one hour, was fined iii'- iiij**'; 
 and Charles Hall, for taking in inmates, was fined vi^' yiii*^' 
 
 At the Thelwall court held on 17 March, 1649, thirteen jurors, 
 were sworn to enquire "pro repuhlica," but in other respects the old 
 form remained unaltered, the proceedings being still in Latin. At the 
 next court, on 15 Oct., 1649, the proceedings were still in Latin, and 
 the jury of 14 persons were sworn to enquire "pro repuhlica," as before. 
 At this court. Over Walton was presented for not having " cippos 
 pantherum et commune pondum" — stocks, crow-net, and common pound. 
 
 The court, on 24 Dec, 1649, was held in the name of the "Custodes 
 libertatis authoritate parliamenti." 
 
 On the 8 Oct., 1655, two persons refused to take the oath (I 
 suppose that of allegiance) to the lord protector. 
 
 On Jan. 16, 1660, Roger Drakeford, who had conveyed a prisoner 
 to Sir Peter Leycester's (the great Cheshire antiquary), a journey of 
 fourteen miles, was paid 3/6 for himself and his horse^a small sum 
 for so long a journey. 
 
 In 1665, the stocks, pinfold, whipping-popt, and crow-net are 
 reported to be in proper repair in most of the townships, and occa- 
 sionally the shooting-butts are mentioned. Sometimes it is said that 
 
 there are no public-houses and no sabbath-breakers in the town. 
 
 "», , .... 
 
 In the same year, Marggiret Coppock " qm servamt cermsianum^ 
 
 indigestum" — anglice, kept a disorderly public-house — was presented 
 
 and fined iii^- iiij*^ for her offence. 
 
 1 Hist. Ches. I. 200. 
 
30 l^^rorbs of the 3ionour of ^alton. 
 
 The constable of Thelwall was presented for not keeping watch 
 and ward, which is called " excubitum," the same office that Dogberry 
 discourses on at such length in " Much Ado about Nothing." 
 
 In 1667, many "communes tipulatores" were presented, and the jury- 
 also presented " quod Petrus Crosbie jacuit quandam (sic) quadrum 
 in et super Ricum Gandy et quod Ricus Gandy insult:' feeit in et sup. 
 predict. Petrum et in eum traxit sanguinem idea Petrus in mia ii'-" 
 The words quandam quoidrimi are explained to mean a tobacco trench 
 (otherwise, I suppose, a quid). Though Raleigh's weed had now made 
 its way into the provinces, his title to have first introduced it into 
 England has lately been questioned. Sir John Hawkins, in 1565, it 
 is believed, first brought the weed to England ; and Ralph Lane, and 
 not Raleigh, was the first to smoke it; Lane, who had been sent put 
 by Raleigh as governor of Virginia, and who returned to England in 
 1586, had seen tobacco smoked by the Indians, among whom its use 
 seems to be traced to a very remote time. In 1561, Jean Nicot gave 
 some tobacco seeds which he had bought in Portugal to Queen 
 Catherine de Medicis, who had them planted ; but if she was the 
 first to introduce smoking tobacco into France, its origin there does 
 not connect it with an honoured name. King James, in his counter- 
 blast to tobacco, might have used it to impeach hpr and it. For 
 Nicot, who at a later period invented snuff, it was suggested that 
 his tomb should be made in the form of a snuff-box, and should have 
 on it this inscription: " Benissez Vous." 
 
 On 30 March, 1667, Elizabeth Warburton was fined for receiving 
 an inmate into her house without licence. In 1679, persons were 
 forbidden to burn, gorse, or fern on the common for the sake of the 
 ashes. But presentments respecting fish and fisheries, which begin 
 almost the earhest, are above aU others far the most numerous. 
 
 At the Thelwall court, in 1367; the following presentment, enume- 
 rating the several fisheries and the encroachments upon them, was 
 made : Mathew de Rixton, Richard de Rixton, and William Travers, 
 of Penketh fish-yard. Roger de la Ware, et firmarii ejus, of Cuerdley 
 fish-yard. Walter^ prior de Norton, of Charneth fish-yard. Abbas de 
 Whalley, et parcenarii ejus, of Acton fish-yat-d. William de Bold, of 
 Sankey fish-yard. Alexander de -Lynales and Henry de Rixton, of 
 Sankey fish-yard. Geoffrey fitz Hugh de Werburton and Robert de 
 
P^corbs of tht 3§onottr oi 3|aIton. 31 
 
 Mascy of Sale, of the "Walton fish-yard. William de Hallum of 
 Warrington and Eichard de Merland, of' Graceles fish-yard in , Wer- 
 ington. Thomas de Sankey, of the Anglesey fish-yard in Werington. 
 John D'Anyers, knight, of Lachford fish-yard. John de Haydoc, 
 Roger de Cademon, and John le Fisher of Elerwarpe (Owlwarp), 
 obstruxerunt fluvium de Mersey by their weirs. 
 
 The court had a jealous care of the fish and fisheries, as the frequent 
 entries made from time to time on the subject abundantly shew. 
 
 In 31 Ed. III. 1347, this entry occurs: " Omnes piscatores de 
 Thelewalle venerunt et Jinem fecerunt domino iv'- eo quod piscem 
 vendiderunt ante 'primam horam diet in anno precedente." No man 
 of the city (London) shall sell or buy fresh* fish for resale before 
 sunrise, or salt fish before the hour of prime. ^ This rule, which was in 
 strict accordance with the notions our ancestors had on the policy of 
 forestaUing and regrating the market, shews .that fish was much sought 
 after and in demand, and it follows that the price it fetched was good. 
 It does not directly appear what" was the reason of forbidding sales 
 before the first hour of the day, unless it was to prevent the market 
 being forestalled. 
 
 The same fine for the same offence was repeated next year. 
 
 In the year 1367, the same fine was imposed for the like offence 
 at the Runcorn court. 
 
 In the same year, a cobble-boat which had been taken at Lower 
 Walton as wreck of the sea, was sold for xx"^- This was not a large 
 price for a boat ; but the boat was perhaps but a f0w boards roughly 
 nailed together — like that which I saw hired at Treves, and. which, 
 after sailing down the MoseUe, was sold afterwards for v^- at Coblentz. 
 
 In the same year, that royal fish, a sturgeon, was taken in the 
 Mersey. 
 
 The proceeds of the Thelwall fishery this year were as follows : — 
 
 Salmon taken at the weir - - viii^- 
 
 Salmon taken in the net called the seyn, - vii^- 
 
 Sparlings and kypers - iv'- . 
 
 and eight fishermen in Thelwall were fined each iii^' iiij'*' for selling 
 
 fish taken in the Mersey before the first hour of the day and against 
 
 the custom. 
 
 1 Liber albus of London, p: 228. 
 
32 "^ezoxls of the ^ononr of ^alton. 
 
 In 1369, Sir John D'Anyers, knight, took 'a lease for six years 
 of^ the lord's fishery called" Tolfysh, and the stallage, at six marks 
 a-year rent. The lord was to find and carry timber, and the tenant, 
 at the end of the term, was to leave the fishery in repair. 
 
 Urian de Thelwall, who held a twenty-fifth part of a knight's fee 
 in Thelwall, having died, his son Urian did fealty for the land, and 
 piaid iiij^- for relief. 
 
 In 1378, presentments were made and fines imposed to the amount 
 of xiii^- iiij'^- for obstructing the fishery at Runcorn. 
 
 In 1388, the prior of Norton was charged with making two fish- 
 yards in the Mersey-^one called Gracedieu and the other Charity — 
 which obstructed the passage of the lord's boat of eight oars from 
 Fresh Pool to Thelwall. 
 
 In 1380, three shillings and four pence were received for the farm 
 of a boat on Budworth mere, and twenty pence for the breain taken 
 •there. Bream pie was then and long afterwards a monastic delicacy. 
 
 In 1381, the Thelwall fishermen and a few others of other town- 
 ships were fined for seUing fish before the first hour of the day. 
 
 In 1384, there were again complaints about the obstruction of the 
 river by fish-yards, to the hindrance of the lord's eight-oared boat. 
 
 In 1393, a number of fish-yards are mentioned as being held under 
 the lord the duke of Lancaster, and 'the old complaint of the river not 
 being kept open for the lord's eight-oared boat from Fresh Pool to 
 Thelwall is again repeated. 
 
 The abbot of Norton is mentioned as holding two fish-yards called 
 Gracedieu and Charity; and at the same court, the abbot and Sir 
 Robert le Grosvenor, the party in the Scrope and Grosvenor contro- 
 versy, are mentioned. 
 
 In 1402,, some rents, are reserved for the fisheries between Fresh 
 Pop! and Arthui;'s Pool (Otterspool ?) reserving common of fishery to 
 the Runcorn tenants in the lakes and the brynkes, according to a roll 
 of 3 Hen. lY. , 
 
 In 1405, the Thelwall fishery was let at vp- viii"^' the farm of the 
 boat on Budworth was iii^' iiij*^' and 'for the bream taken there xx'^- was 
 received. 
 
 In 10 Hen;. IV. 1408, there was the usual presentment of obstruc- 
 tions in the river. 
 
