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ALTRINCHAM   &   BOWDON.    &c. 


ALTRINCHAM  &  BOWDON, 


ASHT()N-ON-MI<RSI<Y,    SALE,    AND 
SURROUNDING   TOWNSHIPS, 

ALFRED    INGHAM. 


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1244121 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


Although  spoken  of  as  a  second  edition,  the  present  volume  is  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  new  work,  embracing  a  large  district  surrounding 
Altrincham  and  Bowdon,  and  including  the  rapidly  rising  townships  of 
Sale  and  Ashton-on-Mersey,  which  have  increased  enormously  both  in 
population  and  wealth  during  the  past  20  years.  It  also  marks  a  con- 
necting link  between  what  may  be  termed  new  and  old  styles,  for  the 
art  of  printing  has  made  enormous  strides,  and  by  means  of  modern 
processes  illustrations  can  now  be  given  in  greater  number  and  variety, 
the  cost  of  which  was  formerly  prohibitive.  And  in  the  latter  connection 
I  have  to  express  my  hearty  obligations  to  Mr.  T.  Colley,  of  Altrincham, 
a  local  artist.  I  may  mention  especially  the  sketch  showing  the  Scotch 
rebels  entering  the  Altrincham  Market  Place  in  1745,  also  that  of  Lord 
Strange  crossing  the  Mersey  on  bis  way  to  besiege  Manchester ;  a  pretty 
view  of  the  Firs  in  the  old  coaching  days,  after  William  Hull,  and  the 
old  church  of  Ringway,  &c.  The  sketch  of  the  vertebrate  fauna  of  the 
district,  which  has  been  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  T.  A.  Coward,  of  Bowdon, 
will  be  found  most  interesting  to  naturalists.  I  must  also  thank 
Mr.  John  Ingham,  of  Sale,  for  several  excellent  photographic  views  which 
he  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal ;  Mr.  Josiah  Drinkwater,  of  Altrincham, 
for  a  capital  photo,  of  the  Free  Library  and  Technical  Schools  ;  to  Mr.  W. 
Owen,  A.I.B.A.,  for  a  view  of  the  new  Cemetery  Chapel  at  Hale  ;  as  also 
to  others  who  have  in  any  way  assisted  to  make  the  work  both  interesting 
and  complete. 

It  was  a  source  of  the  deepest  pleasure  to  see  the  manner  in  which  the 
"History  of  Altrincham  and  Bowdon"  was  received  by  the  public,  and 
that  pleasure  has  since  been  enhanced  by  the  remembrance  that  a  record 
of  the  traditions  and  customs  of  the  ancient  boro'  of  Altrincham  would, 
inevitably,  have  been  lost  but  for  the  record  which  it  was  my  good  fortune 
to  be  able  to  make.  I  trust  that  my  present  effort  may  have  as  kindly  a 
reception,  and  meet  with  the  same  good-natured  and  friendly  criticism. 
I  have  endeavoured  througliout  to  record  facts  and  not  opinions  merely, 
and  I  am  in  hopes  it  will  attain  the  object  set  forth  in  the  first  edition, 
and  form  not  only  "  a  book  of  reference,  but  also  a  local  history  in  which 
the  progress  of  the  district  is  depicted  from  the  earliest  period  to  the 
present  day." 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Bowdon,  a  peep  at  the  past,  geological,  historical,  and  romantic — 
Boaden  Downs — Watling  Street,  signs  of  Roman  occupation — The 
tumulus  in  the  Park — An  old  Saxon  coin — The  Barons  of  Dunham, 
tlieir  position  and  power— The  Crusader's  Cedar — The  legend  of 
the  Seven  Sisters — "  The  last  of  the  Barons  "...         ...  ...       1 

CHAPTER     II. 

The  Parish  Church,  its  claims  to  antiquity — The  yew  trees,  a  relic  of 
Sa.xon  Christianity — The  wakes,  their  origin  and  use — An  old  bead 
roll  and  its  record — Description  of  the  old  church — Value  of  the 
living  six  centuries  ago — The  ringers'  orders — A  law  suit — 
Another  bead  roll  and  its  record — Memorials  of  old  families — 
The  Brereton  monument— The  Dunham  Chapel,  etc 16 

CHAPTER    III. 

Description  of  the  old  church,  continued— The  tales  told  by  the 
tombstones  and  the  tablets — A  curious  old  stone,  etc 29 

CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Parish  Church,  its  restoration — Reminders  and  relics  of  antiquity- 
Description  of  restored  edifice — Tablets  to  the  Ven.  Archdeacon 
Pollock,  and  to  the  first  Vicar  of  St.  Margaret's — The  stained  glass 
windows  and  their  donors — A  run  through  the  registers — Curious 
and  interesting  extracts— The  Bowdon  proverb— Notices  of  Vicars, 
with  list — The  ancient  rating  valuation,  or  mize,  list  of  benefac- 
tions, etc 38 

CHAPTER    V. 

Altrincham  600  years  ago— The  ancient  charter— Sanjam  Fair- 
Election  of  Mayor,  form  of  an  oath  and  proclamation — The  Court 
of  Pye  Powder — Importance  of  the  Bellman — A  Mayor's  wisdom — 
The  Earl's  Christmas  box — Sayings  regarding  the  Mayor — Election 
of  Burgesses — Progress  of  the  trust  and  its  disposal — (Government 
enquiries  and  their  result— List  of  Mayors— Abolition  of  Sanjam 
Fair     60 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


A  retrospect— Sundry  lawsuits— The  first  Booth  of  Dunham  Massey  ; 
his  supposed  death  at  the  Battle  of  Blore  Heath — A  Booth 
knighted  by  Queen  Elizabeth— Interesting  wills— Dame  Booth's 
Charity — Contributions  to  the  defence  of  the  Kingdom — Dr.  Dee's 
reference  to  Sir  Geo.  Booth— Purchase  of  the  town  of  Warrington  ; 
the  instructions  thereon — Death  of  William  Booth 85 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Birth  of  Sir  George  Booth,  first  Lord  Delamer — Description  of  Sir 
William  Brereton — Indictment  against  Sir  George ;  his  part  in 
attempting  to  pacify  the  county — Its  failure — The  siege  of  Nant- 
wich  --Spirited  defence— Defeat  of  the  Royalists— Sir  George  elected 
member  for  Cheshire  ;  his  exclusion  by  Colonel  Pride's  purge — 
Royalist  attempts  at  a  Restoration— Sir  George's  celebrated 
rising — The  Battle  of  Winnington — His  betrayal  and  arrest ;  his 
committal  to  the  Tower — Release  and  re-election — His  improve- 
ments at  Dunham — Description  of  the  old  mansion — His  death      ...     98 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  second  Lord  Delamer  ;  his  popularity  ;  his  advocacy  of  the  people's 
rights— Court  jealousy— His  committal  to  the  Tower  on  three 
occasions  ;  his  remarkable  trial  at  Westminster  Hall ;  his  eloquent 
defence  and  justification  ;  his  retirement  to  his  seat  in  Cheshire  ;  his 
support  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  ;  his  subsequent  honourable  career 
and  death       ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         107 

CHAPTER    IX. 

The  house  of  Dunham,  continued — The  Second  Earl  of  Warrington  ; 
his  character  and  literary  attainments — The  union  of  the  House  of 
Dunham  with  that  of  Stamford — The  Honourable  Booth  Grey — 
"  Domestic  happiness,  a  family  picture  " — The  revival  of  the  lapsed 
titles  of  Baron  Delamer  and  Earl  of  Warrington — An  Africander 
Earl— A  romance  of  the  peerage 120 


CHAPTER     X. 

The  Maceys  of  Altrincham— A  rebellious  subject— The  Bowdon 
family — Disposal  of  lands— Some  old  district  names— Bowdon  free 
school — Bull  and  bear  baiting — Guy  Faux  at  Altrincham — A  witty 
Bowdon  Curate— The  advance  on  Manchester  by  Lord  Strange — 
The  Unicorn  Hotel  300  years  ago— An  Altrincham  landlord  and 
landlady  of  the  olden  time— Sir  Peter  Leycester's  description 
of  the  town  in  1666— The  story  of  the  "Bloody  Field  "—Adam 
Martindale  at  Dunham  ;  his  duties  there — Bowdon  Dissenters 
troublesome— Dick  Turpin  ;  his  exploits  at  Newbridge  Hollow  and 

Hoo  Green— Prince  Charlie's  Troops  at  Altrincham  J 

A3 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


Indications  of  growth  and  enterprise— The  cutting  of  the  Bridgewater 
Canal — A  few  figures  — Manufacture  of  woollen  and  cotton  yarn — 
Obsolete  punishments  :  penance,  cucking  stool,  scold's  bridle,  public 
whippings  at  the  Altrincham  Market  place  —  Executions  for 
burglaries  at  Bowdon— A  man  hanged  for  poaching  near  Altrinc- 
ham— The  ancient  custom  of  souling — The  entertaining  play  of  St. 
George  and  the  dragon — Wassailing  and  Christmas  carols  — The 
barley  hump  and  Dunham  Ale — The  lions  of  Dunham — Altrincham 
races — Dunham  Parks  and  the  Hall — De  Quincy's  description  of 
Altrincham 139 

CHAPTER     XII. 

Ecclesiastical  Altrincham ;  The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churches  — 
Wesley's  visits  to  Altrincham— St.  George's  Church  ;  its  Schools, 
etc. — An  Altrincham  Centenarian — The  Unitarians  ;  their  early 
history  ;  description  of  the  New  Chapel  in  Dunham  Road— The 
Methodist  Kew  Connexion — The  Independents  or  Congrega- 
tionalists,  w'ith  some  notices  of  their  Pastors  and  work — St. 
Margaret's,  Dunham  Massey — St.  John's — St.  Peter's,  Peel  Cause- 
way—The Old  Downs  Chapel— The  Primitive  Methodists— Baptists, 
etc 147 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

More  looks  into  old  books — Visit  of  strolling  players — Disappearance 
of  town  documents — Appointment  of  town's  attorney — Wages  a 
century  ago — Disturbances  in  Altrincham — Another  Altrincham 
industry — The  fire  engine — The  old  handcuffs — A  jury  list — The 
expenses  of  the  great  well— Altrincham  highways  indicted — Hard 
times  ;  a  display  of  public  spirit — The  select  vestry — Extracts 
from  the  books  ;  a  stray  parcel  of  gloves — How  the  town  got  a 
sun-dial -Substitutes  for  the  Militia— Disrespect  for  proclama- 
tions—A  worthy  overseer— Dread  of  Hydrophobia,  etc 175 

CHAPTER     XIV. 

Description  of  Altrincham  and  Bowdon  60  years  ago — The  Old  Market 
Place  ;  its  ancient  cross,  lockups,  and  Star  chamber — Higher  Town 
boys  V.  those  of  Lower  Town— The  town  field -An  Altrincham 
Carnival -The  loyalty  of  the  town — The  first  Altrincham  under- 
taker—Altrincham  woolcombers  and  their  Bishop  Blaize  festival — 
Bowdon  bull  baiters  and  Altrincham  cockfighters — Salt  works 
at  Dunham— The  destruction  of  small  birds— The  churchwardens 
and  their  duties — Formation  of  the  Altrincham  Poor  La«'  Union  ; 
the  old  workhouse  and  its  management — Cutting  of  the  Bowdon 
line — Lloyd's  Hospital — Introduction  of  coal  gas  into  Altrincham — 
Formation  of  the  Gas  Company  ;  negotiations  for   the  purchase 


CONTENTS.  ix. 

PAfJE 
of  the  works  and  their  results — Altrincliam  and  Bowdon  Literary 
Institution  ;    Free  Library  and  Technical  Schools — Royal  Visit — 
Formation  of  the  Altrincham  Parliamentary  Division  ;  its  members, 
past  and  present— The  electric  light,  etc 188 

CHAPTER    XV. 

What  Sale  was  ;  a  glance  at  the  past ;  the  Masseys  of  Sale — a  gracious 
permission  to  marry  from  the  Pope — A  reminiscence  of  the  civil 
war ;  Lord  Strange  at  Ashton-on-Mersey — Some  looks  into  old 
township  books— The  official  mole  catcher — Sale  "Vineyards" — 
Constables'  staves — The  poor  law  and  its  administration — 
troublous  times — A  lady's  interest  in  township  matters — A  local 
Hampden,  Sale  township  schools— Sale  Volunteers,  past  and 
present — Sale  Burial  Board,  etc 223 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Ashton-on-Mersey  and  its  parish — The  beginnings  of  modern  non- 
conformity— Old  Cross  Street  Chapel — Some  notices  of  old  Vicars — 
Restoration  of  St.  Martin's—  St.  Anne's  ;  St.  John's,  Brooklands  ; 
St.  Paul's  ;  St.  Mary's;  Wesleyanism  ;  Congregationalism — Sale 
Local  Board — Progress  of  Sale — Sanitary  arrangements,  etc.         ...  241 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Wythenshawe  Hall— Carrington  Moss,  with  an  account  of  Carrington 
fight,  a  memorable  local  event— Manchester  Ship  Canal — A  Bishop 
from  Partington— Baguley  Hall  pnd  the  Leighs— Riddings  Hall — 
The  Gerrards  and  the  Vaudreys— Edleston's  Lepidoptera  of  the 
Bollin  Valley  ;  ornithology  etc. — Ashley  Hall,  a  notable  meeting  ; 
a  little  known  tragedy— The  murder  at  the  Bleeding  Wolf,  etc.     ...  257 

APPENDIX. 

Cheshire  County  Council— Bucklow  Union  and  Rural  District  Council — 
Magistrates  for  Altrincham  Division— Altrincham  Local  Board;  list 
of  members  and  contested  elections,  etc. — List  of  towns  and  villages 
in  the  neighbourhood,  with  population,  acreage,  rateable  value, 
distances  from  Chester,  Altrincham,  etc.— Sale  Local  Board;  list 
of  members— Altrincham,  Bowdon,  and  Sale  Urban  District 
Councils,  etc.— Debts  of  local  authorities 29.3 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PACiE 

Bowdon  Church,  1858 Frontispiece 

Burying  Lane  (now  The  Firs),  Bowdon 25 

Bowdon  Parish  Church— restored   38 

St.  Margaret's  Church,  Dunham 46 

Scolds' Bridles   75 

Earl  and  Countess  of  Stamford   91 

Dunham  Hall,  1697  62 

The  Hall,  Dunham  Park  86 

Oldfield  Hall,  Altrincham 102 

Market  Place,  Altrincham,  1745 131 

Market  Place,  Altrincham,  1858 198 

Ashley  Mill  (now  dismantled) 214 

Bowdon  Wesleyan  Chapel 149 

The  Old  Church,  Ringway  156 

Eev.  George  London 151 

Bowdon  Downs  Congregational  Church  ;  interior  lighted  by 

electricity  161 

St.  Peter's  Church,  Peel  Causeway 174 

The  Old  Church,  Ashton-on-Mersey  179 

Altrincham  in  the  Jubilee  year;  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales...   195 

Altrincham  Free  Library  and  Technical  School 211 

Past  and  Present  Members  for  the  Altrincham  Parliamentary 

Division  : — Sir  William  C.  Brooks  ;   the  late  Mr.  John 

Brooks;  Mr.  Coningsby  Disraeli 217 

Lord  Strange's  Forces  Crossing  to  Besiege  Manchester 225 

Eeview  of  the  Manchester  and  Salford  Volunteers  on  Sale 

Moor,  April  12th,  1804,  by  Prince  William  of  Gloucester  237 

Lych  Gate,  Ashton-on-Mersey 242 

St.  Anne's  Church,  Sale    247 

St.  Mary's  Church,  Ashton-on-Mersey 253 

Wythen.shawe  Hall  261 

Altrincham  Electrical  Works,  Broadheath 271 

Rostherne  Church 284 

Altrincham  Cemetery  Chapel,  Hale 286 

Plan  of  Stamford  Park,  Altrincham   291 


INDEX. 

PAGE 

Ahard  winter    182,  183 

Advowson,  Bo^ydon  12 

Altrincham,  Free  traffic  granted   13 

Charter 60  to  82 

„  Landlord  and  landlady  of  olden  time   134 

„  Sir  Walter  Scott's  description  of  134 

, ,  Sir  Peter  Leycester's  description  of 135 

,,  Indications  of  progress 139 

Manufactures  at    129,  139 

,,  Races  at   144 

,,  Riots  at    176 

,,  De  Quincy's  description  of  145 

Footpaths  indicted    182 

Fire  Brigade  177 

,,  Sixty  years  ago  188 

Union    198 

, ,  Provident  Dispensary 204,  205 

, ,  Introduction  of  coal  gas  208 

Gas  Company 209,210 

,,  and  Bowdon  Literary  Institute 210 

, ,  and  Free  Libraries  Act    213 

,,  Local  Board,  formation  of  214 

,,  List  of  members  (see  Appendix) 

,,  Contested  elections  (see  Appendix) 

,,  Statement  of  debts,  &c.  (see  Appendix) 

,,  Urban  District  Council  (see  Appendix) 

, ,  Cemetery  221 

,,  Inti  eduction  of  electucitv  219,220 

Pai  lumen tai y  DiMSion    "  216,219 

Appendix,  293  to  326 

Ashley  ...  288 

„      Hall  289 

„      Church  290 

Ashton-on  Meisey,  Parish  of  241  to  254 

Vicars  242 

,,  Cross  Stieet  245 

Ashton  Wakes,  incident  of  228,  2'29 

Baguley  270 

Bank  Hall,  Hale  275 

Baptist  Chapel,  Bow  don  173 

Banns,  Curious  mode  of  publication  44 

Barleyhump,  The  143 

Beeston  Castle  100 

Benefactions,  Bowdon  59 

Bishop  Blai/.e  Festival  193 

BloodyField,  Stoij  of  133 

Booth,  Dei  l^atIon  of  86 

„      John    .  86 


PAGE 

Booth,  William  86,  87,  88 

„      George  89,  95 

„       William  89 

„      Heniy  'M  to  28 

,,      Langliam  28 

,,      SirGeoige  19,  98,  99 

,,      Robeit  86,  87 

,,       Sii  (ieoige,  defeat  and  cai)tuie  of  103 

,,              ,,            giant  by  Pailuiment  foi  distinguiiilied  sei  vices  104 

death  of  105 

„       Nathaniel  120 

Botany,  of  CotteuU,  4.c  276 

Bowdon,  Dei  nation  of  1 

,,        Doonibdaj  Enti>  2 

Family  of  .  128 

Fiee  School  at  129 

,,   Chinch  16 

,,        Re-^toiation  of  39  to  42 

„        Regivteis  43,  44,  46 

W  aUes  194 

,,        Li'-t  of  Vicai-.  58 

, ,        Notices  of  ')5  to  58 

Local  Boaid  215 

,,        Uiban  District  Council  (sec  Aiiptndix.) 

Bieieton.  21,  23,  269,  270 

,,        Tidditions  21 

Sii  William  21,  99 

,,        Jane  21 

\\'illiain  21 

Briefs  Collected  .     54 

British  Road  1.  2,  3 

Broadheath  3 

BuU  Baiting  at  Bowdon  194 

Burgesses  Election  of  .  .73 

Burying  in  Linen                          ...  51 

Carrington  Chapel  20 

Mo-^s  264,  205 

Fight  01  Feight  265,  266,  267 

Charities  206,  207,  208 

Chartists  at  Altiincham  202 

Charter,  Altuncham  (translation)  79,  80 

Civil  War  100 

Congregational  Chuiches  159,  101,  163,  164,  246,  247 

Cross  Street  Chapel  245,  246 

Curious  Customs  143 

Court  Leet,  Altuncham  60  to  82 

,,       .Maj oral  Oath  02 

,,         ,,      riochimation  .  03 

„        „      Uses  of  63,64 


LXDEX.  xiii. 

PAGE 

Court  Leet,  Duties  of  Members 70  to  74 

, ,         , ,      ilayor's  Land  Charity  7S,  79 

Cock  Fighting  at  Altrincham 194 

Delamer,  Lord 117 

Trialof  108toll6 

Created  Earl  of  Warrington 117 

,,        His  views  on  Monarchy 118 

Prayers,  &c 117,  118 

Destruction  of  small  Birds 198 

Dick  Turpin  at  Hoo  Green  137 

Dunham  Castle 8  to  13 

,,       Doomsday  Entrj-  7 

,,      Hall,  Ancient  Mansions  105 

„      Ale  143 

Executions  for  Burglaries  at  Bowdon  142 

Extracts  from  old  Minute  Books  184  to  187 

Gerrard  of  Riddings 21 

Grey,  Hon.  Booth    69,  121 

,,       Familj-,  Antiquity  of  121 

„       Lady  jane ' 121 

„.       Rev.  Harry,  Eight  Earl,  a  Romance  of  the  Peerage 123 

, ,       Pedigree,  to  face  page 127 

Guy  Fawkes  at  Altrincham  130,  134 

Hale  Barns 285,  286 

Linen  Manufacture  129 

Lloyd's  Hospital 204 

Masey  or  Massey  of  Dunham 6 

,,      Reference  to 11  to  15 

Massey  of  Sale  222  to  227 

Manchester  Ship  Canal 2(J7,  208,  269 

Minute  Books,  Disappearance  of  175 

Mayor's  Land  Charity  (see  Court  Leet) 

Manor  of  Dunham 85 

Manchester  South  Junction  &  Altrincham  Railway  202,  203 

Martindale,  Adam,  at  Dunham 135,  136 

Methodist  New  Connexion  159 

Members  of  Parliament  216,  219 

Mize,  or  old  rate 59 

Oldest  Tombstone 33 

Old  Tombstones,  Inscriptions  on 33  to  37 

Old  Jury  List 177 

Obsolete  Punishments 140,  141 

Presbyterianism    173,  249 

Primitive  Methodism  174,  249 

Prince  Charles  at  Altrincham 138 

Queen's  Jubilee  Festivities 215 

Rateable  Value  (see  Appendix) 

Rider,  Bishop  of  Killaloc 269 


xiv.  IMiEX. 

PAGE 

Roman  Road   9 

,,      Remains,  Hale 285 

Roman  Catholic  Church  173 

Salt  Works  at  Dunham    197 

Sale,  Description  of  222 

,,     Family   224 

,,     Overseers  in 224 

, ,     Vineyards 228 

,,     and  Luddites    230 

,,     Lady  Overseer 231 

,,     A  \'illage  Hampden 233 

,,     New  township  schools 234,  235,  236 

„     Moor  236 

„     Burial  Board 240 

,,     Local  Board    255,  256 

,,     Urban  District  Council  (see  Appendix) 

St.  Anne's,  Sale   249,  250,  251 

St.  Elizabeth's,  Altrincham     172 

St.  George's,  Altrincham 150,  153,  154,  155 

,,  Schools 154 

, ,  , ,  List  of  Ministers 155 

St.  John's,  Altrincham 171 

St.  John's,  Brooklands 251 

St.  Margaret's,  Dunham  Massey 165,  166,  167,  168,  169 

Vicarsof    169,  170 

St.  Mary's,  Ashton-on-Mersey 252,  253 

St.  Martin's  ,,  (see  Ashton  Parish) 

St.  Paul's,  Sale   252 

St.  Peter's,  Peel  Causeway 174 

Select  Vestry,  Altrincham    199,  200,  201 

Sparrows,  Destruction  of 229 

Strange,  Lord  at  Ashton 129,  130 

Tattons  of  Wythenshawe    22,  257,  258,  259,  260,  262 

Timperley  273 

Tumili  and  Urns,  Dunham  Park  ., 3,  4 

Unitarian  Chapels,  Altrincham 155,  156,  157,  15S 

„       Sale 245,  246 

Vaudrey,  Will  of  273,  274 

Volunteer  Movement,  Sale 236,  239 

Vertebrate  Fauna 276  to  283 

Watling  Street 2,  3 

Warburton  23 

Wan-ington,  Mary,  Countess  of 27 

Warrington,  Purchase  of 96 

,,  Earldom  extinct    120 

,,  Earldom  revived    123 

Wesley's  visits  to  Altrincham  147,  148 

Wesleyan  Methodism   147,  148,  149,249 

Wythenshawe  Hall,  &c 259  to  263 


HISTORY     OF 

ALTRINCHAM    &    BOWDON 


CHAPTER    I. 

Bowdon  : — A  peejj  ai  the  piat,  geological,  historical,  and  romantic — 
Boaden  Downs — TFatling  Street,  signs  of  Roman  occupation — The 
tumulus  in  the  Park— An  old  Saxon  coin — The  Barons  of  Dunham, 
their  position  and  power — The  Crusader's  Cedar — The  legend  of  the 
Seven  Sisters — "  The  last  of  the  Barons." 

BOAVDON,  eight  centuries  ago,  was  spelled  Bogedon,  or  the 
hill  or  down  by  a  bog.  It  was  so  written  in  the  Domes- 
day Book,  and  was  comprised  in  the  ancient  Cheshire 
hundred  of  Bochelau,  whence  our  modern  Bucklow,  in  the  eastern 
division  of  which  it  is  still  included.  It  has  also  been  written 
Bodon,  Bodeon,  Bawdon,  Boaden,  Bauden,  Boden,  and  Bowden ; 
but  the  modernized  spelling  of  Bowdon  now  jirevails.  This  is 
derived  from  two  Anglo-Saxon  words  signifying  Bode,  a  dwelling, 
and  don  or  dun,  a  plain  upon  a  rising  hill  or  down. 

Geologists  tell  us,  with  the  charming  uncertainty  they  always 
attach  to  their  "periods,"  that  Bowdon  has  little  interest  for 
them, — that  it  was  once  an  enormous  sandbank,  left  by  the 
receding  Avaves  of  a  restless  ocean,  to  be  at  a  subsequent  time 
transformed  by  the  God  of  Nature  into  a  lovely  garden,  the 
loveliness  of  which  was  to  be  heightened  and  enhanced  l>y  the 
ingenuity  and  art  of  man. 

It  may  be  very  safely  assumed  that  it  was  not  then  the 
pleasant  place  of  residence  it  has  since  become.  It  had  not  the 
same  delightful  prospects  of  pastoral  scenery,  of  grassy  plain  and 


2  ALTIUNCHAM   AND    BOIFDON. 

lovely  woodland,  hemmed  in  by  masses  of  billowy  vegetation. 
The  prehistoric  Bogedonian — if  there  was  such  a  creature — 
looking  southwards  from  the  hill  side,  would  have  seen  the  waves 
beating  at  the  foot  of  the  vale,  where  the  shingle  of  the  sea  beach 
was  quite  recently  uncovered ;  later  still,  he  might  have  viewed 
what  is  now  called  Alderley  Edge,  and  the  more  distant  Mow 
Cop,  looking  out  on  a  vast  expanse  of  moor  and  morass,  studded 
here  and  there  with  a  consumptive  dwarf  oak ;  but  he  could  have 
formed  no  conception  of  the  changes  to  be  wrought,  as  if  by  fairy 
wand,  in  future  ages.  The  "  proud  hill's  crest  "  had  not  become 
dotted  with  those  stately  homes  which  in  so  marked  a  degree 
contribute  to  set  off  Nature's  beauties.  It  had  not  even  those 
prim  ivy-covered  quaint  old  houses  which  peep  out  at  the  passer- 
by from  their  nests  of  umbrageous  foliage  and  over-hanging  trees, 
as  if  very  modesty  prevented  their  coming  to  the  front  in  all 
the  boldness  of  modern  paint  and  stucco.  "  Sleepy  hollow,"  as 
Altrincham  has  been  termed,  was  unknown,  and  that  almost 
universal  edible  the  potato  did  not  flourish  in  unchecked  luxu- 
riance on  the  Downs,  and  form  a  special  cry  in  the  adjacent 
market  of  Cottonopolis.  All  that  can,  with  any  degree  of  confi- 
dence, be  relied  upon  as  giving  Bowdon  a  place  in  early  English 
history  is  the  mention  of  it  which  occurs  in  the  Domesday  Book, 
of  which  more  hereafter,  and  when  among  other  things,  there  was 
a  Church  and  a  Priest,  with  his  half-a-hide  of  land,  a  hide  being 
as  much  as  one  plough  would  cultivate  in  a  year,  60  to  120  acres 
according  to  the  peculiar  reckoning  of  the  times,  and  which  said 
Priest  lived  contentedly  amongst  his  meagre  and  widely-scattered 
flock,  and  was  passing  rich  on  the  forty  pounds  a  year  of  the 
period. 

There  are,  however,  evidences  of  this  portion  of  the  district 
having  been  inhabited  long  before  the  Conquest.  The  British 
road,  well  known  by  the  name  of  Watling  Street,  runs  through 
it,  and  was  adapted  by  the  Romans  to  suit  their  own  purposes. 
The  ancient  Roman  Road,  as  traced  by  that  eminent  authority, 
Whitaker,  commences  at  the  ford  of  the  Mersey  called  Stretford, 


ALTRINCHAM    AXD    BOIJ'DON.  3 

continues  to  Broadhoath,  where  the  Iloma.n  Road  keeps  the 
middle  of  the  heath,  and  was  discovered  on  the  cutting  of  the 
Bridgewater  Canal  which  crosses  its  line.  It  is  then  seen  in  the 
enclosures  about  Oldfield  Hall,  and  in  crossing  the  Moss  is  known 
by  the  name  of  Ui^cast.  It  afterwards  ascends  the  hill,  enters 
(skirts)  Dunham  Park,  passes  on  to  Street  head,  and  crossing  the 
Bollin  falls  into  the  modern  road  at  Newbridge  Watkins,  in 
his  work  on  Roman  Cheshire,  published  in  1886,  has  with  pains- 
taking ability  made  this  particular  subject  his  own.  The  main 
road  remains,  so  far  as  this  district  is  concerned,  pretty  much  as 
given  above,  but  he  adds,  "  There  appear  to  have  been  two  small 
roads  branching  ofl'  to  east  from  that  between  Manchester  and 
Northwich  at  Dunham  Park,  one  which  for  part  of  its  length  is 
now  the  modernised  Long  Lane,  and  seems  to  have  led  to  a 
village  at  Hale,  and  may  thence  have  been  continued  towards 
Wilmslow,  where  there  is  a  Pepper  Street.  It  would,  before 
arriving  at  this  point,  cross  the  road  from  Stockport  to  Kinderton. 
The  other,  known  as  Peel  Causeway,  i.s  only  traceable  as  a  frag- 
ment, and  I  am  doubtful  of  its  Roman  origin."  This  part  -ivas 
comprised  in  the  Roman  province  of  Flavia  Caesariensis ;  and 
subsequently,  in  the  sixth  centvu-y,  by  a  course  of  events  in  which 
Britain  had  passed  through  the  fiery  ordeal  of  Saxon  subjugation 
and  civil  Avar,  it  became  included  in  the  Kingdom  of  Mercia.  No 
doubt,  the  army  of  Danes,  who  are  said  to  have  taken  possession 
of  Chester  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year  894  (according  to  the 
Saxon  chronicle),  marched  through  it  from  Northumberland. 
There  are  still  most  conclusive  evidence  of  Saxon  and  Danish 
occupation  in  the  tumuli  or  barrows  which  are  to  be  seen  in 
Dunham  New  Park.  One  of  them  is  marked  on  the  Ordnance 
Survey  Map,  and  there  are  also  others  near  Bollington  and  at 
Baguley,  but  both  these  are  either  more  level,  or  considerably 
reduced  in  size.  These  tumuli  are  the  most  ancient  form  of  burial 
places  known,  and  were  in  extensive  use  amongst  the  Romans  and 
Danes,  who  probably  derived  it  in  their  turn  from  the  Greeks, 
for  the  custom  is  mentioned  by  Homer.     Some  of  these  tumuli, 


4  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOTVDON. 

as  at  Marathon,  are  very  large,  and  it  is  said  that  the  higher  they 
are  the  greater  must  the  deceased  have  been  held  in  esteem  by 
their  fellows.  The  tumulus  marked  on  the  Ordnance  Survey 
Map  exists  on  the  north  side  of  the  New  Park,  and  is  known 
more  generally  by  the  name  of  Beech  Mount,  being  marked  by  a 
clump  of  these  noble  trees,  some  of  which  are  beginning  to  exhibit 
signs  of  decrepitude  and  old  age.  In  his  work,  "Britannia 
Komana,"  published  by  Horsley  in  1732,  he  refers  to  this,  when 
discussing  the  place  where  the  Eoman  station,  Condate, — the 
exact  site  of  which  has  been  the  subject  of  much  controversy 
amongst  antiquarians — shall  lie  placed.  He  says  : — "  The  urns 
which  have  been  found,  and  the  barrows  that  are  in  Dunham 
Park,  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Warrington,  and  the  military  way 
near  it,  render  it  highly  probable  that  the  Eoman  Eoad  has  gone 
directly  from  Manchester  to  Chester  through  or  near  to  North- 
wich,  the  piece  of  Eoman  Eoad  by  Altrincbam  pointing  directly 
towards  Chester  and  Manchester,  and  not  at  all  towards  Congleton. 
It  is  in  the  middle  of  a  field  near  the  road  which  now  leads  from 
Manchester  to  Chester  and  is  called  the  Street.  This  leaves  little 
room  to  doubt  that  the  military  road,  and  consequently,  the  iter 
(way)  has  proceeded  this  way  to  Chester,  which  is  also  further 
confirmed  by  the  name  of  Stretford  on  the  Mersey." 

Thus,  in  a  somewhat  interesting  manner,  is  related  an 
important  fact.  It  is  in  this  road  that  the  Eomans  have  left  a 
mark  of  their  enduring  greatness,  when  all  appearances  of  ancient 
Saxon  power  have  been  completely  effaced.  These  urns  speak  to 
us  of  Eome  in  her  palmy  days  ;  but  the  mounds  tell  a  story 
which  extends  beyond.  Imagination  pictures  a  somewhat  rugged 
country,  studded  with  the  kraals  or  mud  dwellings  of  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants, — a  time  when,  according  to  Lucian,  the 
monk,  the  County  of  Chester  exported  slaves  and  horses.  Near 
the  great  highroad  would  be  the  dwelling  of  the  hardy  chieftain. 
At  his  death,  guided  by  those  aesthetic  tastes  instinct  even  in 
savage  nations,  the  nearest  spot  on  which  nature  had  greatly 
lavished  her  beauties  would  be  selected  for  his  burial  place,  and 


ALrUINClIAM    AM)    BOU'DON.  5 

at  what  would  then  Ije  the  head  of  a  mossy  dell  would  his  remains 
be  laid.  There  would  be  the  long  procession  of  bearded  warriors 
and  slaves,  headed  by  weirdly  robed  priests,  who,  amidst  meanings 
and  lamentations,  would  perform,  with  mysterious  and  perhaps 
ghastly  rites,  the  last  offices  for  the  dead.  The  huge  tumulus 
would  be  raised,  with  nothing  but  its  height  to  remind  the  people 
that  buried  greatness  there  reposed  in  its  last  long  sleep  ;  with 
no  image  or  legendary  scroll  to  record,  for  the  information  of 
succeeding  generations,  the  names  and  deeds  of  the  mighty 
dead  ;  his  very  remembrance  would  in  time  be  blotted  out.  But 
he  would  have  a  grand  burial  place,  not  perhaps  graced  with  the 
virtues  of  consecration,  except  in  the  sense  in  which  Nature 
reflects  Nature's  Deity.  There,  we  may  leave  him  in  Nature's 
presence-chamber  itself, — and  if  we  could  have  seen  it  then, 
standing  out  like  the  refreshing  greenery  of  the  desert  oasis,  in 
"the  forest  primeval,"  where 

The  murmuring  pines  and  the  hemlocks 
Bearded  with  moss,  and  in  garments  green,  indistinct  in  the  twilight, 
Stand  like  Druids  of  old,  with  voices  s:»d  and  prophetic  ; 
Stand  like  harpers  hoar,  with  beards  that  rest  on  their  bosoms. 

Another  interesting  memento  of  the  ancient  associations 
of  Bowdon  may  here  be  mentioned.  Several  years  ago,  a 
bystander,  who  was  watching  the  sexton  of  the  Parish  Church 
open  out  a  grave,  observed  in  one  of  the  shovels  full  of  earth 
thrown  out,  something  black  and  round.  This,  on  rubbing,  gave 
out  a  bright  appearance,  and,  on  being  placed  in  the  hands  of  an 
antiquary,  proved  to  be  a  silver  penny  of  Eadmund,  one  of  the 
early  Saxon  Kings,  and  grandson  of  Alfred  the  Great.  On  the 
obverse  was  Eadmund  Ec.r,  in  the  centre  being  a  small  cross.  On 
the  reverse,  amongst  other  things,  was  the  word  Ingel  ||  Gar, 
M  T.,  or  really  Ingelgar  Moneyer.  Probably  the  sandy  soil 
into  which  the  coin  had  been  dropped  prevented  corrosion,  as  it 
was  in  an  admirable  state  of  preservation.  The  capital  letters 
were  well  formed,  and  differed  very  little  from  our  modern  ones. 


S  ALTPdXCHAM    AND    BOWDOy. 

except  the  G,  which  was  very  square  in  form,  and  the  M,  which 
consisted  of  two  outer  stems  like  capital  Fs  connected  not  by  an 
inner  acute  angle  like  a  V,  but  by  a  slight  curve  or  festoon  at  the 
top.  This  Ingelgar  was,  during  the  years  941-945,  a  moneyer 
to  Anlaf,  at  that  period  King  of  Northumbria,  who,  in  the  latter 
year,  was  expelled  by  Eadmund.  Ingelgar,  in  addition  to  Anlaf, 
was  moneyer  to  three  other  Kings ;  Eric,  also  a  King  of 
Northumbria,  and  to  Eadmund,  and  his  brother  and  successor 
Eadred.  The  coin  was  thought  to  have  been  struck  at  Man- 
chester, on  account  of  its  proximity  to  Bowdon;  but  as  there 
was  also  a  Mint  at  Chester,  there  is  no  conclusive  evidence  on 
this  point. 

We  now  leave  for  the  present  speculation  behind,  and  proceed 
to  the  consideration  of  authentic  records.  With  the  advent  of 
William  the  Conqueror,  and  the  consolidation  of  his  power  in 
England,  we  see  the  establishment  of  a  feudalism  which  was  to 
leave  its  mark  and  impress  on  the  people  to  our  own  time.  The 
County  of  Chester,  which  was  then  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  a 
little  kingdom,  was  amongst  the  last  in  England  to  yield  to  his 
army,  and  the  city  did  not  fall  into  his  hands  until  1070. 
Shortly  afterwards  the  Earldom  of  Chester  was  given  by  the 
King  to  his  nephew,  Hugh  D'Avaranches,  son  of  Kichard  Gosse, 
and  surnamed  Hugh  la  Loup,  or  Hugh  Lupus,  on  account  of  his 
bearing  a  wolf's  head  on  his  shield.  The  Earl  had  his  Council  of 
Barons  spiritual  and  temporal,  with  all  the  usual  officers  of  the 
Court  and  a  reigning  Sovereign.  The  County  was  parted 
amongst  the  Normans,  and  the  old  Saxon  possessors  turned  out. 
Amongst  the  Normans  in  the  Koll  of  Battle  Abbey,  quoted  by 
Hollinshed,  appears  the  name  of  Hamoimd.  This  again  is  given 
in  ancient  charters  as  Hamund  ;  and  as  he  was  a  most  important 
personage,  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  he  is  the  same  Hamunde  or 
Hamo  who  held  the  Barony  of  Doneham  or  Dunham,  at  the  time 
of  Domesday  Survey,  in  1086,  and  who  dwelt  at  the  Castle, 
which  in  all  probability  was  founded  by  a  Saxon  predecessor. 
These  Barons  held  their  Lordships  from  the  Earl  of  Chester,  and 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOIVDON.  7 

the  tenants  of  the  farms  from  the  barons.     In  an  old  poem  written 
about  300  years  ago,  it  is  said  of  the  first  Earl  of  C'hester,  that 

On  Hamon  Massy  he  did  bestow 

The  Dunham  Massy  barony  ; 
To  whom  there  did  succeed  in  xowe 

Five  heires  of  his  successively. 
From  henceforth  'inongst  the  female  heires 

It  scattered  was  for  many  years  ; 
Yet  most  part,  after  ages  passed, 

T(i  Fitton  of  BoUin  came  at  last. 

Another  version  gives  it  :  -- 

Vpon  Hughe  Massey  he  did  bestow 

the  Dunham  Massey  barronye, 
to  M'hom  their  did  succeed  in  row 

8  (5)  lieyres  of  his  successivelye  ; 
from  thenceforth  mongst  the  femall  heyres 

it  scattered  was  for  many  yeeres, 
yet  most  part  after  ages  past 

a  Bootlic  of  Du[n]ham  came  at  last. 

The  entry  in  Domesday  Book  says  that  Hamon  holds 
Doneham  ;  Eluard  held  it,  and  was  a  freeman ;  there  is  one  hide 
of  land  rateable  to  the  gelt ;  the  land  is  three  carucates ;  one  is 
demesne;  and  there  are  two  neatherds,  two  villeins,  and  one 
bordar  ;  and  one  acre  of  wood,  and  one  house  in  the  city  (of 
Chester) ;  in  the  time  of  King  Edward  it  was  worth  123.  ;  now 
10s.     It  was  waste. 

It  also  states  that  the  same  Ilamo  "  holds  JJogedone ; 
Eluard  held  it  and  was  a  free  man  ;  there  is  one  hide  rateable 
to  the  gelt ;  the  land  is  two  carucates  ;  there  are  two  foreigners 
having  one  carucate ;  there  is  a  priest  and  a  church  to  which 
half  this  hide  belongs  ;  also  a  grinding  mill  rendering  IG  pence  ; 
it  was  waste,  and  so  [the  Earl]  found  it.'' 

It  may  be  well  to  explain  the  meaning  of  one  or  two  of  these 
terms.  The  quantity  of  a  hide,  as  has  been  already  mentioned, 
appears  to  have  varied  considerably.      The  land  rateable  to  the 


3  ALTRINGHAM    AND    BOJVDON. 

gelt  was  that  which  was  taxed  for  the  purpose  of  subsidizing  the 
invading  Danes,  and  a  carucate,  or  caroe,  or  ploughlatid,  was 
generally  eight  oxgangs,  or  bovates — 224  acres.  There  do  not 
seem  to  have  been  any  radmen  or  roadmen  in  either  township, 
although  there  was  one  in  Hale  :  but  those  of  a  lower  order,  viz., 
neatherds,  etc.,  are  noted.  Radmen  were  those  who  served  their 
superior  lords  on  horseback,  and  were  freemen  in  a  certain  sense. 
Villeins  were  those  whose  estate  of  vassallage  almost  amounted  to 
slavery  ;  neatherds  or  bovarii  were  employed  in  attending  to  the 
cattle,  and  in  other  servile  work  ;  and  bordars,  or  boors,  held 
small  portions  of  land,  and  were  probably  bound  to  supply  the 
table  of  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  with  eggs,  poultry,  &'c. 

That  historian  and  antiquarian  imr  e.rcellenre,  Sir  Peter 
Leycester,  shrewdly  guesses  that  Hamon  the  Norman  dispossessed 
Eluai'd  the  Saxon  of  his  lands  in  this  neighbourhood,  after 
having  had  them  "given  "  to  him  by  the  Earl ;  but  in  addition  to 
these  he  held  Hale,  Ashley,  half  of  Owlerton — now  Ollerbarrow — 
Bromhale,  Puddingtou  in  Wirrall,  and  other  lands,  by  military 
service ;  he  being  bound  to  attend  the  King  in  time  of  war  with 
a  certain  number  of  horse  and  foot,  and  immediately  repair  to  the 
King's  summons  with  his  whole  posse  should  an  enemy's  army 
come  into  Cheshire,  or  should  Chester  Castle  lie  besieged.  An 
engraving  in  King's  "  Vale  Eoyal"  represents  the  Earl  of  Chester 
in  Parliament  assembled,  his  eight  barons  seated  on  each  side  of 
him,  and  amongst  them,  the  first  on  his  left-hand  side, 
distinguished  by  his  arms — quarterly,  gules  and  or,  in  the  first 
quarter  a  lion  passant,  argent, — is  to  be  seen  Hamo  of  Dunham. 
At  the  barrier  which  divides  the  room  into  two  portions,  are  a 
number  of  adherents,  who  appear  to  be  pressing  their  claims  to 
lands,  which  having  been  won  by  the  sword,  will  be  so  held  and 
esteemed  good  title  to  them  in  the  future. 

The  Castle  of  Dunham  was  greatly  strengthened  by  Hamon, 
so  as  to  resist  successfully  the  marauding  propensities  of 
avaricious  neighbours.  He  was  one  of  the  most  influential  of 
the  barons,  from  the  fact  of  his  Castle  being  situated  near  the 


ALTRIXCUAM   AND    BOJrWX.  9 

giu;it  Ifomaii  road,  it  formed  a  powerful  position  of  defence  in 
case  of  invasion.  Tiie  counties  palatine,  says  one  writer,  were 
judged  to  be  in  greater  danger  than  the  others,  and  greater 
attention  therefore  was  paid  to  their  defences.  The  adjoining 
County  Palatine  of  Lancaster  was  .surrounded  by  a  chain  of  forts, 
one  of  which  was  at  Widnes,  where  a  baron  was  stationed  to 
protect  that  side  from  the  incursions  of  the  Cheshire  people  ;  and 
the  jealousy  being  mutual,  opposite  to  this  on  the  Cheshire  side 
was  Halton  Castle,  placed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  guard  the 
county  from  any  surprise  either  from  AVarrington,  another 
Lancashire  barony,  or  Runcorn  Ferry.  The  next  barony  was 
Newton,  erected  as  well  to  strengthen  "\\'arrington  as  to  oppose 
any  passage  out  of  Cheshire,  and  opposite  to  this  was  placed 
Hamon  at  Dunham.  Hamon  in  his  lifetime  gave  to  St. 
Werburgh's  at  Chester,  the  village  of  Northerden  (Northenden), 
in  the  Maxfield  or  Macclesfield  Hundred.  He  had  a  son  and 
heir,  named  after  him,  Hamon,  and  also  Robert  Massey,  who  was 
a  witness  to  the  first  Randle's  charter  of  confirmation  to  the 
Abbey  of  St.  Werburgh  in  Chester,  about  a.d.  1124. 

The  second  Hamon  had  issue,  Hamon,  a  son  and  heir,  and 
Robert  Massey,  from  whom  sprang  the  Massseys  of  Sale.  This  is 
probably  the  Hamon  ^lassey  who  is  noticed  in  one  of  the  ancient 
chronicles  as  having  held  the  Castle  of  Dunham  against  Henry  H. 
in  1173,  dtuing  the  rebellion  of  which  Hugh,  Earl  of  Chester, 
was  principal  leader.  He  gave  the  lands  of  Bramhall,  or  Bromale, 
to  Matthew  de  Bromale  by  charter,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
translation  : — 

Hamo  de  Masci  to  all  his  friends,  both  clerical  and  lay,  as  well 
present  as  to  come,  sends  greeting.  Know  ye  all  that  I  have 
granted,  &c.,  to  Matthew  de  Bromale,  Bromale  and  Dokenfeld 
and  two  parts  of  Baguley,  which  his  father  held  of  me  and  my 
heirs  in  fee  [Ijy  the  service]  of  a  breastplate  [meaning  that  he 
should  rendei-  or  pay  for  his  lands  a  man  armed  with  a  breast- 
jilatc  for  militaiT  defence,  or  its  equivalent  in  money,  at  a  later 
period,  eveiy  year]  to  him  and  his  heirs,  to  hold  of  me  and  my 


10  ALTrdNCHAM   AND    BOIFDOX. 

heirs  freely  and  quietly,  &c.,  making  to  me  and  my  heirs  the  free 
service  in  fee  of  one  breastplate  ;  and  know  ye  that  I  have  quit 
claimed  the  said  Matthew  and  his  heirs  and  the  aforesaid  lands, 
to  me  and  my  heirs,  of  the  service  and  custom  which  I,  the  said 
Hamo,  usetl  to  demand  from  them,  namely,  of  ploughing, 
mucking,  and  sowing  corn,  and  of  making  hay,  and  doing  homage 
of  estovers  [providing  food],  pannage,  and  of  all  other  services 
except  the  service  of  the  fee  of  one  breastplate.  These  being 
witnesses :  Eoger  de  Massie,  William  de  Carington,  Robert  de 
Massie,  and  Richard  de  Fitton,  and  very  many  others,  both 
seeing  and  hearing  the  same. 

The  third  Hamon  married  Agatha  de  Theray,  and  had  several 
children,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  a  son  named  after  his  father. 
He  died  about  the  end  of  the  reign  of  King  John,  or  the  begintiing 
of  that  of  Henry  HI.,  and  his  wife  Agatha  survived  him.  He  is 
said  to  have  given  to  his  brother  John  Massey  all  the  land  of 
Moreton.  He  also  confirmed  to  Robert,  son  of  Waltheof  or 
Fitz  Waltheof,  all  his  father's  lands  in  Bredbury,  Brinnington, 
and  Etchells,  by  a  very  interesting  charter,  which  has  been 
translated  as  follows  : — 

Hamo  de  Masci  to  all  his  men,  whether  French  or  English, 
clerical  or  lay,  as  well  in  the  future  as  now  living,  sendeth 
greeting.  Be  it  known  to  you  all  that  I  have  regrantcd  to  Robert, 
the  son  of  Waltheof,  all  the  land  which  Waltheof,  his  father,  held 
of  me  and  my  ancestors  for  his  inheritence,  that  is  to  say 
Hecheles  (Etchells)  with  all  that  appertains  to  it,  to  him  and  his 
heirs,  holding  of  me  and  my  heirs  freely,  quietly,  and  peaceably, 
by  the  service  of  half  a  knight's  fee.  And  I  [the  said]  Hamu 
reserve  to  my  own  use,  stag,  hind  and  boar  in  Hulreswood,  and 
the  other  liberties  shall  remain  to  Robert,  the  son  of  Waltheof, 
and  his  heirs.  And  I  [the  said]  Hamo,  regrant  to  Robert,  the 
son  of  Waltheof,  Bredburie  and  Brinintone,  with  their  appurten- 
ances, as  his  inheritence  to  him  and  his  heirs,  to  hold  of  me  and 
my  heirs,  l)y  the  service  of  carrying  my  bed,  my  arm.'5  or  my 
clothing,  whenever  the  Earl  [of  Chester]  in  his  own  pi'oper  person 


ALTUINCUAM   AND    BOU'DOX.  II 

shall  go  into  Wales.  And  I  [the  said]  Hauio  will  fully  furnish 
[the  said]  Robert,  the  son  of  Waltheof,  and  his  heirs,  with  a 
sumpter  beast,  and  a  man  and  a  sack,  and  we  will  find  estovers 
[sufficient  food]  for  the  man  and  the  sumpter  beast  aforesaid 
whilst  he  is  with  us  in  the  field,  until  he  shall  be  returned  to  the 
said  Robert  or  his  heirs.  And  Robert,  the  son  of  Waltheof, 
shall  pay  aid  to  ransom  my  body  from  captivity  and  detention, 
and  to  make  my  eldest  son  a  knight,  and  to  give  my  eldest 
daughter  a  marriage  portion,  in  consideration  of  which  [the  said] 
Robert  has  given  me  a  gold  ring. 

The  conditions  named  in  this  charter  were  usual  tuider  the 
feudal  system,  when  the  kingdom  was  really  the  encampment  of 
a  great  army  and  military  ideas  predominated.  While  the  vassal 
was  thus  bound  to  render  service  to  his  lord,  and  to  attend  as 
assessor  in  his  court  of  justice,  the  lord  in  his  turn  was  bound  to 
afford  him  protection  in  case  of  his  fief  being  attacked  ;  but  the 
defence  of  each  other's  person  was  reciprocal. 

As  freedom  broadens  down,  we  frequently  find  in  subsequent 
writings  the  Barons  of  Dunham  conceding  to  their  squires  the 
right  that  neither  they  nor  their  heirs  or  tenants  shall  be 
impleaded  or  brought  to  trial  for  any  ottence  in  the  Court  at 
Dunham,  which  was  a  most  valuable  right,  as  the  barons  had 
most  extraordinary  privileges,  on  their  own  estates,  and  in  their 
hands  was  reposed  the  power  of  life  and  death.  So  late  as  the 
year  1597  this  right  was  exercised  in  the  Baronial  Court  of 
Kinderton,  where  Hugh  Stringer  was  tried  for  murder,  convicted 
and  executed. 

It  was  probably  about  this  period  that  Roger  de  Masci,  of 
Hale,  son  of  Geffrey  ^lasci  (being  possessed  of  one  half  the  lands 
in  "  Bodeon  "),  sold  them  unto  Agatha  de  Massey  for  the  sum  of 
£,i  7s.  in  money,  and  two  robes,  one  for  himself  and  the  other 
for  his  wife,  "  rending  therefor  yearly  one  pound  of  camming 
seed  at  the  feast  of  Saint  Martin."  These  lands,  Agatha,  by 
another  deed,  in  which  she  styles  herself  de  Theray,  gave  to 
Robert  her  younger  son,  whom  she  made  heir  thereof  by  the 
consent  of  Hamon,  her  eldest  son. 


U  Al/miNCHAM   JX]>    BOIVDOX. 

supposed  to  be  the  last  relic  ;  ami  tradition  attirms  that  a  fine 
old  cedar,  long,  long  ago  killed  by  the  ivy,  was  brought  a  sapling 
from  the  Holy  Land  by  one  of  the  old  crusading  Barons  of 
Dunham,  and  that  it  died  out  with  the  last  of  the  race  ! 
Probably,  too,  the  fact  of  the  last  of  these  barons  dying  without 
leaving  a  lawful  son  to  succeed  him,  gave  rise  to  the  romantic 
legend  of  the  "  Seven  Sisters,"  in  connection  with  the  park  at 
Dunham,  where  there  is  a  clnmp  of  trees  which  is  known  by  this 
name.  Many  people  are  acquainted  with  it,  and,  no  doubt, 
lament  the  tragic  end  of  the  youthful  heir,  who  was  struck  dead 
l)y  lightning  just  as  he  was  passing  the  "  Seven  Sisters." 


And  each  fatal  tree  was  stained  with  gore  ; 

And  so  was  the  bloody  earth  ; 
And  the  same  night  saw  his  dreadful  deatli 

That  first  beheld  his  birth. 


And  the  legend  closes  ;  - 

The  seven  sister  trees  may  still  be  .seen, 

Though  the  mortal  ones  are  fled  ; — 
And  none  of  that  fated  house  were  left, 

When  tlie  squire  himself  w.is  dead. 

Hamon  also  reminds  us  in  a  most  striking  manner  of 
Jjongfellow's  melodious  poem,  "  The  Norman  Baron."  We  can 
well  picture  to  ourselves  the  stately  Castle  of  Dunham.  In  his 
chamber  on  Christmas  Eve,  lies  the  dying  baron.  The  King  of 
Terrors  has  already  laid  his  relentless  hand  upon  him  ;  and  the 
humble  monk,  seated  by  the  bed  side,  mutters  the  "  pra^-er  and 
pater  noster "  which  shall  usher  the  fast  fleeting  soul  into 
Eternity.  Outside,  the  tempest  thunders,  and  shakes  the  Castle 
turret,  l)ut  the  sufterer  is  unmindful  of  it.  Within  its  precincts 
serf  and  vassal  arc  holding  their  Christmas  festival.  As  their 
lays  they  chaunt,  the  sound  rises  above  that  of  the  tempest,  and 
the  dying  baron  turns  his  weary  head  to  listen  to  the  carol,  in 


U  AUlllNOHAM   AX]>    IIOIVDOX. 

supposed  to  be  the  last  relic  :  and  tradition  affirms  that  a  'fine 
old  cedar,  long,  long  ago  killed  by  the  ivy,  was  brought  a  sapling 
from  the  Holy  Land  by  one  of  the  old  crusading  Barons  of 
Dunham,  and  that  it  died  out  with  the  last  of  the  race ! 
Probably,  too,  the  fact  of  the  last  of  these  barons  dying  without 
leaving  a  lawful  son  to  succeed  him,  gave  rise  to  the  romantic 
legend  of  the  "  Seven  Sisters,"  in  connection  with  the  park  at 
Dunham,  where  there  is  a  clump  of  trees  which  is  known  by  this 
name.  Manj'  people  are  acquainted  with  it,  and,  no  doubt, 
lament  the  tragic  end  of  the  youthful  heir,  who  was  struck  dead 
by  lightning  just  as  he  was  passing  the  "  Seven  Sisters." 


Anil  each  fatal  tree  was  stained  with  gore  : 

And  so  was  the  bloodj-  earth  : 
And  the  same  night  saw  his  dreadful  deatli 

That  first  beheld  his  birth. 


And  the  legend  closes  ;  - 

The  seven  sister  trees  may  still  be  seen, 

Thongli  the  mortal  ones  are  fled  ; — 
And  none  of  that  fated  house  were  left, 

When  the  squire  himself  was  dead. 

Hamon  also  reminds  us  in  a  most  striking  manner  of 
Longfellow's  melodious  poem,  "The  Norman  Baron."  We  can 
well  picture  to  ourselves  the  stately  Castle  of  Dunham.  In  his 
chamber  on  Christmas  Eve,  lies  the  dying  baron.  The  King  of 
Terroi-s  has  already  laid  his  relentless  hand  upon  him  ;  and  the 
humble  monk,  seated  by  the  bed  side,  mutters  the  "  prayer  and 
pater  noster "  which  shall  usher  the  fast  fleeting  soul  into 
Eternity.  Outside,  the  tempest  thunders,  and  shakes  the  Castle 
turret,  but  the  sufferer  is  unmindful  of  it.  Within  its  precincts 
serf  and  vassal  are  holding  their  Christmas  festival.  As  their 
lays  they  chaunt,  the  sound  rises  above  that  of  the  tempest,  and 
the  dying  baron  turns  his  weary  head  to  listen  to  the  carol,  in 


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ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOIFDOX.  15 

which  is  heralded  the  birth  of  the  manger-cradled  stranger, 
Christ,  who  was  born  to  set  us  free.  In  an  instant,  the  spirit  of 
repentance  appears.  He  thinks  of  the  justice,  long  withheld,  due 
to  those  under  his  iron  rule,  and  they  are  by  him  freed  again. 
As  on  the  sacred  missal  he  inscribes  their  freedom,  death  relaxes 
his  iron  features,  and  the  monk  repeats  a  deep  Amen. 

Many  centuries  have  been  numbered 

Since  in  death  the  baron  slumbered, 

By  the  convent's  sculptured  portal, 

Mingling  with  the  common  dust  : 


But  the  good  deed,  through  the  ages 
Living  in  historic  pages, 
Brighter  grows  and  gleams  immortal, 
Unconsumed  by  moth  or  rust. 


CHAPTER     II. 

The  Parish  Church  : — Its  claims  to  aiitiquili/ — The  i/etc  trees,  a  relic 
cf  Saxon  Christianity —The  wakes,  their  origin  and  use — Jn  old  bead 
roll  and  its  record — Description  of  the  old  church  —  Falue  of  the  living 
six  centuries  ago — The  ringers'  orders — A  law  suit — Another  bead  roll 
and  its  record — Memorials  of  old  families — The  Brereton  monuments — 
The  Dunham  Chapel,  dr. 

IT  is  not  stated  precisel\'  when  the  (Jhuich  of  Bowdon  was 
originally  founded.  It  cannot  boast  a  date  like  that  at 
Eostherne,  of  1188,  although,  there  is  no  doubt,  Bowdon  is 
much  older  ;  neither  is  it  recorded  that  it  had  "  a  priory  of 
regular  canons  of  the  Order  of  St.  Augustine,"  like  its  relation  at 
Mobberley,  or  any  of  the  Pra3monstatensians,  such  as  dwelt  at 
Warburton,  anciently  spelled  Wurburgetone  ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  at  the  Domesday  Survey,  as  already  noticed,  there  was  a 
priest  attached  to  the  church,  munificently  endowed,  probaljlj- 
with  many  "  fat  fallows."  It  is  also  certain  that  the  church 
existed  a  long  time  prior  to  the  Conquest.  The  planting  of  yew 
trees  in  churchyards,  on  account  of  their  sombre  and  funereal 
aspect,  is  a  relic  of  the  Saxon  Christianity  which  had  spread  over 
the  land,  and  the  custom  prevailed  at  Bowdon.  There  are  two 
or  three  in  tiie  churchyard,  and  one  in  particular  is,  judging 
from  calculations  made  of  the  growth  of  such  trees,  upwards  of 
800  years  old.  According  to  one  authority,  it  is  even  said  to 
have  been  planted  in  the  seventh  century.  It  is  a  gnarled  sturdy- 
looking  veteran,  but  much  the  worse  for  its  thousand  years' 
(supposed)  exposure  on  the  hilltop. 

The  view  from  the  churchyard  is  the  finest  in  the  district. 
It  embraces  a  vast  expanse  of  lovely  scenery,  including  the 
beautiful  valley  of  the  BoUin,  backed  in  the  distance  by  Alderley 
Edge,  the  hills  of  Derbyshire  and  Stafl'ordshiie,  and  many  other 
features  of  interest.     The  church  is  dedicated  to  St.  Mary,  whose 


ALTlUXrHAM    JX1>    nnJIDOX.  17 

"feast"  is  kept  annually  by  wakes  held  in  the  month  of  September. 
This  feast  was  formerly  celebrated  on  the  8th  September,  being 
the  nativity  of  the  Virgin,  but  it  is  now  held  on  the  1st  Sunday 
after  the  full  moon  succeeding  the  Hth  September.  The  event, 
however,  now  evokes  little  or  no  interest.  Leycester  says  that 
the  word  Wakes  or  fast  day  is  derived  from  the  Latin  Vigilfe  a 
Vigilando,  because  at  such  times  people  prayed  most  on  the  night 
before  such  fast  day  in  the  churches  :  "yet  we  find  this  primi- 
tive custom  abused  in  the  reign  of  King  Edgar,  A.D.  967,  and  at 
last  it  turned  into  a  feasting  and  merriment  of  neighbours."  AVho 
will  .say  after  this  that  history  does  not  repeat  itself  ? 

From  extracts  taken  from  the  Bead  Koll,  A.D,  1298,  it  is 
shown  that  "  Robertus  de  ilasci,  by  ye  consent  of  his  wife  and 
heirs  male  of  his  body,  gave  and  devised  unto  Adam  de  Bodon, 
two  oxganges  (56  acres)  of  land  in  Bodon,  rending  yearly  one 
penny  upon  the  Altar  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin  at  Bodon  on  the 
nativity  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  which  is  the  eighth  day  of 
September  in  perpetual  alms  for  the  Salvation  of  the  Souls  of 
Robertus  de  Masci,  his  wife,  ancestors  and  heirs,  and  for  the  souls 
of  Mathew  de  Bodon  and  Hale."  Baron  Masci,  son  and  heir  to 
the  fourth  Hamon  de  Masci,  gave  to  God,  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  and  St.  James,  and  to  the  Prior  and  Convent  of  Birkenhead 
half-an  acre  of  land  in  Doneham  Masci,  together  with  the  advow- 
son  of  the  church  of  our  good  lady  Saint  Mary  in  Bowdon,  A.D. 
1278  ;  "for  in  that  year  was  Richard  Masci,  one  of  the  witnesses. 
Sheriff  of  Chester."  After  the  dissolution  of  the  Abbeys  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII ,  a  new  Bishopric  was  created  at  Chester, 
whereunto  was  given  amongst  other  things  the  church  of  Bowdon. 

The  advowson  of  the  Vicarage  continues  attached  to  the  See 
of  Chester.  The  latter  is  held  by  lease  of  lives  by  the  Earl  of 
Stamford  and  Warrington.  The  church  was  valued  in  the  tax 
roll  of  Pope  Nicholas  in  the  thirteenth  century  at  £11  6s.  8d., 
and  at  £24:  per  annum  in  the  King's  book.  In  1666,  according 
to  Sir  Peter  Leycester,  it  was  £120  per  annum  ;  two  hundred 
years  or  so  later  it  is  given  at  £900  in  the  Clergy  List. 

d3 


18  ALTrilXrHAM   A  XT)    UOJI'DOX. 

A  description  of  the  church  as  it  anciently  stood  will  not  be 
found  uninteresting.  The  exterior  was  chiefly  in  the  Xorman 
style  of  architecture,  introducing  at  the  eastern  termination,  or 
at  the  Carrington  and  Dunham  Chancels,  the  pointed  and  more 
fanciful  Gothic.  The  tower  was  also  in  the  Norman  style 
embattled  and  quadrangular,  and  contained  a  peal  of  sonorous 
bells.     In  the  belfry  is  the  following  : — 

THE    RINGERS'    ORDERS. 
You  ringers  all,  observe  these  orders  well — 
He  pays  his  sixpence  that  o'erturns  a  bell, 
And  he  that  rings  with  either  spur  or  hat 
Must  pay  his  sixpence  certainly  for  that  ; 
And  he  that  rings  and  does  disturb  the  peal 
Must  pay  his  sixpence  or  a  gun  of  ale. 
These  laws  elsewhere  in  every  church  are  used. 
That  bells  and  ringers  may  not  be  abused. 

James  Millatt,  Ferdinand  Laughton,  George  Wright, 
and  James  Fletcher,  Churchwardens  :  Joseph  Drink- 
water,  John  Pickering,  Aaron  Eccles,  Peter  Picker- 
ing, John  Dean,  John  Hobbert,  Parish  Ringers. 

Formerly,  the  sixth  bell  was  tolled  for  a  funeral,  and  after 
being  tolled  (if  for  a  male)  the  whole  six  bells  were  tolled  thrice 
each  ;  (if  for  a  female)  only  twice  each.  The  curfew  was  rung 
on  the  fifth  bell,  and  the  practice  is  still  continued,  although  the 
day  of  the  month  is  not  tolled  as  it  was  up  to  1864:  or  186.5. 

The  interior  of  the  church  consisted  of  a  nave,  chancel,  and 
side  aisles  with  spacious  galleries  ending  in  two  private  chancels 
appropriated  and  belonging  to  the  Lords  of  Dunham  Massey. 
Kegarding  these  chancels,  it  appears  that  a  dispute  arose  at  the 
death  of  John  Carrington,  between  his  executors  and  the  Brereton 
family,  as  to  the  right  of  legal  possession  of  Carrington  chapel, 
dedicated  to  St.  Nicholas.  The  Breretons  claimed  it  by  reason 
of  being  possessed  of  one-fourth  of  the  lands  in  Bowdon,  and  the 
Booth  family  by  heirship.  The  enquiry  in  1557  by  the  Court  of 
Chancery,  resulted  in  the  claim  of  the  latter  family  being  con- 
firmed. These  chapels  were  divided  from  the  rest  of  the  church 
the  Dunham  one  by  two  pointed  arches  and  the  Carrington  one 


ALTBINCHAM   JNJ)    BOIfDOX.  19 

by  three,  resting  on  short  octagoncal  pillars.  Connected  with 
them  were  original]}'  two  chantry  priests,  John  Percivall  and 
Henry  Tipjjing. 

There  was  also  a  liead  roll  belonging  to  the  chantry  to  the 
following  effect  : — 

Pray  for  ye  good  estate  of  me,  Sr.  Wm.  Booth,  Maude  my  wife, 
Lawrence  Bishoiie,  George  sonne  and  heir  apparent  of  me,  ye  said  Wm., 
Katherine  his  wife,  Vfm.  sonne  of  the  said  George  Bouthe,  Richard 
Bouthe,  John  Boutlie,  and  Wm.  Bouthe,  sonnes  of  me  yt  said  Wm.  Geffrey 
Bouthe  and  Hamnett  Boutlie,  Gierke?,  brethren  of  yt  sd  Sr.  Wm.  Bouthe, 
Lucy  late  wife  of  John  Chantrill,  Ellen  wife  of  Robert  Leigh,  and  Allison 
wife  of  Robert  Hesketh,  sisters  of  me  yt  said  Wm.  Thomas  Duncalfe  and 
James  Hall,  p'sones  of  Northen,  for  ye  souls  late  of  my  father  and  mother, 
that  is  to  .=ay,  Robert  Bouthe,  Knt,  Jane  his  wife,  Wm.  Bouthe  late  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  Rafe  Bouthe  my  sonne,  Jonet,  late  wife  of  Will  Holte,  my 
daughter  Kate  Bouthe,  Mr.  Edmond  Bouthe  Clarke,  Piers  Bouthe  Clerk, 
and  Robert  Bouthe  brethren  of  me,  ye  said  Wm  ,  Jonet  late  wife  of  Will., 
Mainwaringe,  and  Margaret  late  wife  of  James  Scaresbrooke,  my  susters, 
and  especially  for  all  the  

There  was  formerly  an  inscription  over  this  chapel  :  — 

This  is  Dunham  Chapel,  repaired  by  and  belonging  to  the  Lords  of 
Dunham  Massey. 

The  arms  of  the  Booths,  surmounting  with  the  motto,  "  Quod 
ero  spero  "  ;  and  on  the  other  :  — 

This  is  Carrington  Chapel,  repaired  by  and  belonging  to  the  Lords  of 
Dunham  and  Carrington. 

In  the  chapel  belonging  to  Sir  George  Bouthe,  "  on  a  faire 
stone  of  marble  with  beasts  about  it,"  was  "  the  picture  of  a  man 
and  woman  engraven  in  brass."  The  "two  recumbent  figures 
had  clasped  hands  :  the  male  figure  in  plate  armour,  under  his 
feet  six  kneeling  figures  (infants),  and  seven  under  those  of  his 
wife  ;  in  three  angles  of  the  tomb,  the  arms  of  Massey  of  Done- 
ham,  quartering  those  of  the  Bouthes,  and  the  fourth,  those  of 
Butler,  Baron  of  Warrington."    The  inscription  translated  read  :  — 

Of  your  charity  pray  for  the  souls  of  George  Bouthe,  E.squire,  and 
Elizabeth  his  wife,  and  of  the  said  Thomas  Butler  of  Bewsey,  Knt,  which 
George  and  Elizabeth,  had  together  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  said 
(ieorge  Bouthe,  three  sons,  George,  Jo,  and  Robert. 


20  ALTUIXCHAM    AXU    JlOirjmX. 

The  Booths,  at  this  time,  api)eaf  to  have  uscil  the  arms  of  the 
Norman  founder  of  the  Birony. 

In  the  east  window  were  the  words  ; — 

Wch  chapelle  and  chamber  "as  erected  by  Sr  ^Vm.  Booth,  about 
Edn-ard  IV.  raigne. 

And  in  Latin  the  following  :  — 

Pray  for  the  souls  of  Will  Booth  Knt,  and  Matilda  his  wife,  daughter 
of  John  Dutton  Escjr.,  and  for  the  soul  of  Oeorge  Booth,  son  and  heir,  who 
it  is  said  built  this  chapel. 

There  were  other  memorials  existing  in  the  same  chapel  in 
the  16th  and  17th  centuries.  Upon  an  "alabaster  stone"  this 
monument,  engraven  with  an  inscription,  about  the  stone  :  A 
knight  in  plate  armour,  recumbent,  his  head  resting  on  a  helmet, 
the  crest  of  which  is  a  lion  passant,  on  each  side  a  recumbent 
female  ;  over  his  head  the  coat  of  Mascy  of  Dunham  ;  over  the 
dexter  lady,  argent,  an  eagle,  displayed  azure  ;  at  her  feet  four 
children.  Over  the  sinister  lady  the  coat  of  Fitton,  and  at 
her   feet   four    children.       In   Latin   were   the  words  : — 

Here  lies  the  body  of  Sir  William  Booth,  knight,  who  died  on  9th 
Nov.,  1519,  and  Margarete  and  Helena,  wives  of  the  said  William  :  upon 
whose  souls  God  be  merciful.     Amen. 

There  was  a  little  monument  to  two  of  the  children  of  Sir 
George  Bouthe,  Francis  and  George,  who  died  in  infancy.  There 
were  no  arms  upon  it,  but  two  little  children  with  two  torches 
turned  downwards. 

