(I am on the LFACF page, of the Lancashire Fusiliers site also. A proud member of the Lancashire Fusiliers Association.)

Read Footnotes 9 from below link British History Online. This is I believe part of our greater family of Ainsworth's

In a suit of 1334 John son of Geoffrey Henne, John son of John son of Robert de Middleton, Gilbert de Southworth, and Quenilda and Agnes daughters of Thomas Wrych, were stated to be lords of the vill; Coram Rege R. 297, m. 20. This throws some light on the following charters:—
Elias son of Robert de Ainsworth granted to Gilbert de Southworth and his heirs his lordship of a whole fourth part of the vill of Middleton, in return for a mark of silver; Towneley MS. HH, no. 1713. It is curious that Ainsworth is a hamlet of Middleton, near Manchester; Robert de Ainsworth may have been the Robert de Middleton of 1212.From: 'Townships: Houghton, Middleton and Arbury', A History of the County of Lancaster:

Ainsworth, Barlow, Middleton, Hollingsworth,Crooks, names, have near Y-DNA matches.

AINSWORTH

Euenesworth, 1243; Aynesworth, 1332.

Ainsworth lies about 6 miles west-north-west of Middleton Church; it is quite separated from Great Lever by the townships of Little Lever and Darcy Lever in Bolton, and from the rest of the parish by Radcliffe, and portions of Bury. It measures about 2 miles from north to south, and over a mile across. The area is 1,308½ acres. (fn. 1) It is an upland slope; the highest ground, over 500 ft., is in the northern half of the township, near the centre of which are situate the village and church. The eastern side is known as Cockey Moor, part of the moor being in Radcliffe. Blackshaw Brook forms the boundary on the west. The population in 1901 numbered 1,718.

The principal road is that from Bolton to Bury, passing through the southern end of the township. A more northerly road between the same places passes through the village, and runs across Cockey. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's Bolton and Bury line crosses the southern corner of the township, where it has a station called Bradley Fold.

A bronze celt and Roman coins have been found on Cockey Moor.

This moor was a mustering place for the Royalist troops in 1642. (fn. 2)

The soil is light, overlying gravel; wheat, oats, and potatoes are grown, and some land also is devoted to pasture. Cotton weaving is pursued, also bleaching and dyeing. 'Mr. John Wilson of Ainsworth, originally a fustian manufacturer, produced several ingenious inventions by which he brought cotton velvets to the utmost perfection; he also procured from the Greek dyers of Smyrna the secret of dyeing Turkey red. (fn. 3) Stone quarries are worked.

In 1666 there were fifty-one hearths liable to the tax, but no house had as many as six hearths. (fn. 4)

The township was in 1894. extended to include the rural part of Elton. (fn. 5) It is governed by a parish council. A small recreation ground and gymnasium was presented to the township in 1902.

Manors

AINSWORTH was a member of Middleton Manor, and the earliest notice of it is in the grant of land there to Cockersand Abbey, made by Roger de Middleton about 1200. (fn. 6) It is usually mentioned with other portions of the manor in settlements and inquisitions, (fn. 7) and has descended to the Earl of Wilton. (fn. 8)

Ainsworth Hall 557.jpg (84259 bytes)

Ainsworth of Pleasington. Azure three spades within a bordure or.

Another branch of the Ainsworth arms are below

Ainsworth gave a surname to a local family, one of whom, by marriage with Maud de Middleton, held the principal manor for many years. (fn. 9) The Ainsworth family, settled at Pleasington, continued to hold land in Ainsworth till the beginning of the 17th century. (fn. 10) An estate in Ainsworth, Breightmet, and Harwood was in 1588 sold or mortgaged by Thomas Ainsworth to Ralph Booth, (fn. 11) whose estate descended to his nephew Geoffrey Lomax in 1622. (fn. 12)

Other resident families were named Aspinall, (fn. 13) Harper, (fn. 14) and Openshaw. (fn. 15) Robert Horrox of Ainsworth having declined knighthood compounded in 1631. (fn. 16)

About 1514 there was a dispute between the lords of Middleton and Radcliffe as to the right of turbary on Cockey Moor. (fn. 17)

The land tax returns show that Sir Thomas Egerton owned most of the land in 1783. Mrs. Ann Baron was the other owner. (fn. 18)

An inclosure award for Radcliffe and Ainsworth was made in 1812. (fn. 19) Radcliffe Tower rebuilt 1403c.