P££orl)s of the 3|onoiir of B^alton. 33 
 
 On 5 Oct. 1409,, the jury made their usual presentment that the 
 river was obstructed by fish-yard^, and that the free fishers at Thelwall 
 ■who had taken the fishery there were to make the lok (lock ?) and at 
 their own expense keep it in repair, but the lord was to keep the 
 Urthowls (Owlwarps?) at his own expense. 
 
 At the same court, some fisherinen were fined for selling fish before 
 the first hour of the day. 
 
 In 12 Hen. IV. 1410, the fishery at Thelwall, with the stallage 
 and assize of beer, ale, and other things to the fishery belonging, and 
 also the lord's boat on Bud worth mere, with the bream fishing, there, 
 were demised to Sir Peter Button, knight. 
 
 In 1415, certain, person^ had taken eels in the water of the lord's 
 miU at Whitley " ad quantitatem qua duo ipsorum portant eas ;" and 
 Thomas Robinson and others took a lease of the fishery on both sides 
 of the Mersey, from Fisher's Pool to Archer's Pool (Otterspool), for 
 twelve years, at xx^' a-year. 
 
 In the same year, the free fishery at Moor was demised to Adam , 
 del More, at the rent of xvi'- a-year. 
 
 The Thelwall fishery was let the same year for iii""' vi^- viii'^- 
 
 The fishery on Budworth mere being in the lord's hands this year, 
 no rent was received for it. 
 
 In 1443, a fishery called Le Draght de Comune, Le Poles and 
 Le Plekkes is mentioned. 
 
 In 1471, Sir John Savage the elder, and Sir John Savage the 
 yotinger, knights, took a lease of the Halton fishery at the rent of 
 iv''- . a-year. 
 
 In 1474, the seneschal let the. Moor fishery to a tenant, and 
 engaged to find him a sufficient boat. 
 
 On the eve of Palm Sunday, 4 Hen. VIII. (March 19, 1513), at 
 the Halton court of frank pledge held at Thelwall, before Sir John 
 Warburton, knight of the king's body, seneschal, twenty-three persons, 
 all whose names are given, were fined fgr that they took cuppos salmones 
 (kyper salmons), and also salmon cubs, commonly called salmon, shelles 
 (or peeles, salmon kelts — fish which having spawned were on their w^y 
 back to the sea — as to which see Chambers' encyclop. sub voce salmon). 
 And also for that they fished with nets called maleyngenes (that is; 
 with unlawful nets), against the ancient ordinances,,?, and to the great 
 
34 ^ccorbs of the ^mottv oi 3§aIton. 
 
 destruction of the fish, there. Maleyngenes, answering to the French 
 malengin, is explained in Todd's dictionary to mean guile, deceit, of 
 which there are not wanting examples in our old authors, as, for 
 instance, in these Hues of Spenser's " Fairy Queen ": — 
 
 "But the chaste damzell, that had never pride 
 Of such malengine and fine forgerye, 
 Did easily believe her strong extremitye." 
 
 - — (Faery Queen III. i. 53.^ 
 
 and again in Milton on Reformation (Bk. I). " The admiral, through 
 private mahce and malengine, was to lose his hfe." 
 
 But in the ThelwaU roll, maleyngenes certainly means unlawful nets. 
 
 But the fish poachers were as obstinate as those who broke the 
 assize of bread and beer, for on the eve of Palm Sunday, 7 Hen. VIII. 
 1516, twenty persons were presented and fined at the ThelwaU court 
 for that they were " cmes ca/ptores diversorum piscium cum retibus et 
 aliis ingeniis contra formum statuti." 
 
 In 1539, the jury found that John Arthur of Keckwick and John 
 Yere of Mere, on 1 May, 21 Hen. VIII., " unum salmonem cuppum 
 retibus suis ceperunt et eundem salmonem vendiderunt," and others 
 were presented for a similar offence. The jury further presented 
 "quod Georgius Thelewelle et Hugo Keynshaw," on the day and year 
 aforesaid, at Haltoh, did take twenty partridges with nets arid other 
 engines, against the form of the statute, not having lands and tene-. 
 ments to the ■ value of xp- a year. 
 
 On 3 Oct. 1556, Thomas Hatton was presented for that he did 
 kill and sell, at Warrington, a kipper salmon "contra ordinationem 
 GuricB." 
 
 In 1598, the jury found that Robert Dutton.of Preston did fish in 
 Thomas Button's pit, and did take his fish in the daytime without 
 leave or licence from him, and therefore they did amerce him. 
 
 In 1605, the court complained of the number of the fish-yards at 
 ThelwaU, and of the encroachments they made bn the river. 
 
 On 8 Oct. 1655, the old complaint of the river being obstructed 
 by fish-yards was again renewed. 
 
 In 1655, a number of persons were presented and fined for keeping 
 up their weirs and fish-yards in the midstream of the Mersey, so that 
 
^C£orii0 of th£ ^onom of ^aiton. 35 
 
 the lord of the fee could not pass by the " key " of Thelwall with boats 
 and barges. 
 
 In 1664, ten persons were fined ii'- each for fishing in the Mersey 
 and erecting fish-yards there, and one person was fined for removing 
 a mere stone there. 
 
 On 30 March, 1672j a tenant at Thelwall was fined for the old 
 offence of making his fish-yard in the midstream of the Mersey. 
 
 On the 14 Oct. 24 Car. II., 1672, at the Halton courti before 
 Thomas, earl Rivers, seneschal, seventeen persons were presented and 
 fined vi^' viii"^- each "quod edijkavery,nt area piscatoria in fiuvio 
 Mercies qud mediu cursu ejusd. fluminis confuscatur et piscdveruni 
 retis (sic) qui p. statut. in ista (sic) casu edit, et prqhibetur." 
 
 In 1674, a number of persons were again presented for obstructing 
 the midstream of the Mersey by buUding fish-yards ; and the constable 
 of Thelwall was presented "qua non servavit excubitum" i.e., watch 
 and ward, but this had no reference to the fish-yards. 
 
 In 1675, this resolution to make fish-yards was again complained. 
 The offenders were obstiipiate. 
 
36 ^tcov'iis of the 2|onottr of 3|aIton. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The notices and extracts which have been given from the court 
 rolls at Halton will have shewn how its business was carried on for 
 centuries, and will have afforded a few notices of cotemporary history. 
 Halton — which is an honour extending over a number of manors, and 
 was sometimes called a shire — was one of those semi-domestic tribunals 
 once scattered over the country, and found iri every manor, by which 
 our ancestors accustomed the people to self-government, fostered a 
 spirit of liberty, and attempted to carry justice to every man's door. 
 The old jurisdiction of Halton, and of the large family of similar 
 courts, after flourishing in vigour for centuries, is now become but a 
 shadow of its former self. Its powers have for the most part passed 
 into other channels, being exercised by the county court, the petty 
 sessions, and the rural police. The old Romans, says Lam,barde in his 
 Eirenarcha, had several different sorts of chastisements for offenders, 
 namely — damnum (loss of goods), vincula (imprisonment),- verbera 
 (stripes), ignominia (reproach), talio (retaliation), exilium (banishment), 
 s&rvitus (servitude), and mors (death). Of these several punishments, 
 the Wydnes or Farn worth leet — .which was subject to Halton, and the 
 roUs of which we have had the opportunity of examining — shew that 
 its power dealt only with four of these — namely, the pillory, an igno- 
 minious punishment ; the cuck-stool or ducfcing-chair, for punishing 
 a scold, of whose unruly member it was said — 
 
 Of members the tongue is the worst and the best, - 
 And an ill tongue sows often the seeds of unrest. 
 
 To curb the tongue, they had also the brank, an iron bridle which 
 kept the tongue quiet by mere mechanical means. The court had 
 also power to cart an offending brewer or baker, and expose him to 
 public scorn in a tumbrel. It had the stocks also — the constable's 
 prison, as it is called ; and the whipping-post, which, by a statute of 
 James I., was to be used on certain offenders ; but the Farnworth or 
 
PccDrbs of tk£ 3|onour of 3|alton. 37 
 
 Widnes leet, though allied to Halton, had not the power which Halton 
 certainly possessed, of inflicting the pimishment of death. But neither 
 at Halton, nor in any other similar court, has the writer of these notes 
 ever seen entered on its rolls an order to inflict upon ofienders the 
 punishment of the brank, the cuck-stool, the tumbrel, or the stocks ; 
 although there can be no doubt that these punishments were inflicted, 
 either by the constable' on his own authority, or by a parole order from 
 the jury or the steward. There is on the Farnworth roll one notice 
 of the whipping of an offender. 
 
 The stocks, in which down to modern times drunkards were pun- 
 ished, and of which the remains may still be seen in many a village, 
 have happily lost their use, and they now only remain as a reminder 
 of the past. By an Act of 56 Geo. III., the pillory, for every crime 
 except perjury, was aboHshed ; and, to the honour of the present reign, 
 it was abolished even for that in thje first year of, her most gracious 
 Majesty the Queen. Except within the four walls of a g^ol, the 
 whipping-post exists no longer, and the. brank. and the tumbrel, like 
 the stocks, are things of the past. 
 
