| 1 |
This name occurs prior to 1700; J.
Booker, Blackley (Chet. Soc.), 115. The
picturesque clough has been acquired for
a pleasure-ground by the Corporation of
Manchester. The name is sometimes
derived from a deserted house, said to be
haunted, 'Boggart Hall,' but Mr. H. T.
Crofton thinks it a corruption of Bowker
Hall, which stood in Moston at the upper
end of the clough; see Manch. Guard. N.
and Q. no. 401. Oliver Clough, with
Oliver's well in it, joins the main clough
from the north. |
| 2 |
Subs. R. bdle. 250, no. 9. |
| 3 |
Booker, op. cit. 112. |
| 4 |
Ibid. 115. 'Judging by the field
names this mill was either on the stream
coming from Boggart Hole Clough or its
northern tributary coming past Lyon Fold;
most probably the latter, north of which
is a farm called Dam Head.'—Mr. Crofton. |
| 5 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), i, 244. |
| 6 |
Mamecestre (Chet. Soc.), ii, 368; the
value was 53s. 4d. |
| 7 |
Ibid. ii, 366; the value was £6.
The 'fence of Blackley park' is mentioned about 1355; Dep. Keeper's Rep.
xxxii, App. 344. |
| 8 |
See grants to Henry de Smethley in
1343 and to Thurstan de Holland in 1355,
quoted in Mamecestre, ii, 439, 445. The
latter grant, at a rent of £5, included the
pasture of the lord's park at Blackley, the
arable land of Bottomley with its meadow,
and an approvement of 10 acres in Ashenhurst. |
| 9 |
Ibid. iii, 484. A grant or feoffment
was made in 1430 by Sir Reginald West,
Lord La Warre, at a rent of £26; Byron
Chartul. 15/295. After an intermediate
conveyance the estate was transferred to
Sir John Byron in 1433; ibid. 19/296,
21/298. See Booker's Blackley (Chet.
Soc.), 13–15. |
| 10 |
The statements in the text are
mostly taken from the work last quoted.
The 'manor' of Blackley, seventy messuages, two fulling mills, a water-mill,
1,000 acres of land, &c., in Blackley,
Blackley Fields, and Bottomley, were in
1598 sold or mortgaged by Sir John
Byron and John Byron his son and heir
apparent to Richard and William Assheton;
the price named in the fine is £1,000;
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 60, m. 68.
Blackley is, however, mentioned among the
Byron manors in 1608; ibid. bdle. 71, m. 2. |
| 11 |
In a fine of 1611 respecting the
manor of Blackley, &c., James Assheton
was deforciant, and Sir Peter Legh, Sir
Richard Assheton, John Holt, and Richard Assheton were plaintiffs; Pal. of
Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 77, m. 51. In a
later fine the deforciants were Sir John
Byron the elder, Sir John Byron the
younger, Sir Peter Legh, Sir Richard
Assheton, John Holt, and Richard Assheton; ibid. bdle. 79, m. 34. From the
former it appears that James Assheton of
Chadderton had acquired Blackley, and
sold it to the Asshetons of Middleton.
A feoffment in 1612 by Sir John Byron of
Newstead the elder, his son Sir John Byron
of Royton the younger, Sir Peter Legh of
Lyme, Sir Richard Assheton of Middleton,
John Holt of Stubley, and Richard son of
Sir Richard Assheton, recites a fine levied
of Blackley Manor, surrenders of all freeholds for lives, and recovery suffered to
the intent that the manor, &c., be sold
for the payment of debts, &c.; Mr. Crofton's note.
Richard Assheton of Middleton, who
died in 1618, held lands in Blackley of
the king as of the duchy by knight's service; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), ii, 107. |
| 12 |
Booker, op. cit. 17; Ralph Assheton
of Middleton, Elizabeth his wife, and
Mary his mother were the vendors, over
£2,000 being paid. The sale included
Blackley Hall, closes called Bottomley,
Hunt Green, Ashenhurst, Hazelbottom,
&c.; a close called Lidbottom, of 4 acres,
was excluded. |
| 13 |
Ibid. 19, where there is a description
of the old building, with a view. There
is also a view in James's series, 1821–5. |
| 14 |
'In the stillness of night it would steal
from room to room and carry off the bedclothes from the couches of the sleeping,
but now thoroughly aroused and discomfited inmates'; Booker, op. cit. 20. An
account is given of the destruction of the
print-shop erected on the site of the hall. |
| 15 |
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), ii, 157. At his death in 1617
Daniel Travis held a messuage, 15 acres
of land, &c., recently purchased from Sir
John Byron and others. The tenement
was held of the king by knight's service.