Radcliffe Tower.jpg (44448 bytes)

Radcliffe Tower Ruins, a place where I used to play as a boy, before fences was errected. (M.L.)

Church

A chapel existed at Cockey Moor in 1515, (fn. 20) and probably continued in use after the Reformation. (fn. 21) In 1620 it had a special curate or lecturer. (fn. 22) Just before 1650 it was endowed with a small piece of land improved from the common, and had a regular minister, supported by the offerings of the people. (fn. 23) Though the minister is stated to have been 'turned out' in 1662, (fn. 24) the building appears to have remained in possession of Nonconformists for nearly fifty years after this. (fn. 25) In 1718 Bishop Gastrell found that the rector of Middleton preached there once a month; other Sundays it was vacant. (fn. 26) Some endowments were secured. (fn. 27) The registers begin in 1727. The chapel, now called Christ Church, was rebuilt in 1832, and had a separate ecclesiastical parish assigned to it in 1867; (fn. 28) the rector of Middleton is patron. The following have been curates and vicars:—


1725.	James Wylde, B.A. (Magdalen Hall, Oxford) (fn. 29)
1759	John Barlow, B.A.
1768	Robert Deane, B.A.
1799	James Archer (fn. 30)
1828	John Haughton, B.A.
1836	Richard Heslop (fn. 31)
1851	G. R. Carr
1857	Robert Macdonnell Evanson, M.A. (T.C.D.)
1888	John Alexander Lauria, M.A. (Emmanuel Coll., Camb.)
1905	Alfred Wood

There is a chapel of the Methodist New Connexion, built in 1847.

The people of the district in the 17th century appear to have been resolute Puritans. As stated above the chapel at Cockey was retained by the Nonconformists until the beginning of the following century; in 1715 they built a meeting house so near the old chapel' that the congregations might hear one another sing psalms.' The doctrine for nearly a century has been Unitarian. (fn. 32)

