| 1 |
Including 100 acres of inland water. |
| 2 |
Lond. Gaz. 23 Oct. 1866. |
| 3 |
V.C.H. Lancs. i, 286. |
| 4 |
Ibid. 366, note 8. For later notices
see Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 138; ii,
99; ibid. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 105. |
| 5 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), i, 74. The separate
assessment of Ince appears to have been
one plough-land: and its share of the
thegnage rent was probably 10s.; one of
the judges being also supplied by it. In
1544 the Gerards' rent was stated to be
5s. only; possibly this was a moiety of
the manor, the other moiety being held
by the Ince family. |
| 6 |
Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 12. Orm de
Haydock gave to Cockersand Abbey a
portion of land in Ince, between two
brooks, as marked out by the canons'
crosses; Cockersand Chart. (Chet. Soc.),
ii, 673. Robert Anderton held this in
1501 at a rent of 10d.; Cockersand Rental
(Chet. Soc.), 5. |
| 7 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 74; the half
plough-land was held 'of ancient feoffment.'
Richard de (or le) Perpoint was a
benefactor of Cockersand, his grant being
thus bounded: The great brook up the
Thele lache, down the lache between
Beric-acre and Wolveley to the syke between Hardacre and Bircacre, to the great
brook; Cockersand Chart. ii, 672. He
seems to have been succeeded by Robert
son of Adam de Perpoint, who released
to the canons the lands he had held of
them in Ince, and whose daughter Godith
did the same; ibid. 673, 674. For
Alfred de Ince see Lancs. Pipe R. 152,
&c. |
| 8 |
Cur. Reg. R. 171, m. 28; Henry
de Sefton called Thomas de Perpoint to
warrant him as to 4 oxgangs in Ince.
He may be the Henry de Seveton who
with his wife Alice was taken into confraternity with the Knights Hospitallers in
1256; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), i, 128. |
| 9 |
Assize R. 408, m. 21 d. John de
Ince was witness to an Abram charter
about 1240; Cockersand Chart. ii, 664. |
| 10 |
Assize R. 408, m. 73. It is possible that there is an error in the date. |
| 11 |
Assize R. 407, m. 3 d. Gilbert de
Southworth claimed in right of the dower
of his wife Emma, who seems to have
been the widow of Henry de Sefton; but
this would not have been so if Henry de
Sefton was living in 1288.
About this time there was a long suit
between John son of Richard Maunsel
of Heaton and Richard son of Emma
de Marhalgh as to messuages, mill, &c.,
and 6 oxgangs of land in Ince and Aspull.
Richard is described as son and heir of
Henry de Wigan, a brother of Richard
Maunsel; Assize R. 1265, m. 22 d.; R.
1321, m. 13 d.; R. 418, m. 2, 11. As
in one of the pleadings in 1284 (Assize R.
1268, m. 11) Gilbert de Southworth and
Emma his wife were joined in the defence
with Richard son of Emma de Marhalgh, it might seem that Henry de
Wigan was the same as Henry de Sefton,
but there is probably some other explanation. |
| 12 |
In 1292 he was defendant in a
number of suits concerning his father's
acquisitions.
Henry de Litherland claimed 4 oxgangs less 12 acres; he had in 1288 released his right in them to Henry de
Sefton, but now said he was a minor at
the time; Assize R. 408, m. 73. It is
possible that the plaintiff was the Henry
son of Thomas de Ince who at the same
assizes claimed 6 acres of land, &c.,
from Robert son of Fulk Banastre,
Hugh de Hindley, Alan son of Peter,
Adam de Urmston and Isabel his wife,
and Richard de Molyneux and Beatrice
his wife; ibid. m. 68. Agnes widow of
Thomas de Ince was also a claimant in
respect of dower; 2 oxgangs of land are
named; ibid. m. 3, 13 d., 64 d. Henry
son of Thomas de Ince held 12 acres
claimed by William, brother and heir of
Robert de Wytonelake, who asserted that
Thomas had demised to Henry de Sefton,
who had disseised Robert; ibid. m. 51.
