ALLERTON
Alretune, Dom. Bk.; Allerton, 1306. The local
pronunciation is Ollerton.
Allerton is a suburban township containing 1,586
acres, (fn. 1) pleasantly situated on the gentle slopes of a
ridge which rises on the eastern side to 230 feet above
sea level, overlooking the River Mersey across the
adjacent township of Garston. There are several
large residences with their private grounds set in the
midst of pastures and a few arable fields. There are
plantations of trees, some of a fair size for a suburban
district. An air of tidiness reigns over what remains
of the natural features, with neatly-kept hedges and
railed-in paddocks, and shrubs grown to rule and
measure. The roads are good, and the soil, apparently clay and sand, appears fertile, and is of
course much cultivated; good cereals are successfully
grown. The pebble beds of the bunter series of
the new red sandstone or trias underlie the entire
township.
The London and North-Western company's railway
from Liverpool to London skirts the south-western
boundary, having stations called Mossley Hill and
Allerton. The population in 1901 was 1,101.
The Calderstones estate, formed in 1828 by Joseph
Need Walker of Liverpool, (fn. 2) has lately been purchased
by the corporation of Liverpool. The 'famous Allerton oak,' mentioned in the Directory of 1825, still
stands on the lawn of the house, a very large and
ancient tree.
A local board was formed in 1868; (fn. 3) in 1894 it
became an urban district council of nine members.
MANOR
ALLERTON was in 1066 held by
three thegns for as many manors, the
assessment being half a hide, and the
value above the customary rent the normal 8s. (fn. 4) In
the twelfth century it became a member of the barony
of Manchester. It is not mentioned by name in the
survey of 1212, but had apparently before that time
been held in conjunction with Childwall by the lords
of Lathom, who had recently resigned their rights here. (fn. 5)
There was here about the same time a family who
bore the local surname. Richard son of Robert de
Allerton gave to the canons of St. Werburgh of
Warburton whatsoever in Aigburth belonged to his
fourteen oxgangs of land in Allerton, as shown by the
marks and crosses of the brethren, with common
rights and easements of his fee in Allerton. His son
Robert, with the assent of his uncle Gilbert, son of
Robert de Allerton, granted three acres between the
'Twiss' and St. Mary's Spring, next to the four acres
given them by Richard son of Robert son of Henry.
He further gave his portion of ten oxgangs of land
upon Flasbuttes in the east of Aigburth, between the
Stonebridge and the moss. (fn. 6)
In 1241, an assize of mort d'ancestor having been
summoned between Robert son of Richard de Allerton and Geoffrey de Chetham and Margaret his wife,
the former quitclaimed his right in twelve oxgangs of
land in Allerton, i.e. half the manor, to Thomas
Grelley, lord of Manchester, who had been called to
warrant. (fn. 7) From this time no resident family assumed
the local name. (fn. 8) The superior lordship thus formally
recognized continued to be held by the barons of
Manchester down to the seventeenth century. (fn. 9)
A subordinate manor of Allerton was formed for
one of the members of the Grelley family, the earliest
known tenant being John Grelley. His son Robert
and widow Joan were in 1306 holding respectively
two-thirds and a third of the manor, which were
claimed by Thomas son of Robert Grelley, the superior
lord, by writ of formedon. (fn. 10) Robert, however, continued to hold the manor until the beginning of
Edward III's reign, (fn. 11) when he was succeeded by his
son John, (fn. 12) whose name occurs down to about 1380.
In 1382 Isabel, widow of John Grelley, negotiated
the marriage of her daughter Anilla with John
le Norreys of Much Woolton. (fn. 13)
The descent of the manor is obscure at this point.
Probably there was an elder daughter who inherited
it. It was afterwards held by the Lathoms of Parbold. Their earliest appearance in Allerton is in
1441, when Edward de Lathom obtained by fine
from Richard de Pemberton and Elizabeth his wife
six messuages, a mill and lands here. (fn. 14) A confirmation of the descent is obtainable from two Mossock
inquests of the time of Elizabeth; (fn. 15) in that taken in
1594 after the death of Henry Mossock his land in
Allerton was stated to be held 'of the heirs of Robert
son of John Grelley'; but in that of his son Thomas,
four years later, 'of Richard Lathom.'