In  the  Carrington  chapel  were  many  similar  inscriptions  and 
arms  of  the  Vawdreys,  Baguleys,  Leghs  of  Baguley,  the  Lords  of 
Carrington,  i<l-c.  On  the  Carrington  side  of  the  chancel  there  is 
an  ancient  monument  of  the  Brereton  family  erected  in  the  years 
1627  to  1637.  Although  bearing  marks  of  great  exposure,  suffi- 
cient of  it  is  still  to  be  seen  to  show  that  it  is  a  real  work  of  art. 
The  husband  and  wife  are  recumbent,  arrayed  in  robes  and  ruffles, 
peculiar  to  the  time  ;  and  underneath,  in  bas-relief,  are  their  eight 
children  in  surcoats.  The  third  holds  a  skull  in  his  hands  ;  and 
between  the  sixth  and  seventh  is  an  infant  in  swaddling  clothes. 
There  is  impaled  beneath  a  canopy  of  frieze  in  the  arabesque,  two 


ALTUIXCIIAM    AXD    UOiriWX.  21 

escutcheons,  Breieton  and  Warburton  arms  conjoined.  The 
family  arms  are  charged  with  27  quarterings  (18  Breretons  and 
9  AYarburtons)  impaling  Hugh  Lupus,  Cholmondeley,  Booth, 
Warburton,  Egerton,  and  others  :  and  there  is  a  beautiful  Latin 
inscription,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation  : — 

Under  this  monument  lie  interred  the  bodies  of  Wm.  Brereton, 
of  Ashley,  in  the  county  of  Chester,  Esq.,  and  Jane  his  wife  ; 
the  former  of  whom  derived  origin  and  descent  from  the  ancient 
and  illustrious  family  of  Lord  William  Brereton,  of  Brereton,  in 
the  aforesaid  county  ;  the  latter  was  one  of  the  daughters  and 
coheiresses  of  Peter  Warburton,  of  Arley,  in  the  said  county. 
Esquire,  lately  deceased.  They  bore  male  children,  Eichard, 
Thomas,  William  (peacefully  sleeping  in  the  Lord)  and  Peter  ; 
females,  Frances,  Maria,  (also  overcome  by  the  bonds  of  death), 
Ann  and  Catherine.  They  enjoyed  themselves  in  conjugal  and 
chaste  love  ;  they  adhered  strictly  to  and  exercised  the  principles 
of  the  true  and  orthodox  religion  (as  Christians  ought  to  do)  ; 
and  having  walked  this  life  righteously  and  holy,  are  now  awaiting 
the  joyful  and  glorious  resurrection  by  the  body  of  Christ  to  be 
conveyed  to  the  heavenly  abode  of  rest,  unto  which  they  were 
called.  Jane,  his  wife,  died  March  2nd,  1627,  aged  G3  years  ; 
William  died  August  29th,  1630,  also  aged  63. 

There  is  a  tradition  concerning  this  couple  that  the  wife,  Jane 
Brereton,  was  murdered,  and  that  her  hands  were  cut  off.  There 
are  no  hands  on  the  female  effigy  ;  but  it  is  just  possible  that  it 
may  have  been  an  act  of  vandalism  on  the  part  of  some  evil- 
disposed  persons  in  former  times. 

While  on  the  subject  of  the  ch.iucel,  it  may  bo  mentioned  that 
in  the  window  in  or  about  the  year  1600,  were  five  coats  of  arms. 
In  the  first,  Tatton  impaling  Davenport ;  second,  Tatton  impaling 
Booth  ;  third,  the  Bishopric  of  Chester  ;  fourth,  Tatton  impaling 
Fitton  ;   fifth,  Tatton,  with  a  label,  impaling  "Wairen. 

In  the  floor  of  the  chancel,  within  the  rails  of  the  altai',  was 
a  somewhat  curious  inscription,  in  Latin  : — 

In  this  place  is  interred  the  remains  of — Gerrai-d,  of  Riddings  tlio  first 
and  la.st  of  that  name — on  the  day  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  167-. 


•2-2  ALTIUXfUAM    AXU    UuirUUX. 

Ill  the  body  of  the  church,  on  the  south  side,  there  was  a 
monument  of  >Sir  William  Bagule}^  Knight.  It  was  a  full-length 
eflSgy,  cut  in  free  stone,  and  represnted  a  warrior  in  mail.  The 
surcoat  and  shield  were  emblazoned  with  the  arms  of  Baguley,  or 
Bagleigh.  As  it  appeared  to  be  in  the  way,  it  was  taken  out  of 
the  church,  and  for  several  years  graced  the  grotto  of  a  gentle- 
man's garden  at  Partington.  It  attracted  some  attention  at  a 
later  period,  and  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  late  T.  W. 
Tatton,  Esq.,  of  AVythenshawe,  it  ultimately  found  a  more 
appropriate  resting  place  at  Baguley  Old  Hall,  from  whence  the 
original  had  sprung. 

There  must  have  been  many  representations  on  painted  glass, 
for  which  Cheshire  churches  are  famous,  at  Bowdon.  In  the  head 
of  the  south  aisle  was  a  very  ancient  coat  of  arms  of  the 
Bagulej's  ;  under  which  was  a  memorial  of  the  Leghs  of  Baguley  ; 
underneath  was  a  kneeling  male  figure  with  one  son  and  four 
daughters  kneeling  behind  him.  In  the  second  window  on  the 
south  side.  Sir  Thomas  Butler,  in  coat  armour,  with  two  sons  and 
eight  daughters  kneeling  behind  him.  In  the  west  window  were 
the  arms  of  the  Barony  of  Dunham  Massey.  In  a  higher  window 
on  the  south  side  were  certain  coats  of  arms,  and  an  inscription  in 
Latin,  desiring  prayers  for  James  Hall,  Rector  of  Northen,  who 
bequeathed  the  window.  On  the  north  side,  in  the  second 
window  from  the  "  bell-house,"  as  it  is  quaintly  termed,  were  two 
kneeling  figures,  the  man  habited  in  a  surcoat  emblazoned  with 
the  arms  of  Ashley,  with  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  ranged 
severally  behind  them.  Over  them  were  the  arms  of  Ashley,  an 
ashbranch  with  ash  keys  dependant.  In  Latin  there  was  a 
request  to  pray  for  the  souls  of  John  Ashley  and  Alice,  his  wife, 
who  caused  the  window  to  be  erected  A.D.  1530.  In  the  next 
window  on  the  north  side,  were  the  arms  of  the  Carriugtons, 
quartering  the  same  coat  -with  a  helmet  and  crest  over.  In  the 
compartment  on  the  dexter  side  of  the  shield  was  a  man  in  armour, 
kneeling,  his  surcoat  emblazoned  with  the  arms  of  Carrington, 
one  son  behind  him  in  this  compartment  and  another  in  the  next. 


ALTIUNCHAM    AND    BOWDOX.  23 

In  the  compartment  on  the  other  side  were  two  kneeling  females, 
their  arms  severally  emblazoned  with  those  of  Brereton  and 
Warburton.  Behind  the  first  was  one  daughter,  and  four  behind 
the  other.  This  was  erected  in  1530  hy  the  Carringtons.  In 
another  window  on  the  north  side  were  two  figures  kneeling  on 
cushions.  The  male  figure's  surcoat  was  emblazoned  with  the 
arms  of  Ashton,  and  the  dress  of  the  female  with  that  of  Butler. 
Over  them  were  the  arms  of  Mascy  of  Dunham,  quartering 
Ashton,  Stayley,  Fitton,  and  Thornton.  Four  sons  and  nine 
daughters  knelt  severally  behind  them  ;  and  an  inscription 
requested  prayers  for  the  good  estate  of  George  Bouthe  and 
Elizabeth  his  wife,  who  erected  the  window  in  1530. 

In  another  light  of  the  same  window  were  the  arms  of  Mascy 
of  Dunham,  surmounted  with  a  crosier  ;  this  window  being 
presented  by  John  Sharpe,  Prior  of  Birkeahead,  in  the  same 
year.  The  same  coat  of  arms  was  repeated  in  the  roof  of  the 
north  aisle,  but  it  has  been  obliterated,  and  the  marks  of  the 
chisel  which  has  been  used  may  still  be  seen. 

In  the  lowermost  window  on  the  north  side  was  another 
memorial  to  a  Prior  of  Birkenhead,  Robert  Millington,  or 
Millenton.  There  were  the  arms  of  Millington  and  an  ecclesiastic 
kneeling,  holding  a  cup  in  his  left  hand. 

In  the  east  window  of  the  north  aisle,  over  against  the  chancel, 
was  a  window  bequeathed  by  Hamonis  Carrington,  and  sur- 
mounted by  the  Carrington  arms. 

On  a  flag  in  the  middle  aisle  was  a  memorial  to  the  Eev.  P. 
Lancaster,  A.M.,  who  died  March  7th,  1763  ;  but  prior  to  the 
restoration  of  the  church,  there  was  a  large  number  of  inscrip- 
tions on  stones  in  the  interior  to  the  servants  of  the  Dunham 
family. 

In  the  Dunham  Chapel  are  two  large  mural  monuments.  One 
has  a  shield  of  60  quarterings  of  the  Booth  family  placed  against 
a  pyramid,  and  resting  on  a  sarcophagus.  At  the  sides  of  the 
pyramids  are  two  medallions  to  the  memory  of  Langham  and 
Henry  Booth,  younger  sons  of  the  then  Earl  of  \\'arrington,  who 

E 


24  ALTIUyCIIAM    AX1>    liUirpUN. 

died  ill  1724:,  and  in  1727.  The  other  is  divided  into  two  taljlels  ; 
the  first  to  the  memory  of  Henry  Booth,  Earl  of  Warrington  and 
Baron  Delamer,  who  died  in  1693-1  ;  the  second  to  the  memory 
of  his  Countess,  sole  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  James  Langham. 
In  the  charging  of  the  siu'coat,  Booth  has  nine  quarterings 
impaling  six  of  Langhams.  The  inscription  regarding  the  Earl  is 
as  follows  : — 

Beneath 

lieth  the  body  of 

the  Right  Honourable  Henry  Booth, 

Earl  of  Warrington  and  Baron  Delamer, 

of  Dunham  Massey  ; 

a  iierson  of 

unblemished    honor, 

impartial  justice, 

strict  integrity, 

an  illustrious  example  of 

steady  and  unalterable  adherence  to 

the  liberties  and  properties  of  his  country, 

in  the  worst  of  times 

rejecting  all  offers  to  allure 

and 

despising  all  danger  to  deter 

him  therefrom, 

for  which   he  was 

thrice  committed  close  prisoner  to  the  tower  of 

London, 

and  at  length 

tried  for  his  life 

upon  a  false  accusation  of  high  treason,  from  w  hich  he  was 

unanimously  acquitted 

by  his  peers,  on  the  1-lth  January,  mdclxxxv-vi.     (16S5-6), 

which  day 

he  afterwards  annually  commemorated 

by  acts  of  devotion  and  charity. 

In  the  year 

MDULXXXVIII     (16SS) 

he  greatly  signalised  himself  at  the 

REVOLUTION 

on  behalf  of 

the  Protestant  religion  and  the  rights  of  the  Nation, 

without  mixture  of  self  interest, 

preferring  the  good  of  his  country 

to  the  favor  of  the  prince 

wlio  then  ascended  the  throne, 


ALTIUNCHAM   AND    BOWIWN.  27 

and 

having  served  his  generation  according  to  the  will  of  God, 

■was  gathered  to  his  fathers  in  peace, 

on  the  second  day  of  January,  169|  (1693-4), 

in  the  xlii.  (forty-second)  year  of  his  age, 

whose  mortal  remains  were  here  entombed 

on  the  same  memorable  day  on  which,  eight  years  before, 

his  trial  had  been. 

The  companion  inscription  sets  forth  the  many  virtues  and 
good  qualities  of  IMary,  Countess  of  Warrington,  his  wife,  as 
follows  : — 

Also  rest  by  him  the  earthly  remains  of  the  Rt.  Honble.  ilary. 
Countess  of  Warrington,  his  wife,  sole  daughter  and  heir  of  Sir  James 
Langham,  of  Cottersbrooke,  in  the  county  of  Northampton,  Knt.  and 
Bart.  :  a  Lady  of  ingenuous  parts,  singular  discretion,  consummate  judge- 
ment, great  humility,  meek  and  compassionate  temper,  extensive  charity, 
exemplary  and  unaffected  piety,  perfect  resignation  to  God's  will  ;  lowly 
in  prosperity  and  patient  in  adversity,  prudent  in  her  affairs,  and  endowed 
with  all  other  virtuous  qualities  ;  a  conscientious  discharger  of  her  duty  in 
all  relations,  being  a  faithful,  affectionate,  obliging,  and  observant  \Yife, 
alleviating  the  cares  and  afHictions  of  her  husband,  by  willingly  sharing 
with  him  therein  ;  a  tender,  indulgent,  and  careful  Mother,  a  dutiful  and 
respectful  Daughter,  gentle  and  kind  to  her  servants  ;  courteous  and 
beneficent  to  her  neighbours,  a  sincere  friend,  a  lover  and  valuer  of  all 
good  people,  justly  beloved  and  admired  by  all  who  knew  her,  who  having 
perfected  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God  was  by  Him  received  to  an  early  and 
eternal  Rest  from  her  labours  on  the  23rd  of  March,  169i,  in  the  xxwii. 
year  of  her  age,  calmly,  composedly  meeting  and  desiring  death,  with 
joyful  hope  and  steadfastness  of  faith,  a  lively  draught  of  real  worth  and 
goodness. 

A  pattern  deserving  an  imitation. 
Of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy. 

mh.  xi.,  3s. 

Underneath  are  the  words  : — 

To  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  so  much  virtue  till  that  great  day 
come,  wherein  it  .«hall  be  openly  rewarded,  this  monument  is  erected  as  a 
mark  of  dutiful  respect  and  affection  by  the  care  of  their  son  George,  Earl 
of  Warrington,  who  reveres  their  memory. 

Mottoes  :  Ero  quod  spero  (Let  me  be  what  I  wish  or  profess  to 
be) ;  and  A  ma  puissance  (According  to  my  power). 
On  the  second  monument  is  the  following  : — 

This  monument  is 

erected 

to  the  ever  valuable  memory  of  the  Honorable 

Langham  and  Henry  Bootli, 


ALrilJNCIlAM   AND    BOIVDOX. 

younger  sons  of  the 

Right  Honorable  Henry  late  Earl  of 

Warrington. 

Both  of  them  began  their  earthly  pilgrimage  on  the 

Loid's  Day' 

and, 

ufter  having  fought  a  good  fight 

clieerfully  resigned  their  souls  into  the  mercifull 

hands  of  their  God  and  Saviour 

JESUS   CHRIST, 

finishing  their  course  in  ye  XL.  year  of  their  respective  ages, 

the  former  on  the  xii.  of  May,  mdccxiv.  (1714) 

;  latter  on  the  11  Febr.  mdccxxvii.,  do  now  rest  in  hope  to  receive 

their  bodies 

immortal  and  glorious 

in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord. 


In  the  sight  of  the  unwise  they  .seemed  to  die,  but  they  are  in  peace 
and  their  hope  full  of  Immortality,  for  (iod  proved  them  and  found  them 
Worthy  of  Himself ;  for  Hnble.  age  is  not  measured  by  Number  of 
years,  but  they  being  made  perfect  in  a  short  time,  fulfilled  a  long  time, 
and  pleasing  God  were  beloved  of  Him,  so  that  living  among  sinners  they 
were  translated.  — KYs.  iii.  and  iv. 

On  a  brass  which  was  formerly  fixed  in  a  stone  at  the  descent 
to  the  family  vault  of  the  Earls  of  Stamford  and  "Warrington,  kc, 
was  an  inscription  of  which  the  following  is  a  translatioiL  It 
was  not  replaced  at  the  restoration  of  the  church  : — 

Under  this  monument  are  interred  the  remains  of  George,  Lord 
Delamer,  Baron  of  the  ancient  and  noble  house  of  Dunham  Massey,  wlio 
was  distinguished  by  his  piety,  fidelity,  and  nflection  to  God,  King,  and 
Country,  and  who  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his  age  exchanged  an  earthly 
coronet  for  a  celestial  crown,  and  died  on  the  10th  day  of  August,  in  the 
year  of  our  Salvation  1684.  William  Andrews,  deploring  the  death  of  his 
most  honourable  Lord  (in  whose  serxice  he  had  continued  for  upwards  of 
30  years,  faithfully  emulating  and  partaking  in  the  loyalty  which  his 
master  showed  to  his  King),  this  monument  to  his  ever-blessed  and  happy 
memory  has  been  erected,  consecrated,  and  preserved,  and  a  hope  added 
that  when  his  life  at  the  same  time  with  his  official  duty  to  that  noble 
family  came  to  an  end,  at  the  entrance  to  this  tomb  his  ashes  might  rest, 
until  the  day  when  they  might  rise,  together  with  those  of  his  master, 
into  the  new  and  eternal  life.     Died  25th  day  of  July,  1685. 

In  the  south-east  angle  of  this  chapel  is  a  portion  of  a  piscina, 
much  defaced,  formerly  used  for  holy  water. 


CHAPTER  III. 
Descnplion  of    the    old    church,    continued — The   tales   told    h'j   the 
tomhstones  and  the   tablets — .J    curious  old   stone. 

THEKE  still  remains  something  to  be  s;iid  about  the  old 
structure,  and  having  described  the  Dunham  and 
Carrington  Chapels,  we  pass  on  to  the  other  parts  of 
the  church.  The  vestry  was  situated  under  the  belfry,  and 
occupied  the  ancient  western  entrance,  and  at  the  north  entrance 
were  the  font  and  the  gallery  stairs  and  near  the  south  porch  the 
organ  gallery  stairs.  The  galleries  were  of  fair  dimensions.  The 
organ  gallery  was  built  under  a  faculty  from  the  Bishop  of 
Chester,  and  the  organ  was  presented  by  the  Eai-1  of  Stamford 
and  Warrington  in  1822.  This  was  afterwards  pulled  down, 
and  a  new  one  built  in  the  Carrington  Chapel,  which  in  its  turn 
gave  place  in  1876  to  a  noble  instrument  built  by  Messrs. 
Jardine  and  Co.,  of  Manchester.  The  galleries  on  the  north 
side  were  enlarged  and  re-built  in  the  year  184],  at  the  sole 
expense  of  the  vicar,  the  Rev.  W.  H.  G.  Mann,  M.A.  The  side 
aisles  of  the  church  had  handsome  carved  oak  roofs.  On  the 
south  side  the  roof  had  remained  unfinished  for  centuries,  and 
had  become  so  dilapidated  as  to  render  its  restoration  necessary'. 
This  was  undertaken  by  Mr.  Kay,  of  Manchester,  and  was 
executed  by  him  with  such  exactness  as  to  preserve  its  pristine 
efifect.  There  was  some  exquisite  carving,  and  the  cluster  points 
all  varied  in  pattern.  The  ceilings  were  divided  from  the  nave 
by  five  pointed  arches  on  each  side,  resting  on  short  octagonal 
pillars  with  capitals.  The  roof  appears  to  have  been  taken 
down  about  1778,  and  the  walls  rai.scd  ;  at  which  time  John  Coe, 
Richard  Leather,  Thoma.s  Ashley,  and  J<ihn  Slater  were  cburoh- 
wardens. 


30  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDOX. 

There  ;ire  several  monuments  in  \-arious  parts  of  the  church 
which  have  not  been  hitherto  mentioned.  Prominent  amongst 
them  is  a  fine  mural  one  to  the  memory  of  Thomas  and  Harriet 
Assheton,  of  Ashley,  and  their  son,  Thomas  Assheton  Smith, 
descendants  of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Breretons  of  Bovvdon  :— 

In  a  vault  near  this  place  were  interred 

the  remains  of  Thomas  Assheton,  of  Assheley,  Esq., 

on  the  9th  clay  of  July,  1759,  aged  64. 

Also  in  the  same  vault,  Harriet  Assheton, 

who  died  at  Manchester,  Jan.,  1773,  aged  74  ; 

also,  the  remains 

of  Thomas  Assheton  Smith,  of  Asheley,  Esq., 

son  of  the  above  Thomas  and  Harriet, 

who  died  April  16th,  1774,  aged  49  years, 

to  whose  memory  \Vm.  Henry  Assheton  Smith,  Esq., 

erects  this  monument. 

Qui<  desiderio  sit  pudor  aut  modus 

Tam  cari  capitis. 

Also  the  remains  of 

William  Henry  Assheton  Smith,  Es(|.. 

younger  son  of  the  above, 

Thomas  Assheton  Smith,  Esq., 

who  died  at  Hailey,  in  the  county  of  O.vford, 

March  4th,  1839,  aged  82  years. 


Sacred 

to  the  memory  of 

Hugh  Fitz-Patriok  Hall,  Esq., 

of  Jamaica,  and  late  of  Ashley,  in  this  county, 

who  died  on  the  27th  day  of  June,  1788, 

in  the  3Sth  year  of  his  age  : 

also,  Martha  his  wife, 

the  second  daughter  of 

Marsden   Kenyon,  Esq., 

of  Manchester, 

who  died  on  the  14th  day  of  Jan.,  1780, 

in  the  26th  year  of  her  age. 

In  a  recess  at  the  south  entrance  to  the  organ  gallery  was  a 
tablet  to  the  memory  of  a  most  unostentatious  man,  the  Eev. 
Thomas  Whittaker,  sometime  perpetual  curate  of  Eingway  : — 

What  he  was  as  a  scholar  he  desired  not  to  have  recorded. 
What  he  «  as  as  a  minister  of  Christ 
ought  ever  to  bo  had  in  remembrance  ; 


ALTRINGHAM   AND    BOJVDON.  31 

and  when  those  who  revered  him  as  a  guide, 

a  counsellor,  and  a  friend  are  seen  no  more, 

let  this  humble  memorial  testify 

how  diligently  he  instructed  the  young, 

warned  the  careless,  sought  out  the  neglected, 

comforted  the  afflicted,  and  preached  to  all 

the  doctrine  of  his  God  and  Saviour, 

which  he  cordially  embraced, 

which  his  life  adorned,  and  whose  consolations 

he  enjoyed  in  his  last  hours. 

he  died  May  vii,  mdcocxviii.  (1818), 

aged  LXiii  (63)  years. 

God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in 

the  Gross  of  Christ  my  Lord.— C?a^  vi.  5. 

In  the  middle  aisle  was  a  tablet  with  a  Latin  inscription  to 
the  memory  of  John  Baldwin,  LL.B.  : — 

Who  was  placed  over  the  parish  of  Bowdon  as  Vicar  more  than 
forty-three  years.  To  him  was  entrusted  the  joyful  gift  of  the  ministry, 
whiqh  he  diligently  performed  ;  and  at  length,  having  concluded  his 
labours,  peacefully  returned  his  soul  to  God  in  the  year  of  safety,  on  the 
3rd  day  of  July,  1815,  aged  69. 

On  the  same  stone  is  also  an  inscription  to  — 

John  Baldwin,  junior,  his  only  and  much  beloved  son,  who  had 
scarcely  entered  into  the  sacred  office,  in  which  he  dutifully  pointed  out 
the  way  of  the  blessed,  when  he  expired,  having  fulfilled  the  task  imposed, 
on  the  16th  January,  in  the  year  of  safety,  1817,  aged  2,5  years.  Wife, 
husband,  mother,  son,  bewailing. 

There  are  the  following  inscriptions  in  other  parts  of  the 
church  : — 

This  humble  tablet 

in  conformity  with  the  unassuming  tenor  of  his  mind 

records  the  death  of 

William  Harle  Nicholls,  M.D., 

a  native  of  the  city  of  Durham, 

whose  character  as  a  man 

reflects  honour  upon  human  nature  ; 

visiting  at  Altrincham  upon  a  tour  of  observation, 

he  was  arrested  by  a  call  from  his  Creator 

May  28th,  1830,  in  the  69th  year  of  his  age, 

and  was  interred  in  the  cemetery 

of  this  church. 


ALTRINCHAM    AND    UUlFDON. 


Sacred 

to  the  memory  of 

the  Reverend  Daniel  Whittle,  A.M., 

late  of  Hollingworth  Hall,  in  this  county, 

who  after  a  ministry,  short  but  faithful  and  approved, 

at  Saint  George's  Chapel,  in  Altrinchara, 

in  the  prime  of  life,  in  the  midst  of  usefulness 

was  by  his  Master  summoned  away  from  his  work, 

with  him  to  rest,  with  him  to  reign, 

on  22nd  April,  A.D.  1834  ; 

born  26th  Jan.,  a.d.  1800. 

Looking  for  that        *         *         Titus  ii. 


To  the  memory  of 

Edward  Jeremiah  Lloyd, 

of  Oldtield  Hall, 

a  magistrate  for  the  counties  of 

Chester  and  Lancaster, 

and  a  Captain  in  the  Earl  of  Chester's  Yeomanry  Cavalry, 

who  closed  an  exemplary  and  useful  life 

on  the  3id  day  of  July,  1850, 

in  the  Gist  year  of  his  age. 

Distinguished  by  the  urbanity  of  his  manners 

and  the  kindness  of  his  disposition 

no  less  than  by  his  undeviating  honour 

and  exact  sense  of  justice  : 

accessible  and  benevolent  to  the  poor, 

considerate  and  attentive  to  all, 

he  engaged  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  affections, 

while  he  commanded  the  respect 

of  every  class  of  society. 

to  testify  their  appreciation  of  his  worth 

and  to  record  so  eminent  an  example  of  excellence  ; 

the  inhabitants  of  this  neighbourhood 

and  the  members  of  the  corps  to  which  he  belonged, 

have  caused  this  tablet 

to  be  erected. 


I.H.S. 
Sacred  to  the  Memory  of  Tliomas  Bagshaw,  of  Altrincham,  late  of 
Manchester,  who  died  October  lotli,  1843,  in  the  70th  year  of  his  age.  His 
loss  was  deeply  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him,  for  through  a  long  and 
peaceful  life  he  worthily  sustained  the  character  of  a  faithful  and  sincere 
friend,  a  truly  lionorable  man,  and  a  benefactor  of  mankind.    As  a  grateful 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOJVDON.  33 

tribute  to  his  departed  wortli,  and  as  a  mark  of  the  deep  esteem  with 
which  his  memory  is  cherished,  this  tablet  is  erected  by  his  sole  surviving 
Niece,  S.B. 

"  The  praise  of  Man  is  fluctuating  and  perisheth. 
The  testimony  of  a  good  conscience  endureth  for  ever." 

Passing  from  the  interior  to  the  exterior,  we  enter  the  church- 
yard to  note  many  points  of  interest  to  be  discerned  there.  Some 
of  the  old  inscriptions  are  rather  curious. 

On  a  stone,  on  the  north  side,  is  the  following  : — 
The  body  that  this  stone  doth  here  embrace, 
So  like  to  Leah,  with  a  Rachael's  face, 
Sarah's  obedience,  likewise  Lydia's  heart. 
With  Martha's  care,  and  Mary's  better  part. 

This  was  formerly  to  be  seen  under  the  chancel  window  : — 
Here  lie  the  bodies  of  a  daughter  of  John  Cooke,  of  Altrincham,  an 
attorney  at  law,  and  Sarah  his  wife,  who,  though  full  grown  {and  a  while 
before  alive),  was  born  dead  the  16th  and  buried  17th  March,  1749. 

Near  the  old  yew  tree  is  : — 

Here  lieth  the  body  of  John  Pixton,  of  Altrincham,  who  died  27th 
Sepr.,  1843,  in  the  96th  year  of  his  age  ;  Mary,  wife  of  John  Pixton,  of 
Altrincham,  who  died  21st  February,  1S4I,  in  the  9.Srd  year  of  her  age. 
Twenty  years  they  lived  a  single  life. 
Seventy-two  they  lived  a  married  life. 
Three  years  he  lived  a  widower  chaste. 
And  now  hath  left  the  world  and  gone  to  rest. 

On  one  of  the  stones  is  an  old  heading  in  Eoman  letters  LB. 
1633,  enclosed  in  a  square  ;  but  the  oldest  inscription  to  be  found 
in  the  yard  is  on  a  long  narrow  stone,  also  not  far  from  the  old 
yew  tree.  Owing  to  the  way  in  which  the  words  are  divided,  it 
is  somewhat  difficult  to  decipher  at  first  sight,  but  it  reads  as 
follows  : — 

Here  lyeth  the  bodie  of  William  Artinstall,  de  Ringey,  deceased 
November  xxvii,  Ac.  Do.  1617  ;  also  the  bodie  of  Laurence  Artinstall,  of 
Ringey,  who  departed  this  life  August  4th,  Anno.  Dom.  1684. 

On  the  grave  of  Francis  Booth,  who  was  Clerk  of  the  church 
40  years  (it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  there  have  only  been  three 
clerks  during   120  years,   Mr.   H.   Service  l^eing   the   last,    who 

f3 


34  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJFDON. 

served  forty),  is  an  inscription  at  once  unique  and  suggestive. 

It  reads  : — 

I  oft  have  viewed  the  gloomy  place 
Which  claims  the  relicks  of  the  human  race, 
And  read  on  the  insculptured  stone 
Here  lies  the  body  of     . 

but  now  my  own 
Dissolves  to  native  dust,  and  as  you  see 
Another  here  has  done  the  same  for  me. 

Our  life  is  but  a  winter's  day, 
Some  only  breakfast  and  away, 
Others  to  dinner  stay  and  are  full  fed, 
The  oldest  man  but  sups  and  goes  to  bed  ; 
Large  is  his  debt  who  lingers  out  the  day. 
Who  goes  the  soonest  has  the  least  to  pay. 

On  the  tombstone  of  John  Bray,  of  Dunham,  who  was  81  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  and  his  wife  Martha,  aged  91,  are  the 
following  lines  : — 

Our  term  of  life  is  70  years — an  a£;e  that  few  survive, 

But  if  we've  more  than  common  strength,  to  80  we  arrive  ; 

And  then  our  boasted  strength  decays,  to  sorrow  turned  and  pain  ; 

And  soon  the  slender  thread  is  cut,  and  we  no  longer  reign. 

Near  the  tower  is  another  stone,  inscribed  to  the  memory  of 
Peter  Shaw,  of  Bowdon,  who  died  in  1825,  aged  74  years.  He 
was  the  faithful  servant  of  Mr.  Thomas  Davenport,  of  Oldfield, 
"for  24  years  and  upwards "  : — 

Farewell,  vain  world,  I've  seen  enough  of  thee, 
And  now  am  careless  what  thou  sayest  of  me, 
Thy  smiles  I  court  not,  nor  thy  frowns  I  fear, 
My  cares  are  past,  my  head  lies  quiet  here. 
What  faults  you  saw  in  me  take  care  to  shun, 
And  look  at  home — enough  there's  to  be  done. — 
Where'er  I  lived  or  died,  it  matters  not, 
To  whom  related  or  by  whom  begot. 
I  was,  now  am  not,  ask  no  moi'e  of  me, 
'Tis  all  I  am,  and  all  that  you  shall  be. 

There  are  references  on  some  of  the  stones  to  the  ancient 
family  of  Vawdrey,  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  annals  of  the 


1244121 


ALTEINCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 


There  are  two  siich  references  which  may  be  quoted  as 
possessing  great  interest : — 

William  Vawdrey,  of  Owlerbarrow,  gent.,  sonne  to  John  Vawdrey  of 
Banke,  gent,  was  borne  the  20th  day  of  Nov.  Anno  Dom.  1606.  He 
married  Mary,  the  daughter  and  hi-erotrix  of  John  Massey,  gent,  and  after, 
Alice,  sister  to  Sir  Edward  Moore  of  Thelewell,  baronet,  and  had  by  them 
sixteen  sonnes  and  daughters.  Departed  this  life  and  was  buried  the  l'2th 
day  of  May,  Anno  Dom.  1665. 

On  the  stone  are  the  arms  of  the  Vawdreys.     Also  : — 

The  mortalitie  and  death  of  the  sonnes  and  daughters  of  William 
Vawdrey  of  Owlerbarrow,  gent.,  by  Alice  his  wife  : 

Alice,  second  November,  1650. 

Richard,  17th  December,  1650. 

John,  23rd  January,  1651. 

Thomas,  16th  July,  16.54. 

Henry,  3rd  December,  1654. 
and   William,   seventh   sonne,   likewise   departed   this   life  22nd  day  of 
January,   1664. 


On  a  raised  tombstone,  surrounded  by  iron'railings,  within  a 
few  yards  of  the  tower  on  the  south-west  side,  is  an  inscription  to 
the  memory  of  Eobert  Kothwell,  of  Agden,  who,  with  his  wife 
and  children,  who  apparently  all  died  young,  is  interred  here, 
having  died  at  the  age  of  45. 

Beneath  this  rustic  monument  there  lies 
One  whose  pure  soul  beat  high  in  virtue's  cause  ; 
Religion's  favorite  child,  he  was  the  boast — 
And  champion  of  the  poor,  blessing  and  blest  ! 
Within  the  narrow  circle  of  his  friends  he  lived 
Unknown  to  fame  : 
'    Unknown  he  died. 
Alas  !  too  soon  in  manhood's  prime  he  fell. 
Say  ye  who  knew  him  best  was  not  his  life 
A  perfect  model  of  a  Christian's  course? 
And  stranger  whosoe'er  thou  art  whose  steps, 

or  chance  or  melancholy  this  way  leads 
If  thou  dost  honour  merit,  pause  !  'tis  hallowd  ground, 
Here  in  the  arms  of  death  a  village  Hambden  (?)  sleeps. 


36  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJFDON. 

On  the  gravestone  of  a  young  girl  who  died  suddenly,  is  the 
following  ; — 

Warned  by  "my  fate  be  ever  on  your  guard 
Lest  sudden  death  should  meet  you  unprepared 
Innocent  and  young  I  saw  no  danger  near 
Stranger  both  to  sickness,  pain  and  fear. 

Inscriptions  are  to  be  found  to  the  memory  of  two  infant 
sons  of  a  former  Vicar,  the  Rev.  W.  H.  G.  Mann  :  — 

Bold  Infidelity  turn  pale  and  die  ! 

Beneath  this  stone  an  infant's  ashes  lie. 

Say,  is  it  lost  or  saved  ? 

If  death's  by  sin,  it  sinned,  for  it  lies  here  ; 

If  heaven's  by  works,  in  heaven  it  can't  appear. 

Ah  Reason  !  how  depraved  ! 

Revere  the  Bible's  sacred  page— the  knot's  untied 

It  died  through  Adam's  sin— it  lives  for  .Jesu's  shed. 

On  the  second  boy,  which  died  aged  one  year,  is  the 
following : — 

To  us  for  just  12  anxious  months  his  infant  smiles  were  given, 
And  then  he  bade  farewell  to  earth  and  went  to  live  in  heaven  ; 
We  cannot  tell  what  form  is  his,  what  looks  he  weareth  now. 
Nor  guess  how  bright  a  glory  crowns  his  shining  seraph  brow  ; 
But  we  know,  for  God  has  told  us  this,  that  he  is  now  at  rest 
Where  other  blessed  infants  lie  on  their  Saviour's  loving  breast ; 
We  know  too  we  shall  meet  our  babe  through  the  same  Saviour's 

grace, 
Where  God  for  aye  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  every  face. 

On  a  raised  tombstone  on  the  westerly  side  is  an  inscription 
to  the  memory  of  an  aged  lady  : — 

The  storms  of  life  are  now  o'er  blown, 
Fear,  trouble,  care,  grief,  pain  are  gone. 
And  God  in  Christ  will  hence  display 
The  sunshine  of  eternal  day. 

Perhaps  the  very  last  of  these  rhyming  inscriptions  is  the  one 
which  perpetuates  the  memory  of  one  who  in  life  was  one  of  our 
worthiest  citizens  : — 

In  affectionate  remembrance  of  .loseph  Owen,  who  died  April  4th, 
1866,  in  his  51st  year. 


ALTRINGHAM   AND    BOWDON.  37 

Yes,  he  is  gone,  of  parents  best  : 

A  aiaster,  kindly,  just ; 

His  sleep  will  be  the  Christian's  rest 

Who  lived  a  life  of  trust. 

Yes,  gone  !  in  life's  fair  noon  removed, 

When  all  was  doubly  dear, 

Bat  those  he  cherished — her  he  loved 

Will  commune  with  him  here. 

A  notable  monument  near  the  centre  of  the  churchyard,  which 
bears  by  its  freshness  the  mark  of  loving  and  tender  care,  is  that 
to  the  memory  of  David  Stott,  founder  of  St.  Paul's  Sunday 
School,  Bennett  Street,  Manchester,  who  died  February  26th, 
1848,  aged  68  years.     The  inscription  runs  : — 

He  founded  this  institution  in  the  year  1801,  and  was  permitted  in 
the  goodness  of  God  to  labour  in  the  management  of  it  until  the  last  week 
of  his  life.  His  gentleness  and  devotion  amply  fitted  him  for  a  Sunday 
School  Instructor ;  his  benevolence  and  discretion  enabled  him  to  foster 
this  Institution,  equally  eminent  for  its  usefulness,  with  success.  He  was 
also  the  originator  of  sick  and  burial  societies  in  connection  with  Sunday 
Schools,  and  was  a  noble  example  of  what  may  be  effected  by  the  influence 
of  christian  principles,  affection  and  perseverance,  wlien  devoted  to  the 
service  of  the  Saviour.  This  tribute  of  affection  is  erected  in  veneration  of 
his  efi'orts  and  example,  by  the  visitors,  teachers  and  friends  of  the  said 
school. 

In  the  same  grave  rest  the  remains  of  his  wife,  Jane,  who  died 
May  11th,  1851,  aged  70  years. 


CHAPTEEi     IV. 

The  Parish  Church,  Us  restoration — Bemiiiders  and  relics  of  aiitiquit// — 
Description  of  restored  edifice — Tablets  to  the  Fen.  ArcMeacon 
Pollock,  and  to  the  first  Vicar  of  St.  Margaret's — The  stained  glass 
windmvs  and  their  donors — A  run  through  the  registers — Curious 
and  interesting  extracts — the  Boiodon  Proverb — Notices  of  Vicars, 
with  list — The  ancient  rating  valuation,  or  mize — List  of  benefac- 
tions, &c. 

THE  hoary  pile  which  had  served  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
parish  for  so  many  centuries  at  length  fell  into  irreparable 
decay,  and  the  substitution  of  an  edifice  more  calculated  to 
meet  the  increased  requirements  of  the  age  was  rendered  necessary. 
It  is  a  matter  for  thankfulness  that  Bowdon  has  escaped  that  spirit 
of  vandalism  which  demolishes  while  it  does  not  reproduce,  and  that 
the  restoration  of  its  parish  church  is  essentially  so  both  in  spirit 
and  in  fact.  As  nearly  as  possible  the  old  type  has  been  adhered 
to. 

In  1854  attention  was  drawn  to  the  state  of  the  church,  and 
two  years  afterwards  plans  were  j)repared  ;  but  these  were  objected 
to  for  many  reasons,  and  ultimately,  after  some  competition,  Mr. 
W.  H.  Brakspear  was  entrusted  with  the  important  work.  In 
the  demolition  of  the  ancient  structure  the  remains  of  two 
churches  formerly  existing  on  the  site  were  discovered.  These 
were  unmistakably  portions  of  the  ancient  Norman  church,  pro- 
bably of  the  twelfth  century,  and  a  decorated  church  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  traces  of  Norman  work  were,  indeed, 
very  numerous.  A  piscina,  cusped-headed,  having  marks  of  foiu- 
crockets  and  a  finial,  was  also  found  ;  but  whether  this  was  from 
the  high  altar  or  not  is  uncertain.  Another  feature  of  interest 
was  the  stone  figure  of  a  recumbent  Knight,  in  armour,  greatly 
worn,  found  in  the  foundations  of  the  nave  pier. 


ALTlilNCIIJM    AND    BOJFDOX.  39 

The  first,  or  foundation,  stone  was  laid  on  Wednesdaj-,  18th 
August,  1858,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of  spectators, 
by  the  Bishop  of  Chester.  The  Vicar  (Kev.  W.  Pollock)  on  that 
occasion  announced  that  there  had  been  received  from  various 
sources  the  sum  of  £6,000.  The  Nonconformists  had  responded 
to  his  appeal  in  a  way  which  called  forth  his  warmest  gratitude. 
The  silver  trowel  which  he  presented  to  the  Bishop  bore  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  : — 

To  John,  Lord  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  patron  of  the  living,  on  his 
laying  the  first  stone,  in  the  restoration  of  their  ancient  Parish  Church,  by 
the  Vicar  and  Building  Committee,  on  belialf  of  the  parishioners  of 
Bowdon,  18th  August,  1858.  Reverend  William  Pollock,  M.A.,  Vicar, 
John  Mort,  A.  W.  Mills,  John  Reid,  and  John  Warburton,  Church- 
wardens. 

It  has  been  erected  on  a  more  extended  scale,  but  occupies  the 
same  site,  and  to  some  extent  rests  on  the  old  foundation.  By 
the  introduction  of  north  and  south  transepts,  the  increase  in  size 
has  been  made  principally  towards  the  east,  which  consequently 
required  a  greater  height  than  before  existed.  Thus  the  aisles, 
walls,  clerestory,  and  tower  have  been  considerably  increased  in 
size.  All  the  architectural  features  of  any  value  have  been  repro- 
duced, and  the  north  and  south  aisle  ceilings  of  carved  oak  remain 
entire,  and  have  been  carefully  restored.  Those  portions  of  the 
old  church  that  had  been  preserved  from  an  earlier  building  have 
also  been  utilized,  which  will  explain  why  the  architecture  of  the 
middle  and  third  pointed  periods  are  found  side  by  side.  The 
general  character  of  the  architecture,  however,  is  that  of  the  per- 
pendicular, or  third  pointed  period. 

The  arcades  of  the  nave  have  been  somewhat  extended  in  their 
span,  and  transept  arches  introduced,  otherwise  they  may  be  con- 
sidered a  restoration.  The  aisles  and  chapels  being  of  unusual 
width,  they  ha\-e  Ijeen  spanned  by  two  arches  of  similar  design  to 
those  of  the  nave.  There  arc  also  two  arches  on  either  side  of 
the  chancel,  opening  out  of  the  chapel.  The  chancel  has  a 
massive  arch  of  separation  from  the  nave,  in  the  deep  hollow 
moulding   of    which    is    arranged,    at    certain   distances,  carved 


40  ALI'UIXL'ILIM    AXD    JlUiri'OX. 

Houers  and  foliage,  which  also  with  the  mouldings  to  some  extent 
return  down  the  pier.  There  is  a  lofty  arch  and  stone  carved 
screen  opening  out  of  the  tower  and  inner  porch,  which  has  a  rich 
continuous  car\ed  hollow  mould  in  the  arch  and  piers.  Over  this 
arch  is  a  circular  traceried  opening  for  ventilation,  connected  -srith 
an  exhauster  in  th*  tower  above.  The  whole  of  the  interior  is 
lined  with  finely  worked  ashlar,  with  the  exception  of  the  Vestry, 
Avhich  has  since  been  extended  so  as  to  give  accommodation  to  the 
choir  and  clergy. 

The  two  chapels,  as  is  well  known,  were  formerly  the  mortuary 
chapels  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Earls  of  Stiimford  and  War- 
i-ington,  and  under  the  South  or  Dunham  Chapel  is  the  present 
family  vault.  To  give  the  true  character  to  these  chapels,  monu- 
mental arches  and  copestones  have  been  introdiiced  externally 
immediately  above  the  base  mould,  and  above  each  is  a  circidar 
window  with  tracery  arranged  as  a  cross. 

The  tower,  which  was  only  intended  to  V)e  taken  partly  down, 
was  found  too  dilapidated,  and  had  to  be  wholly  rebuilt.  The 
restored  one  is  certainly  a  striking  conception.  Its  height  from 
the  ground  to  the  top  of  the  parapet  is  91  feet  6  inches,  being  31 
feet  6  inches  higher  than  the  old  one.  It  is  surmounted  by  eight 
richly  crocketed  pinnacles,  the  four  corner  ones  lieing  terminated 
with  gilt  copper  vanes. 

The  interior  is  lighted  with  gas.  Foiu-  polished  brass  coronte, 
of  eight  lights  each,  are  in  the  nave  ;  one  in  each  of  the  transepts  ; 
one  in  the  chancel ;  three  in  each  aisle,  and  one  in  the  Dunham 
Chapel,  of  six  lights  each. 

•Most  of  the  tablets  formerly  in  the  old  church  are  to  be  found 
in  the  restored  edifice.  There  are  also  additional  ones,  of  which  it 
becomes  necessary  to  speak.     First  and  foremost  is  the  following  : 

This  tablet  and  the  monument  over  his  grave  were  erected  by  the 
parishioners  in  loving  memory  of  William  I'ollock,  D.D.,  who,  tifter  much 
and  varied  pastoral  work,  diligently  and  faithfully  done,  in  the  diocese  at 
Stockport,  Macclesfield,  St.  Helens,  and  Liverpool,  was  appointed  Vicar 
of  this  parish  in  1856,  and  subsequently  Rural  Dean  of   Frodsham  East, 


ALTrdXClIAM   AND    nOJI'DOX.  41 

honorary  Canon  of  Chester  Cathedral  and  Archdeacon  of  Chester.  The 
complete  reconstruction  of  this  church,  the  building  of  St.  Mark's  Church 
at  Dunham,  and  the  Bowdon  and  Ashley  Parochial  Schools,  are  among  the 
memorials  of  the  great  influence  which  the  love  and  respect  he  inspired 
enabled  him  to  exercise.  Born  I2th  April,  1812:  died  lltli  October,  187.3. 
"  Bles.sed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord." 

Also  : — 

This  tablet  is  placed  by  grateful  friend-i  of  the  Rev.  John  Kingsley, 
M.A.,  Vicar  of  St.  Margaret's,  Dunham  Massey,  to  record  his  f.iithful  ser- 
vices while  curate  of  the  parish  church  during  a  period  of  twenty  years. 
He  died  in  the  sixty-fiist  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in  this  church- 
yard on  the  ISth  day  of  November,  1869.  "Verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye 
have  done  it  unto  me."—S(.  M-itthew  xxv.  40. 

The  following  is  the  inscviption  on  a  hniss  at  the  west  end  of  the 
south  aisle  wall  : — 

This  church  of  St.  Mary,  at  first  erected  in  Saxon  times,  and  after- 
wards thrice  restored,  viz.,  about  the  years  of  grace  1100,  1320,  and  1510, 
was  rebuilt  and  enlarged  by  voluntary  subfCriptions,  the  good  work  being 
cimpleted  according  to  the  good  hand  of  our  God  upon  us,  a.d.  1860. 
William  Pollock,  M.A.,  Vicar;  John  Mort,  Alexander  W.  Mills,  D.  A. 
Clarke,  John  Reid,  JNI.  E.  Lycott,  Churchwardens  ;  W.  H.  Brakspear, 
Architect.     "  '  The  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.' 

There  are  several  stained  glass  windows  of  great  beauty.  The 
large  east  window  has  for  its  subject  the  crucifixion,  the  centre 
light  containing  the  figure  of  Our  Saviour,  and  on  each  side  are 
the  malefactors,  which,  however,  are  not  made  too  prominent. 
The  other  lights  and  tracery  are  filled  with  pictures  of  the  Ascen- 
sion, the  scene  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  the  Marys 
going  to  the  sepulchre  with  angels,  Abraham  offering  up  his  son 
Isaac,  and  Moses  lifting  up  the  brazen  serpent,  both  e\ents  lieing 
typical  of  the  Crucifixion.     Underneath  are  the  words  : — 

In  memory  of  Mary,  the  Wife  of  William  Neild,  Esquire,  of  High 
Lawn,  who  died  March  16th,  1859. 

The  north  and  south   transept  windows  are   the  gifts  of  Lady 
Murray,  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  family  of  Rigby,  of  Oldfield 
Hall,  and  of  E.  Joynson,  Esq.,  J.P.,  of  Bowdon.     One  represents 
g3 


42  ALTEINCHAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

the  Miracles  ;  the  other  the  Parables  of  Our  Ijord.  The  window 
of  the  west  end  is  the  gift  of  John  Clegg,  Esq.,  J.P.,  of  Altrincham. 
There  is  a  small  chancel  window  erected  by  W.  D.  Nicholls,  Esq., 
and  his  sisters,  to  the  memory  of  their  father. 

Other  windows  are  to  the  memory  of  Peter  Hartley,  late  of 
Altrincham,  by  his  children,  "  in  token  of  their  love  and  esteem 
for  their  father,  A.D.,  radccclxxix.  ; "  "  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
in  loving  memory  of  Edward  Dowling,  of  this  parish,  who,  on 
the  30th  August,  1889,  on  a  mountain  in  Calvary  was  called  to 
behold  the  things  unseen ; "  one  erected  by  Mrs.  Sarah  France 
in  loving  memory  of  her  father  and  mother, '  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
W.  Goulden,  who  died  in  1857  and  1863  respectively;  and  a 
chancel  window  "  in  loving  remembrance  of  Eobert  Alsop 
Warburton,  of  Bowdon,  born  March  5th,  1820,  died  December 
31st,  1879,"  presented  by  his  wife  and  children. 

The  font  is  a  massive  octagonal  one,  richly  cut,  of  Painswick 
stone,  and  the  basin  rests  on  a  shaft  of  Devonshire  marble.  It 
was  the  gift  of  ^liss  Joynson.  The  oak  lectern  was  the  gift  of 
Miss  Pollock. 

The  restored  church  contains  1,16.1  sittings,  exclusive  of  those 
for  the  private  accommodation  of  the  Earl  of  Stamfoi-d  and  War- 
rington, being  an  increase  of  359  sittings  on  the  former  number. 
The  entire  cost  of  the  building  and  works  in  connection  therewith 
was  £12,371  16s  7d.,  exclusive  of  the  sum  of  £1,748  10s.  which 
was  allowed  by  the  contractor  on  account  of  old  materials  Of 
this  amount  £11,447  was  contribvited  by  resident  parishes,  or 
persons  owning  property  in  the  parish  ;  £521  by  strangers  ;  £210 
by  the  Incorporated  Society  for  the  building  and  enlarging  of 
Churches  ;  and  £150  by  the  Diocesan  Church  Building  Society. 

The  Registers  of  the  baptisms,  marriages,  and  burials  date  from 
the  year  1628  ;  but  there  are  incomplete  copies  preserved  at 
Chester  from  the  beginning  of  1600.  Not  the  least  interesting 
feature  connected  with  those  at  Bowdon  is  an  index  which  was 
compiled  several   years  ago  by  Mr.  Rushton,   a  son  of  the  Ven. 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOJVDON.  43 

Archde<acon  Rushton,  formerly  of  Manchester.  The  work  of 
reference  is  thus  rendered  remarktably  easy,  and  ample  testimony 
to  his  painstaking  endeavours  is  borne  by  the  fact  that  not  a 
single  error  has  yet  been  discovered.  The  first  volume  contains 
records  under  all  three  divisions,  from  1G28  to  16.53.  It  is 
headed  : — 

"  A  Register  Book  of  all  Weddings,  Christening.=!,  and  Burials,  in  the 
Parish  Church  of  Bowdon,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1628." 

The  first  entry  states  that : — 

Robert  Tatton,  of  Withenslinw,  Esquire,  and  Anne  Brereton,  daughter 
of  the  Right  Worshipful  Wiiliain  Brereton,  of  Ashley,  Esquire,  were 
niarryed  the  eight  day  of  January,  Anno  Dom.  1628. 

This  is  an  important  event,  and  is  more  elaborately  set 
forth  than  the  rest.  The  parchment  on  which  the  entries  are 
made  is  very  stout  but  it  is  obvious  that  little  care  has  been 
bestowed  on  its  preservation  in  former  years,  as  damp,  the  arch- 
enemy of  ancient  documents,  has  been  at  work  and  succeeded  in 
effectually  obliterating  some  of  the  written  characters  In  1646, 
the  marriages  are  entered  at  greater  length,  as  are  also  the  bap- 
tisms. One  of  the  clerks,  Thomas  Sanderson,  was  most 
particular.     AYe  find  that — 

Alexander  Sanderson,  sonne  to  Thomas  Sanderson,  clarke  of  Bowdon, 
was  born  upon  Saint  Michael  and  All  Angels  daye,  between  the  hours  of 
five  and  six  of  the  clock  in  the  morninge,  being  the  28th  day  of 
September,  in  anno  1636. 

At  the  foot  of  the  volume  it  is  announced  that — 
George  Booth,  Knit  and  Barronett,  is  one  of  his  Matie's  justices  of  pe^.ce 
within  the  County  of  Chester,  as  attested  by  Peter  Drinkwater,  clerk. 

The  first  name  amongst  the  biu-ials  is  that  of  "  Henry  Arstall 
de  Ringey,  January  19th,  1628." 

A  stranger  yt  (that)  plaid  on  a  tabret  and  whistle. 
There  is  nothing  to  indicate  where  this  wandering  minstrel 
of  some  accomplishment  died  ;  but  that  he   found  a  stranger's 
grave  at  Bowdon,    and  went  down   to  it  apparently   "  unwept, 
unhonoured,  and  unsung,"  is  clear. 


44  ALnU^CHAM    AND    EOIVDON. 

Alexander  Owen,  clerk  of  Bowdon,  was  biiryed  ye  third  day  of 
February,  Anno  Domini  16-28. 

"  Margaret  Pagett,  wife  of  Mr.  Thomas  Patjett,  minister  and  preacher 
at  Bowdon,  Aug.  uliimo,  1628." 

Robert  Janny,  Vicar  of  Bowdon,  departed  this  life  the  8th  day  of 
January,  and  was  buryed  the  9th  in  anno,  16.36. 

A  poore  boy  out  of  the  Woodhouses  was  buryed  8th  <lay  of  November, 
1640. 

Dorrity  Smith,  daughter  to  George  Smith,  being  a  stranger,  and 
another  a  child  that  was  not  baptised  of  his,  March  ISth,   1640. 

"  Two  infants  of  one  Sarah  May. 

A  poor  child  of  a  stranger,  1647. 

Amongst  the  concluding  entries  in  the  first  \-olunie  is  the 
following  : — 

Sir  George  Booth,  of  Dunham  Massey,  Knight  and  Baronett,  departed 
this  lyfe  the  24th  day  of  October,  and  was  buryed  the  28th  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  God,  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
fiftie  two,  1652. 

The  second  volume  contains  baptisms  and  burials  from  16-53 
to  1681,  and  marriages  from  1653  to  1664,  and  from  1673  to 
1681,  nine  years  being  missing.  The  latter  are,  however,  to  be 
found  at  Chester  for  the  years  1666,  1668  to  1673,  but  for  1665 
and  1667  there  are  no  records.  On  a  kind  of  rider  attached  to 
the  ordinary  register  is  a  list  of  still-born  children  ;  thus  : — 

A  man  child  of  John  Deane's  of  Altrincham  was  still  born  2flth  October 
165.3. 

A  man  child  of  Robert  Arstall  of  Hale  fields  was  born  dead  January 
26th,  1653,  &c. 

In  1653,  during  the  Commonwealth  period,  there  was  a  very 
stringent  Act  of  Parliament  passed,  requiring  marriages  to  take 
place  before  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  form  usually  adopted 
was  the  following  : — 

Publication  of  banns  of  marriage  was  made  in  our  parish  church  of 
Bowdon  three  several  Lords  days  between  John  Yeates  of  Lime  parish  and 
Margaret  Baxter  of  this  parish,  wli.  days  of  publicition  were  the  4th, 
the  nth  and  the  18th  dayes  of  December  in  the  year  1653,  and  were 
jjiarried  the  23rd  day  of  December  within  the  same  year  before  me. 

Peter  Brookes  Esquire. 


ALTRIXCHAM    AND    BOIFDOX.  15 

The  following  coiiUiius  the  tiisi  referenee  to  any  trade  pursued 
in  the  district : — 

Publication  of  banns  of  marriage  was  made  in  our  parish  church  of 
Bowdon  three  several  Lords  days  betwixt  Wm.  Tippinge,  of  Hale,  woollin 
Webster  (woollen  weaver),  and  Katheren  Hall,  of  Ashley,  both  of  this 
parish  of  Bowdon,  wch  dayes  of  publication  were  the  2'2nd,  29th  dayes  of 
January,  and  first  day  of  February,  and  noe  objection  being  made  but  that 
they  might  lawfully  proceed  in  marriage  :  and  were  married  by  me, 
Thomas  Standley  (Stanley),  of  Alderley,  Esquire,  one  of  the  Justices  of 
Peace  for  this  County,  the  6th  day  of  February,  1653. 

Proclamation  was  in  some  instances  made,  generally  by  the 
bellman,  at  the  Cross  in  the  Market  Place.  These  proclamations 
usually  read  as  follows  : — 

Publication  of  banns  was  made  in  the  Altrincham  Market,  within  our 
Parish  of  Bowdon,  three  severall  Market  dayes  betwixt  Edward  Woodall, 
of  the  parish  of  Ashton  upon  Mercey  Bancke,  and  Anne  Carrington,  of 
this  parish,  which  dayes  of  publication  were  the  loth,  22nd,  and  29th 
dayes  of  August,  in  tlie  year  of  our  Lord  Ood  1654,  and  were  marryed  the 
16th  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  God  1654,  before 

Tho.  Brereton,  Esquire. 

Some  of  the  entries  state  that  publication  was  made  between 
the  hours  of  eleven  and  two  in  the  Market  Place,  but  this  does 
not  appear  prior  to  the  year  1656  to  have  been  a  popular  mode, 
as  three-fourths  of  the  proclamations  were  made  in  "our  parish 
church."  The  majority  of  the  marriages  took  place  before  Thomas 
Brereton,  Esquire ;  but  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  on  one  or 
two  Occasions  Colonel  Henry  Bradshaw,  of  Marple,  brother  to 
President  Bradshaw,  also  officiated.  In  1656  and  1657,  the 
publications  were,  with  few  exceptions,  made  in  the  Altrincham 
Market  Place,  "at  the  close  of  the  morning,"  or  12  o'clock. 
In  1658  they  were  made  in  solitary  instances,  but  they  are 
solemnized  by  the  Vicar,  James  Watmough,  "  in  the  j)resence  of 
numerous  people."  This  elaborate  style  of  entering  marriages 
then  ceases,  except  in  the  instances  of  the  principal  families  of  the 
district,  when  the  details  arc  given  w-ith  some  minuteness.  The 
births  at  this  period  partake  of  the  same  character  as  the 
marriages  in  the  extent  and  preciseness  of  the  entries.     The  wife 


46  ALriUNCHAM   AND    BOIFDON. 

of  the  Vicar  presented  him  with  three  or  four  interesting  "  olive 
branches,"  to  all  of  whom  due  honour  is  accorded  in  the  matter  of 
registering.  That  the  schoolmaster  was  also  a  married  man  and 
similarly  situated,  is  proved  by  the  following  amongst  the 
baptisms  : — 

Hanna,  daughter  of  Peter  Hurdes,  schoolmaister,  (August  '24111,  1667). 

The  ages  are  not  given,  and  very  seldom  the  trades,  but 
occasionally  they  crop  up.  Husbandmen  are  the  most  numerous, 
yeomen  coming  next  in  order.  There  were  several  websters  or 
weavers  in  Bowdon  (1657),  and  at  a  somewhat  later  date,  black- 
smiths, saddlers,  gardeners,  "joyners,"  shoemakers,  in  Altrincham 
and  the  neighbourhood. 

John  Higginson,  of  Bowdon,  Innkeeper,  was  buned  24th  day  of 
Novr.   1657. 

A  poore  woman  wch.  was  a  stranger  came  by  pass,  buryed  ye  9th 
day  of  November. 

A  poore  ould  wooman  whose  name  was  thought  to  be  Steenson, 
January  12th,  1658. 

A  child  that  was  born  dead  of  Tho.  Kinge,  was  buried  15th  March, 
1658. 

Roger  Shuttleworth,  schoolmaister,  buried  7th  day  of  February  (1659). 

Thomas  Brereton,  Esquire,  of  Ashley,  departed  this  life  the  10th  day 
of  July,  and  was  buried  the  19th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
God,    1660. 

Jane  Urinkwater,  of  Hale,  a  poore  woman,  buryed  22nd  October  (1661). 

Edward  Leigh,  of  Altringham,  a  poore  man,  buried  23rd  November 
(1661). 

Mr.  John  Lightfoote,  vicar  of  Bowdon,  departed  this  !yfe  ye  22tli  day 
of  December,  in  ye  yr.  of  our  Lord,  1661. 

Mrs.  Margrett  Vaudrey,  of  ye  Bancke  (Bank  Hall),  widow,  was 
buryed  in  Carrington  Chapel  by  leave  and  lycense  of  George  Lord  Delamer, 
by  the  interest  of  Samuel  Vaudry,  the  son,  June  ye  24th,  1662. 

Charles,  son  of  John  Houghton,  Schoolmaister,  Deer,  ye  Sth,  1662. 

Robert  Tippinge.  of  Bowdon,  gent  and  steward  to  George,  Lord 
Delamer,  was  buryed  ye  21th  day  of  fifebruary,  1662. 

Isaac  Tipping,  son  of  Edward  Tipping,  of  Hale,  Dec.  22th,  (1665). 

William,  son  of  John  Hoyle,  of  Hale,  was  buryed  Dec.  ye  28th. 

The  two  last  mentioned  Isaac  Tipping  and  William  Royle  had  not 
xtian  buriall,  theire  friendes  contemninge  it.     Tho:  Weston,  Vic. 


ALTRIXCHAM   AXD    BOIFDON.  47 

\Vm.  Tippinge,  of  Dunham,  bayliflFe  to  Lord  Delamer,  buryed  March 
23th,  (1670). 

Raphe  Thomas,  of  Altringham,  piper,  burwd  September  l'2th,  (1672). 

Thomas  Sanderson,  clark  of  the  church,  buryed  March  ye  13th  (1672). 

"  William  Shuttleworth,  servant  to  Francis  Mosley,  vicar,  April  17th, 
(1073). 

The  two  succeeding  volumes  of  Registers  ai'e  very  small, 
volume  III.  containing  baptisms  from  1682  to  1702,  and  volume 
IV.  marriages  from  1683  to  1719.  On  the  title  page  of  volume  III. 
there  is  a  memorandum,  dated  Aitgust  29th,  1697,  setting  forth 
that : — 

Richard  Rogers,  Wm.  Coppock,  Robert  Leather  and  Isaac  Eccles, 
churchwardens  for  the  p'sh  (parish)  of  Bowdon  in  the  yeare  1690,  did  pay 
unto  John  Lawrinson,  Wm.  Simpson,  Robert  Leather  and  Isaac  Eccles, 
churchwardens  for  the  p'sh  of  Bowdon  for  the  yeare  1693  the  summe  of  six 
pounds  eighteen  shillings  and  sixpence  (which  they  had  in  their  hands) 
towards  reimbursing  them,  wch  was  in  full  for  all  moneys  they  were  out 
of  purse  in  the  yeare  1093.  Witness  my  hand, 

.Jo  :  Hyde,  Vic.  of  Bowdon. 

The  "  baptizings,"  as  they  are  now  called,  continue  imtil  the 
year  1683  in  a  most  orderly  manner,  when  there  is  a  record  of 
"John,  son  of  ffrancis  Newton,  of  Altringham,  March  ye  22th." 
Underneath  this  is  written  :  "  A  brave  boy  ;  long  may  bee  live 
to  God's  glory."  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  pious  wish  was 
fulfilled.  In  July,  169G,  the  handwriting  changes,  and  Altringham 
is  spelled  Althringham,  just  as  thoixgh  the  clerk  was  a  native  of  the 
sister  isle.  Almost  simultaneously  we  have  the  first  indication  of 
dissent  in  an  aggressive  form  in  the  parish. 

1696. — Deborah,  daughter  of  Robert  Hankinson,  of  Ashley,  was  born 
July  13th  and  baptised  July  28th,  1696,  by  Mr.  Dernily,  as  is  said  by  a 
note  sent  thereof  to  ye  vicar. 

John,  son  of  George  W^arburton,  of  Hale,  born  Deo.  3th,  1696  and 
baptised  Dec.  23th,  1996,  by  whom  I  don't  know.  Aron  Warburton  told 
mee  of  it. 

1698. — Henry,  son  of  Richard  Green,  of  Altringham,  apothecary,  born 
November  27th,  baptised  Dec.  13th  (1698). 

William,  s.  of  John  Taylor,  of  Timpley,  mason. 

John,  3.  of  Richard  Millington,  of  Althringham,  carpenter. 


48  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJFDON. 

John,  s.  ot  James  Whitehead,  Baguley,  weaver. 

A  female  child  of  \Vm.  Norman,  of  Altrincham,  sadler. 

1699.— Josiah,  s.  of  Robert  Hankin.son,  of  Ashley,  born  May  21th,  and 
baptized  June  1st ;  Timothy,  s.  of  Robert  Hankinson,  of  Ashley,  born  May 
21th,  and  baptized  June  l.st.  They  were  twins.  Both  the  aforesaid 
children  were  baptized  at  Robert  Hankinson 's  house,  by  one  Dernily,  a 
dissenter,  contrary  to  law,  the  liousc  not  being  lycensed.  He  preaches  at 
Ringey  chappell,  a  chappell  anciently  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England 
and  under  Bowdon  Church. 

Mary,  d.  of  James  Mosse,  of  Dunham,  born  July  12th,  baptized  July 
19th  by  Mr.  (Mr.  this  time)  Dernily,  the  Nonconformist,  contrary  to  law. 

Wm.  s.  of  Theo.  Heald,  of  Ashley,  baptized  at  Heald's  house  by 
Dernily,  the  dissenter,  contrary  to  law. 

Geo.,  s.  of  James  Hardie,  of  Althringham,  born  Dec.  oth,  and  baptized 
Dec.  11th  by  Mr.  Dernily,  the  dissenting  minister,  at  Ringey. 

These  would  be  the  "  seiwratists"  who  were  said  to  be  about 
this  time  so  numerous  and  troublesome  in  the  parish. 

Mr.  Dernily's  name  then  drojos  out  of  the  Kegister,  and  so  far 
as  he  is  concerned  the  breast  ecclesiastical  ceases  from  troubling, 
and  its  conscience  is  at  rest.  How  it  fares  from  others  later  on 
Avill  be  seen.     We  proceed  with  more  interesting  extracts. 

1699.— March  2nd,  baptized  John,  s.  of  John  Lupton,  grocer, 
Altringham. 

1700.— James,  s.  of  J.ames  Hardy,  alderman,  of  Altrincham. 

This  is  the  first  reference  to  any  one  holding  any  official 
position  in  connection  with  the  Corporation  of  the  town. 

1700.— Ann,  d.  of  John  Worsley,  glacier ;  Nathaniel,  s.  of  Wm. 
Brownhill,  of  Dunham,  born  December  23th,  baptized  January  6th,  1700; 
the  father  did  not  acquaint  me  Avith  the  birth  or  baptism  till  June  8th, 
1701,  being  Whit  Sunday.  Mr.  Yates  baptized  it  unknown  to  me. — Jo. 
Hyde. 

We  no\v  hark  l.iack  to  the  Ijui'ials  in  the  same  \olume,  several 
of  which  refer  to  the  Booth  family.  There  are  one  or  two 
references  to  trades  then  being  pursued  in  the  district,  notably 
that  of  malting  at  Altrincham.  At  the  end  of  the  volume, 
amongst  the  list  of  the  stillborn  children,  is  Margaret  Hardey, 
Quaker,  probably  the  same  Margaret  Hardey,  widow,  of  Bowdon,  . 
who  i.s  referred  to  in  the  vohune  as  ha\ino-  lieen   "  bur\-d  at  the 


ALTTIINCIIAM   AND    BOJFDON.  49 

Quaker's  burying  place  in  JNlobberley  p'sli."  Many  of  the  people 
dying  at  Carrington  and  Partington  were  buried  at  Flixton,  pro- 
bably on  account  of  its  being  more  convenient  than  Bowdon. 

We  now  take  'i'olume  ir.,  which  contains  marriages  from  the 
year  1683  to  1719.  There  are  one  or  two  entries  on  the  title 
page,  amongst  them  one  to  the  effect  that — 

"  Peter  Barber,  of  .Agden,  was  married  in  Cartwright's  land,  beyond 
Limrae." 

The  marriages  Ijegin  to  be  noted  as  Ijeing  solemnized  by  banns 
or  by  licence.  The  one  following,  however,  was  not  in  "  either  of 
these  fashions." 

Joseph  Peirson  and  Sarah  Hurlbut,  of  Ashley,  marryed  by  Mr.  Gooden 
(clandestinely),  January  1th,  1697. 

"  James  C'oe,  of  Ashley,  marryed  to  a  woman  in  Lane  (Lancashire), 
sells  meal  at  a  meal  house  in  Manchester,  his  father  lives  at  Ashley,  not 
marryed  at  Bovrdon,  but  at  Manchester  as  I  am  told. 

A  reticent  individual  was 

Thomas  Ogden,  keeper,  at  Dunham,  and  Ann  Moulston,  marryed 
about  Christmas,  1698,  but  he  will  not  tell  where  nor  by  whom. 

This  reticency  appears  to  become  epidemic  at  this  time,  as 
subsequent  entries  show. 

Isaac  Rylands,  of  Hale,  and  Elizabeth  Hankinson,  marryed  in  July, 
in  the  year  169S,  he  will  not  tell  when,  where,  or  by  whom  ;  by  Mr. 
Gooden. 

This  latter  name  looks  as  if  it  had  been  tacked  on  at  a  ven- 
ture. Both  the  Hankinsons  and  the  Rylands  were  rather  trouble- 
some dissenters  at  this  period. 

John  Newton,  of  Hale,  and  Elizabeth  Drinkwater,  marryed  in  August 
19th,  1699,  at  Sandbage  (Sandbach),  as  I  am  told. 

Ellin  Warburton,  of  Dunham,  and  James Pauden,  of  Brownley  Green, 
in  Northenden  parish,  were  marryed  Septr.,  1699,  I  know  not  wn.,  where, 
or  by  whom. 

Roger  Simpson,  of  Altringham,  smith,  and  Mary  Harrison,  of  Altring- 
ham,  marryed  (as  is  said)  about  Novr.  21,  1699,  but  do  not  tell  when, 
where,  or  by  whom.  They  were  marryed,  'tis  said,  by  Mr.  John  Brown, 
not  in  holy  orders. 


50  ALTEINCHAM    AND    BOIVDON. 

This  Mr.  Brown  was  <i  sort  of  Gietna  Grcon  gentleman  who 
lived  at  Ashton-on-Mersey,  and  he  united  se\xral  couples  in  the 
bonds  of  holy  matrimony  "  contrary  to  the  statute  in  that  case 
made  and  provided."  These  storms  subsided,  and  for  a  long  time 
marrying  and  giving  in  marriage  proceeded  in  the  orthodox 
fashion.  Even  the  Eylands  and  the  Hankinsons  saw  the  error  of 
their  ways,  and  went  to  the  Parish  Church  as  in  duty  bound. 
There  is  also  not  the  same  loose  style  of  entering,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  withstand  the  con\-iction  that  this  is  rather  ungallant : — 

Richard  Ai'dern  and  ye  wlioman  from  Prestbury  parish,  marryed  Octr. 
25th  (1708). 

Probably  she  had  the  same  objection  to  giving  her  name  as 
ladies  are  said  to  have  to  stating  their  age. 

The  most  important  entry  we  come  to  for  many  years  then, 
is  the  record  of  the  marriage  of  the  Yicar  : — 

August  28th,  1717. — Mr.  Peter  Lancaster,  vicar  of  Bowdon,  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Edmonds,  of  this  parish,  were  married  at  Bowdon  Church,  by 
Mr.  Spencer,  curate  at  Lyrame,  by  licence  from  Mr.  Allen,  of  Peover. 

At  the  end  of  the  volume  is  the  following  : — 

October  ye  20th,  1709.— At  a  parish  meeting  in  Bowdon  Church  it  was 
granted  and  agreed  that  Augustin  Rawlins,  parish  dark,  instead  of 
gathering  his  wages  wh.  is  one  lay  (rate)  he  is  to  have  it  gathered  by  ye 
church  warden.9  and  collectors  from  henceforth. 

This  is  signed  by  Matthew  Wood,  vicar,  the  churchwardens, 
and  others  present  at  the  meeting,  including  Alderman  John 
Higginson,  who  makes  his  mark,  the  said  mark  resembling  the 
figure  four  made  very  awkwardly. 

Volume  v.,  which  ^ve  take  next  in  order,  contains  l.iaptisms 
from  1702  to  1720,  and  burials  from  1702  to  1717.  It  was 
provided  at  the  charge  of  the  parish,  as  testified  to  by  "  John 
Millatt,  de  Dains,  of  Carrington,  George  Timperley,  of  Timperley, 
George  Leicester,  of  Hale,  and  Aaron  Warburton,  of  Bowdon, 
churchwardens."  The  children  baptised  are  those  of  a  tanner  at 
Hale,  a  flaxman,  gunsmith,  horse-jockey,  mercer,  glover,  clothier. 


ALTRINCIIAM   AND    BOW  DON.  51 

apothecary,  brickmoulder,  bricklayer,  barber,  basketmaker, 
butcher,  cooijer,  flaxseller,  baker,  a  whitesmith,  at  Carrington, 
and  a  miller  at  Dunham,  which  tend  to  show  that  200  years  ago 
this  was  a  district  of  some  importance. 

