| 1 |
Including 9 of inland water. |
| 2 |
Baines, Dir. 1825, ii, 718. |
| 3 |
Report quoted in Baines's Lancs. (ed.
1836), ii, 17. |
| 4 |
Lancs. and Ches. Hist. and Gen.
Notes, i, 203–5. |
| 5 |
V.C.H. Lancs. i, 366 n. The total
assessment of Lowton seems to have been
three plough-lands. |
| 6 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), i, 73. The manor
was held by knight's service, 'where
9½ plough-lands make the fee of one
knight.' |
| 7 |
Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 133. He was
the son of Pain de Lawton; Kuerden, fol.
MS. 363, R. |
| 8 |
Inq. and Extents, loc. cit. They were:
4 oxgangs (in Golborne) to Hugh de Haydock; 2 oxgangs to Robert son of Siward;
half a plough-land (in Arbury) to Geoffrey
Gernet; 2 oxgangs to Orm de Middleton, and the same to Robert de Kenyon;
also Flitcroft to the Knights Hospitallers.
The three grants of two oxgangs each may
be those subsequently held by Robert de
Winwick, Ellen daughter of Aldusa, and
William de Sankey. |
| 9 |
See the account of Kenyon. William
gave Witherscroft, lying by Byrom Brook,
to Alan de Rixton at farm for 12d.; Inq.
and Extents, loc. cit. William de Lawton
was still in possession in 1242; ibid.
148. Alice his widow, daughter of Hugh
de Winwick, released to Jordan de Kenyon all her dower in Kenyon; Kuerden,
loc. cit.
Alan de Rixton gave his lands in Byrom to Henry son of Richard de Glazebrook. In 1303 a marriage was agreed
upon between Henry son of Henry de
Glazebrook and Isabel daughter of Alan
de Rixton; Kuerden, fol. MS. 364; see also
Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), iv, 159 (W.
14). Alan son of Alan de Rixton claimed
common of pasture in Lowton in 1292;
Assize R. 408, m. 63 d. The lands descended to the Byrom family; Mascy of
Rixton Deeds, R. 63. |
| 10 |
As 'lord of Lowton' he confirmed
William's grant to Jordan de Kenyon;
Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 147–83. He was
defendant in several actions touching
lands in Lowton in 1258 and 1263; Cur.
Reg. R. 160, m. 4 d.; 172, m. 17. He
may be the Robert son of Richard de
Hindley to whom his father gave 'all the
vill of Lowton, viz. twelve oxgangs in
demesne and four in service,' as the fee
of one knight; Towneley MS. OO, no.
1266. |
| 11 |
William son of William de Lawton
claimed from Henry de Penmark common of pasture in Lowton in 1292;
Assize R. 408, m. 13.
In 1368 and later William son of William son of Felicia de Lawton was engaged in a number of pleas; his grandmother was Agnes daughter of Robert de
Mossley; De Banco R. 430, m. 297 d.
&c. Among the defendants were Hugh
son of William de Lawton, and William
son of Adam de Lawton. Mossley in
Lowton occurs again in the 16th century; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii,
386, 460.
Ellen daughter of Aldusa (whose husband was Gilbert) daughter of William
de Lawton granted two oxgangs of land
to Jordan de Kenyon; Harl. MS. 2112,
fol. 154b/190b.
Stephen son of Thomas de Lawton in
1317–18 granted to Hugh son of Hugh
de Lawton, who had married his daughter
Hawise, all his lands; Raines MSS.
(Chet. Lib.), xxxviii, 511.
Gilbert (a minor) son of Robert son
of Richard de Lawton was plaintiff in
1352, the defendants being Richard de
Lawton (apparently his grandfather),
Mary his wife, Jordan de Kenyon, and
Amery his wife; Duchy of Lanc. Assize
R. 2, m. 8 d.; Assize R. 435, m. 18 d.
23. Cecily widow of Robert de Lawton
was concerned in some of these suits;
Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. 1 d.