His will is given. His son and heir, also
named Daniel, was twenty-six years of
age. His wife Anne was the daughter of
Henry Chetham of Crumpsall; Manch.
Ct. Leet Rec. ii, 194.
Of the same family perhaps was John
Travis, whom John Bradford about 1550
styles 'Father Travis.' Some later members of the family were benefactors to the
poor, and concerned in the erection of the
Nonconformist (now Unitarian) chapel.
John Travis, a dealer in fustians, who became bankrupt in 1691, had an estate of
24 acres; one of the fields was named
the Frith field; Booker, op. cit. 116. |
| 16 |
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 176.
Francis Nuttall died in 1619, holding
ten messuages, 60 acres of land, &c., in
Blackley, and land in Harpurhey and
Gorton; the tenure was of the king, by
knight's service. John, the son and heir,
was twenty-three years of age. The will
of Francis Nuttall is given in Manch. Ct.
Leet Rec. iii, 19, 20, notes.
From deeds of this family in the Manchester Free Library (no. 55–7) it appears
that John Nuttall in 1623 leased lands in
Blackley to Edward Holland of Heaton
for 299 years; among the field-names are
Howgate Meadow, Blackfield, and Gladen
Croft. |
| 17 |
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 210.
Matthew Hopwood had purchased the
reversion of a messuage called the 'Deyhouse,' with lands, from the Byrons, held
of the king by knight's service. He died
in 1613 leaving a daughter Mary about a
year old. |
| 18 |
Ibid. 235. Abraham Carter, described
as 'gentleman,' held a messuage and lands
of the king by the hundredth part of a
knight's fee, and died in 1621, leaving as
heir his son John, nineteen years of age. |
| 19 |
John Pendleton died in 1618, holding
20 acres by the three-hundredth part of a
knight's fee; his son John was then nine
years old; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii,
258.
George Pendleton died in 1633, holding
a messuage and lands (including the
Warping House and Brerehey Field) of the
king by the hundredth part of a knight's
fee; he left a son and heir George; Duchy
of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxviii, 37.
In 1650 'in Blackley near Manchester,
in one John Pendleton's ground, as one
was reaping, the corn being cut seemed to
bleed; drops fell out of it like to blood.
Multitudes of people went to see it, and
the straws thereof, though of a kindly
colour without, were within reddish and
as it were bloody'; Hollinworth, Mancuniensis, 123.
A John Pendleton of Blackley married
Rhoda, daughter and heir of Robert
Clough, the son of Thomas Clough of
Blackley; and he and his son John Pendleton in 1676 sold their land to Robert
Litchford of Manchester, saddler, a benefactor of the old Baptist chapel at Clough
Fold. The house at Blackley, known as
Litchford Hall, and the estate went to
his nephew Litchford Flitcroft, who devised it to other relatives, and it was sold
in 1783 to Thomas Braddock of Manchester. On the purchaser's bankruptcy
it was sold to his brother-in-law, Richard
Alsop, who already resided there, and he
gave it to his daughter Marianne wife of
George Withington. On her death in
1835 it descended to her only son, George
Richard Withington, who owned this and
the adjoining Yew-tree estate, purchased
from the Byrons in 1611 by one John
Jackson, and sold by the Jacksons in 1809
to Richard Alsop. See the full account
in Booker, op. cit. 39–46; an abstract of
Robert Litchford's will is given. The
following field-names occur: Hoose Lee,
Red Hill, Moyle Hill, Hagg, Fossage
Meadow, Lockitt Croft, and Causeway
Field. A number of deeds relating to this
estate and others in the township are in
the possession of the Manchester Corporation. |
| 20 |
Some notice of this family has been
given under Manchester. Stephen Rodley
died in 1630, holding four messuages with
land, moor, and moss in Blackley, charged
with a rent of 24s. to the lord of Manchester and an annuity of £12 to Leonard
Hopwood; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m.
xxv, 46. |
| 21 |
Ralph Wardleworth died in 1623,
holding a messuage and land of the king
by knight's service; his son and heir,
John, was over twenty-seven years old;
ibid. xxvi, 19.
A John Wardleworth in 1620 sold lands
in Blackley to James Hulme; Manch.