 If we are fight in our conjecture that, the unrecorded punishments 
 by the brank and the tvynbrel were awarded and inflicte,d by the con- 
 stable, in the exercise of some of those undefined powers — of the 
 extent of which Blackstone, in his Commentary (Vol. I. 356), tells us 
 it is .well that the constable was ignorant — we may well rejoice that 
 Dogberry or Elbow has such authority no longer, and that no subject 
 is now liable to be punished first and tried afterwards. 
 
38 
 
 Paoriijs of the ^onovix of 3ialton. 
 
 APPENDIX No. 1. 
 
 MAYORS OF CONGLETON. 
 
 The entry of their election is. for the most part in this form: — 
 
 11 Ric. II. 1387. Congulton Curia prima tent, ihm die mdrtis 
 'prx ante festum Sci Luccb evangelistcB anno r. r. Rid sbdi post conq. 
 Ang. undecimo. Ex assensu totius coitatus ville de Congulton in hac 
 plena curia aggregat. electus est Rogerus. de Moston major - villcB de 
 Congulton hoc anno et Hugo deLathum electus est cachepoU hoc a"- et 
 Wills de Bradhok -et Johes del Cliffe electi sunt constabuldrii et Hand, 
 del Cliffe et Alens de Brodhok electi sunt tastatores cervisicB. 
 
 1375 
 
 Roger de Morton. 30 Oct. 
 
 1541 
 
 
 49 Ed. III. 
 
 1544 
 
 1381 
 
 Kichard Orodhok removed.^ 
 
 
 
 John Orodhok eilectedin 
 
 1545 
 
 
 his place. 
 
 1549 
 
 1384 
 
 Ralph Somerford. 
 
 1557 
 
 1387 
 
 Roger de Moston. 
 
 1558 
 
 1397 
 
 Ralph Somerford. 
 
 1562 1 
 
 1398 
 
 William de Morton. 
 
 1408 
 
 Philip del Grene. 
 
 1573 
 
 1420 
 
 Philip del Grene. 
 
 1574 
 
 1425 
 
 Richard de Moreton. 
 
 1576 
 
 1428 
 
 John Spenser. 
 
 1577 
 
 1440 
 
 Hugh Grene. 
 
 1581 
 
 1441 
 
 Roger de Moreton. 
 
 1582 
 
 1446 
 
 Hugh del Grene. 
 
 1587 
 
 1448 
 
 John le Parker. 
 
 1592 
 
 1450 
 
 John le Parker. 
 
 1595 
 
 1511 
 
 Hugh Wagge. 
 
 1600 
 
 1512 
 
 William Brereton. 
 
 1601 
 
 1527 
 
 William Moreton. 
 
 ■ 1605 
 
 1534 
 
 John Hobson, jun. 
 
 1606 
 
 1539 
 
 Richard Grene. 
 
 , 1614 
 
 Robert Spenser. 
 
 John Davenport, Esq., of 
 
 Davenport. 
 WilKam Moreton. 
 Richard Grene. 
 Richard Grene, alderman. 
 William Rode. 
 Roger Grene. 
 William Thorley. 
 John Rode. 
 Randle Hankinsoh. 
 Roger Grene. 
 Alexander Lathamj 
 John Hobson, alderman. 
 John Somerford, Esq. 
 Richard Grene. 
 William Drakeford. 
 Richard Spencer. 
 John Hobson, Jun. 
 Roger Spencer. 
 John Smith. 
 
 Randle Rode, gentlenian. 
 Henry Howarth, gentleman. 
 
"gzcoxhs of tkt honour of ^alton. 39 
 
 APPENDIX No. 2. 
 
 HENRY, DUKE OF LANCASTER'S, RETURN TO A QUO WARRANT 
 ISSUED CIRCA 1359. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL AMONG THE 
 
 HARLBIAN MSS. 
 
 Henry, duke of Lancaster, constable and marshall of Chester, and 
 lord of the manor of Halton, claims for himself and his heirs to have 
 within his lordship of his mianor of Halton, his castle turreted. 
 (battlemented — hernellatum) at Halton, and to have there a prison, 
 and to take there castleward, and to have within the lordship of his 
 manor aforesaid infangtheof, outfangtheof, wayff, wrek, stray, and 
 view of frankpledge and all that belongs thereto, of all the tenants 
 and residents within his lordship aforesaid without the boroughs 
 ("burgos") of Halton and' Congleton, to be held twice in the year, 
 viz., once between the Feasts of St. Michael the Archangel and 
 Michael on the Mount, at Halton, and sometime between the Feasts 
 of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Invention 
 of the Holy Cross, at Thelwall, which is withiii his lordship afore- 
 said, by reasonable forewarning. 
 
 And also^to have a free park at Halton, Mg.th two deer leaps in 
 the same park, and to have free warren irf all his demesne lands 
 within his lordship of his manor aforesaid. 
 
 Also he claims to have his vUl ("villam") of Halton as a free 
 borough, and to have there free burgesses, and that he himself and 
 his burgesses of the same borough shall be quit of toll, passage, 
 pontage, and of "stuth" for all things bought and sold by them, 
 as well in the city of .Chester as throughout the whole of the county 
 of Chester, except toU of salt in the Wiches. * 
 
 Also he claims to have in the same borough his free court there, 
 to be held every fifteenth day, and cognizance of the plea of free tene- 
 ments of all the tenements in the same borough before his seneschal 
 there, by bill or complaint without writ ; and view of frankpledge and 
 whatever pertains to such yiefr for aU tenants and residents in the same 
 
40 PctorliB of the 3ionottr of 3§aIton. 
 
 borough ; to be held three times in the year, viz., once between the 
 Feasts of St. Michael the Archangel, and St. Martin in winter, and 
 again between the Feasts of St. Hilary and of the Annunciation 
 of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
 
 Also he claims to have in the same borough a certain market each 
 week on the Saturday, and to have there two" fairs annually, viz., one 
 fair to be held for four days next before the Feast of the Nativity 
 of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and ou the Feast, and for four .days fol- 
 lowing ; and another fair in the Vigil of the Blessed Virgin Katherine, 
 and on the day of the same Feast, with all liberties and profits which 
 pertain to such markets pr fairs. 
 
 Also he claims to have another free court every fifteenth day, to 
 be held at Halton or where else he shall have willed within the fee of 
 his lordship aforesaid, by reasonable forewarning. And in the same 
 court to have cognizance of pleas of trespass, agreements, debts, and 
 "vetito namio," at the suit of the party. And if.it should be 
 presented by the bailiff of the said Duke of his court aforesaid, that 
 any man holding or residing within his lordship aforesaid shall have 
 broken the peace, or the assize of bread or beer or flesh, or sold bad 
 flesh, or shall have made an assault, or shall have levied "hutegium," 
 or shall have, used false weights or measures within the same fee, or 
 has sold fish taken within the fee aforesaid before the first hour of 
 any day, that therL the bailiffs of the Duke of his court aforesaid, by 
 due process — namely, by attachment or distraint— shall make the 
 same transgressors come to answer in the court aforesaid, of which 
 if they shall be convicted, the same Duke claims to have their fines and 
 amerciaments and punishment of the aforesaid transgressors in form of 
 law; for which transgressions, if afterwards they shall be indicted before 
 the justice of Chester, or the sheriff of Chester, or some other ministers 
 of the said Earl of Chester, for the aforesaid fines, or amerciaments, or 
 punishments made by the bailiffs of the said Duke, then they shall 
 be quit. 
 
 Also he claims that if any complaint shall be made in the same 
 coui^t, that' some one has disseized him of his free tenement 
 within the fee of his lordship aforesaid but without the borpughs of 
 Halton and Congleton, by bill in the nature of a writ of novel 
 disseizin, that then the bailiffs of the j^id Duke of the same court 
 
|R,ECorbs of th^ l^ononx of 3§dton. 41 
 
 shall make process against the party defending by attachment and dis- 
 traft.it until such time as he shall come into the court aforesaid to answer 
 the aforesaid plea. And if the party defendiiig denies the disseizin, 
 and places himself upon the country, then, both parties consenting, an 
 inquisition shall be taken thereon in the nature of an assize of novel 
 disseizin ; and if on that occasion he shall bie convicted of the disseizin, 
 the party complaining shall recover his seizin, together with his costs. 
 And the party defending shall be amerced, which amerciament the 
 same Duke claims to have. 
 
 Also he claims that if any one shall have, a complaint in the afore- 
 said court against another, of some way narrowed, or straitened, or 
 stopped up, or of any other injury of this kind done within his lordship 
 aforesaid, also if it shall have been presented by the bailiffs of the 
 aforesaid Duke to his said court that any such injury has been, done 
 within the same fee, that then the seneschal of the court aforesaid, by 
 attachment and distraint, shall make the said transgressor come into 
 the court aforesaid and answer for the injury aforesaid. And then if 
 he in the same court shall be willing -to place himself upon the country 
 and thereupon he shall be convicted, that then he shall be heavily 
 amerced, and shall give to the seneschal of the aforesaid court one ox, 
 and redress or remove the injury, and the same Duke claims to have 
 the amerciament. 
 
