Thomas Hesketh

Personal and Family Information

Thomas was born about 1506, the son of Robert Hesketh and Grace Towneley. The place is not known.

He died about JUN 1588. The place is not known.

He had two marriages/partners. His first wife was Alice Holcrafte. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their five known children were Robert (c1545->1620), Thomas (c1546-?), Richard (c1547-1593), Dorothe (c1549-?) and Margarett (c1551-?).

His second wife was Anne. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their only known child was Hugh (c1553-1625).

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Events

Notes

Note 1

!Source: Hugh Hesketh [abt. 1548 - 1625] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hesketh-412

Born about 1548 [uncertain] in Lancashire, England [uncertain]

Died 30 Mar 1625 at about age 77 in Lancashire, England

Hugh Hesketh

Son of Thomas Hesketh and [mother unknown]

Brother of Robert Hesketh MP [half], Thomas Hesketh Physician [half], Richard Hesketh [half], Dorothy [Hesketh] Squire [half] and Margaret Hesketh [half]

Husband of Alice [Kitchen] Hesketh — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Father of Thomas Hesketh

Biography

Born about 1548 Hugh Hesketh was the bastard son of Thomas Hesketh of Rufford Hall in Lancashire. [1] In his father's will of 1588 he was acknowledged to be "my real son whatever the law of this land do adjudice or decree to the contrary".[1]

Hugh married Alice Kitchen, daughter of Barneby Kitchen of North Meoles in Lancashire so acquiring that estate.[1]

He passed away in 1625.

Sources

1.0 1.1 1.2 Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire for the year 1907; Volume LIX; New Series Volume XXIII; in the article: The Manor of Rufford and the Ancient Family of the Heskeths, by the Rev W G Procter; Pg. 104-106. Ref https://archive.org/details/transactionsofhi59hist/page/n161

Source: Visitation of Lancashire by William Flower, 1567, p. 80. https://johnhoughton.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1567_visitation.pdf

Hesketh of Rufford.

[Hart. MS. fo. 70. Chetham MS. fo. -.]

Arms. - Quarterly o[ five, viz: 1. Argent, on a bend sable, three garbs or; 2. Barry of six, argent and azure, in chief three

lozenges, gules; 3. Argent, a cross flory, sable; 4. Argent, a fess gules; 5. Sable, three mullets, each issuing

from a crescent, argent.

Sir William Heskethe,

knt. |

I

Thomas Heskethe = ... dau. of ...

of Rufforde, ar., | Massy of Rix-

sonne and heire, | ton, co. Lan-

co. Lancaster. | caster, ar.

- |

Robert Heskethe = Grace, dau. of

of Rufforde, | … Phyton of

sonne and heire. | Gawseworthe,

| co. Chester,

| knt.

- |_________________________________________________________________________________________

- | | | | |

Grace, dau. = Thomas Hesketh = Alice, dau. of Richard, William, ... a dau. … , a dau.

of Sir John | of Rufford, ar. | Christopher 2 sonne. third sonne, maryed to maryed to

Towneley of | | Haworthe, bishop of Rich. Awgh- Sir Henry

Towneley, | | second wyf. Man. ton of the Kyghley of

co. Lancas- | | Myles, co. Ingkippe,

ter, knt. | | Lancaster. co. Lancas-

| | ter, knt

William Hesketh, Sir Robert Hesketh, = Grace, dau. of Charles, Helene,

dyed sans yssue. knt., obiit 1539. | Sir John 3 sonne. maryed to

| Towneley of Laurence

| Towneley,knt.; Towneley of

| obiit 21 Maii, Barnshed,

| 1543· co. Ebor., ar.

________________________________________________________________________

| | | |

Sir Thomas Hesketb = Alice, dau. of Robert, Jane, Helene,

of Rufford, co. Lan- | Sir J olm Hol- 2 sonne. maryed to maryed to

caster, knt., sonne and | crafte of Hol- Richard Richard Bar-

heire of Sir Robert. | crafte, co. Asheton of ton of Bar-

| Lancaster, knt. Croston, co. ton Rowe,

Lancaster,ar. co. Lancas-

ter, ar.

__________________________________________________________________

- | | | | |

Robert Heskett = Mary, dau. of Thomas, Richard, Dorothe. Margarett.

of Rufford, esq., Sir George 2 sonne. 3 sonne.

sonne and heire Stanley of

of Sir Thomas. Crossehall, co.

Lancaster, knt.

-

Note: Location Rufford is 4.92 miles from Hesketh Bank, Prston, Lancashire.

!Source: The National Archives' catalogue https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/d85952e7-7245-431a-8a1e-354a4dec2aa1

55 - Lancashire Archives

DDHE - HESKETH of RUFFORD

DDHE 22 - HOWICK

Catalogue description Lease for 21 years at 6/- rent : for 40/- and services to be done : Thomas Hesketh of...

Reference: DDHE 22/47

Description:

Lease for 21 years at 6/- rent : for 40/- and services to be done : Thomas Hesketh of Rufforth, esq. to Edmonde Mayre of Penwortham, husbandman -- reversion of mese in Hoghwyke in tenure of Richarde Martyne

Date: 24 Oct. 1549

Held by: Lancashire Archives, not available at The National Archives

Language: English

!Source: Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Lancaster;"

The Victoria history of the Counties of England, EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A., A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE, VOLUME VI, THE VICTORIA HISTORY

https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088434620/cu31924088434620_djvu.txt#:~:text=k%20[Standish]%2C%20211%20Emmott%20[Whalley]%2C%20525%20Euxton,[p]%20115%2C%20[m]%20115%20Thorp%20[Croston]%2C%20104.