Ct. Leet Rec. iii, 23. |
| 22 |
William Chetham died in 1612,
holding half a messuage; his son William was thirty-nine years old in 1630;
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxviii, 10. |
| 23 |
The name is also given as Etherington. Patrick held a messuage, &c., of
the king by the four-hundredth part of a
knight's fee, and dying in 1625, left as
heir his daughter Mary, about ten years
old; ibid. 45. |
| 24 |
In 1621 William Cowper made a
settlement of his estate—including a
messuage, with garden and closes called
the Clough, the Shutt, &c.—with remainders to his wife Dorothy, to his heir
male, to his brothers Richard and John,
to Helen and Margaret Ridgeway, and to
the heirs of Ralph Cowper. He died in
1626, holding the estate of the king by
the two-hundredth part of a knight's fee.
The heir was his elder brother John, then
over thirty years of age; ibid. 47.
John Cowper died in May 1638, holding a messuage and lands in Blackley of
Edward Mosley 'as of his manor of
Blackley'; Ralph, the brother and heir,
was over fifty years of age; Towneley
MS. C. 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), 242. |
| 25 |
William Heywood died in 1637,
holding two messuages and lands of the
king by the two-hundredth part of a
knight's fee. His wife Ameria survived
him, and his heir was his son Anthony
Heywood the younger, nineteen years old;
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxix, 17. |
| 26 |
Ibid. xxvii, 44. |
| 27 |
A plan of the estate in 1637 is given
in Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xxiii, 30. |
| 28 |
a Booker, A Hist. of the Anct.
Chapelry of Blackley, 1855, p. 28, where
an illustration is also given. The writer
further adds: 'The interior presents little
to call for remark, the apartments being
for the most part small, and exhibiting an
appearance altogether modern.' |
| 29 |
A full account of the descent of this
estate is given by Booker, op. cit. 22–38,
with wills and pedigree of the Diggles
family. John Diggles of Manchester (c.
1717) was a Dissenter; Notitia Cestr.
(Chet. Soc.), ii, 82.
The Bayleys were connected with Cross
Street Chapel, Manchester; see the account of Hope in Pendleton. Thomas
Bayley, who died in 1817, left the estate
to his sons for sale, and in the following
year it was purchased by his son-in-law,
Dr. Henry, for £9,000. A few years
later it was sold to Edmund Taylor of
Salford, whose son Edmund resided there
till his death about 1850; Booker, op.
cit. 37. |
| 30 |
Land Tax returns at Preston. |
| 31 |
Booker, op. cit. 21. At the beginning
of the 18th century, Abraham Howarth
of Manchester, linen draper, purchased
many small estates in the township.
Dying in 1754 he was succeeded by his
son John, who died in 1786, and whose
only surviving child, Sarah, married the
Hon. Edward Perceval. The estate was
sold in 1808 to the Earl of Wilton.
Abraham Howarth, described as of
Crumpsall, appears in the Manch. Ct. Leet
Rec. in 1684 and 1685 (vi, 214, 235).
'Mr. Howarth's house in [Long] Millgate,' is one of those depicted on Casson
and Berry's Plan.
Some particulars of the Dickenson and
Beswick estates are given by Booker, op.
cit. 47, 48. Several deeds relating to the
Beswicks of Blackley are among the
Raines deeds in the Chetham Library;
the dates range from 1611 to 1674.
In the Chetham Library also are a few
17th-century deeds of the Sandiforth
family. |
| 32 |
For biographies see Dict. Nat. Biog.;
Bradford's Works (Parker Soc. 1848),
Foxe, Acts and Monts. (ed. Cattley), vii,
143–285; Cooper, Athenae Cantab. i,
127–9.
Bradford described himself as 'born in
Manchester' (Foxe, op. cit. vii, 204), and
this probably refers to the town rather
than to the parish. The family no doubt
derived its surname from an adjacent
township, and many members of it occur
from time to time in the records. In
1473 John Bradford held two closes in
Manchester at the will of the lord at 15s.
rent; Mamecestre, iii, 486. Thomas Bradford and Margaret his wife sold land in
Manchester in 1553; Pal. of Lanc. Feet
of F. bdle. 15, m. 123. Thomas Bradford of
Failsworth occurs in 1557; Manch. Ct.