Footnotes

1	The census report of 1901 gives 1,4.60 acres, including 18 of inland water. The increase is accounted for by the extension in 1894.
2	Stanley Papers (Chet, Soc), iii, p. lxxi.
3	E. Butterworth, Middleton, 57.
4	Subs. R. bdle. 250, no. 9, Lancs.
5	Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31671; the extreme western end of Elton was the part added.
6	Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc), ii, 733. The bounds were—Murbrook from the deep moss, Mucklebrook, and the syke from Balshaw.
7	e.g., Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 105.
8	On the partition of the Middleton and Radcliffe estates about 1780. The land tax returns of 1787 (at Preston) show that then Lord Grey de Wilton owned the greater part of the township.
9	See the account of the manor of Middleton. William son of Robert de Ainsworth, about the end of the reign of Henry III, granted an oxgang of land here to Roger de Barlow; and added another oxgang, as well as a toft, with houses and meadows belonging thereto; Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 171/208. Maud, the sister of William de Ainsworth, released her claim in the 2 oxgangs to the same Roger de Barlow; ibid. Robert de Ainsworth in 1324 gave land in Ainsworth to Robert his son and heir on his marriage with Isabel daughter of Richard de Woolston; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1690. Robert son of Robert de Ainsworth occurs in 1353; Towneley MS. DD, no. 2219. John son of Robert de Ainsworth and Maud his wife received land at Stakehill in 1342; GG, no. 1755. It is perhaps a different John son of Robert who, with Agnes his wife, is mentioned in 1398–9 ; DD, no. 2207–12. John son of John de Ainsworth and Robert de Pilkington (who had married the younger John's daughter Katherine) in 1383 became bound to James de Radcliffe; a warning had been published from the pulpit of Walton Church; GG, no. 1840. The younger John, who lived at the Peak, by his wife Ellen (no. 1843, 2055) had a son Alexander; and Alexander in 1419 made a settlement of lands at Mellor in Derbyshire on his son (by Margaret 'Walklate') Hector, who married Margaret daughter of William de Clayton; no. 2007, 1784, 2064. Hector, probably illegitimate, afterwards sold his lands to Richard son of Robert de Pilkington; no. 2033. Another Robert de Ainsworth attested a Droylsden charter about 1250; Byron Chartul. no. 25/5. John de Ainsworth was among the witnesses of a Farnworth grant in 1295; Lever Chartul. no. 54. Ellis son of John de Ainsworth was defendant in a claim by John de Barton and Agnes his wife in 1324; De Banco R. 252, m. 43 d. Ellis de Ainsworth contributed to the subsidy of 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 36. Ellis Ainsworth is named in 1411; DD, no. 2216. James Ainsworth of Middleton occurs in 1443; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 5, m. 6b. Lawrence Ainsworth in 1460 complained that Nicholas Longford and others, including Hugh, Geoffrey and Robert Ainsworth, had disseised him of his free tenement in Ainsworth; Pal. of Lanc. Writs of Assize. Robert Ainsworth in 1543 complained that the lands called the Wood and Marled Earth, through which ran 'a brook and other little pirls' of water, had been damaged by certain persons— Lawrence Bradshaw of Breightmet, Joan widow of Thomas Ainsworth of Breightmet, &c.—having diverted the water courses; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 176. Robert Ainsworth appears as plaintiff or defendant in other suits about the same time; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 82, 77; i, 232, 262. Giles and Thomas Ainsworth occur in 1580; ibid, iii, 87. Giles and Robert Ainsworth were freeholders in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 248.
10	Thomas Ainsworth of Pleasington, who died 1613, held three messuages, 60 acres of land, &c., in Ainsworth of Sir Richard Assheton in socage and by 9d. rent; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 247. A Richard Ainsworth died in 1629, holding lands in Pleasington and Ainsworth; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), 7.
11	Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 50, m. 29; the transaction included twentyseven messuages, a water-mill, 200 acres of land, &c. Thomas Ainsworth died at Ainsworth 26 May 1594, holding messuages and land there of Richard Assheton of Middleton in socage by a rent of 18d. His heir was his nephew Robert son of his brother Peter Ainsworth, aged twentyseven; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xvi, 8. The fine is recited in the inquisition. The purchaser or mortgagee was the son of Ralph Booth, who died in 1567, holding three messuages, &, in Ainsworth, partly of the queen by knight's service, and partly of Richard Assheton by a rent of 2s. yearly. Alice widow of Ralph, father of Ralph Booth, died in 1580; while Anne widow of Ralph died in 1574; Ralph, the son and heir, was twenty-two years of age, probably in 1584, when the inquisition was taken; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, 75. Thomas Ainsworth, vendor or mortgagor, died at Ainsworth on 26 May 1594, holding seven messuages, &, in Ainsworth, and fourteen messuages, watermill, &c., in Breightmet and Harwood; the former of Richard Assheton in socage, by a rent of 18d. yearly, and the latter of the queen. His heir was his nephew Robert son of Peter Ainsworth; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xvi, 8. See an entry in Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. 26, for lands in Ainsworth, Breightmet, and Harwood.