Robert de Abram and Emma his wife,
in right of the latter, claimed the moiety
of an oxgang of land, &c., from Richard
son of Henry de Sefton of Ince, and from
Gilbert de Southworth and Emma his
wife. The latter pair said they had only
Emma's dower out of Richard's inheritance. The plaintiffs said that Henry de
Ince gave the tenements to Adam son of
Wido and Margery his wife; the latter
being, it would seem, a daughter of Henry;
and that Emma was their daughter and
heir; Robert was the son of John de
Abram, who had married the said Margery. Richard de Ince's reply was that
Margery had granted the lands to his
father while she was a widow and free to
do so; but the jury decided for the plaintiffs, believing a grant was made after she
had married John de Abram. Gilbert
and Emma were also to have nothing
from the land, 'because the seisin of the
latter's first husband was unjust'; ibid.
m. 26 d. The last sentence seems to
prove that this Emma was widow of
Henry de Sefton.
In the same year, 1292, Richard de
Ince and Alice his wife, 'put in their
claim' in a fine concerning the manor of
Haydock; Final Conc. i, 174.
Late in 1334 Richard son of Henry
de Ince granted Gilbert de Culcheth leave
to carry turves from Hindley to Wigan
through Ince; Lancs. and Ches. Hist. and
Gen. Notes, i, 52. |
| 13 |
In 1323–4 Gilbert son of Richard
de Ince remitted to Gilbert de Haydock
a rent of 13s. 4d.; Raines MSS. (Chet.
Lib.), xxxviii, 33. Gilbert de Ince was
witness in 1334; Crosse D. no. 45.
Ten years later John de Tyldesley made
a claim against Gilbert son of Richard
de Ince and others concerning land; Assize R. 1435, m. 47. A little later, 1347,
William son of John Donning of Ince
sued Gilbert son of Richard de Ince for
a messuage in Ince. Gilbert claimed by
a grant from Elias Donning and Margery
his wife, parents of John Donning; in
the defence there were associated with
him his brothers Richard, Thomas, and
John; also his son Ivo; ibid, m. 41 d.
Gilbert de Ince at Easter 1354 was convicted of disseising John son of Thomas
Jew of a rent of 13s. 4d. in Ince; and
Hugh, Gilbert's brother, cut off John's
arm; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m.
3. Henry, another brother, occurs in
1347; Cal. Close, 1346–9, p. 49. Gilbert de Ince attested a charter in 1358;
Standish D. no. 46. |
| 14 |
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 2, m.
36; a list of the tenants is given.
Robert was perhaps yet another brother
of Gilbert's, for a Robert son of Richard de
Ince was plaintiff in 1353 against Roger
de Leigh, and others; Assize R. 435,
m. 20.
Richard and Thomas de Ince contributed to the poll tax of 1381; Lay Subs.
Lanc. bdle. 130, no. 24. |
| 15 |
Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), ii, 131,
where it is stated that a dispensation was
granted for the marriage. John Gerard
of Ince occurs in 1425; Lancs. Inq. p.m.
(Chet. Soc.), ii, 13.
In 1420 John Gerard of Ince and Ellen
his wife arranged for the succession of the
manor of Ince, with fifteen messuages,
140 acres of land, &c., in Warrington,
Wigan, and Aspull; Pal. of Lanc. Feet
of F. bdle. 5, m. 18. At the inquisition
after his death, taken in 1434–5, his son
and heir William was said to be aged
twenty-three; Ormerod, loc. cit. |
| 16 |
Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), i, 3–7; the date should be 6
Hen. VIII. The plaintiff's pedigree is
given: 'The said moss . . . is the freehold
and inheritance of plaintiff as parcel of
his manor of Ince, whereof William
Gerard his great-grandfather, Thomas
his grandfather, and William his father,
and many others of his ancestors were
time out of mind peaceably seised.'