—

Robert, married to Alice daughter <<<< Robert Hesketh de Hesketh [~1424 - ~1491] with wife Alice Booth and son Thomas. Page continues mixing the two Hesketh lines.

of Robert Booth in 1454,’ died in 1491,° leaving a

son Thomas, who, in default of legitimate issue,‘

bequeathed his manors to his natural son Robert, with <<<< Robert Hesketh de Rufford [~1478 - 1539]. Second son Robert, but heir was Thomas. I don’t see a Robert with heir Robert.

remainders to Charles and Ellen, brother and sister <<<< Robert Hesketh de Rufford [~1478 - 1539]. Siblings Charles and Helene.

Thomas Hesketh appears to have added

very largely to the hereditary possessions of his family,

and died at Ruford on 14 August 1523.° <<<< Thomas Hesketh de Rufford ~1453 - ~1523.

—

Robert, married to Alice daughter <<<< Robert Hesketh de Hesketh [~1424 - ~1491] with wife Alice Booth and son Thomas. Page continues mixing the two Hesketh lines.

of Robert Booth in 1454,’ died in 1491,° leaving a

son Thomas, who, in default of legitimate issue,‘

bequeathed his manors to his natural son Robert, with <<<< Robert Hesketh de Rufford [~1478 - 1539]. Second son Robert, but heir was Thomas. I don’t see a Robert with heir Robert.

remainders to Charles and Ellen, brother and sister <<<< Robert Hesketh de Rufford [~1478 - 1539]. Siblings Charles and Helene.

Thomas Hesketh appears to have added

very largely to the hereditary possessions of his family,

and died at Ruford on 14 August 1523.° <<<< Thomas Hesketh de Rufford ~1453 - ~1523.

—

? Thomas Hesketh of Rufford pur-

chased land in 1520 from Edward Rishton

and Margaret hs wife [Pal. of Lanc. Feet

of F. bdle. 11, m. 205], and in 1523

held 10 acres in Euxton of the Hospi-

tallers and Sir William Molyneux by a

rent of 16¢.3; Duchy cf Lane. Ing. p.m.

v,no. 16. Dame Elizabeth Kighley ap-

pears to have held the same in 1524 of

Sir William Molyneux; ibid. v, no.

61.

—

From a will of Thomas Hesketh of

Rufford, dated 1521, it appears that he

had a share in founding the chantry, and

the patronage was afterwards exercised by

Sir Thomas Hesketh; Towneley MS.

HE [Hen. VIII, no. 9]; Duchy Plead.

[Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.], iii, 189-191.

—

* Anthony Browne having sold to

Sir Thomas Hesketh the manor of

Becconsall, also transferred to him a

‘chapel standing in the churchyard of

Croston, called by the name of Beccon-

sall chapel,’ and formerly used by the

lords of that manor; Towneley MS.

C8, 13, B 309.

—

10 Thomas Hesketh of Rufford in 1523

held 30 acres of pasture in Brindle of Sir

Thomas Gerard ; ibid. v, no. 16.

—

Thomas Hesketh of Rufford in 1523

held land in Farington, but the tenure

was not known; Duchy of Lanc. Ing.

p-m. v, no, 16.

—

In 1523 Thomas Hesketh purchased lands

in Croston, Tarleton, Bretherton and

Ulnes Walton from Thomas son and

heir of William Banastre of Wigan;

Fisal Conc. ili, 154.

—

The wardship of the heir was given to <<<< Wardship + Livery here may reflect Crown control of the estate. Holcroft is a likely relative of Thomas wife Alice.

Thomas Holcroft in Nov. 1541, and

livery of lands was allowed to Thomas

Hesketh in 1547; Dep. Keeper's Rep.

xxxia, App. 564.

—

In 1551, George having

died, the manor of Becconsall and lands there and in

Hesketh, Much Hoole and Aughton were settled

upon Richard Beconsaw, with remainders to his wife

Joan for life, and then to the issue of Richard, or in

default to Richard Ashton of Croston.'' The claim

by Richard seems to have been unjust, for this

moiety of the manor went to Dorothy, and was sold

to Sir Thomas Hesketh of Rufford,'? who thus gained

as 3,662 acres [including 8 of inland

water’, with 79 acres of tidal water and

1,130 of foreshore. The difference,

over 1,$00 acres, is due to the inclosures

recorded above.

Statistics from Bd. of Agric. [1905].

—

8 The land, &c., in Hoole was in-

cluded in the purchase [1555-61] by Sir

Thomas Hesketh from the heirs of

Beconsaw ; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdles.

16, m. 173 3 23, m. 189.

—

The Cockersand lands in Tarleton and

Sollom, also the land called Holmes,

with the appurtenances, including a

fishery on Martin Mere, were granted in

1551 by the Crown to Anthony Browne ;

Pat. § Edw. VI, pt. vi. Three years

later the whole was sold to Sir Thomas

Hesketh; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle.

15,m. 119.

—

A settlement of lands in Rufford,

Mawdesley, &c., was made by Thomas

Hesketh in 15515 Pal, of Lanc, Feet of <<<< 1551.