There  are  several  baptisms  of  illegitimate  children,  one  of 
which  must  have  been  the  offspring  of  a  man  of  consequence,  and 
must  have  held  even  the  powers  that  be  in  awe.  After  the  words 
detailing  the  usual  particulars,  there  is — "Wch.  she  fathered 
upon  Mr.  G C " 

There  are  some  children  baptised  by  JNIr.  Waterhouse,  who, 
like  Mr.  Dernily,  was  a  dissenting  thorn  in  the  ecclesiastical  side, 
and  the  fact  is  always  precisely  stated.  In  some  cases  he  is 
"  dissenting  minister,"  in  others  "  dissenting  teacher,"  and  he 
appears  to  have  been  in  business  in  a  large  way.  At  Carrington, 
"  Mr.  Orrill,"  another  dissenting  teacher,  was  busy  at  this  period. 

Amongst  the  burials  in  June,  1703,  there  is  that  of — 

Mr.  Robert  Whitehead,  Curate  of  Bowdon. 

April,  1708.— Ann  Johnson,  servant  for  40  years  at  Dunham  House. 

In  the  year  1667,  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed  for  the 
encoTiragement  of  the  woollen  and  paper  manufactures  in  the 
kingdom.  It  enacted  that  no  corpse  should  be  buiied  in  "  shirt, 
sheet,  shroud,  or  shift,"  but  in  woollen,  and  an  affida^-it  made 
made  -ndthin  eight  days  of  interment  that  the  dead  was  not 
shrouded  in  linen.  A  penalty  of  £5  was  incurred  if  the  law  was 
bi'oken.  These  affidavits  are  regularly  entered  in  the  Bowdon 
Parish  Registers  as  having  been  made,  except  in  solitary  instances, 
which  were  at  once  notified  to  the  churchwardens.  No  specific 
entry  of  the  enforcement  of  the  Act  appears  until  June,  1709, 
when  there  was — 

"  Alice,  wife  of  Thomas  Warburton,  of  Hale,  buried  in  linnen  contrary 
to  Act  of  Parliament.     He  paid  ye  fine  to  ye  churchwardens  of  Bowdon 

for  ye  use  of  ye  poore. " 


52  ALTinXCIUM   ANH    IJOJl'DOX. 


Not  many  years  aftcnvards,  the  fine  of  £5  was  enforced  in 
the  case  of — 

"  Mary  Leigh,  widow,  Bowdon,  buried  in  linnen.  £2  10s.  whereof 
went  to  the  poor." 

In  1728,  Nicholas  Waterhouse,  of  Bowdon,  a  dissenting 
teacher,  "was  buried  in  linnen,"  but  there  is  no  note  made  as  to 
whether  any  fine  was  enforced.  This  famous  Act  was  not 
repealed  until  1814,  and  then  not  without  some  opposition. 

Amongst  other  biu'ials  are  : — 

"1709,  Dec. — Mary,  wife  of  George  Leicester,  gouldBmith,  of 
Altringham." 

"1710,  March.  — James,  son  of  Hen.  Smith,  of  Altringham,  Alderman." 

1710,  March  11th.— A  still  born  child  of  William  Coppock,  of  Hale, 
clandestinely  buried  about  this  time,  notice  given  to  ye  churchwardens, 
and  then  Wm.  Coppock  pd.  ye  buriall  fees  and  id.  churching. — Wit :  Tho. 
Birch. 

1711,  Dec. — Wm.  Hesketh,  of  Altringham,  Alderman. 

171-,  Dec. — John  I'ritchard,  servant  to  Mr.  Robert  Orrell,  Ashley, 
who  drown'd  himself. 

1714. — Wm.,  son  of  John  Royle,  of  Altringham,  flaxman. 
1716,  May  9th.— Mr.  Matthew  Wood,  Vicker  of  Bowdon. 

Volume  VI.  contains  baptisms  from  1720  to  1738;  weddings 
from  1719  to  1731 ;  and  burials  from  1717  to  1738.  We  here 
find  the  first  reference  to  another  trade  or  calling  in  Altrincham 
and  the  vicinity  not  mentioned  liefore,  in  the  baptism  of — 

Wm.,  son  of  Wm.  Gai-ner,  fuxtian  man,  and  of  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  of 
Hale. 

1722,  Jan.  20th.— Mary,  d.  of  Robert  Leather,  Alderman,  of 
Altrincham,  and  of  Hanna,  his  wife. 

1722,  Jan.  24th.— Richard,  son  of  Richard  Leigh,  ale  seller, 
Altrincham,  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife. 

1723,  Aug.  3. — Elizabeth,  d.  of  John  Swindells,  turner,  and  Elizabeth, 
his  wife,  of  Baguley. 

1723,  Aug.  10th.— Mary,  d.  of  John  Yates,  bricklayer,  and  Deborah, 
his  wife,  of  Baguley. 

1723.— Henry,  son  of  John  Kinsey  (barber),  and  of  his  wife,  Elizabeth, 
of  Altrincham. 

1723,  Aug.  30.— George,  s.  of  Joseph  Harding,  fustian  man,  and  of 
Elizabeth,  his  wife,  at  Altrincham. 


ALlTdXCIIAM   AND    BOIVDON.  53 

There  were  several  ale  sellers  in  Altrincham  at  this  period,  and 
we  once  more  notice  that  the  dissenters  began  again  to  trouble 
their  brethren  in  the  church.  Baptisms  by  dissenting  teachers  are 
often  recorded — notably  by  Wr.  Fletcher.  There  is  also  a  Mr. 
Robinson  mentioned  as  at  Eingey  or  Ringway  chapel.  The  jjrac- 
tice  of  recording  trades  appears  to  have  been  most  capricious. 
Sindei'land,  too,  is  for  a  great  numljer  of  years  spelled  Sunder- 
land. 

Amongst  the  burials  at  this  period  was — 

Joseph,  son  of  Peter  Melann,  a  Grecian,  and  of  Mary,  his  wife. 

One    still   more  noteworthy  occurred  in   1727   in   respect   of 

Haiuiah,  wife  of  Robert  Orrill,  of  Hale, — 

She  was  buried  at  her  own  desire  without  being  brought  into  je 
church  or  liaving  prayer  said  over  her  ab  ye  grave,  being  a  most  rigid 
dissenter. 

On  June  16th,  in  the  same  year,— - 

Robert  Prasmore,  a  wayfayring  man,  from  the  Bishopric  of  Durham. 

And— 

On  the  same  day,  Farmery,  son  of  Mr.  Lawton,  and  of  Ann,  hia  wife. 
"  This  child  was  buried  in  the  church  without  leave  from  me,"  says  the 
vicar  of  that  period,  "  or  leave  ask'd.  Agt.  wch.  I  protested  at  ye  grave, 
tho.  I  did  not  refuse  to  bury  ye  oorijse." 

In  173i  there  was  interred  "a  travelling  woman  of  the  king- 
dom of  Ireland,  who  died  at  Bollington."  The  marriages  in  the 
volume  present  few  features  of  interest,  one  excepted,  ^iz.,  that 
on  Feb.  22nd,  1725-6  :— 

James  Hardey,  teacher  of  a  seperate  (dissenting)  congregation  at 
Stockport,  and  Elizabeth  Bentley,  of  Bowdon,  spinster,  by  licence  from 
Mr.  Giles. 

Volume  Vii.  contains  marriages  from  1731  to  1751,  and  it  is 
pleasing  to  observe  that  about  the  first-named  period  Bowdon  was 
apparently  a  place  to  which  those  from  a  distance  wishful  to  enter 


00: 

OG: 

06. 

00  : 

05  : 

11. 

00: 

04  : 

11. 

00: 

04  : 

08. 

54  ALTIUNCIIAM    AND    BOW  DO  X. 

into  the  estate  of  lioly  matrimony  re.sorted.  At  the  end  of  the 
volume  there  is  a  list  of  the  "  brief.s"  collected  in  the  3'ear  of  our 
Lord,  1751  :— 

£  s.  d. 
June  Sod,  Sliipston  Church  in  com.  Worcester  Ch.  £1,487, 
June  23rd,  Knighton  Church  in  com.  Radnor  Ch.  £1,4.36 
July  21st,  Netherseal  Church,  com.  Leicester  Ch.  £2,158 
September  1st,  Uptonon  Severn  Ch.  com.  Worcest.Ch.  £2,015 
Oct.  10th,  Stamford  Bridge  Mill  in  com.  Ebor  (York) 

lost  by  fire,  collected  from  house  to  house,  Ch.  £2,8S4       1  :     1  :  7i. 

These  "  briefs"  were  letters  patent  issued  Ijy  the  Crown  for 
various  charitable  objects,  such  as  the  rebuilding  of  churches 
destroyed  by  fire,  or  places  desolated  Ijy  a  plague.  They  were 
usually  read  in  the  church  during  morning  service,  and  a  collec- 
tion made  ;  but,  as  in  one  of  the  aboAC  instances,  it  was  some- 
times collected  from  house  to  house.  Volume  Viii.  is  a  book  of 
stupendous  proportions,  and  brings  down  baptisms  and  bm-ials  to 
a  comparatively  recent  period — 1769.  They  are  most  uninterest- 
ing entries,  but  about  this  time  Peggy,  Betty,  Kitty,  and  Molly 
were  favourite  names. 

There  are  other  volumes  of  Kegisters  which  are  to  a  great 
extent  similar  to  the  preceding  ones.  One  point  only  remains, 
and  that  is  as  to  centenarians.  Owing  to  the  ages  not  being 
mentioned  in  the  earlier  records,  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether 
there  were  any  or  not.  Altogether  it  cannot  be  said  that  the 
registers  form  a  very  useful  study,  but  from  preceding  extracts 
it  will  be  seen  that  they  are  not  entirely  devoid  of  interest. 

It  would  not  do  to  overlook  the  famous  proverl),  "  Exery  man 
is  not  Ijorn  to  be  Vicar  of  Bowdon."  Sir  Peter  Leycester,  who 
quoted  it,  appeared  somewhat  puzzled  to  account  for  its  true 
meaning,  although  it  is  very  much  on  a  par  with  a  great  many 
other  proverbs — self-evident.  There  are  two  reasons  assigned  for 
the  proverl).  The  first  is  that  in  olden  as  well  as  in  modern 
times,  it  was  an  appointment  that  might  be  sought  for.  It  had  a 
good  stiijend  attached,  was  placed  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  and 
lovely  country,  and  was  as  .'i  rule  fairly  free  from  the  interference 


ALTIUNCHAM   AND    BOIFDON.  55 

of  schismatic  controversy  such  as  existed  among  the  neighbom-ing 
churches.  The  second  is  that  Charles  Jones,  son  of  the  then 
Vicar,  was  intended  by  his  father,  who  had  secured  the  Bishop's 
patronage,  to  succeed  him  on  his  decease,  thus  debarring  anyone 
else  from  any  chance  of  the  appointment. 

A  short  notice  of  some  of  the  Vicars  and  Curates  of  Bowdon 
may  be  interesting.  At  the  latter  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
Dus  Willus  AVright  was  serving  the  cure  in  the  pay  of  Tho 
Eoncorn  or  Runcorn,  Vic. ;  Dus  Henricus  Tipping,  a  chantry 
priest,  was  paid  by  Ralph  Massey  ;  Dus  Ric.  Warburton  by  John 
Carrington;  and  Dus  Johes  Colior  or  Collier,  was  at  Ringeye 
chapel.  In  1569-70  there  was  an  episcopal  enquiry  or  visitation 
in  Frodsham  deanery,  and  under  Bowdon,  it  says  (what  is 
decijDherable) — 

"     .     .     .     .  Thome  Spede  cur  sworne,  &c.,  saith  they 

paraphr  and  the  first  tome  of  homilies.      They  had  no  sermons  their  iij. 

yeres  :  he  saith  he  did  nev  reade  the  declaration saieth  he 

nev  had  hit." 

Of  one  we  cannot  speak  with  the  credit  which  may  have  been 
deservedly  due  to  both  his  predecessors  and  successors.  This  was 
Ralph  Hovigh,  who,  according  to  a  note  in  the  edition  of 
Ormerod,  edited  by  Charles  Helsby,  Esij.,  "  married  Blanche,  a 
widow  in  Peever  or  Peover,  about  1585."  "He  lived  with  her 
about  a  year,  then  fled  away  from  her  after  selling  her  goods, 
came  back  to  her  again,  sold  her  goods,  and  ran  away  for  good." 
A  Vicar  of  Bowdon  not  mentioned  in  the  list  usually  given,  is 
— ■  Smith.  Walker,  in  his  "Sufierings  of  the  Clergy,"  states  that 
he  was  sequestered  on  account  of  not  complying  with  the  solemn 
league  and  covenant,  and  he  was  tiu-ned  out  liy  a  committee  of 
Parliament  without  ever  being  heard. 

During  the  temporary  ascendancy  of  Fresbyterianism  in 
Cheshire  in  1648,  the  ministers  of  the  county,  after  the 
example  of  their  brethren  in  London  and  other  places, 
adopted  and  signed  an  attestation  which  had  been  drawn  up  by 
JNIr.  John  Ley,    "  the   present   preacher  at   Astbiuy."      It   was 


56  ALTRINCIIAM   AND    BOWDON. 

entitled  "  An  attestation  to  the  testimony  of  our  Eoverend 
Brethren  of  the  Province  of  London  to  the  truth  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  to  our  solemn  league  and  covenant ;  "  and  was  signed  by 
"James  Watmough,  pastor  of  Bowdon,"  amongst  others.  The 
very  air,  hii\\e\ei',  seemed  thick  with  controversy,  and  disturbances 
arose  in  his  jjarisli  between  Presbyterians  and  Independents  or 
Separatists.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  was  passed  in  the  year  1662, 
and  it  would  appear  that  the  Vicar  of  Bowdon  conformed,  thus 
saving  himself  from  the  fate  of  lutmerous  other  bi'cthren.  In 
1689-90,  John  Peake,  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  King  William  III.,  was  deprived  of  his  living  as  a  Non-juror. 
Many  of  the  Vicai's  of  Bowdon  have  been  men  of  talent  and 
erudition,  and  two  or  three  have  figured  as  authors  of  learned 
works,  such  as  AVroe,  Lancaster,  &c. 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  give  a  brief  notice  of  one  whose 
memory  will  be  long  revered  by  the  inhabitants, — we  refer  to  the 
late  Venerable  Archdeacon  Pollock,  who  died  at  Claughton, 
Birkenhead,  on  the  11th  October,  1873;  but  whose  mortal 
remains  are  laid  under  the  shadow  of  the  sacred  edifice  the 
restoration  of  which  was  due  to  his  indefatigable  eflForts.  He  was 
appointed  to  the  Vicarage  of  Bowdon  in  1856,  having  previously, 
as  the  reader  will  have  gathered  already,  laboured  hard  in  the 
county,  and  also  at  Liverpool.  On  his  appointment  he  set  to 
work  to  make  his  parish  what  it  ought  to  be.  After  organizing 
ample  machinery  for  the  immediate  wants  of  his  flock,  his  next 
endeavour  was  to  get  a  school  built  at  Hale  Barns.  He  then 
undertook  the  much  needed  and  tridy  Herculean  work  of  rebuilding 
the  Parish  Church,  and  he  had  the  pleasure,  within  four  years  of 
his  appointment,  of  seeing  a  dilapidated  edifice  replaced  by  an 
entirely  new  fabric.  He  gave  much  active  help  and  warm 
sympathy  in  the  erection  of  St.  John's  Church,  Ashley-road. 
Another  work  was  the  building  of  a  new  Vicarage,  the  old  one 
being  at  a  distance  from  the  Church  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  in  the 
vale.     He  was  also  the  means  of  erecting  the  School  Church,  at 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOIVDOK.  57 

Ashley,  and  through  his  instrumentality  the  adjacent  village  of 
Dunham  was  accommodated  with  the  pretty  church  dedicated  to 
St.  Mark.  His  next  great  undertaking  was  the  building  of  new 
national  schools,  the  old  ones  having  become  inadequate  for  the 
purpose  intended.  He  was  subsequently  appointed  Honoraiy 
Canon  of  Chester  Cathedra],  Rural  Dean  of  Frodsham  East, 
Archdeacon  of  Chester,  and  was  presented  by  his  University 
with  the  degree  of  D.D.,  in  recognition  of  his  early  and  dis- 
tinguished scholarshiji.  In  both  local  and  general  work  he  was 
unwearied ;  he  was  mindful  of  all  things  great  and  small,  and 
thought  of  all  other  interests  before  his  own.  He  was  also  con- 
spicuous, as  is  well  known,  for  his  eloquence  and  learning.  His 
arduous  labours  had  the  effect  of  undermining  his  constitution  ; 
and,  disregarding  urgent  warnings  to  take  rest,  he  was  struck 
down  by  paralysis  on  1st  August,  1870,  having  preached  his  last 
sermon,  on  the  re-opening  of  St.  George's,  Altrincham,  in  the 
month  previous.  A  little  more  than  three  years  afterwards  he 
breathed  his  last.  His  funeral  took  place  at  Bowdon,  on  Thurs- 
day, 16th  October,  1873,  when  the  choir  sang  a  hymn  which  he 
had  himself  composed,  on  the  subject  of  "  Lazarus."  It  is  sub- 
lime and  affecting  in  its  simple  pathos,  and  opens  with  the 
words  : — 

Lord,  if  he  sleep 
He  shall  do  well  ! 

Why  should  we  weep? 
Why  should  a  knell, 
Dirging  and  deep, 
Over  him  swell, 

He  shall  do  well. 

An  appropriate  address  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Canon 
Falloon,  of  Liverpool.  The  funeral  was  attended  by  the  clergy 
and  ministers  of  other  denominations,  and  the  laity  was  largely 
and  influentially  represented. 

The  Yen.  Archdeacon  Gore,  who  succeeded  him,  is  a  graduate 
and  late  scholar  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin  (18.50),  B.A.  (sen. 
mod.  math)  18.53,  Div.  Test  (First  class)  1855,   M.A.   1858.     He 

i3 


58  ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOWDON. 

was  ordained  Deacon  in  1855,  priest  in  1856.  He  was  preferred 
to  the  perpetual  curacy  of  St.  Luke's,  Liverpool,  in  18G2,  and  in 
1873  was  presented  to  the  Vicarage  of  Bowdon  on  the  death  of 
the  Van.  Archdeacon  Pollock.  He  was  honorary  Canon  of 
Chester  1877  to  1879  chaplain  to  the  late  Bishop  Jacobson  1877, 
Proctor  for  the  Archdeaconry  of  Macclesfield  1881,  Archdeacon 
of  Macclesfield  1884-1893,  and  Canon  residentiary  of  Chester 
Cathedral,  1893.  In  recognition  of  his  high  attainments,  both  as 
scholar  and  divine,  he  had  in  1890  the  degrees  of  B.D.  and  D.D. 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  Senate  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  of 
which  he  was  appointed  select  preacher  in  1891  and  1892.  His 
latest  appointment  is  Proctor  of  the  Archdeaconry  of  Macclesfield. 
St.  Peter's,  Peel  Causeway  (for  description  of  which  see  ecclesias- 
tical Altrincham),  in  addition  to  the  mission  room  in  the  Vale,  the 
enlargement  of  the  Parish  Schools,  i^-c,  has  been  the  outcome  of 
the  Archdeacon's  special  talent  in  organising  and  drawing  round 
him  all  classes  of  his  parishioners. 


LIST    OF    THE    VICARS    OF    BOWDON. 

[COMriLED  FROM   VARIOUS   SOURCES.] 


1210 

Gillebt  or  Gilbert,  Sacdos. 

Ricardus  de  Aldcroft. 

1309 

Ranulphus  de  Torrakl. 

1362 

Ricardus  de  Wever. 

1369 

Ricardus  More. 

1411 

Thomas  Spencer 

1441 

John  Urraeston 

1473 

William  Minshall. 

153.5 

Mr.  Thomas  Runcorne. 

1556 

Johes  Hanson,  M.A. 

1558 

Adam  Wood. 

1562 

Robert  Vawdrey. 

1582 

Ralph  Hough. 

1587 

Thomas  Warburton. 

1597 

Henry  Starkey. 

1614 

George  Byrom. 

1616 

Robert  Janny. 

1628 

Thomas  Pagett  (minister  i 

preacher). 

1647 

—  Joanes  or  Jone?. 

1648    James  Watmough. 

1660  John  Lightfoote. 
1667  Thomas  Weston. 
1669-70  Francis  Mosley. 
1676    Charles  Jones. 

1661  (ante)     Richard  Wroe. 
1689-90    James  Reake. 

1690  (16th  Jan.)  John  Hyde,  on 
privation  of  Jas.  Peake. 

1708     Matthew  Wood. 

1716    Peter  Lancaster. 

1763    Thomas  Hopper. 

1772    John  Baldwin,  LL.B. 

1815    James  Thomas  Law,  A.M. 

1820  W.  H.  Galfridus  Mann,  A.M., 
exchanged  with  Jas.  T.  Law 
for  Lichfield. 

1856     William  Pollock,  D.D. 

1873    Arthur  Gore,  D.D. 


Value  in  33rd  year 

Henry  VIII.  reign. 

£ 

s.   tl. 

0 

2     !) 

0 

10     !) 

() 

3     0 

0 

10     0 

.          0 

16     (1 

0 

10     0 

0 

8     0 

1 

7     4 

1 

12  10 

0 

7    0 

0 

G    S 

0 

10    9 

ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOIVDON. 


THE  MIZE,    OR  OLD  RATE  AND  ACREACiE. 

Chapelries  and  Townships  in  the 
Parish  of  Bow  don. 

A  K.  r. 

Agden  (one  half)    T  670  0  0 

Altrincham C  520  0  0 

Bollington  (one  half)    T  400  0  0 

Bowdon    T  690  0  0 

Baguley  T  2070  0  0 

Carrington  C  2070  0  0 

Dunham  Massey    T  3710  0  0 

Ashley T  2,390  0  0 

Hale T  .3540  0  0 

Ashton-upon-Mersey  (one  half) T  670  0  0 

Partington T  1220  0  0 

Timperley   T  1380  0  0 

From  the  above  townships  there  were  formerly  four  church- 
wardens elected  annually  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  church  and 
to  collect  the  rates,  and  as  remuneration  about  £20  was  allowed 
them  to  defray  any  little  expenses  that  might  occur  during  the 
execution  of  their  office.  The  churchwardens  are  appointed  by 
the  trustees  of  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington. 

The  following  is  the  table  in  the  church  of  "  Benefactions  to 
the  poor  of  Bowdon  Parish,  in  lands  per  annum  or  sums  of  money, 
the  interest  for  ever  "  ; — • 

1619,  Dame  Elizabeth  Booth,  relict  of  Sir  William  Booth,  of  Dunham 
Massey,  Knt.,  £100.  1691,  Edward  Leigh,  of  Baguley,  Esquire,  £100 
Mrs.  Mary  Booth,  £5.  1714,  William  Chapman,  of  Hale,  2  acres  of  land  ; 
Thomas  Brereton  left  to  the  poor  of  Ashley  £20  ;  Mrs.  Francis  Barlow, 
£10;  Dame  Meredith,  £2.  1721,  Rectr.  de  Croxden  in  com.  Staff,  left  to 
the  poor  of  Altrincham,  £2.  1744,  Oliver  Bellefontaine  gave  to  buy  gilt 
plate  for  ye  Communion  table  £10o,  also,  for  ye  use  of  ye  poor  £11.  1766, 
Mr.  Joseph  Walton,  £40.  1761,  the  Right  Honorable  Harry,  Earl  of 
Stamford,  £52  :  10s.  1773,  George  Norman  left  to  the  poor  of  Altrincham 
£40  ;  to  the  School,  William  Tipping,  of  Dunham,  Gent.,  £10.  1722,  Rev. 
John  Ashton,  £2.  1807,  John  Cooper,  Esquire,  conveyed  to  Trustees,  a 
messuage  and  lands  in  Partington,  containing  altogether,  Cheshire 
measure,  in  trust,  3a.  Or.  12p. ,  for  poor  householders  in  Altrincham,  of  the 
-age  of  50  years  and  upwards.  1816,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cooke,  of  Altrincham, 
left  £50  ;  Mrs.  Sarah  Cooke,  of  Altrincham.  left  £50  1827,  Mr.  Robert 
Twamlow,  of  Altrincham,  left  £100. 


CHAPTER   V. 

AUiincham  600  years  ago — The  ancient  charter — Sanjam  fair — 
Election  of  Mayor,  form  of  oath  and  proclamation — The  Court 
of  Pye  Powder — Importance  of  the  Bellman — A  Mayor's  wisdom — 
The  Earl's  Christmas  Box— Sayings  regarding  the  Mayor — 
Election  of  burgesses— Progress  of  the  trust  and  its  disposal — List 
of  Mayors — Abolition  of  Sanjam  fair. 

WITH  the  granting  of  a  charter  by  the  Baron  of  Dunham, 
upwards  of  600  years  ago,  the  town  of  Altrinchim 
commenced  its  constitutional  existence.  At  that  time 
it  was  described  as  being  nothing  more  than  a  small  cluster  of 
chimneyless  cottages,  whose  occupants  were  bound  to  use  the  Lord's 
bakehouse  of  the  place,  with  a  wooden  shed  for  its  town  hall. 

The  Cheshire  people  appear  to  have  been  greatly  behind  in 
the  matter  of  architecture  down  to  a  comparatively  recent  period. 
Smith,  in  a  Treatise  on  Cheshire,  wi-itten  about  the  year  1009, 
remarks  that  "  In  building  and  furniture  of  their  houses,  till  of 
late  years,  they  used  the  old  manner  of  the  Saxons.  For  they  had 
their  fire  in  the  midst  of  the  house,  against  a  hob  of  clay,  and 
their  oxen  under  the  same  roof ;  but,  within  these  forty  years  it 
is  altogether  altered,  so  that  they  have  builded  chimneys  and 
furnished  other  parts  of  their  house  accordingly."  This,  it  may 
be  readily  inferred,  was  a  picture  of  the  primitive  state  of  the 
Altrincham  people.  Such  were  the  comforts  of  "  the  good  old 
times  !" 

Of  the  derivation  of  the  name  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any 
exposition.  In  ancient  documents  it  is  spelled  "Altringham,"  and 
it  is  so  pronounced  to  the  present  day,  although  bj^  many  of  the 
inhabitants,  old  ones  particularly,  the  "  ing  "  is  given  as  the  sound 
in  hinge,  which  is  in  all  probability  the  truest  pronunciation.     As 


ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOJFDOX.  61 

a  fee  of  the  barony  of  Dunham,  Altrincham  derived  great 
privileges  on  receiving  its  charter.  Serfdom  was  got  rid  of  to  a 
great  extent,  and  freedom  dawned  for  the  burgesses  of  the  place. 
The  arbitrary  power  of  the  Lord,  giving  him  complete  control 
over  the  movements  of  his  dependents  was  relaxed,  and  si.ice  that 
time  Altrincham  has  jDossessed  the  oldest  known  form  of  justice 
in  the  land,  namely,  that  of  the  Saxon  Court  Leet.  The  Hamon, 
of  which  we  have  already  heard,  received  a  conce?sion  from 
Edward  the  First,  in  the  year  1290,  of  a  market  at  Altrincham  on 
Tuesdays,  and  a  fair  of  three  days'  duration,  upon  which  he 
granted  a  charter  to  his  burgesses,  of  which  a  copy  will  be  given 
hereafter.  This  charter  is  still  preserved,  and  is  the  most 
historical  and  valuable  document  the  town  possesses.  It  was 
enclosed  in  a  peculiarly  shaped  oak  casket  or  box,  two  or  three 
inches  in  diameter,  fitted  with  an  oval  lid.  The  charter  itself 
is  a  piece  of  parchment  about  ten  inches  by  eight,  yellow  with 
age,  and  written  in  the  quaint  but  beautiful  monkish  Latin  of  that 
period.  Appended  to  it  is  the  seal  of  Hamon  de  Massey  or  Macy, 
as  it  is  there  spelled  which  has  however,  been  crushed  and  broken. 
Subsequently,  Edward  II.,  in  the  12th  year  of  his  reign  (1319), 
by  letters  patent  erased  the  grant  of  Edward  the  First,  of  the 
fair  named  therein,  and,  in  lieu  thereof  granted  to  Sir  Hamon 
another  fair,  on  the  eve,  feast,  and  morrow  of  St.  James's  day, 
yearly — which  latter  continued  to  be  held  under  the  well-known 
appellation  of  "Sanjam"  fair  up  to  April  25lh,  1895,  when  it  was 
abolished  by  the  Home  Secretary.  There  was  also  a  fair  held 
in  April,  but  this  was  a  comparatively  modern  one,  as  in  1734 
there  is  an  entry  in  the  books  of  the  Leet  "  that  the  first  new 
fair  that  ever  was  kept,  or  held  in  the  sj^ring  in  Altrincham,  was 
upon  Thursday,  18th  April,  to  which  fair  came  very  great  choice 
of  cattle." 

It  is  believed  to  have  been  the  practice  since  the  charter  of 
Hamon  de  Massey  was  granted,  to  elect  a  mayor  annually  under 
it  ;  but  papers  and  documents  proving  the  fact  are  only  to  be  had 
for  about  200  years  past.     The  Mayor  is  elected  at  the  autumnal 


62  ALTRINCHAM   AND    llOU'DOX. 

Court  Leet  of  the  trustees  of  the  Lord  of  the  Manor,  the  Earl  of 
Stamford  and  Warrington,  and  a  jury  of  the  Leet  of  the  borough, 
which  consists  of  burgesses  only,  return  by  their  verdict  three 
persons  for  the  Mayor,  out  of  whom  the  Steward  of  the  Court 
selects  one,  who  is  thereupon  sworn  by  such  Steward  in  this 
wise  : — 

You  shall  swear,  well  and  truly  to  serve  our  sovereign  lord  the  King 
(or  Queen)  and  the  lord  of  this  franchise,  in  the  office  of  Mayor  of  this 
boro',  for  one  whole  year,  now  next  ensuing,  or  until  another  be  sworn  in 
your  room  ;  you  shall  administer  equal  justice  to  all  persons  to  the  best  of 
your  judgment  and  power;  you  shall  diligently  procure  such  things  to  be 
done  as  may  lawfully  and  justly  tend  to  the  profit  and  commodity  of  this 
corporation,  and  shall  support,  uphold,  and  maintain  the  lawful  customs, 
rights,  liberties,  and  franchises  thereof ;  you  shall,  to  the  utmost  of  your 
power,  endeavour  to  preserve  the  King's  (or  Queen's)  peace  within  this 
borough,  and  that  all  misdemeanours  and  offences  committed  therein  be 
duly  punished  ;  and  in  all  other  things  you  shall  faithfully  and  uprightly 
behave  yourself,  to  the  utmost  quietness,  benefit,  worship,  and  credit  of 
this  borough  and  the  inhabitants  thereof.     So  help  you  God. 

In  former  years,  on  each  fair  day  in  July  and  November,  it 
was  customary  for  a  Court  of  "  Pye  Powder  "  to  be  held  before 
the  Steward  of  the  Lord  of  the  Leet  and  the  Mayor  in  the  Court 
House,  which  was  styled  the  Court  of  Pye  Powder  of  the  Eight 
Hon.  the  Earl,  &c.,  holden  for  the  Boro'  of  Altrincham  before  the 
Steward  and  the  Mayor.  At  this  Court  none  of  the  freeholders 
or  their  tenants  attended,  but  the  leasehold  tenants  of  the  Lord  of 
the  Leet,  and  their  sub-tenants,  and  also  the  rack  tenants  were 
called  to  do  suit  and  service.  This  pye  powder  or  pie  poudre,  in 
English  law  is  the  Court  of  Dusty  Foot,  and  its  jurisdiction  was 
established  for  cases  arising  at  fairs  and  markets  to  do  justice  to 
the  buyer  and  seller  immediately  on  the  spot.  After  the  holding 
of  the  Court,  the  Mayor  and  the  Steward  proceeded  to  the  Market 
Place,  where  the  Bailiff  (Crier  of  the  Court)  proclaimed  the  fair 
in  the  following  terms  : — 

Oh  yea  !  Oh  yes  !  Oh  yes  !  Draw  near  and  hear  the  King's  (or  Queen's) 

proclamation  !      I,    A B ,  gentleman,   Mayor   of  the   Boro'  and 

Corporation  of  Altrincham,  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  our  Sovereign 
Lord  the  King  (or  Queen),  and  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  Right 
Honourable  the  Earl,  &c..   Lord  of  this  boro'  and  the  liberties  thereof, 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIFDON.  G3 

strictly  chargeth  and  coramandeth  all  manner  of  persons  resorting  to  this 
fair  that  they  do  keep  the  peace  during  the  continuance  thereof,  upon  pain 
of  forfeiting  for  every  assault  or  affray  five  pounds,  and  their  bodies  to 
prison : 

And  that  all  manner  of  persons  do  forbear  to  carry  any  unlawful 
weapon  or  weapons,  but  that  they  leave  the  same  at  their  respective 
lodgings  upon  pain  of  forfeiting  the  same  weapons  : 

And  that  all  manner  of  persons  do  forbear  to  buy,  sell,  or  exchange 
any  horses,  mares,  geldings,  cows  or  other  cattle  in  any  stable  or  back 
yard,  or  any  other  place  except  in  the  open  fair  or  market  ; 

And  that  all  persons  who  bring  any  goods  or  cattle  to  sell  above  the 
price  or  value  of  4^d.  do  pay  the  accustomed  toll  for  the  same  upon  pain 
of  forfeiting  the  same  goods  ; 

And  that  no  town  dweller  do  keep  in  or  about  their  houses  any  goods 
or  cattle  to  defraud  the  Lord  of  his  toll  upon  pain  of  forfeiting  for  every 
such  offence  6s.  8d.  ; 

And  lastly,  the  said  Mayor  strictly  commandeth  all  rogues,  vagabonds, 
and  other  idle  wandering  persons  who  can  give  no  just  account  of  their 
repair  hither,  that  they  forthwith  depart  this  fair  and  the  liberties  thereof, 
upon  pain  of  such  punishment  as  is  by  law  appointed  for  such  offenders. 
God  bless  the  King  (or  Queen),  the  Lord  of  this  borough,  the  Mayor,  and 
all  his  (or  her)  Majesty's  loyal  subjects. 

Courts  Leefc  are  also  said  to  have  held  the  same  relative 
position  to  the  sheriff's  tourn  or  circuit,  a  court  dating  from  the 
time  of  the  Saxons,  as  the  Petty  Sessions  now  do  to  the  Assizes  or 
Quarter  Sessions,  and  "were  minor  local  courts  of  the  same  juris- 
diction, but  being  limited  to  smaller  districts."  Their  criminal 
jurisdiction,  however,  became  limited  in  process  of  time,  but  they 
were  predecessors  of  the  modern  Lighting  Commissioners,  Local 
Boards,  Sanitary  and  other  local  authorities.  The  view  of  Frank 
Pledge,  granted  by  the  reigning  Sovereign  to  a  local  Lord  of  the 
Manor,  is  an  ancient  custom  by  which  every  free  born  male  of 
the  age  of  14,  with  certain  exceptions,  was  called  upon  to  give 
security  that  he  would  be  loyal  to  his  Sovereign  and  true  to  the 
latter's  subjects,  and  a  neighbour  was  bound  to  see  that  he  was 
forthcoming  when  required.  h\  case  the  youth  did  not  answer, 
then  the  person  in  whose  frank  plcdfje  he  was,  had  to  produce  the 
the  oflfender  within  a  given  period  or  "  satisfy  "  the  Court  for  his 
The  increase  of  population  rendered  this  very  difficult 


64  ALTBINCUAM   AXD    BOII'DON. 

to  exercise  in  towns,  and  it  fell  into  disuse,  but  in  some  places  in 
Cheshire  it  was  in  oj^eration  within  the  past  30  years,  and  persons 
who  had  been  summoned  formally  to  the  Court  Leet  with  view  of 
Frank  Pledge  have  been  fined  for  non-attendance,  although  it  was 
well  known  these  fines  could  not  legally  be  enforced. 

Some  of  the  duties  of  the  Court  Leet  were  interesting.  The 
stewards  had  to  enquire  if  highways  or  footpaths  had  been  stopped 
or  hedged  up  which  had  been  accustomed  to  lie  open,  and  the 
jury  had  to  "present"  the  person  who  shut  it  up,  "for  the  King's 
subject  must  not  bee  stopped  of  his  lawful  passage  to  church, 
mill,  or  market."  Common  bridges  which  had  been  broken  down 
were  to  be  repaired  by  the  parties  responsible.  "  Also  you  shall 
inquire  of  (about)  sleepers  by  day  and  walkers  by  night  to  steale 
and  purloine  other  men's  goods,  and  conies  (rabbits)  out  of 
warrens,  fish  out  of  men's  severall  ponds  or  waters,  hennes  from 
henrouse  (henroosts),  or  any  other  thing  whatsover,  for  they  are 
ill  members  in  a  commonwealth,  and  deserve  punishment,  there- 
fore if  you  know  any  such,  present  them." 

"Also  you  shall  inquire  of  Eues  droppers  (Eves  droppers)  and 
those  that  are  such  as  by  night  stand  or  lye  barkening  under 
walls  or  windows  of  other  men's  (dwellings),  to  heare  what  is  said 
in  another  man's  house,  to  the  end  to  set  debate  and  dissention 
betweene  neighbors,  therefore  if  you  know  any  such,  present  them." 

Evil  members  of  a  commonwealth  were  "  forestallers,"  who 
tried  to  enhance  the  price  of  victuals  to  their  own  advantage 
before  the  sellers  got  them  into  the  fair  or  market  ;  "  regrators," 
those  who  purchased  goods  and  sold  them  again  in  any  market 
"within  foure  miles  next  adjoining  thereunto;"  and  an  "ingrosser" 
was  one  who  got  into  his  or  her  hands,  corn  growing  in  the 
fields,  or  butter,  cheese,  fish,  &c.,  to  the  intent  to  sell  the  same 
again  for  profit.  These  offences  were  visited  with  severe  penalties, 
and  for  the  third  offence  persons  were  to  be  set  upon  the  pillory, 
to  lose  all  their  goods  and  chattels,  and  "  to  bee  imprisoned 
during  the  King's  pleasure."      Bakers  were  bound  to  make  good 


ALTPdNCHAM   AND    BOIVDON.  65 

and  wholesome  bread  "  for  man's  bodie,  of  sweet  corn  and  not 
corrupted,"  to  give  proper  weight  ;  whilst  brewers  and  typlers 
were  to  make  good  and  "wholesome"  ale  and  beere,  and  not  put 
out  their  signe  or  ale  stake  until  their  ales  had  been  "asseyed" 
by  the  ale  taster,  "  and  then  to  sell  and  not  before." 

We  have  here  also  a  reminder  of  a  survival  of  these  courts 
in  the  punishment  of  drunkenness.  The  orthodox  fine  of  five 
shillings  is  well  known,  and  here  we  have  some  guide  to  its  origin. 
All  drunkards  were  to  be  presented,  and  to  pay  "  if  they  bee 
able  for  every  time  they  bee  drunke  Vs  (5s.)  tor  the  use  of  the 
poor  of  the  parish,"  otherwise  they  were  doomed  to  six  hours  in 
the  stocks.  An  alehouse  keeper  was  to  lose  XXs  (203.)  for  every 
pot  of  ale  sold  that  was  not  a  full  quart,  and  Xs  (10s.)  for 
suffering  any  townsman  to  sit  drinking  in  their  houses  except  he 
be  brought  thither  by  a  stranger,  "and  then  hee  may  not  stay 
there  above  one  houre."  There  are  also  regulations  concerning 
such  as  continually  haunt  taverns,  and  "such  as  sleep  by  day  and 
watch  by  night,  and  eat  and  drink  well  and  have  nothing." 

The  officers  of  the  borough  formerly  accompanied  the  Mayor 
and  the  Steward  in  a  parade  of  the  streets  of  the  town,  and  these 
perambulations  were  supposed  to  extend  to  the  boundaries  of  the 
borough.  Some  old  verdicts  contain  orders  of  the  Jury  for  all 
householders  to  attend  the  Mayor  with  halberts  under  fine  for 
not  so  doing.  The  procession  then  must  have  had  a  formidable, 
as  well  as  imposing  appearance,  and  would,  no  doubt,  embrace 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  from  the  Mayor,  with  the 
constables,  market  lookers,  dog  muzzlers,  and  ale  tasters,  down 
to  the  humble  bellman. 

The  latter  was  a  very  important  personage.  The  town  books 
from  an  early  period  bear  the  stamp  and  impress  of  his  valuable 
services  ;  for  at  a  town's  meeting  held  at  the  Court  House, 
.  March  1st,  1796,  it  was  ordered — 

That  it  has  been  found  by  experience  to  be  inconvenient  to  hold  town's 
meetings  without  notice  by  the  bell  (bellman) ;  therefore,  in  future,  it  is 
ordered  that  notice  by  the  bell  shall  be  given. 

j3 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 


lace 


In  the  year  1699  a  most  important  change  took  pla 
connection  with  the  Mayoralty  of  the  town,  which  was  destined 
subsequently  to  render  that  office  one  of  some  responsibility  to  its 
occupants.  Most  people  are  acquainted  with  the  story,  which  is 
to  the  effect  that  the  then  Earl  offered  to  grant  to  the  Mayor  of 
Altrincham  a  yearly  payment  of  £5,  or  land  of  the  same  yearly 
value,  at  his  option,  making  at  the  same  time  a  similar  offer  to 
the  Mayor  of  Ashton-under-Lyne.  The  Mayor  of  the  latter 
place  took  the  money  ;  but  his  brother  of  Altrincham  thought, 
and  thought  rightly,  that  the  property  could  not  possibly 
deteriorate,  and  chose  the  land.  The  wisdom  of  the  choice  has 
been  fully  vindicated  in  modern  times.  The  true  version  of  the 
matter,  however,  is  this  : — 

By  an  indenture  dated  the  25th  November,  1699,  made 
between  the  Right  Hon.  George  Harry,  the  Earl  of  Warrington 
on  the  one  part,  and  John  Eccles,  of  Altrincham,  shoemaker,  then 
Mayor  of  the  said  boro'  of  Altrincham  aforesaid  on  the  other 
part,  the  said  Earl,  as  well  for  the  goodwill  which  he  had  and  bore 
"  to  the  then  Mayor,  aldermen  (these,  it  is  supposed,  referred  to 
the  burgesses  who  had  served  the  office  of  Mayor,  the  title  being 
frequently  recognised  in  the  old  verdicts)  and  burgesses  of  his 
boro'  of  Altrincham,  and  for  the  further  and  better  defraying  of 
the  charges  and  expenses,  which  the  Mayor  of  the  boro'  afore- 
said, and  his  successors  for  the  time  being  was  and  were  likely  to 
be  at  during  his  and  their  Mayoralty,  as  for  divers  other  good 
causes  and  considerations  moving  him  thereunto,  did  give,  grant, 
bargain,  and  sell  unto  the  said  John  Eccles,  his  executors,  &c., 
certain  lands,  with  liberty  to  take  and  hedge  in  and  improve  the 
same,  for  the  term  of  5,000  years,  yielding  and  paying  during 
the  said  term  a  rent  of  twelvepence  upon  Christmas  Day  in 
full" — a  very  handsome  Christmas  box  certainly  for  an  Earl  ! 
The  deed  further  recites  that  this  is  to  be  only  for  the  proper  use 
and  behoof  of  John  Eccles  and  his  successors  in  the  office,  subject 
to  certain  provisos,  amongst  them  being  neglecting  or  refusing 
to  pay  their  rent,  or  neglecting  to  pay  their  proportionate  shares 


ALTRINCHABI   AND    BOWDON.  67 

of  enclosing  the  lands ;  also  for  the  re-entry  of  the  Earl  if  the  rent 
should  be  unpaid  for  ten  days  after  it  became  due,  being  lawfully 
demanded,  or  if  John  Eccles  should  grant,  bargain,  or  sell  or 
convert  the  said  premises,  or  any  part  thereof  or  profits  thereof, 
in  any  wise  contrary  to  the  use  and  trust  aforesaid. 

Seventeen  years  afterwards,  viz,  in  November,  1716,  another 
grant  of  land  was  made  in  the  same  form  from  the  said  Earl  to 
Charles  Cresswell,  then  Mayor  of  the  borough. 

The  Mayor's  land,  as  it  is  called,  was  formerly  waste,  and  was 
13a.  Ir.  26p.,  statute  measure,  and  consisted  of 

a.  r.  p. 

Farther  Moss  Mayor  Field    2    0  14 

Nearer  Moss  Mayor  Field 1     1  32 

ThorleyMoor    2    0  33 

Higher  Thorley  Moor I     1  29 

Seamon's  Moss  Mayor  Field 6    0  38 

13    1  26 

It  evidently  formed  a  subject  of  notice  at  no  very  recent 
period,  as  at  a  public  town's  meeting  held  at  the  Court  House, 
June  7th,  1796,  it  was  ordered  that  Messrs.  Worthington  be 
authorized  "  to  take  such  measures  as  they  may  think  proper  to 
procure  an  administration  to  be  granted  to  Mr.  James  Gratrix, 
to  empower  him  to  take  such  legal  acts  as  may  be  thought 
necessary,  respecting  the  fields  belonging  to  the  Mayor."  No 
record  of  any  such  proceedings  having  been  taken  appears  ;  but 
in  1803  there  is  a  "Memorandum,"  dated  8th  October,  which 
gives  us  some  idea  of  the  income  then.      It  is  as  follows  : — 

Mayors  field  let  to  Mr.  Rigby,  at  the  yearly  rent  of  £18,— who  held  it 
two  years,  and  gave  up  possession  (not  willing  to  hold  it  longer)  in  the 
year  1796  ;  holding  it  from  February,  1794.  It  was  in  1796  by  public 
auction,  at  Bowling  Green,  let  for  12  years  to  Mr.  Gratrix,  at  the  rent  of 
£18  4s.,  which  lease  expires  1808  ;  as,  also,  Mr.  Geo.  Lupton's  lease  of  Mr. 
Taylor's  Townsfield  Garden,  for  12  years,  from  1796,  expires  year  1808, 
rent  £3  3s.  yearly.  Then  follows  in  a  somewhat  tremulous  hand  the 
signature,  "Aaron  Brundrett,  Auctioneer." 


68  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIVDON. 

Of  the  office  and  dignity  of  JNLiyor  of  this  borough  much  has 
been  said ;  and  Webb,  in  his  "Itinerary,"  written  in  1G21,  speaks  of 
Altrincham,  "with  its  fine  little  market,  and  a  town  of  no  meaner 
government  than  the  Mayor  of  an  ancient  institution  to  her 
principal  officer  ; "  while  King,  in  describing  the  market  towns  of 
Cheshire,  says,  somewhat  enviously,  that  although  "  Altrincham 
be  none  of  the  chiefest  market  towns,  it  hath  a  Mayor  (Major), 
a  weekly  market,  and  yearly  on  St.  James'  a  fair." 

As  there  is  a  proverb  attached  to  the  Vicarage  of  Bowdon, 
there  are  one  or  two  sayings  which  have  contributed  in  no  lesser 
degree  to  make  the  Mayoralty  of  Altrincham  famous.  In  former 
times,  the  "  honour  "  was  much  ridiculed,  and  it  was  said  in  an 
old  rhyme  : — 

The  Mayor  of  Altrincham  and  the  Mayor  of  Over, 
The  one  is  a  thatcher  and  the  other  a  dauber. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  too,  in  the  forty-fifth  chapter  of  his  novel, 
"  The  Heart  of  Mid-Lothian,"  puts  a  peculiar  apology  into  the 
mouth  of  the  worthy  dame  mentioned  therein.  She  has  come 
down  late  to  breakfast,  and  Sir  Walter  writes  :  — 

The  dame  apologised  to  Captain  Knookunder,  as  she  was  pleased  to 
term  their  entertainer  ;  "  but  as  we  say  in  Cheshire,"  she  added,  "  '  I  was 
lilie  the  Mayor  of  Altrincham,  who  lies  in  bed  whilst  his  breeches  are 
mending,'  for  the  girl  did  not  bring  up  the  right  bundle  to  my  room,  till 
she  had  brought  up  all  the  others  by  mistake  one  after  t'other. 
Pray,  may  I  be  so  bold  as  to  ask  if  it  is  the  fashion  for  you  North  country 
gentlemen  to  go  to  church  in  your  petticoats,  Captain  Knockunder  ?" 

"  Captain  of  Knockd under,  Madam,  if  you  please,  for  I  knock  under 
to  no  man  ;  and  in  respect  of  my  garb,  I  shall  go  to  church  as  I  am,  at 
your  service.  Madam  ;  for  if  I  were  to  lie  in  bed  like  your  Major  what-d'ye- 
callum,  till  my  breeches  were  mended,  I  might  be  there  all  my  life,  seeing 
I  never  had  a  pair  of  them  on  my  person  but  twice  in  my  life,  which  I  am 
bound  to  remember,  it  being  when  the  Duke  brought  his  Duchess  here,  so 
I  e'en  borrowed  the  Minister's  trews  for  the  twa  days  his  grace  was  pleased 
to  stay,  &c. " 

That  this  delicate  Cheshire  damsel  and  the  ascetic  rhymer 
somewhat  libelled  both  the  office  and  the  many  worthy  gentle: 
men  who  have  filled  it  there  can  be  no  doubt  ;  for  there  is  a  long 


ALTllLXCUAM   AXD    BOIFDON.  G9 

and  goodly  list  of  the  best  names  in  the  place,  amongst  them  those 
of  Massey,  and  in  1758-9,  that  of  the  Honourable  Booth  Grey, 
son  of  the  then  Earl  of  Stamford.  It  was  in  removing  the  eflects 
of  the  present  Earl  from  Dunham  Hall,  some  years  ago,  that  a 
silver  medal  was  found,  which  had  evidently  been  struck  in 
honour  of  his  election.  On  one  side  is  the  inscription,  "  The 
Honourable  Booth  Grey,  Mayor  of  Altrincham,  1759  ;"  on  the 
other,  the  coat  of  arms,  with  the  motto,  "A  Ma  Puissance" 
(According  to  my  power).  The  Honourable  Booth  Grey  was  M.P. 
for  Leicester  in  1768,  and  Mayor  at  the  age  of  19.  This  was 
presented  to  the  Mayor,  Mr.  John  Astle  Kelsall,  in  1867-8,  by 
whose  representatives  it  was  handed  over  to  the  Court  Leet.  It 
was  made  the  basis  of  an  official  gold  chain,  being  enclosed  in  a 
larger  silver  medal.  On  the  links  of  the  chain  to  which  it  is 
attached,  are  engraved  the  names  of  those  Mayors  who  con- 
tributed to  it.  The  chain  itself  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the 
goldsmith's  art,  and  was  designed  and  executed  by  Mr.  Eustace 
George  Parker,  himself  Mayor  in  1890. 

One  of  its  Mayors,  so  runs  the  tradition,  was  gifted  with  the 
grace  of  repartee  excellent  well.  The  Mayor  of  Over — for  he 
and  the  Mayor  of  Altrincham  are  often  coupled, — journeyed  once 
upon  a  time  to  Manchester.  He  was  somewhat  proud,  though  he 
went  on  foot,  and  on  arriving  at  Altrincham  felt  he  would  be  all 
the  better  for  a  shave.  The  knight  of  steel  and  strop  performed 
the  operation  most  satisfactorily  ;  and  as  his  worship  rose  to 
depart,  he  said,  rather  grandiloquently,  "  You  may  tell  your 
customers  that  you  have  had  the  honour  of  shaving  the  Mayor 
of  Over."  "  And  you,"  retorted  the  ready-witted  fellow,  "  may 
tell  yours  that  you  have  had  the  honour  of  being  shaved  by  the 
Mayor  of  Altrincham."  The  rest  can  be  better  imagined  than 
described. 

It  is  singular  that,  while  anciently  the  two  were  on  such  an 
unenviable  footing  of  equality,  the  Mayor  of  Over,  by  prescriptive 
right,  takes  his  seat  as  a  magistrate  both  in  his  own  borough  and 
at  Quarter  Sessions,   the  Mayor  of  Altrincham  does  not  appear 


70  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 

either  to  have  been  invested  with  or  exercised  magisterial 
functions.  That  Mayors  of  the  town  when  the  charter  was  first 
granted  did  so  is  very  probable  indeed,  but  any  active  adminis- 
tration of  justice  by  any  of  them  has  not  been  known. 

The  Court  Leet  was  formerly  all  powerful  in  regulating  and 
administering  the  aftairs  of  the  town.  In  order  to  do  this  with 
efficiency  there  were  various  officials  appointed  to  assist  the 
Mayor  ;  the  principal  being — the  constables,  bailiffs,  market 
lookers,  burley  or  byelaw  men,  assessors,  leather  sealers, 
scavengers,  swine  lookers,  common  lookers,  ale  tasters,  pump 
lookers,  overseers,  dog  muzzlers,  chimney  lookers,  and  the  bell- 
man. These  oflflces  were  not  then  sinecures,  and  all  of  them  can 
be  traced  at  work  except  the  ale  tasters — a  feature  greatly  to  the 
credit  of  the  Altrincham  publican  one  or  two  centuries  ago. 
The  chimney  lookers  on  one  occasion  had  George  Twyford  and 
Edward  Cook  each  amerced  in  Is.  for  neglecting  to  sweep  their 
chimneys,  which  occasioned  Edward  Cook's  to  take  fire  ;  and  a 
worthy  Alderman,  whose  name  is  honourably  associated  with 
Altrincham  (Alderman  Cresswell)  was  ordered  to  "mussel" 
his  dog  in  pain  of  6s.  8d.,  which  he,  neglecting  to  do,  had  to 
pay,  and  was  further  fined  10s.  The  Overseers  had  Ann  Grantham 
amerced  in  10s.  for  entertaining  vagrants  contrary  to  Act  of 
Parliament.  The  pump  lookers  saw  that  "  no  person  washed 
potatoes  at  ye  town's  pump,  or  fetched  water  to  degg  straw,  or  set 
any  barrel  to  be  ledgined,  or  watered  horses,  or  fetched  water  to 
make  daub  or  mortar."  The  common  lookers  prevented  persons 
gathering  dung  there,  or  "fleaing"  the  common,  or  "surcharging" 
it,  or  turning  diseased  animals  on  it.  The  swine  lookers  had 
Faith  Brown  amerced  in  Is.  for  turning  out  one  swine.  The 
leather  sealers  had  John  Worthington,  jun.,  fined  in  3s.  -Id.  and 
William  Ellam,  of  Lymm,  in  6s.  Sd.,  for  selling  leather  not  suffi- 
ciently tanned.  The  market  lookers  saw  that  butchers  did  not 
bring  unmarketable  meat,  or  the  bakers  give  short  weight  in 
bread.  In  fact,  the  Court  took  care  that  the  officers  did  their 
duty,  or  "pained"  (fined)  them  for  any  omission.     Thus  the  well- 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIFDON.  71 

looker  was  amerced  in  3s.  4d.  "  for  neglecting  his  office  about 
cleaning  the  town's  well  ;"  and  the  dog  muzzlers  in  12d.  for  not 
doing  as  they  ought  to  have  done.  Concerning  the  Overseers, 
there  is  an  entry  150  years  ago,  which  states  :— 

We  find  hei'etofore  yt  }-e  Overseers  of  ye  poor  have  been  very  neglect- 
ful in  getting  certificates  from  the  interlopers,  and  for  that  reason  wee  doe 
order  the  sukceeding  officers  to  take  care  for  the  future  to  get  certificates 
of  those  that  are  in  town  yt  have  not  given  them,  or  those  that  may  come 
in,  if  ye  deny  to  remove  them,  on  pain  of  6s.  8d. 

The  previous  Overseers  had  been  fined  12d.  each  for  their 
neglect.  But  if  the  Court  saw  the  officers  did  their  duty  it  also 
protected  them  in  the  doing  of  it,  as  we  find  James  Berry 
"amerced  in  3s.  4d.  for  insulting  the  market-lookers  in  the 
execution  of  their  duty."  Some  particular  persons  gave  a  good 
deal  of  trouble,  just  as  they  do  in  the  present  day.  Thus  Faith 
(Ffaith)  Brown  was  twice  fined  Is.  for  gathering  dung  on  the 
common,  2s.  for  twice  turning  out  her  pig,  and  another  shilling 
for  not  paying  or  cleaning  the  well.  Eobert  Leather,  too,  was 
well  known  at  court  :  he  was  ordered  to  repair  his  ovens,  to 
make  a  new  and  sufficient  gate  leading  into  the  Town  Field,  to 
open  his  part  of  Timperley  brook,  was  amerced  in  sixpence  for 
ledgining  his  barrels  at  the  town's  pump,  and  lastly  was  fined 
6s.  8d.  for  neglecting  to  brush  his  hedge  and  slance  his  ditch  at 
Timperley.  Hedges  and  ditches  were  the  occasion  of  a  variety 
of  orders,  parties  being  required  to  scour,  ditch,  slance,  breast, 
and  cleanse  their  ditches,  and  to  fall,  brush,  fence,  and  back  beat 
their  hedges.  "  Muck,"  as  it  is  always  called,  gave  no  small 
amount  of  employment  to  the  Court.  Widow  Norman  was  told 
not  to  bring  hers  any  further  than  the  stumps  from  her  stable  on 
pain  of  6s.  8d.,  James  Robinson  was  twice  told  to  keep  his  within 
his  wall  in  his  fold,  while  everybody  was  forbidden  to  lay  "  swine 
muck,"  or  "little  house  muck"  in  the  bank  for  the  future.  Mary 
Janson,  for  committing  a  great  nuisance  in  this  respect,  was  fined 
10s.,  and  was  ordered  to  lay  no  more  in  the  public  street  on  pain 
of  £01  00s.  Od.  The  houses  were  mostly  thatched  with  straw, 
and    there    were     sundry    regulations     respecting    "  straw    for 


72  ALTPdNCHAM    AND    BOIFDON. 

thatching."  Such  straw  was  not  to  be  wet  in  the  highway,  and 
great  danger  arising  from  the  thatch  taking  fire,  many  jjersons 
were  fined  for  not  having  their  chimneys  duly  cleaned.  George 
Twyford  was  ordered  to  make  up  a  dangerous  hole  in  the  end  of 
his  brewhouse,  on  pain  of  6s.  8d.,  and  the  smith  was  to  prevent 
spai'ks  passing  out  of  his  smithy  under  the  comparatively  heavy 
penalty  of  £01  OOs.  Od.  The  bakers  were  ordered  not  to  lay 
their  heath,  gorse,  or  other  fuel,  within  sixty  yards  of  any  house, 
barn,  or  outbuilding,  and  to  quench  their  hot  ashes  under  similarly 
heavy  "  pains."  The  public  bakehouse  was  an  important 
institution,  which  was  maintained  until  a  recent  period.  The 
Court  regulated  the  time  of  "setting  in"  and  "drawing,"  the 
former  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  from  May  to  Michaelmas, 
and  eight  o'clock  from  ]\lichaelmas  to  May,  also  at  such  other 
times  as  "that  the  inhabitants  may  have  their  puddings,  pyes, 
and  other  eatables  out  of  the  oven  precisely  at  12  o'clock,"  and 
"  draw  for  supper  by  six  o'th'  clock  in  the  evening,"  an  hour 
which  will  be  considered  rather  early  in  these  days.  James 
Tipping,  the  baker,  repeatedly  kept  the  lieges  of  Altrincham 
waiting  for  their  dinners,  and  no  doubt  this  was  the  case  in 
reference  to  suppers — for  he  was  frequently  fined.  The 
pecuniary  affairs  of  the  town  were  well  guarded,  the  officers 
being  often  amerced  for  not  producing  their  accounts  to  the 
assessor  for  inspection.  A  most  important  feature  of  the  work 
of  the  Court  was  the  preservation  of  footpaths  and  the  repairing 
of  highways,  as  several  of  the  entries  at  different  periods  show. 

Whereas  the  styles  have  lately  been  took  up  and  the  footway  stopt 
leading  from  Charles  Cresswell's,  Wellfield  at  Sandiway  Head,  and  so  from 
thence  leading  through  the  upper  end  of  John  Smith's  higher  field,  pur- 
chased of  Mr.  John  Eccles,  which  has  been  an  immemorial  foolroad.  We 
agree  and  order  that  the  several  owners  of  the  fields  through  which  the 
footroad  did  heretofore  lead,  to  fix  good  and  sufficient  styles  through 
their  several  closes  or  fields  in  pain  of  each  £1. 

In    1738,  it  was  agreed  and  ordered  : — 

That  George  Norman  and  William  Royle  do  take  do\\'n  their  several 
styles  leading  from  Altrincham  to  Bowtlon  Church,  and  in  lieu  thereof  do 
place  stumps  and  rails  for  the  better  ease  and  convenience  of  Churchpeople 
and  other  passengers,  and  that  within  one  month  from  this  time  on  pain  of 


ALmiNCHAM    AND    BOWDON.  73 

This  is  quite  sufficient  to  show  that  the  Court  was  a  most 
important  one,  and  fulfilled  duties  very  much  after  the  fashion 
of  a  Corporation  in  modern  times. 

The  ancient  custom  in  regard  to  the  election  of  burgesses  is 
still  carried  out.  These  burgesses  are  all  freeholders  within  the 
borough,  but  must  be  elected  by  the  Jury  of  the  Court  Leet 
before  they  can  be  said  to  be  fully  qualified.  For  many  years 
the  Jury  returned  one  freeholder  as  burgess  at  each  Court  Leet, 
who  thereupon  usually  paid  a  fine  towards  the  expenses  of  the 
dinner  of  the  Mayor,  Steward,  Jury,  Constables,  &c.,  partaken  of 
after  the  Court  had  discharged  the  very  onerous  duties  devolving 
upon  it.  This  habit  of  inflicting  a  fine  was  not  an  ancient  custom, 
as  this  election  of  burgesses  was  not  carried  out  with  such 
regularity  100  or  120  years  ago  ;  and  the  Jury  only  elected 
one  or  two  as  they  thought  proper,  and  no  mention  of  a  fine  or 
other  expenses  to  be  paid  is  shown  by  them.  It  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that  it  was  long  the  custom  for  the  Lord  of  the  leet  to 
present  to  the  company  at  the  dinner,  a  certain  sum  towards  the 
expenses  of  the  same  and  the  fines  paid  by  new  burgesses  were 
added,  the  remainder  being  paid  equally  by  the  persons  present, 
with  the  exception  of  the  constables,  for  whom  the  JLayor  paid, 
as  well  as  for  himself.  No  one  can  possibly  remember  when  the 
custom  originated,  not  even  "  the  oldest  inhabitant." 

Occasions  have  been  known  when  a  newly-elected  burgess 
has  declined  to  pay  the  customary  fine  ;  and  no  persuasion,  not 
even  that  of  the  "  ballivo "  of  the  ancient  charter,  which  is 
supposed  to  mean  the  bailiff  returned  by  the  Jury,  who  executed 
their  precepts,  and  the  warrants  of  the  steward  for  levying  all 
fines  and  amercements  imposed  by  them,  could  induce  him  to 
part  ;  consequently,  this  money  has  been  lost  to  the  company. 
It  is  said  that  in  the  year  1820,  and  for  several  years  afterwards, 
the  Mayor  gave  no  dinners,  but  only  a  certain  sum  towards  the 
expenses  of  the  Court  Leet  dinners,  the  rest  of  the  funds  being 
expended  in  lighting  and  watching  the  town.  The  practice  of  the 
Mayor   gi\'ing  these  dinners  is,   however,  an  institution   which 

K.3 


74  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 

cannot  have  existed  from  the  granting  of  the  charter,  as  he  had 
no  public  funds  to  meet  the  expenses  prior  to  the  grants  already 
mentioned,  nor  indeed  until  the  lands  comprised  in  the  lease 
became  productive.  The  date  at  which  they  are  fixed  as  having 
commenced  is  1749  or  1759,  and  about  that  time  each  burgess 
gave  one  shilling  towards  the  expenses  of  such  dinner. 

With  the  progress  of  the  town,  the  value  of  the  Mayor's 
land  correspondingly  increased.  Up  to  1863,  it  had  for  many 
years  been  vested  in  a  trustee,  upon  trust  for  the  Mayors  for  the 
time  being  of  the  borough,  during  their  respective  mayoralties, 
and  was  leased  for  farming  purposes  ;  the  rents,  then  amounting  to 
£70  10s.,  being  received  and  expended  by  the  Mayor  at  his 
discretion.  This  discretion  for  a  long  time  was  not  wisely 
exercised,  and  public  opinion  was  on  more  than  one  occasion 
strongly  expressed.  It  was  alluded  to  many  years  previously  at 
the  Government  Inquiry  prior  to  the  formation  of  the  Local 
Board  of  Health  ;  and  Mr.  Rawlinson,  who  held  it,  states  in  his 
appendix  that  he  fully  concurred  in  the  recommendations  relative 
to  the  Mayor's  property.  Mr.  Joynson  and  others  named  the 
subject,  and  expressed  an  opinion  that  if  the  rental  obtained 
from  the  land  could  be  laid  out  for  public  purposes,  much  good 
might  result  to  the  inhabitants  and  the  ratepayers  generally.  Mr. 
E.  Joynson  stated  "  they  had  reason  to  believe  that  Lord 
Stamford,  whose  ancestors  left  the  property  in  question,  to  the 
Mayor  and  Burgesses,  would  have  no  objection  to  its  being  made 
available  for  the  improvement  of  the  town  ;  "  and  Mr.  I.  Turton 
added  that  "  the  income  from  the  land  was  at  present  of  no  use 
whatever,  for  it  was  spent  in  eating  and  drinking."  Some 
remarks  on  the  improvement  of  Altrincham,  which  were  then 
drawn  tij)  for  local  use  and  information,  pointed  out  that  the  town 
was  suffering,  as  Manchester  did  for  at  least  a  century,  from 
having  outgrown  the  feudal  usages  and  regulations  under  which 
it  had  hitherto  been  governed,  and  also  that  the  main  qualification 
which  the  Jurors  of  the  Leet  sought  for  in  a  Mayor-elect  was 
that  he  should  be  disposed  to  disburse  largely  of  this  fund  in  the 


SCOLDS     BRIDL] 


IN   THE   WARRINGTON    MUSEUM.      (FORMERLY   AT    CARRINGTON) 


FORMERLY   AT   ALTRINCHAM.        (LOST). 


ALTllINCHAM   AND    BOJVDOX.  77 

shape  of  good  dinners  and  drinking  bouts.  Some  of  the  Burgesses 
who  did  not  approve  of  this  mode  of  spending  the  money,  did  not 
attend  the  Court  Leet  or  its  dinners.  It  is  pleasant  to  have  to 
record  that  of  late  years  there  has  been  an  absence  of  that  license 
which  formerly  prevailed,  and  Mayors  have  vied  with  each  other 
in  publicly  and  privately  helping  on  local  objects,  by  sub- 
scriptions from  the  funds  at  their  disposal.  Efforts  have  also 
been  made  to  add  greater  dignity  to  the  transactions  of  the  Court 
Leet,  and  perhaps  by  none  more  so  than  Mr.  Edward  Neild,  who 
held  the  oflSce  in  1875-6.  During  his  term  he  presented  two 
splendid  chairs  for  the  use  of  the  Court.  They  are  constructed 
out  of  solid  oak  grown  in  Dunham  Park.  They  are  in  the 
Jacobean  style  of  the  16th  century,  from  designs  by  Bernard 
Smith,  of  London,  and  therefore  harmonize  to  some  extent  with 
the  antiquity  of  the  Court  to  which  they  are  presented.  The 
principal  chair  stands  about  seven  feet  high,  and  the  other,  which 
is  not  quite  so  elaborate,  though  not  less  tasteful  in  its  design, 
is  six  feet.  The  principals  of  both  are  splendid  specimens  of 
turnery,  and  the  carving  is  not  less  massive  and  imposing.  In 
the  back  of  the  chairs  is  a  shield  artistically  placed  on  a  green 
ground,  bearing  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  town,  with  the  motto  in 
gilt  letters  "  Altrincham  en  avant."  Underneath,  on  a  brass 
plate,  is  the  inscription  :  "  Presented  to  the  Court  Leet  of  the 
Borough  of  Altrincham,  by  Edward  Neild,  Mayor,  1875-6."  They 
are  vipholstered  in  leather  in  olive  and  gold  of  antique  pattern, 
and  the  panels  are  also  decorated  in  the  same  manner.  The 
back  of  the  second  chair  is  ornamented  with  the  coat  of  arms  of 
the  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington,  in  silver  and  blue, 
surmounted  with  a  coronet,  and  the  motto  in  gilt  letters,  "A  ma 
puissance."  A  handsome  lamp,  formerly  in  the  old  Market  Place, 
bore  the  legend  "  Pierson,  Mayor,  1851-1852,"  and  celebrates  the 
memory  of  a  good  man  and  a  worthy  citizen  in  his  day  and 
generation. 

Returning   once  more  to  the  economic  consideration  of  the 
subject,  it  was  mainly  owing  to  the  efforts  of  Mr.  W.  Devereux 


78  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJFDON. 

Nicholls,  a  former  Mayor,  that  this  trust  was  put  on  a  satisfactory 
footing,  legally  speaking.  He  spent  the  whole  of  his  mayoral 
income  in  accomplishing  the  object  ;  and  in  his  representation  he 
pointed  out  that  it  was  obvious  that  some  parts  of  the  land  were 
eligible  for  building  purposes,  and  that  the  income  would  be 
much  increased  if  they  could  be  leased  for  long  terms.  It  had 
also  been  for  many  years  considered  that  the  rents  might  be 
much  more  advantageously  applied  than  in  the  manner  before 
detailed,  and  that  the  inclination  of  the  Burgesses  was  very  strong 
towards  such  an  appropriation.  This,  JNIr.  Nicholls  did  not  do 
with  a  view  to  decreasing  the  dignity  of  the  office  ;  and 
suggestions  were  made  that  the  Mayor  for  the  time  being  should 
receive  a  definite  and  sufficient  sum  for  the  due  maintenance  of 
his  office,  and  the  remainder  be  applied  for  some  public  purpose, 
as  the  Mayor  for  the  time  being  and  a  committee  of  Burgesses 
to  be  chosen  by  themselves  might  determine. 

There  were,  however,  many  difficulties  raised  to  this  course ; 
but  the  object  Mr.  Nicholls  had  in  view  was  ultimately  gained, 
and  with  the  consent  of  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  and  the  Charity 
Commissioners,  the  following  gentlemen  were  elected  by  the 
burgesses  trustees  of  what  has  since  been  legally  termed  "  The 
Mayor's  Land  Charity "  :— Messrs.  James  Street  (Mayor), 
J.  Howard,  James  Southern,  Mark  Pierson,  C.  Balshaw, 
S.  Barratt,  J.  Renshaw,  and  J.  A.  Kelsall.  Of  these  Mr.  James 
Southern  only  survives. 

Various  inquiries  have  since  been  held  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Charity  Commissioners,  which  have  changed  completely  the 
old  order  of  things  in  connection  with  the  iNIayor's  Land  Charity. 
The  report  of  the  Commissioners  of  1876,  states  that  the 
Corporation  of  Altrincham  has  no  municipal  function,  and  that 
the  Mayor  elected  at  the  Court  Leet  has  no  Magisterial  Juris- 
diction. Nothing  in  the  Municipal  Corporations'  Act  of  1883, 
however,  prevented  the  holding  of  the  Court  Leet  in  the  ordinary 
way,  and  the  election  of  the  Mayor  as  heretofore,  but  it  specially 
provided  that  such  Mayor  should  not  have  magisterial,  municipal, 


ALTRINGHAM   AND    BOWDON.  79 

or  other  jurisdiction.  The  ancient  Corporation  was  dissolved  in 
1888,  and  by  a  scheme  formulated  by  the  Commissioners,  the 
sum  of  £\o  was  made  payable  to  the  Mayor,  "  to  be  applied  by 
him  in  his  discretion  during  his  term  of  office  for  some  public 
pui'pose  or  purposes  in  the  township  of  Altrincham."  The  balance 
was  to  be  applied  by  the  Trustees  in  subscriptions  or  donations 
in  aid  of  the  funds  of  any  "Free  Library,  Museum,  Reading  Room, 
Dispensary,  Infirmary,  Hospital  or  Convalescent  Home,  or  any 
Technical  School  in  Altrincham."  The  Charity  Commissioners 
further  directed  that  the  Mayor's  gold  chain  of  ofiice,  the  chairs 
presented  by  Mr.  Edward  Neild,  the  scales,  the  brank  or  scold's 
bridle,  weights  and  measures  used  by  the  market-lookers,  the 
three  silver-headed  constables'  staves,  and  the  bell  used  by  the 
town  crier,  should  remain  in  the  custody  of  the  Mayor,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Local  Board,  and  the  Chairman  of  the  new 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Mayor's  Land  Charity  until  a  Free 
Library  is  provided. 