 Also he claims that if any one shall have acquired a free tenement 
 within the fee of "his lordship aforesaid, without his licence, and it 
 shall have been presented by the baihffs of the said Duke to his court 
 aforesaid, that then the acquirer himself ought to be attached by the 
 bailiffs of the same court to answer to the s'aid Duke in the court afore- 
 said for acquiring such tenement as aforesaid. And if thereupon he 
 shall be convicted, he shall give to the aforesaid Duke a reasonable fine 
 according to the quantity of the tenement so acquired, and according 
 to the consideration of the seneschal and judgers of the same court. 
 
 Also he claims to have stallage from all dealers in merchan- 
 dise within certain viUs of his lordship aforesaid, viz., Haifcon, 
 Euncorn,, Weston, Clifton, Sutton, Aston juxta Sutton, Middleton, 
 Aston graunge, Stokham, Norton, Preston, Dersbury, Newton, Keke- 
 wike More, Akton graunge, Walton superior, Walton inferior, Hull 
 and Appulton, Thelwall, Stretton, Hatton, Nether Whitlegh, Ovei' 
 
42 Pccorbs of the ^onom at Walton. 
 
 Whitlegh, Comberbache, Budworth near Comber bache, Aston near 
 Budworthe, Merbury, Coggeshull, Berthinton, Leghe and Dutton. 
 And tbat no man holding or residing within the vUls aforesaid 
 ought to make suit or appearance before the justices for pleas called 
 " Eyers," nor at the sheriff's turn for anything, unless only at the view 
 and court of the said Duke aforesaid. And that no men residing or 
 holding within the vills aforesaid should be summoned, attached, 
 distrainedj or taken within the vills aforesaid to answer any one 
 before the justices in pleas aforesaid, nor before the sheriff in his turn 
 aforesaid, nor in the hundred, unless they themselves, or their chattels, 
 be or be found without the vills aforesaid^ 
 
 Also he claims to have the water of the Mersey open from a certain 
 place called " FreshpuU" as far as the fishery of the said Duke at 
 Thelwall, whether on another man^s soil or on his own proper soil, so 
 wide that he may be able to have passage with a certain boat of eight 
 "feris" without impediment, by th6 course of the said water, as far as 
 to the said fishery, and return at all times of the year. And if any 
 obstruction shall have been made there to the contrary, it shall be 
 lawful for the said Duke to remove it. 
 
 Also he claims to have air royal fishes (sturgeons) taken or coming 
 within the fee of his lordship aforesaid. 
 
 Also he claims, by reason of his lordship of Halton, to be constable 
 and marshaU to the Earl of Chester, and to have all the fees and 
 profits which to the same appertain. 
 
 Also he claims, by reason of his lordship of Halton and his oflSce 
 of constable aforesaid, to have his avowries, "advocarias suas," through- 
 out the whole of the county of Chester, for all who are willing to 
 place themselves in avowry to him, and to have all such profits and 
 liberties as appertain to these avowries. 
 
 Also he claims that he himself, and his tenants of a certain salt 
 spring in Northwich of twelve leads, called Whitlegh Wichehouse, 
 shall be free of paying toll for salt made and sold at the same salt 
 Spring, and the buyers of the same salt made and bought in the same 
 salt spring shall be quit of paying toll for the same in the same 
 viU. 
 
 Also he claims to have, within the fee of his lordship aforesaid, 
 one master-setjeant sworn to , do justice, with eight under-serjeants 
 
PworiiB of tht J%onovix of 3|alton. 43 
 
 and two servants under the same master-serjeant, for keeping the peace 
 throughout the whole fee aforesaid, and to serve the said Duke, in 
 making execution of his courts aforesaid. Which master-serjeant, with 
 his under-serjeants and servants aforesaid, ought to have food ("putura") 
 or a reasonable payment for the same, from every tenant of three 
 lands of land or more of the lands called " Warland," within the fee 
 aforesaid — viz,, for the said master-serjeant and his two under-serjeants 
 and one servant, with one tenant of the tenants aforesaid, to sup, to 
 pass the night, and on the day following before their departure to 
 breakfast; and for two other under-serjeants with one servant, with 
 another tenant of the aforesaid tenants, viz., to sup, pass the night, and 
 on the day next following before their departure to breakfast ; and for 
 two other under-serjeants, with another tenant of the tenants aforesaid, 
 viz., to sup, pass the night, and on the day next following before their 
 departure to breakfast; and for two other under-serjeants, with another 
 tenant of the tenants aforesaid, viz., to sup, pass the night, and on 
 the day next following before their departure to breakfast. And so 
 for every six weeks severally in the year, in the form aforesaid, to 
 sup, pass the night, and breakfast. So that' any one tenant of the 
 tenants aforesaid, with whom the aforesaid master-serjeant with two 
 under-serjeants and one servant, or even with whom two of the vxnder- 
 serjeants aforesaid with one servant, or even with whom two of the 
 under-serjeants aforesaid in manner aforesaid have supped, passed the 
 night, and breakfasted, shall be free of the feeding as well of the said 
 master-serjeant as of his under-serjeants and servants aforesaid for the 
 six weeks then next following. And that the same master-serjeant 
 ought to have of each tenant aforesaid, for his horse, one bushel of 
 oats for provender, taking it annually between the Feasts of Saint 
 Michael the Archangel and the Invention of the Holy Cross. 
 
 Also he claims that if the said Serjeants, or his bailiffs, take or 
 attach any thief for any theft, wheresoever it shall have been done, 
 with the stolen goods in his possession, within the fee of his lordship 
 aforesaid ; and if that thief of his own free will shall have acknow- 
 ledged that theft before four villagers, then it shall be lawful for the 
 said Serjeants, or bailiffs, to behead the said thief And the. said 
 Duke then shall have all the goods and chattels of the said thief found 
 within the fee of his lordship. 
 
44 p,££orIijs of the 3^onour of 3§aIton. 
 
 Also he claims that if any one shall have been taken within the fee 
 of his lordship aforesaid by the said Serjeants, or his bailiffs, with the 
 stolen goods of any felony, whether -the felony be known or unknown, 
 it shall be lawful for the said Serjeants or bailiffs to take the said felon 
 to the prison of the said Duke at Halton, and there to detain him for 
 
 • three courts then next following, to which the judgers and suitors of 
 the court aforesaid shall come by reasonable warning, and in any one of 
 those courts it shall be lawful for the seneschal of the same court there 
 to arraign that felon for the said felony. And if that felon shall be 
 willing to place himself upon the inquest of the court aforesaid, then it 
 shall be lawful for the seneschal to take that inquest, and if the felon 
 thereupon shall be foimd guilty, then it shall be lawful for the said 
 Serjeants or bailiffs to hang the said thief upon the gallows of the said 
 Duke at Halton, and the goods and chattels of the said felon found 
 within the fee of his lordship aforesaid the said Duke shall have 
 forfeited to himself. And if the said felon in none of the courts afore- 
 said , shall have been willing to place himself upon the inquest there, 
 then he may be sent away, to the castle of Chester ; and if there the 
 said felon shall have been convicted, he is to be brought back by the 
 Serjeants or baiUffs of the said Duke to the gaUows of the said Duke at 
 Halton, and there he shall be hanged ; or if he shall have made fine 
 there to the Earl of Chester, then in either case the same Duke claims 
 all goods and chattels of the said felon found within the fee of his 
 lordship aforesaid. 
 
 Also he claims to have market geld of the vills of Weston, 
 
 "Aston near Sutton, Middleton, Preston, Newton^ Kekewyk, More, 
 Deresbury, Halton, Over Walton, Nether Walton, Stretton, Appulton, 
 Midilhurst in Gropenhale, Over Whitlegh, Comberbach, Merbury, 
 Budworth, Aston near Budworth, Nether Tabbeleigh, Berthinton, 
 Duttoh, Plumleigh, Over Tabbeleigh, Toft, Bexston, Knottesford 
 bothes, Mulynton, Lymme, and Lostock, which are within the fee 
 of his lordship aforesaid. 
 
 , Also he claims to hold his vill of Congleton as a free borough 
 ("Burgum"), and to have there free burgesses, and that he himself and 
 his burgesses aforesaid shall be quit of toll, passage, pontage, and 
 "stuth," as well in the city of Chester as throughout the whole of 
 the county of Chester, except toll of salt in the Wiches. And to 
 
p,£j:0ri)s of tk honour of ^nlton. 45 
 
 have there one market weekly on the Saturday, and 'one fair there 
 annually, viz., on St. Martin's Day in the winter, with all liberties and 
 profits which to the market or to , the fair pertain. And to have 
 there view of frankpledge and whatever pertains 1;hereto of all 
 tenants and residents within the borough aforesaid. To be held 
 three times in the year, viz., once between the Feasts of St. Michael and 
 St. Martin in the winter, and again between the Feasts of St. Hilary 
 and' the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a third time 
 between the Feasts of the Holy Trinity and the Assumption of the 
 Blessed Virgin Mary. And to have there cognizance of pleas of the 
 free tenants in the borough aforesaid by the smaller writ of right close. 
 To be held before the bailifis of the said Duke, and to have the issues, 
 fines, and amerciaments there found. 
 
 Also he claims to have a free court in the city of Chester for all his 
 suitors and free tenants in the same city, to be held twice in the year. 
 Also the same Duke, lord and baron of Halton, claims for himself 
 and his heirs to have a free court for all pleas and complaints in the 
 court of the lord the Earl of Chester, happening within the fee of the 
 said barony, except pleas of the sword pertaining to the lord the Earl 
 of Chester. 
 