Leet Rec. i, 39; see also Manch. Sessions
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 57. There
was a John Bradford at Newton Heath
in 1585 and 1619; Newton Chapelry
(Chet Soc.), ii, 65, 76. |
| 33 |
On this point see N. and Q. (Ser. 2),
i, 125. The fraud did not benefit Bradford himself, but his master, who was
quite unaware of it, and he forced Sir
John Harrington to make restitution by
threat of denunciation to the Council. |
| 34 |
A fellow student of the Inner Temple,
Thomas Sampson, afterwards the Puritan
dean of Christ Church, Oxford, also had
great influence with him. |
| 35 |
M.A. 1549 by special grace. The
universities were in a very low state at
that time, but Bradford had given evidence of study in the previous year by
translations from Peter Artopoeus (a
Protestant divine) and St. Chrysostom,
with prefaces by himself; Athen. Cantab.
i, 127, where a list of his works is
printed. On the other hand, at his examination before Bishop Gardiner, he was
reproved as 'ignorant and vainglorious,'
'an arrogant and stubborn boy'; Foxe,
op. cit. vii, 150, 151. At Cambridge he
formed a close friendship with Martin
Bucer. |
| 36 |
The new Ordinal was not sufficiently
reformed for Bradford, and the bishop had
to modify it till it was 'without any abuse';
Foxe, op. cit. vii, 144. |
| 37 |
In Lancashire he preached at Ashtonunder-Lyne, Manchester, Eccles, Middleton, Radcliffe, Bury, Bolton, Wigan, Liverpool, and Preston. |
| 38 |
A sermon by Dr. Bourne at St.
Paul's Cross, soon after Mary's accession, occasioned a disturbance among the
audience, and a dagger was thrown at the
preacher. Bradford, who was present,
seems to have been at first regarded as
the real instigator of the uproar, but he
cleared himself by calling Bourne himself
as a witness. |
| 39 |
The fragmentary record of the three
examinations is in Foxe, op. cit. vii, 149,
&c. The principal judge was Bishop
Gardiner, then Lord Chancellor. Bradford was condemned for his rejection of
the supremacy of the pope—'the Antichrist of Rome,' as he called him—and
transubstantiation. |
| 40 |
Those who came to argue with him
included Archbishop Heath, Bishop Day,
Dr. Harpsfield, Dr. Harding, Fr. Alphonsus a Castro, Dean Weston, and (from
Manchester), Dr. Pendleton, Warden Collier, and Stephen Beck. The Earl of Derby
seems to have taken a particular interest
in him. |
| 41 |
It is stated that the gaoler several
times allowed him to go out merely on
his promise to return. The fraud above
mentioned was referred to at the trial,
but nothing else is known against him.
In prison 'preaching, reading, and praying
was his whole life.'
He was 'tall and slender, spare of body,
of a faint sanguine colour, with an auburn
beard'; Foxe, op. cit. vii, 145. |
| 42 |
Roger Beswick was present at the
burning, and had his head broken by the
sheriff for trying to shake hands with
Bradford; ibid. vii, 148.
The children of Margaret Beswick his
wife are mentioned in the will of Henry
Bury, 1634; Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.),
iii, 177. |
| 43 |
Booker, op. cit. 112, 113. The Sir
John Byron who sold Blackley was the
illegitimate son of Sir John Byron and
Elizabeth Costerdine of Blackley; ibid.
17. The name is also spelt Consterdine
and Constantine. |
| 44 |
Manch. Quarter Sessions (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), 36. It was treated as a
separate township in 1620; Misc. (Rec.
Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 150. See also
Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. iii, 74. |
| 45 |
The Bishop of Lichfield on 31 Dec.
1360 granted a two-years' licence for it
to Roger La Warre; Lich. Epis. Reg.
Stretton, v, fol. 4. |
| 46 |
In the Visitation lists of 1548, 1554,
and 1563, appears the name of Robert
Fletcher; in the last he is described as
'curate of Blackley' and 'decrepit.' The
'Father Travis' of the Bradford correspondence, called 'minister of Blackley'
by Foxe, does not appear in these lists.
Perhaps he was a layman who preached
occasionally; 'father' seems merely a title
of respect or affection applied to an elderly
man by a young one. A Richard Travis
of Blackley contributed to the subsidy of
1541; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
i, 139. There is no mention of Blackley
Chapel in the accounts of the chantries
or the church goods of 1552, so that it
was probably regarded as the private property of the Byrons. |
| 47 |
Booker, Blackley, 59; a view is given
on p. 60. The cost (£245) was defrayed
by subscription. |
| 48 |
Ibid. 61–4 and frontispiece. This
building was enlarged in 1880. |
| 49 |
Ibid. 49–51. |
| 50 |
The warden and fellows of the collegiate church were responsible for the
chapels; it is said that Oliver Carter, a
fellow, officiated at Blackley; his son
Abraham has been mentioned already;
Booker, Blackley, 65, 66. In 1581 Joseph
Booth was presented for teaching without a
licence. In 1598 there was no curate, but
the chapel was served by the fellows of the
church; Visit. Presentments at Chest. |
| 51 |
Booker (57, 58) prints plans of 1603
and a little later; the names of the seatholders and the amounts paid are inserted.