The  present  income  of  the  Charity  is,  from  chief  rents 
£296  13s.  6d.,  from  nursery  grounds,  6a.  Ir.  13i3.,  £45  ;  total 
£34:1  13s.  6d.  The  nett  income  is  about  £325,  and  deducting 
the  £45  payable  to  the  Mayor,  leaves  a  sum  of  £280  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Trustees  for  one  or  other  of  the  purposes  stipulated 
for  in  the  Act.  From  1891  to  1895,  inclusive,  they  have  given 
to  the  Altrincham  Hospital  and  Dispensary  £480,  and  £850  to 
the  Altrincham  Free  Library.  The  Trustees  in  1896  were  Messrs. 
Newton  (Chairman),  Davenport,  Siddeley,  Hamilton,  Bowen, 
Steen,  Percival,  Boyd,  and  the  Mayor  for  the  time  being. 


TR.\NSLATION    OF   CHARTER   OF    HAMON   MASSEY. 

To  ALL  FAITHFUL  TEOPLE  OF  CiiKiST,  that  shall  see  or  hear  this 
present  Charter,  Hajion  Massey,  Lord  of  Dunhaji,  sexds  greeting 
everlasting  in  the  Lord  :  KNOW  YE,  that  I  have  given,  and  by  this 
my  present  Charter  for  me  and  my  heirs  confirm,  to  my  Burgesses  of 
Altrincham,  that  my  Town  of  Altrincham  be  a  Free  Borough,  and  that 
my  Burgesses  of  the  same  Borough  shall  have  a  Guild  Mercalory  in  the 
same  Borough,  with  all  liberties  and  free  customs  unto  such  manner  of 
L 


ALlTdNCHAM   AND    JJOJrUON. 

Guild  belonging,  according  to  the  custom  of  tlie  Borough  of  Maccles- 
field ;  and  that  they  shall  be  quit  through  all  my  lands,  as  well  by 
water  as  by  land,  of  toll,  passage,  pontage,  stallage,  lastage,  and  all 
other  servile  customs.  Also  I  have  granted  unto  my  said  Burgesses, 
common  of  pasture,  turbary  and  bruary,  within  the  limits  of  Dunham, 
Altrinoham,  and  Timperley,  saving  unto  nie  and  my  heirs  our  improve- 
ments, and  sa\'ing  to  me  and  my  heirs  the  iiiclosure  of  Sunderland,  at 
our  free  will  without  the  contradiction  of  any  ijersou,  whensoever  we 
shall  think  fit,  to  enclose  the  same,  so  that  my  aforesaid  Burgesses 
may  have  common  of  [lasture  always  and  everj-where  for  all  their  cattle 
within  the  bounds  of  Sunderland,  so  long  as  the  aforesaid  place  of 
Sunderland  shall  not  be  enclosed  ;  saving  to  me  and  my  heirs  in  all  the 
time  of  pannage  in  the  aforesaid  Sunderland  so  that  in  that  time  we 
may  have  power  at  our  will  to  fence  in  Sunderland  aforesaid,  without 
the  contradiction  of  any  persons.  And  when  Sunderland  aforesaid 
shall  be  enclosed,  m}'  said  Burgesses  shall  have  their  common  up  to  the 
Hay  of  Sunderland  aforesaid,  and  not  beyond.  It  is  also  my  will  that 
all  my  Burgesses  who  shall  have  hogs  in  the  time  of  pannage  in  my  said 
Borough  either  after  the  feast  of  St.  James  and  the  time  of  pannage, 
shall  give  a  right  toll  when  they  pasture  within  the  aforesaid  commons, 
and  they  shall  not  go  from  the  said  Borough  with  their  hogs  in  the 
time  of  pannage.  Also,  I  have  granted  to  my  aforesaid  Burgesses 
housebote  and  haybote  in  all  the  woods  of  the  aforesaid  places  (except 
my  hays  and  enclosed  woods).  And  also  I  do  grant  to  my  aforesaid 
Burgesses  that  the3-  shall  not  be  impleaded  out  of  the  portmote  of  the 
aforesaid  Borough,  nor  shall  they  be  interfered  with  out  of  their 
Borough  on  account  of  trespasses  done  within  the  Borough,  and  if  any 
of  them  becomes  liable  for  any  oft'ence  he  shall  be  amerced  by  his  peers, 
and  that  according  to  the  degree  of  his  offence.  I  will  also  that  my 
Burgesses  shall  grind  all  their  corn  growing  upon  the  land  of  Altrin- 
cham,  or  expended  in  the  same  town,  at  my  mills,  for  the  eighteenth 
of  the  full  measure.  I  grant  also  that  my  said  Burgesses  may  make 
unto  themselves  Presidents  and  Bailift's  by  the  Common  Council  of  me 
or  of  my  Bailiffs  and  of  themselves  ;  and  that  no  plea  shall  be  holden  or 
determined  in  the  said  Borough  but  before  me  or  my  Bailiff ;  and  that 
every  Burgess  shall  hold  his  several  burgage  of  two  perches  of  land  in 
breadth  and  five  in  length,  with  one  whole  acre  of  land  in  the  field,  for 
twelve  pence,  to  be  paid  to  me  and  my  heirs  3'early.  at  three  times  of 
the  year  by  equal  portions,  that  is  to  say  :  at  the  Nativity  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  the  Feast  of  All  Saints,  and  the  Annunciation  of  the 
Blessed  Mary  ;  freely,  quietly,  peaceably,  and  wholly,  with  all  the 
liberties  aforesaid  ;  and  that  every  Burgess  may  sell,  alien,  give  or 
assign  by  will,  his  burgage  to  any  person  or  persons  whomsoever  he 
will  (except  to  the  officers  of  our  lord  the  King  and  religious  men) 
without  the  contradiction  of  any  person  or  persons,  saving  to  me  and 
my  heirs  our  free  bakehouse  in  the  same  Borough.  I  truly,  the  afore- 
said Hamon,  and  my  heirs,  will  for  ever  M-arrant  the  aforesaid 
Burgages    and   the  acres   of   land   thereunto   adjoining,   and   all  the 


ALTRIXCHAM   AND    BOIFDON.  81 

liberties  above  written,  unto  my  said  Biu-gesses  and  their  heirs  and 
assigns  against  all  people.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  set  my  seal  to 
this  present  Charter,  these  being  witnesses  : 

Sir  Reginald  de  Grey  (then  Justice  of  Chester)  ; 
Humphrey  of  Beauchamp,  Richard  of  Massey, 
Knights  ;  Gilbert  of  Aston  ;  Thomas  of  Aetone  (or 
Agden) ;  Hugh  of  Baggelegh  ;  Matthew  of  Hale  ; 
Henry  of  Dunham  ;  John  of  Bowdon  ;  and  others. 

The  above  is  the  best  translation  of  the  charter  which  has 
been  made,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  are  numerous 
others  in  existence.  In  some  instances  it  is  addressed  to  all 
"  Shriften  people,"  and  charter  is  called  pax  and  wrytynge,  the 
expression  varying  with  the  period  at  which  such  translation  was 
made.  Passage  is  egress  and  regress  ;  tollage  is  toll  paid  for 
standing  in  the  markets  and  fairs  ;  lastage  is  liberty  to  set  out 
standings  in  the  markets  and  fairs  ;  turbary  is  liberty  to  get  turf 
or  turves  ;  bruary,  heath,  furze,  or  briars  ;  pannage,  which  is 
sometimes  given  as  farmage,  pession,  and  passion,  is  the  time 
when  hogs  feed  on  acorns  and  stubble  ;  housebote  is  the 
necessary  timber  for  repairing  houses  and  out-houses ;  haybote  or 
hayhold,  wood  for  hedges  ;  heyes,  glades,  and  places  for  game  ; 
the  free  bakehouse  was  a  place  to  which  the  inhabitants  were 
bound  to  resort.  In  some  instances  president  has  been  translated 
borough  reeve,  and  there  is  an  expression  in  one  regarding  the 
grain  grown  at  Altrincham,  or  expended  in  the  town,  "  or  sold 
at  an  inn  in  the  same  town." 

The  exact  date  of  the  granting  of  the  charter  has  not  been 
ascertained,  but  authorities  concur  in  fixing  the  year  1290.  The 
Justice  of  Chester  at  that  period  was  Sir  Reginald  de  Grey,  who 
continued  to  hold  that  important  office  until  1300;  but  as  one 
Ricardus  de  Massey  acted  in  his  absence  for  some  years,  1290 
may  be  safely  assumed  to  be  the  yeir  in  which  the  Altrinchiim 
Charter  was  granted. 

There  are  many  differences  in  the  wording  of  the  translations 
in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned.     The  name  of  Massey  is 
l3 


82 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJFDOX. 


given  on  both  seal  and  charter  as  Macy.  It  has  since  been 
rendered  in  various  ways — Macie,  Macey,  Mascie,  Mascy,  Massie, 
Massy,  &c.  No  doubt,  in  connection  with  other  old  Cheshire 
names  and  the  numerous  changes  in  orthography  connected 
therewith,  it  suggested  the  somewhat  ill-natured  though  cele- 
brated rhyme  that  in  this  county — 

Leghs  are  as  numerous  as  fleas, 

And  Masseys  as  asses. 


LIST    OF    MAYORS    OF    THE    BOROUGH    OF    ALTRINCHAil 
FKOM  U:y2  TO   1896. 


1452  Edward  Massey 
1483  Richard  Massey 
1547  Roger  Booth 
1552  John  Ryle 

1555  John  Morris 

1556  John  Ryle 

1557  John  Ryle 

1558  Ralph  Massey 

1559  Ralph  Massey 

1560  William  Ardi-on 

1561  George  Ne'O'ton 

1562  George  Newton 

1563  George  Newton 
1565  Ralph  Massey,  senior 
1614  William  Rawlinson 
1616  Alexander  Vaudi-ey 

1618  Robert  Linguard 

1619  Richard  Brereton 

1620  Edward  Bent 

1621  Randle  Wright 

1622  George  Birch 

1623  William  Rowlandson 

1624  William  Hesketli 

1626  William  Hesketh 

1627  Robert  Parker 

1628  Robert  Lingard 

1629  James  Leycester 

1630  Randle  Wright 

1631  Peter  Rowlinson 


1632  George  Birch 

1633  Richard  Brereton 

1634  Richard  Brereton 

1635  Jefl'ery  Coe 

1636  George  Yaudrey 

1637  Lawrence  Leicester 

1638  Richard  Wright 

1639  George  Ashton 

1640  Robert  Lingard 

1641  William  Hesketh 

1642  William  Rowlinson 

1643  Henry  Cartwiight 

1644  Henry  Cartwright 

1645  George  Parker 

1646  John  Bent 

1647  George  Birch 

1648  William  Leicester 

1649  George  Yaudrey 

1650  Richard  Brereton 

1651  Richard  Brereton 

1652  Richard  Brereton 

1653  Henry  Bradshaw 

1654  Richard  Wriglit 

1655  Peter  Parker 

1656  John  Ashley 

1657  Robert  Hesketh 

1658  Thomas  Hesketh 

1659  Henry  Smith 

1660  Robert  Lingard 


1661  John  Paulden 

1662  William  Rowlinson 

1663  James  Doe 

1664  George  Birch 

1665  George  Parker 

1666  John  Coe 

1667  James  Brookes 

1668  George  Aldcroft 

1669  George  Hardey 

1670  William  Leicester 

1671  George  Yaudrey 

1672  Richard  Wright 

1673  George  Cook 

1674  Robert  Lingard 

1675  George  Parker 

1676  Thomas  Doe 

1677  John  Ashley 

1678  Henry  Hesketh 

1679  William  Delves 

1680  Richard  Wright 

1681  George  Birch 

1682  Henry  Smith 

1683  James  Brookes 

1684  John  Burgess 

1685  James  Ashle}' 

1686  Thomas  Hesketh 

1687  Joseph  Pierson 

1688  George  Hardey 

1689  John  Leather 


ALTEINCHAM   AND    BOJFDON. 


83 


1690  George  Parker 

1691  Jeffrey  Stockley 

1692  Robert  Lingard 

1693  Robert  Leicester 

1694  Timothy  Taylor 

1695  William  Hesketh 

1696  Henry  Smith 

1697  James  Hardey 

1698  George  Alcroft 

1699  John  Eccles 

1700  Jeremiah  Brundrett 

1701  George  Birch 

1702  George  Leicester 

1703  William  Grantham 

1704  John  Bent 

1705  William  Higginson 

1706  John  Higginson 

1707  Robert  Ashley 

1708  George  Smith 

1709  James  Warburton 

1710  John  Smith 

1711  Edward  Garnett 

1712  John  Cooke 

1713  Thomas  Royle 

1714  Robert  Lupton 

1715  Robert  Frith 

1716  Charles  Cresswell 

1717  Robert  Leather 

1718  John  Ashley 

1719  James  Hardey 

1720  Richard  Royle 

1721  James  Robinson 

1722  Samuel  Holt 

1723  John  Smith 

1724  George  Hardey 

1725  Joshua  Grantham 

1726  William  Leicester 

1727  Fernando  Laughton 

1728  Richard  Berry 

1729  William  Taylor 

1730  William  Royle 


1731  Richard  Leigli 

1732  John  Birch 

1733  James  Fletcher 

1734  George  Smitli 

1735  George  Warburton 

1736  George  Royle 

1737  Henry  Smith 

1738  John  Worthington 

1739  Aaron  Eccles 

1740  Joshua  Grantham 

1741  Thomas  Royle 

1742  John  Smith 

1743  Richard  Neild 

1744  Robert  Frith 

1745  George  Ashton 

1746  George  Burgess 

1747  Benjamin  Irlam 

1748  John  Leigh 

1749  Richard  Royle 

1750  George  Twyford 

1751  Joseph  Grantham 

1752  George  Robinson 

1753  Peter  Bailey 

1754  Thomas  Royle 

1755  James  Wainwright 

1756  Samuel  Lamb 

1757  Richard  Crouchley 

1758  The  Honble.   Booth 

Grey 

1759  Isaac  Shaw 

1760  Nathaniel  Priestner 

1761  Charles  Cresswell 

1762  Robert  Ashley 

1763  Edward  Cooke 

1764  John  Birch 

1765  Thomas  Moore 

1766  William  Rigby 

1767  Thomas  Warburton 

1768  Wilham  Leicester 

1769  John  Walthew 

1770  William  Parkinson 

junr. 


1771  William  Taylor 

1772  George  Cooke 

1773  Isaac   Worthington 

junr. 

1774  John  Ratcliffe 

1775  John  Derbyshire 

1776  George  Lupton 

1777  William  Howard 

1778  Thomas  Duncalf 

1779  Edward  Barbyshire 

1780  John  Austin 

1781  William  Pooks 

1782  Vernon  Poole 

1 783  Oswald  Leicester 

1784  John  Clough 

1785  Charles  Poole 

1786  Robert  Mills 

1 787  John  Eccles 

1788  Robert  Leicester 

1789  James  Staples 

1790  Aaron  Brundrett 

1791  Thomas  Howard 

1792  James  Walthew 

1793  Timothy  Brownell,  jr. 

1794  James  Gratri.f 

1795  William  Parkinson 

1796  John  Atherton 

1797  Samuel  Howard 

1798  Samuel  Hardey 

1799  George  Burgess 

1800  George  Worthington 

1801  Peter  Leicester 

1802  Samuel  Walker 

1803  William  Ashley 

1804  William  Smith 

1805  Thomas  Royle 

1806  John  Postles 

1807  Thomas  Carter 

1808  Abner  Partington 

1809  William  Royle 

1810  Thomas  Darbyshire 

1811  John  Mitchell 


ALTniNCHJM   AND    BOIFDON. 


1812  Samuel  Hope 

1813  John  Austin 
18U  Isaac  Davenport 
1S15  John  Mitchell 
1816  John  Barratt 
1S17  William  Ashley 

1818  John  Drinkwatei- 

1819  Joshua  Ashcroft 

1820  Samuel  Bruckshaw 

1821  Samuel  Renshaw 

1822  Timothy  Brownell 

1823  Samuel  Street 

1824  Samuel  Clarke 

1825  John  Faulkner 

1826  John  Hope 

1827  Richard  Irlam  Grant- 

ham 

1828  John  Clarke 

1829  John  Adshead 

1830  Nathaniel  Pass 

1831  Robert  Shelmerdine 

1832  John  Lupton 

1833  Charles  Poole 

1834  Richard  Poole 

1835  Isaac  Harrop 

1836  Isaac  Harrop 

1837  William  Hamilton 

1838  Isaac  Gaskarth 

1839  Joseph  Arstall 

1840  Isaac  Gaskarth 


1841  Joseph  Bruckshaw 

1842  William  Collier 

1843  William  Collier 

1844  William  Renshaw 

1 845  James  Royle 
184C  James  Matthews 

1847  Joseph  Hall 

1848  George  Massey 

1849  Richard  Broadbent 

1850  Richard  Broadbent 

1851  Mark  Pierson 

1852  ilark  Pierson 

1853  George  Berry 

1854  Samuel  Barratt 

1855  John  Davenport 

1856  William  D.  NichoUs 

1857  William  D.  NichoUs 

1858  John  Mort 

1859  John  Jlort 

1860  John  Howard 

1861  Charles  Balshaw 

1862  James  Street 

1863  Thomas  Balshaw 

1864  Samuel  Delves 

1865  Samuel  Delves 

1866  Samuel  Delves 

1867  John  Astle  Kelsall 

1868  James  Southern 

1869  Humphrey  Davies 

1870  Joseph  Gaskarth 


1871  Joseph  Gaskarth 

1872  Matthew  Fowden 

1873  John    Shelmerdine 

Mort 

1874  Samuel  Burgess 

1875  Edward  Neild 

1876  William  Greenwood 

1877  William  Greenwood 

1878  John  Siddeley 

1879  Joseph  Gaskarth 

1880  James  Byrom 

1881  George  Smith 

1882  Henry  Balshaw 

1883  Henry  Balshaw 

1884  Ben  Riley 

1885  George  Bowen 

1886  Joseph  Gaskarth 

1887  James  Hamilton 

1888  Wm.    Griffin,   Alder- 

man of  Manchester 

1889  Eustace  G,  Parker 

1890  Joel  Foden 

1891  Wm.  Agar  Renshaw 

1892  John  Dale 

1893  Wilham  Griffin 

1894  WiUiam  Griffin 

1895  Da\-id  Morrison 

1896  Frederick  Raymond 

Barber  Lindsell 


CHAPTER    VI. 

A  retrospect— Sundry  lawsuits — The  first  Booth  of  Dunham  Masscy  ; 
his  supposed  death  at  the  Battle  of  Blore  Heath — .4  Booth  blighted 
by  Queen  Elizabeth— Interesting  wills — Dame  Booth's  Charity — 
Contributions  to  the  defence  of  the  Kingdom — Dr.  Dee's  reference  to 
Sir  George  Booth— Purchase  of  the  town  of  Warrington;  the 
instructions  thereon — Death  of  William  Booth. 

A  BRIEF  resum6  is  necessary  before  proceeding  further.  It 
will  be  in  the  recollection  of  the  reader  that  the  last 
Baron  of  Dunham  sold  the  reversion  of  his  estates  in  this 
neighbourhood  to  Oliver  Ingham,  Justice  of  Chester.  At  the 
time  of  Hamon's  death,  however,  Oliver  was  abroad,  having  been 
appointed  Steward  of  Gascony  by  the  King.  As  has  often  been 
the  case  in  modern  times,  the  death  of  an  individual,  even  of 
mean  degree,  has  given  rise  to  much  legal  contention.  In  this 
respect  history  only  repeats  itself ;  for  it  was  about  the  year  1341 
that  "great  suits"  took  place  concerning  the  Barony  of  Dunham. 
It  was  only  natural  that  the  descendants  of  the  barons  on  the 
female  side  should  think  that  they  were,  in  the  absence  of  such  a 
notable  individual  as  the  aforesaid  Oliver,  entitled  to  those  broad 
acres,  which  constituted  a  most  enviable  possession.  Richard 
Fitton,  and  the  heirs  of  the  other  sisters,  says  Leycester,  entered 
into  the  Manor  of  Dunham ;  but,  by  the  King's  command, 
Hamon  Masci,  of  Tatton  (after svarda  the  first  Masci  of  Rixton) 
came  and  turned  them  out.  The  dispute  was  not  settled  until 
Henry,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  bought  out  the  rights  of  all  concerned, 
and  with  princely  liberality  gave  it  to  Roger  Lestraunge,  or 
Strange,  Lord  of  Knocking,  who  was  descended  from  Oliver 
Ingham  by  marriage,  and  by  whose  descendants  it  was  held  for 
some  time  afterwards. 


86  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

Up  to  this  period  no  meiition  was  made  of  the  Booths  in 
connection  with  Dunham  Massey,  and  it  was  not  until  the  reign 
of  Henry  V.  that  they  acquired  a  footing  in  this  district.  The 
name  Booth  is  derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  word  Both,  a  seat, 
or  chief  mansion  house,  more  usually  a  village.  In  the  year  1402, 
Richard  de  Venables,  heir  to  the  estate  of  Le  Bolyn,  was 
drowned  accidentally  in  the  river  Bollin,  and  by  this  event,  his 
two  sisters,  Alice  and  Dulcia,  or  Douce,  became  co-heiresses. 
These  lands  were  held  in  trust  until  Dulcia  came  of  age.  She 
was  married  to  Robert  del  Bothe,  or  Booth,  a  younger  son  of 
Sir  John  del  Bothe,  Barton,  near  Manchester,  "  the  Monday  after 
the  invention  of  the  Holy  Cross,"  in  the  tenth  year  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  IV.  (1409),  at  which  time  she  was  only  nine  years  of 
age.  Twelve  years  afterwards  the  whole  of  the  manors  and 
estates  were  divided,  Styal  and  Dean  Row,  and  the  mills  on  the 
river  Bollin,  with  other  lands  in  the  County,  principally  in  West 
Cheshire,  falling  to  her  share.  By  what  has  been  described  as  a 
complicated  series  of  events,  this  Robert  del  Bothe  seated  himself 
ultimately  at  Dunham  Massey.  He  challenged  his  right  to  a 
portion  of  the  land  in  this  manor,  which  he  contended  ought  to 
descend  to  him  as  one  of  the  heirs  by  marriage  through  the 
Fittons  and  Venables  from  the  last  Baron  of  Dunham.  Once 
having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough  he  did  not  look  back,  and 
ultimately  it  was  agreed  in  the  year  1433  between  the  holders  of 
the  barony,  viz..  Sir  Thomas  Stanley  and  William  Chauntrell, 
sergeant-at-law,  that  one  half  of  the  lands,  rentSj  and  services  in 
Dunham,  Hale,  and  Altrincham,  should  be  given  him.  Thus, 
in  brief,  was  laid  the  foundation  of  a  family  which  is  generally 
agreed  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  influential 
in  Cheshire. 

This  Sir  Robert  had  a  goodly  number  of  sons  and  daughters, 
amongst  them  John  Booth,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Exeter,  and 
Warden  of  Manchester  College.  He  and  his  eldest  son,  William, 
were  made  Sheriffs  of  Cheshire  for  both  their  lives  in  the  year 
1443  ;  and  Leycester  remarks  that  this  is  all  the   more   note- 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDOX.  87 

worthy,  "  as  being  the  first  patent  for  life  which  he  could  meet 
with  in  the  county."  That  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  public 
affairs  is  often  noticed  in  contemporary  documents,  and  for  his 
services  he  had  an  annuity  of  £10  per  annum  granted  by  Henry  VI. 
The  time  of  his  death,  however,  appears  to  be  involved  in 
much  obscurity.  Leycester  says  he  lived  in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV., 
Henry  V.,  and  seems  to  have  died  about  the  29th  year  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  VI.  Another  authority  (Dr.  Ormerod)  suggests  that 
he  was  on  the  King's  side  in  the  battle  of  Blore  Heath  in  1459 — 
which  battle  is  well  known  to  have  been  singularly  calamitous  to  the 
gentry  of  Cheshire.  It  has  remained  for  another  antiquarian, 
Mr.  Earwaker,  by  his  painstaking  research,  to  throw  a  great  deal 
of  additional  light  on  the  subject.  Dr.  Ormerod  gives  as  his 
authority  the  monument  in  Wilmslow  Church,  to  the  memory  of 
Sir  Robert  and  Douce,  his  wife  ;  but  his  rendering  of  the 
inscription  is  shown  to  have  been  caused  by  a  misreading,  and 
his  remark  that  "  it  possesses  considerable  interest,  and  is  the 
only  inscription  now  remaining  in  the  county  relating  to  any  of 
the  warriors  who  fell  at  Blore  Heath,"  threatens,  says  Mr. 
Earwaker  "  to  become  a  popular  local  error,"  from  its  having  been 
so  frequently  repeated.  The  description  which  he  gives  of  the 
brass  is  also  much  more  complete,  and  possesses  the  utmost 
interest  for  this  district.  This  handsome  brass  still  exists,  but  in 
a  much  worn  state,  and  has  lost  the  greater  part  of  its  inscription, 
and  one  of  its  canopies.  It  is,  however,  the  finest  yet  left  in 
Cheshire.  Sir  Robert  is  represented  in  the  plate  armour  worn  in 
the  middle  of  the  15th  century,  his  head  uncovered,  showing  the 
short  cut  hair,  his  feet  adorned  with  the  knightly  spurs,  resting 
on  a  greyhound,  and  his  sword  lying  across  his  body.  In  his 
right  hand  he  grasps  that  of  his  wife  Douce,  who  lies  on  his  left 
side.  She  is  habited  in  a  tightly  fitting  dress,  seen  beneath  a 
long  heavy  mantle,  which  is  fastened  by  two  brooches  across  the 
chest.  Her  flowing  hair  reaches  down  nearly  to  her  waist,  and  is 
confined  at  the  top  of  the  head  by  a  narrow  fillet  or  circlet, 
probably  enriched  with  jewels.     Her  little  pet  dog  is  represented 


88  ALTRINCIIAM    AND    BOJFDON. 

at  her  feet  lying  on  the  folds  of  the  mantle.  Over  each  of  these 
figures  was  a  handsome  canopy,  that  over  the  lady  now  only 
remaining.  There  were  the  shields  on  which  the  arms  of  Booth, 
Fitton,  Masey,  and  Thornton  were  quartered,  and  round  the  edges 
of  the  tomb,  in  Latin,  was  the  following  inscription  : — 

Here  lies  the  body  of  Sir  Robert  del  Boutlie  Knight,  formerley  lord  of 
Bolyn,  Thorneton  and  Dunham,  who  died  in  the  feast  of  Saint  Edith  the 
Virgin  (Septr.  16)  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1460 ;  and  the  body  of  Douce, 
wife  of  the  said  Robert  del  Bouthe,  who  died  on  the  morrow  of  the  feast 
of  St.  Tecla  the  Virgin  (Sepr.  23)  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1453,  on  whose 
souls  may  God  be  merciful.     Amen. 

This  account  receives  corroboration  to  some  extent  from 
another  source.  The  Rev.  Charles  Boutell,  in  his  work  on 
"Monumental  Brasses,"  gives  a  written  description,  as  also  an 
engraving  of  the  tomb  in  question.  He  says  that  the  height  of 
the  effigy  in  the  original  was  three  feet.  The  double  canopy  is 
entirely  destroyed,  as  also  the  greater  part  of  the  border  legend. 

In  the  absence  of  the  document  recording  the  inquisition  post 
mortem,  this  must  now  be  regarded  as  conclusive  testimony  as  to 
the  date  of  his  death. 

Sir  Robert  was  succeeded  by  his  son  William,  who,  in  the 
year  1442,  married  Matilda,  daughter  of  John  Button,  of  Button, 
Esquire,  and  had  issue,  George,  son  and  heir,  and  also  other  sons  and 
daughters.  He  died  on  April  Gth,  1477,  leaving  certain  lands  in 
trust  to  provide  a  chaplain  to  pray  for  the  health  of  his  soul  and 
that  of  his  ancestors  and  descendants,  in  a  Chantry  Chapel 
which  he  desired  to  be  built  in  Bowdon  Church  for  that  purpose  ; 
this  was  afterwards  built,  and  was  said  from  its  spaciousness  "  to 
be  a  faire  Chappelle."  In  his  inquisition  post  mortem,  or 
inquest  after  death,  which  was  taken  at  "  Knottesford,"  before 
Thomas  Wolton,  Escheator,  and  a  local  jury,  it  is  stated  that  he 
died  seised  of  certain  lands,  and  that  he  had  conceded  to  him 
lands  in  Altryncham,  &c.  His  wife,  Matilda,  married  for  her 
second  husband  Sir  William  Brereton,  Knight. 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  89 

George  Booth,  Esquire,  was  32  years  of  age  when  he  was 
declared  his  father's  heir.  He  married  Catherine,  daughter  and 
heiress  of  Robert  de  Montford,  lord  of  Bescote,  Staffordshire. 
It  has  been  stated  that  his  illustrious  father-in-law  was  descended 
from  Charlemagne,  Eniperor  of  the  Romans,  and  David,  King  of 
Scotland,  and  that  he  was  heir  by  his  great  grandmother  to  the 
ancient  family  of  Clinton,  of  Colchester.  By  this  marriage  large 
estates  were  brought  to  the  family.  By  her  he  had  issue  two 
sons  and  three  daughters.  He  died  the  Sunday  before  the 
Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  March  25th,  1484. 
In  his  will  he  desired  that  his  body  should  be  buried  "  in  the  new 
Chapel  of  St.  ^lary  of  Bawdon."  Katherine,  who  survived  her 
husband,  re-married.     She  died  on  the  7th  December,  1498. 

At  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  William,  the  next  heir,  was 
10  years  of  age.  On  attaining  his  majority  in  1494,  the  necessary 
proof  of  age  was  made.  In  about  four  years  afterwards  he  was 
knighted.  He  was  t^vice  married,  his  first  wife  being  Margaret, 
daughter  and  co-heiress  of  Sir  Thomas  Ashton,  of  Ashton-under- 
Lyiie ;  by  her  he  had  two  sons,  the  heir  being  named  George. 
The  manor  of  Ashton  under-Lyne  and  other  large  inheritances  in 
Lancashire  passed  by  this  marriage  into  the  Booth  family.  His 
second  wife  was  Ellen,  the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Montgomery,  of 
Throwley,  Staffordshire,  and  by  her  he  had  issue  seven  sons  and 
daughters.  In  one  of  the  windows  of  Wilmslow  Church  there 
was  formerly  heraldic  stained  glass,  representing  Sir  William 
Booth,  wearing  a  tabard  of  arms,  and  kneeling  with  six  sons 
behind  him,  and  his  wife  Ellen,  a^so  kneeling,  with  five  daughters 
behind  her.  There  was  an  inscription  in  Latin,  desiring  prayers 
for  the  souls  of  Sir  William,  and  Ellen  his  wife,  and  for  the  souls 
of  their  children,  who  caused  a  window  to  be  made  in  the  year 
1526. 

The  inquest  after  death,  taken  at  Altrincham,  before  Sir 
Ralph  Egerton,  Knight,  November  30th,  1519,  recites  the  lands 
he  was  possessed  of  and  that  he  died  the  Wednesday  before  the 

m3 


90  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

Feast  of  St.  Martin  the  Bishoio  (November  lltli),  last  past  (1519), 
and  that  George  Bothe  was  son  and  next  heir,  and  of  the  age  of 
29  years. 

George,  the  fifth  owner  of  Dunham,  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Boteler  or  Butler,  of  Bewsey,  the  scene 
of  a  tragedy  the  remembrance  of  which  is  preserved  by  tradition, 
when  a  Butler  was  ruthlessly  murdered  by  a  relative.  By  her  he 
was  blessed  with  several  "  olive  branches "  ;  and  one  of  his 
daughters,  Ellen,  was  married  to  John  Carrington,  of  Carrinoton, 
Esquire ;  and  another,  Dorothy,  to  Robert  Tatton,  of  Wythen- 
shawe.  Esquire.  He  died  on  the  25th  October,  1531,  his  eldest 
son,  George,  being  then  15  years  of  age.     In  his  will  he  states  : — 

I,  George  Bothe,  of  Donnham  Massie,  Esquire,  &c.,  bequeath  my  body 
to  be  buried  in  Jhesus  Chappell  at  Bowdon  churche,  among  myn  ancestors. 
Alsoe,  I  give  to  ye  prior  of  Birkenhed  my  best  horse  to  praye  for  me ; 
also  at  Birkenhed  aforesayd  ten  shillings  to  say  a  trentall  of  masses  for  my 
soule  ;  also  I  give  to  ye  prior  and  ye  freires  at  VVarington  ten  shillings  to 
say  a  trentall  of  masses  for  my  soule.  Item  to  ye  same  prior  of  Warington 
towards  ye  gildying  of  our  Ladie  iij?  iiij'?  (3s.  4d.)  Also  I  will  that  my 
best  gown  of  velvet  and  my  best  dublet  shall  be  made  in  two  vestements, 
and  ye  one  of  ye  sayd  vestements  to  be  given  to  ye  said  chappell  of  Jhesus 
at  Bowdon  church,  and  ye  other  vestement  to  remene  in  ye  chappell  of 
Uunnham  for  ever.  Also  I  give  unto  George  Bothe,  my  son  and  heire 
apparent,  my  cheine  of  gold  and  my  signet  of  gold  as  heire  lomes. 

Also  it  is  my  will  that  my  chaplen.  Sir  John  Percivall,  or  some  other 
discrete  prist,  shall  say  masse,  praye,  and  do  devyn  service  for  my  soule 
and  myn  ancestors  and  all  Xten  (Christian)  souls  by  ye  space  of  vij  (7)  yeres 
nexte  after  my  decese,  and  he  to  have  for  his  salarie  3'erely  iij'.'  xiij»  iiij4 
(£3  13s.  4d.)  And  whereas  I  by  my  dede  indented  berying  date  ye  xviij"' 
day  of  Julie  ye  xxiij  yere  of  Kyng  Henre  ye  viij!''  have"  infeoffed  my 
brother  in  law  John  Massie  of  Podington  esquire,  John  Carryngton 
of  Carryngton  esquire,  William  Meyre  of  Meyre  esquire,  Richard  Legh  of 
High  Legh  esquire  &c.  in  my  manor  of  Dunham  Massie  and  in  all  my 
messuages,  lands,  tenements,  rents  and  services  in  Dunham  Massie, 
Stayley,  Bolyn,  Deyn  Roe,  Stiall  and  Wilmeslowe,  in  trust,  &c.  as  by  the 
same  dede  indented  more  plenly  doth  appear. 

Also  I  bequeth  for  ye  makyng  of  ye  side  ile  of  ye  Church  of  Bowdon  at 
such  time  as  it  shall  be  taken  down  five  marks  of  money. 

His  son  George,  who  succeeded  him,  also  contracted  an  early 
marriage,  having  at  the  age  of  16  espoused  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Sir  Edmund  Trafford,  of  Trafford,  Lancashire,  by  whom  he  had 


ALTRIKGHAM   AND    BOWDOX.  93 

issue  William,  son  and  heir,  and  three  daughters.  He  was  one  of 
the  gentlemen  who  received  a  letter  from  the  Queen  (Jane 
Seymour)  dispersing  the  joyful  news  through  the  kingdom  of  the 
birth  of  Edward  VI.  in  1537. 

The  letter  was  in  these  words  : — 

By  tlie  Queue. 

Trusty  and  wel-biloved,  we  grete  youe  well.  And  for  asmuche  as  by 
the  inestimable  goodness  and  grace  of  Almighty  God,  we  be  delivered  and 
brought  in  childbed  of  a  Prince,  conceyved  in  most  lawful  matrimonie 
between  my  Lord  the  King's  Majestye  and  us,  doubting  not  but  that  for 
the  love  and  affection  which  ye  beare  unto  us,  and  to  the  commyn  wealth 
[common  wealth]  of  this  realme,  the  knowledge  thereof  shuld  be  joyeous  and 
glad  tydings  unto  youe,  we  have  thought  good  to  certiffie  to  you  of  the 
same.  To  thintent  (the  intent)  ye  might  not  only  rendre  unto  God 
condigne  thanks  and  praise  for  soo  gret  a  benefit,  but  also  pi'ay  for  the  long 
continuance  and  preservation  of  the  same  here  in  this  lief,  to  the  honor  of 
God,  joye  and  pleasor  of  my  lord  the  king,  and  us,  and  the  universall 
weale,  quiet  and  tranquillji^y  of  this  hole  realm.  Gevyn  under  our  signet, 
at  my  Lord's  manor  of  Hampton  cort,  the  xii  day  of  October,  [1537.] 
To  our  trusty  and  welbiloved 

Geokge  Both  Esq. 

He  died  in  1543,  aged  28  years.  His  widow  Elizabeth, 
survived  him,  and  was  twice  re-married,  firstly  to  James  Done,  of 
Utkinton,  and  secondly  to  Thomas  Fitton,  of  Siddington.  He 
appears  to  have  made  Wilmslow  his  place  of  residence,  and  in  his 
will  he  desired  to  be  buried  there.  His  raised  altar  tomb, 
bearing  his  arms  and  initials,  with  those  of  his  wife,  remained  in 
the  Booth  Chapel  for  a  long  period,  but  was  destroyed  at  the 
restoration  of  the  church  in  1863. 

His  son  and  heir,  William  Booth,  Esquire,  was  but  three 
years  of  age  on  succeeding  to  his  father's  ample  estates  in  1546, 
and  was  ward  to  Henry  VHI.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Sir  John  Warburton,  of  Arley,  and  had  a  family  of  seven  sons  and 
six  daughters.  One  of  his  sons,  Robert,  distinguished  himself  as 
a  soldier  in  Holland.  In  1571  he  was  made  Sheriff  of  Chester, 
and  seven  years  afterwards  had  the  honour  of  knighthood 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  virgin  Queen.     He  died  on  the  28th 


94  ALTllINCIIAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

November,  1579,  and  was  buried  at  Bowdon  on  December  8th 
following,  so  that  he  does  not  appear  to  have  long  survived  the 
honours  bestowed  upon  him.  His  will  is  a  most  interesting  one. 
He  bequeaths  to  his  wife  "  the  chain  of  gold,"  which  he  last 
brought  with  him  from  London,  weighing  about  xxx"'  another 
small  chain,  a  carcanet  of  gold,  one  pair  of  bracelets  of  gold,  two 
suits  of  borders  of  gold,  one  single  border  of  gold,  one  tablet  of 
gold,  with  all  the  rings  she  was  accustomed  to  wear,  and  certain 
small  buttons  of  gold,  enamelled  black  and  white,  three  little  gilt 
bowls,  with  his  third  salt  cellar,  and  all  the  husbandry  stuff  at 
Stayley  Hall.  To  his  son  George  (his  heir)  he  leaves  all  the 
rest  of  his  plate  (reserving  one  dozen  of  spoons  "  of  the  worser 
sort,"  which  he  gave  to  his  wife),  his  best  chain  of  gold  with  his 
signet,  and  all  his  apparel,  with  all  his  gold  buttons  except  those 
before  given  to  his  wife.  "To  William  Duncalf,  my  cast  of 
ffawcons  (falcons),  my  baie  trotting  nagge  and  my  setting 
spaniells."  To  his  well-beloved  mother  "my  sealinge  ring,  usuallie 
wore  on  my  little  finger  ;  "  to  his  brother-in-law,  Davenport,  all 
his  hounds  ;  to  his  cousin,  William  Tatton,  George  Brereton 
(Ashley),  and  Edmund  Joddrell,  all  his  fighting  cocks  and  hens ; 
to  his  sisters  Davenport,  Chauntrell,  and  Done,  each  a  gold  ring ; 
and  to  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  John  Done,  his  best  baie  nagge 
and  his  pied  horse,  then  at  Stayley  Hall  ;  to  his  daughter-in-law, 
Jane  Bothe  (married  to  his  son  George,  then  a  minor),  a  black 
ambling  nag  that  was  Mr.  Carrington's,  and  also  a  gold  brooch ; 
to  his  brother-in-law  Mr.  Peter  Warburton,  his  best  gray  nag 
that  he  himself  was  accustomed  to  ride  upon,  and  also  his  lute  ; 
to  his  brother-in-law  Mr.  George  Warburton,  a  young  coal-black 
nag  ;  to  Mr.  Vicar,  of  Rochdale,  iiij ''  ;  to  William  Leigh,  his 
long  black  cloak  ;  to  George  Holme  his  best  pair  of  virginalls,  &c. 

His  wife,  dame  Elizabeth,  survived  him  for  the  long  period 
of  49  years,  and  appears  to  have  distinguished  herself  by  her 
widely  diffused  charity.  Li  1620  she  granted  to  the  Mayor  and 
citizens  of  Chester  the  sum  of  £400  upon  trust  for  ever,  the 


ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOimOX.  m 

interest  of  which  at  five  per  cent,  per  ainiuui,  is  to  be  iiniuuilly 
paid  out  by  them  in  certain  sums,  £5  of  which  is  handed  over  to 
the  overseers  of  Bowdon  parish,  amongst  others,  to  be  expended 
in  weeklj'  instalments  in  purchasing  loaves  of  bread  to  be  distri- 
buted weekly,  on  every  Sunday,  for  ever,  immediately  after 
morning  prayer  in  the  Parish  Church,  to  2-t  poor  aged  people. 
It  is  divided  over  several  parishes,  and  the  distribution  continues 
to  be  made. 

George  Booth,  the  second  surnving  son  of  the  preceding, 
lived  in  those  critical  times  when  the  Protestantism  of  this 
country  first  rested  on  a  firm  foundation  ;  when,  as  one  writer  has 
eloquently  put  it.  Englishmen  performed  those  brilliant  and 
glorious  naval  exploits,  especially  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish 
Armada,  which  are  unsurpassed  in  our  naval  annals  ;  when  the 
majesty  of  English  prose  was  formed  by  the  hand  of  Hooker  ; 
when  the  harmony  of  English  verse  flowed  from  the  lips  of 
Spenser  ;  when  the  drama,  the  surest  proof  of  advanced  civili- 
lization,  had  its  first  beginnings,  and  was  perfected  by  the 
immortal  genius  of  Shakespeare  ;  while  Bacon  opened  up  a  new 
method  of  philosophy,  whose  practical  fruits  we  may  be  said 
even  now  to  gather.  Born  on  October  20th,  1566,  Sir  George 
was,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  still  a  minor,  and  was  made  a 
ward  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  He  was  married  in  1577  to  Jane, 
daughter  and  heiress  of  John  Carrington,  he  being  11  and  his 
wife  15  years  old  at  the  time.  She  was  an  orphan,  her  father 
having  died  only  the  month  pre^^ously.  She  died  without  issue, 
and  he  obtained,  by  suit,  possession  of  the  land  of  Carrington. 
His  second  wife  was  Catherine,  daughter  of  Sir  Edmund 
Anderson,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and  by  her  he  had 
a  large  family.  He  was,  like  all  Englishmen  of  the  period, 
seized  with  the  contagion  of  patriotism,  and  contributed  liberally, 
as  also  did  his  mother,  towards  the  armaments  which  were  raised 
for  the  defence  of  the  kingdom.  He  was  Sheriti'  of  Chester  for 
the  first  time  in  1.597,  and  he  is  referred  to  by  the  gifted,  but 
eccentric    Dr.    Dee,    the    then   Warden  of   Manchester    College, 


96  ALTRJNCHAM   AND    BOIVDOX. 

who  records  in  his  diary  that  he  received  a  "viset"  from  Sir 
George,  who  had  no  doubt  just  been  knighted  by  the  Queen,  and 
that  "  after  some  few  words  of  discourse,"  he  agreed  to  stand  by 
the  arbitrement  of  Mr.  Homfrey  Damport  or  Davenport,  "a 
Cownsaylor  of  Gray's  Inne,"  concerning  two  or  three  tenements 
in  his  occupying  in  Dunham  Massey.  He  also  mentions  a 
second  "  viset "  he  had  from  Sir  George,  who  "  sayed  he  wold 
yeld  to  me  what  he  wold  not  yeld  to  the  bisshop  nor  any  other," 
thereby  showing  that  the  worthy  doctor  stood  high  in  his 
estimation.  Sir  George  was  created  a  baronet  by  patent  bearing 
date  May  22nd,  1611,  in  the  ninth  year  of  the  reign  of  .James  I., 
being  the  tenth  person  who  was  created  a  baronet  after  the 
institution  of  that  order.  To  entitle  him  to  this  honour  he  was 
amply  possessed  of  all  material  requisites.  Webb,  in  his 
"Itinerary,"  speaks  of  the  beautiful  seat  of  Dunham,  at  that 
time  "  never  more  graced  than  in  the  present  possessor,  upon 
whom,  and  his  most  worthy  son,  William  Booth,  Esquire,  the 
world  hath  deservedly  set  great  love  and  affection,  himself 
bearing  a  chief  sway  in  the  great  commands  of  regiments  in  the 
country,  and  his  son  already  giving  proof  of  that  wisdom  and 
moderation  in  government  which  have  adorned  his  ancestors 
before  him." 

Of  the  eldest  son  William,  mentioned  above,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  speak  more  at  length,  as  his  opening  acts,  conspicuous 
for  great  ability,  gave  promise  of  a  brilliant  future.  It  was  by 
his  efforts  that  the  family  acquired  possession  of  Warrington. 
The  instructions  which  he  gave  to  his  stewards  on  that  occasion 
are  remarkable,  as  being  probably  the  last  instance  of  an  appeal 
being  made  on  the  old  principle  of  feudal  benevolence  to  the 
tenantry  for  pecuniary  aid.  The  sum  which  was  to  be  paid  for 
Warrington  to  Thomas  Ireland,  Esquire,  of  Bewsey,  was  £7,000, 
and  in  his  instructions  William  wishes  the  tenantry  to  be  called 
together,  the  amount  to  be  paid  signified  to  them,  in  order 
that  by  their  assistance  he  and  his  father  might  be  enabled  to 
finish  the  purchase.      It   was  an  opportunity  for  the  tenants  to 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJFDOX.  97 

show  their  loves,  such  as  might  never  probably  occur  again,  and 
the  "  desire  "  was  for  three  years'  rent,  which,  if  they  would  give, 
neither  he  nor  his  father  would  require  any  more  rents  or  gifts 
of  them  for  their  two  lives.  Failing  this,  "  they  might  provoke 
him  to  '  sharpe  courses.'  "  Other  landlords  in  Cheshire  and 
Lancashire,  he  reminded  them,  had  recently  demanded  three 
years'  rent  only  for  spending  money  which  had  been  readily 
granted,  and  from  the  fact  of  the  purchase  being  rumoured  about 
the  country,  if  the  tenantry  forsook  them  in  this  extremity  it 
would  cause  much  disgrace.  The  purchase  was  afterwards  com- 
pleted. William  did  not  live  more  than  seven  or  eight  years 
after  this  great  event,  but  died  on  the  26th  April,  1636,  in  the 
lifetime  of  his  father.  He  had  married  Vers,  second  daughter 
and  co-heiress  of  Sir  Thomas  Egerton,  eldest  son  of  Lord 
Chancellor  Egerton,  and  she  bore  him  five  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Thomas,  the  eldest,  died  at  Chester  at  the 
age  of  12.  Consequently,  George  Booth,  the  second  son, 
succeeded  to  the  baronetage  on  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  who 
attained  the  ripe  age  of  86,  October  24th,  1652. 

This  Sir  George  was  conspicuous  in  the  political  theatre 
during  the  civil  disturbances  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  a 
sketch  of  his  life  and  actions  may  well  form  the  subject  of  a 
separate  chapter. 


chaptp:k  Yir. 

Birth  of  Sir  George  Booth,  fird  Lord  Jjelamer —Description  of  Sir 
William  Brereton— Indictment  against  Sir  George;  his  part  in 
attempting  to  pacify  the  county — Its  failure — The  siege  of  Nant- 
wich — Spirited  defence — Defeat  of  the  Royalists— Sir  George  elected 
member  for  Cheshire ;  his  exclusion  by  Colonel  Pride's  purge — 
lioyalist  attempts  at  a  Restoration— Sir  Gem-ge's  celebrated  rising — 
The  battle  of  Winnington— His  betrayal  and  arrest;  his  comiiiittal 
to  the  I'ower — Release  and  re-election — His  improvements  at  Dun- 
ham— Description  of  the  old  mansion— His  death. 

AT  the  period  of  the  birth  of  Sir  Greorge  Booth,  in  1622, 
those  aspirations  for  constitutional  liberty  inherent  in  a 
commercial  nation  were  beginning  to  animate  the  mass  of 
the  people,  and  find  vent  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Those 
aspirations,  repressed  for  the  nonce  by  an  untoward  display  of 
regal  prerogative,  only  burst  out  with  greater  violence  at  a  subse- 
quent period.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Booth  family 
ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  people,  and  from  this  fact 
the  grandfather  of  Sir  George  was  looked  upon  as  the  chief 
corner  stone  of  the  Puritan  or  Presbyterian  party  in  Cheshire. 
The  word  Puritan  must  not,  however,  be  misunderstood.  There 
were  Puritans  of  various  political  complexions  in  those  days,  and 
ranked  deservedly  in  the  first  grade  were  those  who  were  in 
favour  of  maintaining  the  highest  principles  of  civil  liberty,  apart 
from  religious  doctrine — not  those  sour,  narrow-minded  bigots 
usually  associated  with  the  word,  and  which  are  popularly 
thought  to  be  such  in  the  present  day.  The  part  which  the 
Booths  of  Dunham  Massey  were  called  upon  to  take  w;is  one 
fraught  with  danger  and  perplexity,  but  one  which  few  have 
succeeded  in  carrying  out  with  greater  honour,  and  this  at  a  time, 
too,  when  England  had  never  before  showed  so  many  instances 
of  courage,  ability,  and  virtue. 


ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOJVDOX.  99 

111  illustration  of  this,  there  appears  the  following  quaint 
notice  of  Sir  George's  grandfather  in  Uicraft's  Worthies  :  — 

And  next  to  this  religious  and  faithful  Lesley,  is  Sir  George  Bootli, 
the  leader  of  Cheshire,  who,  when  the  troubles  first  began,  stood  up  for  his 
country,  exciting  his  tenants  so  to  do,  promising  them  that  had  leases  of 
their  lands  from  him  that  if  any  such  did  suft'er  in  person  or  goods  lie 
would  make  them  recompense,  and  if  any  had  lease  by  life  and  should  be 
slaine,  the  life  of  his  wife,  rliilil.  nr  fii.  11(1,  should  be  put  in  his  stead,  a 
brave  religious  resolution,  wlii.li.  it  .ill  ihu  gentry  that  had  adhered  to  the 
Parliament  had  done  the  like,  tlir  warn-s  could  never  have  lasted  so  long. 
But  this  religious  brave  Booth  thought  it  not  enough  so  to  doe,  but  took  a 
jjlace  of  command  himself,  and  was  very  active  and  courageous  for  the 
preservation  of  his  country,  did  many  gaUant  exploits  whicli  I  hope  here- 
after to  mention  at  large,  and  at  present  give  him  this  character — free, 
brave,  godly  brave  Bootli,  the  flower  of  Cheshire. 

When  the  signal  of  open  discord  and  civil  strife  was  given  in 
August,  16i2,  Sir  George  Booth,  and  Sir  William  Brereton,  who 
was  described  by  his  enemies  "as  a  notable  man  at  a  thanksgiving 
dinner,  having  long  teeth  and  a  prodigious  stomach,"  were  the 
only  two  Cheshire  gentlemen  mentioned  by  name  in  the  first 
order  for  arming  the  county  and  securing  the  magazines  and 
equipments  of  the  Royalists.  The  battle  of  Edge  Hill  took  place 
in  October  of  the  same  year,  and  soon  after  a  great  Session  or 
Assizes  was  held  at  Chester,  where  bills  of  indictment  were  pre- 
ferred before  the  Judges  against  Sir  George  Booth  and  hundreds 
of  others  for  high  treason  in  taking  up  arms  and  adhering  to 
Parliament  in  the  war  ;  but  this  indictment  they  would  not  see 
fit  to  appear  in  person  to  answer.  In  the  following  year  (1643), 
that  internal  peace  was  necessary  for  the  good  of  the  country  was 
greatly  felt;  and  in  July  a  meeting  of  the  principal  perssons  in  the 
county  was  held  at  Bunbury.  They  appeared  to  be  pretty 
equally  divided  betveeen  King  and  Parliament,  and  a  treaty  of 
pacification  was  then  drawn  up,  which  was  signed  by  Sir  George, 
on  behalf  of  the  Parliamentarians,  and  by  Lord  Kilmorey,  Sir 
Harry  Mainwaring  and  others,  for  the  Royalists.  This  measure, 
however,  appears  to  have  been  particularly  distasteful  to 
Parliament,  who  considered  it  of  such  importance  a.s  to  imme- 
diately render  it  null  and  void,  so  far  as  they  wei'c  concerned,  by 
a  special  ordinance. 


100  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIFDON. 

Military  preparations  were  on  this  rupture  pushed  on 
vigorously  by  both  sides,  and  Nantwich,  which  was  esteemed  an 
important  garrison,  was  taken  possession  of  by  Parliament.  The 
Eoyalists,  whose  head  quarters  were  at  Chester,  made  several 
unsuccessful  attempts  to  get  possession  of  the  town,  and  in  the 
severe  siege  by  Lord  Byron  in  January,  1644,  Sir  George  acted 
a  most  prominent  part.  The  privations  endured  by  the  garrison 
were  extreme  ;  and  when  the  town  was  greatly  harassed.  Lord 
Byron  sent  a  message  asking  him  to  yield  the  town  into  his  hands, 
as  they  were  in  a  low  and  desperate  condition.  To  this  Sir  George 
sent  a  spirited  refusal,  in  which  he  said  that  though  they  might 
be  termed  traitors  and  hypocrites,  God  in  his  own  good  time 
would  show  their  unstained  and  unspotted  loyalty  towards  His 
Majesty  as  well  as  their  sincerity  in  all  their  privations. 

There  is  a  prophetic  ring  about  these  words.  Sir  George  was 
evidently  animated  by  the  highest  feelings  of  love  of  country  ; 
and  events  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  strongly  confirm  this. 
Other  papers  were  also  sent  to  the  commander  by  various  parties, 
amongst  them  one  from  Captain  Sandford  or  Handford,  a  man 
"  very  lavish  of  ink  and  big  words." 

The  suspense  in  which  Sir  George  and  his  companions  in 
arms  were  kept  was  soon  to  be  removed  by  very  unexpected 
means.  The  rising  of  the  Weaver  caused  the  Roj'alists  to  with- 
draw, and  the  "plat"  which  they  had  placed  over  the  river  was 
swept  away.  This  was  taken  advantage  of  by  the  townsmen  and 
soldiers  ;  and  on  the  same  day  the  Royalists  were  defeated  by 
the  combined  forces  of  Sir  William  Brereton  and  General  Fairfax, 
and  they  retreated  to  Chester. 

In  1646  the  celebrated  fortress  of  Beeston  was  ordered  to  be 
dismantled,  and  Sir  George  was  on  the  commission  which  sat  at 
Warrington  for  this  purpose.  Two  years  afterwards,  years 
pregnant  with  eventful  history,  Parliament  was  invaded,  and  the 
celebrated  Pride's  purge  was  applied.  Sir  George  was  one  of 
those  members  excluded  on  that  occasion  ;    and  at  a  subsequent 


ALTRIXCHAM    AND    BOJVDOX.  101 

meeting  in  Westminster  Hall  he  headed  a  deputation  to  the 
House  demanding  equal  liberty  to  sit.  This,  however,  as  is  well 
known,  was  not  granted. 

In  1650  he  was  on  the  commission  of  the  peace  for  the 
county,  and  instructions  were  afterwards  issued  when  the 
Oommonwealth  was  fully  assured,  directing  the  Sheriff,  in  con- 
junction with  Peter  Warburton,  Sir  George,  and  others,  to  meet 
on  certain  days  to  enquire  into  conspiracies  and  secret  meetings, 
to  disarm  Papists  or  disaffected  persons  that  had  appeared  such 
l\v  their  actions  and  words,  or  corresponded  with  Charles  Stuart, 
son  of  the  late  King,  and  to  "observe"  strangers  resorting  to  the 
County  of  Chester.  By  this  tribunal  ten  persons  were  condemned, 
and  five  executed.  He  was  again  elected  a  member  for  the 
county  in  1654:,  and  it  was  this  Parliament  which  showed  such 
little  sign  of  submission  to  Cromwell's  commands  that  they  were 
dismissed  in  January,  1655.  In  the  succeeding  Parliament  of 
1656,  the  county  again  honoured  him  with  a  renewal  of  well- 
merited  confidence. 

His  views  appeared  for  some  time  past  to  have  been  under- 
going a  vital  change.  The  reasons  which  caused  Sir  George  to 
become  as  active  a  partisan  of  the  exiled  Stuart  as  he  had 
formerly  been  of  Parliament  are,  no  doubt,  to  be  found  in  the 
disgust  engendered  by  the  highhanded  proceedings  of  Cromwell, 
the  position  taken  by  the  Independents,  who  now  regarded  their 
former  superiors,  the  Presbyterians,  with  contempt,  and  his 
exclusion  from  the  House  by  Pride's  purge.  The  Koyalists 
made  many  attempts  at  Restoration,  and  in  some  of  them  Sir 
George  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  all  backward  in  asserting 
his  changed  principles.  An  old  Royalist  song  of  the  period 
says  :— 

Young  Mainwaring  fell  by  the  side  of  hys  sire, 
Stout  Booth  was  revenged  for  him  there  ; 

For  the  foe  left  his  grim  trunkless  head  in  the  m^-re. 
Bj-  the  sword  of  old  Dunham's  young  heir. 

The  union  between  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Royalists  gave 
additional    impetus    to    the    cause   in    which    Sir    George    was 


102  ALTRIXCIUM   AND    BOJVDOX. 

embarked.  In  July,  1659,  Sir  George  proceeded  to  Manchester, 
and  after  holding  a  conference  with  the  Presbyterians  and  the 
Cavaliers  returned  to  Warrington  and  fixed  a  rising  for  the  1st 
of  August.  Sir  George  also  entered  into  correspondence  with 
the  Earl  of  Derby  and  Lord  Kilmorey,  and  such  of  the  gentry  of 
Lancashire  and  Cheshire  as  desired  to  assist  in  the  deliberations 
for  restoring  the  monarchy  were  allowed  to  do  so.  These  plans 
were,  however,  revealed  to  the  prevailing  powers,  and  the  risings 
in  other  counties  were  suppressed.  That  of  Sir  George  was  only 
destined  for  a  feeble  continuance.  A  few  of  his  followers  in  their 
jubilancy  plundered  some  of  the  houses  of  the  Cromweliians  ; 
but  this  action,  on  their  part,  was  strongly  condemned  by  Sir 
George.  As  showing  the  great  affection  still  felt  for  him  by 
many  of  his  old  acquaintances,  one  of  those  who  had  suffered 
from  the  exuberant  handling  of  his  followers,  a  relative  of 
President  Bradsbaw,  wrote,  warning  him  that  all  the  other 
counties  in  England  were  quiet  but  Cheshire.  Still  lie  persisted 
in  his  enterprise,  notwithstanding  that  he  complained  that  he  had 
been  falsely  deserted  by  a  large  number  of  the  "best  in  Kngland'' 
who  had  promised  him  assistance. 

Pushing  on  to  Chester,  which  city  he  took,  though  the  Castle 
held  out,  he  and  his  forces  rendezvoused  at  Rowton  Heath.  An 
old  tract  of  the  period  says  that  Sir  George  invited  the  gentry  of 
those  parts  to  meet  him,  when  he  declared  "  he  was  for  a  free 
parliament  and  a  single  person,  which  proved  eflectual  with  the 
malecontented  party,  and  divers  sparks  appearing  in  this  great 
flame."  It  appears  they  had  above  3,000  horse  and  foot,  well 
mounted  and  armed,  "  with  drums  beating,  and  colours  flying, 
and  trumpets  sounding  ;  "  and  after  they  were  drawn  up  on  the 
Heath,  Col.  Brooke  and  Col.  Blackburne  divided  the  horse  and 
foot  into  several  bodies,  "placing  them  in  sundry  warlike  figures 
and  postures,  after  which  Sir  George  made  a  speech  showing  the 
grounds  and  reasons  of  their  present  engagements  and  under- 
takings." 

This   speech    or   declaration  had  great  effect  in  rousing  the 


^ 


ALTRIXCIIAM    AX1>    lunVDON.  103 

drooping  spirits  of  his  party.  Not  being  able  to  get  possession 
of  the  Castle,  he  set  ott'  ^vith  a  portion  of  his  forces  in  the 
direction  of  York  ;  but  the  lapid  approach  of  Lambert  from 
Ireland  compelled  him  to  return  to  his  former  position  at  Chester, 
Clarendon  remarking  that  Sir  George  went  to  meet  him  with  his 
natural  impetuosity. 

His  misfortunes  now  appeared  to  be^t  their  height.  On  the 
19th  August  the  decisive  battle  of  Winnington  was  fought, 
resulting  in  the  complete  defeat  of  Sir  George's  troops,  and  his  own 
ultimate  capture.  The  troops  of  the  Royalists  were  quartered  at 
Northwich,  while  Lambert's  were  at  Weaverham.  The  two 
armies,  on  this  eventful  da}-,  came  into  action  amongst  the 
enclosures  at  Hartford.  The  horse  were  unable  to  act,  and  the 
Royalists  "retired  uninjured  from  hedge  to  hedge,  and  passed  the 
bridge  withoixt  any  other  loss,'  says  Lambert,  "  than  that  of 
reputation,  and  discouragement  in  meeting  with  those  whom  they 
found  of  equal  courage,  but  engaged  in  a  better  (?)  cause."  The 
Roj'alists  now  endeavoured  to  secure  the  bridge,  which  would 
have  given  them  a  great  advantage,  seeing  that  at  this  point  the 
river  was  unfordable,  the  bridge  narrow,  and  flanked  with  a 
strong  ditch  at  the  far  end,  and  a  high  hill  which  no  horse  could 
pass  otherwise  than  along  the  side  in  a  narrow  path.  Those  who 
are  familiar  with  the  picturesque  road  which  formerly  approached 
Winnington  Bridge  will  be  fully  able  to  realize  the  disadvantages 
our  ancestors  stood  at  in  the  way  of  locomotion,  compared  with 
our  steam  and  telegraphic  times. 

This  coign  of  vantage  was  not  long  held  by  the  flagging 
Royalists.  "After  three  good  volleys,"  says  Lambert,  "the  horse 
passing  the  bridge  together  with  the  foot,  charged  the  horse  of 
the  Royalists,  which  advanced  to  cover  the  retreat."  Sir  George 
Booth's  infantry  retired  in  good  order,  following  their  colours  up 
the  hill,  and  protected  by  the  gallantry  of  the  cavalry.  Lambert 
gives  due  praise  and  honour  to  the  English  valour  of  his  adver- 
saries, and  states  that  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  the  Royalists 
halted  to  give  battle,  but  were  a  second  time  routed,  although 


104  ALTRIXCHAM   AXD    BOW  DON. 

disputing  "  the  place  very  gallantly,  both  parties  showing  them- 
selves like  Englishmen."  Such  is  the  description  of  the  battle  of 
Winnington,  taken  from  an  old  tract  of  the  period  ;  and  contem- 
porary historians  agree  in  describing  it  as  very  decisive.  Sir 
C4eorge  escaped  with  great  difficulty,  and  disguising  himself  as  a 
gentlewoman,  left  the  scene  of  action.  He  was,  however, 
betrayed,  having  acted,  his  part  very  badly  ;  and  was  taken  at 
Newport  Pagnell,  in  Buckinghamshire,  where  he  was  riding  on  a 
pillion  in  the  disguise  mentioned.  He  was  committed  to  the 
Tower.  The  proceedings  of  this  period  awakened  national 
comment,  and  several  tracts  were  published  relative  thereto.  One 
of  them,  in  particular,  purports  to  give  a  dialogue  which  occurred 
in  the  Tower  between  Sir  George  and  an  imaginary  indi\adual 
named  Sir  John  Presbyter,  in  the  course  of  which  Sir  George 
expresses  his  great  repentance  at  having  been  connected  with  the 
parsons  in  any  way,  and  uses  strong  language  concerning  them. 

His  confinement  in  the  Tower  was  not  of  long  duration. 
General  Monk  having  declared  for  a  full  and  free  Parliament 
in  which  the  nation  would  be  thoroughly  represented,  the 
excluded  members  and  Sir  George  were  released  from  the 
sequestration  under  which  they  had  laboured.  In  1660,  the  Long 
Parliament  was  dissolved  :  and  what  was  called  the  Convention 
Parliament,  from  its  not  being  regularly  summoned,  was  held. 
Of  this  Parliament  Sir  George  was  elected  a  member,  and  the 
commission  for  the  Restoration  having  been  made,  and  carried 
amidst  general  acclamation,  he  had  the  happiness  of  being  the 
first  of  the  twelve  members  elected  to  carry  to  King  Charles  the 
Second  the  answer  of  the  House  to  His  Majesty's  celebrated 
declaration  of  Breda. 

Honours  were  now  showered  upon  Sir  George.  In  the  same 
year,  the  sum  of  £20,000  was  on  the  point  of  being  voted  to 
him  as  a  reward  for  his  services  and  great  sufferings,  when  he  in 
his  place  in  the  House  requested,  with  a  high-souled  patriotism, 
which  only  those  acquainted  with  the  manners  of  the  time  can 
fully   appreciate,    that   it   should   not   be   more   than   half  that 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  105 

amount ;  which  was  accordingly  granted  by  the  Commons  on 
August  2nd,  and  confirmed  by  the  Lords  the  day  following.  As 
a  reward  from  the  Crown,  he  was  ennobled  by  the  title  of  Baron 
Delamer,  of  Dunham  Massey,  the  patent  bearing  date  April  20th, 
1661,  and  at  the  same  time  he  had  the  liberty  to  propose  six 
gentlemen  to  receive  the  honour  of  Knighthood,  and  two  others 
for  the  dignity  of  Baronet. 

During  his  eventful  life.  Sir  George  appears  to  have  found 
ample  time  to  devote  to  domestic  matters.  According  to  one 
old  writer,  he  greatly  improved  the  Manor  house  of  Dunham 
Massey  by  building  the  _north  side  thereof  answerable  to  the 
opposite  part,  surrounded  it  with  "  a  large  outward  court,  with 
brick  wall  and  a  faire  gate  of  stone,"  and  made  a  domestic  chapel 
on  the  south  side  of  the  house.  It  was  then,  as  shown  on  the 
illustration,  what  Dr.  Ormerod  has  described  as  "  a  large 
quadrangular  pile,  with  gables  within  and  without.  The  gables 
within  the  court  were  indented  and  scalloped,  and  large  transome 
windows  introduced.  The  exterior  front  appears  to  have  been 
finished  at  a  later  period,  with  pilasters  and  ornaments  in 
imitation  of  the  Italian  style  of  architecture,  and  large  octagonal 
turrets  were  placed  at  the  corners.  It  stood  within  gardens  laid 
out  in  the  stiff  taste  of  the  time,  and  surrounded  by  an  ample 
moat,  in  one  angle  of  which  is  drawn  a  large  circular  mound,  with 
a  summer  house  on  the  top  of  it,  supposed  to  be  the  site  of  the 
Norman  keep  tower."  The  noble  avenue  of  beeches  was  in  its 
swaddling  clothes,  so  to  speak,  being  surrounded  with  large 
wooden  guards,  while  the  landscape  is  destitute  of  that  sylvan 
beauty  which  is  the  admiration,  and  justly  sr>,  of  modern  times. 
He  was  twice  married  ;  firstly,  to  Catherine,  the  daughter  of 
Theophilus  Fiennes,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who  died  in  childbirth, 
leaving  an  only  daughter,  Vere  Booth  ;  and  secondly,  to 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Henry  Grey,  Earl  of  Stamford,  by  whom 
he  had  seven  sons  and  six  daughters,  and  who  died  in  1690  at 
Oldfield  Hall. 

Sir  George  died  August  8th,  1G84,  and  was  buried  at  Bowdon 

03 


106  ALTRINGHAM    AND    BOJVDON. 

on  the  9th  September  with  great  solemnity  ;  on  which  occasion 
Mr.  Cawdrey,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  preached.  The  Latin 
inscription  to  his  memory  was  written  by  William  Andrews,  who 
had  been  for  thirty  years  his  faithful  domestic  servant,  and  whose 
remains  were  deposited,  at  bis  own  request,  in  the  same  tomb  as 
his  master.  Clarendon  describes  Sir  George  as  being  of  one  of 
the  best  fortunes  and  interests  in  Cheshire,  then  said  to  be  the 
"seed  plot  of  gentilitie;"  but  his  deeds,  more  than  all,  entitle 
his  memory  to  be  held  in  veneration  and  esteem  by  his  fellow- 
countrymen. 


CHAFTEK     VIII. 

The  second  Lord  Ddamer  ;  his  popidaiiti/  ;  his  adivcaci/  of  the  people's 
rights — Court  jealousy  —  His  committal  to  the  Tower  oh  three 
occasions  ;  his  remarkable  trial  at  Westminster  Hall  ,•  his  eloquent 
defence  ami  justification  ;  his  retirement  to  his  seat  in  Cheshire  ;  his 
support  of  the  I'rinre  of  Orange  .•  /;/.',•  snhsequenf  honnnrnhle  career 
and  death. 

HEXKV,  Lord  Delamer,  second  sou  iind  heir  of  the 
preceding  nobleman,  was  Ijorn  on  the  13  th  January, 
1651,  and  sticceeded  to  the  peerage  on  the  death  of 
his  father.  He  had  been  elected  member  of  parliament  for  the 
County  during  the  father's  lifetime,  and  was  appointed  to  the 
high  office  of  Gustos  Rotulorum  in  1G73.  He  married  Mary, 
daughter  and  sole  heiress  of  Sir  Janie-s  Langham,  Bart.,  of 
Cotters  Brook,  Northamptonshire.  She  died  in  1690-1,  leaving 
him  with  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  was  distinguished  at 
an  early  period  of  his  career  hy  his  ardent  advocacy  of  those 
liberties  which  were  overshadowed  and  threatened  with  extinction 
by  the  movements  of  the  papists.  He  was  particularly  anxious 
for  the  passing  of  the  famous  Bill  of  Exclusion,  for  which  Lord 
Russell,  on  the  morning  of  his  execution,  sent  him  a  kindly 
message  of  I'espect  and  thanks. 

He  also  niaile  great  exertions  for  securing  the  piuity  of 
Parliaments  ;  in  instituting  intpiiries  into  the  corruption  of 
the  judges,  and  in  recommending  the  punishment  of  such 
as  might  be  guilty.  Fur  his  part  in  promoting  the  Bill  of  Exclusion 
he  incurred  the  animosity  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  the  Duke's 
influence  on  the  facile  King  was  no  doubt  increased  by  the  fact  of 
the  sympathy  of  this  nobleman  with  the  Duke  of  Monmouth.  In 
fact,  his  name  had  been  returned  by  the  Court  spies  as  one  of  the 
Cheshire  gentlemen  who  attundeil  Moiinioulh  when  lie  visited 
Dunham  in  IG.S'i.      He  was  ilepused  fruui    his    puljjic    pusiliou.s   of 


lOS  ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOJFDON. 

trust,  and  just  before  the  death  of  Charles  11.  committed  a  prisoner 
to  the  Tower.  He  was  released,  after  an  incarceration  of  several 
months,  without  any  formal  accusation  being  made  against  him. 
Soon  after  the  accession  of  the  Duke  of  York,  as  King  James  II., 
to  the  throne,  he  was  committed  to  the  Tower  under  somewhat 
similar  circumstances,  but  was  released  on  bail.  This  system  of 
petty  persecution  was  still  further  carried  out,  and  a  third  time  he 
was  committed.  It  was  the  last  straw  which  broke  the  camel's  back. 
The  Lords,  anxious  for  the  consolidation  of  those  ancient  safeguards 
which  had  received  such  severe  shocks  in  previous  reigns,  interfered 
on  his  remonstrance,  or  rather  petition,  by  a  demand  from  the 
Sovereign  why  he  was  absent  from  his  attendance  in  the  House. 
Newcome,  in  his  diary,  speaks  of  the  unexpected  pi-orogations  of 
Parliament  which  took  place  at  this  period,  and  tremblingly 
awaited  the  issue  of  these  things,  if  possible,  to  rescue  Lord 
Delamer.  Matters  were  thus  brought  to  a  crisis,  and  he  was  put 
on  his  trial  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  "  the  violent  and  inhuman  " 
Jetteries  being  appointed  Jtidge.  Fortunately,  he  had  the  right 
of  Ijeing  tried  by  a  jury  of  his  peers,  and  although  Parliament  was 
then  existing  by  prorogation,  he  was  not  tried  by  the  whole  House, 
but  by  27  specially  summoned  for  that  purpose. 

