Part 10

There is an interesting little village called Halton on the northerly border of Cheshire, about two and a half miles from Runcorn; but as it is not on the high road to anywhere in particular, it is little known and seldom visited by strangers. It is interesting because of the ruins of an old castle which are there. This castle is situated on a high hill commanding an extensive view over a large part of Cheshire and across the river Mersey (which is of considerable width at this point) into Lancashire. Halton Castle is of very ancient date. It was built by Hugh Lupus, first Earl of Chester, soon after the Norman Conquest, and the manor and fee of Halton descended to Henry the Fourth, since when it has been annexed to the Crown, except during the time of the Protectorate of Cromwell, when it was put up for sale by auction and purchased by Henry Brooke of Halton, a predecessor of the present Sir Richard Brooke. On the restoration of the monarchy it reverted back to the Crown, and at this day it belongs to the King, who, as the Duke of Lancaster, is Lord of the Manor.

In former days the stewards of this manor were officials of considerable importance, and one of the early stewards was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The late Mr. William Beamont and Mr. Robert Davies of Warrington were stewards in more recent years. On the death of the latter gentleman in 1902, Mr. Bolden, one of the officials in the Duke of Lancaster’s office in London, was appointed steward, and Mr. Vere Beamont Davies and Mr. Herbert Hatton of Warrington were appointed deputy stewards, and this arrangement holds good at the present time. In connection with this manor there is a court of very ancient origin, termed the Halton Court Leet, held at the castle, and over which the deputy steward presides. The earliest records of the court are dated 1347, in the time of Edward III.; but it is believed the court goes back for a period of about 660 years. The court formerly had a very extensive jurisdiction and a variety of duties to perform, but at the present time it has been superseded by the county courts and magistrates’ courts, and its powers have passed away.

The court rolls were formerly kept in a large chest at Halton Castle, but have now been removed to London. The late Mr. William Beamont gives a very interesting account of these rolls in his book, _An Account of the Rolls of the Honour of Halton_, and sets out numerous extracts detailing the work performed by the Court Leet in former days. The following are some of them, and will, we think, be of interest to our readers:--

In 5 Ed. IV. the inquest at the court make this short return, “Nil presentant propter breve tempus.”

At the Halton Court held in 4 Hen. VIII., 1512, Elizabeth Heath, servant to John Blinsten, and Agnes, wife of John Owen, were found to be common carriers away of the poles of the park, and were fined for it; and Agnes was further charged with stealing the racks placed in the park to hold the hay which had been placed there for the King’s deer (_feris_).

In 1544 the jury at Thelwall presented Robert Bold and Thomas Heypey for keeping cards “talos [dice] et alia joca illicita,” in their houses, “contra firmam statuti.”

In 1559 a tenant was presented at the court for not ringing his swine.

In 1608 John Lawton was fined 3s. 4d. for allowing Thomas Whiteley to remain tippling in his house, which it is presumed was public, for one hour.

In 1655 a man was fined for suffering his wife to fight and draw blood.

On Thursday before St. George’s Day, 4 Hen. VIII., 1512, William Hicson was excused attending at the Manor Court because he was going with the King on his wars in France. This man probably went with the Marquis of Dorset’s unfortunate expedition, with which, however, the King did not go.

In the 42 Edward III., 1370, Hamon de Warburton is fined by the court for taking a hare in the lord’s warren at Whitley. The warren here spoken of must mean the lord’s free warren, for hares are not, like rabbits, confined in an enclosed warren.

In 1507 the jury at the Halton Court held at Thelwall presented John Bollyng of Warrington, yeoman, for that he on 1 February, and on divers other days as well before as after at Appleton and elsewhere within the fee of Halton with greyhounds and other dogs (cum greybitches venaticis et aliis canibus) was a common hunter “vi et armis,” not having lands and tenements to the value of xls. a year, and, it is added, “nil habet ideo capiatur.”

In 1512, at the Runcorn halmote, the jury, as we have before mentioned, presented William Runcorn of Runcorn, chaplain, for that he not being beneficed to xls. a year did keep a hare hound and was a common hunter.