In 1448 Thomas Gerard son of William
Gerard, Roger Gerard, and Cecily wife
of William Gerard, were accused of causing the death of Robert Gidlow, but
were acquitted; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R.
12, m. 25; see also R. II, m. 15, 16.
In that year a dispensation was granted
by Nicholas V for the marriage of Thomas
son and heir of William Gerard of Ince,
and Elizabeth a daughter of William
Norris of Speke, the parties being related
in the third degree; Norris D. (B.M.),
no. 643. Ten years later an indenture
was made, reciting the fact of this marriage, and stating that lands in Aspull and
Hindley had been assigned to them;
William Gerard, the father, 'had not
made and would not make any alienation
of the manor of Ince or of any messuage, lands, and tenements that were
Ellen's that was wife to John Gerard
mother to the said William Gerard,' but
such as should determine at his death.
William's brothers, Robert, John, Hugh,
and Richard are named, as also his younger
sons, Roger, Edmund, Lawrence, and Seth;
ibid. no. 644.
To Thomas Gerard, the son, a pardon
was granted in 1479; Towneley MS.
RR, no. 1430. In this year Thomas
Gerard of Ince and William his son, with
Roger and Seth his brothers, were parties to an engagement to keep the peace
with Alexander Standish and others;
Standish D. nos. 160, 161.
In 1490 the marriage of Thomas son
and heir apparent of William Gerard, and
Maud daughter of Sir Henry Bold, was
agreed upon; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 210,
nos. 118, 119. |
| 17 |
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, no. 27.
The burgage in Wigan was held by the
rent of a pair of gloves. |
| 18 |
Ibid. xi, no. 12; he held the manors
of Ince and Aspull, with various messuages and lands, &c.; including a windmill and a water-mill in Ince, and the
same in Aspull; sixty burgages, &c., in
Wigan, and various lands there, held by a
rent of 57s. 1d.; also lands in Pemberton, Abram, and Hindley. William his
son and heir was twenty-three years of
age. |
| 19 |
William was a plaintiff against Sir
Thomas Gerard in 1549; Ducatus Lanc.
(Rec. Com.), ii, 101.
In 1567 a pedigree was recorded; Visit.
(Chet. Soc.), 101. William Gerard was
buried at Wigan, 29 Nov. 1583; Reg. |
| 20 |
A settlement of the manors of Aspull and Ince was made by fine in 1586;
Miles Gerard and Grace his wife being
deforciants; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F.
bdle. 48, m. 299; there was a later one
in 1612; ibid. bdle. 82, m. 51. Several
other fines relate to dealings with their
properties; ibid. bdle. 47, m. 57, &c.
In 1599, as lord of the manor, he complained that Ralph Houghton and others
were withholding suit; Ducatus Lanc.
(Rec. Com.), iii, 336, 399. |
| 21 |
Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 245, quoting
S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, 4. He and his
wife had been accused in 1586 of sheltering
one Worthington, a persecuted priest; and
his own brother, Alexander Gerard, was
another priest in the neighbourhood; ibid.
239, 240. Thomas and Alexander Gerard,
aged eighteen and seventeen respectively,
entered Brasenose College, Oxf. in 1578;
Foster, Alumni. In spite of a discrepancy
in the dates—it being recorded that
Alexander left Rheims for England in
1587—it seems certain that Miles's
brothers were the Thomas and Alexander
Gerard imprisoned for religion in Wisbech
Castle, where Thomas died; their brother
Gilbert, born in 1569, and therefore not
recorded in the Visitation pedigree, entered
the English College, Rome, in 1587, and
became a Jesuit; Foley, Rec. S.J. vi,
175; vii, 293.