At Easter 1356 the above-mentioned
Gilbert claimed an acre of land from
Adam son of Matthew de Kenyon, who
replied that he held it jointly with Agnes
his wife and Ellen his daughter, by grant
of Richard son of Robert de Lawton.
Another acre Gilbert demanded from
John, a priest, Jordan and Hugh sons of
Adam de Kenyon; but it appeared that
Jordan was dead. Duchy of Lanc. Assize
R. 5, m. 24. The cases occur again, e.g.
Assize R. 438, m. 17 d. |
| 12 |
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 137,
138; ii, 96, 99; ibid. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), i, 105.
The exception is that the Hollands of
Denton claimed the manor of Lowton
and Kenyon in the time of Elizabeth and
later; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii,
no. 20. This may mean only that their
Kenyon estate included lands in Lowton.
Sir Thomas Fleetwood sold lands and quitrents in Lowton to various persons in
1773; Plac. de Banco (Deeds enrolled),
R. 199, m. 87; 201, m. 87 d.; 202. |
| 13 |
Apart from the manor the Leghs long
held lands in Lowton, partly by purchase,
but partly by inheritance from the Haydock family.
Robert de Winwick, otherwise Robert
son of Robert rector of Winwick, granted
two oxgangs of land in Lowton to Gilbert
de Haydock, who had given Robert 20s.
'in his great need'; Raines MSS. xxxviii,
510. This was no doubt one of the estates of two oxgangs granted by Adam de
Lawton.
A lease granted by Sir Peter Legh in
1615 required the tenant (or his deputy)
'to serve in the wars of the king's majesty,
as used to be done'; W. Farrer's Deeds. |
| 14 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 74. Nothing
more is known of Richard de Winwick. |
| 15 |
See the account of Golborne and the
suits quoted below. |
| 16 |
An account of the Byrom families
by Canon Raines will be found in the
Chetham Society's edition of John Byrom's Correspondence (old ser. xliv); and
supplementary matter in Lancs. and Ches.
Antiq. Notes, ii, 26, 91, 154.
The descendants of Thurstan de Holland are not clearly ascertained. He appears to have had three sons by Juliana
daughter of John Gillibrand—Thurstan,
Adam, and Simon. He is not usually
called their father, but made grants to
them; Assize R. 408, m. 16d. In a
suit of 1292 Simon is called son of Thurstan; ibid. m. 25. In a claim of the
same date made by Alan son of Alan de
Rixton against Simon son of Thurstan de
Holland, Byrom was said to be 'neither
town, borough, nor hamlet'; ibid.
Simon the youngest son succeeded;
in 1303 he claimed land from Henry de
Glazebrook, but the jury found that it
was really in Newton and not in Lowton
or Golborne; Assize R. 420, m. 2 d.
Alice the wife of Henry de Byrom was
perhaps Simon's granddaughter by an elder
son, for a son Simon is afterwards described as 'son and heir,' Alice's parentage not being recorded, though she claimed
in her own right. Henry's parentage is
shown by the Mascy of Rixton Deeds
already quoted; R. 63, W. 14. It appears that Alan de Rixton's grant of lands
in Lowton to Henry son of Richard de
Glazebrook was absolute, and that the
marriage of Henry's son with Isabel de
Rixton did not take place, this son Henry,
whose wardship was claimed in 1306 by
Alan de Rixton, being the Henry de Byrom of 1335.
Henry de Byrom first occurs in 1325
as witness to a local charter; Raines
MSS. xxxviii, 397. Three years later, by
fine, Thurstan son of Simon de Holland
settled lands in Byrom, Newton, Lowton,
and Golborne upon Henry de Byrom and
Alice his wife; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 70. The remainder
was to the right heirs of Henry.
In 1344–5 Henry de Byrom and Alice
his wife recovered certain lands in Lowton
from Robert son of Sir Robert de Langton and others; Assize R. 1435, m. 34,
36 d.
In the next years Simon son of Simon
son and heir of Simon de Holland, who
had a grant from Thurstan de Holland,
who in turn had received from Robert
Banastre, claimed and recovered common
of pasture in Lowton against Henry de
Byrom and Adam his brother, Alice wife
of Henry (claiming in her own right), and
John, Simon, and William, sons of Henry.