This  remarkable  trial  took  place  in  Westminster  Hall,  on 
January  14th,  1685,  his  Lordship  the  previous  day  having  only 
completed  his  34th  year.  The  formalities  of  the  opening  of  the 
Court  were  gone  through  with  much  solemnity.  Sir  Edward 
Lutwich,  one  of  His  Majesty's  Serjeants-at-Law,  and  Chief  Justice, 
put  in  his  writ  and  return,  which  were  read  in  hcec  verba,  and  the 
Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  delivered  in  his  precept,  and  also  brought 
his  prisoner  to  the  bar. 

The  following  Peers  then  answered  to  their  names,  each  making 
a  reverence  to  the  Lord  High  Steward  : — Laiuence,  Earl  of 
Kochester,  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  England  ;  Robert,  Earl  of 
Sunderland,  Lord  President  of  His  Majesty's  Privy  Council;  Henry, 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  Earl  Marshal  of  England  ;  Charles,  Duke  of 
Somerset  ;  Henry,  Duke  of  Grafton  ;  Henry,  Duke  of  Beaufort, 


ALTIUNOHAM   AND    BOWWX.  100 

Lord  President  of  Wales  ;  John,  Earl  of  Mulgrave,  Lord  Chamber- 
lain of  His  Majesty's  Household ;  Aubrey,  Earl  of  Oxford ;  Charles, 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury  ;  Theophilus,  Earl  of  Huntingdon  ;  Thomas, 
Earl  of  Pembroke  ;  John,  Earl  of  Bridgewater  :  Henry,  Earl  of 
Peterborough ;  Robert,  Earl  of  Scarsdale ;  William,  Earl  of  Craven ; 
Lewis,  Earl  of  Faversham ;  George,  Earl  of  Berkeley  ;  Daniel, 
Earl  of  Nottingham ;  Thomas,  Earl  of  Plimouth  ;  Thomas,  Viscount 
Falconberge ;  Francis,  Viscount  Newport,  Treasurer  of  His 
Majesty's  Houshold  ;  Robert,  Lord  Ferrars ;  Vera  Essex,  Lord 
Cromwell ;  William,  Lord  Maynard,  Comptroller  of  His  Majesty's 
Household ;  George,  Lord  Dartmoor,  Master  General  of  His 
Majesty's  Ordnance ;  Sidney,  Lord  Godolphin  ;  John,  Lord 
Chui'chill. 

Three  of  the  Peers  called,  viz.,  James,  Duke  of  Ormond,  Lord 
Steward  of  His  Majesty's  Household ;  Christopher,  Duke  of 
Albemarle  ;  and  Richard,  Earl  of  Burlington,  did  not  answer  to 
their  names. 

Then  the  Lord  High  Steward  addressed  himself  to  the  Lord 
Delamer,  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  in  this  manner  :  My  Lord  Delamer, 
the  King  being  acquainted  that  you  stand  accused  of  high  treason, 
not  by  common  report  or  hearsay,  but  by  a  bill  of  indictment 
found  against  you  by  gentlemen  of  great  quality  and  known 
integrity  within  the  County  Palatine  of  Chester,  the  place  of  your 
residence,  has  thought  it  necessary,  in  tenderness  to  you,  as  well 
as  justice  to  himself,  to  order  you  a  speedy  trial.  My  Lord,  if 
you  know  yourself  innocent,  in  the  name  of  God  do  not  despond, 
for  you  ma,y  be  assured  of  fair  and  patient  hearing,  and  in  proper 
time  free  liberty  to  make  your  full  defence ;  and  I  am  sure  you 
cannot  but  be  well  convinced  that  my  noble  lords  that  ;vre  here 
your  peers  to  try  you  will  be  as  desirous  and  ready  to  acquit 
you,  if  you  appear  to  be  innocent,  as  they  will  to  convict  you  if 
you  he  guilty  ;  but,  my  Lord,  if  you  are  conscious  to  yourself  that 
you  are  guilty  of  this  heinous  crime,  give  glorj-  to  God  and  make 
amends  to  His  vicegerent,  the  King,  by  a  plain  and  full  discovery 
of  your  guilt,  and  do  not  by  any  obstinate  persisting  in  the  denial  of 


110  ALrniSCHAM   AXI)    noii'Dox. 

it  iiinviikr  tlic  just  indignation  of  your  Prince,  who  has  made  it 
appi-ar  to  ilic  world  that  his  inclinations  ai'e  rather  to  show  mercy 
than  to  intiict  punishment.  My  Lord,  attend  with  patience  and  hear 
the  liill  of  indictment  which  has  been  found  against  you  read.  Road 
the  1)111  of  indictment  to  my  Lord. 

Clerk  of  Court.--Henry,  Baron  of  Delamer,  IkiUI  up  thy  hand. 

Lord  Delamer. — ISIy  Lord,  I  humbly  beg  your  grace  would 
please  to  answer  me  one  question,  whether  a  peer  of  I-lngland  be 
obliged  by  the  laws  of  this  land  to  hold  his  hand  up  at  the  bar  as 
a  conunoner  must  do ;  and  I  ask  your  Grace  the  rather,  because  in 
my  Lord  Stafford's  case  it  was  allowed  to  be  a  privilege  of  the  peers 
not  to  hold  up  their  hands. 

Lord  High  Steward. — My  Lords,  this  being  a  mattei'  of  the 
privilege  of  the  peerage,  it  is  not  fit  for  me  to  determine  it  one 
way  or  the  other  ;  but  I  think  I  may  acquaint  your  lordships 
that  in  point  of  law,  if  you  are  satisfied  this  is  the  person 
indicted,  the  holding  or  not  holding  up  of  the  hand  is  but  a 
formality  that  does  not  signify  much  either  way. 

Lord  Delamer. — I  humbly  pray  your  Grace's  direction  in  one 
thing  farther  ;  whether  I  must  address  myself  to  your  Grace 
when  I  would  speak,  or  to  your  Grace  with  the  rest  of  these 
noble  loids,  my  peers. 

Lord  High  Steward. — You  must  direct  what  you  have  to  say 
to  me,  my  Lord. 

Lord  Delamer. — I  beg  your  Grace  would  please  to  satisfy  me 
whether  your  Grace  be  one  of  my  judges  in  concurrence  with  the 
rest  of  the  Lords. 

Lord  High  Steward. — No,  my  Lord,  I  am  Judge  of  the  Court, 
but  none  of  your  triers.     Go  on. 

The  Clerk  of  Court  then  read  a  formidable  indictment  to  the 
effect  that  Henry,  Baron  Delamer,  stood  indicted  in  the  County 
Palatine  of  Chester,  by  the  name  of  Henry,  Baron  of  De  la  Mer 
of  Mere,   in  the  City  and  County  of  Chester,  for  that  he,  as  a 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BO IV DON.  HI 

false  traitor  against  the  most  illustrious  and  most  excelloiit  Prince 
James  the  Second,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England,  Scotland 
France,  and  Ireland,  King;  his  natural  lord,  not  having  the  fear  of 
God  in  his  heart,  nor  weighing  the  duty  of  his  allegiance,  but  being 
moved  and  seduced  by  the  instigation  of  the  devil,  the  cordial  love 
and  true  duty  and  natural  obedience  which  a  true  and  faithful 
subject  of  our  said  Lord  the  King  ought  of  right  to  bear  ;  did  jjlot 
against  the  tranquility  of  the  kingdom,  \c.,  &c. 

At  the  reiiuest  of  his  Lordship,  the  indictment  was  read  a 
second  time,  whereupon  he  raised  the  point  that  his  cause  was  one 
which  should  be  wholly  determined  in  the  House  of  Peers,  Init 
not  elsewhere,  as  in  cases  formerly  brought ;  and  that  as  he  could 
not  be  tried  during  the  continuance  of  Parliament,  except  in  the 
said  House  of  Peei's,  he  pleaded  that  he  was  not  bound  to  make 
any  further  answer.  He  disclaimed  any  distrust  of  their 
Lordships,  and  added,  "I  cannot  hope  to  stand  before  any 
more  just  or  noble,  nor  can  I  wish  to  stand  before  any  others  ;  but 
you  will  pardon  me  if  I  insist  upon  it,  because  I  apprehend  it  a 
right  and  a  piivilege  due  to  the  peerage  of  England,  -which  as  it  is 
against  the  duty  of  e^■ery  peer  to  betray  or  forego,  so  it  is  not  in 
the  power  of  anyone  or  more  to  waive  it  or  give  it  up  without  the 
consent  of  the  whole  body  of  peers,  every  one  of  them  being 
equally  interested." 

Attorney-General  Sa^^•)•er  urged  that  there  was  \ery  little  in 
the  plea  under  the  circumstances,  whereupon  Lord  Delamer  asked 
to  have  counsel  to  put  his  plea  into  form  and  argue  it. 

Judge  Jefleries  ruled  against  him,  and  after  some  further  legal 
wrangling  on  the  question  of  privilege,  he  was  formally  charged 
and  pleaded  "not  guilty,"  agreeing  at  the  same  time  to  be  tried 
by  "  God  and  his  peers." 

The  Serjeant-at-Arms  having  made  proclamation,  the  Judge 
gave  his  charge  to  the  Peers.  The  indictment  was  opened  by  Sir 
Thomas  Jenner,  one  of  His  ^Lajesty's  Serjeants  at-law  and 
Recorder  of  the  Citv  of  London. 


112  ALTEINCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 

The  Attorney -General,  in  the  course  of  a  long  speech,  explained 
that  the  prisoner  stood  indicted  for  conspiring  the  death  of  His 
Majesty,  and  in  order  thereunto  to  raise  rebellion  in  the 
Kingdom.  Cheshire  was  one  of  the  stages  where  the  rebellion 
was  principally  to  be  acted,  that  preparatory  to  it  great  riotous 
assemblies  and  tumultuous  gatherings  were  set  on  foot  by  the 
conspirators,  and  that  the  late  Duke  of  Monmouth  looked  upon 
Cheshire  as  one  of  his  e-hief  supports,  and  my  Lord  Dehuner  as 
his  principal  assistant  there. 

Lurd  Howard  cif  Eskrigge  was  first  called,  but  he  gave  no 
e\  idencf  coueeriiiiig  the  prisoner.  Lord  Grey,  who  said  he  had 
been  subpoenaed  by  both  sides,  also  did  not  know  anything  of  his 
own  knowledge  against  him,  but  said  that  Lord  Delamer  was  to 
be  applied  to  in  connection  with  Monmouth's  rising.  This  was 
confirmed  by  Nathaniel  AA'ade,  llichard  Goodcnough,  Jones,  and 
Story.  Jones  was  sent  to  give  notice  to  Lord  Delamer  (amongst 
other  persons)  of  this  rising,  the  latter  stating  that  he  heard  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth  say  that  his  great  dependence  was  upon  Lord 
Delamer  and  his  friends  in  Cheshire  ;  but  that  he  was  afraid  he 
had  failed  him  or  l)etrayed  him,  or  some  such  word,  and  that  he 
could  have  Ijcen  supplied  otherwise  but  placed  his  dependency 
upon  them.  Vaux  and  Edlin  swore  that  Lord  Delamer  left  town 
under  the  name  of  Brown,  and  that  he  went  into  Cheshire  to  see 
a  sick  child.  Traeey,  raunceford,  and  Thomas  Babington 
deposed  to  llic  fact  that  Lord  Delamer  was  constantly  known  as 
Brown  in  that  ))usiness  by  his  party.  One  of  these,  however, 
admitted  in  cross-examination  there  was  "a  discourse"  about  a 
Mr.  Vermuyden  going  in  the  name  of  Brown.  Hope  was  called 
to  prove  the  frequent  journeys  into  Cheshire  to  stir  up  the  people 
there,  luid  that  Lord  Delamer  had  said  "  he  feared  there  woidd  be 
many  Moody  noses  lieforo  the  business  was  at  an  end.  " 

The  most  formidable  witness,  and  one  on  whom  the  pi'o.secution 
relied,  was  Thomas  Saxon,  a  tiadesniau  of  Middlcwicli,  who 
sought  to  persuade  the  Jury  that  he  had  been  specially  scuL  for 


ALTUTXrilAM   A  XT)    T.OIVWX.  113 

to  the  huuse  of  Lord  DL-knier,  at  .Mciu  (Dunham)  ;  and  in  the 
presence  (jf  two  or  three  gentlemen  whom  he  named,  the  question 
of  iSIonmonth's  rebellion  was  discussed,  and  Saxon  was  selected, 
he  being  acquainted  with  the  conmion  people,  to  spread 
insurrection  amongst  them.  He  e([ui^■ocated  grossly  in  his 
evidence,  and  was  asked  by  the  noble  prisoner  the  name  of  the 
messenger  who  came  for  him  :  but  this  he  said  he  did  not  know. 

As  a  great  deal  had  been  said.  Lord  Delamer  asked  for  an 
adjournment,  but  this  the  Judge  would  not  permit.  He  then 
proceeded  with  his  defence,  and  in  the  course  of  an  eloquent 
address  said  he  could  with  great  comfort  and  satisfaction  say  that 
those  crimes  wherewith  he  was  charged  were  not  only  strangers 
to  his  thoughts,  but  also  to  what  had  been  his  constant  jirinciple 
and  pi'actice.  He  also  said  that  few  had  more  heartily  eonfornied 
to  the  practices  of  the  Church,  and  urged,  (and  it  must  be 
admitted  with  .some  truth)  that  there  was  little  nv  no  legal 
evidence  affecting  him,  and  ridiculed  the  idea  th.it  the  particulars 
of  such  an  important  adventure  should  be  communicated  by  him 
to  a  perfect  stranger.  He  called  several  witnesses  to  speak  to  the 
ill-repute  of  Saxon.  A  witness  named  Hall  said  that  Saxon  had 
forged  a  note  to  obtain  money  from  him. 

The  Lord  High  Steward  acknowledged  that  the  olijection 
carried  a  great  deal  of  weight,  and  if  fully  made  out  would 
prove  him  to  be  "a  very  ill  man  indeed." 

Francis  Ling  said  that  Sixon  had  received  money  in  the 
name  of  Mrs.  Willjraham,  and  Kichard  Shaw  also  said  he  had 
been  guilty  of  receiving  money  which  was  not  his  own.  Peter 
Hough  .said  he  should  have  given  him  a  bond  for  £1.  but  liy 
trusting  him  he  found  it  was  only  made  out  for  ffi.  Kdw;ii(l 
Wilkinson  had  been  moiv  illu.sed  .still.  He  said  Saxon  hired  a 
horse  from  him  for  three  days  at  twelvepence  a  day.  liut  he  had 
neither  seen  horse  nor  money  since  Saxon  took  it. 

AVilliam  Wright  said  he  had  had  some  dealings  with  him,  and 
never  found   him  to  perfect  his  woixl  in  anything.     He   added, 

p  3 


114  ALTIIINCHAM    AND    BOU'DOX. 

"  I  met  him  one  evening,  after  evening  prayer,  and  said  to  him, 
Thomas  Saxon,  if  I  cared  no  more  for  keeping  my  worA  than  thou 
dost,  it  were  no  matter  if  I  were  hanged,  for  to  bo  sure  if  thy 
mouth  open  thy  tongue  lyes ;  and  he  turned  away  from  me  and 
would  not  answer  me  a  word ;  and  since  that  he  owed  me  some 
money,  and  when  I  asked  him  for  it  he  told  me  if  I  did  trouble 
him  for  money  it  should  be  worse  for  me,  whereof  all  the  town 
knows  as  well  as  I  that  I  cannot  set  him  forth  in  words  as  bad  as 
he  is." 

Lord  Delamer  called  several  other  witnesses  in  this  way,  and 
also  to  prove  that  he  was  not  at  Mere  at  the  time  deposed  to  by 
witnesses  for  the  prosecution. 

Mr.  John  Edmonds,  sworn,  said :  On  the  5th  of  May  my  Lord 
Delamer  did  me  the  honour  to  come  to  my  house,  and  he  stayed 
there  a  little  while  and  desired  me  to  be  a  witness  of  his  taking 
possession  txpon  a  lease  of  my  Lord  Bishop  of  Chester,  and  we 
went  into  the  house  which  is  next  to  mine,  and  there  he  took 
possession. 

The  Lord  High  Steward. — Where  is  your  house  ? 

j\rr.  Edmonds. — At  13oden,  in  Cheshire. 

Mr.  Henry  was  called  and  sworn. 

Lord  Delamer. — Pray  will  you  give  his  Grace  and  my  Lords 
an  account  whether  you  were  not  an  attorney  and  delivered  me 
possession  upon  the  lease  of  my  Lord  Bishop  of  Chester. 

Mr.  Henry. — My  Lord,  I  was  attorney  by  appointment,  and 
the  5th  May  last  I  delivered  possession  to  my  Lord  Delamer  at 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  places  of  the  land  that  belonged  to 
that  lease  of  the  Bishop. 

Lord  Delamer  hoped  that  this  was  a  satisfactory  reason  for 
his  going  down  at  the  time,  the  Bishop  being  ill,  and  the  lease 
worth  £6,000  or  £7,000.  The  next  occasion  he  had  to  speak  to 
was  the  27th  ^Lay.  He  said,  "  I  had  taken  up  the  resolution 
before  to  go  and  see  my  child,  which  was  not  well,  but  I  had  not 


ALrniXCHAM    AND    BOU'DOy.  115 

taken  my  journey  so  soon  nor  with  such  privacy  but  that  I  had 
notice  that  there  was  a  warrant  out  to  apprehend  me,  and 
knowing  the  inconvenience  of  lying  in  prison  I  was  ^-ery  willing 
to  keep  as  long  o\U  of  custody  as  I  could,  and  thoroforc  I  went  out 
of  the  way  and  under  a  burrowed  name  " 

At  his  request  his  Lordship's  mother,  Avho  sat  by  him  at  the 
l)ar  during  the  trial,  was  examined.  She  said  that  this  child  of 
his  was  more  than  ordinarily  "  pretious  "  (precious)  to  him  in 
regard  it  was  born  to  him  at  that  time  "  when  he  was  an  innocent 
honest  man  (as  he  was  then  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  for  high 
treason)  above  two  years  ago,  and  she  tho\iglit  it  had  increased 
his  affection  to  that  chikl  that  God  had  given  to  him  when  he  was 
in  that  affliction.'  While  he  was  at  Dunham,  her  daughter  sent 
word  that  it  had  pleased  God  to  \  isit  his  eldest  son  in  London 
■with  a  grievous  distemper,  ami  thereupdu  he  made  all  the  haste 
he  could  back. 

Witnesses  were  called  to  ]>ro\e  that  persons  said  by  Saxon  to 
ha\-e  been  present  on  a  given  date  were  in  London  at  the  time, 
and,  altogether,  conclusive  evidence  was  forthcoming  to  sh(^w 
that  his  testimony  was  not  at  all  of  a  reliable  character.  Amongst 
these  witnesses  were  two  brothers  of  the  noble  prisoner.  In  the 
course  of  some  further  remarks  he  denied  that  he  ever  wrote  or 
sent  any  message,  or  h;id  had  any  correspondence  for  three  years 
jjast  with  the  Duke  of  Monmouth.  He  pointed  out  cu-cumstanccs 
in  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  not  liorne  out  l)y  facts,  and 
concluded  by  reminding  their  Lordships  that  the  eyes  of  the 
nation  were  upon  their  proceedings  that  day.  "  Your  Lordships 
are  now  judging  the  cause  of  every  man  in  England  that  shall 
happen  to  come  under  like  circumstances  with  myself  hereafter  : 
for  accordingly  as  you  judge  me  now,  just  so  will  inferior  coui'ts 
be  directed  to  give  their  judgments  in  like  cases  in  time  to  come. 
Your  Lordships  know  \ery  well  that  blood  once  spilled  can 
never  be  gathered  up  again,  and  therefore,  unless  the  case  be  very 
clear  against  me,  you  will  not,  I  am  sure,  hazard  the  shedding  of 
my  blood  upon  doubtful  evidence.      God  Almighty  is  a  God  of 


116  AirniXCTIAM    AXD    BOIVDOX. 

mercy  and  equity.  Our  law,  the  law  of  England,  is  a  law  of 
equity  and  mercy,  and  both  God  and  the  law  require  from  your 
Lordships  tenderness  in  all  cases  of  life  and  death  :  and  if  it 
should  be  indifferent  or  donbtfid  to  your  Lordships  (which  upon 
proofs  that  I  have  made  I  cannot  believe  it.  can  be)  whether  I  am 
innocent  or  guilty,  both  God  and  the  law  require  you  to  acquit 
me.  My  Lords,  I  leave  myself,  my  case,  and  the  consequences 
of  it  with  your  Lordships,  and  I  pray  the  All-wise,  the  Almighty 
God,  to  direct  you  in  \'0ur  dertermination." 

No  wondei'  after  such  an  eloquent  appeal.  Lord  Churchill,  the 
spokesman  of  the  Jury,  should  declare  upon  his  homiur,  with 
imcovered  head,  and  hand  upon  his  breast,  that  the  noble  piisoner 
was  not  guilt}'.  Lord  Delamer  retired  to  his  seat  at  1  )unham. 
and  abstained  for  the  time  being  from  any  active  participation  in 
public  affairs.  Scarcely  three  years  passed  away,  however,  ere 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  afterwards  William  IIL,  arrived  in  England. 
Lord  Delamer  then  expressed  himself  as  feeling  that  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  nation  must  be  worked  hj  force  or  miracle,  and  that 
as  it  would  be  presumption  to  expect  the  latter,  he  very  wisely 
levied  a  large  force  of  men.  On  the  16th  December,  168S,  he 
took  up  arms  in  Cheshire.  He  convoked  his  tenants,  called  upon 
them  to  stand  liy  him,  and  promised  that  if  they  fell  in  the  cause 
their  leases  should  be  renewed  to  their  children,  and  exhorted 
everyone  who  had  a  good  hor.se  either  to  take  field,  or  to  provide 
a  substitute.  He  appeared  at  Manchester  with  ."lO  men  armed 
and  mounted,  and  his  force  had  trebled  before  he  reached  Bowdon 
Downs.  So  says  Macaulay.  He  soon  afterwards  joined  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  and  his  forces.  On  the  arrival  of  the  Prince  .'it 
Windsor,  he  despatched  Lord  Delamer,  the  Marquis  of  Halifax, 
and  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  with  a  message  to  King  James, 
commanding  him  to  qtiit  the  Palace.  His  Majesty  was  in  bed  at 
the  time  of  their  arrival,  it  being  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  but 
they  were  introduced  to  him  by  the  Earl  of  Middleton,  then 
Secretarj'  of  State.  This  has  been  justly  described  as  a  remark- 
able instance  of  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune.      Bv  one  writer  it  is 


ALTUIXimAM    .IX/i    BOIFUOX.  117 

spoken  of  ;is  ;ui  iiist;iin;i.'  uf  Divine  retribution.  Here  was  a  sub- 
ject whom  he  had  seen  ;irraigneil,  not  three  years  before  as  a 
culprit  at  the  bar,  appearing  now  with  an  order,  which  would 
have  the  effect  of  virtually  dethroning  him.  To  his  honour  it  is 
recorded  that  the  generous  conduct  he  displayed  on  that  occasion 
made  such  an  impression  on  the  fallen  Sovereign  that  after  his 
retreat  into  France  he  said  the  Lord  Delaraer,  whom  he  had  illused, 
had  treated  him  with  much  more  respect  than  the  other  two  Lords 
to  whom  he  had  l)eeii  kind,  and  from  whom  he  might  better  have 
exjiccted  it 

With  this  reign  ended  that  great  crisis  in  English  history — 
the  struggle  between  King  and  people  ;  and  the  people,  led  l)y 
those  whose  patriotism  was  above  reproach,  triumphed. 

Amongst  the  leaders  was  Lord  Delamer,  and  as  a  result,  he  w-ah 
now  very  fully  rewarded.  He  was  made  a  Pri^y  Councillor  in 
February,  1689,  which  office  he  held  for  life;  in  the  following 
April  he  was  made  Chancellor  and  Under  Treasui-er  of  the 
Exchequer,  and  subsequently  Lord-Lieutenant  ot  the  County  of 
Chester,  and  Gustos  Eotulorum.  Li  1690,  he  was  created  Earl  of 
Warrington,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  peculiar  services,  and  a 
pension  of  £2,000  per  annum  was  settled  upon  him.  This  was 
only  paid  for  the  first  half-year,  and  the  arrears  are  stated  in  a 
list  of  King  William's  debts,  drawn  up  by  Queen  Anne.  Many 
minor  honours  were  also  conferred  upon  him,  amongst  them  the 
Mayoralty  of  the  ancient  City  of  Chester,  in  1691. 

His  Lordship's  works  were  published  in  the  yeai'  1694,  being 
edited  from  his  own  MS:,  l)y  .1.  Dela  Heuze,  tutur  tn  Jiis  son, 
afterwards  Earl  of  Warrington. 

A  review  of  his  wi-iiiugs  would  absorb  too  much  of  our  space. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  sufficient  to  record  some  of  his  sayings  and 
opinions.  His  language,  particularly  against  the  Papists,  as  they 
were  termed,  is  marked  in  some  places  by  great  extravagance  and 
warmth  of  tone,  perhaps  permissable  by  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  had  been  placed.     The  country,  too,  was  unsettled,  and 


118  ALTRINCHAM   AXD    BOW  DON. 

although  not  out  of  place  then,  it  would  sound  oddly  now  to  hear 
a  justice  of  Chester  haranguing  the  Grand  Jury  to  give  informa- 
tion of  any  plot,  if  they  were  acquainted  with  it,  for  dethronuig 
the  reigning  monarch.  Most  of  the  charges  take  a  strong  political 
tinge,  but  in  others  are  suggested  a  consideration  of  domestic 
matters.  We  are  admitted  by  them  to  a  peep  at  the  manners  and 
customs  of  that  age.  In  one  of  his  .speeches,  when  Earl  of 
Warrington,  he  uncourages  the  magistrates  to  .strictly  inform 
themselves  of  such  as  ofl'end  in  the  matter  of  swearing,  "  the 
horrible  pi-ophanation  of  God's  name,"  and  gi\e  them  the  punish- 
ment which  their  oflence  deserved.  He  also  harangues  at  length 
against  the  sin  of  drunkeiniess,  that  till  then  this  vice  was  not 
grown  to  considerable  size. 

He  was  as  a  patriot  proud  of  the  go\'ernment  of  his  country 
under  William  III.,  and  jiraised  it  as  beyond  all  others.  He 
shows  that  while  all  manner  of  taxes  and  impositions  are  laid 
upon  the  people  at  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  King,  in  England 
thej'  could  not  be  taxed  l)ut  by  their  own  consent  in  Parliament. 
Although  the  King  had  the  sole  power  of  making  peace  and  war, 
"  the  sinews  of  war,"  meaning  the  money,  were  with  the  people, 
and  the  people  were  not  bound  to  support  every  war  that  the 
King  might  engage  in  ;  "  for  methinks  it's  all  the  reason  in  the 
"  world  that  a  man  should  be  satisfied  with  the  cause  before  he 
"  part  with  his  money  ;  and  I  think  that  man  is  very  unworthy  of 
"  honour  to  serve  his  country  in  Parliament  who  shall  give  away 
"  the  people's  money  for  any  other  thing,  l)ut  what  shall  be 
"  efl'ectually  for  the  good  and  advantage  of  the  people  and  nation." 
There  arc  few  who  will  not  admit  that  his  Lordship's  words, 
spoken  nearly  200  years  ago,  hold  good  in  the  present  day. 

The  prayers  which  his  Lordship  used  in  his  family  bear  the 
mark  of  close  application,  and  breathe  a  truly  devotional  and 
earnest  spirit  throughout.  Although  he  did  not  die  "  in  a  good 
old  age,  full  of  days,"  he  possessed  '•  both  riches  and  honour. " 
His  death  took  place  in  London,  on  Jaiuiary  ind,  1693,  on  tiie 
same  memorable  day  on  which  eight  years  before  his  trial  had 


ALTRINCEAM    AND   BOWDON. 


119 


been.  His  funeral  sermon  was  preached  in  Bowdon  Parish  Church 
by  the  Rev.  Richard  Wroe,  Warden  of  Manchester  Cathedral.  On 
his  monument  in  the  same  Church  is  inscribed  a  record  of  his  life 
in  brief,  which  is  well  worthy  the  attentive  perusal  of  all  interested 
"  in  perpetuating  the  remembrance  of  so  much  virtue  till  that 
great  day  come  wherein  it  shall  be  openly  rewarded,"  For  in 
these  words  concludes  the  epitaph  which  a  reverent  son  inscribed 
to  a  noble  father. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

The  House  of  Dunham,  continued — The  Second  Earl  of  JFarrington ; 
his  cliaracter  and  literary  attainments — The  union  of  the  House  of 
Dunham  with  that  of  Stamford — The  Honourable  Booth  Grey— 
"  Domestic  happiness,  a  family  picture  " — The  revival  of  the  lapsed 
titles  of  Baron  Delamer  and  Earl  of  JFarrington — A  Romance 
of  the  Peerage. 

AFTER  the  great  political  crisis  through  which  the  house 
of  Dunham  had  passed,  it  may  easily  be  imagined  that 
the  quiet  repose  of  a  country  gentleman's  life  would  be 
most  compatible  with  the  feelings  of  the  heir  succeeding  to  its 
now  consolidated  honours.  It  is,  therefore,  to  his  many  literary 
works,  completed  in  periods  of  uninterrupted  leisure,  that  we 
are  most  indebted  for  the  character  of  George,  the  second  Earl  of 
Warrington.  He  was  the  second  son  of  the  first  Lord  Delamer, 
and  was  born  on  the  2nd  of  May,  1675.  He  was  married  in 
1702,  to  Mary,  eldest  daughter  and  co-heiress  of  John  Oldbury, 
of  London,  merchant,  by  his  second  wife  Mary,  daughter  and 
co-heiress  of  Thomas  Bohun,  Esq.,  of  Dartmouth,  and  descended 
from  the  ancient  Earls  of  Hereford.  The  issue  of  this  marriage 
was  an  only  daughter  named  Mary,  who  was  born  about  the 
year  1703.  His  Lordship  died  August  2nd,  1758,  and  was  laid 
in  the  tomb  of  his  ancestors  at  Bowdon,  having  passed  the 
allotted  "span"  of  life  by  1 3  years.  Amongst  his  contributions 
to  contemporary  literature,  was  "Considerations  on  the  Institution 
of  Marriage  ; "  a  letter  to  the  writer  on  "  The  present  State  of 
the  Republic  of  Letters,"  in  which  he  vindicated  his  father  from 
some  of  the  reflections  cast  upon  him  by  Burnet  in  the  "  History 
of  his  Own  Times,"  and  which  seem  to  have  been  copied  more  or 
less  by  the  great  historian,  Macaulay.  With  his  decease,  the 
Earldom  of  Warrington  became  extinct,  and  the  barony  of 
Delamer  descended  to  his  first  cousId,  Nathaniel  Booth,  of 
Hampstead,  Esquire. 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  12] 

An  event  had,  however,  occurred  before  this,  which  had  marked 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  this  noble  house.  Mary,  the  only 
daughter  and  sole  heiress  to  the  estates  of  her  father,  had  married 
in  1736,  the  Right  Honorable  Harry  Grey,  Earl  of  Stamford.  This 
family,  according  to  Collins,  "has  been  the  most  ancient,  the  most 
widespread,  and  most  illustrious  in  the  English  peerage,  the  house 
of  Stamford  being  derived  from  the  most  illustrious  branch  of  it." 
Lord  Stamford  was  thus  descended  from  the  first  Lord  Grey  of 
Groby,  the  grandfather  of  the  first  Earl  of  Stamford,  who  was 
distinguished  in  1628  by  his  efforts  in  the  ranks  of  the  Parliamen- 
tarians, and  who  was  nephew  of  the  great  Duke  of  Suffolk,  the 
father  of  Lady  Jane  Grey.  There  are  few  who  have  not  noticed 
the  prominent  part  the  Greys  have  played  in  history  ;  and  what 
schoolboy  has  not  melted  at  the  touching  recital  of  the  execution 
of  the  unfortunate  lady,  whose  little  attempt  at  Queendom  was 
attended  with  such  fatal  results  %  He  was  thus  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  younger  branch  of  the  house  of  Tudor,  whose  claim  to  the 
throne  of  England  rested  rather  on  the  despotic  will  of  Henry 
VHL,  than  on  the  inherent  right  which  belonged  in  failure  of 
direct  inheritance  to  the  Scottish  branch  of  the  same  Eoyal  line. 
To  this  may  be  added  the  fact  that  the  family,  on  both  sides,  is 
of  Norman  origin,  and  was  first  summoned  to  Parliament  in  1446 
in  the  person  of  Lord  Ferrers  of  Groby, whose  elder  daughter-in-law, 
Elizabeth,  became  the  wife  of  Edward  IV. 

Lord  and  Lady  Stamford  had  a  family  of  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  The  eldest,  George  Harry,  succeeded  to  the  earldom ; 
the  second.  Lady  Mary,  who  assisted  the  Princess  Augusta  in 
supporting  Queen  Charlotte's  train  at  her  coronation  in  1761,  and 
who  married,  24th  February,  1761,  the  Honourable  George  West, 
second  son  of  the  Earl  Delawar,  died  March  1st,  1783.  The 
third  son,  the  Hon.  Booth  Grey,  was  born  August  15th,  1740 :  he 
was  admitted  a  nobleman  of  Queen's  College,  Cambridge.  He 
was  one  of  the  Mayors  of  Altrincham,  and  was  member  for 
Leicester  1768-1774.  He  died  on  the  4th  March,  1802.  His 
Lordship  died  at  Enville  Hall,  June  24th,  1768,  and  was  succeeded 
Q3 


122  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 

by  his  eldest  son,  George  Harry,  the  fifth  Earl  of  Stamford,  born 
October  1st,  1737. 

In  a  curious  work  published  about  the  latter  end  of  1700, 
entitled  "  Characteristic  Strictures  or  Eemarks,"  is  a  sketch  of  the 
family  of  this  Earl.  It  is  headed  "  Domestic  happiness,  a  family 
picture,"  and  proceeds:  "What  satisfaction  must  a  sentimental 
artist  experience  when  he  has  only  one  unhappy  countenance  to 
copy  in  so  numerous  a  family,  especially  as  the  varied  features 
which  express  felicity  will  free  his  performance  from  the  imputa- 
tion of  sameness?  The  piece  not  only  comprehends  the  parents  and 
their  posterity,  but  the  brother  and  sister  of  the  principal  figure. 
The  junior  members  of  the  family  are  of  too  tender  an  age  to  be 
distinguished  by  features  that  prognosticate  either  tempers  or 
manners,  except  the  eldest  youth  (Lord  Grey)  who  is  the  very 
picture  of  his  father,  and  in  neither  of  whose  features  is  there  a 
fault.  The  father  is  a  perfect  example  of  integrity,  filial  affection, 
and  tender  husband ;  and  the  mother,  from  her  prudent,  virtuous 
and  sweet  tempered  disposition,  every  way  worthy  of  so  honourable 
a  mate.  Two  brothers  make  up  the  group  (the  Hon.  Booth  Grey 
and  the  Hon.  John  Grey).  The  elder  on  a  distant  view  seems  of 
a  morose  and  sour  temper ;  but  when  you  examine  the  features 
more  closely  you  are  agreeably  disappointed  to  find  those  of 
sullenness  not  only  expand  with  freeness,  but  discover  themselves 
to  be  the  strongest  signification  of  a  solid  understanding.  The 
younger  is  in  every  point  of  laew  a  pleasant,  lively,  generous 
figure,  that  seems  to  give  spirit  to  the  whole  society."  This  quaint 
picture  is  only  a  reflex  of  a  certain  school  of  criticism  which 
obtained  at  that  period.  The  "unhappy  countenance  "  referred  to 
is  that  of  Lady  Mary  West,  and  is  probably  an  allusion  to  her  death, 
which  would  have  taken  place  a  short  time  previously.  The  fifth 
Earl  was  elected  Knight  of  the  Shire  for  the  county  of  Stafford, 
1761,  and  at  the  coronation  of  George  III.,  was  one  of  the  six 
eldest  sons  of  peers  who  supported  the  King's  train.  His  lordship, 
on  the  20th  May,  1763,  married  Lady  Henrietta  Cavendish  Bentinck, 
second  daughter  to  William,  the  late  Duke  of  Portland,  and  had 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJJ'DON.  123 

issue  four  sons  and  six  daughters.  He  was  created  Baron  Delamer 
and  Earl  of  Warrington,  thus  reviving  the  lapsed  titles  of  his 
ancestors ;  and  in  addition  to  his  other  offices,  was  Lord  Lieutenant 
and  custos  Rotulorum  of  the  County  of  Chester.  He  died  in  1819 
at  Dunham,  and  was  buried  at  Bowdon.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son,  George  Harry  Grey,  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington, 
born  October  31st,  1765,  married  December  23rd,  1797,  to 
Henrietta  Charlotte  Elizabeth  Charteris,  eldestdaughter  of  Francis, 
Lord  Elcho,  and  had  issue  two  sons  and  three  daughters.  He  died 
at  Enville  Hall,  Staffordshire,  April  27th,  1845,  and  was  buried 
at  Bowdon.  George  Harry,  Lord  Grey,  his  eldest  son,  died 
November,  1837,  in  the  lifetime  of  his  father. 

With  the  death  of  George  Harry,  the  seventh  Earl,  in 
January,  1883,  the  Barony  of  de  la  Mer  and  the  Earldom  of 
Warrington  became  extinct.  The  Earldom  of  Stamford  and  the 
Barony  of  Grey  of  Groby  devolved  upon  his  kinsman,  the 
Rev.  Harry  Grey,  whose  remarkable  career  in  South  Africa 
formed  a  veritable  romance  of  the  peerage.  In  May,  1893,  the 
House  of  Lords  Committee  of  Privileges  sat.  Counsel  said  the  history 
of  the  eighth  Earl  presented  undoubtedly  some  curious  features. 
He  was  a  clergyman,  and  in  1844  he  married,  at  Tiverton,  as  his 
first  wife,  a  person  called  Susan  Gayden,  who  was  in  a  humble 
situation  of  life,  and  with  whom  he  lived  for  some  years.  In 
1854  or  1855  he  separated  from  her,  and  left  England  for  the 
Cape,  where  he  resided  continuously  until  his  death  in  1890. 
There  was  no  issue  of  that  marriage,  and  Susan  Gayden  died  in 
1869.  In  1872,  Harry  Grey,  as  the  eighth  Earl  then  was,  married 
at  Wynberg  a  woman  named  Annie  Macnamara,  who  was  also  in 
a  comparatively  humble  situation  of  life,  and  who  died  in  1872, 
there  being  no  issue  of  that  marriage  either.  At  the  time  of  the 
death  of  Annie  Macnamara  there  was  living  in  the  house  as  a 
servant  a  woman  of  colour  named  Martha  Solomon,  and  it  would 
seem  that  Harry  Grey  subsequently  cohabited  with  her,  with  the 
result  that  two  illegitimate  children  were  born — namely,  a  son, 
John,  in  1877,  and  a  daughter,  Frances,  in  1879.      In  December, 


124  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 

1880,  Harry  Grey  married  this  woman,  and  counsel  believed  it 
was  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that,  according  to  the  Eoman- 
Dutch  law  which  prevailed  at  the  Cape,  the  effect  of  that  marriage 
was  to  legitimise  there  the  offspring  previously  born.  Subse- 
quently to  the  marriage  there  was  only  one  child,  a  girl,  who  was 
born  in  July,  1881,  and  she  was,  he  would  submit,  the  only 
legitimate  issue  for  the  purpose  of  succession  in  this  country  to 
this  peerage.  The  eighth  Earl  succeeded  to  the  peerage  in  1883, 
and  from  that  time  onwards,  being  well  aware  of  his  position  and 
rights,  he  treated  the  two  children  born  before  his  marriage  with 
Martha  Solomon  as  illegitimate  children,  and  recognised  both  by 
his  pedigree,  which  he  signed,  and  also  by  instructions  for  his  will 
that  he  regarded  William  Grej',  his  nephew,  as  his  inevitable 
successor  in  the  title  if  no  male  issue  was  subsequently  born  to 
him.  No  male  issue  was  born,  and  when  he  died  in  1890  the  title 
would  have  descended  to  John,  his  next  brother,  if  he  had  been 
alive.  He  died  in  1868,  and  William,  the  next  brother,  died  in 
1872,  and  he  was  the  father  of  William  Grey,  who  claimed  the 
Earldom. 

Formal  evidence  was  put  in  as  to  the  creation  of  the  peerage 
and  the  issuing  of  a  writ  of  summons  to  the  eighth  Earl  to  sit  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  but  he  did  not  avail  himself  of  the  privilege. 
Evidence  of  the  death  of  Susan  Gayden  and  Annie  Macnamara, 
as  also  of  the  marriage  with  Martha  Solomon  (who  remarried  in 
1892,  Pieter  Pieterse,  of  Wellington,  Gape  Colony)  was  given. 
Mr.  E.  J.  Moore,  attorney-at-law,  practising  at  Capetown, 
produced  a  certified  copy  of  the  will  of  the  eighth  Earl.  A  certain 
portion  of  the  property  was  left  to  one  Emma  Grey,  his  natural 
daughter  by  a  woman  named  Collins.  The  witness  became 
acquainted  with  the  late  Earl  shortly  after  the  death  of  the  seventh 
Earl  in  1883,  and  from  1887  to  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  his 
private  secretary.  They  frequently  discussed  the  affairs  of  the 
family,  and  on  many  occasions  the  late  Earl  referred  to  Mr. 
William  Grey  as  the  person  who  would  succeed  him  in  the 
Earldom  of  Stamford. 


ALTRINGHAM   AND   BOWDON.  125 

The  Rev.  F.  B.  Moore,  rector  of  Constantia,  near  Wynberg, 
stated  that  he  first  became  acquainted  with  the  late  Earl  about 
1864  or  1865.  He  was  curate  of  the  parish  when  the  late  Earl 
married  Annie  Macnamara  in  1872,  and  from  that  time  to  the 
time  of  her  death  in  1874  he  saw  them  frequently.  There  were 
no  children  of  that  marriage.  He  knew  the  woman  Solomon  or 
Simon  quite  well.  She  was  a  servant  in  the  house  for  about  two 
months  prior  to  Annie  Macnamara's  death,  and  after  that  event 
she  continued  to  live  in  the  house.  The  children,  John,  Frances, 
and  Marjr,  were  born  to  her,  John  in  1877,  Frances  in  1879,  and 
Mary  on  the  25th  July,  1881.  This  woman  Solomon  and  the  late 
Earl  were  married  on  the  6th  December,  1880.  With  reference  to 
these  children  and  the  inheritance  of  the  peerage,  he  said,  "  Of 
course  none  of  my  children  can  ever  inherit  the  peerage."  The 
woman  Solomon  had  previously  cohabited  with  a  man  named 
Simon,  and  had  had  two  sons,  so  that  she  was  called  Solomon 
or  Simon  indifferently. 

Conclusive  evidence  was  called  to  show  that  the  eighth  Earl 
always  looked  upon  Mr.  William  Grey  as  heir  presumptive  to  the 
Earldom,  and  evidence  having  been  given  as  to  the  death  of  his 
father,  and  also  the  birth  of  the  claimant. 

The  Lord  Chancellor  moved  that  their  Lordships  report  that 
petitioner  had  made  out  his  claim  to  the  peerage.  There  was  no 
question  of  fact  to  raise  any  doubt  in  their  Lordships'  mind. 
Personally,  he  felt  that  it  was  in  some  sense  a  hardship  upon  the 
parties,  on  account  of  the  expensive  nature  of  the  inquiry  which 
had  been  cast  upon  them,  but  looking  to  the  South  African 
incidents  it  was  impossible  that  he  could  of  his  own  motion  have 
certified  that  the  claimant  had  established  his  claim  without 
proof. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 

William  Grey  was  born  April  18th,  1850,  at  Newfoundland. 
He  was  adjudged  to  be  the  ninth  Earl  and  also  Baron  Grey  of 
Groby  by  the  Committee  of  Privileges  above  referred  to.     He  was 


12G  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJFDOX. 

educated  at  Bradfield,  and  graduated  at  Exeter  College,  Oxford, 
where  he  took  his  B.A.  degree  in  1872,  and  M.A.  in  1875.  He 
was  formerly  Professor  of  Classics  and  Philosojihy  at  Codrington 
College,  Barbadoes.  On  his  return  to  England  he  was  admitted  into 
the  Order  of  Diocesan  Eeaders  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  1891,  and 
his  work  in  the  East  End  of  the  Metropolis  is  now  well  known  and 
highly  appreciated.  He  was  married,  April  18th,  1895,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Louisa  Penelope  Theobald,  third  daughter  of  the  Eev. 
Charles  Theobald,  Rector  of  Lasham,  Hants.,  and  Rural  Dean  of 
Alton.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  a  son  and  heir,  who 
takes  rank  as  the  eleventh  Baron  Grey  of  Groby,  born  October 
27th,  1896. 


CHAPTER    X. 

The  Maceijs  of  Altrlncham — A  rebellious  subject — The  Bowdon  family — 
Disposal  of  lands — Some  old  district  names— Bowdon  free  school — 
Gui/  Fawkes  at  AUrincham — A  witty  Bowdon  Curate — The  advance 
on  Manchester  by  LM'd  Strange — The  Unicorn  Hotel  three  hundred 
years  ago— An  AUrincham  landlord  and  landlady  of  the  olden 
time — Sir  Peter  Leycester's  description  of  the  town  in  1666 — The  story 
of  the  "Bloody  Field" — Adam  Martindale  at  Dunham ;  his  duties 
there — Bowdon  Dissenters  troublesome — Dick  Turpin;  his  exploits  at 
Newbridge  Hollow  and  Hoo  Green — Prince  Charlie's  troops  at 
AUrincham. 

THE  house  of  Macey,  or  Massey,  which  settled  at  Dunham, 
in  course  of  time  had  numerous  branches,  so  much  so  as 
to  give  rise  to  the  uncomplimentary  proverb  already 
quoted  in  these  pages.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  their 
connection  with  Altrincham  is  as  ancient  as  it  is  honourable.  We 
find  them  coming  into  prominence  in  troublous  times  of  Richard  H., 
and  they  appear  to  have  held  the  town  by  military  service  for  a 
long  period.  In  1397  it  is  recorded  that  William  Massey  was 
the  lessee  of  the  King  of  the  beadlery  of  the  Hundred  of 
Bucklow,  for  the  year,  at  the  sum  of  £7.  6s.  8d.,  he  taking  by 
his  lease  all  the  pleas  and  profits  of  all  the  townships  within  the 
aforesaid  hundred,  and  in  that  year  he  also  received  a  grant  from 
the  King  of  an  annuity  during  pleasure  of  one  hundred  shillings. 
He  was  evidently  a  favourite  with  the  King  ;  and  as  a  zealous 
supporter  must  have  made  his  power  felt,  for  in  the  General  Act 
of  Pardon  which  Henry  IV.  issued  in  the  opening  portion  of  his 
reign,  he  was  specially  exempted  on  account  of  his  adherence  to 
the  fallen  monarch.  His  offence  was  not  probably  very  severely 
visited ;  as  in  the  year  1399,  a  William  Macey,  probably  one  and 
the  same  person,  was  given  a  protection  on  his  departure  for 
Ireland  to  do  service  for  the  King. 


128  ALTBINCHAM    AXD    BOWDON. 

About  the  year  1400,  for  reasons  best  known  to  himself,  a 
Massey  assumed  the  local  name  of  Bowdon,  and  the  Bowdon 
family  has  been  traced  by  the  Lysons  down  to  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth.  It  held  a  fourth  part  of  the  lands  in  the  township  until 
Urian  Bowdon,  in  1565,  sold  to  William  Booth  of  Dunham 
Massey,  Esquire,  certain  portions  of  land  in  Bowdon,  as  also  in 
Hale  and  Dunham.  In  1569,  Thomas  Vawdrey,  of  Bowdon,  and 
George  his  son,  sold  several  parcels  of  land  to  Hugh  Crosby,  of 
Over  Whitley,  who,  in  turn,  sold  them  to  Sir  George  Booth  at  a 
later  period  for  £220.  These  parcels  were  in  the  several  holdings 
of  Thomas  Vawdrey,  Robert  Massie,  Thos.  Nelde  (or  Neild)  and 
Alice  Hardey.  William  Brereton,  in  the  reign  of  James  I., 
became,  by  purchase  from  Sir  Thomas  Holcroft,  owner  of  one 
fourth  of  the  lands  in  the  township ;  but  these,  as  also  all  the 
others,  have  long  since  passed  by  gift,  sale  or  lease  to  the  present 
Earl  of  Stamford. 

The  foregoing  reference  to  names  prevalent  three  or  four 
centuries  ago  will  make  the  reader  curious  to  know  more. 
There  are  allusions  to  a  family  of  Oldtield,  no  doubt  a  branch  of 
the  Massey  family,  who  assumed  that  name,  and  from  plea  rolls 
relating  to  a  few  of  the  lesser  holdings  in  Altrincham,  it  is  shown 
that  in  the  22nd  year  of  Edward  III.,  Emma,  wife  of  John 
Howell,  was  against  Robert  Drake,  of  Altrincham,  for  a  dower  of 
three  messuages  and  three  acres  of  land  ;  that  in  the  19th  of 
Henry  VII.,  Edward  Walker  conveyed  to  Thomas  Deyne,  and 
Margery,  his  wife,  the  fee  simple  of  three  burgages  of  land,  "  of 
which  one  was  situated  between  the  burgage  of  Edward  Massey, 
and  that  late  of  Richard  Chadurton,  of  Tympyrly,  called  Flax- 
yarde,  and  two  burgages  called  Tayntre  Crofts  in  the  same 
town  ;"  that  in  the  13th  year  of  Henry  VIII ,  Stephen  Atkynson 
was  against  Thomas  Massy,  son  and  heir  of  Robert  Massy,  for 
the  recovery  of  two  messuages,  five  burgages,  ten  acres  of  land, 
one  meadow,  and  one  dove  cote.  The  names  of  Birche,  Coppok, 
Roylc,  Bekke  or  Beck,  Neuton  or  Newton,  Kyncy,  &c.,  are  also 
to  be  found.     In  Dunham  Massey  there  were  Heskeths,  Ashtons, 


ALrniNCHAM   AND    BOJFDON.  129 

Hazlehursts,  Johnsons,  &c.,  and  we  believe  their  descendants  are 
to  be  found  there.  The  allusion  to  the  Flaxyarde  shows  that  the 
manufacture  of  linen  was  an  old  Altrincham  industry,  quite  as 
much  as  woollen  was  at  a  later  period. 

A  Free  School  was  founded  at  Bowdon  about  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1600.  In  1640  a  "presentment"  was  made  to  the 
Commissioners  for  Pious  Uses,  against  Mr.  Richard  Vawdrey,  of 
the  Banck,  gentleman,  for  denying  to  pay  £i  per  annum,  left  by 
his  grandfather,  for  the  schoolmaster  of  Bowdon.  It  is  said,  in 
G-astrell's  Nolitia  Cestriensis,  that  although  he  may  have  been  pre- 
sented, the  endowment  was  not  made  by  his  grandfather,  but  by 
Edward  Janny,  of  Manchester,  merchant,  who,  in  15.53,  devised 
certain  lands  to  his  "  kynseman,  Robert  Vawdrey,  to  keep  a  ffre 
scole  at  Bowdon,  to  instruct  youthe  in  vertue  and  lernynge." 
This  Robert  Vawdrey  was  one  of  the  executors,  and  it  may 
probably  have  led  to  his  being  spoken  of  as  the  founder.  Janny, 
the  testator,  had  the  advowson  and  lease  of  the  vicarage  of 
Bowdon,  for  a  term,  and  this  he  also  devised  to  Robert  Vawdrey, 
whose  family  held  it  for  several  years.  The  schoolhouse  was 
rebuilt  at  the  expense  of  the  parish  in  1670,  again  in  1806,  and 
up  to  a  recent  period  served  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the 
young  ideas  of  the  neighbourhood,  when,  on  the  new  National 
Schools  being  built,  it  was  converted  into  a  showroom  for  furni- 
ture, &c. 

James,  Lord  Strange,  who  by  succession  became  7th  Lord 
Derby,  marched  from  Warrington  early  on  23rd  September,  1642, 
with  the  whole  of  the  force  that  he  had  assembled,  400  horse, 
200  dragoons,  2,000  foot,  with  10  large  guns.  The  greater  por- 
tion of  this  muster  the  Earl  commanded  in  person,  and  had  with 
him  Sir  Gilbert  Ilogliton,  Sir  Alex.  Radclifte,  Sir  Gilbert  Gerard, 
Capt.  Windebank,  Mr.  Farington  of  Worden,  Mr.  Tarbock,  and 
several  others.  They  marched  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Mersey 
to  Ashton,  where  they  were  detained  at  the  ford  by  an  accident  to 
the  wheel  of  oce  of  the  gun  carriages.  Clarendon,  in  his 
"  History   of   the   Rebellion,"   describes   the  Earl's   pikemen   as 

r3 


130  ALTRINCEAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

having  no  breastplates,  a  few  of  the  musketeers  had  swords,  the 
front  rank  of  the  horse  were  fully  armed,  the  rear  rank  carried 
axes  in  lieu  of  carbines.  On  the  side  of  the  Parliament  among 
the  many  neighbouring  gentlemen  who  assisted  to  defend  Man- 
chester was  Captain  John  Booth,  of  Dunham.  To  him  was 
entrusted  the  defence  of  the  Mill  Gate ;  during  the  night  fol- 
lowing the  second  day  of  the  siege  he  commanded  a  company 
of  50  musketeers  in  a  sortie,  when  the  head-quarters  of  the  Earl, 
Alport  Lodge,  was  set  on  fire.  On  Friday,  September  30th,  by 
the  King's  express  orders,  the  siege  was  raised.  This  assault 
upon  Manchester  was  the  first  outbreak  of  the  great  civil  war. 
Captain  John  Booth,  of  Dunham,  was  the  son  of  Sir  William 
Booth;  he  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Prestwich,  of 
Hulme,  and  died  in  1644. 

We  read  in  one  of  Harrison  Ainsworth's  novels  that  Guy 
Fawkes  was  carried  through  Altrincham,  on  his  way  to  Ordsall 
Hall,  after  having  been  wounded  "  in  a  little  affair  "  at  Malpas. 
This  was  not  long  before  he  attempted  that  horrible  enterprise 
which  will  ever  make  his  name  memorable  to  the  small  boys  of 
the  land.  If  the  enterprise  was  horrible  it  has  been  embalmed  in 
still  more  horrible  verse.  It  was  done  by  a  worthy  parish  clerk, 
who  had  an  insatiable  desire  to  distinguish  himself ;  and  on  one 
occasion,  when  service  was  being  celebrated  for  providential 
deliverance  from  this  plot  of  plots,  he  fairly  electrified  the  con- 
gregation by  giving  out  the  following  verse: — 

This  is  the  day  that  was  the  night, 

When  wicked  men  conspire, 
To  blow  the  Houses  of  Parliament  up, 

With  g-u-n-pow-dtVe. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  this  parish  clerk  was  not  con- 
nected with  Bowdon  ;  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  witty 
curate  once  gave  a  most  remarkable  certificate  of  publication  of 
banns.  A  worthy  couple  had  been  "asked,"  as  the  local  phrase 
has  it ;  and  the  Vicar  of  Wilmslow,  where  the  woman  lived,  had 
the  following  addressed  to  him  : — 


ALrUINCUAM   AND    BOJFDON.  133 

John and  Jane  Cooper  were, 

Thrice  in  my  church  announced  tliis  year 
To  tie  the  knot  of  beauty. 
So  John  and  Jane  I  trust  hereby, 
May  without  shame  together  lye, 
When  you  have  done  your  duty. 

Jenks,  Curate  of  Bowdon  Churoli. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  thcat  the  "VVilmslow  Vicar  did  his  duty,  as 
well  as  Mr.  Jenks,  and  that  this  worthy  couple  lived  a  long  and 
happy  life  in  the  married  state. 

In  May,  1644,  Prince  Rupert  had  a  rendezvous  for  his  army 
on  Bowdon  Downs.  According  to  a  Royalist,  Willi.am  Davenport, 
of  Bramhall,  "  he  marcht  up  to  Cheadle,  where  the  parliaments 
forces  ran  away."  In  May,  1648,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Lieutenancy,  held  at  Bowdon,  "  it  was  resolved  that  three  regi- 
ments, consisting  each  of  600  men  strong,  should  be  raised ;"  but 
the  country  people  as  a  rule  refused  to  join.  With  the  Downs  is 
associated  the  story  of  the  "  bloody  field,"  the  scene  of  a  combat 
between  Sir  Samuel  Daniel,  of  Tabley,  and  Captain  Robert 
Ratcliffe,  of  Ordsall  Hall.  A  brawl  had  ensued  at  a  party ;  and, 
according  to  an  old  rhyme  : — 

The  next  day  Robert  out  a  shooting  went, 

And  still  his  mind  upon  revenge  was  bent  ; 

By  accident  he  met  Sir  Samuel 

On  Bowdon  Downs,  for  so  the  people  tell ; 

And  fight  he  would,  and  one  of  them  should  die. 

Ere  they  did  part,  and  that  immediately. 

Sir  Samuel  says,  "  I  see  how  discord  ends, 

I  never  thought  but  sleep  had  made  us  friends." 

"  No  parley,  now,"  says  Robert,  "  fight  I  will. 

Or  with  my  gun  I  here  now  will  you  kill." 

"  Well,"  says  Sir  Samuel,  "  if  to  fight  I  must, 

My  sword  is  not  the  sword  I  wish  to  trust." 

Then  fight  they  did,  and  on  the  sandy  downs 

Rash  Robert  fell,  covered  with  blood  and  wounds. 

He  was  buried  at  Northenden,  and  the  inscription  on  his 
gravestone  states  that  ho  was  "  of  illustrious  descent,  of  comely 
appearance,  pious  towards  God,  and  unfailing  in  His  worship ; 
loyal  to  the  King  faithful  to  his  friends,  courteous  to  all,  and  a 


134  ALTRINGHAM    AND    BOIFDON. 

vigorous  combatant.  But  the  age  being  unworthy  of  such  a  hero, 
and  heaven  permitting  it,  he  perished,  strange  to  say,  in  a  sword 
fight  in  the  presence  of  a  few  spectators,  ...  on  the  20th  of 
February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  16S.5,  in  the  30th  year  of  his 
age." 

It  is  a  matter  for  surmise  whether  Guy  Fawkes,  after  having 
been  wounded  in  the  "  little  aftair  "  at  Malpas,  stopped  at  that 
ancient  and  still  celebrated  hostehy,  the  Unicorn,  to  refresh  the 
inner  man.  Most  probably  he  did,  and  drowned  the  sense  of  his 
injuries  in  libations  of  choicest  canary.  At  all  events  the  Unicorn 
stood  at  Altrincham  for  centuries  on  very  nearly  the  same  site ; 
but  if  we  are  to  believe  the  traditions  which  have  come  down  to 
us,  it  was  then  a  very  different  place  to  what  it  is  now.  It  was 
a  delightfully  rural  roadside  "public,"  environed  with  a  profusion 
of  vegetation;  and  a  purling  stream,  of  which  there  is  now  only  a 
mere  trace,  flowed  past  until  it  joined  the  brook  which  has  its 
rise  on  Hale  Moss,  and  which  fed  the  lake  and  moat  at  the  Hall 
of  Dunham.  Subsequently,  this  stream  turned  the  water  wheel 
by  which  the  landlord  of  the  old  original  Unicorn  eked  out  his 
livelihood ;  but  the  wheel  is  hashed,  the  stream  has  long  since 
disappeared,  and  an  advancing  civilization  has  caused  a  structure 
more  in  accordance  with  the  wants  of  the  age  to  be  erected  in  its 
place. 

It  is  also  believed  that  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  "  Peveril  of 
the  Peak,"  has  given  the  name  of  the  Cat  and  the  Fiddle  to  the 
Unicorn,  when  he  speaks  of  Julian  Peveril's  journey  from  Liver- 
pool to  his  ancestral  home  in  Derbyshire.  The  picture  which  the 
great  novelist  draws  of  that  period  is  an  excellent  one.  Sir 
Walter  says  : — 

At  length  near  Altringham,  a  halt  Ijecame  unavoidable,  and  a  place  of 
refreshment  presented  itself  in  the  shape  of  a  small  cluster  of  cottages,  the 
best  of  which  united  the  characters  of  an  alehouse  and  a  mill,  where  the 
sign  of  the  Cat  (the  landlord's  faithful  ally  in  defence  of  his  meal  sacks), 
booted  high  as  Grimalkin  in  the  fairy  tale,  and  playing  on  the  fiddle  for 
the  more  grace,  aunouuL-L'd  tliat  John  Whitecraft  united  the  two  honest 
occupations  of  landlord  and  miller  ;    and,    doubtless,    took    toll  from   the 


ALTRINCHAM   JAW    BOWDON.  135 

public  in  both  capacities.  Such  a  place  promised  a  traveller  who  journeyed 
incognito,  safer,  if  not  better  accommodation  than  he  was  likely  to  meet 
with  in  more  frequented  inns  ;  and  at  the  door  of  the  Cat  and  Fiddle, 
Julian  halted  accordingly. 

In  the  succeeding  chapter,  the  narrative  is  continued,  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  jolly  miller  and  his  wife  manage  the  business 
is  humorously  depicted. 

If  the  great  Scotch  novelist  had  read  the  quaint  description 
given  of  the  town  by  Peter  Leycester,  who  says  in  1666,  "  there 
are  so  many  cottages  erected  here  by  permission  of  the  Lords  of 
Dunham  Massey  that  it  has  now  become  a  nest  of  beggars; "  he 
could  not  have  been  nearer  the  mark.  While  this  character  is 
given  to  Altrincham,  Bowdon  bore  a  very  different  one  ;  and  at 
a  somewhat  later  period,  it  is  spoken  of  as  "  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  places  in  the  land."  Sir  Peter  mentions  that  in  the 
rental  of  Dunham  Massey  in  1402,  there  were  about  forty  free- 
holders or  charterers  in  Altrincham,  the  rest  of  the  tenants  not 
above  eighteen  in  number  being  tenants  at  will.  He  also  speaks 
of  the  increasing  value  of  land  and  other  commodities  ;  and  adds 
that  at  the  period  at  which  he  wrote  there  were  above  twenty 
charterers,  which  would  tend  to  show  that  the  number  of  tenants 
at  will  had  increased,  while  the  number  of  freeholders  had 
diminished.  Of  these  holdings,  Robert  Parker's,  of  Oldfield  Hall, 
Altrincham,  gentleman,  was  of  the  greatest  value  ;  next  to  which 
was  that  belonging  to  William  Leycester,  of  Hale  Lowe,  gentle- 
man. The  rest  were  very  small  parcels,  "  not  worth  the  reckoning 
up." 

Adam  Martindale,  one  of  the  many  puritan  divines  who 
experienced  the  sad  effects  of  the  long  political  tempest  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  found  an  asylum  at  Dunham  on  his  ejectment 
from  the  living  of  Rostherne,  under  the  Act  of  Uniformity  of 
1662.  He  was  a  prominent  character  of  that  period,  and  his 
avowed  hatred  of  superstitious  customs,  as  he  thought,  brought 
him  into  most  unpleasant  collision  with  his  parishioners.  In  his 
autobiography,  he  gives  us  one  or  two  glimpses  of  Bowdon,  which 
show  that  it  was  not  entirely  free  from  the  religious  bickerings 


136  ALTFJNCHAM   AND    BOIFDON. 

and  theological  hair-splittings  of  the  period.  The  Quakers,  as 
they  were  then  called,  really  had  sound  reason  for  "  quaking " 
sometimes.  The  "  Separatists,  "  as  the  Dissenters  were  termed, 
were  numerous  and  troublesome  in  the  parish,  and  being  a  fierce 
ecclesiastical  champion,  Martindale  informs  us  that  he  was  engaged 
in  "a  paper  scuffle  "  with  their  teacher,  much  in  the  same  way  no 
doubt  that  newspaper  controversialists  cut  each  other  up  now-a- 
days.  He  tells  us  that  in  1663,  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  Dr.  Hall, 
preached  fiercely  against  non-conformists  at  Bowdon,  and  as  one 
that  had  a  notable  faculty  of  extracting  salt  water  out  of  pumice 
upon  the  words,  We  are  not  ignorant  of  his  devices,  2  Corin- 
thians ii.  11.,  made  even  the  most  harmless  practices  of  the  non- 
formists,  "devices  of  Sathan,  soe  farre  as  his  Episcopall  authoritie 
would  authenticate  such  doctrine."  At  Dunham  he  devoted  him- 
self to  study,  in  which  he  was  greatly  assisted  by  Lord  Delamer, 
who  gave  him  many  excellent  books,  lent  him  his  choicest  manu- 
scripts, and  "  imparted  freely  any  knowledge  he  had,  which  was 
as  useful  as  anything  else." 

While  chaplain  here  his  salary  was  £40  per  annum,  and  his 
employment,  "besides  accompanying  my  Lord  abroad,  was  family 
duty  twice  a  day,  which  after  dinner  was  a  short  prayer,  a  chapter 
and  a  more  solemn  prayer,  and  before  sujoper,  the  like  ;  only  a 
psalme  or  part  of  one  after  a  chapter.  When  it  was  my  Lord's 
pleasure  that  the  Lord's  day  or  any  of  the  King's  days  should  be 
kept  at  home,  I  officiated,  and  when  on  the  Lord's  day  we  went 
to  Bowdon,  I  catechised  in  the  evening,  and  expounded  the 
catechism  in  a  doctrinal  and  practical  way,  so  as  it  was  as  of 
much  pains  for  me,  and  as  profitable  to  the  auditors  as  though  I 
had  preached."  A  pleasant  picture  truly  of  family  life  at 
Dunham,  two  centuries  ago 

From  "  pulpit  to  prig  "  is  a  great  step  downwards,  but  it  is 
the  one  we  now  take.  Knutsford  can  boast  of  a  highwayman  of 
some  celebrity  "born  and  bred"  within  its  limits.  Altrincham 
cannot;  at  all  events  there  has  not  been  one  of  the  "gentlemen  of 
the  road  "  who  was  proud  of  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and  who 


ALTPdNCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  137 

has  made  for  himself  name  and  fame  in  history  by  his  so-called 
exploits.  As  a  very  efficient  substitute  we  find  the  renowned 
Turpin — for  he  has  got  "renown"  in  "Kookwood"  (though  his 
life  shows  him  to  have  been  both  blackleg  and  coward) — often 
taking  up  his  quarters  in  the  neighbourhood  and  levying  illegal 
toll  on  travellers.  The  scene  of  his  adventures  was  principally 
New  Bridge  Hollow.  "What!"  no  doubt  exclaim  readers 
acquainted  with  the  magnificent  road  to  Chester,  "  how  could  a 
man  pounce  out  on  anyone  and  rob  him  there?"  Wait  a  little, 
my  impetuous  friend.  There  was  no  wide  road  then.  It  was  an 
apology  for  one ;  in  fact,  a  mere  bridle-path,  and  then,  as  now, 
primroses  and  wild  flowers  bloomed  in  bewildering  profusion 
around.  The  river  was  not  spanned  by  a  bridge,  but  forded  at  a 
convenient  and  shallow  point.  Flanked  on  each  side  by  tall 
trees  and  umbrageous  foliage,  the  poet  of  to-day  can  draw  inspira- 
tion therefrom  for  his  glowing  pages  ;  but  then,  when  dangers 
were  thought  to  be  hidden  behind  every  tree,  the  aspect  of  the 
road  to  most  travellers  would  be  stripped  of  its  picturesqueness. 
On  one  occasion  the  daring  Dick  had  a  narrow  escape  from 
paying  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  for  a  robbery  committed 
in  the  hollow,  and  this  escape  was  attributable,  it  is  said,  to  the 
legendary  speed  of  "  Black  Bess."  A  lawyer  was  travelling  from 
Chester  to  Manchester,  when  he  was  attacked  by  Dick,  and 
relieved  of  his  cash.  Turning  the  head  of  Black  Bess,  he  put  her 
to  her  extreme  speed,  and  on  arriving  at  the  Kilton,  Hoo  Green, 
he  accosted  the  hostler  with  "  Holloa  !  what  o'clock  is  it,  my 
cockolorum,  eh  1"  With  a  view  to  receiving  a  speedy  reply,  he 
accompanied  the  question  with  a  sharp  blow  on  the  shoulder,  and, 
singular  to  say,  he  got  the  required  answer.  We  use  the  word 
"  singular,"  because  a  modern  knight,  "  of  more  breeches  than 
brains,"  would  have  replied  with  a  torrent  of  well-selected 
Billingsgate,  and  summoned  him  before  a  magistrate,  with  a  view 
to  having  him  fined.  As  it  was,  Dick  strolled  calmly  on  to  the 
green,  where  a  number  of  country  gentlemen  were  playing  bowls, 
taking  care,  of  course,  to  remark  about  the  time.  An  investiga- 
s  3 


138  ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOJVDON. 

tion  into  the  circumstances  took  place,  and  Dick  found  out  the 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  what  Samuel  Weller's  "  paternal 
parient"  in  "  Pickwick,"  chose  to  call  a  "halibi."  The  groom  was 
called,  and  as  the  difference  between  the  time  of  the  robbery  and 
Dick's  appearance  in  the  inn  yard  was  so  small,  only  a  few 
minutes,  although  the  distance  from  the  place  was  over  three  miles, 
the  magistrates  discharged  him,  under  the  impression  that  no 
horse  could  carry  him  in  the  time  that  Black  Bess  did,  Turpin 
appears  to  have  gloried  in  the  feat  that  he  then  accomplished,  for 
it  is  made  the  subject  of  a  song,  which  is  given  in  "Eookwood." 

It  was  in  1745  that  Altrincham  had  a  visit  from  the  forces  of 
Prince  Charles  Edward,  prior  to  the  disaster  at  Culloden.  It  was 
on  Sunday  morning  early,  December  1st,  1745,  that  a  detachment 
from  Manchester  marched  into  Altrincham.  There  was  snow 
upon  the  ground,  and  we  can  well  imagine,  as  depicted  in  our 
illustration,  the  provost  marshal  demanding  from  the  bewildered 
landlord  of  the  "  Red  Lion  "  quarters  for  the  men  who  are  just 
marching  in  with  the  Prince's  colours  flying,  while  the  local  watch 
looks  unconcernedly  on,  for  the  common  people  were  indifferent 
on  the  principle  of  "Fight  dog  !  Fight  bear  !"  without  taking  part 
themselves  if  they  could  help  it,  "  but  feeling  very  angry  with  the 
Pretender  for  coming  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  Kingdom."  As 
the  troops  marched  into  Altrincham,  a  resident,  standing  at  the  top 
of  Well  Lane,  now  Victoria  Street,  was  informed  by  a  "  braw 
highlander  "  that  he  must  give  up  his  brogues  or  boots.  Might 
was  right,  and  the  Altrincham  man  was  forcibly  deprived  of  his 
"  understandings."  A  remarkable  revenge  appears  to  have  been 
taken.  There  were  many  desertions,  and  as  the  troop  marched 
from  Altrincham  the  then  host  of  the  Bleeding  Wolf  (where  local 
tradition  asserts  the  last  wolf  was  killed  in  England)  sallied  out, 
pulled  one  of  the  rebel  troopers  from  his  horse  and  slew  him  with 
his  own  sword.  Singularly  enough  this  sword  remained  in  the 
possession  of  a  local  family,  and  was  carried  for  generations  in 
the  demonstrations  of  the  local  Lodge  of  Oddfellows.  At  Sale 
the  Scotchmen  did  little  damage,  but  it  is  recorded  that  they 
stole  the  Rector's  horses,  which  were  at  pasture  on  Sale  Moor. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Indications  of  growth  and  enterprise — The  cutting  of  the  Bridgewater 
Canal — A  few  figures — Manufacture  of  woollen  and  cotton  yarn — 
Obsolete  punishments :  penance,  cucJcing  stool,  scold's  bridle,  public 
whippings  in  the  Altrincham  ilarket-place — Executions  for  burglaries 
at  Bowdon — A  man  hanged  for  poaching  near  Altrincham — 
The  ancient  custom  of  souling—The  entertaining  play  of  St.  George 
and  the  Dragon — Wassailing  and  Christmas  carols —  The  barley 
hump  and  Dunham  ale — The  lions  of  Dunham — Altrincham 
races — Dunham  Parks  and  the  Hall — De  Quincy's  description  of 
Altrincham. 