In September 1590 Miles Gerard
was indicted for fourteen months' absence
from church, but for most part of the
time he had been 'so extreme sick' that
his life had only been preserved by the
use of goat's milk; before that he said
he had been a regular attendant at church;
Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 597. See
also Local Glean. Lancs. and Ches. ii, 252.
Miles Gerard, a Douay priest, executed
at Rochester in 1590 for his priesthood,
is supposed to have been of this family;
Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of Engl. Cath. ii,
430–2. He does not occur in the pedigree, but Miles seems to have been a
favourite Christian name in this branch. |
| 22 |
Visit. of 1613 (Chet. Soc.), 25.
'Miles Gerard of Ince, esquire, was buried
at Wigan, 1615, in his own chancel, the
28th day of September'; Reg.
Thomas son and heir of Miles Gerard
of Ince entered St. Mary Hall, Oxf. in
1607, aged seventeen; he was afterwards
of Gray's Inn; Foster, Alumni Oxon. |
| 23 |
Norris D. (B.M.). For a settlement
in 1641 see Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F.
bdle. 138, m. 38. He paid £13 6s. 8d.
on refusing knighthood in 1632; Misc.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 222. |
| 24 |
Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 34; petition of his
wife and daughters. |
| 25 |
Ibid. iii, 34–51. Thomas Gerard
had a mine of cannel in Aspull, for which
he needed a trench through lands of James
Gorsuch, paying him £20 for leave.
Owing to neglect in the various sequestrations the trench was filled up, and the
mine was 'totally drowned up'; the fault
being that of the agents of the sequestrators. He asked for compensation or
assistance to put the mine in order.
The rents of the confiscated two-thirds
of the estates amounted in 1653–4 to
£111 17s. 6d.; it consisted of the
demesne lands at Ince, a mill, tenants'
rents, tithe corn, rents in Aspull, and a
cannel mine in Aspull farmed to his son
Thomas Gerard; ibid. 47.
Ince Hall was the subject of suits between Thomas Gerard and Roger Scoughton in 1663; Exch. Depos. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), 37, 48.
In 1667 an inquiry was made touching
an annuity granted by Thomas Gerard
to John Biddulph; Lancs. and Ches. Recs.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 348. |
| 26 |
Royalist Comp. Papers, iii, 40–43. It
being alleged that the younger Thomas
was 'a delinquent papist and not to be
admitted to composition, notwithstanding
his conformity,' his friends moved that he
might be allowed to give the committee
further satisfaction by taking the oath of
abjuration. |
| 27 |
For Richard Gerard see Dict. Nat.
Biog.
The descent which follows is taken
from Piccope's MS. Pedigrees (Chet. Lib.),
i, 119, with additions from his abstracts
of Roman Catholic deeds enrolled in the
Preston House of Correction. There is
also a pedigree in Gregson, Fragments (ed.
Harland), 239. John Gerard died in July
1672, and was buried at Winwick; Local
Glean. Lancs. and Ches. i, 191. |
| 28 |
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 211,
m. 25. Besides the manors the property
included messuages and lands and a water
grain mill in Ince, Aspull, and Wigan;
also tithes in Ince. For a fine of 1700
see bdle. 245, m. 93; Thomas Gerard,
Sir William Gerard, and William Gerard
were the deforciants. Thomas Gerard is
usually described as 'of Highfield' in
Aspull. As a 'papist' he registered his
estate in 1717, the value being given as
£345 17s. 4d.; Richard Gerard, of Highfield, who registered an annuity of £150
out of the manor of Aspull, was no doubt
his son; Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 128, 153;
he also owned the hall of Southworth;
Piccope, op. cit. Two of his sisters were
nuns.
In 1694 an inquiry was made as to the
suspected devotion of the Hall of Ince to
religious uses; Exch. Depos. 84. |
| 29 |
Richard Gerard of Highfield died
without issue in 1743. In 1721 he was
in the remainders to the Brynn estate.