 Also he claims that if any of his men shall have been taken for 
 any offence, he may be replevied by the baron himself without bail 
 (sine redemptioiie). So that the said baron produces him at three 
 county courts {ad tres Com.), and, being quit, retakes him {et eum 
 quietus reducat), unless "saccabor" follows him.^- 
 
 Also he claims that if any stranger who shall be faithful shall come 
 into his lands it shall be lawful for him. If he pleases to dwell there 
 the said lord may have and retain the same man, saving to the lord 
 the Earl "of Chester the avowry which shall, freely remain to him for 
 transgressions come to his dignity elsewhere, but not excepting those 
 strangers who are in avowry to the said Duke pertaining. to his lord- 
 ship of Halton. 
 
 1 Saccabor. Furtum vere manifestum est ubi latro deprehensus est saisitus de aliquo latrocinio, 
 scilicet Handhabende et Backberende et insecutus fuerit per aliquem cujus res ilia fuerit quge 
 dicitur Sakaburth et si sine secta cognoverit, se inde esse Jatropem coram vicecomite vel corona- 
 lose regis cum testimonio bonorum et proborum hominum ex tune furtum. dedicere non possit 
 quia tales in hoc habent recordum. — Du Cange sub voce. 
 
46 '^zcoxhs of the 3|onottr of 3§aIion. 
 
 Also he claims that if the sheriff of the lord the Earl of Chester, 
 or some other seijeant, shall have charged in his court some man of 
 the said Baron, he shall be able to defend himself by "Thirtny^," 
 unless suit follows \^m. 
 
 Also he claims quittance of sheaves (garbis) and oblations which 
 the Serjeants and bedels of. the lord the Earl of Chester were accus- 
 tomed to demand. 
 
 Also he claims that if any judger or suitor of the hundred or county 
 shall be amerced in the court of the lord the Earl of Chester, the 
 judger shall be free for ii^' and the suitor shall be quit for xij''- 
 
 Also he claims to do no service for ths lord the Earl of Chester 
 beyond the Lyme and the Cluyd, except with his own- will and at the 
 cost of the lord, the Earl of Chester. 
 
 Also he claims the right to maintain all his manors and lordships in 
 the county or hundred court, by having his one seneschal present. 
 
 (A copy of this charter, in the original Latin, is given in the 
 fiistory of Cheshire, I. 518 et seq.) 
 
^Mocb0 0f m lonoitr of laltoit. 47 
 
 APPENDIX No. 3. 
 
 SENESCHALS OF HALTON. 
 
 1087 Hugh -Fitz Odard. 
 circa. 
 
 1220 Gilbert de Notton. (Hist. Eccles p. 8.) 
 12231 
 to i-Alan Norris. (Misc. Pal. 10. Arley Charters I. 100.) 
 
 1240 Geoffrey de Oheadle. {Ibid.) 
 
 1246 Geoffrey de Duttoiii (Ariey Charters.) 
 
 1260 Urian de St. Pierre. {lb.) 
 
 1290 Sir Nicholas Leycester. (Hist. Ches. I. 99.) 
 
 1303 Wimam de Heskayth. (Arley Charters.) 
 
 1317 Eobert de Preyers. (Charter' me penes.) 
 
 1326 Sir Hugh de Button. (Hist. Ches. I. 477.) 
 
 1327 Sir Hugh de Venables. {li. I, 517.) 
 
 1346 Thomas de Button. {lb. I. 478.) 
 
 1347 Wilham Blaunchard. (Halton rolls.) 
 1369^ 
 
 to vMathew de Eixton. (Buchy rolls.) 
 1373 j ^ ^ 
 
 1375 Eobert de Pilkington. {lb.) 
 
 1380 Wilham de Nesfield. (Halton rolls.) 
 
 1397 Sir Eichard de Aston. {lb.) 
 
 1398 Thomas de Holford. {lb.) 
 1401 Sir Eichard de Aston. {lb.) 
 
 1410 Sir William Stanley, jun. (Hist. Ches. I. 544.) 
 
 1412 Sir John de Assheton. (Letters Patent.) 
 
 1421 Thomas de -Warburton. (Halton rolls.) 
 
 1425 William Garnet; (7^..) 
 
 1426 Sir John Savage. {lb.) 
 
 1428 Humphry, earl- of Stafford. {lb) 
 
 1430 Sir Wilham de Harington. (Hist, Ches. I. 479.) 
 
 1435 Sir John Savage. (Halton rolls.) 
 
 1436 Sir Geoffrey Warburton. {lb.) 
 
 + ) Humphrey, duke of Buckingham. {lb.) 
 j^459 fSir John Mainwaring, his deputy at Congleton. {lb.) 
 
48 ^ecortis of the ^onaux of ^nlton. 
 
 1460) 
 to iThomas, lord Stanley. (Halton rolls.) 
 
 1469 j ' 
 
 1470 Sir Geoffrey Warburton. (lb.) 
 
 1476 Richard, duke of . Gloucester. (lb.) 
 
 1477 ) 
 
 to >- Thomas, lord Stanley. (lb.) 
 1488 j 
 
 1490 Piers Warburton. 
 
 1491 y 
 
 to V Thomas, earl of Derby. (76.) 
 
 1504 J 
 
 1505 ) 
 
 to VSir John Warburton. (lb.) 
 1523 J 
 
 1524-) 
 to J-Sir William Brereton (lb.) 
 
 1535 j 
 
 1536 ■) 
 
 to vSir Edward Nevile and John Savage, Efeq. (lb.) 
 1538 j 
 
 1539| gj^ pg^gj, Dutton and John Savage, Esq. 
 
 1544) ^^^ William Brereton, their deputy at Oongleton in 1539. (lb.) 
 
 154*5) Sir John Savage; died 22 Dec. 1597. (lb.) 
 
 to >- William Brereton, Esq., his deputy at Oongleton from 1573 to 1592. 
 1597 J "W^illiam Llandyn and William Dakeford, occasional substitutes. 
 
 Sir John Savage; created baronet 1612. (lb.) 
 
 Edward Savage, deputy, and Robert OoUeigne, substitute at Oongleton 
 
 from 1595 to 1601. In 1606, Randle Rode was deputy at Oongleton, 
 
 and in 1614, Henry Howarth was such deputy. 
 
 ^ (. Sir Thomas Savage, baronet ; after 1627, became Thomas, viscount Savage. 
 1635 ) (^^-^ discount Savage died- 16 Dec. 1635. 
 
 1636) 
 
 to VJohn, viscount Savage. (lb.) Died 10 Oct., 1654. 
 1648 j 
 
 1649) 
 
 to >- Henry Brooke, Esq. (lb.) 
 1650) 
 
 1652 "I Thomas Warburton, gentleman. (lb.) Holding the court of Henry 
 1659 f Brooke, Esq., the owner. 
 
 1661) 
 
 to V Thomas, earl Rivers. (lb.) The court of Queen Hen. Maria. 
 1672 j 
 
 1598 
 
 to 
 1615 
 
l^ccorbB of the '!^onom of 3|aIton. 49 
 
 1673 ^ 
 
 to VDenzell, lord Holies. (Halton rolls.) Court of Queen Katharine. 
 1679 j ■ 
 
 1680 ■) 
 to vHenry, earl of Arlington. (lb.) Court of Queen Katharine. 
 
 1684 I' 
 
 1685 ^ 
 
 to VEobert, lord Fenars of Chartley. (lb.) Court of Queen Katharine. 
 
 1699 j 
 
 1700 Eichard, earl Eivers. (76.) 
 
 1701 Talbot Lloyd, Esq. (lb.) Court of Eichard, e'arl Eivers, 
 
 1702 V 
 
 to >- Thomas Maistetson, Esq. (lb.) Court of Eichard, earl Eivers. 
 1711 J 
 
 1712 'i 
 
 I Edward Vawdrey, Esq. (lb.) Court of Eobert, earl of Oxford, and 
 
 1718 3 another, trustees for the Eivers family. 
 
 I Silvester Eichmond, gentleman. (lb.) Court of the foregoing Eivers 
 1726 3 family. 1 
 
 1727^ 
 
 to >• Eobert Bromley. (lb.) Court of the same. 
 1730) 
 
 1731 John Wicksted, Esq. (lb.) Court of GeCorge, earl of Cholmondeley. 
 jy32"vJotp Pickering, Esq. (Tb.) Court of the Honourable .General James 
 
 to >- Cholmondeley — ^the same, it is presumed, who commanded the troop 
 1746 ) of Horse Grenadier Guards which was first raised in 1693. 
 
 1747 ) . 
 
 to [-John Lloyd, gentleman. (lb.) Court of the same. 
 1759 j 
 
 1780 Talbot Lloyd, gentleman. (lb.) Court of the same. 
 
 1781 Walter E^erfoot, gentleman. (lb.) Court of the same. 
 
 1 A short notice of this seneschal and his family will be found on pp. 53, 54 post. 
 
50 ^aorbs ot tht ^ononx oi ^^Uon. 
 
 APPENDIX No. 4. 
 
 OTHER OFFICERS BESIDES SENESCHALS MENTIONED IN THE 
 
 HAtTON ROLLS. 
 