THE  first  indication  of  an  era  of  enterprise  in  this  district 
was  the  cutting  of  the  Bridgewater  Canal,  which 
commenced  about  the  year  1760,  and  its  opening  six  years 
or  so  afterwards  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the  town  of  Altrincham. 
In  1778  there  were  in  the  town  185  houses,  which  taken  at  the 
usual  average  of  five  persons  to  a  house  would  give  925  inhabitants. 
In  1801,  this  number  had  increased  to  340  houses,  occupied  by 
346  families,  numbering  1,692  souls.  There  were  then  three 
large  factories  for  the  manufacture  of  woollen  and  cotton  yarn,  as 
also  a  mill  for  bobbin  turning,  which  were  worked  by  water 
power.  Two  of  these  mills  were  situated  on  the  north-west  side 
of  the  town,  near  the  present  Altrincham  station.  The  dam  or 
reservoir  was  only  a  few  yards  down  Stamford  Road,  and  was  fed 
by  a  stream  which  flowed  hard  by.  Up  to  a  recent  period  this  dam 
remained  ;  but  it  is  now  filled  up,  and  streets,  notably  Mill  Street, 
occupy  its  site.  An  old  map  of  the  town  shows  that  at  this  time 
the  houses  were  clustered  about  the  Market-place  and  the 
Unicorn.  Within  fifty  or  sixty  yards  on  the  Dunham  side  were 
hedgerows  and  trees  of  the  most  approved  agricultural  type. 
Dunham  Lane,  as  it  was  then  called,  was  scarcely  a  cow  road, 
and  had  not  even  the  semblance  of  a  footpath.  The  social  cus- 
toms of  the  inhabitants  were  quite  as  primitive  as  its  appearance. 


140  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIVDON. 

Readers  of  history  are  familiar  with  the  penance  which  the 
unfortunate  Jane  Shore  did  in  St.  Paul's,  before  the  people, 
three  or  four  centuries  ago.  They  would  be  surprised  to  hear 
that  this  form  of  doing  penance — not  so  much  from  a  religious  as 
from  a  legal  point  of  view — was  carried  out  at  Bowdon  not  150 
years  since.  Women  of  light  character,  or  those  who  had  been 
guilty  of  spreading  scandal,  were  the  subjects.  A  white  sheet 
was  kept  at  the  Parish  Church,  the  condemned  woman  was 
enveloped  in  it,  marched  along  the  aisles  of  the  sacred  edifice ; 
after  which  she  had  purged  her  offence.  One  of  the  last,  or  about 
the  last  who  did  penance  was  clever  enough  to  make  a  witty, 
though  very  indecent  rhyme  of  the  circumstance.  A  much  more 
ancient  and  common  form  of  punishment  was  the  cucking  stool — a 
field  formerly  existing  in  Altrincham  called  Cuckstool  field. 
This  instrument  is  described  in  Doomsday  Book  as  cathedra 
siercoris.  Scolds,  cheating  bakers  or  brewers,  and  other  petty 
offenders,  were  led  to  this  stool  and  immersed  over  head  and  ears 
in  stercorc,  or  stinking  water.  The  "  brydle  for  a  curste  queane" 
was  fixed  in  the  mouth  of  the  delinquent,  and  tied  behind  A^ath 
ribbons.  When  the  punishment  of  the  cucking  stool  was  relaxed, 
the  scold's  bridle  appears  only  to  have  been  used,  and  the 
Altrincham  Corporation  is  credited  with  being  possessed  of  a 
"  branck,"  or  iron  bridle,  of  the  most  simple  form  known. 
Brushfield,  who  has  written  a  work  on  the  Obsolete  Punishments 
of  this  county,  says  : — 

It  is  the  most  rudely  constructed,  primitive-looking,  scold's  bridle  I 
have  yet  seen  ;  the  workmanship  is  so  rough  as  to  lead  one  to  suppose  it 
must  have  been  made  by  some  very  ordinary  blacksmith ;  in  form  it  is 
somewhat  similar  to  the  Oxford  example  ;  the  gag  is  a  plain  flat  piece  of 
iron,  the  hook  is  fastened  at  the  back  by  a  plain  hook  and  staple,  and 
there  is  a  separate  hook  for  the  leading  chain.  (Fancy,  ye  gods  !  leading 
a  woman  with  a  chain,  like  a  bear  !) 

Listen,  again : — 

No  compensation  whatever  exists  for  the  adaptation  of  the  instrument 
to  heads  of  different  sizes,  and  as  the  bridle  is  a  very  small  one,  a  great 
deal  of  additional  "  scolding  "  must  have  been  caused  during  the  endeavour 
to   fix   it   to  an}'   large  head.     The  ascending  portion   terminated  in  an 


ALTRINOHAM    AND    BOTFDON.  141 

enlarged  flat  extremity,  the  base  of  which  appears  as  if  constructed  for 
the  purpose  of  attaching  a  cord  to  secure  it  more  firmly  to  the  head.  The 
gentleman  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  loan  of  this  specimen  (Mr.  Mort, 
of  Altrincham)  informs  me  that  he  saw  it  used  upon  an  old  (?)  woman, 
about  35  years  ago,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  regular  virago,  and  who, 
apparently,  abused  her  more  peaceable  neighbours,  more  particularly  two 
very  inoffensive  people  on  each  side  of  her  own  dwelling.  All  means  were 
tried  in  vain,  and  as  a  last  resource  she  was  ordered  to  be  bridled  and  led 
through  the  town.  When  the  instrument  was  fixed  to  her  head,  she 
refused  to  walk  ;  the  authorities  were,  however,  so  determined  to  make 
her  a  public  example,  and  carr}'  out  the  punishment,  that  they  ordered  her 
to  be  wheeled  through  the  town.  She  was  accordingly  placed  in  a  barrow, 
and,  escorted  by  a  great  mob,  was  wheeled  through  the  principal  streets 
round  the  market  place,  and  thence  to  her  own  home.  It  may  be  as  well 
to  mention  that  this  punishment  was  attended  with  the  most  salutary 
results,  as  she  ever  afterwards  kept  a  civil  and  respectful  tongue  in  her 
head. 

Our  country  cousins  at  Carrington  were  far  ahead  of  us  in 
this  respect.  Their  "  branck,"  which  is  now  in  the  Warrington 
Museum,  is  designed  with  greater  attention  to  mechanical  details. 
Its  "  gag "  is  much  more  neatly  formed ;  it  has  three  rings  to 
which  the  hook  or  chain  may  be  attached,  and  it  is  made  with  an 
adjustment  for  the  difference  in  the  sizes  of  people's  heads. 
Probably  it  was  in  greater  request  at  Carrington,  and  therefore 
greater  anxiety  was  manifested  lest  it  should  produce  needless 
"  scolding,"  and  thus  increase  the  ill  it  was  intended  to  cure. 

The  spectacle  of  men  being  publicly  whipped  for  trivial 
oflFences  was  common,  and,  generally,  the  punishment  was  inflicted 
on  the  unfortunate  culprits  on  market  days. 

In  April,  1801,  the  town  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  excitement 
in  consequence  of  some  opposition  to  the  public  whipping  of  one 
Thomas  Owen.  The  subject  was  discussed  at  a  town's  meeting 
in  July,  "convened  by  publick  advertizement  and  by  the  bellman, 
by  order  of  the  constables,"  when  it  was — 

Resolved  unanimously,  that  the  constables  be  and  are  directed  at  the 
expense  of  the  town,  to  prosecute  William  Coppock,  and  such  other  person 
or  persons  as  can  be  discovered  to  have  beaten  the  horse  in  the  cart  when 
Thos.  Owen  was  to  have  been  wliipped,  in  Altrincham,  on  the  28th  of  April 
last,  pursuant  to  the  sentence  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions,  held  at 
Chester  in  and  for  this  county,  on  the  21st  day  of  April  last. 


142  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIVDON. 

It  may  be  inferred  from  this  that  Mr.  Owen  had  a  large 
number  of  friends  who  were  bent  on  preventing  the  infliction  of 
the  prescribed  punishment ;  as  on  that  occasion  the  horse  block  at 
the  Unicorn  was  so  seriously  damaged  that  upwards  of  thirteen 
shillings  had  to  be  spent  by  the  town  on  its  repair. 

On  one  occasion,  probably  the  last,  two  men  were  whipped, 
one  after  the  other.  One  of  them,  after  having  received  his  portion, 
begged,  with  a  self-abnegation  and  gallantry  worthy  of  all  praise, 
that  he  might  receive  his  companion's  lashes,  as  he  was  sure  he 
was  unable  to  bear  the  punishment.  No  wonder  that  with  men 
made  of  such  sterling  stuff',  Wellington  won  Waterloo.  No 
wonder  that  their  descendants  conquered  at  Inkermann,  and 
clove  through  the  Russian  hosts  at  Balaclava !  The  old  spirit  still 
lives.  It  is  manifested  daily  in  thousands  of  humble  homes  in 
our  land ;  but  its  humbleness  is  its  truest  nobility,  and  there  are 
numbers  who  are  unconsciously  saying  by  their  actions,  to  that 
angel  who  is  inscribing  it  in  a  book  of  gold, 
I  pray  thee,  then, 
Write  me  as  one  who  loves  his  fellow-men. 

The  dark  record  of  this  portion  of  "  the  good  old  times  "  is 
not  yet  complete.  Executions  were  common,  and  it  is  not 
unusual  to  read  in  the  papers  of  the  period  blood-curdling  narra- 
tives of  the  wholesale  way  in  which  our  fellow  creatures  were 
launched  into  eternity.  For  instance,  on  September  25th,  1819, 
there  were  executed  at  Chester,  Samuel  Hooley  and  John  Johnson 
(a  man  of  colour),  for  burglary  at  Bowdon.  In  April,  1820, 
Thomas  JMiller  was  executed  for  burglary  at  Bowdon.  Some  ten 
or  fifteen  years  after,  a  man  named  Henshaw  was  executed  for 
poaching  near  Altrincham.  This  caused  an  intense  sensation 
throughout  the  whole  district,  and  is  still  remembered  by  a  large 
number  of  the  older  inhabitants. 

A  much  pleasanter  theme  is  afforded  by  an  examination  of 
some  of  the  old  amusements,  such,  for  instance,  as  "  souling  "  on 
All  Soul's  Eve,  which  is  not,  however,  kept  up  as  it  used  to  be 
forty  years  ago.   The  observance  is  referred  to  Catholic  times,  and 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIFDON.  1-13 

is  undoubtedly  one  of  great  antiquity.  Some  of  the  songs  which 
are  sung  by  the  "soulers,"  are  peculiar,  and  there  is  an  unaccount- 
able play  upon  words.     One  of  them  opens  : — 

Soul  day,  Soul  day,  Saul, 

One  for  Peter,  two  for  Paul, 

Thi-ee  for  Him  that  made  us  all. 

An  apple,  a  pear,  a  plum  or  a  clierrj'. 

Anything  that  will  make  us  all  merry. 

Put  j'our  hand  into  your  pocket  and  pull  out  your  keys. 

Go  down  into  the  cellar  and  bring  up  what  you  please  ; 

A  glass  of  your  wine,  or  a  cup  of  your  beer. 

And  we'll  never  come  souling  till  this  time  next  year. 

We  are  a  pack  of  merry  boys  all  of  one  mind, 

We  have  come  souling  for  what  we  can  find. 

Soul,  soul,  sole  of  my  shoe. 

If  you  have  no  apples  money  will  do  ; 

Up  with  your  kettle,  and  down  with  your  pan, 

Give  us  an  answer  and  let  us  begone. 

Of  course  this  is  all  very  well,  and  no  doubt  very  laudable  so 
far  as  the  men  and  boys  of  a  single  village  go;  but  when  it  comes 
to  providing  for  those  of  a  large  town,  split-up  into  numerous 
gangs,  it  must  be  admitted  that  souling  is  a  custom  "more 
honoured  in  the  breach  than  the  observance."  A  more  enjoyable 
and  artistic  amusement  is  the  "Peace  Egg,"  or  "  St.  George's 
annual  play  for  the  amusement  of  youth,"  which  is  supposed  to 
have  an  entirely  Cheshire  origin,  St.  George,  representing  in 
some  people's  ideas,  the  Baron  of  Chester.  If  thii  be  the  case,  it 
now  obtains  little  in  the  county  of  its  nativity  ;  but  in  Yorkshire 
it  flourishes  amazingly. 

The  practice  of  "  wassailing  amongst  the  leaves  so  green  "  has 
almost  died  out ;  but  the  singing  of  carols  at  Christmas  time 
flourishes  in  its  pristine  power,  and  oftentimes  unfortunate 
Christians  are  called  upon  to  awake  at  most  unseasonable  hours. 

AVho  in  this  neighbourhood  does  not  remember  or  has  not 
heard  of  the  "  barley  hump  "  and  Dunham  ale  ?  The  latter  was 
given  on  stated  occasions  to  all  comers,  and  its  potency  was  often 
evidenced  in  those  who  partook  too  freely  of  it.  But  round  the 
"barley   hump"   cling   the   tenderest   memories,  and   men   and 


lU  ALTIUNCHAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

women,  whose  locks  are  now  silvered  with  age,  remember  the 
time,  when  as  rosy-faced  boys  and  girls  they  scampered  over  the 
breezy  downs  to  Dunham  Hall,  for  this  hump,  which  was  a  piece 
of  barley  bread  a  few  inches  square,  good  and  wholesome,  hard 
nearly  as  a  board,  but  not  proof  against  the  assaults  of  a  vigorous 
appetite.  The  schools  of  the  neighbourhood  were  turned  out  at  a 
given  hour,  and  an  exciting  race  for  the  Hall  began.  It  was  first 
come,  first  served.  The  boys  were  ranged  on  one  side,  and  the 
girls  on  the  other,  and  down  the  human  avenue,  a  barrow  filled 
^vith  these  '•  humps  "  was  wheeled,  and  a  piece  given  to  each  child. 
Sometimes,  the  number  of  little  visitors  was  so  great  that  the 
supply  ran  short,  and  those  who  had  not  yet  eaten  theirs  had  to 
divide  with  their  less  fortunate  brethren.  Having  had  their 
treat — for  such  it  was  always  looked  upon — they  betook  them- 
selves to  their  homes,  joyful  with  anticipation  of  another  turn  at 
the  "  barley  hump."  The  "  Lions  "  of  Dunham,  have  even  a 
"  tradition "  associated  with  them.  They  are  well  known  to 
visitors,  and  were  once  looked  upon  with  awe  by  the  juvenile 
natives.  In  fact,  it  is  implicitly  believed,  by  lovers  especially,  that 
at  the  hour  of  midnight,  when  the  spirits  of  the  departed  are 
attacked  with  restlessness,  these  "  lions  "  raise  up  one  paw,  and 
put  down  the  other,  remaining  in  this  position  for  twenty-four 
hours,  until  a  change  is  again  considered  desirable  ! 

Race  meetings  formerly  flourished  at  Altrincham,  but  were 
many  years  since  discontinued,  except  at  rare  intervals,  and  then 
they  were  stripped  of  their  ancient  glory.  Race-field,  now  covered 
with  stately  mansions,  serves  to  perpetuate  the  fact,  but  the 
principal  races  were  held  on  Hale  ]\Ioss.  An  old  newspaper,  pub- 
lished in  1753,  contains  an  advertisement  announcing  that  the 
races  would  be  held  on  the  11th  day  of  July  of  that  year,  "  on  a 
good  course,"  and  that  no  person  would  be  allowed  to  sell  liquor 
on  the  Common  who  had  not  subscribed  two-aud-sixpence  to  the 
said  races.  In  this  respect  the  old  does  not  appear  to  difter  from 
the  new,  however  much  people  may  be  inclined  to  lament  the 
decadence  of  modern  horseracing. 


ALTRINGHAM   AND    BOJFDON.  145 

A  word  may  now  be  said  of  the  Parks  at  Dunham,  both  of 
which  have  formed  appropriate  subjects  alike  for  the  brush  of  the 
painter,  and  the  pen  of  the  poet.  In  what  is  called  the  Old  Park, 
the  beech  avenue,  which  leads  to  the  Hall,  is  a  most  imposing 
object.  Of  the  present  mansion,  which  replaced  its  predecessor, 
a  description  of  which  has  already  appeared  in  these  pages,  little 
need  be  said,  except  that  it  is  a  large  quadrangular  brick  building, 
and  was  built  in  1730.  The  collection  of  family  plate  was  of  a 
most  extensive  and  valuable  charactei-,  and  there  was  also  a 
number  of  family  and  other  portraits  by  various  eminent  masters. 

A  fitting  conclusion  to  this  chapter  may  be  found  in  the 
reference  to  Altrincham  made  by  Thomas  De  Quincy,  whose 
fame  in  connection  with  every  department  of  literature  is  well 
known.  In  his  autobiographical  sketches,  he  describes  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  he  left  Manchester  to  travel  to  Chester, 
and  he  says  that  on  his  route  (this  would  be  about  the  year  1814), 
the  first  town  that  he  reached,  to  the  best  of  his  remembrance, 
was  Altrincham,  colloquially  Aiutrigem.     He  goes  on  : — 

"  When  a  child,  three  years  old,  and  suftering  from  whooping 
cough,  I  had  been  carried  for  a  change  of  air  to  different  places 
on  the  Lancashire  coast  ;  and  in  order  to  benefit  by  as  large  a 
compass  as  possible  of  varying  atmospheres,  I  and  my  nurse  had 
been  made  to  rest  for  the  first  night  of  our  tour,  at  this  cheerful 
little  town  of  Altrincham.  On  the  next  morning,  which  ushered 
in  a  most  dazzling  day  in  July,  I  rose  earlier  than  my  nurse 
fully  approved  ;  but  in  no  long  time  she  had  found  it  advisable 
to  follow  my  example  ;  and,  after  putting  me  through  my 
morning's  drill  of  ablutions  and  the  Lord's  prayer,  no  sooner  had 
she  fully  arranged  my  petticoats  than  she  lifted  me  up  in  her 
arms,  threw  open  the  window,  and  let  me  suddenly  look  down 
upon  the  gayest  scene  I  ever  beheld,  viz.,  the  little  market-place 
of  Altrincham  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It  happened  to 
be  the  market  day  ;  and  I,  who  till  then  had  never  consciously 
been  in  any  town  whatever,  was  equally  astonished  and  delighted 
by  the  novel  gaity  of  the  scene.      Fruits,   such  as  can  be  had  in 

t3 


146  ALTBINGHAM   AND    BOIVDON. 

July,  and  flowers  were  scattered  about  in  profusion  ;  even  the 
stalls  of  the  butchers,  from  their  brilliant  cleanliness,  appeared 
attractive  ;  and  the  bonny  young  women  of  Altrincham  were  all 
trooping  about  in  caps  and  aprons  coquettishly  disposed.  The 
general  hilarity  of  the  scene  at  this  early  hour,  with  the  low 
murmurings  of  pleasurable  conversation  and  laughter  that  rose 
up  like  a  fountain  to  the  open  window,  left  so  profound  an 
impression  upon  me  that  I  never  lost  it.  All  this  occurred,  as  I 
have  said,  about  eight  o'clock  on  a  superb  July  morning.  Exactly 
at  that  time  in  the  morning,  exactly  such  another  heavenly  day 
in  July,  did  I  leave  Manchester,  at  six  a.m.,  naturally  enough 
finding  myself  in  the  centre  of  the  Altrincham  market-place. 
There  were  the  same  fruits  and  flowers  ;  the  same  bonny  young 
women  trooping  up  and  down  in  the  same  (no,  not  the  same) 
coquettish  bonnets  ;  everything  was  apparently  the  same  ; 
perhaps  the  window  of  my  bedroom  was  still  open,  only  my 
nurse  and  I  were  not  looking  out  ;  for,  alas  !  on  recollection, 
fourteen  years  precisely  had  passed  since  then.  Breakfast  time, 
however,  is  always  a  cheerful  stage  in  the  day  ;  if  a  man  can 
forget  his  cares  at  any  season  it  is  then — and  after  a  walk  of  seven 
miles  it  is  doubly  so.  I  felt  it  at  the  time,  and  have  therefore 
stopped  to  notice  it  as  a  singular  coincidence,  that  twice,  and  by 
the  merest  accident,  I  should  find  myself  precisely  as  the  clocks 
on  a  July  morning  were  all  striking  eight,  drawing  inspiration 
and  pleasurable  feelings  from  the  sights  and  sounds  in  the  little 
market-place  of  Altrincham." 

The  "  bonny  young  women "  were  not,  however,  sufiiciently 
attractive  to  keep  the  youthful  De  Quincy  from  pursuing  his 
journey.  Most  of  them  will  by  this  time  have  passed  away ; 
but  their  descendants  will  read  with  interest  of  the  manners  of 
their  grandmothers  and  great-grandmothers  in  days  gone  by. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Ecclesiastical  AUrincham :  The  JFesleyan  Methodist  ChiDxhes — 
Wesley's  visits  to  AUrincham — Si.  George's  Church ;  its  Schools,  &c. — 
An  AUrincham  Centenarian — The  Unitarians ;  their  early 
history ;  description  of  the  new  Chapel  in  Dunham  Road — The 
Methodist  New  Connexion—  The  Independents  or  Congregationalists, 
tvith  some  notices  of  their  Pastors  and  TVorkSt.  Margaret's, 
Dunham  Massey — St.  John's — The  Old  Downs  Chapel — The  Primi- 
tive Methodists— St.  Peter's,  Peel  Causeway,  i(-c. 

WHEN  John  "Wesley,  with  a  lofty  enthusiasm  which  made 
the  whole  world  his  parish,  introduced  a  new  leaven  of 
religious  fervour  throughout  the  land,  Altrincham  was 
among  the  many  towns  he  visited.  It  is  one  of  the  first  places 
mentioned  in  his  famous  Journal ;  and  it  would  appear  that  the 
date  of  his  first  visit  was  1738,  which  is  prior  to  the  formation  of 
the  first  AVesleyan  Society  in  London.  In  1751  he  again  came  to 
the  town,  and  preached  under  a  pear-tree  in  Mr.  Priestner's 
garden  on  Oldfield  Brow.  He  also  preached  in  Church  Street, 
near  the  site  of  St.  George's,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  town. 
The  nucleus  of  a  "  church  "  was  thus  formed  ;  but  it  was  not  until 
the  17th  February,  1788,  that  the  old  chapel  in  Chapel-walk,  or 
Chapel  Road,  was  opened  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Taylor,  even  then 
an  eminent  Methodist  minister.  The  Church  of  England  Service 
was  read  on  that  occasion;  Abner  Partington,  a  name  well 
known  in  the  annals  of  Altrincham,  and  who  was  probably  one  of 
its  Mayors  subsequently,  officiating  as  clerk.  It  is  also  inter- 
esting to  state  that  Altrincham  was  one  of  the  first  chapels 
settled  under  the  celebrated  deed  poll,  in  which  they  are  legally 
specified  to  be  "  The  conference  of  the  people  called  Methodists." 
It  was  more  than  two  years  after  the  chapel  was  opened  that  Mr. 
Wesley  preached  in  Altrincham,  about  twelve  months  before  his 
death.     In    his   Journal   he   describes   the   devout   and   earnest 


148  ALTPJXCnAM   AND    BOJFDOX. 

demeanour  of  the  crowd  both  inside  and  outside  the  chapel,  and 
expresses  a  hope  that  henceforth  the  Altrincham  people  will  be 
less  "  furious "  than  they  have  been.  Mr.  Wesley,  when  he 
preached  at  Altrincham  for  the  last  time  called  the  building  a 
chapel,  and  not  a  "house,"  as  was  his  wont.  Nearly  eighty  years 
afterwards  the  elegant  structure  in  Bank  Street  was  built,  and 
many  were  the  regrets  felt,  especially  amongst  the  old  supporters 
of  the  Methodist  cause,  at  leaving  what  had  been  their  spiritual 
home  for  so  long  a  period.  This  chapel  is  in  the  Byzantine  style 
of  architecture,  and  was  erected  from  the  plans  of  Mr.  C.  0. 
Ellison,  of  Liverpool.  Liberal  aid  for  its  erection  was  given  by 
both  Churchmen  and  Dissenters,  and  to  some  extent  it  was  looked 
upon  as  a  town  movement.  The  foundation  stone  was  laid  on  the 
22nd  March,  1865,  and  it  was  opened  on  the  10th  of  May,  in  the 
year  following.  Its  main  frontage  is  to  Bank  Street,  and  is  of 
freestone  with  a  campanile  at  one  of  the  angles  Its  interior  is 
of  majestic  proportions,  and  the  moulding  of  the  arches  is  most 
imposing.  There  is  accommodation  on  the  ground  floor  for  600 
people,  and  200  in  a  good  gallery  across  the  end  of  the  building. 
This  gallery  is  so  arranged  that  it  can  be  continued,  if  found 
necessary  hereafter,  along  the  sides  of  the  chapel,  giving  accom- 
modation to  260  additional  or  in  all  over  1,000  persons.  The 
organ  was  removed  from  the  old  chapel,  and  built  into  the  new, 
with  additions  and  improvements ;  the  cost  of  this,  over  £100, 
being  raised  by  Mr.  John  Balshaw  who  for  a  long  period  acted  as 
organist.  The  total  cost  of  the  chapel  was  above  £5,000  A 
capacious  lecture  hall  has  been  erected  adjoining  the  chapel. 

An  offshoot  of  the  old  chapel  was  made  in  the  erection  of  a 
rather  cramped  edifice  off  Stamford  Road,  Bowdon,  which, 
although  no  doubt  quite  adequate  at  the  time  for  the  wants  of  the 
congregation  was  not  at  all  calculated  to  meet  the  Bowdon  of  the 
future.  Its  arrangements,  including  its  high-backed  pews,  did 
not  at  all  accord  with  modern  ideas  of  religious  worship,  and 
strenuous  efforts  were  made  years  ago  to  provide  increased 
accommodation    of    another   character.       It   could  not   be    said 


ALTRINCIIAM   AND    BOWDON. 


149 


that  those  eftbrts  were  crowned  with  the  success  they  deserved 
at  the  time.  So  far  back  as  May,  187-t,  the  foundation 
or  memorial  stones  of  the  new  chapel  were  laid  by  Mrs.  William 
Billing,  Mrs.  John  L.  Barker,  and  Miss  Mewburn.     The  position 


BOWDON    WEhLEYAN    LHAPEL. 

selected  is  on  the  brow  of  the  gently  sloping  hill,  which  may 
be  said  to  constitute  Bowdon  proper,  and  is  close  to  an  ancient 
footpath  now  widened  out  into  a  thoroughfare  leading  from  the 
Downs  to  Stamford  Road.  The  designs  were  by  Mr.  W.  H. 
Brakspear,  of  Manchester,  and  the  style  the  pure  English  Gothic 
of  the  13th  century.     It  has  accommodation  for  700  persons  on 


150  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

the  ground  floor,  and  for  200  more  by  the  erection  of  galleries  in 
the  transepts.  The  splendid  traditions  of  this  energetic  body  are 
well  sustained  in  the  chapels  and  schools  erected  at  Broadheath 
and  the  various  villages  round  Altrincham  and  district. 

We  now  come  to  St.  George's  Church,  of  which,  so  far  as  its 
architecture  is[or  was]  concerned,  not  even  its  warmest  friends  could 
boast.  By  one  writer  it  was  styled  the  ugliest  church  within  seven 
miles  of  Manchester  Exchange  ;  but  probably  he  did  not  look  at 
home,  as  within  a  stone's  throw  of  that  place  is  to  be  found 
St.  Ann's,  which  might  be  placed  in  the  same  category  as  the  one 
he  so  mercilessly  criticised.  Moreover,  we  must  remember  that 
the  period  at  which  it  was  built  was  not  one  in  which  the  fine 
arts  were  fostered  or  the  aesthetic  tastes  of  the  people  developed 
to  the  extent  they  are  now-a-daj^s.  Public  taste  in  matters  of 
church  architecture  was  at  a  very  low  ebb  indeed.  The  clustering 
ivy  with  which  it  was  overgrown,  prior  to  rebuilding,  gave  it  to 
some  degree  an  appearance  of  beauty. 

It  was  built  as  a  Chapel  of  Ease  to  Bowdon,  in  1799,  by  sub- 
scription, and  in  1809  it  is  stated  in  the  returns  of  the  Bishop  of 
Chester  to  the  Governor  of  Queen  Anne's  Bounty  to  be  a  curacy, 
not  augmented  or  charged,  of  the  annual  value  of  £91  13s.  6d., 
arising  from  dividend  of  stock,  seat  rents,  and  surplice  fees.  Its 
first  minister  was  the  Rev.  Oswald  Leicester,  an  Altrincham  man, 
and  he  continued  in  the  office  for  upwards  of  thirty  years.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  well-to-do  shopkeeper  in  the  town,  and  from  his 
childhood  was  very  religiously  disposed.  He  attended  the 
Wesleyan  Chapel,  and  was  greatly  influenced  by  a  Mr.  Samuel 
Bradburn  then  stationed  here.  He  would  in  all  probability 
have  joined  this  body,  had  not  his  father  taken  the  matter 
into  his  own  hands,  and  had  him  educated  and  trained  as  a 
clergyman.  The  church  was  three  times  enlarged,  first  in 
1858,  when  198  additional  sittings  were  obtained  at  the  west 
end;  in  1871,  when  268  sittings  were  added  at  the  east  end, 
at  a  cost  of  £1,000;  thus  providing  accommodation  for  1,180 
persons. 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJl'DON.  153 

The  east  window  was  erected  to  the  memory  of  Samuel  and 
Ann  Hardey,  her  parents,  George  Hardey,  her  brother,  and  James 
Holland,  her  husband,  by  Sarah  Holland,  A.D.  1861. 

On  a  brass  let  into  the  wall  underneath  is  an  inscription  : — 

This  memorial  window  was  accompanied  by  an  offering  of  £1,000  for 
the  additional  endowment  of  this  church,  and  £200  to  be  invested,  and 
the  interest  given  in  bread  to  the  jioor  attending  Divine  worship  therein. 

Other  stained  glass  windows  are  to  the  memory  of  Ann, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Oswald  Leicester,  the  first  incumbent ;  to 
Catherine  Gardom,  to  Samuel  Barratt,  to  John  Astle  Kelsall  and 
his  wife  Ann  Kelsall,  to  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Blease,  and  their 
daughter,  Amelia  Mottershead ;  to  Rachael  Blease,  to  Georgina 
Isabella  London,  "  by  the  congregation  of  St.  George's  Church, 
as  a  tribute  of  their  affection  and  esteem  for  their  pastor,  the 
Rev.  George  London,  and  to  mark  the  completion  of  his  25  years' 
increasing  and  warm-hearted  labours  amongst  them,  1884,"  and 
also  to  the  Rev.  George  London,  34  years  vicar  of  the  parish. 
The  latest  additions  are  those  by  F.  E.  B.  Lindsell,  Esq.,  to  the 
memory  of  his  two  children,  and  in  remembrance  of  a  deep  and 
bitter  bereavement  which  evoked  the  greatest  sympathy  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  whole  parish. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  gravestones  do  not  present  many 
novel  features  ;  but  one  on  the  first  clerk  of  the  church,  George 
Samuel  Drinkwater,  who  filled  the  post  for  33  years,  thus  records 
the  virtues  of  his  wife  :— 

She  was 

But  words  are  wanting  to  say  what. 

Think  what  a  wife  should  be,  and  she  was  that. 

She  left  him,  so  it  is  said,  an  annuity  of  £50  a  year  ;  hence 
this  extraordinary  eulogy. 

St.  George's  remained  a  chapel  of  ease  from  1799  to  1860, 
when  it  was  made  into  a  district  church.  In  1868,  it  was  formed 
into  a  separate  parish,  of  which  the  Rev.  George  London,  who 
was  presented  in  1859,  was  made  vicar.  It  has  been  endowed  by 
a  grant  from  Queen  Anne's  Bounty  of  £1,000,  and  up  to  1859  had 
an  income  of  £150  per  annum.     This  was  increased  in  1861  by  a 

u3 


lot  ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOJFDON. 

gift  of  £1,000  from  Mrs.  Holland,  of  Sandiway  House,  as  already 
indicated.  Connected  with  the  church  are  flourishing  day  and 
Sunday  schoo's,  the  latter  being  established  in  178.3,  before  the 
church  was  built.  The  first  day  or  national  school  was  erected 
to  commemorate  the  fiftieth  year  of  the  reign  of  George  HI., 
and  from  this  circumstance  received  the  name  of  the  Jubilee 
school.  It  was  cramped  and  ill  adapted  for  the  required  purpose  ; 
but  singular  to  say,  it  continued  to  be  used  for  50  years,  and  thus 
celebrated  its  own  as  well  as  King  George's  jubilee.  The  present 
spacious  schools  were  erected  in  1860,  and  have  since  had  to  be 
enlarged  to  meet  the  increasing  requirements  of  the  neighbour- 
hood. 

The  Sunday  School  of  St.  George's  is  reputed  to  be  the  oldest 
in  the  county,  having  been  founded  in  1783  by  the  Eev.  Oswald 
Jjeicester,  long  before  the  church  was  built.  There  are  now 
flourishing  branches  at  Oakfield  Road  and  Broadheath,  where  also 
is  a  neat  daughter  church  dedicated  to  St.  Alban,  which  will, 
however,  soon  be  too  small  for  this  rapidly  growing  end  of  the 
parish.  At  the  time  of  writing  these  lines,  an  earnest  appeal  has 
been  made  by  the  vicar,  the  Rev.  M.  Lutener,  for  funds  to  rebuild 
the  nave  of  the  church,  and  thus  carry  out  the  expressed  wish  of 
his  revered  predecessor  when  the  new  chancel  was  built  in  1886, 
that  this  might  be  considered  as  the  beginning  of  the  great  work 
of  giving  to  Altrincham  a  parish  church  worthy  of  the  town. 
Messrs.  Paley  and  Austin,  the  eminent  church  architects,  pre- 
sented a  report,  strongly  advising  the  building  of  a  new  nave 
without  galleries,  and  the  opening  out  of  the  west  end  of  the 
church,  retaining  the  tower  and  chancel  and  east  and  west  walls 
of  the  nave.  The  total  sum  required  is  about  £5,000,  to  which 
already  there  has  been  a  liberal  response.  The  church  on  its 
completion  will  accommodate  788  worshippers  on  the  ground 
floor,  as  against  757  on  the  present  ground  floor  and  galleries 
combined.  In  concluding  his  appeal  the  vicar  points  out  that  it 
can  only  be  done  by  an  earnest  eftort  for  a  great  and  exceptional 
purpose.     "  Let  us  make  up  our  minds,"  he  adds,  "to  do  this  work 


ALTRIXCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  155 

enthusiastically,  and  thoroughly,  and  quickly  ;  let  us  erect  for 
our  Centenary  INIemorial  a  monument  that  we  shall  in  after  years 
be  proud  of  ;  let  us  give  to  Altrincham  a  Parish  Church  worthy 
of  the  town,  and  to  God  a  gift  of  which  each  one  of  us  can 
honestly  say — "My  offering  has  cost  me  some  self-sacrifice."  Let 
it  be  the  offering,  not  of  a  few,  but  of  us  all.  Each  Churchman 
and  Churchwoman  in  the  Parish  should  be  able  to  feel  of  our 
Church — "  I  helped  to  build  it." 

The  register,  which  begins  with  the  present  century,  contains 
the  names  of  one  centenarian  Catherine  Holt,  of  Altrincham,  who 
was  buried  June  30th,  1813,  aged  103. 

LIST  OF  THE  MINISTERS  OR  CLERGY  OF  ST.  GEORGE'S 
CHURCH  :— 
1799.       The  Rev.  Oswald  Leicester. 
1832.         ,,       ,,     George  Ranking. 
1834.         ,,       ,,     Wilniot  Cave  Brown  Cave. 
1843.         ,,       ,,     Francis  Orton,  D.C.L. 
1856.         „       „      .John  B.  Honnywill. 
1858.         ,,       ,,     George  London. 
1894.         ,,       ,,      W.  Maurice  Bonner  Lutener. 

Not  one  of  the  Dissenting  bodies  in  Altrincham  possesses  a 
history  so  eventful  or  interesting  as  the  Unitarians.  The 
Altrincham  chapel  is  an  offshoot  of  the  old  congregation  at  Hale, 
which  at  irregular  intervals  for  a  long  period  had  possession  of 
the  church  at  Ringway  or  Ringey.  Ringway  was  then  the 
"  debateable  ground "  of  dissent,  and  the  battles  ecclesiastical 
which  were  waged  upon  it  were  both  fast  and  furious. 

"In  Hale,"  writes  Sir  Peter  Leycester  in  1666,  "  is  an  hamlet  called 
Ringey,  wherein  is  situated  a  cliappel  of  ease  (far  from  being  an  easy  one 
to  hold,  by  the  way),  called  Ringey  Chappel ;  within  the  parish  of  Bowdon, 
of  which  I  have  little  to  say  save  that  it  was  much  frequented  in  the  late 
wars  by  schismatical  ministers,  and  as  it  were  a  receptacle  for  non- 
conformists, in  which  dissolute  times  every  pragmatical  and  illiterate 
person,  as  the  humour  served,  stepped  into  the  pulpit  witliout  any  lawful 
calling  thereunto,  or  licence  of  authority." 

For  a  very  long  period  this  chapel  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  Dissenters,  and  from  certain  notices  which  have  been  made  of 
it  in  various  documents,   would  appear  to  have  been  under  the 


156 


ALTFJNCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 


protection  of  the  powerful  families  of  Booth  and  Crewe,  who  were 
at  that  time  strongly  favourable  to  the  then  Presbyterian  cause. 
It  was  here  that  William  Dearnily,  who  is  so  disrespectfully 
alluded  to  in  the  Bowdon  Parish  Kegister,  ministered.  He  was 
ordained  at  Knutsford  in  1692,  on  which  occasion  Matthew 
Henry  was  present.  He  died  in  May,  1701,  and  in  the  Cheshire 
Minute  Book  he  is  described  "as  a  person  of  great  worth,  of  very 


A  ^^ 

S^ 

^m 

2 

S^fl" 

THE   OLD    CllUllCil     RIXGW.VY 

good  natural  parts,  a  considerable  scholar,  of  sober  and  moderate 
principles,  and  a  blameless  and  exemplary  conversation."  The 
present  Hale  chapel  Avas  erected  in  1723,  during  the  ministry  of 
Mr.  Waterhouse,  who,  being  dispossessed  of  Pingway  chapel, 
took  along  with  him  the  bulk  of  the  congregation.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  Mr.  Waterhouse  was  forcibly  expelled  from 
Ringway  by  a  Mr.  Assheton,  then  resident  at  Ashley  Hall.  The 
version  given  is  that  about  the  year  1721,  John  Crewe,  Esq.,  of 
Crewe  Hall,  inherited  the  Lordship  of  Eingway,  and  declared  his 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  157 

intention  of  restoring  it  to  the  established  Church.  The  scene 
which  followed  savours  more  of  a  public-house  than  a  place  of 
worship.  Presuming  upon  Mr.  Crewe's  connivance,  this  resident 
at  Ashley  Hall,  who  seldom  went  to  a  place  of  worship,  and  who 
was  reputed  to  have  been  a  man  of  very  dissolute  habits,  went  to  the 
chapel  one  Sunday,  attended  by  a  number  of  servants,  seized  Mr. 
Waterhouse  by  the  collar,  pulled  him  from  the  pulpit,  and  bundled 
out  both  him  and  the  congregation,  "bag  and  baggage."  Having 
accomplished  this  operation  to  his  own  satisfaction,  he  locked  the 
doors,  and  no  doubt  on  his  way  to  Ashley  Hall  was  jubilant  over 
this  gentlemanly  (?)  action.  The  dissenters,  however,  entered 
again  the  week  following,  and  continued  in  it  without  molestation 
until  a  clergyman  licensed  by  the  Bishop  of  Chester  took 
possession  of  it.  His  behaviour  on  going  to  his  new  cure  was  in 
striking  contrast  to  that  of  his  lay  brother  of  Ashley  Hall.  On 
the  Sunday  when  he  first  came,  the  dissenters  had  begun  their 
worship,  but  instead  of  displaying  his  muscular  Christianity,  he 
bade  them  proceed  with  the  service,  and  remained  a  devout 
hearer  to  the  end.  He  took  possession  of  the  place  in  form  in  the 
afternoon.  Mr.  Waterhouse  afterwards  preached  in  a  barn  at  the 
Ashes  farm,  near  the  chapel,  till  a  dissenting  meeting  house  was 
erected  ;  but  he  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy  it,  as  he  died  in  1754. 
Canon  Eaines,  in  his  notes  to  GastreU's  Nutitia  states  that  there  is 
a  bell  at  Ringway,  with  G.  B.  upon  it  ;  the  initials  of  Sir  George 
Booth.  In  17-17,  the  minister  of  this  chapel  was  the  Rev.  Hugh 
Worthington,  jun.,  and  from  a  diary  of  Mr.  Isaac  Worthington, 
of  Altrincham,  it  appears  he  was  minister  of  Hale  chapel  from 
1748  to  1767.  Mr.  Isaac  Worthington  took  great  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  this  chapel,  and  in  1769  he  went  to  Stockport  and 
engaged  Mr.  Harrop  to  come  to  Hale.  Mr.  Harrop  continued  in 
it  for  forty-six  years,  during  thirty-seven  of  which  he  held  the 
chapel  at  Sale  conjointly  with  that  at  Hale.  He  resigned  his 
charge  in  1816,  at  the  age  of  seventy.  He  lived  for  twenty -one 
years  after,  and  went  down  to  the  grave  at  the  venerable  age  of 
ninety-one,   beloved  and  honoured  by  all  who  knew  him.     In 


158  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJVDON. 

1816,  the  Eev.  William  Jevons  was  invited  to  undertake  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  united  Presbyterian  societies  in  Hale  and 
Altrincham,  but  he  only  held  the  position  for  about  three  years. 
The  old  chapel  in  Shaw's  Lane,  Altrincham,  lately  used  as  the 
Salvation  barracks,  which  was  built  about  this  period,  has  long 
been  given  up  ;  and  on  the  closing  of  the  burial  ground,  the 
remains  of  the  "rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet"  were  taken  up 
and  removed  to  Hale.  In  the  pretty  chapel  in  Dunham  Eoad, 
there  is  a  good  congregation,  and  the  descendants  of  Mr.  Isaac 
Worthington  still  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  cause.  It  was 
opened  on  Wednesday,  December  18th,  1872,  on  which  occasiou 
the  Eev.  Charles  Beard,  of  Liverpool,  preached.  It  is  enclosed 
on  two  sides  by  a  stone  wall,  in  which  a  handsome  covered  stone 
gateway  leads  by  a  flight  of  steps  to  the  porch  on  the  south  side, 
which  forms  the  principal  entrance  to  the  chapel.  The  interior 
consists  of  a  nave  fifty-seven  feet  long,  and  one  aisle  to  the  north, 
separated  from  it  by  five  arches  with  granite  shafts,  making  a 
total  width  of  thirty-seven  feet.  The  east  end  is  apsidal,  with 
carved  wood  pulpit  and  reading  desk,  and  communion  table,  all 
upon  a  raised  dais. 

The  exterior  of  the  building  is  plain,  but  substantia],  being 
faced  with  brick,  and  stone  dressings  round  the  entrance  doorway 
and  windows,  the  heads  of  which  are  filled  with  geometric  tracery. 
The  west  end  has  two  gables,  and  the  roof  is  carried  round  the 
east  end,  having  a  large  cross  at  the  apex  of  the  apse.  The 
chapel  is  fitted  with  pitch  pine  seats  for  about  225  adults  and  40 
children.  An  aisle  4ft.  Gin.  in  width  leads  down  the  centre  of  the 
nave,  and  a  passage  3ft.  6in.  in  width  along  the  north  side  of  the 
chapel. 

The  cover  of  the  communion  table,  beautifully  embroidered  in 
needlework,  was  presented  to  the  chapel  by  Miss  Nicholson, 
daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  Eobert  Nicholson,  of  Bowdon.  The 
three  apse  windows  are  filled  with  stained  glass,  illustrating  by 
means  of  flowers,  the  emblems  of  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity. 
They  were  the  gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Worthington,  of  Sale 


ALTIUNOHAM    AND    IIOIFDON.  159 

Hall.  The  large  west  window  of  three  lights  and  the  double 
lights,  which  extend  along  both  sides  of  the  chapel,  are  filled  with 
plain  diamond  quarries.  The  edifice  was  erected  from  the  designs 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Worthington,  of  Manchester. 

The  Methodist  New  Connexion  erected  a  fairly  sized  chapel 
in  G-eorge  Street  about  the  year  1821.  At  one  time  it  was  very 
well  attended,  and  the  congregation  was  a  most  important  one. 
The  exterior  is  not  prepossessing,  but  the  interior  is  cheerful  and 
cosy. 

In  point  of  wealth  and  numbers,  the  Congregationalists  or 
Independents  occupy  one  of  the  foremost  positions.  They  had  a 
most  humble  origin,  and  it  appears  from  the  Church  Book  of  the 
Bowdon  Downs  Church,  that,  in  the  year  1803,  the  Rev.  James 
Turner,  of  Knutsford,  began  occasionally  to  pass  through  Bowdon 
in  travelling  to  Manchester.  During  these  journeys,  states  Mr. 
Joseph  Thompson,  in  his  contribution  to  "  Non  Conformity  in 
Cheshire,"  it  occurred  to  him  that  some  measures  might  be 
adopted,  and  ought  not  to  be  delayed,  for  the  introduction  into 
Altrincham  or  the  neighbourhood  of  the  doctrines  and  government 
of  Independent  Churches.  The  usefulness  and  propriety  of  this 
course  appeared  the  more  unquestionable  on  account  of  the 
frequency  with  which  the  members  of  churches  in  Manchester, 
even  then,  were  observed  to  visit  and  reside  In  the  district.  Mr. 
Turner,  fully  possessed  with  his  project,  applied  to  an  aged  and 
poor  widow  of  the  name  of  Cox  or  Coe,  a  member  of  the  Indepen- 
dent church  at  Gatley,  but  resident  in  Altrincham,  and  obtained 
her  permission  to  preach  at  intervals  in  her  little  thatched  cottage 
near  the  Market  Place.  The  humble  building  has  long  since 
disappeared  ;  but  there,  with  very  slender  encouragement,  this 
self-denying  servant  of  the  Gospel  first  regularly  preached  the 
truth  professed  by  the  denomination  to  which  he  belonged.  It 
should,  however,  be  recorded  that  other  excellent  ministers 
pursuing  a  similar  "labour  of  love,"  were  also  received  into  the 
house  by  this  same  poor  woman.  These  efforts  of  Mr.  Turner 
were  afterwards  discontinued  for  lack  of  local  sympathy  and 

V 


160  ALTRIXCUAM   AXD    BOIVDOX. 

support  ;  and  some  time  iippears  to  have  elapsed  before  a  zealous 
person  from  Manchester,  named  Whitwortb,  began  to  visit  the 
district,  with  the  like  object  in  view,  but  with  hardly  more 
success  ;  although  the  assistance  of  the  Chester  County  Union 
had  been  enlisted  for  the  benefit  of  the  neighbourhood. 

A  few  years  again  passed  away  before  anything  permanent  or 
regular  was  attempted  towards  the  establishment  of  Independency 
at  Bowdon.  But  owing  to  the  liberality  of  some  Christian 
friends,  the  little  chapel  at  the  foot  of  the  Downs,  formerly 
occupied  by  the  followers  of  a  clergyman  who  had  seceded  from 
the  Church  of  England,  was  purchased  on  the  Gth  May,  1839, 
for  £465.  The  cost  of  alteration,  deed  of  settlement,  i^c,  raised 
this  amount  to  £588.  The  Eevs.  Dr.  Raffles,  of  Liverpool  ;  ' 
S.  Luke,  of  Chester  ;  and  J.  Turner,  of  Knutsford,  preached  at 
the  dedication  of  the  building  on  July  4th,  1839.  In  April, 
1840,  the  Eev.  John  Earnshaw  became  the  first  minister  of  the 
church, — the  first  Christian  society  consisting  of  ten  members. 
We  believe  that  his  appointment  was  the  result  of  the  exertions 
of  Mr.  Ibbotson  Walker,  to  whom  also  belongs  the  honour  of 
founding  and  carrying  on  the  Sunday  School  connected  with  the 
church.  It  was  then  held  in  a  room  in  New  Street,  and  only  about 
40  children  attended.  In  1844,  the  Kev.  Flavel  Stenner  became 
the  second  minister,  and  the  first  deacons  were  chosen  in  August 
of  that  year.  Mr.  Stenner  subsequently  resigned  the  charge, 
when  it  devolved  on  the  Kev.  John  Wilkinson,  who  in  the  May 
of  the  following  year  "  in  the  youth  of  his  days,"  was  summoned 
away  by  death. 

The  increase  of  the  population  and  the  growing  importance 
of  the  neighbourhood  having  rendered  needful  a  larger  and  more 
commodious  place  of  worship,  many  generous  friends  aided  in  the 
erection  of  a  new  church,  which  is  the  one  now  used  by  the 
Bowdon  Downs  Congregation,  and  wliich  was  opened  in  June, 
1848.  Ill  1868  it  was  proposed  to  build  another  chapel  at  an 
outlay  of  £7,000 ;  but  insuperable  difficulties  arising  in  the 
acquisition  of  a  site,  it  was  determined  to  increase  the  accommo- 


ALTBINCHAM    AND    BOIFDON.  163 

dation  with  the  means  then  at  their  disposal,  which  was  done  at 
a  cost  of  about  £3,000.  The  architecture  of  the  enlargement  was 
Gothic,  of  the  early  perpendicular  period,  in  conformity  with  the 
style  which  prevailed  in  the  rest  of  the  building.  The  internal 
fittings  are  of  stained  wood,  the  pews  are  open,  and  altogether  it 
is  an  exceedingly  comfortable  place  of  worship.  The  pulpit, 
which  was  put  in  at  the  time  of  the  enlargement,  is  most  elabor- 
ately and  richly  carved,  and  the  book  rest  is  supported  by  the 
figure  of  an  angel  with  outspread  wings.  A  new  organ  by 
Jardine,  of  Manchester,  was  opened  in  the  same  year,  1868,  by 
the  late  honorary  organist,  Mr.  J.  Mills.  Memorial  windows  have 
been  placed  to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Haworth,  of  Ecclesfield,  and 
a  tablet  also  records  the  many  virtues  of  Mrs.  William  Milne,  the 
first  deaconess  of  the  church.  Referring  once  more  to  the  pastors, 
in  April,  1849,  the  office  was  accepted  by  the  Rev.  Henry 
Christopherson,  from  Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  During  Mr. 
Christopherson's  pastorate  the  church  increased  both  in  numbers 
and  energy,  and  it  was  therefore  with  regret  that  the  church  and 
congregation  learnt  from  him  that  he  had  accepted  the  invitation 
to  take  the  oversight  of  New  College  Chapel,  London.  Mr. 
Christopherson  bade  farewell  to  his  people  at  Christmas,  1856, 
In  May,  1857,  the  Rev.  H.  T.  Eobjohns,  B.A.,  Western  College, 
Plymouth,  accepted  the  pastorate.  In  March,  1861,  Mr.  Robjohns 
resigned  his  charge,  proceeding  to  Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  In  the 
autumn  of  the  year  the  choice  of  the  church  was  unanimously  in 
favour  of  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Morris,  of  Holloway  ;  and  it  determined 
to  welcome  Mr.  Morris  by  clearing  oft'  the  debt  on  the  chapel 
and  schools,  which  was  accordingly  done.  The  pastorate  of  Mr. 
Morris  was,  unfortunately,  of  brief  duration.  He  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  H.  Giiffith,  a  man  of  sound  learning  and  erudition, 
who  resigned  in  1875,  after  a  pastorate  of  nearly  11  years.  The 
Rev.  A.  Mackennal,  B.A.,  received  a  most  unanimous  call  and 
commenced  his  labours  the  first  week  in  February,  1877.  in 
1886  he  was  elected  to  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Congregational 
Union  of  England   and  Wales,  and  in  the  year  following  the 


164-  ALTPdNCHAM    AND    BOll'DOX. 

degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Senate  of  Glasgow 
University.  He  is  the  author  of  various  theological  works,  which 
display  vivid  grasp  and  far-reaching  thought  and  erudition. 

The  day  and  Sunday  school  had  been  carried  on  for  nearly  a 
dozen  years  in  the  old  chapel  at  the  foot  of  the  Down.s,  which  was 
long  felt  to  be  most  unsuitable  for  the  purpose,  the  accommo- 
dation being  wholly  inadequate  to  the  growth  of  the  population, 
and  the  rooms  badly  ventilated,  small  and  without  class-rooms. 
It  was  therefore  determined  that  new  schools  should  be  built. 
After  great  difficulty  a  site  was  secured  in  Oxford  Eoad,  Altrin- 
cham,  which  was  then  well-nigh  inaccessible,  there  being  no 
highway,  and  nothing  but  gardens  surrounding  it ;  and  the 
splendid  structure  known  as  the  British  School  in  Oxford  Eoad, 
was  erected  in  1860,  at  a  cost  of  X2,600,  and  was  opened  free  of 
debt  in  January,  1861.  For  a  long  time  the  road  to  it  was  known 
as  British  School  Eoad.  Large  class-rooms  have  since  been  added, 
and  a  class  for  adults,  quite  unique  in  its  proportions,  has  for 
many  years  been  admirably  conducted  by  Mr.  George  Wood.  A 
tablet  in  the  main  building  bears  the  following  interesting  inscrip- 
tion : — "To  the  memory  of  Samuel  Butler,  for  twenty-eight  years 
superintendent,  and  seven  years  teacher,  of  the  Sunday  school 
meeting  here  ;  this  tablet  is  erected  by  his  fellow  officers,  his 
fellow  teachers,  and  the  scholars,  all  of  whom  honour  his  fidelity 
and  love  to  recall  his  name."  Connected  with  this  church, 
formerly  only  partially,  but  now  entirely,  is  the  North  Cheshire 
Eural  Mission,  which,  as  its  name  implies,  is  carried  on  in  the 
country  districts.  It  has  branches  at  Broadheath,  Baguley, 
Hejhead,  Mobberley,  Partington,  &c.,  and  does  good  work  in 
places  where  spiritual  destitution  is  found  to  prevail. 

The  British  Schools  were  at  first  opened  for  preaching,  but 
this  was  discontinued,  when  the  Eev.  A.  Dewar  opened  the  old 
chapel  at  the  foot  of  the  Downs.  This  may,  strictly  speaking, 
be  called  the  commencement  of  the  Altrincham  Congregational 
Chapel.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Eev.  \V.  B.  MacWilliam. 
The  desire  for  a  more  comfortable  edifice  was  soon  felt.     The  old 


ALTRIXCIIAM   AXD    BOIFDOX.  165 

Wesleyan  Chapel  in  Chapel  Walk,  now  All  Saints',  Regent  Koad, 
was  accordingly  purchased  from  the  Wesleyan  body  ;  and  on 
April  10th,  1868,  the  Rev.  C.  Aylard  was  ordained  to  the  pastorate. 
Services  are  still  conducted  in  the  British  schools. 

"  Beautiful  for  situation  "  wrote  the  Psalmist  of  one  of  the 
most  sacred  spots  on  earth.  "  Beautiful  for  situation,"  too,  are 
many  of  our  own  sacred  places.  Who  can  contemplate, 
without  admiration,  the  beautiful  setting  which  many  a  little 
village  spire,  peeping  modestly  out  from  the  tufted  trees,  gives 
to  the  English  landscape  ?  This  may  be  appropriately  applied 
to  St.  Margaret's.  Few  travellers  as  they  are  whirled  through 
the  valley  on  the  Dunham  side,  in  that  reminder  of  an  advanced 
civilization,  the  railway  train,  but  turn  for  a  momenb  to  look  at 
that  clear  cut  spire,  which  appears  to  be  embosomed  in  a  forest 
of  vegetation.  Few  there  are,  as  they  have  passed  along  the 
Dunham  Road,  who  have  not  had  their  progress  arrested  for 
even  a  brief  space  by  one  of  the  most  lovely  pictures  with  which 
nature  has  so  lavishly  blessed  this  beautiful  land.  It  is  one  in 
which  pastoral  and  sylvan  scenery  are  intermingled  in  one  huge 
panorama.  Right  before  us,  buried  in  the  valley,  is  Oldfield 
Hall,  formerly  the  abode  of  perhaps  one  of  the  oldest  Altrincham 
families,  and  under  whose  roof  more  than  one  of  the  members  of 
the  noble  house  of  Booth  have  breathed  their  last.  A  little  to  the 
right  we  try  to  make  out  the  ancient  hall  of  Riddings,  with  its 
moated  grange,  supposed  to  have  existed  prior  to  the  Conquest. 
Further  away  we  see  the  spire  of  St.  John  the  Divine  at  Brook- 
lands  peering  above  the  surrounding  trees, — again  to  the  left, 
the  villas  of  Asbton-on-Mersey  stud  the  ground,  and  the  pretty 
church  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene  is  distinctly  seen.  Away  again, 
and  the  Lancashire  Hills  form  a  massive  and  appropriate  back- 
ground. Seen  on  a  summer's  day,  when  the  meadows  are  pied 
with  daisies,  and  nature  has  put  on  her  loveliest  apparel,  when  the 
sun  shines  down,  and  by  a  concentration  of  its  rays  produces 
those  beautiful  tints  which  throw  a  glamour  over  hill  and  dale,  it 
is  one  which  a  lover  of  the  picturesque  dwells  upon,  and  in  its 
contemplation  discovers  new  beauties. 


166  ALTUINCIIAM    AND    BOIVDON. 

St.  Margcaret's  Church  is  certainly  the  most  beautiful,  both  as 
regards  exterior  and  interior,  to  be  found  in  the  district.  Forty 
years  ago  or  more,  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington  was 
desirous  of  having  a  church  erected  at  Dunham  Massey.  We 
believe  the  site  originally  chosen  was  in  Racefield,  but  this  was 
subsequently  changed  and  the  present  position  decided  upon. 
It  was  contemplated  at  that  time  that  the  church  should  be  built 
of  white  bricks,  with  ashlar  dressings,  but  before  half  the  length  of 
the  foundations  had  been  pat  in  the  design  was  abandoned.  After- 
wards competitive  designs  were  furnished  by  three  London  and 
three  Manchester  architects.  Mr.  William  Hayley,  of  Manchester, 
proved  successful. 

The  church  which  is  estimated  to  have  cost  £20,000,  adjoins 
the  turnpike-road  leading  from  Altrincham  to  Knutsford,  and  was 
consecrated  on  the  13th  June,  1855,  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Chester.  The  style  is  the  perpendicular,  which  prevailed  in  the 
fifteenth  and  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
extreme  length  is  130  feet,  and  the  width,  exclusive  of  transepts, 
60  feet,  and  accommodation  is  provided  for  about  700  persons. 
The  plan  is  cruciform,  and  comprises  a  lofty  nave  lighted  from 
clerestory  windows  ;  the  north  and  south  aisles  are  lighted  by 
three-light  windows,  the  tracery  of  which  is  of  different  designs  ; 
and  the  chancel  is  lighted  by  nine  windows,  varying  in  size  and 
design.  The  exterior  is  of  Yorkshire  stone,  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Sheffield,  with  ashlar  stone  dressings  from  Hollington,  and 
the  stone  used  in  the  interior  is  also  from  the  same  place.  The  roof 
of  the  nave  is  of  oak  open  framed,  with  carved  ribs  and  hammer 
beams,  dependent  from  which  are  carved  figures  of  angels.  The 
spandrils  are  filled  in  with  tracery.  The  whole  of  the  internal 
fittings  are  of  oak,  and  the  pews  have  open  ends.  The  Stamford 
chapel  is  on  the  south  side,  and  it  is  lighted  by  two  two-light 
windows,  and  entered  by  a  private  door.  A  lofty  tower  and  spire 
rise  at  the  intersection  of  the  nave,  transepts  and  chancel,  from 
four  moulded  stone  piers,  to  an  altitude  of  210  feet.  The  spire 
has  enriched  flying  buttresses,  and  is  surmounted  by  a   cross. 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOWDOK.  167 

At  the  east  end  there  is  a  large  seven-light  window,  with 
embattled  transoms  and  bold  mullions.  This  window,  which  is 
filled  with  stained  glass,  is  30  feet  by  14  feet,  and  contains 
beautifully  executed  representations.  In  the  upper  division  is 
the  Saviour,  in  the  centre  of  a  group  of  which  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and 
St.  Peter  are  the  chief  figures.  In  the  lower  division  St.  Paul 
is  the  centre  figure,  and  round  him  are  to  be  seen  some  of  the 
principal  characters  of  the  old  dispensation — Moses,  David,  Isaiah, 
Jeremiah,  David,  and  Malachi.  The  west  window  is  divided  into 
five  compartments,  filled  in  with  tracery,  and  on  the  stained  glass 
are  depicted  many  of  the  prominent  female  characters  of  both  Old 
and  New  Testaments.  In  the  upper  division  are  figured  Mary 
Magdalene,  ]\Iary  mother  of  James,  Mary  mother  of  Jesus,  Salome, 
and  Elizabeth.  In  the  lower  division  St.  Margaret  is  in  the 
centre,  surrounded  by  Deborah,  Ruth,  Esther,  and  Dorcas, 
Under  this  window  is  a  large  doorway,  with  square  head  over  a 
moulded  arch.  The  spandrils  are  filled  in  with  tracery,  and  finished 
with  crockets,  and  finial.  The  other  entrance  is  by  means  of  a 
porch  on  the  south  side.  The  pulpit,  reading  desk,  font,  and 
reredos  are  of  Caen  stone,  and  the  tracery  and  carving  of  all  of 
them  are  finished  in  a  most  exquisite  maimer.  The  lectern  is  of 
fine  proportions,  standing  on  four  lions  of  iron.  It  has  a  massive 
twisted  shaft  of  brass  with  a  boss  of  iron,  illuminated  with  vine 
leaves  of  polished  brass  ;  the  head  or  desk  part  is  of  stained  oak. 
The  reredos  is  di\dded  into  seven  parts,  answering  to  the  seven 
light  window  above,  each  part  has  an  enriched  canopy,  and  three 
of  the  centre  compartments  project  from  and  rise  above  the  others, 
and  are  supported  by  richly  traceried  buttresses,  with  crockets 
and  finials,  the  whole  being  surmounted  by  an  enriched  cornice, 
and  Tudor  flower  battlement.  At  each  end  of  this  reredos  is  a 
niche,  with  rich  canopies,  crocketed  pinnacles  and  finials,  in  which 
are  placed  splendidly  carved  figures  on  pedestals.  The  panels  of 
the  communion  table  are  filled  in  with  diapered  carving  in  relief, 
consisting  of  crosses,  Tudor  rose  fleur-de-lys,  &c.  The  ceilings  of 
the  chancel  and  the  Stamford  chapel  are  divided  into  panels,  with 


168  ALTRINCIIAM    AXD    BOU'DOX. 

moulded  ribs,  and  the  tracery  in  the  chancel  is  elaborately 
characteristic  of  the  style,  having  a  large  boss  in  the  centre  com- 
partment and  paterae  at  the  intersection  of  the  ribs.  In  the 
chancel  are  stained  glass  windows  in  memory  of  the  Rev.  John 
Kingsley,  first  vicar  of  the  parish  of  St.  Margaret's,  which  were 
placed  there  by  the  subscriptions  of  the  congregation  ;  and  with 
the  surplus,  augmented  to  the  necessary  amount,  the  architectural 
beauties  of  the  chancel  were  enhanced  by  permanent  decorations 
of  a  costly  character.  The  aisles  and  the  chancel  floors  are  laid 
with  polished  stone  and  black  marble  diamond  dots;  and  the  floor  in 
front  of  the  altar  is  paved  with  encaustic  tiles  of  a  chaste  design. 
The  arrangements  for  lighting  are  novel,  and  have  been  perfected 
with  strict  regard  to  the  requirements  of  the  style  of  the  church. 
The  standards  for  the  nave  rise  from  the  floor,  with  illuminated 
stems  ;  from  these  twisted  shafts  of  wrought  polished  brass 
support  four  branches  enriched  with  hammered  foliage  ;  the 
branches  again  support  groups  of  lights  ;  and  above  these  round 
a  central  stem  is  a  corona  of  metal  work,  having  a  circlet  of  stars 
of  lights,  The  standards  are  arranged  on  each  side  of  the  nave,  in 
advance  of  the  piers,  and  all  are  visible,  so  that  they  produce  a  vista 
of  light  of  singularly  beautiful  effect,  in  harmony  with  that  archi- 
tectural vista  of  nave  and  aisles  for  which  the  mediteval  buildings 
are  so  remarkable.  From  the  nave  the  eye  is  carried  on  to  the 
chancel,  in  which  are  two  standards  of  larger  proportion  and 
richer  detail,  rising  from  solid  stone  bases  The  shafts  have 
interlacing  fretwork,  picked  out  with  colour  and  the  branches 
are  entwined  with  leaves  of  the  passion  flower  and  buds  formed 
of  crystallines  When  lighted,  each  standard  presents  a  group  of 
20  brilliant  stars.  In  addition  to  the  memorial  windows  already 
noticed,  others  have  been  put  in  by  Mr,  Sidebotham,  of  Bowdon, 
in  memory  of  his  father  and  mother;  by  the  late  Rev.  R.  Hodgson, 
in  memory  of  his  mother,  Susan  Ann  Hodgson;  by  Charles  Heaton 
Hinde,  Esq.,  in  gratitude  to  God  for  restoration  from  a  serious 
illness ;  to  the  memory  of  the  late  vicar,  the  Rev.  R.  Hodgson, 
and  in  memory  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen,  of  Oldfield  Hall,  by 
of  the  family. 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  169 

The  tower  contains  .a  peal  of  ten  bells  weighing  upwards  of 
six  tons.  The  tenor  bell  weighs  nearly  28  cwt.,  and  bears  the 
following  inscription  : — 

As  Queen  of  queens,  Victoria  reigns  ; 
I  sit  as  Queen  o'er  music's  strains, 
And  may  her  subjects  loyal  be 
As  mine  !  we  dwell  in  harmony. 

The  then  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington,  patron  of  the 
living,  for  the  purpose  of  endowing  the  church  with  a  permanent 
provision,  in  addition  to  the  pew  rents,  by  an  indenture  dated 
March  30th,  1855,  and  made  between  him  of  the  first  part,  Her 
Majesty's  Commissioners  for  building  new  churches  of  the  second 
part,  and  the  Rev.  George  Heron,  of  Carrington,  Samuel  Holker 
Norris,  David  Reynolds  Davies,  Legh  Richmond,  of  Guilsborough 
Park,  Northamptonshire,  and  the  Rev.  John  Kingsley,  of  Dunham, 
of  the  third  part,  declared  his  intention  to  provide  £80  per  annum, 
to  be  secured  upon  a  competent  part  of  the  Earl's  freehold  estate 
in  Cheshire  ;  and  in  satisfaction  thereof,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Commissioners,  he  had  granted  to  those  of  the  third  part  two 
several  clear  rent  charges  or  annual  sums  of  £43  15s.  and  £45, 
making  together  £88  15s.  ;  and  to  provide  for  the  repiiirs  of  the 
church  a  yearly  sum  of  £20,  he  had  by  the  same  indenture  con- 
veyed a  clear  yearly  rent  charge  of  £21  18s.  2d.  to  the  said 
persons.  It  was  directed  by  the  Commissioners  that  200  sittings 
in  the  church  should  continue  for  ever  to  be  free  sittings,  subject 
to  the  appropriation  of  any  part  thereof,  as  the  Lord  Bishop,  for 
the  time  being,  should  legally  direct. 

The  first  vicar  of  St.  Margaret's,  the  Rev.  John  Kingsley, 
died  on  the  13th  November,  1869,  at  the  age  of  60.  He  came 
to  Bowdon  in  1833  as  curate  to  the  Rev.  W.  H.  G.  Mann,  Vicar 
of  Bowdon,  which  position  he  held  for  about  20  years.  On 
resigning,  in  1854  the  parishioners,  as  a  mark  of  well  deserved 
respect,  presented  him  with  the  handsome  sum  of  £1,500.  The 
Earl  of  Stamford  presented  him  with  the  living  on  the  consecra- 
tion of  St.   Margaret's,   and  for  a   period  of  over  14  years   he 

w3 


170  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIFDON. 

occupied  this  sphere.  Through  his  efforts  the  schools  attached 
to  St.  Margaret's  were  established,  while  he  kept  an  immediate 
and  vigilant  supervision  over  the  Albert  Street  Schools,  and  that 
at  Oldfield.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  connection  with 
the  Newtown  night  school,  and  one  of  his  last  acts  was  to  write 
a  form  of  prayer  to  be  used  in  that  school.  His  death  was  greatly 
lamented,  as  in  the  course  of  a  long  and  active  life  he  had  been 
greatly  beloved  by  all  classes  of  society  to  whom  he  had  endeared 
himself  by  his  many  good  qualities.  The  Rev.  E.  Hodgson,  his 
successor,  entered  upon  his  duties  in  January,  1870,  and  after 
a  quarter  of  a  century  of  earnest  and  disinterested  labour  he  died 
March  14th,  1895.  No  one  could  fail  to  be  impressed  by  his 
sincerity  and  singleness  of  purpose.  There  was  a  manliness 
about  all  he  said  and  did  which  gained  for  him  universal  respect. 
His  private  hospitality  was  only  exceeded  by  his  open-handed 
charity  in  the  poorer  portions  of  his  parish  ;  and  in  this  he  was 
ably  supported  by  a  noble  band  of  workers.  Through  the  liberality 
of  Mr.  J.  H.  Grafton  the  old  Wesleyan  Chapel  in  Eegent  Road 
was  purchased  and  altered,  and  licensed  by  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese 
for  divine  service  under  the  name  of  All  Saints.  Services  were  also 
commenced  and  carried  on  at  Dunham  "Woodhouses.  Mr.  Hodgson 
was  succeeded  in  May,  1895,  by  the  Venerable  Charles  Maxwell 
Woosnam  who  is  M.  A.  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  He  was  ordained 
deacon  in  1879  and  priest  in  1880.  He  was  chaplain  of  the  mission 
to  seamen  atPenarth,  1879-1880,  and  on  theTyne  from  1880 tol881, 
in  which  year  he  was  appointed  Vicar  of  St.  Peter's,  Tynemouth, 
which  he  resigned  in  1888.  He  was  Rector  of  Kirkby  "Wiske, 
Yorkshire,  and  in  1890  chaplain  of  the  Mersey  Mission  to  Seamen, 
which  he  resigned  on  his  presentation  to  the  lining  of  St. 
Margaret's.  He  was  appointed  Archdeacon  of  Macclesfield  in 
1893.  The  Patrons  are  the  Trustees  of  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and 
Warrington.  The  net  income  is  returned  at  £400  per  annum,  and 
the  population  3,253. 

St.  John's  Church,  which  is  situated  in  Ashley  Road,   was 
built  for  the  working  classes,  and   was   originally   styled   "  the 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOJJ'DOK  171 

Poor  Man's  Church."  The  movement  for  its  erection  took  an 
active  form  in  April,  1864,  when  an  influential  committee  of 
clergy  and  laity  was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out 
the  object  in  view.  The  site  was  given  by  the  then  Earl  of 
Stamford  and  Warrington,  and  had  previously  been  a  farmstead. 
The  Senior  Curate  of  the  Parish  Church  of  Bowdon,  the  Rev.  F. 
Wainwright,  M.A.,  was  appointed  its  incumbent;  and  in  1865, 
while  the  church  was  being  built,  services  were  held  in  the 
British  School,  so  as  to  collect  a  congregation  from  the  district 
around.  The  school  was  kindly  lent  by  the  trustees,  and  was 
specially  licensed  by  the  Bishop  of  Chester  for  the  purpose. 
Mr.  Wainwright,  was  a  scholar  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
B.A.,1860;  M.  A.,  1861;  Deacon,  1861;  Priest,  1862.  He  was  curate 
of  St.  Jude's,  Liverpool,  1861 ;  Christ  Church,  Everton,  Liverpool, 
1863;  St.  Mark's,  Kirkdale,  1864  ;  Bowdon  1864-1866. 

The  church,  which  was  designed  by  Mr.  Medland  Taylor,  of 
Manchester,  is  in  the  early  English  style  of  architecture.  It  has 
a  broad  nave  of  five  bays,  with  north  and  south  aisles,  and  north 
south  transepts.  The  seats  are  of  stained  pitch  pine,  and  there 
are  940  sittings,  of  which  470  in  the  body  of  the  church  are  free. 
There  is  a  large  gallery  over  the  west  entrance  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  Sunday  scholars.  The  edifice  externally  is  of  free 
stone,  and  the  spire  is  a  very  handsome  one.  The  total  cost, 
including  the  endowment,  was  about  £7,500.  The  living  is  in 
the  gift  of  the  Bishop  of  Chester  ;  the  gross  income  £500  and 
house,  and  the  population  is  returned  at  5,952.  Near  the  church 
are  erected  National  Schools,  a  substantial  parsonage,  and  a  parish 
room ;  and  in  Islington  Street,  Newtown,  is  an  infant  school. 