By his will dated 1 Feb. 1734–5, he
gave the manor of Ince to his wife
Margaret, who was daughter of John
Baldwin of Wigan, for life, with remainder to his right heirs; his manors
of Southworth and Croft to his brother
Thomas; Piccope, op. cit. This Thomas
and another brother Caryll were priests;
for the latter see Foley, Rec. S.J. vi,
468. |
| 30 |
Richard Gerard, a younger brother of
Thomas, was an apothecary in Wigan.
He and his son Richard registered as
'papists' in 1717; Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 107, 148. They mortgaged a
messuage in the Market-place in 1731.
The son, who died in 1743, married Isabella, another daughter of John Baldwin
of Wigan; and their son William, described as an apothecary in 1744, was the
heir to Ince. Aspull is not mentioned,
having probably been sold. In 1751–2
William Gerard was deforciant of the
manor in a fine, which included lands in
Ince, Abram, Hindley, Newton in Makerfield, and Wigan; also 'one chapel open
to the north side and adjoining the parish
church of Wigan'; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of
F. bdle. 346, m. 108. |
| 31 |
In 1773 John Walmesley and Mary
his wife, Elizabeth Gerard, spinster,
William Moss and Margaret his wife,
and Richard Baron and Anne his wife
were the deforciants in a fine regarding this manor; ibid. bdle. 389, m.
176. |
| 32 |
The descent is thus given in Burke,
Landed Gentry— John Walmesley, d. 1780;
son, Richard, d. 1790; son, Charles, d.
1833; son, William Gerard, d. 1868;
son, William Gerard, d. 1877; brother,
Humphrey Jeffreys, born 1846. |
| 33 |
Information given by the present
owner, who also inherited the house in
Hallgate, Wigan, in which the Young
Pretender slept in November 1745. For
the pedigree of the family see Burke,
Landed Gentry, Walmesley of Hall of
Ince. |
| 34 |
a A view of the Hall, as it was a century ago, is given in Gregson, Fragments
(ed. Harland), 236. |
| 35 |
One Thomas Anderton had lands
in Ince in 1529, as recorded in a later
note; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, n.
14, 30. One of his daughters and coheirs married Thomas Gerard, and a
division was sought in 1546; Pal. of
Lanc. Writs, file 30. Ralph Gerard and
Grace his wife sold lands here in 1548;
James Gerard was a purchaser; Pal. of
Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 13, m. 133, 136.
See also Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv,
no. 19; a James Gerard was buried at
Wigan 21 Sept. 1590. This James may
have been the father of Miles Gerard,
who in 1600 was one of the freeholders in
Ince; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 239. The same name, as 'of New
Hall' appears among the landowners
contributing to the subsidy of 1628;
Norris D. (B. M.). He was buried at
Wigan in 1640, and in 1654 Charles
son of James Gerard, of the New Hall,
was buried, as appears by the Wigan
registers.
For some 'delinquency' James Gerard's
estate was sequestrated about the end of
1651 by the Parliamentary authorities;
as 'son and heir of Miles Gerard, late of
Ince,' he was admitted to Gray's Inn,
1646; Royalist Comp. Papers, iii, 21; iv,
34.
In 1671, on a complaint by Henry
Backer and his wife Jane against Ellen
Gerard, depositions were taken as to the
marriage of John Davies of Manby
in Cheshire, with Alice eldest daughter
of Miles Gerard, late of Peel Ditch in
Ince, and moneys agreed to be paid to
Jane and Margaret, daughters of Miles;
and touching a sum of £400 lent to
Thomas Gerard of Ince; Exch. Depos.
49. |
| 36 |
a The house is the subject of one
of Roby's Traditions of Lancashire, where
a view of it in its original state is
given. |
| 37 |
b Manchester City News, N. and Q.
iv, 7 (1881). |
| 38 |
There is a tradition that the Young
Pretender slept here when he was in
this part of Lancashire, and that there
was a skirmish in the hall during his stay
in which two men were killed. |
| 39 |
a They may have descended from the
Henry son of Thomas de Ince, of 1292,
who had a son Thomas; Assize R. 419,
m. 12; De Banco R. 198, m. 136 d.