In 1380 one William Harper, who had been tried at Chester and found guilty of the murder of Adam Mushet, was brought back to Halton and there hanged by the bailiff, and the lord of the fee received six pence for the value of his goods.

In 1450 six or more persons were charged with feloniously entering and breaking into a dwelling-house at Halton and stealing thereout money and goods.

In 1474 there is a notice of a more serious charge. Two Welshmen from Mold having committed a burglary at Keckwick, and stolen thereout, among other articles, a sheaf of arrows, and having been committed for it, broke out of the castle, taking with them their fetters and chains, which must have helped to discover them, for they were soon afterwards retaken and tried before Thomas, Lord Stanley, the seneschal, and, being found guilty, were hanged at Halton.

At the Widnes Court in 4 Hen. VIII., 1512, Robert Woodfall was charged with walking at night through the King Street in Farnworth in front of the houses of the King’s tenants, and with force and arms, namely, a staff and a dagger, calling out “Whoever wishes to fight me, let him come out,” whereby the King’s subjects were disturbed and put in fear; wherefore he was fined by the court.

In the same year three persons were presented for _lucrum excessivum_, by which it is supposed usury was meant; though in 1375 some butchers were presented _quia ceperunt lucrum excessivum_, meaning that they had charged too much. In 1512 some men were presented for using bows and arrows to drive a man off some land where he was digging turf.

In 1544 one George Amery of Barnton was presented for that he did keep and harbour crows in his grounds and did permit them to build in his woods, to the injury of the country and contrary to the statute in such case made and provided.

On October 3, 1561, Helena Ditchfield was charged with a trespass in pulling down her neighbours’ fences.

In 1593, a grievous murder having been committed at Grappenhall Heath on the person of John Findley, a hawker of Scottish cloth, the crime was brought home to one William Geston, a servant of the Bishop of Chester. The jury at Halton presented the fact, and the prisoner, having been tried for it and convicted at Chester Assizes, was hanged in chains on April 27, 1593, near the spot where the murder was committed.

In 1608 one Stockton was presented for selling ale without the justices’ licence, and taking in and entertaining irregular and pernicious persons to the disturbance of his neighbours, and one Lawton for permitting a man to tipple in his house for one hour was fined 3s. 4d., and Charles Hall for taking in inmates was fined 6s. 8d.

On January 16, 1660, Roger Drakeford, who had conveyed a prisoner to Sir Peter Leycester’s (the great Cheshire antiquary), a journey of fourteen miles, was paid 3s. 6d. for himself and his horse, a small sum for so long a journey.

In 1388 the Prior of Norton was charged with making two fish-yards in the Mersey, one called Gracedieu and the other Charity, which obstructed the passage of the lord’s boat of eight oars from Fresh Pool to Thelwall.

In 1598 the jury found that Robert Dutton of Preston did fish in Thomas Dutton’s pit and did take his fish in the daytime without leave or licence from him, and therefore they did amerce him.

In 1605 the court complained of the number of the fish-yards at Thelwall and of the encroachments they made on the river.

On October 8, 1655, the old complaint of the river being obstructed by fish-yards was again renewed.

In 1655 a number of persons were presented and fined for keeping up their weirs and fish-yards in the mid-stream of the Mersey so that the Lord of the fee could not pass by the “key” of Thelwall with boats and barges.

It will thus be seen that the Court in former days had a wide and extensive jurisdiction and dealt with a variety of matters. Nowadays, as before stated, the court has no powers, but the court is held by the deputy steward at the Castle, or rather at the Castle Hotel adjoining the ruins, once every three years, simply to keep up the old custom, and for the sake of past memories. A jury summons signed by the Bailiff of the Court in the following form:--

=Manor and Fee of Halton=, in the County of Chester, TO WIT.

By Virtue of a Precept to me directed, I hereby require you personally to be and appear at a Court Leet and View of Frank Pledge and Court Baron to be held at Halton Castle, according to the custom there time immemorial used and approved, on Saturday, the day of at the hour of to be upon the Jury there.