12	Roger Booth died at Ainsworth in 1622, holding three messuages, &, of Ralph Assheton of Middleton, by a rent of 2s. and a pair of gloves; and 11 acres of the king by the 300th part of a knight's fee. The heir was his nephew Geoffrey Lomax, son and heir of Alice Holt, the sister of Ralph, then aged thirty-six; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), iii, 306.
13	John Aspinall of Ainsworth was a freeholder in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 250.
14	John Harper was a defendant in 1549 touching common of pasture on Cockey Moor; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 232. A later John Harper died in 1638, holding a messuage, &c., in Ainsworth of Ralph Assheton of Middleton in socage; John his son and heir was thirty years of age; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxx, 74.
15	About 1480 Richard Openshaw, 'heir of the Shaw,' took an encroachment on Cockey Moor, which twenty years later descended to his son John. After John's death his brother James occupied the same, for John's son, another John, was 'out of the country at the wars,' and did not for some years appear to claim it; Cockey Moor Exam. 18. The house of John Openshaw in 1515 was beside the meeting of the boundary of three parishes-Middleton, Bury, and Bolton; ibid. 9. Lamwell Openshaw of Ainsworth was a freeholder in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 250.
16	Ibid, i, 215.
17	The depositions are printed in full in Raines' Examinations touching Cockey Moor (Chet. Soc. Misc. ii). It was shown that the people of Ainsworth were considered to be parishioners of Middleton, and paid tithes and other dues to it. John Hasnall, seventy-five years of age, had often been at 'the driving of the moor,' and the Radcliffe men had never claimed any right upon it. On the other hand it was shown that there had been disputes in former times between the lords of Radcliffe and Middleton concerning the moor.
18	Returns at Preston.
19	In accordance with the Act 49 Geo. III, cap. 8.
20	Cockey Moor Exam. 12. The chapel is mentioned in 1544; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 77, 82.
21	It was but scantily furnished in 1552; Ch. Gds. (Chet. Soc), 12. In 1580 there was a dispute as to a water corn mill, 'late of the chantry of Cockey chapel'; Ducatus, iii, 63. Camden speaks of it as ' a chapel built of timber, beset round about with trees'; Britannia (ed. 1695), 745. It is named as 'a chapel of ease' about 1610; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 12.
22	Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 54, 66 ; Mr. William Rathbone. He was silenced by the Bishop of Chester for nonconformity ; Oliver Heywood was one of his pupils; Heywood, Diaries, i, 29, 157. An earlier minister was a Mr. Hibbert ; ibid, i, 20. The chapel was ' vacated by the ejection of an Episcopal clergyman about the year 1640, on the ground of his being "scandalous and ignorant," but really on his refusal to take the Covenant'; Raines in Gastrell's Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 105. This seems to be an error of Canon Raines. Richard Goodwin, M.A., was minister, seemingly in succession to Rathbone, from 1641 to 1647; Peter Bradshaw, ' an orthodox, able minister,' from 1647 to 1653; Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. iii, 119; Commw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 27.
23	Ibid. The commissioners recommended that it should be made a parish church; but nothing seems to have been done till 1659, when further inquiry was recommended; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 305. The ministers were—Taylor, 1654–7; Peter Bradshaw, 1657 to 1660; and John Lever, 1660 (?); Nightingale, op. cit.
24	See the extract from the Bishop of Chester's Act book in Notitia Cestr. ii, 105.
25	Various Nonconformist ministers preached in it as opportunity offered—e.g. Oliver Heywood, Henry Newcome, and others; O. Heywood, Diaries, ii, 51, 87, 103 ; H. Newcome, Autobiography (Chet. Soc.), 160. The Prayer-book service was 'occasionally performed on stated Sundays in the afternoon, by the rector of Middleton'; Notitia, ut sup. John Loxam was the curate, 1677–86; Visit. Lists at Chester. In 1683 Justice Greenhalgh had 'grown unreasonable, fining people for going to Cockey chapel, though bell was rung, prayers read, &c.'; O. Heywood, Diaries, ii, 223. John Compton was the certified 'Presbyterian parson ' of 'Cockey chapel' in 1689; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 232. Warden Wroe in 1706 reported to the bishop that 'the chapel was in the hands of the Dissenters'; Notitia, ut sup. There was, however, a warden.
26	Notitia, ut sup.
27	Bishop Gastrell records £2 15s. arising from the 6 acres of inclosed land; this land was then and still is in possession of the Nonconformists. Also the interest of £20 for preaching two sermons; in 1724 £100 was given by the rector, and £100 by the Dean of St. Paul's; Notitia.
28	Lond. Gaz. 21 May 1867.
29	The Church P. at Ches. Dioc. Reg. begin with this curate.
30	Afterwards rector of Middleton.
31	Perpetual curate of Slaley, Northumberland, 1831–48; of Otterford, Somerset, 1851–5; vicar of St. John's Park, Sheffield, 1855; also simultaneous curacies; published sermons, &c. He was suspended for drunkenness, &, in 1842; Church P. at Chester.
32	There is a full account of it in Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. iii, 115–27, with notices of the ministers, and a view of the building. A 'new built house on Cockey Moor' was licensed in 1672; ibid. 121. The chapel has endowments of over £250 a year; details are given in the Endowed Charities Report for Middleton, 1901, pp. 32–6.