The  boundaries  of  the  parish  are  as  follow  : — Taking  Bowdon 
Station,  which  is  entirely  within  the  parish,  as  a  starting  point, 
the  boundary  line  travels  up  the  middle  of  the  Downs  for  some 
distance,  when  it  turns  down  St.  John's  Road,  and  then  up 
Delamer  Road,  and  round  by  a  new  road  into  Ashley  Road,  thus 
surrounding  Albert  Square  and  Culcheth  New  Hall.  It  then  fol- 
lows the  middle  of  Ashley  Road  right  through  Peel  Causeway  and 


172  ALTPJNCHAM   AND    BOJVDOK 

over  the  railwcay,  till  it  turns  aside  at  a  stile  and  crosses  the  fields 
into  Dob  Lane,  which  it  follows  up  to  Hale  Road.  Then  from  the 
top  of  the  Hill  it  comes  back  by  the  way  of  Hale  Road,  till  it 
turns  to  the  right  by  a  road  and  footpath  leading  to  Hale  Moss, 
opposite  the  end  of  Broomfield  Lane.  On  the  Moss  there  were 
two  stones  set  up  on  purpose  to  mark  the  boundary  line,  which 
travels  through  the  middle  of  the  Moss  along  the  bank  of  a 
brook  vrhich  formerly  ran  into  Moss  Lane.  From  this  last  point 
the  line  goes  up  Denmark  Street,  and  arrives  again  at  the  back 
of  the  station,  where  it  began,  by  crossing  the  Goose  Green  Bridge. 
The  circuit  thus  traced  includes  about  330  acres,  but  it  has  been 
somewhat  modified  by  the  inclusion  of  Broomfield  Lane  and  Peel 
Causeway  in  the  new  district  of  St.  Peter's. 

St.  Elizabeth's,  Newtown,  was  erected  as  a  chapel  of  ease  to 
St.  John's  in  1890.  The  site  was  presented  by  Mr.  W.  J. 
Crossley,  of  Glenfield,  and  another  generous  gift  of  £1,000  was 
made  by  the  family  of  the  late  Mr.  G.  Lord,  of  Ashton-on-^Iersey, 
in  memory  of  their  father.  The  architect  was  Mr.  John 
Macnamara,  and  the  contractors  Messrs.  W.  Lambert  and  Son, 
Hale  Eoad,  Bowdon. 

An  antiquated  structure,  nearly  facing  the  Ashley  Eoad, 
which  had  in  the  first  place  given  the  Congregationalists  a  local 
habitation,  if  not  a  name,  was  destined  in  1867,  after  the  removal 
of  the  Altrincham  congregation,  to  become  the  temporary  home  of 
Scotch  Presbyterianism,  for  which  good  cause  was  shown  by  the 
residence  of  many  Presbj'terian  families  at  Bowdon.  On  the  2.5th 
January,  1869,  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Johnson,  B.A.,  was  ordained  the 
first  minister.  In  the  following  year  (1870)  his  congregation 
began  to  look  about  for  a  site  for  a  new  church,  which  they 
secured  in  Delamer  Road,  and  which  is  known  to  old  Altrin- 
chamites  as  the  "  Radish  field."  The  site  was  in  every  respect  an 
eligible  one  ;  and  the  work  of  building,  which  was  forthwith 
begun,  was  completed  in  1872.  The  church,  which  is  called 
Trinity  Presbyterian  Church,  is  an  ornament  to  the  neighbour- 


ALrniKCHAM   AND    BOWDOX.  173 

hood,  is  in  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture,  without  any  of  the 
defects  which  are  usually  associated  with  that  style.  There  is  a 
tower  at  the  north-west  corner  1 20  feet  high.  The  interior  has 
a  most  comfortable  appearance,  and  is  well  suited  to  the  wants 
of  a  congregation,  which  has  assumed  important  dimensions  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years.  The  total  cost  of  the  church,  with  a 
spacious  lecture  hall  adjoining,  was  about  £7,000.  After  a 
pastorate  of  17  years,  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Johnston  resigned  in  1886, 
principally  through  overwork  and  ill-health,  on  which  occasion 
his  congregation  evinced  their  regard  by  presenting  him  with  an 
illuminated  address  and  a  purse  of  one  hundred  guineas.  After 
a  somewhat  long  interval  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  R.  T. 
Cunningham,  whose  shockingly  sudden  death  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Presbyterian  Synod  in  Manchester,  was  greatly  deplored,  and 
created  a  great  sensation  in  the  town  and  district.  The  present 
minister  is  the  Rev.  AVilson  Cowie.  Among  the  agencies  con- 
nected with  the  church  is  the  Victoria  Street  Mission,  which  has 
been  productive  of  great  good,  and  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

In  1872  this  old  chapel  was  taken  in  hand  by  another  religious 
denomination  (Baptist),  which  was  introduced  by  the  Manchester 
and  Salford  Baptist  Union.  The  first  pastor  was  the  Rev.  H.  J. 
Betts,  and  26  persons  formed  the  church  spiritual.  Its  con- 
stitution is  "  Baptist,  with  open  Communion,"  and  the  seats  are 
free.  In  1878,  the  number  of  members  having  increased  to  nearly 
100,  the  foundation  stones  of  a  new  chapel  and  schools,  erected  in 
Hale  Road  from  the  designs  of  Mr.  William  Owen,  a  rising  young 
architect,  were  laid  and  carried  out  under  his  superintendence, 
the  chief  contractor  being  Mr.  J.  Pennington,  of  Bowdon.  The 
building  is  Italian  in  character,  and  aftords  accommodation  for 
nearly  500  persons. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Chapel  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  is  a  small 
Gothic  building  in  New  Street,  and  will  seat  nearly  400  people. 
There  are  day  schools  in  connection  with  it.  For  many  years 
the  Rev.  H.  Aloock  laboured  most  assiduously,  but  ultimately  had 
to  retire  in  consequence  of  failing  health.  He  was  succeeded  by 
the  Rev.  James  O'Brien,  who  has  laboured  with  much  acceptance. 


171 


ALTIUXCIIAM   AXD    BOW  DON. 


The  only  other  important  dissenting  body  is  that  of  the 
Primitive  Methodists,  who  for  several  years  worshipped  in  the  loft 
over  a  stable  in  Newtown.  By  the  exercise  of  much  self-denial 
and  energy,  they  erected  the  neat  little  chapel  in  Oxford  Road, 
which  is  now  free  from  debt. 

St.  Peter's  Church,  Peel  Causeway,  is  intended  to  meet  the 
wants  of  a  rapidly  growing  district,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  pro- 
moters in  erecting  an  edifice  of  a  suitable  and  worthy  character 
has   been   fully   justified.      On  June  16th,  1892,  the  church  was 


ST.    PETERS    CHURCH,    PEEL   CAl'SEW.W. 

dedicated  by  Dr.  Jayne,  Bishop  of  Chester;  and  formally  con- 
secrated by  the  same  prelate  February  10th,  1897.  The  total  cost 
was  £6,155.  Towards  this  sum  Richard  Hampson  Joynson,  Esq., 
J.  P.,  and  the  members  of  his  family  were  munificent  contributors. 
Mr.  Joynson  also  subscribed  the  sum  of  £40  per  annum  as  the 
nucleus  of  an  endowment.  The  Rev.  J.  R.  Brunskill  is  the  minister 
in  charge  of  the  parish,  and  its  flourishing  condition  bears  ample 
testimony  to  his  assiduity  and  loving  care. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

More  looks  into  old  hojks — Visit  of  strolling  ■players — Disappearance  of 
town  documents — Appointment  of  town's  attorney — Wages  a  century 
ago — Disturbances  in  Altrincham— Another  Altrincham  Industry — 
The  fire  engine — The  old  handcuffs — A  jury  list — The  expenses  of 
the  great  well — Altrincham  highways  indicted — Hard  times  ;  a 
display  of  public  spirit — The  select  vestry — Extracts  from  the  books  ; 
a  stray  parcel  of  glares — How  the  town  got  a  sun  dial — Suhsiitules 
for  the  Militia — Disrespect  Jor  proclamations — A  worthy  overseer — 
Dread  of  hydrophobia,  &c. 

WE  have  looked  at  Altrincham  in  nearly  all  its  aspects — 
social,  historical,  and  romantic.  We  will  now  deal 
briefly  with  some  of  the  more  domestic  phases  of  its 
existence  as  a  country  town.  The  general  minute  book  available 
for  this  purpose  commences  in  June,  1795.  This  appears  to  be 
the  first  kept  by  the  authorities,  but  there  is  some  little  doubt 
existing  owing  to  the  fact  that  a  company  of  strolling  players 
once  visited  the  town.  They  were  allowed  to  place  the  boxes  con- 
taining their  "  properties  "  in  the  little  building  which  then  served 
as  a  courthouse.  When  they  departed  they  took  along  with  them  a 
few  of  the  boxes  containing  the  town  accounts,  to  the  extreme 
regret  of  those  who  had  been  entrusted  with  their  safe  keeping. 
That  the  minute  book  is  the  first  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  entries  at  the  opening  meeting,  records  "  that  a 
town's  meeting  be  held  in  the  Court  house  till  further  orders,  at 
ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  the  first  Tuesday  in  every  month, 
without  any  further  or  any  notice."  At  the  succeeding  monthly 
meeting,  the  town  resolved  to  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  a  lawyer, 
or  rather  firm  of  lawyers  ;  but,  it  appeared  afraid  of  showing  its 
full  blown  dignity  in  perfection,  for  it  states  "that  when  an 
attorney  is  necessary  to  be  employed  by  the  overseer,  that 
Messrs.  Isaac  and  George  Worthington  be  employed  for  Altrin- 


176  ALTIUNCHAM    AND    BOJVDON. 

cham,  when  they  will  undertake  to  be  so  employed."  There  was 
then  no  resident  magistrate,  and  the  overseer  had  often  to  journey 
to  Toft  and  Knutsford  in  order  to  lay  informations,  ask  advice, 
and  get  confirmation  of  rates  ;  or  as  they  are  invariably  called 
in  the  books,  "leys."  Soon  afterwards  we  find  a  prospect  of 
employment  for  the  Messrs.  Worthington.  It  was  "  ordered  that 
as  Matthew  Davies,  though  he  receives  eight  shillings  a  week 
wages,  refuses  to  pay  one  and  sixpence  towards  his  wife  and 
child's  support,  that  the  overseer  do  apply  to  the  magistrates  to 
compel  him  to  pay  the  above  weekly  sum,  or  that  he  be  dealt 
with  according  to  law."  At  the  same  meeting,  it  was  "  ordered 
that  ten  shillings  be  jxiid  to  Thomas  Slater,  for  his  loss  of  rent  by 
the  house  late  held  by  Wm.  Holt  standing  empty."  Those  must 
indeed,  have  been  halcyon  days  for  the  landlords,  and  no  doubt  a 
few  in  our  degenerate  age  will,  in  this  respect,  sigh  for  a  return 
of  "  the  good  old  times." 

Riots,  as  minor  disturbances  were  termed,  were  not  frequent, 
but  the  manner  in  which  Saturday  night  was  sometimes  spent  is 
illustrated  by  the  fact  that  informations  were  ordered  to  be  lodged 
before  "John  Leigh,  Esq.,  of  Oughtrington,  against  William 
Johnson,  of  Altrincham,  turner,  Charles  Eov^fbottom,  of  Altrin- 
chara,  shoemaker,  William  Eoyle,  of  Altrincham,  gardener, 
Josaph  Warburton,  of  Timperley,  labourer,  and  John  Ogden,  of 
BoUington,  wool-comber,  for  rioting  and  fighting  in  ye  public 
street  in  Altrincham,  on  Saturday,  the  30  oh  day  of  April  last, 
(1796)  and  that  the  constables  do  proceed  accordingly."  In  the 
minute  book  the  word  "chairmaker"  is  crossed  out  after  Johnson's 
name,  and  it  may  be  inferred  from  this  that  chairmaking  prob- 
ably formed  an  Altrincham  industry  at  that  period.  The  prose- 
cution of  these  men  was  not  undertaken  without  due  deliberation  ; 
and  Mr.  Leigh,  of  Oughtrington,  advised  that  they  be  proceeded 
against,  and  the  constables  were  directed  to  take  steps  accordingly. 
As  a  further  warning,  it  was  ordered  that  "  advertisements  be 
printed  making  public  this  resolution,  that  others  may  be  deterred 
from  offending  in  like  manner."       The  handcufls,  however,   do 


ALTBINCHAM    AND    BOWDOK 


177 


not  appear  to  have  been  called  into  frequent  requisition,  but  with 
a  view  to  eventualities,  the  constables  were  instructed  to  have 
them  examined  "  by  a  whitesmith,  and  if  they  can  be  properly 
repaired,  to  get  them  so  repaired— if  not,  the  constables  are 
ordered  to  purchase  a  new  pair  of  handcuffs."  The  overseers  had 
not  then  an  assistant  who  could  relieve  them  of  the  drudgery  of 
their  duties,  and  at  times  much  difficulty  was  experienced  in 
securing  a  proper  audit  of  the  accouats.  The  salary  usually 
allowed  was  £20,  but  in  some  instances  as  much  as  £25  was  paid. 
There  was  a  fire  engine  in  the  town  in  1798,  but  no  regular 
brigade  of  firemen.  It  was  ordered  to  be  worked  four  times  a 
year,  and  five  shillings  was  allowed  each  time  to  get  men  to 
assist  in  working  it.  At  this  period  we  come  across  a  list  (the 
only  one  given)  of  persons  qualified  to  serve  on  juries  in  the 
township  of  Altrincham,  October  1st,  1798,  as  returned  by  Joshua 
Ashcroft  and  Walter  Watson,  constables.  It  will  form  interesting 
matter  for  comparison  at  the  present  time  : — 


William  Rigby,  Esq. 
John  Clough 
Thomas  Hancock 
Peter  Adshead 
J.  Brundrett 
Wm.  Pearson 
John  Darbyshire 
Is.  Grantham 
John  Atherton 
Robert  Twamlow 
Samuel  Haslam 
Josiah  Garner 
John  Burgess 
Oswd.  Leicester 
Joseph  Goulden 
Samuel  Hardy 
Wm.  Pownall 
Jos.  Burgess 
John  Brierley 
Willm.  Ashley 
Jams.  Brownell 
Jams.  Cluloe 
John  Austin 
Wm.  Smith 
Vernon  Poole 


Robt.  Mills 
Timothy  Brownell 
Thos.  Royle 
Wm.  Howard 
Samuel  Howard 
Geo.  Ecoles 
Thomas  Slater 
James  Broom 
Samuel  Royle 
George  Lupton 
Wm.  Grantham 
Aaron  Brundrett 
Thomas  Ashley 
.John  Newall 
Isaac  Birch 
Jlichl.  Lupton 
Jams.  Walthew 
Frederick  Boardman 
John  Holden 
James  Gratrix 
Peter  Bailey 
Samuel  Lucas 
David  Gatley 
AVillm.  Seddon 
James  Potter 


178  ALTIUNCHAM   AND    BOWDON 

For  a,  long  period  subsequently  there  appears  to  have  been 
nothing  but  routine  business  transacted  at  the  town's  meetings  ; 
but  la  the  year  1800  the  constables  were  ordered  to  "cause  three 
painted  boards  to  deter  vagrants  from  harbouring  in  the  town,  to 
be  fixed  upon  John  Burgess's  house,  John  Pickstone's  house,  and 
the  Unicorn  Stables,  and  that  the  constables  do  search  and 
examine  the  lodging-houses,  and  use  their  best  endeavours  to 
prevent  their  harbouring  in  the  town."  This  had  only  a  temporary 
effect,  and  on  several  occasions  various  measures  were  devised 
for  ridding  the  town  of  the  vagrant  nuisance,  and  lodging-house 
keepers  were  threatened  with  indictment  if  they  offended.  The 
deputy  constables  were  empowered,  where  necessary,  to  relieve 
vagrants  provided  with  passes,  prevent  them  acquiring  settlement, 
or  take  them  before  the  magistrates  as  they  might  deem  necessary. 
At  a  later  period,  watchmen  paraded  the  streets  in  the  day  time 
to  prevent  these  unwelcome  strangers  from  coming  into  the  town. 
The  meetings  were  convened  by  the  various  officials.  For  instance, 
if  the  constables  required  any  authority  to  take  proceedings, 
they  requested  the  bellman  to  convene  a  meeting,  and  so  with 
the  overseers.  It  is  seldom  we  find  the  surveyors  of  highways 
doing  this,  but  it  was  obvious  that  at  times  the  inhabitants  were 
required  to  "  mend  their  ways."  At  a  town's  meeting  held  in 
July,  1802,  it  was  "  resolved  that  the  surveyors  be  desired  to 
purchase  stones  to  pave  the  road  to  Ashley  and  the  Long  Lane 
as  far  as  lies  in  Altrincham  division,  and  that  they  procure  a  ley 
of  sixpence  in  the  pound  to  be  allowed  at  a  privy  sessions,  and 
to  be  assessed  on  ye  inhabitants  and  owners  and  occupiers  of  land 
in  Altrincham  for  the  purchasing  stones  for  such  paving,  and  that 
when  the  said  ley  is  expended,  a  further  ley  of  threepence  in  the 
in  the  pound  be  assessed  and  got  allowed,  and  that  the  remainder 
of  the  money  wanted  for  the  above  purpose  be  borrowed  on  a  note, 
to  be  signed  by  some  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  Altrincham, 
which  shall  be  repaid  out  of  the  next  money  raised  for  the  repairs 
of  the  highways."  It  took  upwards  of  four  years  to  do  the  work, 
and  it  must  have  been  much  more  expensive  than  at  first  contem- 


ALTRIXCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  181 

plated,  several  rates  having  to  be  obtained  for  that  purpose. 
The  accounts  of  the  surveyor  at  this  period  contain  a  list  of  pay- 
ments "respecting  the  great  well."  This  was  situated  in  Well 
Lane  (now  Victoria  Street),  at  the  corner  of  Springfield  Road, 
and  was  a  spring  of  running  water,  clear  as  crystal,  and  from  this 
the  inhabitants  derived  the  greatest  portion  of  their  supply, 
although  there  were  two  or  three  other  wells  in  difi'erent  parts  of 
the  town.  The  "great  well  "  was,  however,  of  some  importance, 
as  the  amount  paid  for  its  repairs  to  various  parties  at  one  time 
was  £13  Os.  4d. 

The  lands  of  the  poor  house  were  at  this  time  productive ; 
and  Mr.  Leicester,  as  trustee,  having  a  balance  in  his  hands  "  of 
£16,  or  thereabouts,"  it  was  resolved  that  he  be  desired  to  pay 
the  same  to  Mr.  Eobert  Twemlow,  the  overseer,  for  the  use  of  the 
poor  of  Altrincham. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  few  years  the  entries  of  disturbances 
in  the  town  are  more  frequent,  and  in  some  cases  the  constables 
were  assaulted.  The  offenders  were  invariably  ordered  to  be 
indicted,  after  the  advice  of  a  magistrate  had  been  sought  thereon. 
Several  cases  were  compromised  on  their  paying  certain  amounts  ; 
entering  into  recognizances  to  keep  the  peace  for  stated  periods, 
and  signing  acknowledgments  to  be  "advertised  in  the  public 
papers,"  the  latter  fact  indicating  that  nearly  ninety  years  ago,  the 
press  was  beginning  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  power  in  the  land. 
Something  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  things  occurred  in  June, 
1814,  when  a  public  meeting  was  summoned  in  hot  haste,  with 
the  following  result  : — 

"Whereas,  several  persons  made  a  great  noise  and  disturbance 
in  the  town  last  night,  and  in  several  instances  did  considerable 
mischief,  ordered  that  the  constables  do  use  their  best  exertions 
to  discover  who  the  parties  were,  and  that  they  do  prosecute 
them  at  the  expense  of  the  town  in  case  sufficient  evidence  can 
be  obtained  ;  and  the  constables  are  hereby  authorized  to  give  a 
reward  of  five  guineas  to  any  person  or  persons  who  will  come 


182  ALrniNCHAM   AND    BOIVDON. 

forward  to  give  evidence  that  shall  lead  to  a  conviction  of  the 
offenders — it  being  understood  that  such  reward  shall  be  in  lieu 
of  that  which  has  been  offered  by  Mr.  Salmon  and  Mr.  Lupton 
this  day." 

It  was  just  possible  that  this  was  the  outcome  of  a  drunken 
frolic  in  which  the  participators  went  much  further  than  they 
intended.  There  does  not  appear  to  be  any  payment  of  any 
reward  made,  so  that  the  perpetrators  of  the  mischief  escaped 
scot  free. 

In  1815  a  presentment  was  made  at  the  Quarter  Sessions  on 
the  shocking  state  of  the  roads  in  Altrincham  A  largely  attended 
town's  meeting  directed  the  Surveyor  to  appear  and  submit  to 
the  presentment,  and  "  that  he  request  the  attendance  of  two  of 
the  magistrates  to  view  the  roads  and  to  approve  of  the  mode  to 
be  taken  for  their  amendment,  and  that  Mr.  Barratt,  ]\Ir.  Hardey, 
Mr.  Gratrix  Mr.  Hugo  Worthington,  and  Mr.  Isaac  Harrop, 
with  the  surveyor,  be  appointed  a  committee  to  meet  the  magis- 
trates and  to  advise  on  the  best  mode  to  be  taken  for  the  repair 
of  the  said  roads,"  &c.  This  would  seem  to  imply  an  ex- 
haustion on  the  part  of  the  town  which  it  has  not  probably 
experienced  since.  Taxes  of  all  descriptions  were  oppressive, 
as  also  were  the  rates  levied  for  the  relief  of  the  poor. 
The  succeeding  winter  was  "  a  hard  one,"  and  a  meeting 
was  specially  called  in  December,  1816,  to  consider  the  position 
of  affairs.  Occasionally  it  had  been  found  necessary  to  subscribe 
for  periods  of  scarcity.  The  Rev.  Oswald  Leicester,  minister  of 
St.  George's  Chapel,  as  it  was  then  termed,  presided,  and  the 
first  resolution  affirmed  "  that  the  pressure  of  the  times  renders  it 
necessary  that  relief  should  be  extended  to  the  resident  poor 
within  the  township  of  Altrincham,  in  addition  to  the  usual 
payments  from  the  poor  rates."  The  second  resolution  gave  it  as 
the  opinion  of  the  meeting  that  the  best  mode  of  affording 
such  relief  would  be  to  provide  as  much  work  as  possil)le  for  such  of 
the  poor  as  were  out  of  employ,  "and  also  by  purchasing  provisions 
out  of  a  fund  to  be  raised  by  public  subscription  and  selling  the 


ALTRIXCIIAM   AND    BOWDOX.  183 

same  to  the  .aforesaid  poor  at  a  reduced  price,  care  being  taken 
in  avoiding  as  much  as  may  be  those  articles  of  food  which  are 
the  dearest."  Other  resolutions  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  to  superintend  the  raising  and  distribution  of  sub- 
scriptions for  the  employment  of  the  poor  "  in  opening  the  drains 
and  making  good  the  roads  on  Hale  Moss,"  and  in  the  repairing 
of  the  highways,  and  each  individual  in  the  town  was  recom- 
mended "  to  create  as  much  employment  for  the  labouring  poor 
as  possible."  Four  years  afterwards  the  canal  was  frozen  over,  and 
on  that  occasion,  as  the  poor  could  not  pay  the  high  price  at 
which  coals  were  sold  which  were  carted  from  the  pits,  tho  Over- 
seer was  authorized  to  purchase  such  coals  as  might  be  necessary, 
a'ld  to  sell  them  to  the  poor  "at  the  price  of  eightpence  per 
hundredweight,  taking  care  that  no  family  do  have  more  than 
two  hundred  at  one  time  or  within  the  same  week,  unless  under 
special  circumstances."  It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  there  was 
no  lack  of  public  spirit  in  the  town. 

Although  at  times  the  authorities  having  the  management  of 
affairs  had  to  be  indicted,  or  threatened  with  indictment,  for  not 
having  the  footpaths  kept  in  proper  repair,  there  are  evidences 
all  through  the  book  of  a  desire  for  progress  and  improvement. 
Considering  the  difficulties  under  which  they  laboured,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  progress  was  slow.  With  a  small  popula- 
tion the  burthen  thrown  on  the  few  was  heavj',  and  often  the 
funds  raised  by  the  leys  proved  inadequate  for  attaining  the 
object  in  view.  The  discretion  allowed  the  officials  was  such  as 
could  not  always  admit  of  being  wisely  exercised,  and  for  some 
years  prior  to  the  formation  of  a  Select  Vestry  for  dealing  with 
the  poor,  a  special  committee  was  appointed  to  superintend  the 
overseer,  investigate  his  accounts,  and  to  regulate  the  relief  given 
to  the  poor.  The  overseers  were  ordered  to  make  up  their 
accounts  quarterly  and  lay  them  before  the  committee,  which 
was  empowered  to  publish  the  names  of  all  persons  receiving 
relief  in  such  manner  as  might  be  deemed  proper.  This  was  only 
the   prelude   to   a   more    regularly   constituted   body,   a   Select 

Y 


184  AirniXCIIAM    AND    BOIVDOX. 

Vestry,  alluded  to  in  the  next  chapter,  which  was  formed  in  1822. 
Their  accounts  were  settled  at  different  town's  meetings.  The 
town  progressed  to  such  a  degree  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
that  it  was  enabled  to  engage  a  qualified  man  as  surveyor,  and  the 
salary  of  the  deputy  constable  was  made  up  to  £30,  out  of  which 
he  had  to  pay  an  assistant.  The  latter  portion  of  the  book  is 
taken  up  almost  entirely  by  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Select  Vestry,  but  there  are  scattered  up  and  down  characteristic 
entries  which  will  be  read  with  interest : — 

"7th  June,  1796.  Ordered  that  the  overseer  of  the  poor  with 
John  Burgess's  assistance  do  immediately  take  an  exact 
inventory  of  a  parcel  of  gloves,  &c.,  directed  for  the  overseer 
of  Altrincham,  and  this  day  produced  to  the  meeting,  and  that 
the  overseer  do  take  care  thereof  until  he  receives  further 
directions  from  a  town's  meeting." 
"  6th  December,  1796.  Ordered  that  the  overseer  do  advertise 
the  parcel  of  gloves  in  his  hands  suppos'd  to  be  the  property 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Taylor,  and  if  not  owned,  that  he  dispose  of 
them  for  the  town's  use." 
"  23rd  July,  1797.  Ordered  that  Aaron  Brundrctt  be  directed  to 
sell  a  quantity  of  gloves  now  in  his  hands,  supposed  to  belong 
to  Thomas  Taylor,  now  in  the  poor  house,  and  that  he  place 
the  produce  to  the  credit  of  ye  town  in  his  accounts." 

"29th  April,  1802.  Ordered  that  James  Potter  having  in  his 
hands  as  a  former  constable  16s.  Id.,  he  do  pay  over  ye  same 
to  the  overseer  of  the  poor. — Ordered  that  as  the  late  con- 
stables have  applied  to  John  Leigh  Esq.,  respecting  their 
accounts,  that  IMr.  Leicester,  Mr.  Hardey  and  Mr.  Burgess  be 
requested  to  wait  on  Mr.  Leigh  to  state  what  they  know 
respecting  their  accounts  and  do  get  Mr.  Leigh  to  settle  the 
same.— Ordered  that  in  future  the  constables  do  not  collect 
money  by  a  ley,  but  that  orders  be  made  at  town's  meetings 
upon  the  overseer  for  what  money  may  be  propei  for  the  con- 
stables." 


ALTEINCHAM   ANT)    BOIVDON.  185 

7th  June,  1803.  Resolved  that  the  constables  be  directed  to  take 
the  necessary  steps  to  apprehend  any  jDerson  who  may  be 
guilty  of  tearing  or  pulling  from  the  Court  House  any  procla- 
mations or  papers  affixed  thereto  by  or  by  order  of  the 
constables." 

"  21st  April,  1807.  Eesolved  that  the  thanks  of  the  meeting  be 
given  to  Mr.  Robert  Twemlow  for  his  essential  services  to  the 
township  as  overseer  of  the  poor  for  four  years  past,  and  that 
he  be  requested  to  instruct  Thomas  Bradbury  in  the  said 
office,  and  that  Thomas  Bradbury  be  allo\Yed  for  the  ensuing 
year  the  salary  of  ten  pounds,  and  that  it  shall  depend  upon 
his  activity  and  good  conduct  in  his  office,  whether  he  shall 
be  allowed  a  further  sum  of  five  pounds,  or  not  and  that  Mr. 
Twemlow  is  not  to  have  any  salary." 

"  8th  June,  1813.  The  overseers  having  laid  before  this  meeting 
the  accounts  of  the  expenses  of  providing  two  substitutes  in 
the  Cheshire  militia  in  the  place  of  Ballantine  and  Parker, 
to  whose  families  large  sums  were  payable  weekly  by  this 
township,  which  expenses  and  the  bounty  paid  to  the  substi- 
tutes amount  to  ninety-one  pounds  and  eightpence,  towards 
which  Mr.  Twemlow  has  advanced  the  sum  of  £79  2s.  8d., 
ordered  that  the  overseers  be  allowed  the  said  expenses  in  his 
accounts,  and  that  he  do  repay  to  Mr.  Twemlow  the  money 
advanced  by  him  with  interest  thereon  until  the  same  shall 
be  repaid." 

"15th  July,  1813.  John  Boardman  having  proposed  to  make  a 
new  sundial  on  the  Court  House  upon  a  mahogany  inch- 
board  for  two  pounds  ten  shillings,  and  to  be  inspected  when 
done  by  any  competent  judge,  and  if  defective  in  any  respect, 
nothing  to  be  paid  for  it,  ordered  that  John  Boardman's  pro- 
posal be  accepted." 

"  31st  January,  1814.  It  ai^pearing  that  one  man  is  wanted  for 
this  town  in  the  Royal  Congleton  Regiment  of  Local  Militia, 
ordered  that  the  constable  do  provide  a  substitute,  provided 
y3 


i6  ALTBIXCHAM   AXD    BOIFDOX. 

one  can  lie  obtained  for  two  guineas,  which  the  overseer  is 
hereby  directed  to  pay." 

'  1816.  Agreed  at  a  public  town's  meeting  held  this  ninth  day 
of  December,  1816,  in  the  Court  House,  Altrincham,  .  .  . 
that  such  persons  mthin  the  said  township,  who  are  liable  to 
be  balloted  for  to-morrow,  to  serve  in  the  militia,  and  who 
shall  subscribe  ten  shillings  a  piece,  to  be  deposited  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  William  Ashley,  to  be  applied  by  him,  with  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Pass,  in  hiring  substitutes  for 
such  of  the  said  subscribers  of  ten  shillings  a  piece,  as  may 
then  be  balloted,  shall  be  freed  from  any  further  sums  on  that 
account ;  and  that  the  surplus  money,  if  any,  wanted  to  hire 
such  substitutes  of  ten  shillings  a  piece  shall  be  paid  by  the 
overseers  of  the  poor,  and  be  allowed  by  them  in  their 
accounts." 

oth  February,  1822.  It  hanng  been  stated  to  this  meeting  that 
the  surveyors  of  the  highways  are  repairing  with  hard  material 
the  back  lane  leading  from  the  Navigation  Inn  to  Jeremy's  o' 
th'  Brook,  ordered  that  the  surveyors  are  hereby  instructed 
not  to  proceed  in  repairing  that  road  with  hard  materials." 

•23rd  April,  1822.  It  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  this  meeting 
that  it  is  expedient  to  appoint  a  select  vestry  for  managing 
the  concerns  of  the  poor  of  this  township,  pursuant  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  59th  George  the  Third,  chapter  12." 

'  18th  May,  1824.  At  a  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
township  of  Altrincham,  held  in  the  Court  House,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  considering  the  best  means  of  putting  a  stop  to  the 
alarming  increase  of  mad  dogs  in  this  neighbourhood,  and 
which  meeting  was  convened  by  public  notices  affixed  upon 
public  places  within  the  town,  and  also  by  proclamation  by 
the  bellman  ....  resolved  that  in  the  oiunion  of  this 
meeting  that  all  dogs  kept  by  the  inhabitants  of  Altrincham 
should  not  be  permitted  to  go  at  large,  but  kept  confined 
within  the  buildings  or  yards  of  the  owners  until  the  first 


ALTRINCHAM   ANT)    BOWDON.  187 

September  next,  and  that  all  clogs  found  at  large  after  due 

notice  subsequent  to  this  day  and  until  first  September  next 

should  be  destroyed." 

There  are  two  other  volumes  of  minute  books,  one  of  which 
is  taken  up  entirely  by  the  proceedings  of  the  Select  Vestry, 
and  the  other  by  the  operations  of  the  inspectors  under  the 
Lighting  and  Watching  Act,  both  of  which  will  be  found  referred 
to  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Descrijjtion  of  Allrincham  aiul  Boivdon  60  years  ago — The  old  Market 
Place  ;  its  ancient  cross,  lock-vps,  and  star  chamber — Higher  Tmcn 
hoys  V.  those  of  Loioer  Toivn — The  town  field —  An  Altrincham 
Carnival — The  loyalty  of  the  town — The  first  Altrincham  under- 
taker— Altrincham  woolcombers  and  their  Bishop  Blaize  festival — 
Boicdon  lull  baiters,  and  Altrincham  cockfighters—Salt  icorks  at 
Dunham — The  destruction  of  small  birds — The  churchwardens  and 
their  duties— Formation  of  the  Altrincham  Poor  Laiv  Union  ;  the  old 
workhouse  and  its  management — Cutting  of  the  Bowdon  line — Lloyd's 
Hospital — Introduction  of  coal  gas  into  Altrincham — Formation  of 
the  Gas  Company ;  negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  the  woi-ks  and 
their  results— Altrincham  and  Bowdon  Literary  Institution;  the 
Altrincham  and  Bowdon  Local  Boards  ;  Free  Library  and  Technical 
Schools— Royal  Visit — Altrincham  Parliamentary  Division,  members 
past  and  present ;  the  Electric  Light,  dc. 

THIS  chapter  opens  with  a  sketch  of  Altrincham  and  Boivdon 
half  a  century  or  so  ago.  The  reader  will  therefore  take 
a  walk  with  us  in  imagination,  while  some  of  their 
peculiarities  are  described.  Meeting,  say,  in  the  old  ]\Iarket  Place, 
we  find  that  it  is  called  the  Market  Place  still,  though  most  of  its 
landmarks  have  disappeared.  In  the  centre  formerly  stood  a 
small  "  public,"  known  to  posterity  as  the  Roundabout  House ; 
and  almost  under  its  shadow  were  the  old  lock-ups,  or  dungeon, 
through  the  barred  windows  of  which  the  prisoners  con- 
fined therein  could  be  seen.  These  unfortunates  were  objects 
of  great  curiosity  to  the  children,  who,  ^rith  bated  breath  and 
timid  mien,  peered  in  at  them  on  their  way  to  school ;  while  to 
their  intimate  friends  they  were  the  olijects  of  much  tender  soli- 
citude, as  they  frequently  received,  through  the  medium  of  pipes 
and  straws,  surreptitious  supplies  of  beverages,  which  were  sup- 
posed to  lighten  the  gloom  of  their  prison  house,  and  raise  their 


ALTRIXCnAM   AND    BOU'DON.  189 

sjjirits  for  the  hour  of  trial.  Those  more  favoured  hy  wealth  and 
position,  who  might  by  mischance  come  within  the  clutches  of  the 
local  Dogberry,  could,  by  the  judicious  bestowal  of  a  small  sum, 
avail  themselves  of  the  privileges  of  the  "  star  chamber,"  which 
was  an  upstairs  room  in  an  adjacent  publichouse,  and  where  they 
could  have  the  creature  comforts  they  required.  Usually,  the 
zealous  constable  removed  the  clothes  of  the  prisoners  while  con- 
fined in  the  "  star  chamber  ;"  but  they  in  some  cases  have  been 
kno'\vn  to  effect  their  escape  in  the  garb  which  nature  provided 
for  man  in  his  state  of  innocency,  to  the  great  consternation  of 
the  not  overwatchful  gaoler.  Near  the  lock-uj)s  were  the  stocks, 
an  old  form  of  punishment  which  might  be  revived  to  advantage 
in  some  cases  in  the  present  day ;  and  near  this  again  was  the 
ancient  Market  Cross,  which  was  approached  by  five  or  six  stone 
steps,  similar  to  those  in  the  other  market  towns  of  Cheshire. 
This  cross  stood  for  about  100  years  after  having  been  "rebuilt  and 
made  new"  in  1730,  by  order  of  the  Eight  Hon.  George,  Earl  of 
Warrington,  who  gave  five  pounds  towards  this  object.  On  pain 
of  a  fine  of  3s  4d.,  all  sellers  of  cheese  and  butter  were  com- 
pelled to  bring  their  produce  to  the  Cross  before  selling,  and 
no  shojjkeeper  or  forestallcr  was,  in  any  instance,  to  buy  any 
in  his  or  her  shop,  and  not  at  the  Cross  before  two  o'clock  in 
the  day,  when  the  townsfolk  had  supplied  their  wants.  Shop- 
keepers have  been  fined  for  breaches  of  this  regulation,  and  others 
ordered  to  be  indicted  at  the  sessions.  But  roundabout  house, 
lock-ups,  stocks,  and  cross  are  all  gone.  The  old  lock-ups  were 
succeeded  by  a  more  seciu-e  building,  in  George  Street  (now  used 
as  a  meeting  house)  which,  in  its  turn,  gave  place  to  the  more  con- 
venient and  conspicuous  edifice  in  Dunham  Eoad. 

Church  Street  took  its  name  from  the  fact  of  St.  George's 
Church  being  built  in  the  vicinity  ;  and  a  little  way  down  were 
the  Town  Fields.  These  fields  were  then  more  appropriately 
named,  as  they  were  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes.  Here  the 
youthful  sons  of  Altrincham  mot  to  settle  their  little  difterences. 
They  were  divided  into  two  factions — Higher  Town  boys  and 


190  ALTIUXCIIAM   AND    BOU'liOX. 

Lower  Town  boys — and  they  were  animated  with  deadly 
animosity,  the  Ixattles  royal  which  often  ensued  being  long  and 
loudly  contested.  It  was  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  too, 
some  60  or  70  years  ago,  that  an  outburst  of  loyalty  worthy  of 
the  good  old  town  took  place.  It  occurred"  at  a  time  when  Wel- 
lington had  dri\en  the  French  out  of  the  Peninsula,  and  Napoleon 
had  been  overthrown  by  the  allies  at  the  battle  of  Leipsic.  A 
town's  meeting  was  called,  and  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion 
that  a — 

General  rejoicing  should  take  place  in  consequence  of  the  recent  glorious 
news  and  the  present  state  of  public  affairs,  and  at  the  adjournment  of  this 
meeting  it  be  considered  what  mode  shall  be  adopted  for  that  purpose,  so 
as  to  give  the  most  general  joy  and  satisfaction. 

At  the  adjournment  it  was  decided  that — 

A  subscription  be  opened  for  a  bon-fire  and  fireworks,  on  the  evening 
of  Monday  next,  in  the  Bowling  Green  field  ;  and  that  Mr.  Race,  Mr. 
Collier,  Mr.  Reddish,  and  Mr.  Barratt  be  requested  to  undertake  the 
management  of  them,  with  the  assistance  of  the  constables  ;  and  that  the 
bon-fire  be  lighted  at  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  and  be  extinguished  at  ten 
o'clock,  and  that  the  fireworks  begin  at  seven  o'clock. 

That  a  public  dinner  be  held  at  the  Bowling  Green  Inn,  on  Monday 
next,  at  two  o'clock,  for  wliich  tickets  shall  be  taken  at  12s.  each,  on  or 
before  Saturday  next,  and  that  Mr.  Race,  Mr.  Collier,  Mr.  Reddish  and 
jSIr.  Barratt  be  requested  to  undertake  the  management  of  the  dinner. 

That  a  subscription  be  now  opened  for  the  purposes  aforesaid  (exclusive 
of  the  dinner),  and  be  paid  to  Mr.  Barrett,  with  whom  the  paper  shall  be 
left  for  further  subscriptions. 

That  the  Rev.  Oswald  Leicester  be  requested  to  take  the  cliair  at  the 
dinner. 

The  town  was  justly  entitled  to  celebrate  this  red-letter  epoch 
in  our  coiuitry's  history  in  a  manner  befiting  the  occasion.  It 
had  always  done  its  duty  loyally.  So  early  as  179G  we  find  the 
inhabitants  meeting  in  pvu'suance  of  an  Act  of  Parliament  for 
"raising  a  certain  number  of  men  in  the  several  counties  in  Eng- 
land for  the  service  of  His  Majesty's  army  and  navy." 
Altrincham  had  to  provide,  jointly  with  Agden,  three  men  ;  and 
it  was  decided  that  a  general  subscription  should  be  entered  into 
for  the  relief  of  any  poor  man  who  might  be  drawn  in  the  ballot, 


ALlTdXCIIAM    .IND    WIFDOX.  191 

the  balance  required  being  paid  out  of  the  town's  rates.  Any 
person  not  entering  the  subscription  was  not  entitled  to  any  relief. 
In  1803,  seven  men  were  required,  "five  and  a  half"  from  Altrin- 
cham  and  "  one  and  a  half"  from  Ashley.  Five  men  were  hired 
at  a  cost  of  £25  18s.  6d.  each,  and  two  by  John  Mills  and  John 
Barratt  at  a  cost  of  £21  10s.  each.  Towards  the  total  amount, 
Ashley  paid  £36  19s.  \0U\.,  John  Mills  and  John  Barratt  £4;i, 
and  Altrincham  the  balance.  In  some  towns  each  person  had  to 
find  a  substitute  out  of  his  own  purse,  or  go  to  the  wars  himself ; 
so  that  in  this  town  a  very  sensible  course  was  adopted  whereby 
the  rich  came  to  the  aid  of  their  less  favoured  brethren.  The 
lieges  of  Altrincham  thoroughly  enjoyed  themselves  on  the  occa- 
sion, the  ends  of  several  barrels  being  knocked  in,  in  order  that  the 
beer  might  the  more  readily  be  got  at,  and  become  the  means  of 
diffusing  "  general  joy  and  satisfaction."  The  Bowling  Green  Inn 
has  long  since  been  converted  into  a  private  dwelling. 

Eeturning  to  the  town  proper,  the  visitor  would  have  looked 
for  Stamford  Street  in  vain.  The  site  was  covered  with  gardens. 
A  short  cut  into  Lower  Town  was  eflected  by  means  of  a  narrow 
roadway  near,  known  as  the  "  Hollow  Bonk  "  or  Bank ;  but  the 
thoroughfare  was  by  Windy  harbour  (afterwards  called  King 
Street,  then  High  Street,  finally  Market  Street),  and  down  Shaw's 
Lane.  In  those  days  news  had  to  be  carried  by  post  chaise,  and 
it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  shafts  of  some  rapidly  driven 
vehicle  to  be  sent  into  the  door  of  one  of  the  large  mansions  in 
Market  Street  in  the  attempt  to  get  into  Church  Street.  It  ■^^•as 
not  until  a  fatal  accident  occurred  that  the  more  direct  route  into 
Dunham  Eoad  was  made  by  Brooks'  Bank.  Pursuing  our  way 
through  the  "  narrows "  and  down  Shaw's  Lane  we  arri\e  in 
George  Street,  then  a  cobble  or  kidney  i)aved  length,  containing 
a  number  of  thatched  cottages  and  two  or  three  farm  houses. 
What  is  now  Moss  Lane  was  then  styled  Ham  Lane.  Lower 
down  was  Well  Street,  so  called  from  a  large  well  which  was 
situated  near  the  Literary  Institution,  and  from  which  the 
inhaliitants   pumped   a   portion  of  their  daily  supply  of  ^vater. 


192  JLTllIXCHAM   AND    BOWDON. 

The  Malt  Shovels  Inn  was  a  barn,  and  the  not  very  salubrious 
region  of  Police  Street  is  still  familiarly  known  as  back  o'th'  barn. 

Retracing  our  steps  into  George  Street,  we  pass  Beggar's 
Square,  which  consisted  of  one  or  two  neat-looking  white-washed 
cottages.  A  little  higher  up  was  a  farm  house,  the  occupier  of 
which  has  some  claim  to  the  notice  of  posterity.  He  was  named 
Michael  Drinkwater,  and  may  fairly  be  set  on  a  pedestal  of  his 
own  as  the  iirst  Altrincham  undertaker  !  He  had  three  horses — 
Bobbie,  Mettle,  and  Boxer,  and  he  very  generously  gave  the 
services,  when  required,  of  one  of  these  \aluable  quadrupeds  to 
cU-aw  the  parish  hearse,  the  only  one  which  the  town  possessed — 
to  Bowdon.  "  Goose  green,"  as  the  name  will  imply,  was  formerly 
the  assembling  place  for  numerous  flocks  of  these  toothsome 
creatures,  which  were  allowed  to  roam  at  large  on  Hale  Moss, 
and  the  feeding  of  which  formed  a  very  profitable  branch  of 
business  to  several  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  mention  of  business  leads  us  to  digress  a  little  to  describe 
a  custom  once  kept  up  in  Altrincham,  but  which,  like  many 
others,  has  long  since  died  out.  This  is  the  festival  of  St.  Blaise, 
or  more  projjerly  Blasius,  and  it  will  enable  us  to  realize  to  some 
extent  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  we  meet  with  in  directories  that 
"  Altrincham  formerly  enjoyed  a  considerable  trade  in  woollen 
yarn."  St.  Blasius  was  a  bishop  of  Sebaste,  in  Ai-menia,  and 
suftered  martyrdom  a.d.  316.  He  is  the  patron  saint  of  the  craft 
of  woolcombers,  and  his  name  was  once  considered  potent  in 
ciu-ing  sore  throats.  There  were  a  large  number  of  woolcombers 
in  Altrincham,  some  of  the  masters  employing  as  many  as  30  men, 
and  the  Bishop  Blaise  festival  was  often  celebrated  with  great 
splendour.  The  procession  was  headed  by  a  band  of  music,  and, 
surroimded  by  guards,  were  a  King  and  a  Queen,  Jason,  and  the 
Princess  l\Iedea,  the  principal  figure  being  the  Bishop  himself, 
furnished  with  a  pastoral  crook,  and  attended  by  his  chaplain. 
Following  these  were  shepherds,  shepherdesses,  swains  attired  in 
bright  green,  and  woolcombers  wearing  old-fashioned  and  full- 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIFDOK.  193 

flowing  wigs  of  combed  wool.     At  some  convenient  jioint,  a  loioce 
WTitten  for  the  occasion  was  recited  to  the  following  effect : — 

Hail  to  the  day,  whose  kind  auspicious  raj^s, 
Deigned  first  to  smile  on  famous  Bishop  Blaize  ! 
To  the  great  author  of  our  combing  trade 
This  da3''s  devoted,  and  due  honours  paid  ; 
To  him  whose  fame  Britain's  isle  resounds, — 
To  him  whose  goodness  to  the  poor  abounds. 
Long  shall  his  name  in  British  annals  shine. 
And  grateful  ages  offer  at  his  shrine  ! 
By  this,  our  trade,  are  thousands  dail3'  fed. 
By  it  supplied  with  means  to  earn  their  bread. 
In  various  forms  our  trade  its  works  imparts  ; 
In  different  methods  and  by  different  arts 
Prevents  from  starving,  indigents  distressed  ; 
As  combers,  spinners,  weavers  and  the  rest. 
We  boast  no  gems,  nor  costly  garments  vain. 
Borrowed  from  India  or  the  coast  of  Spain  ; 
Our  native  soil  with  wool  our  trade  supplies. 
While  foreign  countries  envy  us  the  prize. 
No  foreign  broil  our  common  good  annoys. 
Our  country's  product  all  our  art  employs  ; 
Our  fleecy  flocks  abound  in  every  vale, 
Our  bleating  lambs  proclaim  the  joyful  tale. 
So  let  not  Spain  with  us  attempt  to  vie. 
Nor  India's  wealth  pretend  to  soar  so  high  ; 
Nor  Jason  pride  him  in  his  Colchian  spoil. 
By  hardship  gained  and  enterprising  toil  : 
Since  Britons  all  with  ease  attain  the  prize. 
And  every  hill  resounds  with  golden  cries. 
To  celebrate  our  founder's  great  renown 
Our  shepherd  and  our  shepherdess  we  crown  ; 
For  England's  commerce,  and  for  George's  s'n-ay. 
Each  loyal  subject  give  a  loud  Huzza  ! 

Bishop  Blaise  is  remembered  l^y  few,  and  machinery  has 
superseded  hand  combing,  and  has  long  had  the  best  of  the 
race. 

Having  disposed  of  our  friends  the  woolcombers,  we  pass  on, 
and  leaving  Goose  Green  come  to  the  Cock  Ring  near  to 
Denmark-street,  where  on  Shrove  Tuesday  and  at  Easter  the 
people  of  Altrincham  "enjoyed"  the  game  of  cock  fighting. 
Pinfold  Brow  is  now  Lloyd  Street ;  and  Ashley  Road  was  but  a 
lane  from  which  an  uninterrupted  view  of  the  country   to  Hale 

z3 


194  ALTRIXCHAM   AND    BOJFDOX. 

Can-  could  be  obtained.  At  tlie  foot  of  the  Downs  was  an  old 
white  house  surrounded  l\v  a  large  garden,  called  the  Dog 
Kennels,  where  a  pack  of  harriei's  was  kcjit.  By  way  of  the 
Downs,  where  the  first  houses  were  built  (near  the  entrance  to 
New  Street,)  by  Manchester  merchants,  who  were  not  slow  to 
disco\er  the  advantages  of  this  suburlian  retreat,  we  pass  Turf 
Lane,  now  St.  Margaret's  Koad,  and  reach  the  aristocratic  Firs, 
then  familiarly  known  as  "  Burying  Lane,"  with  its  projecting 
trees  forming  an  umbrageous  avenue  on  either  side,  through 
which  the  old  church  of  Bowdon  could  be  seen  in  the  distance. 
Up  this  roadway,  which  a  cart  could  scarcely  pass  over,  once 
rumbled  the  old  stage  coach,  the  sand  trickled  down  its  sides, 
and  the  children  from  the  town  resorted  thither  for  the  purpose 
of  gathering  the  blackberries,  which  grew  in  tempting  profusion 
in  the  thick  hedgerows.  One  or  two  of  its  splendid  fir  trees  still 
remain,  but  their  gradual  disajjpearance  and  the  more  modernised 
style  which  prevails  has  robbed  what  was  once  a  lo-\-ely  picture 
of  its  arcadian  simplicity. 

In  a  field  near  the  Firs  races  were  held  at  Wakes  time,  in 
which  women  took  an  active  part.  A  common  prize  was  a 
smock  or  shift,  and  in  a  programme  of  Bowdon  "Wakes  published 
in  the  early  part  of  the  centuiy  there  occm-red  the  following : — 
"  The  same  day  a  race  for  a  good  holland  smock  by  ladies  of  all 
ages,  the  second  best  to  have  a  handsome  satin  ribbon.  No  lady 
will  be  allowed  to  strip  any  further  than  the  smock  before 
starting."  There  must  siu-ely  have  been  a  good  deal  of 
competition  to  ha\-e  rendered  such  a  rule  necessary,  to  say  the 
least  of  it.  While  cock  fighting  was  congenial  to  Altrincham, 
bull  baiting  was  the  recognised  pastime  at  Bowdon.  A  noble  tree 
which  formerly  stood  in  front  of  the  Griffin  Inn,  has  at  times  had 
its  branches  crowded  with  venturesome  spectators,  who  gazed 
with  great  delight  on  the  scene  below.  There,  tied  to  a  stake, 
was  the  poor  animal,  and  forming  a  circle  round  it  were  men  with 
ferocious  bull  dogs,  which  were  let  loose  upon  it.  The  dog  which 
oftcnest  "  pinned  "  the  bull,  that  is  gripped  it  until  it  went  down 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWDON.  197 

on  its  knees  bellowing  with  agony,   was  awarded  the  palm  of 

victory — a  brass  collar.  It  was  owing  to  the  efforts  of  one  of 

Bowdon's  good  Vicars,  the  Eev.  Jas.   T.  Law,  that  the  brutal 
custom  was  abolished. 

There  will  be  little  difficulty  in  distinguishing  Higher  from 
Lower  Bowdon  ;  and  Stamford  Road  is  still  well-known  as  Sandy 
Lane;  but  few  will  remember  Heald  or  Yeald  Common,  near 
Heald  Road,  with  a  sheet  of  water  in  the  centre,  while  fewer  still 
will  recognize  Bowdon  Moss,  as  being  only  a  stone's  throw  of  the 
splendid  College  near  Langham  Road,  and  where  within  a  few 
years  many  specimens  of  bog  oak  have  been  found.  These 
specimens  are  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation,  and  the  then 
possessor  of  a  quantity,  (the  late)  Mr.  Eli  Morgan,  of  Stamford 
Cottage,  had  it  made  up  into  two  neat  hall  chairs,  which  were  shown 
at  one  of  the  exhibitions  of  works  of  art,  &c.,  held  in  Altrincham. 
Rose  Hill  was  then  a  play-ground  for  the  Bowdon  children,  and 
Richmond  Hill  was  unknown.  Having  made  a  fair  circuit,  which 
will  enable  the  reader  to  form  an  idea  of  the  rustic  appearance  of 
the  place  at  that  jieriod,  we  proceed  to  deal  ^vith  other  matters 
associated  with  its  rise  and  progress. 

Salt  works  once  existed  at  Dunham  Massey,  where  there  is 
probably  one  of  those  isolated  springs  of  brine  which  are  to  be 
found  in  some  formations  in  different  2Jarts  of  the  country,  and 
which,  so  far  as  the  brine  is  concerned,  is  as  strong  as  that  at 
Northmch  or  Winsford.  Those  who  know  the  dreary  aspect 
imparted  to  the  face  of  nature  by  the  establishment  of  these 
woi'ks,  leaving  out  of  the  question  the  damage  to  property  by 
subsidence,  will  scarcely  crave  for  active  operations  in  this  district. 

This  period,  too,  was  the  one  when  farmers  looked  upon 
small  birds  as  determined  enemies  to  their  crops  ;  and  the  small 
boys  of  the  place  received  a  large  amount  in  the  way  of  head 
money  the  constable  awarding  certain  sums  for  sparrows  and  for 


198  ALrniXCHAM    AND    BOWDOX. 

eggs.     Sometimes  this  was  done  hy  proxy,  as  at  one  of  the  public 
town's  meetings, — 

It  was  ordered  that  the  constables  do  pay  out  of  the  constable  rates, 
such  sums  of  money  as  may  be  paid  by  Mr.  Leicester  for  sparrows  killed 
and  brought  to  him,  and  that  he  be  allowed  to  pay  such  sums  for  sparrows 
as  he  may  think  proper  and  necessary. 

"While  the  small  boys  were  busy  with  the  birds,  the  church- 
wardens on  Sundays  were  busy  with  the  boys,  or  rather  with  the 
loiterers,  who  preferred  the  public-house  to  the  church.  These 
functionaries  were  often  seen  Avith  their  staves  of  office  to  issue 
from  the  sacred  fold,  and  drive  any  wandering  sheep  in  For 
this  purpose  they  scrupulously  searched  the  public-houses,  and 
there  are  cynics  in  the  jirescnt  day  mean  enough  to  insinuate  that 
this  was  not  their  only  object. 

The  Altriucham  Union  for  Poor  Law  pm-poses  was  formed  in 
18.35.  For  a  long  time  prior  to  this  attempts  had  been  made  to 
deal  with  the  constantly  increasing  pauperism  of  the  country. 
The  system  of  out-door  relief  had  led  to  oppressive  poor  rates. 
For  Altriucham,  the  workhouse  was  situated  at  Broadheath, 
having  been  built  in  1756.  This  was  carried  on  for  a  great 
number  of  years  under  the  direction  of  trustees,  although  the 
inhabitants  in  public  meeting  appeared  to  influence  their  course 
of  procedure  to  a  great  extent.  At  times  there  were  sinister 
rumours  as  to  its  management,  and  on  one  occasion  several 
gentlemen  were  appointed  to  make  an  investigation.  They 
reported  "  that  the  woman  who  acts  as  governess  says  she  is  well 
acquainted  with  every  article  received  into  the  house.  She  says 
all  in  the  house  have  great  plenty  of  what  is  good  and  useful, 
they  have  butchers'  meat  three  times  a  week ;  that  which  was  in 
the  house  was  very  good,  and  so  also  was  the  butter.  The 
bread  is  very  good,  and  the  gentlemen  so  appointed  are  fully 
satisfied  that  the  provisions  are  good  and  sufficient."  In 
1822  a  Select  Vestry  was  formed  in  Altriucham,  and  the 
administration  of  the  Poor  Law  progressed  another  stage.  Li 
their   first  report   the   membei's   express    considerable    satisfac- 


ALTUIXfllAM    AXD    BOWDOX.  199 

tioii  that  they  have  reduced  the  amount  paid  in  relief.  They 
indulge  in  a  hope  that  a  still  further  reduction  will  be  made,  and 
that  the  sentiments  of  honest  independence  by  which  the  poor  of 
this  country  were  once  characterised  will  gradually  revive  amongst 
them  ;  and  "  that  their  own  exertions,  aided  by  the  occasional 
advice  and  assistance  of  their  richer  neighbours"  (a  nice  way  of 
putting  a  pauperizing  principle)  "  will  always  remain  their  surest 
support  in  the  hour  of  distress  and  sickness."  This  pleasant 
piece  of  moonshine  is  concluded  by  an  appeal  to  the  menilicrs  of 
the  Select  Vestry  to  attend  in  large  numbers  for  the  future.  In 
the  course  of  the  following  year  the  business  of  manufacturing 
was  commenced  at  the  workhouse  at  Broadheath,  when  five  looms 
were  started,  and  the  net  earnings  which  accrued  in  this  way  and 
the  labour  of  one  of  the  inmates  reached  the  sum  of  £20  15s.  in 
about  five  months.  "  In  a  word,"  continues  the  report  (this  was 
the  second  issued),  "  the  workhouse  promises  under  good  manage- 
ment to  be  a  source  of  profit  to  the  township  ;  and  as  none  of  the 
inmates  who  are  capable  of  work  are  sufTered  to  be  idle,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  are  encouraged  to  be  industrious,  the  hope  may  be 
entertained,  that  should  the  lumiber  of  them  increase,  the  advan- 
tage will  be  augmented  in  the  same  proportion."  The  accounts 
for  this  period,  therefore,  show  an  indiscriminate  mixture  of  warps 
and  weft,  of  healds,  and  shafts  and  shuttles,  with  buttermilk,  salt, 
smocks  and  frocks,  and  crockery ;  but  in  spite  of  these  glowing 
accounts,  there  was,  not  many  years  afterwards,  a  rate  of  three 
shillings  in  the  pound  laid  for  Poor  Law  purposes,  the  assessment 
of  the  town  at  this  time  being  £3,500.  Probably  the  expenditure 
was  greatly  reduced  in  subsequent  years  ;  for  in  an  abstract  of 
the  receipts  and  payments  concerning  the  workhouse  of  the  town- 
ship of  Altrincham  in  1S3I,  the  expenditure  for  30  weeks  is  given 
at  £52  Is.  4d.  Another  entry  shows  the  average  number  of 
inmates  to  have  been  14  1-15,  the  cost  of  victualling  per  week 
Is.  6Jd ,  clothing  Is.  8|d.  ;  and  these,  with  other  incidental 
expenses,  made  a  total  of  3s,  5id.  per  head  per  week.  For  this 
amount,  as  wc  have  already  seen,  the  paupers  were  allowed  the 
AA 


200  ALTllIXCHAM    AXD    BOJVDOX. 

luxury  of  "flesh  mate,"  as  butcher's  meat  is  spelled  in  the 
accounts,  three  times  a  week.  Speaking  of  "  flesh  mate"  reminds 
us  that  on  one  occasion  the  visitors  appointed  by  the  Vestry  were 
directed  to  purchase  a  piece  of  beef,  not  exceeding  12  pounds,  to 
be  sent  down  to  the  workhouse  for  a  feast  on  New  Year's  Day, 
"and  that  a  glass  of  ale  be  allowed  to  such  of  the  inmates  as  the 
governor  may  think  fit  to  allow  such  an  indulgence." 

For  some  time,  however,  matters  did  not  work  smoothly  in 
local  bumbledom.  The  governor,  notwithstanding  his  numerous 
privileges  and  handsome  salary  (£10  a  year)  was  a  man  of  hasty 
temper,  as  governors  of  the  old  stamp  are  said  by  tradition  to 
have  been.  At  one  of  the  meetings  of  the  select  vestry,  Mr.  John 
Lupton  informed  his  fellow  members  that  he  had  been  grossly 
insulted  by  the  governer  who  had  threatened  to  strike  him  !  Such 
conduct  could  not  of  course  be  permitted.  He  was  ordered  to 
appear  before  them,  and  produced  Mr.  John  Warren,  who,  he  said, 
was  fully  acquainted  with  the  circumstances.  Mr.  Warren, 
however,  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  beyond  that  the  governor 
was  in  a  state  of  "  extreme  intoxication  "  at  the  time.  The 
tables  being  thus  unexpectedly  turned,  the  governor  admitted 
what  was  said  to  be  correct,  and  added  that  "  he  did  not  know 
how  the  thing  began  or  ended,"  and  having  apologized,  his  oft'ence 
was  overlooked. 

But  this  governoi  was  soon  in  greater  difficulties  than  ever. 
At  a  meeting  held  on  the  21st  May,  1828,  the  overseer  of  the 
poor  intimated  that  the  governess  of  the  workhouse  had  fled, 
"  taking  her  clothes  with  her,  that  her  husband  does  not  know 
where  she  has  gone,  or  whether  she  means  to  return."  The 
vestry  was  very  accommodating.  The  overseer  was  directed  "  to 
keep  an  eye  to  the  workhouse,"  the  governor  in  the  meantime 
to  go  in  search  of  his  runaway  spouse, — if  he  should  feel  so 
inclined.  Whether  he  departed  on  this  mission  or  not  does  not 
appear  ;  Init  a  week  afterwards  it  is  reported  that  the  governess 
has  not  yet  returned,  "  nor  is  there  any  probability  she  will 
return."     This  was  more  than  the  vestry  could  submit  to.       The 


ALTRINCnAM    AND    BOWDON.  201 

governor  was  instantly  discharged,  and  when  appointing  a 
successor  great  cautiousness  was  evinced,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
stipulated  that  if  the  new  go\-ernor  and  governess  did  not  come 
up  to  expectation,  they  would  be  expected  to  quit  the  house  and 
give  up  the  situation  in  a  month.  They  gave  satisfaction  ;  for 
soon  afterwards  it  was  "  Eesolved  that  this  meeting  is  of  opinion 
that  the  governor  of  the  workhouse  be  allowed  to  occupy  and  use 
one  of  the  looms  in  the  weaving  shop  for  the  purpose  of  weaving 
in  himself,  and  that  he  be  allowed  to  take  to  his  own  the  earnings 
therefrom,  he  having  requested  that  such  liberty  should  be 
allowed  to  him. " 

"We  will  now  draw  a  veil  over  the  difficulties  of  the  Select 
Vestry  in  respect  of  workhouse  management ;  and  on  turning  to 
the  outdoor  system,  we  find  it  was  not  distinguished  by  that 
economy  which  is  usually  looked  for.  The  rents  of  different 
parties  were  paid,  and  to  such  an  extent  was  this  carried,  that  on 
several  occasions  it  became  a  question  of  compounding  with  the 
landlords  in  a  body.  This  was  not,  however,  confined  to  the 
town.  The  overseers  had  often  to  go  great  distances  to  extricate 
Altrincham  men  and  women,  who  were  unable  to  meet  their 
engagements.  The  entries,  too,  are  sometimes  mysterious.  For 
instance,  the  Government  Auditor  now-a-days  would  probably 
require  to  have  the  meaning  of  the  following  fully  explained  : — 

Resolved,  upon  the  application  of  (name  given)  that  a  donation  of  £3 
be  made  to  him  to  enable  him  to  liberate  himself  from  some  difficulty  under 
which  it  appears  to  this  meeting  he  is  at  present  labouring. 

For  some  time  after  the  formation  of  the  Union,  the  meetings 
of  the  Guardians  were  held  at  Altrincham,  which  place  was 
considered  the  most  central  and  convenient,  and  from  this 
circumstance  the  Union  obtained  its  name.  Difficulties,  however, 
arose,  more  particularly  in  the  acquisition  of  a  proper  site  for  the 
Union  Workhouse  which  was  ultimately  built  at  Knutsford. 
Altrincham  is  represented  by  five  Guardians ;  Bowdon  and 
Dunham  Massey  by  two  each.  In  March,  1895,  the  name  was 
changed  from  Altrincham  to  Bucklow.        The  Rural   Sanitary 

AA3 


'202  JLTJUXrilAM    J XI'    liOlVDON. 

Authority  was  formed  in  August,  1872,  and  was  created  the 
Bucklow  Rural  District  Council  in  1895,  Mr.  Wm.  Hough,  J. P. 
being  the  first  chairman. 

In  1842,  the  chartists  or  "  Le\'elicrs  "  paid  a  \isit  to  Altiincham. 
In  order  to  prevent  a  descent  on  Dunham  Hall,  the  Earl  of 
Stamford  of  that  time  ordered  several  barrels  of  beer,  cheese,  and 
baskets  of  bread,  to  be  placed  on  the  fringe  of  the  Park,  near  the 
present  Green  "Walk  gate,  which  good  things  the  rioters  eagerly 
consumed.  In  Stamford  Street,  where  Mr.  John  Siddeley  now 
resides  there  was  a  ladies'  boarding  school,  the  mistress  concealed 
all  her  valuables  and  the  greatest  part  of  her  money,  only  keeping 
a  few  shillings  at  hand  ;  she  dressed  herself  in  clothes  which 
belonged  to  her  cook,  and  when  the  rioters  came  to  the  school  and 
demanded  money  &c.,  she  gave  them  the  trifle  she  had  by  her, 
and  pleaded  that  she  had  a  very  hard  mistress,  who  gave  her  but 
scanty  wages,  and  so  escaped  any  further  loss,  the  servants  and 
several  of  the  boarders  had  to  turn  ont  their  pockets  and  contents 
of  their  boxes. 

In  July,  1845,  the  Act  for  making  the  Manchester,  South 
Junction,  and  Altrincham  Kailway  was  passed.  It  authorized 
the  raising  of  £400,000  (£133,333  by  loans)  for  a  length  of  nine 
miles  thirty  chains.  By  this  Act  the  Manchester,  Sheffield,  and 
Lincolnshire  I-ia,ilway  Company  were  authorised  to  subscribe 
£175,000,  and  subsequently  the  same  Company,  in  conjunction 
with  the  London  and  North-Western  Eailway  Company,  purchased 
the  Earl  of  Ellesmere's  original  share  in  the  South  Junction  and 
Altrincham  line— the  Earl  undertaking  to  stop  the  plying  of  the 
"  swift "  passenger  boat  on  the  Bridgewater  Canal,  when  the 
railway  was  opened.  Hitherto  this  packet  boat  had  formed  the 
only  means  of  "  swift " — as  it  was  certainly  thought  then — 
communication  with  Manchester,  and  judging  from  the  remarks 
made  at  that  time  concerning  the  canal,  which  was  described 
as  "  black  and  filthy,"  winding  like  some  huge  snake  amongst 
the  meadows,  emitting  an  exceedingly  offensi\'e  and  noisome 
stench,  the  formation  of  the  new  line  woidd  no  doubt  be  hailed 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOWTiOX.  203 

with  joy  and  gladness.  The  railway  is  divided  into  two  poi'tions, 
the  South  Junction  line  and  the  Altrincham  line.  The  first-named 
is  one  and  three  quarter  miles  in  length,  commencing  at  London- 
road  Station,  curving  from  west  to  east  along  the  south  side  of 
the  town,  and  connects  every  railway,  having  its  terminus  in 
Manchester,  the  one  with  the  other.  Ground  for  the  construction 
of  both  lines  was  broken  near  Knott  Mill,  about  six  months  after 
the  passing  of  the  Act,  but  for  a  period  of  a  year  and  a  half  the 
works  were  paralysed,  chiefly  owing  to  want  of  funds,  the 
commercial  crisis,  and  the  state  of  the  money  market.  The  line 
was,  however,  opened  on  July  20th,  1849,  for  both  goods  and 
passenger  traffic.  The  Altrincham  line  proper,  with  which  we 
are  more  immediately  concerned,  commences  in  Castle  Field,  about 
200  or  300  yards  from  the  Knott  Mill  Station.  Here  it  di\-erges 
from  the  South  Junction  line,  passing  through  Castle  Field  close 
to  the  canal,  and  goes  under  the  Altrincham  turnpike-road 
to  Old  Trafford  by  a  slightly  curved  tunnel,  the  only  one  on  the 
line  of  1,144  yards  in  length.  After  leaving  Old  Trafford,  which 
is  just  two  miles  from  Oxford  Road,  the  lines  pursues  a  straight 
and  nearly  level  course  until  Edge  Lane,  or  what  is  now  better 
known  as  Strctfonl  Station,  is  reached.  Hence  the  line  is  carried 
through  the  level  vale  of  the  Mersey  ;  and  Sale,  Brooklands  and 
Timperley  Stations  appear  in  succession.  At  that  time  Altrin- 
cham, just  eight  miles  distant  from  Oxford  Road,  was  the 
terminal  station  of  the  line.  It  was  afterwards  carried  on  to 
near  the  foot  of  the  Downs,  and  although  the  station  is  called 
Bowdon  Station,  it  is  really  in  the  Township  of  Altrincham,  and 
nearly  one  mile  distant  from  Bowdon  Church.  The  first  train 
from  Altrincham  left  the  station  at  eight  o'clock,  July  20th,  1849, 
with  65  passengers,  and  notwithstanding  a  delay  of  several 
minutes  at  Stretford,  reached  Oxford  Road  Station  before  nine 
o'clock  !  The  next  train,  which  was  the  express,  left  Altrincham 
at  8-40,  contained  15  passengers,  all  first-class,  and  accomplished 
the  eight  miles  in  18  minutes.  The  next  train,  at  nine  a.m., 
reached  Oxford  Road  within  the  hulf-hmu'  with  40  passengers. 


204  ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOWDON. 

This  was  all  done  in  face  of  the  formidable  competition  of  a 
number  of  omnibusses.  Since  then,  considerable  modifications 
have  been  made ;  and  the  Bowdon  line,  as  it  is  now  familiarly 
called,  ranks  as  one  of  the  best  managed  in  the  kingdom.  The 
present  Altrincham  and  Bowdon  Station  was  opened  in  April, 
1881. 

Prominent  among  the  charities  of  the  town,  and  probably  the 
most  beneficial  to  the  inhabitants,  although  not  the  most  ancient, 
is  Lloyd's  Fever  Hospital.  The  poor  and  afflicted  we  have  with 
us  always,  and  there  is  a  large  amount  of  human  suffering  which 
has  to  be  dealt  with  promptly,  or  the  common  weal  might  suffer. 
Mr.  Edward  .Jeremiah  Lloyd,  of  Oldfield  Hall,  was  a  practical 
philanthropist.  He  left  by  will  a  certain  sum  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  and  endowing  a  hospital  for  the  reception  and  benefit  of 
the  poor  inhabitants  of  Altrincham  and  Bowdon  afflicted  >vith 
fever  or  other  diseases  of  an  infectious  or  contiigious  nature. 
This  hospital  was  erected  on  a  site  on  Hale  Moss  given  by  the 
Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington,  the  total  cost  being  £600. 
The  land  and  buildings  were  vested  in  12  trustees,  of  which  the 
Earl  of  Stamford,  for  the  time  being,  is  one,  new  trustees  being 
appointed  as  occasion  requires.  After  doing  excellent  work  for  a 
long  period,  it  was  in  1878  handed  over  to  the  Altrincham  Local 
Board  for  a  term  of  21  j-ears,  at  a  rent  of  £-50  a  year.  The 
trustees  bound  themselves  to  contribute  a  sum  not  exceeding  one- 
half  the  clear  income  of  the  said  charity  in  aid  of  the  funds  of  the 
hospital,  this,  however,  being  conditional  on  the  hospital  being 
carried  on  by  the  Local  Board  to  their  satisfaction.  The  residue 
of  the  income  was  to  be  applied,  under  conditions,  in  aid  of  the 
funds  of  any  well-established  Lifirmary,  Hospital,  or  Institution, 
including  the  Altrincham  Provident  Dispensary,  treating  cases  of 
accident,  or  receiving  convalescent  patients. 