Herein fail not at your peril.

=Witness= my hand at Halton aforesaid, this day of 19

Bailiff of the said Court.

is sent to the Overseers of the following townships:--

Aston juxta Budworth, Aston juxta Sutton, Appleton, Antrobus, Astmore, Barnton, Bartington, Bexton, Budworth (Great), Comberbach, Cotton, Church Hulme (Holmes Chapel), Cogshall, Crowley, Daresbury, Halton, Hatton, Kekewick, Lymm, Millington, Newton juxta Daresbury, Preston o’th Hill, Sutton, Stretton, Seven Oaks, Toft, Tabley (Over), Weston, Walton Superior, Walton Inferior, Whitley Superior, Whitley Inferior.

A jury is appointed, and sworn in by the deputy steward, and a constable and two burleymen are appointed.

The following is the form of oath administered to the foreman and rest of the jury:--

“You as foreman of this inquest, with the rest of your fellows, shall duly inquire and true presentment make of all such matters and things as relate to the present service, wherein you shall spare no man for fear, love, favour, or affection, nor present any man out of malice or hatred, but according as things here presentable shall come to your knowledge, by information or otherwise, so shall you make thereof true presentment without concealment. So help you God.”

Before the opening of the court by the deputy steward, the bailiff makes the following proclamation:--

“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All manner of persons who owe suit and service to this Court Leet and view of Frankpledge and Court Baron of His Most Gracious Majesty the King, as Duke of Lancaster, Baron of Halton, and paramount Lord of this Manor and Fee, draw near, give your attendance, and answer to your names.”

No business is, of course, transacted, and the proceedings finish up with a dinner, over which the deputy steward presides.

As before stated, the court must have had jurisdiction over a wide area, as the jurors are summoned from Barnton, near Northwich, and from Toft and Tabley, near Knutsford, and also from Holmes Chapel. It is also evident from the extracts from Mr. Beamont’s book that minor courts were held in connection with the Halton Court at a variety of places, and it is also to be noticed that the jurisdiction of the court extended across the river Mersey into Lancashire, and that courts were held at Widnes and Farnworth. In fact, there is the Manor of Widnes, comprising land on the Lancashire side of the river, which also belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster, and of which the King is the lord, and it is presumed the jurisdiction of the court would extend over the area of this manor.

In some remarks on the last Court Leet, held in December 1908, the _Warrington Guardian_ stated:

“That the Widnes or Farnworth Leet, which was subject to Halton, had the power to mete out only four punishments. These included the pillory, an ignominious punishment; and the cuck-stool or ducking-chair, for punishing a scold, of whose unruly member it was said:

‘Of members the tongue is the worst and the best, And an ill tongue sows often the seeds of unrest.’

To curb the tongue, they had also the brank, an iron bridle which kept the tongue quiet by more mechanical means. The court had also the stocks, the constable’s prison as it was called, and the whipping-post, but the Farnworth or Widnes Leet, though allied to Halton, had not the power which Halton certainly possessed of inflicting the punishment of death.”

In addition to its powers of punishment, there is no doubt that, prior to the days of printing and when only few people could read or write, the court was used as a means of making public proclamations, and that presentments were made to it of matters of general interest to the people which otherwise could not have been brought to their knowledge. To-day we have our telegraphs and telephones, our newspapers and our books, and all other ways of letting every one know everything. Who shall say which were the happier days?

“Let the great world spin for ever Down the ringing grooves of change.”

In conclusion, we may remark that there is another relic of old times in connection with the Manor of Halton, in that part of the land there, and also in the Manor of Widnes before referred to, is still of copyhold tenure, and the ordinary laws of conveyancing do not apply to it. For instance, a conveyance of land is carried out by way of what is called a Surrender and Admission and a mortgage by a Conditional Surrender, and the deeds have to be signed by the parties before the deputy steward. These deeds are all entered on the court rolls of the manor, the originals being sent to the Duchy Office in London, and copies are kept at the office of the deputy steward, and other copies handed to the parties dealing with the property.