Contents BREIGHTMET

Manor
Footnotes BREIGHTMET
Brihtmede, 1257; Brightemete, 1277; Breghmete, Breghtmed, 1292; Brithmete, 1302; Brightmede, 1510; Breightmet, 1574.
The township of Breightmet lies between Bradshaw and Blackshaw Brooks, and has an area of 872½ acres. The highest point, Breightmet Hill, a little over 525 ft., is near the centre of the northern boundary, and from it the surface slopes away in all directions, chiefly to the south. The township ceased to have an independent existence in 1898, being included in the borough and township of Bolton by the Extension Act of that year. The population was in 1901 reckoned with that of Tonge.
Numerous roads cross the area, but the chief road is that from Bolton eastward to Bury; and next is the more northerly road called Red Lane, between the same places, having Thicketford Bridge at the west and Red Bridge at the east. Running from the one to the other is that called Church Street and Withins Lane.
In the southern part of the township are Oakenbottom and Compton Fold; in the centre are Stonelow Cottages.
There are a number of mills and bleach works, also a heald and reed factory. There is a colliery.
A number of miscellaneous notes relating to this township are printed in Bolton Historical Gleanings. (fn. 1)
A native of Breightmet, John Crompton, 1611–69, was one of the Nonconformist divines ejected through the Act of Uniformity in 1662. (fn. 2)
The hearth tax of 1666 found forty-nine hearths liable; Peter Longworth had the largest dwelling, with six hearths. (fn. 3)
Manor
The manor of BREIGHTMET formed a moiety of the Marsey fee in the parish of Bolton, (fn. 4) and was in the 12th century held as one plough-land by Augustin de Breightmet. (fn. 5) By his wife Edith de Barton he had as his heir a daughter, Cecily, who married William de Notton, (fn. 6) the tenant in 1212. (fn. 7) Some forty years later it was held by Avina de Samlesbury, and divided among her three daughters; (fn. 8) but as Margery the eldest had no issue, the other two ultimately had each a moiety of the manor. (fn. 9)
Of these Cecily married Sir John D'Ewias, and her moiety descended to the Southworths of Samlesbury, who retained it till the beginning of the 16th century. (fn. 10) In 1510 it was in the possession of the Gerards of Aughton, (fn. 11) then of the Ainsworths, (fn. 12) from whom, in the 17th century, it passed to a branch of the Banastre family. (fn. 13) In 1725 Breightmet Hall and estate were purchased from the Baguley family by John Parker, (fn. 14) high sheriff of the county in 1732, (fn. 15) in whose family it remained for over a century. (fn. 16) No manor seems now to be claimed in respect of this part.
The other daughter, Elizabeth, married Sir Robert de Holland, (fn. 17) and her moiety of the manor descended in the male line of this family (fn. 18) until 1461, when it became forfeit together with the other possessions of Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter. (fn. 19) In 1484 it was granted by Richard III to Thomas, Lord Stanley, and his son Lord Strange, (fn. 20) and this moiety of the manor has descended to the present Earl of Derby. (fn. 21)
The building known as the Old Manor House stands at the junction of Meadow Lane with Breightmet Fold Lane, a short distance north of the main road from Bolton to Bury, with its principal front facing south. The building is now divided into several tenements, and has been rebuilt at the east end in brick; but the older part, now in a rather dilapidated condition, is of stone, with long, low mullioned windows and stone-slated roofs. Part of the building is of three stories, with an abutting lower wing on the west side having a gabled baywindow in the principal front. At the back some original timber-framing remains, but the building has suffered so much from decay and has been so much patched with brickwork that it has lost most of its interest. The interior is said to have retained a shield with the date 1516 and some initials until 1908, but this has disappeared. (fn. 21a) The building, however, has the appearance of belonging to the 17th century, though the earlier date may be that of a timber house to which a stone front was afterwards added. Some rebuilding was done in the 18th century, a stone on the north side high up in the wall bearing the inscription, 'James Crompton, Ann Crompton, the 9th of May, 1713.' Below is a door with a good wooden semi-domed hood.
Few other families appear in the records as holding lands in the township, (fn. 22) but the Hultons of Farnworth (fn. 23) are named.
The Manchester chantries had lands in Breightmet. (fn. 24)
In connexion with the Church of England, St. James's was built in 1855; the patronage is exercised alternately by the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester. (fn. 25)
The other places of worship are a Wesleyan chapel, built in 1848, and a Free Church. Oliver Heywood preached in Breightmet in 1666, and later at the house of his relatives, the Cromptons, but no permanent congregation seems to have resulted. (fn. 26)
Footnotes
1Edited by B.T. Barton, 1881 and 1882. The census for Breightmet in 1801 is printed at ii, 118–21; Extracts from the township minute book at i, 58–60.
2Diet. Nat. Biog.
3Subs. R. Lanes, bdle. 250, no. 9.
4Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 71.
5Augustin de Breightmet about 1180 gave to his brother Patrick de Mobberley a moiety of Mobberley with reversion of the rest after his own death; Lord Edmund Talbot's MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Various Coll. ii, 290).
6See the account of Barton-on-Irwell; also Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 422.
7Inq. and Extents, loc. cit.; he paid a rent of 8s. Later, Breightmet was described as the eighth part of a knight's fee.