The recognitors found that an agreement
had been made between Henry and Simon
de Holland, the grandfather, as to an inclosure and division of the wood, but this
was not carried out; Assize R. 1435, m.
9 d.
At the same time other claims were
made against the Byroms respecting land
called Medewale in Lowton. Adam son
of Adam son of Robert de Medewale
claimed by grant of William, lord of
Lowton, to one Roger de Pennington,
father of Robert de Medewale; and Roger
de Flitcroft, as cousin and heir of Roger
son of Richard de Wirral, to whom
Robert de Lawton had made a grant,
claimed another portion of the same land;
ibid. m. 16, 17. William son of Adam
son and heir of William de Hesketh was
another claimant; ibid. m. 19.
Simon de Byrom, possibly the younger
son of Henry already mentioned, occurs
in various ways down to 1400; Raines,
Byrom Pedigrees (Chet. Soc.), 5. He was
defendant in a suit in 1356; Duchy of
Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 17. In a Subsidy
Roll of about 1380 he is described as a
'franklin'; Lay Subs. Lanc. bdle. 130,
no. 24.
Simon was perhaps the father of Thurstan de Byrom, who before 1398 had
married Cecily daughter and co-heir of
Richard de Lawton. Alice the other
daughter married Thurstan son of Richard
de Tyldesley; Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 151/187. In 1391–2 Richard de Tyldesley of
Lowton had become bound to Simon de
Byrom; Kuerden MSS. vi, fol. 86, no.
236. Cecily does not seem to have had
any children, but Alice had several daughters, and Agnes daughter of George Hartleys was her representative in 1547;
Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 152b/188b, 159/195. Thomas de Byrom is named in
1411 (Towneley MS. RR. no. 1533) and
was witness to charters in 1414 and 1423;
Raines, loc. cit. 6. |
| 17 |
See the account of Parr. The marriage took place in or before 1422; Pal.
of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 5, m. 10.
John Byrom, apparently the son of
Henry, who received £20 on the marriage, espoused Margaret daughter of
William de Lever of Great Lever in
1437; Add. MS. 32103; Lever D. no.
126, 127. Margaret is called the widow of
John Byrom in 1473 (Kuerden MSS. vi,
fol. 84, no. 207), but John seems to have
been living in 1476; Culcheth D. no.
257, 259. |
| 18 |
The marriage probably took place in
or before 1466, when Henry Byrom,
senior, John Byrom, and Thomas Byrom,
priest, no doubt as trustees for the younger
Henry and his wife, presented to the
rectory of Grappenhall; Ormerod, Ches.
(ed. Helsby), i, 600.
Among the deeds at West Hall, High
Legh, Cheshire, is one dated 1486, referring to the appointment of arbitrators to
decide the disputes between Henry Byrom
of Lowton and Constance his daughter,
and Thomas Legh of High Legh.
In 1487–8 Henry Byrom and Constance
his wife and James Holt and Isabel his
wife received from the trustees the manor
of Handley near Chester, and lands there
and in Latchford, Ringey (Hale), Stockport, and Stoke; ibid. ii, 723. For an
interesting claim to tolls on the passage
across the Mersey see Duchy Plead.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 39–41.
For other notices see Dep. Keeper's
Rep. xxxvii, App. III. In 1502 Henry
Byrom paid 4s. 7½d. annual rent to the
lord of Makerfield; Duchy of Lanc. Inq.
p.m. iii, no. 101. He died before his
wife.
John son and heir of Henry Byrom
occurs with his four sisters in a grant by
the father dated 1506; Raines, loc. cit.
7. He was forty years of age in 1512
when the inquisition after his mother's
death was taken; Dep. Keeper's Rep.
xxxix, App. 45.
Thomas Byrom, dead in 1526, is supposed to have been the son of John and
father of Henry Byrom; Raines, loc. cit.;
Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), i, 20; Dep.