This mode of transfer of the land is cumbersome and expensive, and is gradually dying out, for any copyholder can apply to the Duchy of Lancaster to have his land enfranchised, and on the payment of certain fees he obtains a conveyance of same from the King, as Lord of the Manor, and the property then becomes his absolute freehold, and is dealt with afterwards like any other property. The seal of the Duchy of Lancaster is always affixed to the enfranchisement deeds, and is so large that it has to be attached to the deed by a strip of parchment and kept in a tin box.

CHESHIRE WORTHIES

By P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A.

Cheshire, the “seed-plot of gentility,” as Speed loved to call his native shire, can boast of many illustrious sons who have conferred honour on their county. A large volume would be needed wherein to chronicle all their achievements, their deeds of prowess, their successes as poets, divines, lawyers, and philosophers. We can only record the names of the most illustrious Cestrians who have achieved fame in various professions and are worthy of a niche in these memorials of the county.

SOLDIERS

Cheshire men have always been good fighters. They have played their part bravely on many a battlefield at home and abroad, and honour shall first be done to the soldiers of the shire. In civil war there was little unity amongst the gentlemen of Cheshire. They fought with, or against, each other as party faction or inclination dictated; but against the enemies of England they were formidable foes. The great Civil War that raged between King and Parliament brought most of these Cheshire soldiers into prominence, and most of the names on our list of warriors are connected with that period.

In the wars with France when the third King Edward reigned, Cheshire men showed well the stuff they were made of, their valour and bravery in arms. Foremost amongst their number in this group of early warriors stands Sir Thomas Danyers, who fought gallantly in the battle of Crecy under the banner of the Black Prince. He plunged into the thickest of the fight, and when the King bade his son “win his spurs and the honour of the day for himself,” Sir Thomas “relieved the banner of his Earl and took prisoner the Chamberlain of France, de Tankerville.” For this gallant feat of arms the Prince rewarded the Cheshire knight with a goodly sum of money, and the promise of the grant of an estate in his native county. This promise was not fulfilled until after the warrior’s death, when the fair lands of Lyme were bestowed upon his daughter, who had married Sir Piers Legh; and thus the famous family of the Leighs of Lyme began their existence, and happily the connection still survives after the lapse of many centuries.

Another brave soldier of the period was Sir John Delves, who with his companions in arms contributed greatly to the glorious victory of Poictiers. That fight was memorable for Cheshire men. The gallant James, Lord Audley, a native of the shire, though he lived in Staffordshire, had for his four squires, John Delves, Dutton of Dutton, Foulshurst of Crewe, and Hawkeston of Wrine Hall, a Cheshire man though residing in Staffordshire. When the battle day dawned Audley vowed to be foremost in the field and lead the attack, and “with the ayde of his four scuyers dyd marvels in arms, and foughte always in the cheyfe of the batyle; y^t day he never toke prisoner, but always foughte and wente on his enemyes.” He was sorely wounded, and was borne from the field by his faithful squires. For his bravery the Prince made him a grant of five hundred marks a year for ever. This reward the good knight handed over to his squires, saying that they had deserved it as much as he, and had more need of it. So the Prince gave him a second grant of a like amount. Audley, as a further reward to his squires, ordered that they should bear on their coats of arms his own proper achievement, gules a fret, d’or. Sir John Delves purchased Doddington, near Nantwich, where he erected a goodly mansion in 1364, and where the statues of himself and his brave companions, carved in later times, could be seen. There is an alabaster effigy of Sir Robert Foulshurst, one of the gallant squires, in Barthomley Church.