8In 1257 Avina de Samlesbury acknowledged the right of Robert de Hampton and Margery his wife to a mill and eight oxgangs of land (less 12 acres) in Breightmet, for which they were to pay her ½ mark a year for life; after her death Robert and Margery were to have one-third, and Cecily and Elizabeth, the younger sisters of Margery, were to have the other two-thirds; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 131, and note on p. 130.
In a charter without date John de Altaripa granted to Cecily daughter of William de Samlesbury and her heirs six oxgangs of land in the territory of Bolton and a culture called 'Hallerode wra.' One of the oxgangs was held in demesne, and the rest by Edmund Brun (2), Mabel (2), and Hervey (1); Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 117 (2).
9In 1292 John D'Ewias and Cecily his wife complained that Robert de Holland and Elizabeth his wife would not agree to make a division of two parts of the manor of Breightmet, the inheritance of Avina de Samlesbury, mother of Cecily and Elizabeth; 40s. damages was awarded; Assize R. 408, m. 3 d.; De Banco R. 92, m. 11.
Robert de Holland and John D'Ewias in 1302 jointly contributed to the aid, in respect of the eighth part of a knight's fee held by them in Breightmet of the Earl of Lancaster; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 314.
Nicholas D'Ewias held the moiety of the hamlet of Breightmet in 1324 by the service of the sixteenth part of a knight's fee, 4s. for castle ward, and 1s. 3d. for sake fee; and Robert de Holland held the other moiety by the like service; Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 37b. It is noticeable that Breightmet is called a 'moiety of the vill of Bolton,' showing that the former Marsey holding in Bolton parish was regarded as a unit.
Again in 1346 Maud de Holland and Gilbert de Southworth held a plough-land by the eighth part of a knight's fee, rendering 8s. and puture, as well as 2s. 6d. sake-fee; Add. MS. 32103, fol. 146.
John de Holland and Richard de Southworth held the manor in 1445–6 for the eighth part of a fee; the relief due was 12s. 6d., payable by each equally; Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees, 2/20.
In a later Feodary (1483) it is stated that Christopher Southworth held one moiety of the manor, and that the Duke of Exeter lately held the other; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. cxxx.
10See the preceding note. Richard Southworth, who died in 1472, and his son Christopher, who died in 1487, held messuages and land in Breightmet of the king as of his Duchy of Lancaster by the eighth part of a knight's fee, a rent of 8s. and 2s. for sake-fee; the clear annual value was 100s.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 103, 41. John Southworth, the son and heir of Christopher, a few years after coming of age, sold or mortgaged the manors of Breightmet and Harwood in 1506 to Sir John Cutt, Miles Gerard, James Molyneux, Peter Gerard, and William Standish; Final Conc. iii, 161; see also a writ of 1511; Pal. of Lanc. Writs Proton. file 2 Hen. VIII. They are not found later among the Southworth manors.
11Miles Gerard, Elizabeth his wife, and Peter Gerard, clerk, were deforciants in a fine of the manors of Breightmet and Harwood; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 11, m. 247. The manors were probably sold, as they do not appear later among the Gerard estates. From the Hulton inquisition quoted below it seems that in 1557 Sir Edmund Trafford and Giles Ainsworth were lords of the manor, or of this portion of it.
12Joan widow of Thomas Ainsworth of Breightmet is named in 1 542; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 177. Thomas Ainsworth of Ainsworth held fourteen messuages, a water-mill, &c., in Breightmet and Harwood of the queen as of her manor of East Greenwich in socage; he died in 1594 leaving his brother Peter's son Robert his heir; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 8. The estate is not called a manor.
Giles Ainsworth is found in 1576 claiming lands in Breightmet and Harwood against Thomas Ainsworth and others; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 38. By a fine of 1588 Ralph Booth appears to have acquired the estate of Thomas Ainsworth; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 50, m. 29. In 1597 the Earl of Derby sold to Ralph Booth of Ainsworth and William Bromeley the elder of Breightmet, in consideration of £20 paid by Giles Ainsworth of Ainsworth, a tenement in Breightmet formerly occupied by Abraham and Margaret Crompton and then by the said Margaret Crompton and Giles Ainsworth; Hulme D. no. 107.
The Ainsworth estate was in 1609 'put into the Crown to prevent a remainder, and granted out again to Thomas Twisden and others'; Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. xxvi.
A decree was made in 1563 in a suit between Ainsworth and Isherwood respecting lands in Breightmet and Harwood; Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 252.
From the later history it may be inferred that Giles Ainsworth left two daughters as co-heirs—Katherine, who married Richard Banastre, and Jane, who married Richard Meadowcroft.
