| 1 |
The Census Rep. of 1901 gives 929
acres, including 3 of inland water. |
| 2 |
Subs. R. Lancs. bdle. 250, no. 9. |
| 3 |
In 1332 'Chorley with Bispham'
was the name of the township; Exch.
Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.),
48. In 1383 Bispham is called a hamlet
of the vill of Chorley; Towneley MS.
DD, no. 376. |
| 4 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), i, 270. The right of
William de Ferrers may be the 'manor of
Bispham' mentioned, without any record
of tenure, as held by the Shireburne
family in the 16th century; Duchy of
Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 3.
Of the Bispham family practically
nothing is known. It was perhaps the
above - named Amery who married
Matthew son of Robert de Holland, for
this Matthew and Amery his wife made
an agreement with Sir John de la Mare,
perhaps about 1250, regarding disputes
as to the woods of Mawdesley and
Bispham; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 44b.
Henry de Bispham son of Warine
Banastre occurs; Piccope MSS. (Chet.
Lib.), xiv, 42. He may be the Henry,
defendant in 1292 to a claim for a
tenement in Bispham and Chorley
brought by William son of Warine de
Bispham, who was non-suited; Assize
R. 408, m. 18. In 1294 Adam son
and heir of Henry de Bispham recovered
the manor of Bispham against William
de Ferrers, Roger son of Henry de
Bispham and others. Adam was under
age, and William de Ferrers had claimed
wardship; it was shown, however, that
the manor was not held by knights'
service, but by a rent of 40d.; Assize R.
1299, m. 15. In the same year William
son of Warine claimed a free tenement in
Bispham against Henry de Charnock and
William de Ferrers, but did not prosecute
it; ibid. m. 14d.
In Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 275b is an
erroneous pedigree of Bispham of Billinge,
traced to Matthew de Bispham, lord of
the manor 'in the time of King John.'
This may possibly be the Matthew de
Holland above-named. |
| 5 |
In 1324 Cecily widow of Henry de
Bispham claimed dower in certain
messuages, &c., against Robert de Bispham, John de Burscough, Alice his wife,
John de Hoole, Maud his wife, Robert
de Taldeford and Henry son of William
son of Adam de Wrightington; De Banco
R. 251, m. 98. The first of the defendants is probably the Robert de Dalton
against whom Richard del Lunt and
Maud his wife shortly afterwards claimed
a third part of two-thirds of the manor
of Bispham. Maud was the widow of
Adam de Bispham, and the defence was
that she had lived in adultery with
Richard at Lunt in Sefton; De Banco
R. 252, m. 79; 255, m. 144.
Sir Robert de Dalton, Mary his wife
and Thomas son of Roger de Bispham
were about the same time defendants to
a claim put forward by Robert de Taldeford and Emma his wife; Assize R. 426,
m. 2. |
| 6 |
Cal. Pat. 1348–50, p. 552. |
| 7 |
Crecy and Calais (Salt Arch. Soc.),
35, 39, &c. He was 'beyond the seas'
in 1343; Cal. Pat. 1343–5, p. 25. |
| 8 |
This outrage was committed on Good
Friday morning, Sir John being assisted
by Sir Robert de Holland, Sir Thomas de
Arderne and many others. It was the
more scandalous as the king's son Lionel,
keeper of England, was then at Reading,
and the offence was committed 'within
the verge of the Marshalsea of the household of the said keeper.' Margery, widow
of Nicholas de la Beche, had been married
again to Gerard de l'Isle. Michael de
Ponings, 'the uncle,' and Thomas the
Clerk of Shipton seem to have been
killed at the same time, and many were
wounded. The arrest of Sir John and
his companions was at once ordered.
They fled north to Lancashire, and for a
time took refuge in the neighbourhood of
Dalton, thus bringing into the number of
their 'accomplices' Sir John's father, Lady
Maud de Holland, the Priors of Upholland
and Burscough and others, the offenders
having, apparently, taken refuge in the
lands of Lady Maud and the rest without their knowledge. There are a large
number of references to the affair in Cal.
Close, 1346–9 and Cal. Pat. 1345–8,
1348–50. Margery died 30 Sept. 1349;
ibid. p. 460. See also N. and Q. (Ser.
7), ix, 46, &c. |
| 9 |
Cal. Pat. 1348–50, pp. 498, 540,
552. The pardon was granted for his
'good service.' The father Sir Robert
and Mary his wife had in 1348 been
pardoned for their share, nominal or
real, in the same outrage; ibid. p.
99. |
| 10 |
Inq. p.m. 43 Edw. III, pt. i, no. 31.
The manor of Bispham was valued at
£22 9s. 4d. a year. There was a hall
with other buildings and garden; 60 acres
of arable land were worth 60s. a year; 12
acres of meadow, 24s.; a several pasture,
40s.; a windmill, 6s. 8d.; a water-mill,
6s. 8d. The tenants at will held sixteen
messuages with tofts, also 300 acres of
arable land and 20 acres of meadow; the
annual value was £13 12s.
Settlements made by Sir John are
recited, in which his wife Ellen and a
younger son Robert are named. The
widow afterwards married Robert de
Urswick of Up Rawcliffe; Final Conc.
(Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 12,
43. |
| 11 |
In 1381 John son and heir of Sir
John de Dalton was re-enfeoffed of his
manor of Bispham and other lands;
Towneley MS. DD, no. 453. A settlement of the manor was made the following year; Final Conc. iii, 12. Sir John
was in 1385 pardoned for having married
Isabel daughter of Roger de Pilkington
and widow of Thomas de Lathom without the licence of the Duke of Lancaster;
Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 524. He
appears to have been a lawless man;
Pal. of Lanc. Chan. Misc. bdle. i, file 3,
no. 82. By charter of May 1399 Sir
John de Dalton granted the manor of
Bispham and lands in Mawdesley, Halewood, Dalton, Holland and Whittington
to feoffees, who within the same month
re-enfeoffed Sir John and Isabel his wife
in fee-tail, with remainder to the right
heirs of Sir John; Dep. Keeper's Rep.
xxxiii, App. 3.
The seal of Sir John de Dalton in
1406, appended to a deed respecting
lands in Ulnes Walton, is drawn in Harl.
MS. 2042, fol. 85b. It shows the lion
rampant and crosslets. |
| 12 |
The pedigree is given in pleadings
of 1443, &c., at which time Alice was a
minor and living in Northamptonshire;
Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 5, m. 13, 13b.
Alice and her husband William Griffith
were plaintiffs in 1448; ibid. 11, m.
10; 12, m. 18. For later pleadings see
Coram Rege R. East. 38 Hen. VI, m.
31, 32. In the pedigree in Harl. MS.
2042 the husband is called 'of Hentryn
in the county of Carnarvon.' |
| 13 |
An 'inspeximus' of the charters of
1399 was granted to Thomas Earl of
Derby in 1488; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl,
App. 541. |
| 14 |
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 68;
the tenure is not stated. In the rent-roll
of the estates (in possession of Lord
Lathom) are a number of particulars as
to Bispham. The rents of free tenants and
tenants at will amounted to £14 0s. 3d.
The demesne lands included Ryecroft,
Overlee, Bowkerflat, Walkerscroft, Heulefield, Cheker, &c. The water-mill was
demised on lease at 56s. 8d. a year. The
tenants paid 4s. for leave to carry turf
across the lord's pasture called Horsecarr.
No courts had been held during 1523.
The outgoings included the 40d. paid to
the lords of the wapentake. |
| 15 |
It is mentioned at various times
among the family manors; e.g. Pal. of
Lanc. Plea R. 487, m. 4; 540, m. 11;
567, m. 3; 623, m. 1a. |
| 16 |
References to the Plea Rolls have
been given in a preceding note; there
may be added Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 8, m.
25; 10, m. 10. |
| 17 |
Add. MS. 32107, no. 1230. Robert
Dalton of Bispham and Richard his son
and heir-apparent were parties to deeds
in 1472; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1470,
1473. |
| 18 |
See the account of Croston. |
| 19 |
Roger, son and heir-apparent of
Richard Dalton, made a feoffment of his
lands in 1492; Add. MS. 32108, no.
627. |
| 20 |
A grant of various tenements in
Bispham to William Dalton, with remainder to Richard his brother, was made
in 1500; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1459.
Another grant made in 1527 by Roger
Dalton and William his son and heirapparent mentions William Dalton the
elder, brother of Roger's father Richard,
as still living; Towneley MS. DD, no.
364. The will of William Dalton (1543)
is in Add. MS. 32104, no. 1474. It
names Jane his wife, Richard his younger
son, his four daughters and Richard Radcliffe his uncle. For pedigree in 1567
see Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), vi, 100. |
| 21 |
Robert Dalton of Bispham and Joan
his mother, widow of William Dalton,
entered into a bond to observe covenants
in Dec. 1557; Towneley MS. DD, no.
375. The fine concerning the sale of
Bispham seems to be that in Add. MS.
32107, no. 914, William Stopford and
Richard Mason being plaintiffs and Joan
Dalton, widow, Robert Dalton and Anne
his wife being deforciants. Another
messuage in Bispham was sold a little
later to James Haresnape; Towneley MS.
DD, no. 378. |
| 22 |
In 1560 the feoffecs gave to William
Stopford all his messuages, &c., in
Mawdesley and Bispham; ibid. no. 377.
For the Stopford family see also the
accounts of Wrightington and Parbold.
A claim to the capital messuage in
Bispham, late William Stopford's, was
in 1596 made by John Stopford alias
Langley; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 279,
m. 10. |
| 23 |
Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 291. By this
deed Richard Nelson of Fairhurst, William
Stopford of Melling, Ursula, Dorothy and
Blanche Stopford (sisters and co-heirs of
Henry Stopford of Lathom), James Stopford of Ulnes Walton and James Stopford
of Lathom sold 'the capital messuage
called Bispham Hall or the Hall of Bispham,' with barns, stables, &c., late the
inheritance of William Stopford, with
other lands. |
| 24 |
Lands in Bispham remained in the
possession of the Ashhurst family until
the sale of their Lancashire estates to Sir
Thomas Bootle in 1751; Pal. of Lanc.
Feet of F. bdle. 347, m. 26. |
| 25 |
John Singleton died in 1623, leaving
a son and heir John, aged forty-eight;
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxvi, no. 16.
Richard Tinckler died in 1627, his son
Christopher being forty years of age;
ibid. xxvi, no. 15. The tenures are not
stated. |
| 26 |
Land tax return at Preston. |
| 27 |
A small sum for repairs was allowed
in the Earl of Derby's rent roll above
referred to. |
| 28 |
Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.),
ii, 358. The founder's will, dated 1692,
is preserved at Chester. |
| 29 |
End. Char. Rep. for Croston, 1899.
The governors meet once a year. The
minutes are in existence from the foundation. |