F. bdle. 14, m. 199.

—

7 A dispute occurred between Thomas

Hesketh of Rufford and Henry Banastre

of Bank concerning the title to parcels

of waste and fishing within Tarleton and

Holmes, and it was submitted to arbitra-

tion in 1552. The land and moss within

a ditch lately made by Thomas Hesketh

were awarded to him, as also the fishing

in the Asland which had belonged to

Cockersand Abbey. William Banastre

and the tenants of North Holmes were

to have the ground they had inclosed,

and the fishing in the Asland lying to

any such parcel of land. Nine years

later a further agreement was made,

Henry Banastre renouncing any greater

interest than a moiety in the manors of

Tarleton, Hesketh and Becconsall. Sce

Towneley MS. DD, no. 414, 415; also

Duchy Plead. , iii, 241.

—

made a knight at the coronation of Queen Mary in

1553,’ and he and his family are stated to have

adhered to the Roman Catholic religion for some

time after the accession of Elizabeth.”

—

Sir Thomas Hesketh in 1554 sold a

messuage and land to Thomas Dicconson 3;

Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 15, m. 110.

This seems to have descended to the

Dicconsons of Eccleston, but the tenure

is variously stated. In 1604 William

Dicconson held his lands in Euxton of

Wiiliam Whalley by 6d. rent ; while in

1639 John Dicconson held part at least

of Lord Molyneux in socage by suit at

the court baron of the manor of Euxton ;

Lancs. Inq. p.m. [Rec. Soc. Lancs. and

Ches.], i, 19; Duchy of Lance, Ing. p.m.

xxviii, no. 71.

—

Richard Sollam in 1555 purchased lands

in Cuerden, &c., from Sir Thomas

Hesketh and Alice his wife; Pal. of

Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 16, m. 164.

—

In April 1555 Sir Richard acquired lands,

&c., in Hoghton and Lea from Sir Thomas

Hesketh and Anne his wife ; Pal, of Lanc.

Feet of F. bdle. 15, m. 24.

—

Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14,

m. 184, 229.

In 1555 Sir Thomas Hesketh of

Rufford purchased from Anthony Browne,

Chief Justice [see Foss’s Judges], and

Joan his wife various lands, &c. io

—

The only other local family requiring notice is

that of Thornton. The landowners contributing to

the subsidy of 1542-3 were Adam and Elizabeth

Beconsaw, Richard and Hugh Thornton.4 Richard

Thornton died in July 1555 holding two messuages

and 40 acres in Becconsall and Hesketh of Sir Thomas

Hesketh and Henry Banastre of Bank in socage by a

rent of 2s. a year to the former and 194d. to the

land at Hesketh Bank on lease, had it sequestered as

recusants, and Henry Banastre of Bank, the owner,

in 1653 petitioned for a removal of the sequestration,

the tenants being dead.

—

A small estate was held by Richard Harrington,

kt., in 1430, and descended in 1498 to Thomas

Assheton, kt., in right of his wife Agnes, daughter

and co-heir of James Harrington of Wolfage, kt.

This may have been the estate afterwards held by

the Heskeths of Rufford and conveyed by Thomas

Hesketh in 1555 to John Talbot, esq.’°

A tenement called the Ridding, held by the free

rent of 7d., was settled in 1353 by John son of

William de Mykelridding of Dinckley on William his

—

4The Dandys occur among the

tenants at will in the Cockersand rentals

above quoted. Sir Thomas Hesketh in

1556 purchased a messuage, &c., in

Tarleton from William Dandy; Pal.

of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 16, m. 57.

—

Sir Thomas Hesketh in 1557 granted

land in Howick to John Fleetwood of

Penwortham ; Towneley MS. DD, no.

336. In 1562 in conjunction with

Henry Farington he gave a messuage

and land, with dovecote and windmill

and a fishery in the Ribble, to Henry’s son

Francis [and Alice his wife] for life, with

reversion to Sir Thomas; Pal. of Lanc,

Feet of F. bdle. 24, m. 208.

—

George Midgehalgh of Barton in 1557

held his messuage in Howick of Thomas

Hesketh ; ibid. x, no. 22.

—

William

son of William Fleming was in possession

in 1468; no. 1433.

the manor of Croston in 1318, the remainder, how-

ever, being to ‘the right heirs of John.’3 This

moiety descended regularly 4 to William Fleming of

Wath, who died about 1470, leaving two daughters

as co-heirs, both named Elizabeth.®

married Richard Dalton, lord of the neighbouring

manor of Bispham, and her fourth part of the manor

of Croston descended like Bispham until 1558, when

it was sold to Sir Thomas Hesketh of Rufford, who

held the other fourth by inheritance.®

Elizabeth had married his ancestor Thomas Hesketh,….

—

Robert Dalton of Bispham and Joan

widow of William Dalton in 1558 sold

to Sir Thomas Hesketh the fourth part

but though the marriage was annulled, and she united

herself to one Thurstan Hall, Hesketh appears to

have acquired the Lancashire

part of her inheritance, in-

cluding this fourth share of

the manor.! From 1558 the

reunited moiety descended in

the same way as Rufford?

until about 1800, when it

was sold by Sir T. D. Hes-

keth to the Rev. Streynsham

Master, rector of Croston,

who in 1825 sold it to

Thomas Norris of Howick

Halls In 1874 the Norris

trustees sold it to John Ran-

dolphus de Trafford, lord of

the other moiety.4

—

In 1561 Sir Thomas Hesketh pur-

chased the manor of Hesketh and Bec-

consall and various lands from Edmund

Huddleston and Dorothy his wife; Pal.

of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 23, m.