 1347 Richard, the clerk, attorney for Budworth, Aston, Stretton, Newton, 
 
 Hull, and Appleton. 
 1363 William de Hallum, receiver of. the lord's rents. 
 
 ( Simon del Hurst, bailiff Serjeant. 
 1365 < William Kay, prepositus of Halton. 
 
 ( Williani Marsh; bailiff. 
 
 f Thomas Hichesson, prepositus. 
 
 I Thomas de Wallis, bailiff of Halton. 
 1367 Thomas de Merbury, bailiff Serjeant. 
 
 1370 John de Burghs, bailiff Serjeant. 
 
 1371 William de Appleton, bailiff serjeant. (Perhaps the same person as 
 
 William of the Chapel.) 
 
 1378 Peter Jameson, prepositus. 
 
 1379 Thomas Thomasson, prepositus. 
 1383 William Appleton, bailiff serjeant. 
 
 f John del Wode, prepositus. 
 
 (.William de JHorneby, John of Gaunt's receiver. 
 
 1398 Thomas de Holcroft, constable of the castle. 
 
 1399 William Daas, receiver of Halton. The same who was afterwards rector 
 
 of Winwick. 
 
 f Richard del Wode, serjeant bailiff. 
 
 \ John Boothe, receiver of Halton. 
 1429 Thomas de Urswick, receiver. 
 1435 John Southworth, parker of Northwode. 
 1459 John Downe, deputy seneschal. 
 
 f William Mersch, bailiff serjeant. 
 
 \ Thomas Hichesson, prepositus, 
 1499 William Sothron, bailiff serjeant. 
 
 1521 Sir John Warburton, constable of the castle. 
 
 1522 Thomas Grymsdyche, serjeant bailiff. 
 
1579^ 
 
 |5,aorIis oi the ^onom oi 3|aIton. §1 
 
 lEichard Aston, gentleman, queen's attorney. 
 I'ififiJ ^i^^i^°i Hough, gentleman, bailiff serjeant. 
 
 Peter Aston, bailiff of the boro.' 
 
 Thomas Kente, gentleman, constable of the castle. 
 1567 The same officers re-appointed. 
 
 1571 The same, except that John Boyer, gentleman, was to be boro' bailiff. 
 
 1572 The same, except that — Bankes, gentleman, was to be bailiff serjeatnt,. 
 
 and Thomas Grrymsdiche, gentleman, bftro' bailiff. 
 
 1573 The same officers re-appointed. 
 
 ^ Sir John Savage, constable of the castle. 
 1574 ■< Eichai;'d Aston, gentleman, the queen's attorney. 
 
 V Thomas Grytasdiche, bailiff serjeant and boro' bailiff. 
 
 1575 The same officers. 
 
 1576 The same. 
 . 1577 The same. 
 
 1578 The same. 
 
 Edward Savage, gentleman, constable of the castle. 
 Richard Aston, geiitleman, queen's attorney. 
 Robert Pickeryn, gentleman, bailiff serjeant. 
 WilKam Hurst, bailiff of the manor of Halton and Whitley. 
 /-Edward Savage, constable. 
 1581 -! Eichard Aston, queen's attorney. 
 
 V Thomas Grymsdiche, bailiff serjeant and boro' bailiff.. 
 
 1583 The same officers. 
 
 1584 The same. 
 
 1585 The same. 
 Edward Savage, gentleman, constable. 
 Richard Aston, gentleman, queen's attorney. 
 Robert Whitby, bailiff se^-jeant. 
 William Ashurst, boro' bailiff. . 
 
 1588 The same. 
 
 1590 The same, except that Th-omas Aston, gentleman, was queen's attornfey,, 
 
 1592 The same. 
 
 1593 The same. 
 
 1594 The same. 
 1596 The same. 
 
 'Edward Savage, constable. 
 John Aston, queen's attorney. 
 Robert Pickeren, bailiff serjeant. 
 
 Thomas Holcroft, Esq., bailiff of Halton and Over Whitley, 
 1598 The same. 
 
 1587^ 
 
 1597^ 
 
1603 
 
 1605 
 
 52 ^ccorbs of the "^onom of 3|alton. 
 
 1600 The same. 
 
 1601 The same. 
 
 1602 The same. 
 Edward Savage, constable. 
 John Aston, queen's attorney. 
 
 Sir Thomas Holcrofte, knight baihff of Halton, Over Whitley, and Cogshall. 
 Thomas Grymsdiche, bailiif serjeant of Halton fee. 
 Edward Savage, constable. 
 John Aston, king's attorney. 
 
 *1 Sir Thomas Holcrofte, bailiff of Halton, Over Whitley, and Cogshall. 
 
 (^Robert Pickering, jun., bailiff serjeant of the fee. 
 1606 The same, except that Thomas Cheshire, gentleman, is substituted for 
 
 Robert Pickering. 
 1608 The same. 
 
 /-Edward Savage, Esq., constable. 
 1614-| John Aston, king's attorney. 
 
 V Thomas Ireland, Esq., bailiff serjeant and bailiff of the fee. ' 
 1615 The same. 
 1620 The same, except that Thomas Cheshire is substituted for Thomas Ireland. 
 
 ! William Thornborrow, constable. 
 Sir Thos. Aston, Bart., king's attorney. 
 Thomas Cheshire, bailiff serjeant and bailiff of the fee. 
 1629 The same. 
 
^ccorbs of the honour of gallon. 
 
 53 
 
 APPENDIX No. 5. 
 
 A FEW LOCAL OFFICERS. 
 
 Runcorn. 
 
 1366 Richard Wilkin sor, prepositus. 
 
 1378 Adam de Muskett, prepositus. 
 
 1379 William Oapp, prepositus. 
 1385 William Knobok, prepositus. 
 1410 Roger de Eulowe, prepositus. 
 1624 Robert Gregge, bailiff. 
 
 MoOE. 
 1366 Thomas Thomasson, prepositus. 
 1385 John Arthure, prepositus.. 
 1410 John Richardson, prepositus. 
 
 Whitley. 
 1370- John de Burghs, bailiff. 
 1378 Adam de Hoggeson, prepositus, 
 1385 John dal Wode, prepositus. 
 
 1393 Simon Wilkinson, prepositus; 
 
 1411) ^ , ^ 
 
 - . r John lere, prepositus. 
 
 COGSHALL. 
 
 1385 Adam de Helesby, prepositus. 
 
 CONGLETON. 
 
 1376 Ralph Somerford, bailiff. 
 
 1392 William Appleton, bailiff. 
 
 1399 Ralph Somerford, baihff. 
 
 1410 The same, prepositus. 
 
 WiDNES. 
 
 1376 Daniel Kynneson, prepositus. 
 1382 Robert Pilkington, bailiff. 
 1382 Roger de Holebroke, prepositus. 
 
 [the note referred to on p. 49 ANTE.] 
 
 A sketch of Mr. Richmond's family from the Hist, of Garstang, 
 Chet. So. 83. Henry Richmond, who was the parent stock, was of 
 Ashton Keynes, in Wiltshire, and had twenty-five children, one of 
 whom, Silvester, settled in Liverpool in 1662, where he practised as 
 a physician. In the time of James II. he incurred the king's 
 displeasure, and was displaced from the commission of the peace 
 until the Revolution, when he was restored. He died in 1692. He 
 had issue, among several other children, Silvester Richmond, who, 
 after some years being a merchant in Liverpool, removed to Acton 
 
54 Pecorbs of the ^onom oi W)sltoxt. 
 
 Grange and married the daughter of Sir Eichard Brooke, baronet. 
 He died 29th January, 1746, and was buried at Daresbury, where this 
 monument was placed to his memory : — 
 
 ■ Juxtim 
 Keconduntur cineres 
 Sylvestki Eichmond, 
 De Acton Grange armig. 
 Viri, quern, ob egregias virtutes 
 Et marita suspicerent omnes et 
 Admirarentur dignissimi 
 Summo fuit in amicos affectu 
 In Deum reverentia, in egeiios 
 Liberalitate, in nniversos fide 
 Et benevolpntia, quas quidem ille 
 Yirtutis adeo non ostentabat ut 
 Sui non nunquam dispar videri et 
 Intigerrimos ipsius mores ultro 
 Dissimulare voluit. 
 
 In audendis perieulis pectore fuit animoso. 
 Nee minus in adversis perferendis 
 Pio et constanti: cujus rei , argumento 
 Sit geminato ilia plaga, quam natorum 
 Eximia spe juvenum acerbissimus casus 
 Inflixit. 
 
 Ecelesise Anglicanss fidem unice amplexus 
 Oultus solenniores veneratus, elerum 
 Singulari studio et observantia prosecutus 
 Est. 
 
 Annos paulo plus Ixxxi. vixit plures 
 Consecutui'us si ainicorura vota 
 Valuissent; si corpus quam libet 
 Firmissimum illud, par animi 
 Contigisset. Nee vitse adeo longse 
 Pertsesus, nee longioris appeteus;- 
 Nec ^ibi gravis, nee aliis, Dei opt 
 Max. dementia Ohristi solius meritis 
 Ooncilianda fretus animam candidissiman 
 Oenerosissimam efflavit. 
 
 Die Januario 29 
 
 MDCCXLVI. 
 