The pulpit stood near the middle of the
north wall; the communion table was at
the east end, but some seats intervened
between it and the wall. In 1631 Bishop
Bridgeman authorized the allotments of
the seats and the payments for them;
ibid. 53.
About 1610 Blackley was returned
among the chapels of ease which had
ministers supported by the inhabitants;
Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 11. |
| 52 |
Commonwealth Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), 9, 10. The 17s. 8d.
came from a gift by Adam Chetham in
1625: in 1838 the income from the same
property was £7; Booker, op. cit. 82. |
| 53 |
See Warden Wroe's account (ibid.
72), which states that George Grimshaw
of Manchester had left the interest of
£100 and the rent of a house after the
death of his servant. The house was in
Hunt's Bank, and sold in 1837 for £475,
the interest of which is part of the rector's
income; ibid. 82. |
| 54 |
Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.),
ii, 81–3; the chief part of this sum was
£20 a year charged by Jonathan Dawson
on an estate in Salford called Ringspiggot
Hall, afterwards owned by the Bridgewater
trustees; Booker, op. cit. 82. |
| 55 |
Lond. Gaz. 29 Mar. 1839; 16 June
1854. |
| 56 |
Some extracts are given by Booker,
op. cit. 83–92. |
| 57 |
The list is taken mainly from Booker.
A dispute as to the patronage took place
in 1763, particulars of which will be
found in the work referred to, p. 74–7. |
| 58 |
Ibid. 66–8; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), i, 54. He was a Puritan,
cited for nonconformity in 1617 and
suspended for the same in 1631. He
went over to Holland, but returned in
1646, becoming rector of Shrewsbury
and afterwards of Stockport. He died
in 1660. See also Loc. Glean. Lancs.
and Ches. i, 275. |
| 59 |
Booker, op. cit. 69. He also was a
nonconformist. See W. A. Shaw, Manch.
Classis (Chet. Soc.), iii, 444. |
| 60 |
Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs.
and Ches.), i, 256, 264. |
| 61 |
Booker, op. cit. 69. In 1650 he had
'manifested disaffection to the present
government' in various ways; Commonwealth Ch. Surv. 10. He was ejected
from Shaw Chapel in 1662; Manch. Classis,
iii, 449. |
| 62 |
Booker, op. cit. 70; Manch. Classis,
ii, 199, 207. |
| 63 |
Booker, op. cit. 70; Manch. Classis, iii,
433. He had an allowance of £40 from
the Parliamentary Committee; Plund.
Mins. Accts. ii, 55, 77. |
| 64 |
Booker, op. cit. 70; 'assistant minister.' The chapel was vacant in 1665. |
| 65 |
Ibid. 71. |
| 66 |
Ibid. |
| 67 |
Visit. List at Chester. |
| 68 |
Booker. |
| 69 |
Ibid. |
| 70 |
Ibid.; two of his children left silver
communion flagons to the chapel. |
| 71 |
Ibid. 72; he became rector of St.
Ann's, Manchester, in 1712. |
| 72 |
Ibid. |
| 73 |
Ibid.; he was not ordained at the
time of nomination; and seems almost
at once to have offended the warden and
fellows of Manchester, for they endeavoured
to expel him. |
| 74 |
Ibid. 74; he became vicar of Sandbach in 1773 and of Leeds in 1786. |
| 75 |
Ibid. 78; he established a Sunday
school; ibid. 106. He was elected fellow of Manchester in 1793; Raines,
Fellows of Manch. (Chet. Soc.), 290. |
| 76 |
Booker, op. cit. 75. |
| 77 |
Ibid. 79; he procured the building
of the present church. |
| 78 |
He had been incumbent of Linthwaite, 1835; St. Matthew's, Liverpool,
1837; and St. Clement's, Manchester,
1843. |
| 79 |
Rector of St. James the Less, Manchester, 1870 to 1874. |
| 80 |
For district see Lond. Gaz. 29 June
1866. |
| 81 |
Notitia Cestr. ii, 82; Booker, op. cit.
102–7. |
| 82 |
Ibid. 106. |
| 83 |
Ibid. 108. |
| 84 |
Ibid. 110. |
| 85 |
Lond. Gaz. 20 Jan. 1880. |
| 86 |
a Mary Collinge's house was licensed
as a Presbyterian meeting-place in 1689;
Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 232. |
| 87 |
Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. v, 30–
36; Booker, op. cit. 92–102. The Rev.
John Pope, minister from 1766 to 1791,
was a man of some note; he died in 1802.
There are copies of the inscriptions in the
Owen MSS. |
| 88 |
Booker, op. cit. 110. |