His title was thus secured, and in the

inquisition after his death [1588] it is

recorded that he held the moiety of the

manor of Hesketh and Becconsall of the

queen as of the lately dissolved house of

St. John of Jerusalem in England ;

Duchy of Lanc. Ing. p.m, xv, no. 56. In

that after his son Robert's death in 1620

the ‘ manor’ of Hesketh-cum-Becconsall

is recorded, but the service is not men-

tioned ; Lancs. Ing. p.m. [Rec. Soc. Lancs.

and Ches.], ili, 351, 356.

—

6 Robert Cowdrey, tenant of Sir

Thomas Hesketh, complained in 1561

that having made a little cabin on the

sand by the Asland ‘to well salt in the

same,’ he had been assaulted and his salt-

cote destroyed. He stated that the lords

of the town had agreed that their tenants

having land adjoining the salt water

should take the sands for salt-making ;

Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. xlviii, C 6.

—

On the other side Henry Banastre in

1565 complained that whereas he and

Sir Thomas Hesketh were lords of the

manor of Hesketh and Becconsall, and

so were seised of a moiety of the sands as

part of the waste [not divided], one of

his tenants had been disturbed in his salt-

making, after gathering ‘a stack of salt

sand containing 500 cart loads to the

value of £5’; ibid. lxii, B 1.

—

In 1567 Thomas Nowell of Read, esq., son and

heir of Roger Nowell, esq., acknowledged at Preston

that he held his lands in Harwood of Thomas

Hesketh, kt., by knight’s service—namely, by the

fifth part of a knight’s fee and tos. yearly rent—and

did homage and fealty for the same.” Daring the

16th century the manor court was held in Hesketh’s

name only, Nowell and his tenants being called as

suitors."

—

John Bold acquired lands in Sheving-

ton in 1558 from Sir Thomas Hesketh,

and sold them to Sir George Stanley in

1562, and Sir George in 1564 pur-

chased a water-mill, &c., from Richard

Gillibrand and Katherine his wife ; ibid.

bdles. 20, m. 109 ; 24, m. 275 ; 26, m. 30.

—

By the will of Sir Thomas Hesketh

the hall and demesne lands of Becconsall

were given to his third son Richard ;

Add. MS. 32104, no. 1. Richard after-

wards suffered as a traitor, but in 1628

one Nicholas Hesketh, a convicted recu-

sant, was the only landowner in the

township contributing to the subsidy ;

Misc. , i,

165.

—

In 1566 Richard son and heir

of Hugh Farington of Ribbleton and

Thomas son and heir of Richard Faring-

ton [late of Heskin] held lands in

Longton as co-parceners, a rent of 3d.

being due to Sir Thomas Hesketh ;

Kuerden MSS. iii, L 5.

—

Henry

Croston in 1567 sold a piece of land in

Croston to Sir Thomas Hesketh ; ‘Towne-

ley MS. BB, no. 1592.

—

About 1571 Sir Thomas Hesketh

complained that, being scised of the

manors of Rufford and Tarleton, a free

fishing in Martin Mere, and lands, &c.,

in Rufford, Tarleton and Holmes , he was like to be

—

George Hesketh of Kirkham [1572]

held lands in Croston and Mawdesley of

Sir Thomas Hesketh and Roger Croston ;

Duchy of Lance. Ing. p.m. xiii, no. 15.

—

Sir Thomas appears to have had a

dispute with his son Robert shortly before <<<< He left out the argument.

his death, for he complained in 1587 that

divers deeds concerning the manors anu

—

marry Mary daughter of Sir George Stanley of Cross

Hall in Lathom,' and who died in 1620, being

then succeeded by a son Thomas, fifty years of age.’ <<<< Thomas Stanley?

In the inquisitions for Sir Thomas and Robert the <<<< Except it is Robert who was heir.

manor of Rufford was found to be held by a rent

of 55.

—

June 1588, leaving a son Robert, then about forty <<<< Belongs to Sir Thomas Hesketh, Lord of Rufford [1506 - 1588].

years old,” who had in 1567 been contracted to

—

Sir Thomas Hesketh died in 1588

holding messuages and lands in Sheving-

ton of the heirs of the lord of Hornby by

fealty only ; Duchy of Lanc, Ing. p.m.

xy, no. 56.

—

Richard Mawdesley in 1597 claimed a <<<< Now after Sir Thomas’ death.

right of way to Longshaw in Mawdesley

over lands bought by Sir Thomas Hesketh

from Robert Dalton; Exch. Dep. [Rec.

Soc. Lancs. and Ches.], 8.

—

By the will of Sir Thomas Hesketh

the hall and demesne lands of Becconsall

were given to his third son Richard ;

Add. MS. 32104, no. 1. Richard after-

wards suffered as a traitor, but in 1628

one Nicholas Hesketh, a convicted recu-

sant, was the only landowner in the

township contributing to the subsidy ;

Misc. , i,

165.

—

" Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xv, no.