Pecorbe of the ^onovix of 3|aIton. 55 
 
 APPENDIX No. 6. 
 
 HEADINGS OF A FEW OF THE ROLLS. 
 
 9 Ed. IV. 
 
 Curia magna de Thelwall tent ibm semel in anno die Sabbati in festo 
 beatse Marise Virginis anno r. r. Ed. IV. post conq. ix. , 
 
 16 Ed. IV. 
 
 Whytelegh. Turnus tent, apud Halton die Lunse prox. post festum 
 Sci Egidii abbat. anno r. r. Edwardi quarti sexto decio coram milone 
 Metcalf deputat. Rici ducis Glocestr. capitalis senescalli dni regis 
 ducatus sui Lancastr. in ptibus borealibus presetitibus Rico Fowler 
 canceUario ejusdem dni regis ducat, sui pdci et multis aliis de consilio 
 ejusdem ducat. 
 
 Halton, 14 Hen. VII., 1498, 5 Nov. 
 
 Visus franc, Pleg dnii de Halton tent, ibm coram Thoma Comite 
 de Derbe domino de Stanley senescaUo dni regis dnii et feod prdtis 
 scilicet die lunse px. post festum sci Michs. Archi. anno regni regis 
 Henrici septimi post conquest. Angl. quartodecimo. 
 
 5 AND 6 Philip and Mary. 
 
 Curia feodi de Widnes tent, apud Farneworth coram Johe Savage 
 milite senescallo dni Regis et dnse reginse Castri honoris dnii ac feodi 
 de Halton parcella ducat, sui Lancastr. cti membris et p'tin. tam in 
 comitatu Cestrise quam in. com. Lancastri^ die Lunse scilt nono die 
 Octobris annis regnorum PhU. et Marise dei gra. regis et reginse 
 Anglise Hispaniar, Francise utriusq. Sicilise Jerlm et Hibnie fidei 
 Defensor' Archiducu Austrise ducum Burgund'ise Mediolani et Bra- 
 bancise comit. Haspurgi Flandrise et Tirolis quinto et sexto. 
 
56 llerorbs of the W\onom of 3|alton. 
 
 20 March, 14 Car. II. 1661. 
 
 Halton. Visus franci plegii cum curia leta dhi Regis nunc honoris 
 dnii ac feodi de Halton in com. Cest. tent, apud Thelwall infra feod. 
 predict secund. consuetudinem ejusdem feodi de tempore cujus contrar. 
 memoria hominum non existit usitat et approbat. coram prenobili 
 Thoma comite Rivers vicecomite Colechester et Rocksavage dno Darcy 
 baron' de Chiek senescallo dnse Henrietta Marias matris dni nune regis 
 honoris dhii ac feodi cti membris et ptin. tarn in comit. Cestr. quam in 
 comit. Lancast. die Veneris scihcet vicesimo die Martii in vigilia Ramor. 
 Pahnar. anno r. r. Caroli secundi nunc Angl. etc. decimo quarto annoq. 
 dni 1661. 
 
 14 Oct. 24 Car. II. 1672. 
 
 Halton. Visus franci pleg. cti leta dni regis honoris dnii de Halton 
 pfdict'in com. Gest. tent, apud Halton infra feod. predict, secund. con- 
 suetudinem ejusd. feodi de tempore cujus contrar. memor. homin. non 
 existit usitat. et approbat. coram prenobil. Thoma Rivers comit Rivers 
 vicecomite Colchester et Rock Savage dni Darey de Halton predict, in 
 comitat. Cest. cti. membr. et ptin. suis tam in comitat. Cestrie quam in 
 comit. Lane, pcell ducat. Lane, die Lunse scilicet decimo quarto die 
 Octobris anno regni regis Caroli secundi nunc. Angl. etc. vicesimo 
 quarto annoq. dni 1672. 
 
 35 Car. IL, 1683. 
 
 Halton. Halmotti primti preclarissime dne Katerine regine 
 manerii sive dominii de Halton in com. Cestr ibiii tent, infra domin. 
 predict, seund. consuetudinem ejusd. manerii coram prenob. Henrico 
 comite et barone de Arlington vice, comite de Thetford senescallo 
 dictse dominse Katherine regine honoris dnii baron 'ac feodi de Halton 
 predict' cum membris et ptin. suis tam in comit. Cest. quam in comit. 
 Lane, pcell ducat. Lane, die Lune scilicet xxiv. Decemb. anno regni 
 regis Caroli scdi nunc Angl., &c., xxxv° annoq dni 1683. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Abbot, title when first used at Norton, 14 
 
 Appletou, William, clerk, after filling many offices 
 at Halton, killed by a mob, 15 
 
 Arthur's Pool, perhaps now Otterspool, men- 
 tioned, 11 
 
 Astbrook, Hugh, being with the king in France, 
 excused attendance at Halton court, 23 
 
 Aston chapel, William, its clerk, fined, 16 
 
 Aston, Thomas, the king's attorney at Halton, 27 
 
 Aston, Sir Richard, noticje of, 9 
 
 B 
 
 Bees, swarm of, claimed by the baron of Halton, 11 
 
 Bexton, a return from the court there, 12 ; and 
 William, its elerk, serves on the jury, 15 
 
 Bold, Robert, and another presented for playing 
 at cards and dice, 20 
 
 Bollyng, John, presented for hunting with grey- 
 hound bitches, and other dogs, 24 
 
 Bostock, its court roll mentioned, 8 
 
 Brank, or scold's bridle, no entry of its use made 
 on the rolls, 23 
 
 Budworth, Great, some of its vicars mentioned, 15 
 
 BudwOrth mere, rented, 32 
 
 Burscough, its court roll mentioned, 8 
 
 C 
 
 Canons of Norton, some of them mentioned, 15 
 Clarendon, constitutions of respecting villeins, 15 
 Cochet, Richard, clerk of Cogshall, mentioned, 17 
 Concluding remarks on the work, 36 
 
 Congleton a manor, 3 ; its first charter, 7 and 18; 
 its mayors, 7 and 38 ; a pestilence there in 1559, 
 21 ; a writ to the bailiffs, officers of John of 
 Gaunt, 18, 19 ; heriots paid there, 23 
 
 Coppock, Margaret, keeper of a disorderly public- 
 house, 29 
 
 Grosbie, Peter, assaults Richard Gandy, and 
 .throws his quid of tobacco at him, 30 
 
 Crosbie, John, clerk, one of the suitors at Lower 
 Walton, 16 • 
 
 Crows, a person presented for keeping, 28 
 
 Curia Nundinarum, what? 28 
 
 D 
 
 Daas, William, the receiver at Halton and rector 
 
 of Winwick, 16 
 D'Anyers, Sir John, lease to him of the baron's 
 
 fishery, 32 
 Daresbury, William de, finsd for a breach of the 
 
 peace, 16 
 Ditchfield, Helena, charged with trespass, 28 
 Dogs, broken-haired ones mentioned, 24 
 Drakeford, Roger, his pay for conveying a 
 
 prisoner before Sir Peter Leycester, 29 
 Dunham, Richard de, vicar of Great Budworth, 
 
 some account of him, 16 
 Dutton, Sir Peter, takes a lease of the Thelwall 
 
 fishery and of the boat at Great Budvforth, 33 
 
 E 
 
 EocLESTON, the manor of, pays a fine, 20 
 EUerwarpe (perhaps Owlwarps), a place so 
 
 called, 11 
 English, their love of old institutions, 4 
 
Inb^x. 
 
 FiSH-YABDS in the river complained of, 21, 33 . 
 Flax, a fine for unlawfully ■watering, 21 
 Fletoher, Thomas, the younger, sued for a debt, 17 
 Foljambe, Godfrey, a justice, 11 
 
 G 
 
 Gerard, Richard, rector of Grappenhall, 17 ; 
 
 complains of Sir John Holcroft, 28 
 Geston, William, hanged for murder, 28 
 Grosvenor, Sir Robert, party in the Scrope and 
 
 Grosvenor controversy, 22 and 32 
 
 H 
 
 Halton Castle, the place where the records were 
 kept, 3 ; the records extend from Ed. III.'s 
 time (Ib.y, what they are, 4 
 Halton, an honour, also a leet, 6 ; its courts not 
 affected by political convulsions, 3 ; the vills 
 contained in it, 6 
 Halmotes, why so called, 7 
 Halton court, a man presented for suing in 
 another court, 18 and 28 ; the court asserts its 
 independence (75.); some suitors bound to keep 
 the peace in 2 Hen. IV., 22 ; the castle under 
 repairs, 24 ; persons presented for keeping hare- 
 hounds and other dogs for huntipg (lb.); 
 curious robbery committed in the castle, 25 ; 
 thieves break into the castle, 26 
 Harper, "William, found guilty of murder, and 
 
 hanged at Halton, 25 
 Heypey, William, fined for keeping a bowling- 
 alley, 20 
 'Hicson, William, goes with the king to France, 
 
 and is excused attendance at the court, 23 
 Holcroft, Sir John, presented for an assault, 28 
 Holcroft, Sir Thomas, wounds Richard Gerard, 17 
 Holford, Thomas, constable and senelchal, 19 
 Horobyn, Thomas, presented for a trespass, 28 
 Halton Curia Nundinarum, mentioned (bis), 26 
 Halton, robbery by 6 persons in a dwelling- 
 house, 26 
 Halton, 17 persons presented fpr making fish- 
 yards in the main stream, 35 
 Halton, list of seneschals, 47 
 Halton, a list of other officers, 50 
 Halton, some local officers mentioned, 58 
 