13In 1623 there was a fine of the manors of Breightmet and Harwood, the deforciants being Richard Banastre and Katherine his wife, Richard Meadowcroft and Joan his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 100, no. 10. From the Visitation of 1664–5 it appears that Richard Banastre of Bolton was a younger son of William Banastre of Bank, Christopher being another son; the name of Richard's wife is not given, but he had three sons—Henry, William, and Alexander; Dugdale's Visit. (Chet. Soc), 23. Richard Meadowcroft, who died about 1660, married Jane, a daughter and coheir of Giles Ainsworth; ibid. 196. From this the parentage of Richard Banastre's wife may be inferred. In 1632 the whole estate appears to have come into the possession of Richard and Katherine Banastre; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 119, no. 37. By a further fine three years later Christopher Banastre acquired, perhaps as trustee, a moiety of the manors of Breightmet and Harwood from Richard and Henry Banastre; ibid, bdle. 125, no. 24.
William Hulme, father of the benefactor, married Christine daughter of Richard Banastre of Oakenbottom; Earwaker in Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. iii, 265.
14Bolton Hist. Gleanings, ii, 325. In his will, William Hulme the son mentioned Richard Baguley his brother, Christopher and Alexander Baguley his uncles, and William Baguley his cousin; Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 72.
Alexander Baguley and Katherine his wife are mentioned in 1655; she may have been the widow of Richard Banastre; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 157, m. 50. William Baguley of Kearsley in 1698 leased an acre in Breightmet to William Hilton of the latter township; Hulme D. no. 115.
William Baguley by his will dated 1725 left £200 towards founding and endowing a charity school in Breightmet, which was afterwards built on the site of an ancient messuage at Roscow Fold, granted by William Hulton; End. Char. Rep. for Bolton Boro. 1904, p. 23.
15P.R.O. List, 74. There are pedigrees of the Parker of Astle family in Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), iii, 714, and Earwaker, East Ches. ii, 363. From these it appears that John Parker married Alice daughter of Thomas Smith of Breightmet, and died in 1778; his son, the Rev. John Parker, died in 1795, leaving a son and heir Thomas, who died in 1840 without issue, his heirs being his five sisters or their representatives. See also Bolton Hist. Gleanings, i, 176, 274; Local Gleanings Lancs. and Ches. i, 251.
16John Parker in 1779 paid a duchy rent of 2s. 7d.; Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, 14/25 m. The land of the Rev. John Parker contributed nearly a third of the land tax of 1789 (returns at Preston), the rest of the township being apparently much divided.
17See preceding notes.
18A moiety of the manor of Breightmet was included in 1322 in a settlement of various manors of Robert de Holland and Maud his wife entailed on the heirs male; Final Conc. ii, 193. It was alsoamong the possessions of Maud widow of Sir Robert de Holland in 1349, and of her son Sir Robert de Holland, Lord Holland, who died in 1373, being at the latter date held of the Duke of Lancaster by a rent of 2s. only; Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 58; 47 Edw. Ill (1st nos.), no. 19. A similar return was made in 1451 after the death of Sir John Holland, except that the service was stated as 5s.; Lancs. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 45, 46.
19See Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 3.
20Cal. Pat. 1476–85, p. 476. See also Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 330.
21Lands in Breightmet were held by Thomas, Earl of Derby, at his death in 1521, but no particular record of them is given in the inquisition; Duchy of Lanes. Inq. p.m. v, no. 68. The account of Alexander Lever, the bailiff for Breightmet, Harwood, and Darwen in 1523–4, shows that John Hulton of Farnworth, a free tenant, paid 1s. rent for his holding in Breightmet; the tenants at will paid £4 10s. 5d. in all. No courts were held in the year; roll in possession of Lord Lathom.
The manor is mentioned again in 1597 as in the possession of the Earl of Derby; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 58, m. 291. For a subsequent dispute on the matter see Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. ccii, D. 10.
It formed part of the dower of Charlotte, Countess of Derby, for which she compounded with the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1653; the 'old rents' were £6 7s. 8d.; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 185.
21a Bolton Journ. and Guard. Oct. 2, 1908. The house is said to have been raided 'during the last few months,' when apparently the dated panel was destroyed or stolen.
22Roger son of Adam de Sharples in 1292 claimed a messuage and lands in Breightmet against Adam de Pilkington, but the jury decided that the tenements were in Bolton; Assize R. 408, m. 1. This was probably merely a technical defence.
23John Hulton in 1487 held a messuage, 60 acres of land, 4 acres of meadow, 20 acres of wood, and 100 acres of pasture and turbary in Breightmet of Thomas Stanley and John Southworth, by the yearly rent of 2s.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 26. In 1557 it was stated that William Hulton had held of Sir Edmund Trafford and Giles Ainsworth; ibid. x, no. 32. Two fines are on record —in 1574 and 1591; from the latter it seems that the Hultons' estate was then sold to Katherine and Jane Ainsworth; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 36, m. 115; 53, m. 217.
24There was in 1549 a dispute concerning them between Alice Roscoe and Ralph Roscoe and his wife Ellen; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 244. They are not mentioned in Raines, Lancs. Chant.
25The district is officially known as Tonge-cum-Breightmet.
26O. Heywood, Diaries, i, 224, 241, &c. There are many references to people of the township in these diaries.From: 'Townships: Breightmet', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 (1911), pp. 266-268. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53042&strquery=Breightmet. Date accessed: 26 October 2007.