Richard son of Henry de Ince contributed
to the subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 6. The
Thomas of 1381 may also have belonged
to it; a release by Thomas son of Robert
de Ince, dated 1379, is in Towneley MS.
GG, no. 2439. Robert son of William de
Ince, occurs in 1398; Crosse D. (Trans.
Hist. Soc.), no. 86. Henry de Ince occurs
in 1415; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i,
107. Thomas son of Henry de Ince was
party to a bond in 1428; GG, no. 2655.
Henry Ince of Ince was one of the gentry
of the hundred in 1512. |
| 40 |
b Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 6.
Miles Ince was his son and heir, and of the
age of twenty-five years. The rent payable seems to prove that this was a moiety
of the manor. Mr. H. Ince Anderton
gives the descent as: Thomas Ince (15
Edw. IV) —s. Henry (20 Hen. VII) —s.
Arthur —s. Thomas; from Harl. MS.
1987, fol. 88b.
The father of Thomas was Arthur Ince,
who in 1546 and later had a dispute with
Ralph Brown over the marriage between
the latter's daughter Ellen and Thomas
Ince, son and heir apparent of Arthur;
Duchy Plead. ii, 211. In 1569 Miles
Ince, as grandson of Ralph Brown, put in a
claim to lands in Ince, Aspull, and Wigan;
Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 378, 360. |
| 41 |
Miles Ince was one of the 'comers to
church but no communicants' in 1590;
Lydiate Hall, 246 (quoting S.P. Dom.
Eliz. ccxxxv, 4). He was buried at Wigan
7 Apr. 1593; Reg.; and was succeeded by
John Ince, probably his son, returned as a
freeholder in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), i, 241. With him begins the
pedigree recorded in 1664; Dugdale,
Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 163. In 1628 he paid
double to the subsidy as a convicted recusant; Norris D. (B.M.); and died the
following year, being buried at Wigan. |
| 42 |
In 1643 two-thirds was sequestered
for Thomas Ince's religion only, and so
remained till his death in Feb. 1653–4;
it does not appear that he took arms for
the king. John Ince was the only son
and heir, thirty-four years of age, and in
1654 had a wife and four small children
depending on him. He mortgaged his
property in order to pay his father's debts
and provide for his wife Margaret and
his children Thomas, Hugh, &c.; Royalist
Comp. Papers, iv, 1–13. |
| 43 |
Dugdale's pedigree is supplemented
by that of Piccope (MS. Pedigrees, ii,
291), who consulted the Roman Catholic
deeds enrolled in the House of Correction,
Preston. It appears that Thomas, the
eldest son of John, mentioned in the preceding note, had no issue, and the estate
descended to Christopher Ince, a younger
brother, who in 1717 as a 'papist' registered his estate, being described as 'of
Aughton;' Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 112. His
four sisters, Dorothy, Anne, Ellen (wife
of James Twiss), and Elizabeth also registered; ibid. 124.
Christopher was executor of his brother Thomas's will (dated 1703), and by
his own will, dated 12 Dec. 1728, he left
Ince Hall to his grandson Christopher;
John, the son, to have 'the profits of part
of Brook House,' if he behaved himself to
the satisfaction of the trustees. Thomas,
a younger brother of John, had lands in
Aughton and Billinge, divided between
his sons Thomas and James; Piccope, op.
cit.
Mr. Ince Anderton adds that papers in
Chest. Dioc. Reg. show that Christopher
Ince died in 1735, leaving two sons, John
and Thomas; and that administration of
the goods of John Ince of Ince was
granted on 14 Jan. 1739–40.