 Inkle Hall, Congleton, mentioned, 11 
 
 Jury sworn in the name ofthe Coitenon wealth, 21 
 Jenne, William* reported as at sea in the king's 
 service,,^3 
 
 K 
 
 Keckwick, a burglary committed theresj^for which 
 
 the offenders were tried and hanged at Halton, 
 
 26 * 
 
 Ket, Thomas, carries a letter from Cheshire to 
 
 Herefordshire for 6d., in 1372, 11 
 Kronkshaw, Richard, John del Fere, and Richard 
 
 Daresbury, 3 Halton tenants, slain in France 
 
 in 1415, 12 
 Kyrke Betham, and Kyrkby Gerard, excused 
 
 from attending all courts but one, 1443, 12 
 
 Lacy, Henry de, lord of Halton, grants a charter 
 to Congleton, 18 
 
 Lancaster, Henry, duke, his return to a quo 
 warranto, about 1359, 39-46 
 
 Lancaster, duke of, account of fish-yards held 
 under him, 32 
 
 Lancaster, John of Gaunt, duke of, has a writ 
 directed to him as baron of Halton, 18 ; some 
 of his, tenants accompany him to Spain in 1385, 
 and some refuse, 22 
 
 Latchford, John, 'chaplain, bound to keep the 
 peace, 17 
 
 Lawton, John, fined for allowing tippling, 21 
 
 Leets held at Congleton and Widnes, 6 
 
 Letter, one carried from Warrington to Lancaster 
 for xii*- 11 
 
 Lucrum excessum and lucrum excessivum men- 
 tioned, 27 
 
 M 
 
 Maqhel, John, his bow falls as a principal to the 
 
 lord, 22 
 Mary, Queen, seditious words spoken against, 28 
 Malborii, Lawrence, bound to keep the peace, 14 
 Manchester knife mentioned as a service, due, 21 
 
Ittbu. 
 
 59 
 
 Moor, a manor, 3 
 
 Morsel, John, the chaplain, charged with tres- 
 pass, 16 
 
 NicoT, said to have invented snuff,* 30 
 Norton, list of its priors and abbots, 13 ; one of 
 the priors charged with making two fish- 
 yards, 32 
 
 O 
 
 Ormskirk, one of its court rolls, 8 ' 
 Otter's Pbol mentioned, 11 
 Owlwarps, a place, 11 
 
 , Pannage, the feeding of hogs mentioned, 21 , 
 
 Passe, Richard, a soldier, practising his arms, 
 kilUng some person or animal by accident, 29 
 
 PerciVal, William, a chaplain, a suitor in the 
 court, 17 
 
 Pepper, xii'^- paid for a pound in 1376, 12 ; and 
 in 1382 xiiii was paid for it, 21 
 
 Pie powder, court of, mentioned, 27 
 
 Pools at Freshpool and Otter's Pool mentioned, 32 
 
 Priors and abbots shewn to be sometimes arbi- 
 trary, 13 
 
 Protector, the lord, ten persons fined for refusing 
 to be sworn in his name, in 1665, 29 , 
 
 R 
 
 Raleigh, Hawkins, and Ralph Lane introduced 
 
 tobacco, 30 
 Records, titles of some of them at Halton, 55 
 Respublica, jurors refuse to be sworn for, 29 
 Richmond family, some account of, 53 and 54 
 Ring yard or rynke yard, id est clausus quse 
 
 vocatur chiminatus vel, common meadows. — 
 
 Cowell's Interpreter, sub voce sucking, 10 
 Rivers, Thomas, earl of, seneschal, 35 
 Rogues whipped before trial, 12 
 'Rolls, number of those at Halton, 4 
 Runcorn a manor, 3 
 Runcorn, some of its vicars, 15 * 
 Rnocorn, WUliam, chaplain, presented for keeping 
 
 a hound and hunting, 17 and 24 
 
 Savage, Sir John, knight, seneschal, 3 
 
 Savage, Sir John, in 1558, attends as judger from 
 
 fortnight to fortnight," 20 
 Savage, Sir John, and his son, take a lease of the 
 
 Halton fishery, S3 
 Scolds presented at the court, 25 
 Sectatores in 1513, list of, 20 
 Shiplode Manway, in Runcorn, mentioned, 21 
 Shotendomes, some courts so called, 6 
 Strete gate in Ha.lton, 11 
 Stocks mentioned, 12 
 
 Stockton fined for selling ale without a licence, 29^ 
 Surrey, Thomas, duke of, seneschal, 19 
 Sutton, William, of Moor, chaplain, 17 
 
 T 
 
 Taxator, an oflScer so called, 21 
 
 Thelwall a manor, 3 
 
 Thelwall, a clerk thBre, 16 
 
 Thelwall, Gfeorge, and Hugh Renshaw charged 
 with taking partridges, 24 
 
 Thelwall court, fisheries presented, 30; fish -yards 
 complained of, 35 ; fishermen fined for selling 
 fish before the first hour of the day, 31 ; pro- 
 ceeds of the fisheries (li.); free fishers there,' 
 33; fishery let (lb.); 23 persons fined for 
 unlawful fishing (lb.) ' , 
 
 Thelwall, Urian, does fealty, 32 
 
 Thelwall, George, and another, presented for 
 taking partridges, 24 
 
 Thistletake, a custom, mentioned, 21 
 
 Thomas, son of Thomas of the Castle, clerk, the 
 lord's villein, pays a fine to take holy orders, 14 
 
 Thomason, Ralph, chaplain, surrenders lands at 
 Widnes, 11 * 
 
 Tipulator, who so called, 11 
 
 Toft, a clerk, named there, 16 
 
 Toptrose explained, 11 
 
 ^r 
 
 u 
 
 UfiTHOWLS, a placs in Thelwall, 11 
 
 Vaughan, S^homas, wages his law, 25 
 ,Villeins, some particulars of them, 18 
 Vocabulary of a few Halton words, 10 
 
m 
 
 itiDu. 
 
 "■• ,w 
 
 Walton Ovep, the township fined f el not hating 
 
 stocks, 2B V 
 
 'Walton Lower, a cobble»boat wrecked- there, 31 
 Walys, William, joins Glendo%er, 22 
 WarBurtpn, Hamon, fined for taking a hare . at 
 
 Whitley, 23 
 Warburton, Sir John, his precept. for summoniDg 
 
 a jury, 27 
 Waib^ and ward, constable fined tor. not keep- 
 
 JDg, 30 ■' 
 
 Whitley' Over mentionedy-S; title of its compotus 
 
 given,. 9;; >'thr^e of the traants killed at the 
 
 battle of Shrewsbury, in 1403, .^2; persohs 
 
 presented for ticking eels thei%, 33 
 
 WijjBes a manor, S ; dependent on Halton, 19 
 
 Woodfall, Koljert, presehjsd for walking about 
 
 armed, 27 ' >, 
 
 Woolton? Magna, prior of St. John, a suitor, 16 
 Wyehe, prior of Norton, claimed tithe oaks, 14 
 
 Printed by Percival Pearse, Warrington,. 
 
DA 690.H191B36 """"^ "^'^ 
 *'''i?iilBiiiiiimiiiM?!!S °' ""« honour of Ha 
 
 3 1924 028 137 994 
 

 
 Works by Wm. Beamont, Esq. 
 
 XHE HISTORY OF HALTON CASTLE, NORTON PRIORY, 
 
 ROCK SAVAGE, DARESBURY. 
 
 J\N ACCOUNT OF THE ROLLS OF THE HONOUR OF HALTON. 
 ^NNALS OF THE LORDS OF WARRINGTON. 2 Vols. 
 y\NNALS OF THE LORDS OF WARRINGTON AND BEWSEY. 
 T;HE HISTORY OF WINWICK. 
 
 JS^N ACCOUNT'oF the CHURCHES OF WARRINGTON. Illustrated. 
 y\ HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF LYME. 
 
 Works by J. Paul Rylands, Esq., f.s.a. 
 
 QENEALOGIES of the FAMILIES of CULCHETH OF CUL- 
 
 CHETH AND RISLEY OF RISLEY. 
 
 NOTES ON the family of HOLCROFT OF HOLCROFT, with 
 
 an Account of their Arms. 
 
 The Lancashire Library. 
 
 k 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 ^N ATTEMPT to IDENTIFY the ARMS formerl)' Existing in 
 the Windows of the Parish Church and Austin Friary, at Warrington. By Wii, Beamont, 
 Esq., and J. Paul Rylands, Esq., P'.S.A. I 
 
 ^ BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT of BOOKS on Topography, 
 Biography, Hlsiory, Science, and Miscellaneous Literature relating to the County 
 Palatine, including- an Account of Lancashire Tracts, Pamphlets, and Sermons printed 
 before the year 1720. By Lieut.-Col. Henry Fishwick. Price, 25/- small paper; 
 35/- large paper ; 50/- large paper, interleaved. 
 
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