Sir Hugh Calveley sleeps at Bunbury, a mighty hero of the French wars who fought under the brave leader Sir John Chandos. You can see his fine alabaster tomb, a lion couching at his feet, and his crest, a calf’s head, which he bore on many a foreign battlefield. Fuller says of him: “Tradition makes him a man of teeth and hands, who would feed as much as two, and fight as much as ten men; his quick and strong appetite could digest anything but an injury, so that the killing a man is reported the cause of his quitting this country, making hence for London and France. Here he became a most eminent soldier.” It were vain to tell of all his exploits. He fought in Brittany in 1357, at Auray in 1364, Navarete in 1367, in Brittany again with Sir John Arundell in 1380, when the expedition was almost entirely destroyed by a storm and 20,000 men perished. Many of these warriors lived a wild and turbulent life during the wars, and Sir Hugh, perhaps repenting of his deeds, in his old age converted the Parish Church of Bunbury into a collegiate church, with a master and six chaplains to pray for his soul. One of his companions in arms was Sir Robert Knowles, born of mean parentage in Cheshire, but brave and valiant. He fought with Sir Hugh Calveley in Brittany in 1351, when thirty Englishmen encountered the like number of Bretons and were sorely worsted. The ruined castles that he left behind him in France were termed “Knowles’s Mitres.” His last service to his country was the suppression of Wat Tyler’s rebellion.

The Wars of the Roses claimed some Cheshire victims. On the bloody field of Blore Heath, when the Earl of Salisbury defeated Lord Audley and the Yorkists on September 25, 1459, fell Sir Robert Booth, the ancestor of the Booth family of Dunham Massey. His brass memorial, with that of his wife, the heiress of that estate, is in the church at Wilmslow. Sir William Stanley, second son of the first Lord Stanley, in the time of Henry VII. held Ridley, being Chamberlain of Cheshire. He distinguished himself at the battle of Bosworth, rescuing Henry from great peril and saving his life. He was the first to set the crown of England on King Henry’s head, after it had been found on the battlefield trampled under the feet of the fighters. A gratified monarch bestowed upon him wealth and honour, but he was accused of favouring the design of Perkin Warbeck, and perished on the scaffold. His manor of Ridley was forfeited to the Crown and given to another distinguished soldier, Sir Ralph Egerton, who fought bravely at the battle of the Spurs, and at the siege of Terouenne and Tournay, capturing the standard of the French. He also fought at Flodden Field, and was appointed royal standard-bearer of England, a high distinction nobly earned. He lies in the church at Bunbury, and from him descended the lines of the Earls and Dukes of Bridgewater.

Of the brave men of Elizabethan times we may mention the Cheshire warrior Sir Uryan Legh, of the Leghs of Adlington, who, present at the taking of Cadiz under the leadership of the Earl of Essex in 1590, was knighted for his gallantry, and in the time of James I. became Sheriff of Cheshire. You can see his portrait at Bramall Hall attired in Spanish dress, in which, according to an old ballad, he wrought mischief in the heart of a fair Spanish lady who made violent love to him, and could only be deterred by the somewhat lately imparted knowledge that Sir Uryan had already a wife. Sir George Beeston, another gallant soldier, lies at Bunbury, where a fine monument records his memory. He was one of those who, though advanced in years, took an active part in defeating the Spanish Armada, and fought valiantly at the siege of Boulogne.

Fiercely did the great Civil War rage in Cheshire, and fiercely did the Cestrians fight. Foremost among them was Sir William Brereton, the great Cheshire leader of the Parliamentary army, and commander-in-chief of the Cheshire forces. The story of his fights is the history of the Civil War in this and the neighbouring counties, and cannot be told here. His relative Lord Brereton, the owner of the seat Brereton, one of the finest mansions in the county, was a brave supporter of the Royalist cause. Sir William lived to see the Restoration, and died at the archiepiscopal palace at Croydon, which had been granted to him by the Parliament. Lord Brereton returned to his goodly house, but families, alas! become extinct, and the name once so famous in Cheshire history now no longer exists save in memory.

Colonel Edward Massey, of the ancient family of the Masseys of Coddington, was a soldier of fortune who fought on both sides in the war. He, however, threw in his lot with the enemies of the King, and was made Governor of Gloucester. He held the city during the siege; but on the triumph of the Independents his career was chequered, and he found his way back to the King, and became Major-general in the Royal army. History tells not when he died.