Christopher Ince, son of John, accordingly succeeded to Ince; in 1740 he
married Mary Catherine Parry of Holywell; and their daughter and heir,
Frances Sobieski Ince, married in 1769
William Anderton of Euxton; Piccope. |
| 44 |
In a suit in 1609 respecting a place
called Rundiefield in Ince, the following
pedigree was adduced:—Roger le Brown,
to whom the rent of 4s. from the land
had been granted by William de Ince—s.
Rowland —s. William —s. Ralph. Ralph
in 1545 granted the rent to William
Brown, whose son Roger was defendant
in 1609; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 303, m.
16.
Roger Brown of Ince, in August 1517,
granted to Cecily daughter of Richard
Urmston a burgage in Scholes for her
life, with remainder to Ralph Brown,
junior, son and heir of William Brown;
and at the same time this Ralph Brown,
describing himself as next of kin and heir
apparent of Roger, granted his burgages,
&c., in Scholes to the same Cecily, probably on his marriage with her; Towneley MS. OO, no. 1109, 1108.
Thomas Anderton of Ince died in
August 1529, seised of messuages and
lands in Ince held of Thomas Gerard of
Ince, by a rent of 2s. 8d.; and other lands
in Thingwall, Walton, Halewood, and
Aughton. His heirs were his daughters
Margaret, Ellen, and Cecily, said to be
ten, nine, and eight years of age in 1534.
They were in the wardship of Ralph
Brown of Wigan, who accordingly took
possession; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi,
no. 14, 30.
Ralph Brown next appears in 1535 in
a dispute with Thomas Gerard as to lands
in Whitreding; Ducatus Lanc. i, 201;
and then in 1546 regarding the marriage
covenant with Arthur Ince, already referred to. William Brown, feoffee of
Ralph, and James Brown appear in 1568
and 1569 in the disputes with Miles Ince.
In 1581 William Brown made complaint
as to Charles Bank, Miles Gerard, and
Lawrence Wood regarding lands called
Foxholes, &c.; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.),
iii, 92, 107.
William Brown died 13 May 1596 leaving a son and heir Roger, then about sixteen years of age; he had held two messuages and various lands in Ince of Miles
Gerard, by a rent of 4s. 6d. and sixteen
messuages in Wigan; Lancs. Inq. p.m.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 157.
Roger Brown, in 1597, alleged that
Miles Gerard was withholding suit; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 350. He
died 2 Jan. 1619–20, seised of the paternal
lands, and leaving as heir his son William,
aged seventeen; there was a younger
son Ralph, as appears by a feoffment made
in 1611; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 202. He had lived
'roguing about London,' in Bishop Bridgeman's opinion; Bridgeman, Wigan Ch.
249. |
| 45 |
William Brown died in 1626, for his
uncle Ralph, brother of Roger Brown,
tendered his relief on succeeding; he was
buried at Wigan 11 Mar. 1626–7, and
succeeded by his son; Bridgeman, op. cit.
250. The 'heirs of Ralph Brown' are
mentioned in the Wigan rental of 1627;
ibid. 310. |
| 46 |
Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1836), iii, 568;
Gregson, Fragments, 176. |
| 47 |
Mascy of Rixton D.; a subsidy roll. |
| 48 |
Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 241.
In 1546 was a fine between Nicholas
Pennington (or Pinnington) of Wigan and
John Pennington of Ince, respecting property in the latter place; Pal. of Lanc.
Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 167. In 1559
John Pennington was again deforciant;
ibid. bdle. 21, m. 134. In 1600 Gilbert
Bank sued Robert and Nicholas Pennington concerning a cottage and lands called
Emme Fields; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.),
iii, 412. |
| 49 |
Local Glean. Lancs. and Ches. i,
209–14. He states that the Browns
had the Cockersand lands. |
| 50 |
Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 125, 152. |
| 51 |
Bridgeman, Wigan Ch. 787; a district had been assigned in 1862; Lond.
Gaz. 4 Nov. |
| 52 |
Bridgeman, loc. cit. |
| 53 |
Liverpool Cath. Ann. 1901. |