56. Sir Thomas had married Alice

daughter of Sir John Holcroft, who sur-

vived him at Martholme. See Ducatus

Lanc. , i, 278.

—

Sir Thomas Hesketh, who died in 1588, ‘ greatly

repaired the house at Martholme,’ and the present

building together witk the gate-house is his work,

though some of the outside walling and a window at

the back which appears to be of older date than the

others may belong, like the west wall in which the

doorways from the screens occur, to the older house.

The building, however, has been much modernized,

the walls being now entirely covered with rough-cast

and the roofs with blue slates,®® and has consequently

lost much of its picturesqueness. The old mullioned

windows, however, remain as well as the stone

terminals to the gables. "The house faces south and

consists of two blocks, a smaller and a larger, side by

side, with gables north and south, the eastern block

projecting some 12 ft. at each end beyond the other,

which is narrower and has an attic in the gable.

The windows in the west gable are of three round-

headed lights without hood mould, and there is a,…

!Source: Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Lancaster;"

The Victoria history of the Counties of England, EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A., A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE, VOLUME VI, THE VICTORIA HISTORY

https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088434620/cu31924088434620_djvu.txt#:~:text=k%20[Standish]%2C%20211%20Emmott%20[Whalley]%2C%20525%20Euxton,[p]%20115%2C%20[m]%20115%20Thorp%20[Croston]%2C%20104.

—

Adam Banastre confirmed to William

son of Henry de Hesketh part of his land

in the vill of Becconsall and Hesketh,

with common of pasture and other

liberties, at a rent of 12d.; Towneley

MS. C 8, 13 [Chet. Lib.], B 314. John

de Hesketh was a witness. Richard

Banastre in 1246 claimed 4 acres in

Becconsall from William son of Henry

and William son of John de Beconsaw,

but failed; Assize R. 404, m. 3d.

Note: This record places John with his brother Henry in Lancashire. The 1246 date would be slightly after the land transfer from Adam to William. If that transfer was in 1245, then John and William would both have to be born by 1224.

—

In 1561 Sir Thomas Hesketh pur-

chased the manor of Hesketh and Bec-

consall and various lands from Edmund

Huddleston and Dorothy his wife; Pal.

of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 23, m.

His title was thus secured, and in the

inquisition after his death [1588] it is

recorded that he held the moiety of the

manor of Hesketh and Becconsall of the

queen as of the lately dissolved house of

St. John of Jerusalem in England ;

Duchy of Lanc. Ing. p.m, xv, no. 56. In

that after his son Robert's death in 1620

the ‘ manor’ of Hesketh-cum-Becconsall

is recorded, but the service is not men-

tioned ; Lancs. Ing. p.m. [Rec. Soc. Lancs.

and Ches.], ili, 351, 356.

—

By the will of Sir Thomas Hesketh

the hall and demesne lands of Becconsall

were given to his third son Richard ;

Add. MS. 32104, no. 1. Richard after-

wards suffered as a traitor, but in 1628

one Nicholas Hesketh, a convicted recu-

sant, was the only landowner in the

township contributing to the subsidy ;

Misc. , i,

165.

George Hesketh of Kirkham

held lands in Croston and Mawdesley of

Sir Thomas Hesketh and Roger Croston ;

Duchy of Lance. Ing. p.m. xiii, no. 15.

—

7 George Hesketh of Poulton [1572]

held lands in Longton of John Fleetwood

by arent of 12d.; Duchy of Lance. Ing.

pm. xiii, no. 15. This may have been

acquired by James Stopford of Ulnes

Walton, who held similarly in 1611;

Lancs. Inj. p.m, [Rec. Soc. Lancs. and

Ches.], i, 1703 ii, 73.

—

The Beconsaw family held their moiety until the

16th century.© Edward Beconsaw recorded a pedigree

in 1533,’ and died on 19 April

1535, holding the manor of

Becconsall and lands there of

Sir Thomas Weston, Prior of

St. John of Jerusalem in Eng-

land, in socage by a rent of

gs. the clear annual value

being {10. He had lands

also in Lydiate, Aughton,

Aspinwall in Scarisbrick and

Much Hoole. His heir was

his son Henry, nineteen years

ofage.® Henry left a daughter,

Dorothy, whereupon the

manor and lands were claimed

by Adam Beconsaw, brother of Henry, as heir male.

After some disputing a settlement was made, chiefly

in his favour,’ but he did not enjoy possession long,

dying in December 1544, and leaving it to a son

George, two years old."

In 1551, George having <<<< Beconsaw family is not Heketh family, so different George.

died, the manor of Becconsall and lands there and in

Hesketh, Much Hoole and Aughton were settled

upon Richard Beconsaw, with remainders to his wife

Joan for life, and then to the issue of Richard, or in

default to Richard Ashton of Croston.'' The claim

by Richard seems to have been unjust, for this

moiety of the manor went to Dorothy, and was sold

to Sir Thomas Hesketh of Rufford,'? who thus gained

as 3,662 acres [including 8 of inland

water’, with 79 acres of tidal water and

1,130 of foreshore. The difference,

over 1,$00 acres, is due to the inclosures

recorded above.

Statistics from Bd. of Agric. [1905].