Keeper's Rep. ut sup. |
| 19 |
In this year he made a settlement of
the manor of Byrom, lands in Lowton,
&c.; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14,
m. 7. |
| 20 |
In a Subsidy Roll of Mary's reign he
and Elizabeth Byrom (widow of Henry)
were the only landowners contributing in
Lowton and Kenyon; Mascy of Rixton
D. By his will, dated 1559, Thomas
Byrom gave his soul to St. Mary and
all the saints, and his body to be buried
in the churchyard at Winwick, 'near to
the place where my father lieth buried,
whose soul God pardon'; he left 5s. to
the repair of the church; Raines, loc.
cit. 8.
Mary his widow was in 1560 a plaintiff
against John Byrom and others; Ducatus
Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 221. |
| 21 |
Ibid. See also the account of Parr. |
| 22 |
Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 245; quoting
S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, 4. |
| 23 |
Ibid. 247. |
| 24 |
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvi, no.
37. The pedigree recorded at the visitation of 1664 begins with him; Dugdale,
Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 66. His will is
printed in Piccope's Wills, ii, 116. It
names his wife Mildred, his son Henry,
and grandson John; 6s. 8d. or 5s. each
was granted to serving men, maids, &c.,
and twenty windles of barley were to be
distributed among his poor neighbours;
the sum total of the inventory was
£259 18s. 9d. The will of his brother,
Richard Byrom of Middleton, is also given
(p. 117). |
| 25 |
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), i, 271, 274; ii, 11.
Henry Byrom in 1594 acquired a considerable property in Lowton from Thomas Langton and Thomas Fleetwood;
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 59, m. 371.
His will is among the Mascy of Rixton
Deeds; Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), iv,
175. Lands in Lowton were to be sold
to pay debts; there were no religious or
charitable bequests.
The inquisitions show that John Byrom
was twice married—to Ellen Lister of
Thornton in 1604, and in 1607 to Isabel
Nowell of Read, who survived her husband. The heir was clearly the issue of
the later marriage. |
| 26 |
Dugdale, Visit. loc. cit. He was a
major in the regiment of foot raised by
Lord Molyneux.
Immediately after his grandfather's
death he had been betrothed to Margaret,
the nine-year-old daughter of Sir Thomas
Ireland of Bewsey, but the contract was
afterwards annulled; Raines, loc. cit. 10. |
| 27 |
Two of the elder sons were lunatics,
and two died young. Samuel had a
younger brother Edward, who recorded the
family pedigree at the visitation of 1664.
The heirs being minors and the family
Protestant, the estates were not interfered
with by the Commonwealth authorities.
Three of the sons—Adam, Samuel, and
Edward—were admitted to Gonville and
Caius College, Cambridge, in 1646 and
1650; Venn, Admissions, 221, 231.
Samuel Byrom of Byrom was buried
at Winwick 26 Jan. 1665–6. Allegations concerning his will, dated 1668,
are preserved in the Diocesan Registry
at Chester; see Index (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), ii, 20; also Lancs. and Ches.
Antiq. Notes, ii, 154. Entries in the
Wilmslow registers are printed in Local
Glean. Lancs. and Ches. i, 12. |
| 28 |
John Byrom was born 24 June
1659, as appears by an entry in the Rostherne registers. He was admitted to
Gray's Inn, 1676, and about 1683 married Elizabeth daughter of Sir John Otway; she afterwards married Robert
Hedges and — Hamilton; Raines, loc.
cit. 10. At the beginning of 1694 he was
chosen at a bye-election to represent
Wigan in Parliament; Pink and Beaven,
Parl. Repre. of Lancs. 230; Hist. MSS. Com.
Rep. xiv, App. iv, 282, 283. He was
buried at Winwick 3 Mar. 1695–6, the
register describing him as 'of Parr.' The
monumental inscription describes him as
'a hearty champion of the Church of
England, vigorously resisting the sacrilegious usurpations of the schismatics at
his own charges'; as for instance in his
recovery of St. Helen's Chapel for the Established Church; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep.
xiv, App. iv, 246. |
| 29 |
Raines, loc. cit. 12.