Robert Lathom of Allerton, who married a daughter of William Norris of Speke, occurs from 1472
onwards; he died at a great age in September, 1516,
and was succeeded by his son William, then over sixty
years old. (fn. 16) The Lathoms were both royalists and
recusants. (fn. 17) Their estates were seized by the Parliament during the Civil War, and the manor was sold (fn. 18)
to John Sumner of Midhurst in Sussex, in March,
1654. The price agreed upon was £2,700. (fn. 19) It
was not, however, till the beginning of 1670 that
Charles, son and heir of John Sumner, obtained
possession from Thomas Lathom, son and heir of
Richard, by further payment; later in the same year
the whole was sold to Richard Percival and Thomas
his son for £4,755, of which sum Charles Sumner
received £3,300, and Katherine Lathom, widow,
and her son Thomas the remainder. (fn. 20)
Richard Percival, born in 1616, was engaged in
business in Liverpool. (fn. 21) He and others who refused
to make the declaration required by the Test and
Corporation Act were removed from their aldermanships in 1662. (fn. 22) He died in 1700, being succeeded
by his son Richard. (fn. 23) The younger Richard had
three sons and four daughters. The eldest of the
sons, John Percival, failed in business about 1722, (fn. 24)
and the father, apparently overwhelmed by misfortune, retired to Manchester, where he died in 1725. (fn. 25)
The Allerton property had been fully settled, but
in 1726 Richard Percival of Liverpool, son and heir
of John, with the assistance of Thomas Aspinall of
Toxteth Park, who had intermarried with this family, (fn. 26)
cut off the entail in order to aid his mother, who out
of her £100 a year had given up £50 to help to pay
her husband's debts. Ten years later he sold the
estate for £7,700 to the brothers John and James
Hardman, the latter being distantly related by
marriage; he then retired upon £100 a year to
Wavertree Hall, where he was living in 1760, a
recluse, bent upon the discharge of his father's debts. (fn. 27)
John Hardman died in 1755 (fn. 28) soon after his election to Parliament, his brother James having predeceased him in 1746. The former had no children,
but the latter left three sons and a daughter, all of
whom died young, and the widow continued to
reside at Allerton till her death, 12 February 1795. (fn. 29)
The estate was purchased by William Roscoe and
James Clegg, the manorial rights being held jointly. (fn. 30)
The former resided at the hall for some time, (fn. 31) but on
his failure in 1816 his portion was sold to James
Willacey of Barton Lodge near Preston, from whose
representatives it passed in 1824 to Pattison Ellames
for £28,000. In 1836 the purchaser was living at
the Hall and Samuel Joseph Clegg, son of James
Clegg, at Green Hill in Allerton. (fn. 32) After prolonged
litigation among the representatives of the families of
Willacey and Ellames, the manor or reputed manor,
demesne lands, and hall estate were offered for sale in
September, 1868, by order of the court of Chancery.
A sale was not then effected; (fn. 33) but later the Ellames
trustees sold the hall and manorial rights to Lawrence
Richardson Baily of Liverpool, (fn. 34) after whose death in
1886 Mr. Thomas Clarke of Liverpool and Cork
purchased the estates and is the present lord of the
manor. (fn. 35)
Three daughters were the issue of the above mentioned marriage between John le Norreys of Woolton
and Anilla Grelley, one of them being Joan, who
married Henry Mossock. In 1417 by fine dealing
with lands in Allerton, Ditton, Huyton, and Speke,
the succession was arranged. (fn. 36) The Mossocks retained property at Allerton until the seventeenth
century. (fn. 37)
The Norrises of Speke also held land in Allerton of
the Lathoms. It was situate in the Marshfield and
had been the property of the Brooks family of
Garston. (fn. 38)
Some part of the holding of Cockersand Abbey had
early been farmed to Ralph Saracen, a citizen of
Chester, who gave his right to the Hospital of
St. John the Baptist outside the Northgate, the
brethren thereof being bound to render 5s. yearly to
the abbey. (fn. 39) On the suppression of the abbey these
lands were granted to Thomas Holt, (fn. 40) and were afterwards sold to Edward Molyneux. (fn. 41)
Among the more recent landowners may be mentioned the Earles of Liverpool,
who began to purchase about
the beginning of last century.
Sir Hardman Earle, of Allerton
Tower, was made a baronet in
1869; he died in 1877, and
was succeeded by his son Sir
Thomas, who died in 1900,
and his grandson Sir Henry
Earle, D.S.O. General Sir William Earle, C.B., C.S.I., a son
of the first baronet, was killed
in the Soudan on 10 February,
1885; there is a statue to
commemorate him in front of
St. George's Hall, Liverpool. (fn. 42)
Earle of Allerton Tower. Or, three pallets gules each charged with an escallop in chief of the field.
An enclosure of waste was made in 1822, the lords
of the manor at that time being Samuel Joseph Clegg
and James Willacey. (fn. 43)
Two small 'Papist' estates were registered in
1717; William Walmesley of Liverpool, watchmaker,
£35 for a house held for the life of Anne his wife;
and Thomas Miller of Garston, for houses here and
at Garston, £10. (fn. 44)
The church of All Hallows was built in 1872 for
the accommodation of members of the Established
Church. A parish was formed for it in 1876. The
incumbents are presented by Mrs. Bibby. The
stained glass windows were designed by Sir E. Burne-Jones and executed by William Morris.