—

Note: By the mid-13th century the manor of Hesketh-cum-Becconsall was divided into moieties between the Hesketh and Beconsaw families. From the above, it would appear that George Hesketh [1495->1572] and the “senior” or “Henry [1206] line” still controlled at least much, if not all, of their holdings at this time. In 1561 Sir Thomas Hesketh of Rufford purchased the Beconsaw share, securing his title to one moiety. Consequently, after this date, ownership of Hesketh cannot be used to distinguish between the senior Hesketh line and the Rufford branch, as each likely held a portion of the manor.

!Source: Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Lancaster;"

The Victoria history of the Counties of England, EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A., A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE, VOLUME VI, THE VICTORIA HISTORY

https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088434620/cu31924088434620_djvu.txt#:~:text=k%20[Standish]%2C%20211%20Emmott%20[Whalley]%2C%20525%20Euxton,[p]%20115%2C%20[m]%20115%20Thorp%20[Croston]%2C%20104.

Soc. Lancs, and Ches.], i, 92.

1718 Bishop Gastrell gave Hesketh Bank as an alias

of Becconsall. ‘The parish lies on the west bank of

the Douglas estuary, the Ribble forming the northern

boundary. In ancient times almost the only habit-

able part must have been the elevated patch in the

south-east corner, a continuation of the Tarleton

ridge, Becconsall being at the southern end of this

patch and Hesketh at the north-west. The northern

half of the land has in the main been reclaimed from

the Ribble since 1834, chiefly through the operations

of the Ribble Navigation Company.!? The area is

4,736 acres.!3 In 1go1 there wasa population of got.

!Source: The Christian Shakespeare https://christianshakespeare.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-first-folio-of-st-omer-and-neville.html

The First Folio of St. Omer and "Neville"

Carol Curt Enos shows how the recently discovered First Folio at St. Omer in France is yet another proof of Shakespeare's Catholic faith.

The First Folio of St. Omer and "Neville"

by

Carol Curt Enos

The discovery of a Shakespeare First Folio from a 17th c library in the Jesuit seminary at St Omer, France, in Nov 2014 has implications beyond reinforcing the theory that Shakespeare was a secret Catholic and that his religion is reflected in his work. The history of this First Folio also supports the most recent thrust of Shakespeare scholarship: that teenage Shakespeare was a tutor or developing actor in the homes of Alexander Hoghton at Hoghton Tower, Sir Thomas Hesketh at Rufford, and finally, the Stanley family at Knowsley and Lea, which led to his position in the acting company of Lord Strange [Ferdinando Stanley] and onward to the London stage. This theory grew out of the discovery of a 1581 will of Alexander Hoghton at Hoghton Tower, Lancashire, naming William Shakeshafte, an actor/musician who was ‘now dwelling’ in his home who was to go to Sir Thomas Hesketh on Hoghton’s death [Honigmann 85]. Chambers [1944] and Honigmann [1985] have identified this Shakeshafte with William Shakespeare.

A fair assumption is that sometime in the mid 1600s the Folio was taken to the Jesuit college founded in St. Omer in 1593 to be used as a teaching textbook in the Catholic education of boys, which was banned in England. The Jesuits were known for using theater as a teaching tool.

The owner of the Folio has been tentatively identified from the name ‘Neville’ inscribed on the first surviving page as Edward Scarisbrick [Neville], a Jesuit priest who spent some years in St. Omer [Schuessler]. My research supports Edward Scarisbrick as the probable owner; however, three other men named Edmund Neville should be considered. The erratic, unstable Elizabethan and Jacobean spelling often interchanged the names Edward and Edmund. All four candidates have implications for the Shakespeare in Lancashire theory or ties with Shakespeare’s family.

One Edmund Neville 1555-1630 was not a Jesuit priest, but definitely a Catholic. He was a second cousin once removed from Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden [Rootsweb. ‘Neville/Westmoreland Family’]. He was nine years older than William Shakespeare 1564-1616 and quite likely was acquainted with his distant cousin in Stratford, for Neville’s mother was the sister of Edward Arden of Park Hall in Warwickshire, about 35 miles north of Stratford. He was a Catholic conspirator involved with his relative, William Parry, in the Parry Plot [1585] to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. As a relative of William Shakespeare, he quite possibly had an interest in the posthumous 1623 publication of Shakespeare’s plays and recognized their usefulness to the Jesuits at St Omer.

Edmund was the great grandson of John Neville, third baron Latimer, and in 1584 he returned to England from Spain claiming to be the last Lord Latimer. Thomas Cecil had married Dorothy, daughter of the late Lord Latimer, and he was determined to thwart Neville’s claim by casting suspicion on his loyalty. Already in trouble, in 1585, Neville joined Parry in the plot to kill the Queen. Even though he turned on Parry and saved his own life, he was sent to the Tower and remained there until 1595 when he again went abroad. In 1601, on the death of Charles Neville, 6th earl of Westmorland, he returned to England claiming the earldom in vain even though he had a solid claim. He was later accused of participating in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 where he would have been in the company of several of Mary Arden Shakespeare’s relatives who were ringleaders of the plot [Milward 116]. He died February 3, 1629/30, in Bruxelles, Belgium.

Another Edmund Neville [alias Elijah Nelson] 1563-1648 simultaneously claimed to be the rightful heir to Westmorland. This Neville was the nephew of Sir Thomas Hesketh of Rufford and lived with Sir Thomas from about the age of 6 until the age of 43 when, as ‘Edward Neville,’ he went to Rome to become a Jesuit priest [Foley 220]. The Hesketh home was frequented by Catholic priests who had studied in English seminaries principally in the Low Countries and who were ministering secretly in Catholic homes throughout England.