Early in 1707 in a fine concerning the
manors of Byrom and Parr, and various
houses, mills, and lands in Lowton, Parr,
Westleigh, Abram, Hindley, Sutton,
Windle, and Golborne, the deforciants
were Samuel Byrom, John Robinson,
Lady Elizabeth Otway, widow, Robert
Hedges and Elizabeth his wife, and Elizabeth Byrom, spinster (Samuel's sister);
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 258, m. 33. |
| 30 |
He was known as 'the Beau.' An
account of his pamphlet, written in the
Fleet Prison in 1729, will be found in
Canon Raines's book, 13, 14. He states
in it that 'he had a competent estate in
Lancashire, but by being ill-introduced to
the world, and soon falling into the hands
of sharpers and gamesters (the very bane
and ruin of many young gentlemen when
they first come from the University), his
estate was diminished, and, what was
more valuable, his reputation was lost.'
He was still living in destitution in London in 1739. |
| 31 |
An account of this family is given in
Canon Raines's work already cited. See
further under Kersal. |
| 32 |
Baines, Lancs. (ed. Croston), iv, 372. |
| 33 |
Pain de Lawton gave Flitcroft to
the Hospital and Adam his son regranted
or confirmed it. Afterwards the Hospitallers granted part to Jordan de Kenyon; the land appears to have been in
two places, one in Lowton and the
other in Kenyon; Kuerden, fol. MS.
363, R.
About 1540 the lands were held by the
heirs of William Flitcroft, at a rent of
11d. (? 12d.), and by Richard Holland at
12d.; Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 84. Sir William Leyland of Morleys was found in
1547 to have held lands in Lowton and
Kenyon of the king as of the late priory
of St. John by a rent of 12d.; Duchy of
Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 43. The Earl of
Derby afterwards acquired this land; Lancs.
Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii,
268. |
| 34 |
Five members of it have notices in
Dict. Nat. Biog. See Local Glean. Lancs.
and Ches. ii, 217. Richard and Samuel
Mather are said to have been born at
Lowton. Simon Mather was constable
of Lowton in 1507; Beamont, Lords of
Warrington (Chet. Soc.), ii, 375. |
| 35 |
Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 242. In 1631 James Lowe paid £10
as a composition on refusing knighthood;
ibid. i, 213.
Hamlet Lowe acquired a messuage and
lands in Lowton and Newton from Hugh
Thornton in 1555; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of
F. bdle. 16, m. 110. They seem to have
been transferred to James Lowe by Hamlet and his wife Maud in 1564; ibid.
bdle. 28, m. 230.
Another freeholder was James Sorocold,
who at his death in 1622 held lands in
Lowton and Kenyon recently purchased
of John Ashton and Nicholas Lythgoe;
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), ii, 406. Richard Lythgoe and Sir
Piers Legh had in 1564 and 1565 purchased the Eccleston lands in the townships named; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F.
bdles. 26, m. 171; 27, m. 133.
Thomas Arrowsmith, rector of Enborne, in 1597 claimed certain lands in
Lowton against Geoffrey Hope, Alice
widow of Henry Arrowsmith, and others;
Ducatus (Rec. Com.), iii, 361; also 267. |
| 36 |
Norris D. (B.M.). |
| 37 |
Cal. of Com. for Compounding, iii,
2076.
John Thomason alias Widdows in 1601
claimed land under a lease to his father,
Thomas Johnson; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec.
Com.), iii, 476. |
| 38 |
Cal. of Com. for Compounding, iv,
3176. |
| 39 |
Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), i, 56; for a map of the
same time see ibid. i, 55. The Act was
passed in 1762. There is a copy of the
award (without plan) at Preston. |
| 40 |
Commonwealth Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), 49. |
| 41 |
Raines in Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.),
ii, 262. |
| 42 |
A district was assigned in 1862;
Lond. Gaz. 7 Jan. 1862. |
| 43 |
Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1836), iii, 635. |