A snip from British History Online, re Township of Butterworth Lancashire, link to Hollingsworth family below.

In the Byron Chartulary is a grant by Thomas de Bamford to Matthew de Hollinworth of a fourth part of Whitacres and Middlehurst, with common of pasture in the vill of Hollinworth at 6d. rent; no. 60/130. It is possible that this Matthew is the Matthew de Bromhale who, in conjunction with Helen his wife, acquired 2 oxgangs in Butterworth in 1235 from Reyner son of Henry; Final Conc, i, 68. Cecily daughter of Matthew de Hollinworth gave a moiety of Whitacres to Adam de Turnagh in exchange for 13½ acres in Hollinworth; Byron Chartul. no. 26/59. This Cecily was the wife of William de Sale; as is shown by pleas of 1293–6, when Cecily widow of William de Sale claimed 6 acres of pasture against John de Thornham, and the same (also described as daughter of Matthew de Hollinworth) claimed a messuage and ½ oxgang against Henry de Ogden; De Banco R. 101, m. 47 d.; 102, m. 6; 108, m. 4.
65William de Sale and Cecily his wife granted all their land in Hollinworth to Sir John de Byron and Joan his wife; and about the same time John son of John de Rylands and Cecily his wife made a grant of the land they had had from William and Cecily; Byron Chartul. no. 35/58, 36/69. In 1298 Cecily widow of William de Sale, calling herself Cecily de Hollinworth, released to the Byrons the 2 oxgangs in Hollinworth formerly sold to them; no. 21/67.
John de Sale in 1363 released to John de Scholefield all his title to lands in Butterworth; GG, no. 586. Some Sale family deeds will be found in Raines MSS. iv, 2–30.

Ancestors of Mel LOMAX.

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