Alexander Hoghton’s 1581 will specified that his budding actor, William Shakeshafte, should go to Sir Thomas Hesketh. If this William was really William Shakespeare, the two young men, nearly the same age, would have been in the Hesketh home at the same time. Neville proposed marriage to Mary Ward but was rejected. Mary Ward first joined the Poor Clare nuns in St. Omer and later founded the so-called ‘Jesuitesses’ in various locations in the Low Countries. Mary Ward’s family was closely connected with the Wright, Winter, and the Ingleby families, all related to Mary Arden Shakespeare via her relationship with the Throckmortons of Coughton Court. All of these families were committed and active Catholics in the Counter Reformation. Mary Ward was born in 1585, so Shakespeare would not have met her at the Hesketh home, but there were multiple family ties to Shakespeare. Because of Mary’s association with St. Omer, it is not improbable that Edmund Neville contributed the First Folio of his youthful friend to the library at St Omer.

Thomas Hesketh’s mother, Grace Towneley, was Edmund’s great aunt. The Townleys may be a link between William Shakespeare and associates on the London stage. Edward Alleyn, the famous actor in London who surely knew Shakespeare, was the son of Margaret Towneley, a sister of Sir Thomas’s mother and of Edmund Neville’s grandmother [Chetham Society V I, 26, 27]. All three men, Edmund Neville, William Shakespeare, and Edward Alleyn may have been acquainted in Lancashire in the 1580s.

The two Nevilles who claimed the Earldom of Westmorland traced their ancestry to Geoffrey FitzRobert de Nevill, Baron of Raby 1197-1242. The Arden Neville descended from Geoffrey’s son, Robert, and the Hesketh Edmund Neville descended from a son, also named Geoffrey. The Arden Edmund Neville is directly descended from Ralph, 1st earl of Westmorland whereas the Hesketh claim does not go directly through Ralph’s line but can be traced to Geoffrey FitzRobert de Nevill of the 12th c. Their avowed purpose was to use the Westmorland inheritance to aid the Catholic religion in its struggle to survive. Both men had connections with St. Omer and probably with William Shakespeare that could have motivated them to contribute the First Folio to the seminary’s library.

Another Edmund Neville [alias Sales] 1605-47 was the nephew of Edmund Neville who lived with Sir Thomas Hesketh. He did his humanities studies at St. Omer and then entered the English College at Rome at age 17 and took his oath in 1622 [Foley. Vol V, 350]. His ‘Palm of Christian Fortitude’ was published in St. Omer in 1630. His family ties with Shakespeare’s family were essentially parallel with his uncle’s family. Identifying this Jesuit priest has also been difficult for others as Henry Foley noted in his Records of the English . . . . Society of Jesus:

Edmund Neville.—Some, says Dr. Oliver, affirm he was a Scarisbrick. The Diary of the English College, Rome, however, states that Edmund Neville, vere Sales, of Lancashire, at the age of seventeen, entered as an alumnus on the 29th of September, 1621, and took the College oath on the 16th of May, 1622.

. . . .

On entering the English College he states: “1621. My name is Edmund Neville, alias Sales. I was born at my father’s house at Hopcut, Lancashire, and am seventeen years of age. . . I made my humanity studies at St. Omer’s. I was always brought up a Catholic, although I was never present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or at confession in England on account of my age.” In 1624 he was serving the mission in St. Mary’s Residence, or the Oxford District, but we do not trace him further.

We are left in uncertainty as to his real name; the Diary calls it Sales, and his autobiographical account says Neville, alias Sales, but we think it is clear that he was not a Scarisbrick. [Foley 296].

Foley’s pronouncement indicates this Edmund Neville was probably was not the Edward Scarisbrick Neville who, to date, has been identified as the ‘Neville’ inscribed on the first existing page of the First Folio found in the St. Omer library collection. I concur with the Scarisbrick identification, principally based on the fact that the frontispiece and several of the beginning pages are missing from this copy of the Folio. The removal of the first pages suggests that the book was originally part of the library in the school at Scarisbrick Hall, for someone had torn the fly leaves out of the books in the library as recorded by Henry Foley:

An Addenda, p 1398 entitled Scarisbrick Hall and Family, County of Lancaster provided by the Rev. W. A. Bulbeck, O.S. B., lists books in St. Mary’s Library in Scarisbrick Hall:

During the course of two centuries and a half the clergy who

have resided at Scarisbrick have gradually formed a considerable library. On arranging these books in order under the names of signature, it was found that they formed a regular and almost unbroken series, like the geological strata in the crust of the earth. The series begins with a name that is highly distinguished in the literary annals of the Society of Jesus. Some over-cautious person has unfortunately torn out most of the fly leaves that had any writing on them.

At the end of the list of books, a list of names of students or owners is given:

List of Names extracted from the fly-leaves of school-books at Scarisbrick, County Lancaster, a school formerly taught by the fathers of the society.

The names coupled together are in the same books, but it does not necessarily follow that they were written at the same date. The dates of the books are frequently of the greatest importance. From the names and dates I conclude that the school may have been in existence in 1618, probably from 1628 to 1639, certainly from 1648 to 1652, continuing probably in 1679, and certainly in 1698—1700, probably in 1703, and perhaps twenty years later [Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus ... in the sixteenth ...p 687].

The probable identity of ‘Neville’ in the St. Omer First Folio is Edward Scarisbrick 1639-1708, the son of Edward Scarisbrick and Frances Bradshagh. There is no surname of ‘Neville’ in the genealogy of the family, so why did Edward Scarisbrick use the alias of Neville? That question seems to have no answer. Suffice it to say: “Many members of the Scarisbrick family of Scarisbrick Hall, near Ormskirk, became Jesuits during the penal times and assumed the alias "Neville" [Catholic Online].

It is generally acknowledged that Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, was Shakespeare’s first patron in the early 1590s, and as a retainer in the Derby household, Shakespeare may have been acquainted with the Stanleys’ Scarisbrick relatives. Even earlier, Shakespeare/Shakeshafte and members of the Scaribricks would have met, for Scarisbricks were also related to Hoghtons and Halsalls. By 1400 the Halsall, Stanley, and Scarisbrick families were intermarried. Robert Halsall married Ellen Scarisbrick c 1400. Thomas Stanley 2nd Earl of Derby 1477-1521 had an illegitimate daughter, Elizabeth born 1502 [rarely appears in the genealogy tables] who married Thomas Scarisbrick 1502-1530, ward of the earl. Other Stanley/Scarisbrick marriages followed: Edward Stanley 3rd Earl of Derby 1509-1572 married Margaret Baralow sister of Alexander Barlow, father of Margaret Barlow daughter of Alexander Barlow, Sr. His sister was Margaret Baralow, Countess of Derby [wife of Edward Stanley 3rd Earl of Derby as his second wife]. This Margaret also married Richard Halsal [sic]. A later Richard Halsall d 1573 married Janet Scarisbrick.

The Halsalls are included here because the Stanley, Scarisbrick, and Halsall families had been closely connected since the 1400s. Robert Halsall and Ellen Scarisbrick c 1400 were the great, great grandparents of Jane Halsall, Countess of Derby, wife/mistress? of Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby. Jane Halsall was the mother of Ursula Halsall wife of John Salusbury, probably the couple in Shakespeare’s Phoenix and the Turtle. Moreover, Jane’s grandparents were Sir Henry Halsall 1482-1522 and Douce Scarisbrick. Douce was the daughter of Gilbert Scarisbrick of Scarisrick Esq [Chetham Society Vol 1, 115].

The Stanley family, the first patrons of William Shakespeare likely acquired a copy of the First Folio when it was published in 1623. The Scarisbricks who probably were acquainted William Shakespeare in his teen years also would have followed his London theater career. Both families, like other committed Catholic families, were attuned to his subtle Catholic messages in the plays, reason enough to add the Folio to the library at Scarisbrick Hall. Even before the Folio was available there is evidence that Shakespeare’s plays were performed secretly in Catholic homes. Richard Cholmeley, in 1609, was charged with ‘bearing inward love and affection to such as are obstinate popish recusants and having many obstinate popish recusants that depend on him’, protesting that Cholmley had licensed a company of actors whose plays contained ‘much popery and abuse of the law and justice.’ . . . [Cholmley]. This did not stop him, however, for in 1610 he had a recusant group of players perform King Lear at Gowthwayte Hall in Yorkshire. Sell and Johnson, the editors, suggest that it, like other plays, ‘had especial Catholic resonance’ and that the ‘recusant group of players exemplify the organization of contemporary theatre for religio-political purposes’ [Sell and Johnson122].

The Scarisbrick and Stanley families were tightly connected geographically as well as by kinship. The area which became known as Scarisbrick originally belonged to the lord of Lathom, who held it as early as 1086. The name ‘Scarisbrick’ first appeared in the reign of Richard I [1189-99] when Gilbert de Scarisbrick was named as the owner of some of the Lathom property. So the Scarisbrick family was already settled in the Lathom territory, much of which was taken over by Sir John Stanley who married Isabel Latham in 1385. The earls of Derby descended from this marriage and the manor of Lathom has been the family seat since that time. Scarisbrick Hall is about eight miles west of Rufford [Hesketh], about twelve miles north of Knowsley [Stanley], and about two miles from Halsall, short distances that enabled the families to interact and to marry.

The priest, Edward Scarisbrick 1639-1708, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Watten in Holland in 1657, resigning his estates to his brother Robert. His grandfather Edward Scarisbrick 1540-1599 was receiver-general for Henry, Earl of Derby, and was one of the gentlemen-ushers who attended the burial of his father Edward, Earl of Derby in 1572. The senior Edward Scarisbrick appears many times as a dinner guest of Henry Stanley in the Derby Household Books and is named as a loving servant in the will of Ferdinando Stanley, which he witnessed 12 April 1594 [National Archives 5]

Edward Scarisbrick, the priest, is the most likely candidate as the Neville named in the First Folio. However, the other three Edward/Edmund Nevilles should be considered as possibilities. One of them was a direct relative of Mary Arden Shakespeare and therefore probably was acquainted with William Shakespeare. The Hesketh Edmund Neville perhaps even lived with William Shakespeare at Hesketh’s home at Rufford. Both he and his nephew, Edmund Neville [Sales] knew Mary Ward who was distantly related to Shakespeare’s mother. Any one of these men had adequate ties with St. Omer to motivate their contribution of the First Folio to the seminary library at St. Omer.