The  Altrincham  Provident  Dispensary,  of  \\hich  notice  is 
taken  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  is  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the 
Fever  Hospital.  It  was  erected  out  of  funds  accruing  from  the 
Altrincham  "Workhouse  Charity.     This  charity  arose  out  of  an 


ALTRINCHAM   AXD    BOU'DOX.  205 

indenture  of  grant  dated  22nd  December,  1755,  between  the 
Right  Honourable  George,  Earl  of  Warrington,  on  the  one  part, 
and  various  residents  of  the  town  on  the  other  part,  which  recites 
that  a  certain  piece  of  ground  (being  part  of  the  waste  in 
Altrincham)  called  Broadheath,  belonging  to  the  said  Earl  of 
Warrington,  as  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Altrincham,  and  containing 
4^  acres  of  land,  Cheshire  measure,  or  8J  acres,  statute  measure, 
had,  with  the  consent  of  the  said  Earl,  been  enclosed,  in  order 
that  a  workhouse  for  the  said  borough  or  manor  might  be  built 
on  part  thereof,  by  voluntary  contributions  or  otherwise,  the 
residue  of  the  said  ground  being  improved  for  the  benefit  of  the 
said  poor.  The  Earl  consented  to  vest  this  land  in  certain  parties 
for  ever,  paying  a  yeaily  rent  of  5s.,  upon  trust ;  the  workhouse 
or  poorhouse  as  soon  as  built  to  be  used  bj'  the  overseers  of  the 
poor,  for  the  poor  of  the  town  of  Altrincham.  In  1831  these 
premises  became  by  deed  vested  in  John  Mort,  Edward  Jeremiah 
Lloyd,  Isaac  Harrop,  Hugo  Worthington,  Charles  Poole,  John 
Barratt,  and  John  Mort,  junior ;  and  a  portion  of  the  land,  about 
two  acres  in  extent,  was  sold  to  the  Warrington  and  Stockport 
Railway  Co.  for  £2,243  10s.  lOd ,  which  was  invested  under  an 
order  in  Chancery  in  the  purchase  of  £2,343  2s.  8d.  Three  per 
cent.  Consuls.  A  building  had  been  constructed  on  the  land,  and 
was  for  a  long  period  used  as  a  workhouse  for  the  poor  of 
Altrincham,  and  the  rents  and  profits  of  the  residue  of  the  waste 
ground  were  applied  in  accordance  with  the  trust.  The  premises 
were  subsequently  converted  into  cottages,  and  occupied  by  the 
workmen  employed  by  the  Bridgewater  Trustees.  Great  public 
apathy  exi.sted  in  reference  to  this  Chai'ity  and  its  application, 
but  in  1858  a  committee  of  the  Altrincham  Ratepayers'  Associa- 
tion, of  which  Mr.  Thomas  Partington  was  the  honorary  secretary, 
addressed  certain  communications  to  the  overseers,  and  after  a 
long  correspondence,  in  which  the  assistance  of  the  Charity 
Commissioners  was  invoked,  in  July,  1860,  a  scheme  was  drawn 
up  for  the  application  of  the  income,  or  a  sufficient  part  thereof, 
to  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  baths  and   washhouses  : 


206  ALTRIXCHAM    AND    BOJFDOX. 

the  remainder  of  the  annual  income  not  required  for  these 
purposes  to  be  given  for  the  benefit  of  deserving  resident  poor  of 
the  parish.  The  Vice-Chancellor  approved  of  the  establishment 
of  baths  and  washhouses ;  but  no  such  buildings  were  erected, 
owing  to  legal  difficulties  arising,  which  need  not  be  discussed 
here.  Most  of  the  Trustees  having  in  the  meantime  retired  or 
died,  new  trustees  were  appointed,  who  set  to  work  with 
determination,  and  the  result  was  the  erection  of  the  Provident 
Dispensary  as  being  most  likely  to  be  of  the  greatest  use  to  the 
poorer  inhabitants  of  the  township.  The  foundation  stone  of  the 
new  building  was  laid  in  September,  1869;  in  a  cavity  being 
deposited  a  document,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : — 

The  corner  stone  of  this  Dispensary  and  Hospital,  erected  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  Altrincham  Workhouse  Charity,  under  the  sanction  of  the 
High  Court  of  Chancery,  was  laid  by  Henry  Hall,  Esquire,  the  agent  of 
the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington,  the  Lord  of 
the  Manor  of  Altrincham,  on  Tuesday  the  2Sth  day  of  September,  a.d., 
1869,  in  the  year  of  the  Mayoralty  of  James  Southern,  Esquire;  trustees, 
Samuel  Barratt,  (chairman),  Joseph  Gaskarth,  John  Davenport,  Matthew 
Fowden,  William  Greenwood,  John  Astle  Kelsall,  William  Hill  Parkes, 
John  Balshaw,  John  Shelmerdine  Mort,  ;  treasurer,  Thomas  Riley  Knight ; 
secretary,  Charles  Heaton  Hinde;  law  clerks,  NichoUs,  Sudlow  and  Hinde ; 
architect,  Peter  Pons ;  chief  contractor,  John  Douglas  ;  sub-contractors, 
Humphrey  Davies,  brickwork,  Isaac  Drinkwater,  stonework,  and  Charles 
Walton,  plumbing,  glazing,  &c. 

The  institution  has  its  main  front  to  Bowdon  Road  or  Market 
Street,  and  has  a  most  imposing  appearance. 

The  yearly  allowance  of  £5  from  Dame  Elizabeth  Booth's 
charity  has  been  already  noticed.  There  are  two  or  three  other 
bread  charities  in  the  district :  John  Barratt,  Esquire,  left,  by  will, 
£200  to  be  invested,  and  the  dividend  to  be  given  in  bread  to  such 
of  the  poor  people  of  Altrincham  as  attended  Divine  service  at 
St.  George's  Church  ;  and  William  Chapman,  of  Hale,  in  1714, 
charged  an  estate  in  Hale  with  a  yearly  rent  charge  of  £2,  payable 
to  the  churchwardens  at  Christmas,  to  be  laid  out  in  the  purchase 
of  bread  for  the  poor  of  Bowdon  parish,  for  ever,  respect  being 
had  to  the  poor  of  Hale  especially,  to  be  given  to  the  poor 
every  Sunday  for  ever.      Robert  Twemlow,   of  Altrincham,  in 


ALTRINCIIAM   AAW    BOJVDON.  207 

1826,  left  £100  to  the  Vicar  and  churchwardens  in  rathei-  a 
different  way.  He  directed  that  the  interest  should  be  "laid  out 
in  the  purchase  of  threepenny  loaves,  to  be  made  of  sound  house- 
hold flour,  and  to  be  distributed  on  each  Sacrament  Sunday." 
The  sum  of  £267,  left  by  George  Norman  (£40),  Edward  Leigh, 
Esq.  (£100),  Mrs.  Mary  Booth  (£5),  River  Bellfontaine  (£11), 
Joseph  Walton  (£10),  the  Earl  of  Stamford  (£52  lOs.),  and  others 
(£19),  was  invested  in  Three  per  Cents.,  and  the  annual  income 
is  expended  in  the  purchase  of  bread  and  distributed  weekly,  on 
every  Sunday,  among  the  poor  of  the  parish  of  Bowdon,  by  the 
churchwardens  for  the  time  being.  Mrs.  Holland  also  gave  a 
certain  sum  for  bread  to  be  distributed  amongst  the  poor  attending 
St.  George's  Church.  Cooper's  charity  arises  out  of  a  house  and 
land  at  Partington,  given  in  1807,  the  clear  rent  being  distributed, 
on  every  Christmas  Day,  yearly  amongst  such  of  the  poor  house- 
holders or  inhabitants  of  Altrincham,  50  years  old  and  upwards, 
as  the  Vicar  of  Bowdon,  the  Minister  of  St.  George's,  the  warden 
or  wardens  of  the  said  chapel,  and  the  owner  of  D6lahey's  farm 
in  Timperley  for  the  time  being,  should  appoint.  Each  poor 
person  was  not  to  have  more  than  40s.  and  not  less  than  20s., 
and  it  is  generally  distributed  in  money  to  the  recipients.  The 
Earl  of  Warrington  left  in  1754  the  sum  of  £5,000,  the  annual 
proceeds  to  be  yearly  for  ever  applied  in  placing  out  poor 
children,  in  the  parish  of  Bowdon,  apprentices,  or  for  sending 
them  to  school,  or  for  the  clothing  of  them,  or  for  the  clothing 
or  other  relief  of  aged  or  infirm  poor  inhabitants  of  the  said 
parish.  The  application  is  restricted  to  these  charitable  purposes 
only,  particular  regard  being  had  to  the  township  of  Dunham, 
and  to  such  chiefly  as  do  not  receive  relief  from  the  overseers  of 
the  poor.  The  sum  of  £5,610  2s.  belonging  to  this  charity  has 
for  a  long  period  been  invested  in  the  Three  per  Cent.  Reduced 
Bank  Annuities,  and  the  interest  received  is  distributed  by  such 
Trustees  as  the  possessor  of  Dunham  Massey  from  time  to 
time  appoints.  In  the  years  1813  and  1816,  Sarah  and  Elizabeth 
Cooke,  of  Altrincham,  by  will,  gave  £200  to  the  officiating  clergy- 


208  ALTRIXCHAM   AXD    BOIFDON. 

man  and  wardens  of  St.  George's,  and  to  the  Vicar  and  church- 
wardens of  Bowdon,  to  be  invested,  and  the  dividends  applied 
half  to  the  poor,  and  half  to  the  education  of  poor  children  in 
the  Sunday  Schools  upon  a  Sunday.  If  the  Sunday  Schools  in 
Bowdon  or  Altrincham  are  discontinued,  then  the  whole  goes  to 
the  poor.  The  sum  of  £2  per  annum,  left  by  the  Rev.  John 
Ashton,  of  Calton  Green,  Staffordshire,  in  1722,  is  payable  to  and 
is  distributed  by  the  overseei-s  of  the  poor  of  Altrincham  amongst 
the  poorest  inhabitants  of  that  township.  A  like  rent  charge  of 
£2  per  annum  is  paid  in  aid  as  a  subscription  by  the  overseers  to 
Bowdon  Parish  schools  for  the  teaching  of  so  many  poor  children, 
inhabitants  of  Altrincham,  as  the  Vicar  of  Bowdon  shall  think 
fit.  A  rather  peculiar  charity  is  that  by  which  the  interest  on 
the  sum  of  £110  is  applied  as  follows  : — £1  lOs.  to  the  Sunday 
School  at  Altrincham  ;  £1  to  the  Sunday  School  at  Carrington  ; 
£1  to  be  distributed  in  religious  books  in  Carrington  and  Parting- 
ton ;  and  the  remainder  in  Bibles  and  Common  Prayer  Books  to 
be  given  among  the  poor  of  Bowdon  parish  as  the  owner  of 
Dunham  JMassey  may  think  proper,  pursuant  to  the  will  of  George 
Cooke,  dated  9th  November,  1790. 

An  important  epoch  in  the  town's  history  was  the  introduction 
of  coal  gas,  in  the  year  1844,  by  Mr.  George  Massey,  the  then 
landlord  of  the  Unicorn  Hotel,  who  put  down  a  small  works  near 
the  present  bowling  green.  It  must  not  be  inferred,  however, 
that  there  had  been  no  previous  attempt  at  lighting  the  town.  In 
1832  the  Lighting  and  Watching  Act  was  adojjted,  and  what  has 
been  derisively  called  the  "Charlie"  system  came  into  vogue. 
There  had  been  watchmen  before,  no  doubt,  as  there  had  been 
great  men  before  Agamemnon  ;  but  henceforth  they  were  to  be 
invested  with  more  official  dignity.  They  were  to  be  provided 
with  large  "blue  coats,  with  red  collars;"  they  were  to  cirry 
"lanthorns,"  and  were  ordered  to  call  the  hours  of  the  night  when 
on  duty.  A  public  subscription  set  up  oil  lamps,  and  watch 
boxes,  in  the  latter  of  which  it  is  no  fiction  to  state— for  the 
minutes  oft  record  it — the  watchmen  enjoyed  many  a  comfortable 


ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOJFDON.  209 

sleep.  At  times  the  calling  of  the  hours  was  voted  a  nuisance. 
It  appears  to  have  been  finally  dispensed  with  in  1852,  the  watch 
boxes  having  been  removed  four  years  previously.  The  first 
public  gas  lamp  was  put  up  outside  the  Unicorn  Hotel  ;  and  Mr. 
William  Walton,  then  a  town's  constable,  but  for  many  years  the 
respected  station  master  at  Bowdon  old  station,  lighted  it  amid 
the  most  intense  excitement  on  the  part  of  the  townspeople. 
The  superiority  of  the  new  light  being  made  manifest,  measures 
were  taken  for  supplying  gas  on  a  more  extended  scale  ;  and  in 
March,  1846,  the  Altrincham  Gas  Co.  was  registered  with  a 
capital  of  £4,000,  in  800  shares  of  £5  each.  This  Company 
purchased  the  existing  establishment  ;  but  as  it  was  totally 
inadequate  to  their  requirements,  the  Directors  chose  the  present 
site  on  Hale  Moss,  then  nearly  half  a  mile  from  the  nearest 
inhabited  part  of  the  town,  as  being  the  least  objectionable.  The 
new  works  were  opened  on  the  29th  May,  1847  ;  and  the  price 
of  gas  at  that  time  was  ten  shillings  per  thousand  feet.  Three 
years  afterwards  it  was  reduced  to  8s.  4d.,  which  was  said  by  the 
Local  Government  Insj^ector,  at  an  enquiry  concerning  a  Local 
Board,  to  be  much  above  the  average  charge  for  gas  in  other 
towns  ;  and  his  report  embodied  a  suggestion  that  the  Local 
Board,  when  formed,  should  treat  for  the  purchase  of  the  Gas 
Works,  in  order  that  they  might  be  managed  for  the  benefit  of 
the  ratepayers  generally.  Efforts  were  made  from  time  to  time 
with  this  object  in  view ;  but  in  each  instance  have  they  proved 
futile.  In  1871  there  appeared  to  be  some  probability  of  a 
successful  issue,  the  price  named  being  £57,000  ;  but  at  a  town's 
meeting  held  in  July,  1871,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  a  large 
majority  that  no  further  action  be  taken.  In  1872,  several  inter- 
views took  place  between  the  Local  Board  and  the  Gas  Company's 
directors,  and  an  offer  was  made  to  them  of  £52,000  or  £13  per 
share  for  4,000  shares  ;  the  directors  offering  to  sell  at  £55,000. 
They  had,  in  the  first  instance,  named  £60,000  as  the  sum,  but 
subsequently  they  reduced  this  to  £54,000.  The  difference  of 
£2,000  was  the  rock  upon  which  the  aflair  collapsed.  Firmness  to 
EB3 


210  ALTBINCHAM   AND    BOIVDON. 

their  limits  was  maintained  by  both  parties ;  and  ultimately  the 
Company  intimated  that  they  did  not  consider  themselves  bound 
by  their  offer,  having  left  it  open  for  a  certain  time  for  the  Local 
Board's  acceptance  or  rejection.  The  Company  obtained  an  Act 
of  Incorporation,  which  received  the  Royal  assent  June  3rd,  1872. 
By  this  Act  they  are  placed  under  certain  restrictions  in  regard  to 
the  supply  of  gas  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  district ;  they  are 
amongst  other  things  bound  to  keep  up  the  quality  to  a  certain 
illuminating  power,  and  the  maximum  price  is  fixed  by  the  Act, 
as  is  also  the  maximum  amount  of  dividend  to  be  paid.  In  1893 
the  Gas  Company  were  once  more  approached  on  the  subject  of 
the  purchase  of  the  undertaking  by  the  then  Local  Board.  After 
protracted  negotiations  an  understanding  was  arrived  at  between 
the  Directors  of  the  Company  and  the  Board  whereby  the  works, 
plant,  and  other  rights,  privileges,  &c.,  should  be  transferred  to 
the  township  of  Altrincham  for  a  sum  of  £162,500.  The  pro- 
posal, however,  was  unanimously  rejected  at  a  public  meeting  of 
ratepayers. 

The  Altrincham  and  Bowdon  Literary  Institution  has  the 
honour  of  a  mention  in  the  last  edition  of  Ormerod's  Cheshire, 
of  which  it  is  in  every  respect  deserving.  It  was  established  in 
the  year  1847  in  most  humble  premises  at  the  top  of  Victoria 
Street.  The  promoters  intended  by  "  means  of  a  well-selected 
Library,  a  Beading  or  News-room,  Lectures  and  Evening  Classes, 
to  supply,  to  the  young  men  of  the  neighbourhood,  opportunities 
of  mental  cultivation  and  improvement,  at  a  cheap  rate,  at  the 
same  time  that  it  affords  to  the  adult  inhabitants  a  rational  and 
agreeable  mode  of  spending  their  leisure  hours."  It  was  well 
supported,  and  was  so  successful  that  in  1852  the  present  institu- 
tion was  erected  by  subscription,  atacost,  including  fittings,  of  about 
£800.  There  was  then  a  large  news-room,  and  three  good  class- 
rooms, land  adjoining  being  left  for  the  future  growth  of  the  insti- 
tution ;  this  was  taken  up  by  the  splendid  lecture  hall,  which  was 
opened  in  November,  1866,  at  a  cost  of  £800.  Its  management 
was  vested   in  a  Board  of  Trustees  and   Directors,    a    certain 


ALTUINCIIAM    AXD    BOWDON.  213 

number  of  the  latter  retiring  annually,  whose  election  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  members.  The  Lecture  Hall  was  destroyed  by  fire 
in  November,  1878,  and  was  rebuilt  on  an  enlarged  basis. 

The  time  rapidly  approached,  however,  when  Altrincham  was 
to  give  an  opinion  on  the  Free  Libraries'  question.  In  September, 
1889,  a  poll  of  the  inhabitants  was  taken,  with  the  following 
result :— For  the  adoption  of  the  Act,  1,159  ;  against,  421 ;  giving 
a  majority  of  738  in  favour  of  the  adoption  of  the  Act.  In  1892, 
after  protracted  negotiations  between  the  Altrincham  Local  Board 
and  the  Directors  of  the  Literary  Institution,  the  buildings,  with 
Library  and  various  classes,  were  transferred  to  the  town. 
Saturday,  October  1st,  witnessed  the  important  ceremony  of 
opening  the  Free  Library.  Temporary  premises  were  found  in  the 
Building  Society's  rooms  (now  Oddfellows'  Hall),  Market  Street, 
where  news-rooms  were  provided,  and  the  Library  of  about  5,000 
volumes  housed.  A  donation  of  £300  was  made  by  the  Trustees 
of  the  Mayor's  Land  Charity — £100  for  the  purchase  of  books, 
and  £200  for  current  expenses.  A  number  of  gentlemen  were 
entertained  in  the  evening  at  the  Town  Hall,  by  Mr.  John 
Newton,  the  chairman  of  the  Free  Libraries'  and  Technical 
Instruction  Committee.  The  Local  Board  also  adopted  the 
Technical  Instruction  Act,  and  thereupon  the  Cheshire  County 
County  Council  contributed  the  sum  of  £496  to  the  Building 
Fund  of  the  Technical  School,  George  Street.  Meantime  building 
operations  in  connection  with  the  enlargement  of  the  Lecture  Hall 
and  Technical  School  were  vigorously  carried  on,  the  sum  of 
£4,000  being  borrowed  by  the  Local  Board  for  Free  Library  and 
Technical  Instruction  purposes.  This  amount  was  largely  supple- 
mented by  private  donations.  "  The  nucleus  of  the  new  buildings 
was  in  the  old  Literary  Institute,  and  additional  land  having  been 
purchased,  they  were  erected  from  designs  of  Mr.  Frank 
Popple  well,  architect,  of  Manchester.  The  large  hall  will  now 
seat  700  persons,  and  its  capacity  and  convenience  have  already 
been  well  tested.  Indeed  what  has  now  been  carried  out  is 
almost  entirely  on  the  lines  suggested  after  the  building  was  burnt 


214  ALTRINCHAM    AND    BOIFDOX. 

down  13  or  14  years  ago,  but  which  want  of  funds  then  prevented. 
The  library  has  space  for  12,000  volumes.  The  elevation  in 
George  Street  has  been  extended  to  about  three  times  its  original 
length,  but  its  appearance  would  be  decidedly  enhanced  were  it 
placed  on  rising  ground,  instead  of  having  its  first  storey  practi- 
cally buried.  The  new  gable,  however,  rises  prominently 
above  the  other  parts,  with  corbelled  out  pinnacles  on  each  side, 
and  a  large  window  with  pointed  head,  which  is  certainly  a 
redeeming  feature  and  decidedly  handsome.  The  surplus  land  on 
the  west  and  south  sides  has  been  tastefully  planted  by  Messrs. 
AV.  Clibran  and  Son,  of  Oldfield  Nurseries.  In  the  Technical 
School  are  lofty  and  spacious  rooms  for  the  art  classes,  as  also  for 
other  departments  for  cooking,  laundry,  dressmaking,  short- 
hand, &c.  The  principal  contractors  were  Messrs.  Wm.  Lambert 
and  Son,  Hale  Road,  Altrincham  ;  and  the  sub-contractors: — 
Mr.  R.  Campbell,  joiner ;  Mr.  J.  H.  Holt,  mason ;  Messrs.  H. 
and  J.  Drinkwater,  plasterers ;  Mr.  Joseph  Gallimore,  painter ; 
Mr.  Thomas  Vernon,  smith ;  and  Mr.  James  Smith,  Mill  Street, 
heating  apparatus.  The  plumbing  work  has  been  carried  out  by 
Messrs.  Josiah  Drinkwater  and  Sons. 

With  an  increasing  population  the  adoption  of  the  provisions 
of  the  Public  Health  Act  of  1818  was  rendered  absolutely  neces- 
sary. A  Government  Inquiry  held  in  1850  disclosed  the  fact  that 
the  sanitary  condition  of  the  town  was  exceedingly  defective — 
typhus  fever,  dysentery,  and  other  complaints  of  the  bowels  pre- 
vailing more  or  less  every  year ;  and  that  the  death  rate  was 
exceedingly  high — 29i  per  thousand  per  annum  of  the  population. 
The  geographical  position  and  contour  of  the  town  were  favourable 
to  the  highest  degree  of  longevity  attainable  ;  but  natural  advan- 
tages were  counteracted  by  the  want  of  an  efficient  system  of 
drainage  and  complete  sanitary  regulation.  The  want  of  a  proper 
water  supply  also  contributed  to  it.  A  Local  Board  was  formed 
consisting  of  nine  members,  which  held  its  first  meeting  on  the 
-Ith  April,  1851.  Loans  were  subsequently  obtained  for  drainage 
purposes,  and  a  complete  system  of  sewerage  laid  down.  The  sewage 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOIFDON.  215 

is  disposed  of  by  irrigation  at  the  Sinderland  farm,  at  a  cost  of 
about  5\A.  per  head  of  the  population.  In  some  towns  it  is  or 
has  been  as  high  as  5s.  per  head.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  plan 
is  admirably  adapted  for  such  places  as  Altrincham.  In  1890  the 
Altrincham  Local  Board  acquired  Woodcote  Farm,  at  a  cost  of 
£1 1,000,  to  be  repaid,  principal  and  interest,  in  50  years.  With  the 
water  supply  the  Board  did  not  deal  so  successfully,  but  private 
enterprise  stepped  in  to  fill  the  gap.  The  North  Cheshire  Water 
Company,  which  was  formed  in  1857,  and  incorporated  in  1864, 
conferied  upon  the  district  the  priceless  boon  of  a  supply  of  pure 
water  from  the  reservoirs  of  the  Manchester  Corporation.  In 
1878  the  Board  purchased  the  market  tolls  from  the  Earl  of 
Stamford  and  Warrington  for  the  sum  of  £1,000 ;  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  same  year  the  erection  of  a  new  Market  House 
in  Market  Street  was  commenced,  the  sum  of  £4,500  being  bor- 
rowed to  cover  the  cost  of  the  tolls,  building,  and  other  charges 
incidental  thereto.  The  building  was  erected  from  designs  by 
Maxwell  Eoscoe,  Esq.,  Mr.  M.  Stone  being  the  contractor.  The 
Local  Board  ceased  to  exist  in  1894,  and  became  merged  in  the 
Altrincham  Urban  District  Council.  Information  as  to 
loans,  &c.,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

In  February,  1864,  the  Bowdon  Local  Board  held  its  first 
meeting.  Its  principal  work  has  been  the  sewering  of  the  town- 
ship, which  was  executed  under  the  superintendence  of  John 
Newton,  Esq.,  C.E.,  at  a  cost  of  £2,493  16s.  3d.  In  December, 
1865,  the  lighting  by  public  gas  lamps  was  carried  out.  Since 
then  the  same  gentleman  has  laid  down  a  system  of  sewage  dis- 
posal by  irrigation,  which  has  been  highly  successful. 

In  1886  the  preparations  for  celebrating  the  Jubilee  of  Queen 
Victoria  were  begun,  the  ancient  Court  Leet  and  the  Altrincham 
Local  Board  co-operating  most  harmoniously  to  make  the  affair  a 
complete  success.  The  year  1887  will  stand  out  prominently  in 
the  annals  of  the  good  old  town  in  having  been  honoured  with  a 
visit  from  Royalty  in  the  persons  of  T.R.H.  the  Prince  and 
Princ.ss  of  Wales,  who  were  guests  of  Lord  Egerton  of  Tatton, 


216  ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOJVDOX. 

at  Tatton  Park,  on  the  occasion  of  the  opening  of  the  Jubilee 
Exhibition  at  Old  Trafiord,  on  the  4th  of  May  in  that  year. 
Triumphal  arches  of  mediaeval  design  were  erected  in  Dunham 
Road  and  Station  Road,  and  the  toivn  was  gay  with  flags  and 
bunting.  On  arriving  at  the  railway  station  (Altrincham  and 
Bowdon),  the  Mayor,  Mr.  Joseph  Gaskarth,  was  presented  to  the 
Prince,  and  a  beautiful  bouquet  was  presented  to  the  Princess  by 
Miss  Katherine  Cocks,  daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  Robert  Cocks, 
agent  to  the  Dunham  estate.  Beautifully  bound  copies  of  the 
programme  of  the  day's  festivities  were  presented  to  the  Prince 
and  Princess.  They  were  printed  in  gold,  bound  in  light  leather, 
lined  with  white  silk,  the  production  of  Mr.  S.  Butler,  of  George 
Street,  and  highly  creditable  to  Altrincham  enterprise.  After- 
wards the  Band  of  the  Third  Cheshire  Volunteers  headed  a 
procession  of  school  children  to  Dunham  Park,  where  refreshments 
were  served  and  games  indulged  in.  The  celebration  of  Jubilee 
Day  was  fixed  for  Tuesday,  June  21st,  on  which  occasion  the 
arrangements  were  carried  out  by  the  Local  Board,  of  which  Mr 
John  Newton  was  chairman.  The  day  was  observed  as  a  general 
holiday,  and  a  special  thanksgiving  service  was  held  in  St. 
George's  Church,  where  an  appropriate  sermon  was  preached  by 
the  Vicar,  the  Rev.  George  London.  In  the  afternoon  a  grand 
procession  was  formed  in  the  new  Market  Place,  embracing  mem- 
bers of  the  Local  Board,  the  Fire  Brigade,  the  Sunday  scholars 
about  4,000  in  number,  and  the  various  Friendly  Societies  in  the 
town  and  district.  A  special  medal  was  struck  and  presented  to 
each  scholar,  and  special  badges  were  provided  for  the  committee 
and  stewards,  of  which  there  was  a  large  number.  The  old  people 
of  the  age  of  the  Queen  (68)  were  entertained  to  a  substantial 
repast  in  the  Market  Hall,  by  Alderman  Griffin,  J. P.,  Mayor  ; 
sports  were  held  in  Dunham  Park,  and  the  day's  proceedings  were 
brought  to  a  close  by  a  display  of  fireworks. 

The  Altrincham  Parliamentary  Division  of  Cheshire  was 
formerly  included  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county  ;  in  1 868  it 
formed   a   portion   of   the   Mid-Cheshire   Division,    which    then 


SIR   WM. 
THE  LATE  MR.  JOHN  BROOKS. 


BROOKS. 

MR.    COXINGSBY   DISRAELI. 


PAST   AND    PRESENT   MEMBERS 
FOR    THE    ALTRINX'HAM    PARLIAMENTARY   DIVISION', 


ALTRINCHAM   AND    BOTFDON.  219 

covered  a  wide  area,  extending  to  Runcorn  in  the  west,  North- 
wich  in  the  south.  Sale  on  the  north,  and  Congleton  on  the  east. 
At  the  general  election  of  1885,  which  took  place  on  the  formition 
of  the  Altrincham  Parliamentary  Division,  Mr.  John  Brooks 
was  selected  as  the  Conservative  candidate,  and  Mr.  Isaac 
Saunders  Leadam  as  the  Liberal.  The  contest  was  lengthened 
and  severe,  and  on  both  sides  exceptional  ability  was  displayed. 
In  the  aggregate  Mr.  Brooks  polled  4,798  votes,  as  against  4,046 
by  his  opponent,  a  majority  of  752  for  Mr.  Brooks.  On  that 
cold  March  day  when  news  arrived  of  the  untimely  death  of  Mr. 
John  Brooks,  the  eyes  of  the  party  naturally  turned  to  his  uncle. 
Sir  William,  who  had  most  enthusiastically  supported  his  nephew, 
and  he  was  induced  to  come  forward.  He  was  returned  by  a 
majority  of  583,  and  at  the  general  election  in  July,  1886,  he  was 
returned  unopposed.  Sir  William  retired  in  1892,  and  for  the 
third  time,  and  last.  Mi-.  Leadam  came  forward  in  the  Liberal 
interest.  On  this  occasion  he  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Coningsby 
Rilph  Disraeli,  only  son  of  Mr.  Ralph  Disraeli,  Clerk  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  nephew  of  the  Right  Hon.  Benjamin  Disraeli,  Earl  of 
Beaconsfield.  He  was  born  in  1867,  and  was  educated  at  Charter- 
house and  at  Oxford.  Again  Mr.  Leadam  was  defeated,  this  time 
by  a  majority  of  798.  In  July,  1895,  at  the  general  election,  Mr. 
Disraeli  was  returned  by  a  still  greater  majority,  the  largest  ever 
known  in  the  history  of  the  division,  over  Mr.  A.  M.  Latham. 
Mr.  Disraeli  married,  March  2nd,  1897,  Marion  Grace,  only 
daughter  of  Mr.  Edward  Silva,  of  Testcombe,  Chilbolton,  Hants. 
Records  of  the  voting  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

The  introduction  of  the  electric  light  into  Altrincham  may  be 
briefly  stated.  In  the  beginning  of  1894  a  private  company  was 
formed  under  the  style  of  "  The  Altrincham  Electric  Supply,"  and 
received  Parliamentary  powers  for  supplying  electricity  through- 
out Altrincham  and  surrounding  places.  A  large  and  fully 
equipped  works  and  generating  station  was  erected  on  land 
adjoining  the  Bridgewater  Canal  at  Broadheath,  and  the  supply 
was  started  in  the  last  months  of  1894.  A  year's  running  proved 
the  popularity  of  the  supply  and  the  enterprise  of  the  inhabitants. 


220  ALTPdNCHAM   AND    BOWBON. 

During  that  period  more  than  H  miles  of  mains  were  laid  and  an 
equivalent  of  10,000  eight-candle  power  lamps  connected. 
Among  the  more  important  installations  may  be  mentioned  the 
Downs  Congregational  Chapel,  St.  John's  Church,  the  Altrincham 
Conservative  Club,  and  St.  Margaret's  Institute,  as  well  as  a  great 
many  of  the  largest  houses  in  the  district.  The  company  is  now 
extending  its  mains  under  the  powers  of  a  new  Act  into  the  dis- 
tricts of  Ashton-on-Mersey  and  Timperley,  which  will  also  be  fed 
from  the  Broadheath  centre.  On  other  pages  will  be  found  illus- 
trations showing  the  Electricity  Generating  Station  and  also  the 
interior  of  the  Congregational  Chapel  as  lit  by  the  electric  light. 
It  is  worthy  of  note  as  indicating  the  increased  enteiprise  in  the 
district  that  the  blocks  from  which  these  views  are  taken  have 
been  made  in  Messrs.  "Walker  and  Co.'s  Electric  Light  Studio,  the 
Downs,  Bowdon,  by  means  of  one  of  the  most  recent  of  the  now 
very  popular  "process  "  methods.  The  sole  contractors  for  all  the 
work  done  for  the  Altrincham  Electric  Supply  have  been  the 
Manchester  Edison  Swan  Co.  The  buildings  at  Broadheath  were 
erected  by  Mr.  James  Hamilton,  contractor,  of  Altrincham. 

For  many  years,  up  to  1880,  Hale  Moss  was  in  a  condition 
which  constituted  a  grave  danger  to  the  public  health.  Owing  to 
efforts  put  forth  in  various  quarters,  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and 
Warrington  presented  a  site  for  a  public  park  covering  about  16 
acres  of  the  best  part  of  the  Moss,  and  this  was  converted  by  the 
Altrincham  Local  Board  into  a  park  and  recreation  ground,  with 
large  cricket  field,  football  ground,  tennis  courts,  bowling  greens, 
ornamental  lakes,  &c.  The  grounds  were  laid  out  from  a  very 
tasteful  design  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Shaw,  F.E.H.S.,  who  was  a 
past  master  in  the  art  of  landscape  gardening  ;  and  the  work  of 
laying  out  and  planting  was  executed  by  his  son,  Mr.  John  Shaw. 
The  opening  in  1880  was  attended  with  considerable  rejoicing, 
and  in  the  evening  a  dinner  was  given  at  the  Town  Hall  by 
Joseph  Gaskarth,  Esq.,  the  then  chairman  of  the  Local  Board,  to 
which  the  principal  inhabitants  were  in^-ited.  Stamford  Park  is 
greatly  resorted  to  by  the  inhabitants,  by  whom  it  is  highly 
appreciated,  and  in  summer,  when  the  flowers  are  in  bloom  and  the 


ALTUINCIIAM   AXD    BOJFUOX  22I 

trees  in  foliage,  presents  a  picture  of  great  beauty.      At  the  time 
of  writing  these  lines,   negotiations  are  in  progress  between  the 
Altrmchana  Urban  Council,  the  Bucklow  Rural  District  Council, 
and  the  Trustees  of  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington  for 
acquiring  certain  portions  of  the  Moss  still  unoccupied,  and  from 
the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  carried  out  up  to  the  present, 
there  is  every  reason  to  think  they  will  be  crowned  with  success. 
Although  the  question  of  additional  burial  accommodation,  in 
view   of   the   rapidly   diminishing   area   at    Bowdon,    had   been 
frequently  referred  to  at  public  meetings,  the  first  practical  step 
in  this  district  was  taken  at  a  meeting  held  in  July,  1890,  in 
Altrincham,  when  a  resolution  was  passed  requesting  the  Local 
Board  to  take  the   necessary  steps  to  provide   a  cemetery.     A 
committee  was  appointed,  and  ultimately  a  suitable  site  of  about 
ten  acres,   situate   in   Hale  Road,  in  the  Township  of  Hale,  was 
selected.     The  decision  was  fiercely  contested  by  the  Township  of 
Hale,  but  the  Local  Government  Board  decided  in  favour  of  the 
Altnncham  authority  by  sanction  to  the  loan  as  given  in  the 
Appendix  to  this  work.      The  grounds  have  been  laid  out  in  the 
most  approved  style,   and  a  handsome  mortuary  chapel  erected 
from  the  designs  of  Mr.  William  Owen,  A.R.LB.A.,  Hale  and 
Manchester.     The  cemetery  was  formally  dedicated  to  the  public 
use  m  1893,  a  gold  key  of  handsome  design  being  presented  to 
Alderman  William  Gritfin,   J.  P.,  the  chairman  of  the  Cemetery 
Committee  on  the  occasion. 

As  these  pages  go  to  press,  preparations  are  being  made  in 
Altnncham  and  district  for  providing  a  permanent  memorial  of 
the  Diamond  reign  of  Her  Majesty,  Queen  Victoria.  At  a  public 
meeting  held  on  March  10th,  1897,  it  was  resolved  that  such 
memorial  shall  take  the  form  of  public  baths,  and  thus  meet  a 
want  which  has  been  long  felt.  The  question  of  the  incorporation 
of  the  town  was  also  incidentally  mooted,  but  as  this  is  forminc^ 
the  subject  of  inquiry  by  a  Committee  of  the  Urban  District 
Council,  It  is  one  which  will  have  to  be  considered  and  decided 
upon  at  some  future  period. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

TFIiat  Sale  was — A  glance  at  the  past— The  Masseys  of  Sale — A 
gracious  permission  to  marrij  from  the  Pope— Lord  Strange  on  the 
march  to  Manchester — Some  looks  into  old  toivnship  books — The 
official  mole  catcher — Sale  Vineyards — Constables'  Staves — The  poor 
law  and  its  administration — Troublous  times — A  lady's  interest  in 
township  matters — A  local  Hampden— Sale  township  schools,  <i;c. 

A  HUGE  moor,  in  summer  yellow  with  broom  flowers,  and  in 
winter  black  with  the  blackness  of  desolation,  such  were 
the  characteristics  of  Sale  within  living  memory.  Out 
of  this  it  may  appear  difficult  to  extract  an  interesting  story,  such 
as  we  might  do  had  we  picturesque  hills  and  lovely  valleys  in 
which,  nestled  in  verdant  foliage,  were  some  ivy-covered  ruins 
where  the  lordly  baron  once  presided  and  held  his  little  court  of 
acknowledged  sovereignty.  "We  have  no  rocky  ravines  to  explore 
or  roaring  waterfalls  to  listen  to  ;  yet  we  could  learn  had  we  time, 
that,  as  the  records  of  a  misty  past  are  brought  into  the  light  of 
our  high  civilization.  Sale  has  a  history — one  in  which  Roman, 
Dane,  Saxon,  Norman  play  their  several  parts.  Here  we  have 
Cross  Street  which  the  Roman  legions  made  not  merely  for  an  age, 
but  as  if  for  eternity.  Who  knows  but  that  in  the  terrible  time 
when  the  fierce  Norseman  swept  over  the  country,  he  did  not  leave 
as  a  rememl:)rance  a  bloodstained  path  to  be  known  in  after  ages 
as  Dane  Road.  And  when  the  Norman  came  and  the  once  fiery 
Saxon  succumbed  to  his  disciplined  onslaught,  who  knows  but  that 
Sale  may  have  been  the  scene  of  many  a  stubborn  fight  ere  the 
broad  acres  and  manors  of  the  adjoining  country  changed  hands 
and  right  gave  place  to  might. 

The  whirligig  of  time  whirls  us  on,  and  we  read  of  the  exploits 
of  a  Massey  of  Sale  at  Poictiers,  and  of  rewards  at  the  hands  of 
England's  most  potent  Prince,  who  won  for  it  never  ending  glory 


SALE,    ASHTOX-ON-MERSEY,    .Cr.  223 

at  Agincourfc.  It  will  be  our  phasant  task  to  set  forth  a  little  that 
to  the  writer  invests  even  this  once  barren  moor  with  a  glamour 
of  romance,  and  which  may  lead  more  than  one  of  its  inhabitants 
to  turn  aside  from  the  cares  of  business  and  to  seek  relief  in  the 
relaxation  which  a  perusal  of  this  chapter  may  afiord. 

The  derivation  of  the  word  Sale  is  involved  in  so  much 
obscurity,  and  authorities  differing,  like  doctors  are  said  to  do, 
no  good  purpose  would  be  served  here  by  any  lengthy  dissertation 
on  the  origin  of  names  in  general,  or  Sale  in  particular.  It  is 
enough  for  our  purpose  that  Sale  has  been  known  by  its  present 
name  for  upwards  of  200  or  300  years,  and  we  may  therefore 
safely  take  it  on  trust  that  it  was  so  known  for  centuries  pre- 
viously, although  the  fact  that  Sale  is  not  mentioned  in  Doomsday 
Book  shows  it  to  have  been  then  of  little  importance.  The  first 
authentic  light  is  shed  on  its  past  history  by  that  father  of 
Cheshire  history.  Sir  Peter  Leycester.  He  tells  us,  although 
Sale  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Doomsday  Book,  that  it  was  a  fee  of 
the  ancient  barony  of  Halton.  The  events  of  that  period  seem  to 
point  to  the  fact  that  at  the  Conquest  the  township  of  Sale  formed 
a  portion  of  the  vast  possessions  of  Hamon  of  Dunham  Massey, 
a  powerful  baron  who  resided  in  his  castle  there.  It  was  from  his 
second  son,  who  had  issue  two  sons,  one  of  whom  was  named 
Robert,  that  the  Masseys  of  Sale  sprung  in  the  time  of  Richard  I. 
or  King  John,  A.D.  1189-1199. 

In  the  year  1216,  Robert  Massey  is  traced  by  Leycester  to 
have  held  the  land  of  Sale,  and  in  1367  another  Robert,  who  had 
been  guilty  of  outlawry,  was  pardoned  on  account  of  his  services 
with  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales.  The  men  of  Cheshire  were 
distinguished  for  their  bravery  in  these  campaigns,  and  the  same 
Robert,  who  found  his  former  services  so  useful  at  a  pinch  had, 
for  his  gallantry  under  the  Black  Prince  at  Poictiers,  been  created 
bailiff  of  the  Hundred  of  Bucklow,  an  office  of  much  importance 
and  emolument.  The  lawlessness  which  prevailed  at  the  period, 
and  the  value  of  "  a  previous  good  character,"  are  also  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that   Richard  Massey,  having  caused  the  death  of 


224  SALE,    ASHTOX-OX-MEUSEY,    <Cr. 

William  del  Hull,  was  only  pardoned  by  Kichard  II.  on  the 
prayer  of  John,  Duke  of  Castile  and  Duke  of  Lancaster,  the 
famous  pretender  to  the  Crown  of  Spain  at  that  time.  In  the 
year  1411,  a  pardon  or  permission  to  marry  was  given  to  Eobert, 
son  and  heir  of  Roger  le  Massey,  of  Sale,  and  Margaret,  daughter 
of  "  the  noble  man,  George  de  Caryngton,  Knight,  of  the  Diocese 
of  Lichfield,"  by  Thomas,  Bishop  of  Durham,  under  the  letters 
"  of  happy  memorial  of  Lord  Alexander  the  sixth.   Pope,  his  true 

Leaden   Bull,    with after   the   Roman   Court 

bulled  sound  and  whole  and  free  from  all  voice  and  sinister 
suspect,"  &c.  The  marriage  portion  of  the  lady  was  to  be  £40. 
In  1556,  Hamlette  Massey,  of  Sale,  made  a  will,  copied  amongst 
those  published  by  the  Chetham  Society,  in  which,  having 
ordered  that  his  body  be  buried  in  the  "  Channcell  of  Asheton  in 
Mersey  Bank  Parysh  Church,"  he  bequeaths  to  his  bastard  sons, 
Henry,  Edward,  William,  and  Thomas,  certain  cattle,  horses, 
wheat  and  rye,  silver  spoons  and  to  Elizabeth  Maseye,  "my  bastard 
dau'r,  one  curtail  whyte  nagge,  a  black  cowe,  a  bay  weninge  colt, 
and  one  silver  spone."  The  Masseys  of  Sale  took  a  somewhat 
prominent  part  in  the  thrilling  events  which  marked  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  probably  in  consequence  of  the  rapid 
increase  of  the  family,  a  rather  unkindly  cynic  was  induced  to 
write  that  in  Cheshire 

Masseys  were  as  plentiful  as  asses,  and  Davenports  as  dogs'  tails. 
In  the  reign  of  Richard  IL,  as  was  in  many  instances  the  case 
in  other  townships,  the  eldest  son  would  assume  the  name  of  Sale 
as  a  surname,  and  that  of  Massey  would  become  subsidiary.  A 
member  of  the  Holt  family  from  Lancashire,  having  married  a 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Thomas  Sale,  a  portion  of  the  land  of 
Sale  came  into  possession  of  the  Holts.  A  partition  seems  to 
have  taken  place,  and  a  little  over  200  years  ago  there  were 
amongst  other  owners  of  land  in  Sale,  Lord  Delamer  of  Dunham, 
Geft'rey  Cartwright,  William  Williamson,  Richard  Wrenshaw  or 
Renshaw,  Sir  Edward  Moseley,  Mr.  Gerard,  of  Riddings, 
Edward  Legh,  of  Baggilegh,  and  Robert  Tatton,  of  Wythen-shawe, 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEESEY,    dr.  'ill 

held  certain  lands  in  lease  from  Mr.  Massey.  The  Massey  family 
at  Sale  appears  to  have  become  extinct  in  1746,  and  the  Massey 
share  of  the  property  passed  by  marriage  to  the  Nobles  and 
Mainwarings,  and  the  Moores.  These  shares  were  afterwards 
purchased  by  the  Egertons  of  Tatton,  and  the  whole  of  the  land 
in  the  township  now  divided  and  sub-divided  to  an  extent  that 
to  give  all  the  names  would  exhaust  more  space  than  we  can  well 
afford. 

We  now  come  to  a  period  more  recent,  and  one  which  we 
venture  to  think  will  present,  therefore,  more  features  of  interest 
to  the  general  reader.  The  township  books  of  Sale,  which  give 
us  a  fair  idea  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants  prior 
to  the  time  of  which  we  have  already  spoken,  commence  in  the 
year  1805.  The  first  meeting  mentioned  therein,  over  which 
"  C.  White  "  presided,  has  reference  to  the  repair  of  the  causeways 
in  Deane  Lane,  and  the  providing  of  a  new  well  in  lieu  of  the  old 
one  destroyed  ;  Mr.  Mort,  probably  of  Altrincham,  furnishing 
the  township  with  a  quantity  of  excellent  gravel.  In  1806,  it  was 
ordered  that  the  valuation  for  the  township,  which  would  be 
produced  by  the  Commissioners  for  the  purpose  of  dividing  and 
enclosing  the  waste  lands,  was  ordered  to  be  the  only  assessment 
by  which  the  rate  for  the  poors  "  lay,"  church  lay,  constable  lay, 
and  highway  lay,  should  in  future  be  made  after  such  valuation 
by  the  said  Commissioners  was  finally  arranged  and  settled.  Then 
comes  an  entry  of  an  important  matter  which  at  sundry  times 
and  in  divers  manners  exercised  the  powers  that  were  at  Sale. 
A  special  meeting,  notice  of  which  had  been  given  at  the  Parish 
Church  two  successive  Sundays,  was  held  June  30th,  1806,  when 
it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  sum  of  =£8  per  year  should  be 
given  for  mole  catching,  the  time  to  extend  over  seven  years.  At 
the  side  of  the  book  is  written  "  I,  Edward  Morris,  do  agree  to 
catch  moles  in  the  township  of  Sale  for  the  term  and  on  the  con- 
ditions above  named,  as  witness  my  hand."  This  was  somewhat 
paradoxical,  as  Edward  could  not  write,  and  made  the  orthodox 
mark  instead.     Sale  then  possessed  machinery  for  thief  catching 


228  SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEESEY,    dr. 

as  well.  All  necessary  expenses  incurred  by  the  society  for 
prosecuting  felons  were  ordered  to  be  paid  by  the  constable  out 
of  his  general  receipts.  No  property  on  which  the  assessment 
had  not  been  made  under  the  bond  was  to  be  protected,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  new  enclosures  made  on  Sale  Moor  were  to  be 
assessed  according  to  the  risk  of  each  lot.  Many  of  these  were 
distinguished  by  such  names  as  Adam's  Vineyard,  Vodry's  Vine- 
yard, &c.  Subject  to  the  approbation  of  the  magistrates,  Ashton 
Kelsall  was  appointed  assistant  surveyor  at  a  salary  of  twelve 
guineas  per  annum,  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  Sale  was 
beginning  to  assume  important  proportions,  and  to  recognise  its 
responsibilities.  This  even  extended  to  maintaining  the  prestige 
of  the  constable  in  a  becoming  manner,  a  public  meeting  being 
held  soon  after  at  which  "it  was  agreed  that  a  constable's  staff 
should  be  immediately  ordered  for  the  said  township  similar  to 
the  Ashton  constable's  staff'.  One  can  imagine  these  two 
important  personages  heading  the  processions,  with  their  staves 
of  office  shining  with  the  effulgence  of  gilding  and  ebony,  and 
being  as  requisite  for  the  proper  carrying  out  of  business  as  the 
Mace  is  in  the  House  of  Commons.  What  unsophisticated 
youngster,  whose  ancestors  have  probably  served  the  honourable 
office,  has  not  gazed  on  this  emblem  of  departed  authority  with 
reverential  awe,  as  it  has  hung  from  its  place  on  the  wall,  a  much 
valued  heirloom  in  the  family  '  The  modern  disciples  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel  have  very  effectually  superseded  the  ancient  Dogberry, 
who,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  was  as  great  terror  to  evil  doers  as 
his  modern  prototype. 

In  proof  of  this,  the  author  ventures  to  relate  an  anecdote 
which  he  heard  narrated  by  an  old  inhabitant  of  Altrinchani.  A 
brutal  outrage  had  been  committed  on  a  Staffordshire  man,  who 
had  been  left  for  dead.  At  this  time  Ashton  wakes  were  in  full 
swing.  Acting,  not  exactly  on  "information  received,"  but  from 
his  own  conviction  that  a  certain  Weston  was  the  chief  actor,  the 
the  Altrincham  constable,  well  remembered  as  "  Natty  "  Pass,  pro- 
ceeded to  Ashton.     He  watched  the  bull  baits  which  took  place 


SALE,    ASIITOX-OX-MEHSEY,    .(V.  2i>'J 

amid  the  shouts  of  the  crowd,  and  afterwards  entered  a  public- 
house,  which  was  occupied  by  a  disorderly  rabble,  gathered  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  He  was  a  man  of  portly  form,  but  he 
had  a  pistol  ready  for  use  in  case  of  emergency.  Seizing  Weston 
he  informed  him  that  he  was  his  prisoner.  The  very  suddenness 
of  the  act  seemed  to  paralyse  the  onlookers,  and  before  they  could 
recover  from  their  surprise,  he  had  his  man  outside  and  carefully 
manacled.  On  the  way  he  made  a  confession  of  the  crime,  and 
was  removed  to  Staflibrdshire  to  be  tried.  He  was  in  all  proba- 
bility leniently  dealt  with  for  those  times,  as  our  informant 
suggestively  said,  "  he  knew  he  was  neither  hanged  nor  trans- 
ported." This  little  incident,  while  imparting  flavour  to  Ashton 
wakes,  at  the  same  time  records  the  bravery  of  an  old-fashioned 
constable. 

At  this  period  the  value  of  small  birds  to  the  farmer  was  either 
not  known  or  appreciated.  The  unfortunate  moles  were  doomed 
to  pressing  attention  on  the  part  of  the  duly  appointed  official. 
It  now  came  the  turn  of  the  poor  sparrows.  A  penny  a  head 
was  given  for  old  sparrows,  a  halfpenny  for  young  ones,  a  half- 
penny per  egg  for  each  sparrow  egg  up  "  to  the  number  of  five 
01'  under  per  nest,  provided  also  that  the  old  hen  be  brought 
along  with  them."  In  November,  1808,  the  greatest  consterna- 
tion was  caused  by  a  great  robbery  of  potatoes,  and  a  reward  of 
five  guineas  was  offered  for  "  the  discovery,  apprehending,  and 
convicting  of  persons  or  person  concerned  in  the  said  felony."  To 
meet  the  expenses  of  this  a  rate  of  threepence  in  the  pound  was 
ordered  to  be  levied. 

The  evils  of  the  poor  law  system  began  to  manifest  themselves. 
Sale  does  not,  however,  appear  to  have  indulged  in  the  luxury  of 
of  a  workhouse  for  some  years  subsequent,  and  its  administration 
of  the  poor  law  was  as  loose  as  that  which  prevailed  at  Altrincham. 
It  must  have  steeped  the  population  in  pauperism,  as  the  system 
of  "piecing-out,"  now  utterly  condemned,  prevailed  to  an  alarming 
extent.  The  sum  of  three  shillings  wa?  given  to  one  Scipio  Leigh 
as  "occasional  relief,"  while  the  sum  of  £2  was  allowed  to  Thomas 


230  SALE,    ASnTOX-OX-MERSEY,    <Cr. 

Hamnett  towards  his  rent.  These  entiies  are  very  numerous. 
That  Sale  felt  the  "hard  times"  which  were  now  prevailing,  owing 
to  continued  wars  abroad  and  the  unsettled  state  of  home 
industries,  is  ajjparent  from  the  fact  that  in  1812  a  meeting  of 
inhabitants  was  held.  The  notice  stated  that  it  was  called  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  the  best  method  of  affording 
relief  to  the  honest,  industrious  poor  of  the  township.  It  was 
resolved  that  a  subscription  be  entered  into  for  purchasing 
potatoes,  and  that  every  encouragement  should  be  given  to  the 
cultivation  of  this  now  indispensable  esculent.  The  meeting 
sympathized,  or,  as  it  is  put,  "feels"  for  the  sufferings  of  the  jDOor, 
and  wished  to  afford  them  all  proper  relief.  It,  however,  highly 
disapproved  of  asking  charity  by  going  from  house  to  house  in 
numbers,  and  that  all  persons  doing  so,  "  or  using  any  expressions 
tending  to  inflame  or  make  uneasy  the  minds  of  their  neighbours," 
would  be  excluded  from  any  benefit  in  the  subscription,  in  the 
distribution  of  which  regard  would  be  had  to  the  character  of 
the  applicants.  The  meeting  particularly  recommended  to  the 
publicans  in  the  neighbourhood  to  allow  no  improper  tippling  in 
their  houses,  but  to  shut  them  up  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  "  to  discourage  all  conversation  tending  to  inflame  the  public 
mind,  and  as  it  is  suspected  that  evil-disposed  persons  are 
travelling  about  the  country  to  excite  a  spirit  of  discontent  and 
uneasiness,  they  are  requested  to  be  particularly  watchful  of  all 
strangers  who  may  enter  their  houses." 

This  entry  refers  to  the  times  of  our  grandfathers  Thousands 
living  can  remember  them,  and  will  be  able  to  account  for  the 
extraordinary  precautions  which  are  indicated  above.  There  were 
serious  riots  in  many  counties  in  England.  The  Luddite.s,  or 
"levellers,"  made  a  house  to  house  visitation,  and  it  was  woe  unto 
the  householder  who  did  not  comply  with  their  demands.  In 
Sale,  which  had  then  a  population  under  1,000,  it  will  be  readily 
inferred  that  a  great  deal  of  the  resolution  passed  at  this  meeting 
was  directed  at  the  Luddites.  There  would,  no  doubt,  be  many 
unwelcome  visitors  from  Manchester,  and,  as  incendiarism  was 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEBSEY,    rfr.  231 

very  rife,  it  would  require  all  the  watchfulness  of  Boniface, 
coupled  with  the  eftorts  of  the  constables  to  quiet  the  alarm 
which  would  be  naturally  felt  by  the  better-off  classes.  Greater 
stringency  was  manifested  in  prosecuting  felons,  and  Sale  became 
a  branch  association,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  magistrates, 
"for  the  protection  of  property  and  the  preservation  of  the  peace." 
One  of  the  rules  provided  for  the  calling  of  the  members  together 
and  the  raising  of  an  alarm  as  soon  as  possible,  the  constable  being 
provided  with  a  rattle  for  that  purpose.  It  was  recommended 
that  every  "  considerable  "  farm  house  should  have  one  where  no 
constable  resided.  At  the  same  time,  the  principal  inlets  to  the 
township — the  public  roads  and  the  canal  banks — were  to  be 
"considered  as  constant  objects  of  attention."  At  one  of  the 
meetings  held  at  this  period,  the  name  of  a  lady  appears  as  having 
been  present— Sarah  Hulme.  She  signed  her  name,  the  hand- 
writing being  very  neat,  and  it  is  all  the  more  worthy  of  record 
as  being  the  first  and  last  occasion  on  which  the  signature  of  a 
lady  is  to  be  found  in  this  book. 

Another  proof  of  the  growing  importance  of  Sale  is  to  be 
noted  in  the  fact  that  in  March,  1813,  it  was  deemed  beneficial 
to  elect  a  standing  officer  to  conduct  the  whole  of  the  offices  of 
the  township,  vested  interests  being  considered,  Mr.  J.  Heap,  the 
village  schoolmaster,  continuing  "  to  be  secretary  to  the  town." 
Peter  Whitehead  was  the  standing  officer  appointed  at  a  salary  of 
£40  and  reasonable  expenses  for  journeys, 

We  have  already  referred  to  numerous  entries  of  the  amounts 
granted  in  the  way  of  relief  to  the  poor.  Some  of  them  which 
we  now  drop  across  are  very  interesting.  Applications  were 
founded  on  various  pretexts.  Most  are  for  sickness,  but  one 
good  lady  is  stated  to  be  "big  with  child;"  John  Cotterill  wanted 
a  new  spade  ;  William  Eoyle  obtained  10s.  as  relief,  his  wife 
being  "at  lying-in  ;"  a  violin  was  ordered  to  be  purchased  for  a 
lame  boy,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to  earn  his 
living  ;  a  person  had  £1  5s.  allowed  him  for  his  wife's  coffin  ; 
Barbary  Hulme  wanted,  save  the  mark,  two  shifts,  and  while  we 


232  SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MERSEY,    &c. 

would  reluctantly  draw  the  line  at  these  sacred  articles  of  ladies' 
wearing  apparel,  truth  compels  us  to  add  that  Saiah  Leigh  was 
ordered  to  be  supplied  with  a  "petty  coat"  towards  winter.  Peter 
Culcheth  applied  for  a  loom,  which  shows,  in  conjunction  with 
other  similar  entries,  that  weaving  was  a  means  of  livelihood  to 
many  of  the  inhabitants.  In  1815  it  was  agreed  that  a  workhouse 
should  be  built  for  the  township  as  soon  as  convenient. 

That  in  some  cases  the  inhabitants  helped  themselves  is  illus- 
trated by  what  may  be  termed  a  peculiar  entry  : — On  Thursday, 
28th  day  of  August,  1817,  Thomas  Leigh  saw  Margaret  Cotterill 
getting  potatoes  in  John  Cookson's  field,  near  the  road,  about 
ten  o'clock,  or  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  He  says 
he  saw  her  getting  potatoes  and  putting  them  in  her  pocket  and 
run  into  the  wheat,  and  he  ran  after  her,  and  took  hold  of  her, 
and  called  her  Peg,  and  she  said  '  What  ? '  H.e  said,  '  How  can 
thou  forshame  to  pull  up  the  man's  stuff?'  She  said  'Do  not  tell.' 
He  did  not  say  whether  he  would  or  would  not.  He  felt  at  her 
pockets  and  was  certain  they  were  potatoes.  He  saw  her  go 
out  of  the  field  with  them,  and  she  said  she  only  wanted  a  mess." 
(Breakfast  or  dinner).  There  were  many  others  of  a  questionable 
character  resident  in  Sale  at  this  time.  The  cause  had  already 
begun  to  show  the  eftect.  Another  minute  states  that  the  poor 
houses  "  having  long  been  inhabited  by  persons  who  neglect  their 
work  and  their  families,  and  are  frequently  seen  going  up  and 
down  in  pursuit  of  game,  and  complaints  having  been  very  justly 
made  by  Mr.  Moore  and  neighbouring  gentlemen,  that  the  said 
poor  houses  shall  be  appropriated,  it  be  and  hereby  is  requested 
that  the  trustees  of  the  said  premises  take  measures  to  remove 
the  said  families  from  the  said  premises."  A  meeting  subse- 
quently declared  that  the  wanton  and  malicious  damage  done  to 
the  young  timber  trees  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and 
Warrington,  and  to  the  young  fruit  trees  belonging  to  Mr.  Heald 
and  John  Moore,  Esquire,  was  a  disgrace  to  the  township  and  that 
no  pains  or  expense  be  spared  to  bring  the  offenders  to  speedy 
justice.  We  must  hope  that  for  the  credit  of  the  township  this 
disgrace  was  wiped  out. 


SALE,    ASHTOX-OX-MEESEY,    .Ir.  233 

As  time  sped  on,  the  absurdity  of  tbis  method  of  administering 
relief  became  apparent.  The  overseers  had  a  lively  time  of  it  in 
visiting  various  parts  of  the  country  and  arranging  for  the 
payments  of  the  rents  of  persons  who  claimed  Sale  as  their 
birthplace.  Extraordinary  apathy  was  manifested  by  the  rate- 
payers. Two  meetings  were  called  on  this  subject.  At  the  first 
no  ratepayer  attended,  and  at  the  second  only  two.  A  postpone- 
ment took  place,  and  a  sufficient  number  having  been  got  together, 
it  was  decided  that  the  payment  of  rents  should  be  discontinued. 
In  1821,  the  growing  importance  of  this  matter  was  more  fully 
recognised  by  the  appointment  of  a  select  vestry  for  the  manage- 
ment of  the  poor.  Under  the  auspices  of  this  body  it  was  decided 
to  draw  up  a  case  in  order  to  ascertain  what  powers  the  land- 
oivners  of  Sale  had  to  enclose  waste  lands  adjoining  their 
premises,  and  also  as  to  the  right  of  landowners  with  respect  to 
the  herbage  of  such  lands,  the  advice  of  Messrs.  Nicholls  and 
Worthington,  of  Altrincham,  to  be  taken  on  the  subject.  Notice 
of  this  meeting  was  duly  "  cried  "  two  Sundays  in  the  church. 

Meanwhile  other  matters  of  interest  to  the  well-being  of  the 
township  received  due  consideration.  A  village  Hampden,  or  at 
any  rate  a  gentleman  having  at  heart  the  interests  of  the  place, 
arose  in  the  year  1826.  His  name  was  John  Hulbert  :  he  was 
mainly  instrumental  in  obtaining  the  assessment  of  such  portion 
of  the  Bridgewater  Canal  as  passed  through  the  township.  The 
trustees  of  the  Duke  objected  to  pay,  and  persons  were  appointed 
by  the  overseers  to  watch  the  canal  in  order  to  ascertain  what 
would  be  the  amount  received  in  the  way  of  tolls  and  the  profits 
therefrom.  Arbitration  was  proposed  by  the  trustees,  but  as  the 
inhabitants  thought  that  this  was  only  introductory  to  expensive 
proceedings  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  they  stoutly  resisted 
it,  unless  some  proposal  were  made  by  which  their  rights  should 
be  respected.  Litigation  dragged  its  slow  length  along  for  two 
years,  but  right  prevailed,  and  the  inhabitants  were  victorious. 
The  chief  actor  in  the  drama,  Mr.  Hulbert,  the  then  assistant 
overseer,  received  his  reward.     A  committee  was  appointed  who 

ee3 


234  SALE,    ASIITON-ON-MERSEY,    Ac. 

collected  £10,  which  was  expended  on  a  silver  cup,  suitably 
inscribed,  and  presented  to  him  at  a  public  dinner  at  the  Bull's 
Head,  as  some  remuneration  to  him  for  his  laudable  and  inde- 
fatigable exertions  in  obtaining  a  confirmation  of  the  assessment 
in  question. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  township  of  Sale  and 
such  inhabitants  of  the  township  of  Ashton-on-Mersey  as 
contributed  to  the  building  of  the  new  school  in  Sale,  held  in  the 
said  school  this  31st  December,  1810,  pursuant  to  public  notice 
given,  the  following  resolutions  were  proposed  by  Charles  White, 
Esquire,  the  chairman,  and  unanimously  passed  : — 

(1)  That   the   new   school   in   Sale,  together   with    such   land, 

buildings,  or  interests  as  do  now  belong  or  may  hereafter 
become  attached  to  the  said  school,  shall  be  properly 
secured  and  vested  in  trustees,  to  be  nominated  and 
appointed   at   this   meeting. 

(2)  That  the  Rector  and  Churchwardens  of  the  parish  of  Ashton- 

upon-Mersey  for  the  time  being,  Charles  White,  Esquire, 

John  White,   Esquire,    Joseph    Atkinson,    Esquire,    John 

Moore,  Esquire,  Kev.  Robert  Harrop,  Isaac  Harrop,   Peter 

Heywood,  William  Leebridge,  Joseph  Clarke,  John  Smith, 

John   Whitelegg,    Robert    Newton,    be,    and   are    hereby 

appointed  Trustees  of  the  said  school  and  its  appurtenances, 

and  that  Messrs.  Worthington,   Harrop  and  Worthington, 

Solicitors  in  Altrincham,  be  and  are  hereby  instructed  to 

draw  a  deed  proper  for  this  purpose,  and  for  conveying  and 

securing  to  the  trustees,  if  necessary,  the  usual  authority 

to  execute  and  continue  the  trust. 

At  the  same  time  Mr.  Heap  was  unanimously  elected  to  fill 

the  office  of  schoolmaster  for  one  year  on  trial,  in  place  of  the  late 

Mr.  Holt.      In   1811  it  was  considered  desirable  that  a  proper 

residence  should  be  provided  for  the  schoolmaster.    A  few  further 

facts  about  the  school  and  its  origin  may  be  interesting.     The 

school  was  really  a  small  thatched  cottage  situate  in  Springfield,. 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MERSEY,    Ac.  235 

then  waste.  This  was  followed  by  a  mixed  school  two  storeys 
in  height,  and,  be  it  noted,  fronted  a  country  lane  now  scarcely 
recognisable  in  School  Eoad. 

The  great  impetus  given  to  building  in  Sale  by  the  opening  of 
the  Manchester,  South  Junction  and  Altrincham  Railway,  and  the 
increased  population  thus  formed,  again  rendered  the  school  too 
small  ;  and  we  find  in  1854,  when  Mr.  James  Warren  was 
schoolmaster,  it  was  reported  to  be  "  very  defective."  It  had  a 
flagged  floor,  very  much  out  of  repair,  with  only  one  common 
fire-grate  in  a  room  33  feet  long  by  19  feet  6  inches  wide  ;  it  was 
cold  and  comfortless  for  scholars  in  winter,  and  the  school  fittings 
were  in  bad  condition.  To  remedy  these  defects  a  wooden  floor 
was  substituted,  a  stove  introduced,  and  other  improvements  made 
internally  ;  and  thus  it  continued  till  1861,  when  it  was  found 
necessary  to  erect  an  infants'  school,  38  feet  by  20  feet,  and 
schoolmistress'  residence  to  relieve  the  mixed  school,  which  under 
the  teaching  of  Mr.  Henry  Dixon,  Mr.  Warren's  successor,  had 
become  too  crowded.  The  infants'  school  thus  erected  was  soon 
filled  to  overflowing— Mrs.  Cartledge  being  the  schoolmistress — 
and  in  1874  an  additional  room,  27  feet  by  20  feet  was  added 
to  it. 

Still  short  of  accommodation  in  the  mixed  school,  the  school- 
master's house  (which  for  some  years  had  been  used  as  the  Local 
Board  offices)  was  in  1876  absorbed  by  the  mixed  school  and  used 
as  class  rooms  ;  but  even  with  this  addition,  under  the  teaching 
of  Mr.  Adam  Watson,  the  present  master,  the  building  was  filled 
with  children,  and  the  results  obtained  at  the  annual  examina- 
tions, as  certified  by  the  Government  Inspectors,  extremely 
creditable  to  him,  considering  the  difficulty  he  laboured  under  in 
having  the  children  crowded  together  in  rooms  ill  adapted  for 
teaching,  and  on  different  floors. 

The  present  buildings  have  an  imposing  frontage  of  one  storey 
to  School  Eoad,  and  are  entered  through  a  large  Gothic  archway 
surmounted  by  an  open  belfry,  with  a  public  clock.    This  archway 


236  SALE,    ASETON-ON-MERSEY,    <Cc. 

divides  the  mixed  from  the  infants'  school.  The  mixed  school  on 
the  right  has  separate  entrance  porches  for  boys  and  girls,  with 
convenient  and  well-fitted  lavatories,  cloak-room,  &c.,  between. 
The  principal  room  is  in  form  of  the  letter  L,  96  feet  long  and 
20  feet  wide  inside,  class-room  16  feet  by  20  feet,  each  open  to 
the  ridge,  and  with  an  average  height  of  18  feet.  The  large  room 
is  divided  by  three  moveable  curtains  into  four  divisions  or  class- 
rooms, and  heated  by  three  open  fires,  whilst  the  ventilation  has 
been  carefully  attended  to.  Advantage  has  been  taken  of  the 
inclination  of  the  site  to  get  a  covered  play-ground  under  this 
part  of  the  building.  The  infants'  school  consists  of  the  room 
built  in  1861,  38  feet  by  20  feet,  a  large  room  42  feet  6  inches 
by  20  feet,  and  class-room  21  feet  10  inches  by  14  feet  7  inches. 
There  is  also  a  room  22  feet  by  14  feet  6  inches,  with  entrances 
from  Springfield  Eoad  and  the  school  play-ground,  fitted  up  as  a 
Board-room  for  the  trustees  to  hold  their   stated  meetings  in. 

The  schools  accommodate  550  children.  The  architect  for  the 
new  buildings  was  Mr.  A.  6.  McBeath,  Sale ;  the  contractors, 
Messrs.  Luke  Winstanley  &  Son,  Sale  ;  mason  work,  Mr.  Thomas 
Kirkley  ;  plaster  work,  Mr.  Alfred  Garner,  Sale  ;  plumber  and 
painter's  work,  Messrs.  Kobert  Collier  and  Co.,  Sale. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  for  some  years  after- 
wards, Sale  moor  was  used  as  an  exercising  ground  for  the  troops 
in  garrison  at  Manchester,  and  a  grand  review  was  held  there, 
which  was  attended  in  vast  numbers  by  the  people.  Old  Sale 
Hall  was  an  ancient  seat  of  the  Masseys,  and  passed  to  Mr.  Moore, 
and  afterwards  by  purchase  to  the  late  James  Worthington, 
Esq.,  J.P.  There  is  another  seat  on  the  Western  side  of  the  town- 
ship called  Sale  Hall,  and  formerly  the  residence  of  Dr.  White, 
whose  services  to  the  township  are  perpetuated  in  numerous  waj^s. 

The  volunteer  movement  in  Sale  seems  to  have  dated  from 
the  early  part  of  the  century.  In  June,  1804,  the  first  muster 
roll  appears  to  have  been  drawn  up.  Capt.  John  Moore,  junr., 
a  name  well  known  in  Sale  annals,  is  the  first  on  the  list,  and 


SALE,    ASIITOX-OX-MEHSEY,    JV.  239 

the  other  principal  officers  were  Lieut.  Robert  Say,  Lieut.  Robert 
Williamson,  Ensign  Wm.  Leebridge,  and  Surgeon  Charles  Poole, 
of  Altrincham.  There  are  128  names  in  all.  On  the  9th  April, 
1804,  the  "  Ashton- on -Mersey -cum -Sale  volunteers  "  were 
inspected  by  Lieut. -Col.  Cuyler,  who  expressed  his  approbation 
of  the  improved  discipline  of  the  company,  and  on  the  12th  of  the 
same  month  they  had  the  honour  of  assisting  the  5th  dragoons 
in  keeping  the  ground  at  Sale  Moor  during  the  review  of  6,000 
volunteers,  on  which  occasion  Prince  William  Frederick  of 
Gloucester  was  present.  At  this  review  the  grand  stand,  erected 
half  way  down  what  is  known  as  Hope  Road,  fell,  by  which  many 
people  were  seriously  injured,  one  fatally.  Li  1S08,  the  company 
was  disbanded,  Napolean's  projected  invasion  of  England  having 
been  abandoned.  In  discontinuing  their  services,  Lord  Castle- 
reagh,  in  a  communication  to  the  Earl  of  Stamford  and 
Warrington,  Lord  Lieutenant,  says,  "Your  Lordship  will  be  pleased 
to  assure  them  that  His  Majesty  will  never  cease  to  entertain  a  just 
sense  of  the  zeal  and  public  spirit  which  incited  them  to  come 
forfvard  in  defence  of  their  country,  and  it  is  only  for  giving 
speedy  effect  to  the  views  of  the  Legislature  in  the  important 
object  of  establishing  a  local  militia,  that  His  Majesty  is  now 
induced  to  dispense  with  their  further  services."  On  Sunday 
May  26th,  1811,  when  their  colours  were  deposited  in  Sale  and 
Ashton-on-Mersey  Parish  Church,  a  sermon  was  preached  by  the 
Rev.  Frances  Gardner,  curate,  from  Jer.  iv,  6,  "  Set  up  a  standard 
towards  Zion,"  which  was  printed,  at  the  request  of  those 
present,  by  Haufan  and  Davies,  c,  Hanging  Ditch,  Manchester. 
It  is  pleasurable  to  record  that  the  patriotic  spirit  has  not  died 
out.  In  1859,  when  rumours  of  invasion  were  spread  through 
the  country,  Sale  responded  as  of  old.  The  name  of  Capt.  A. 
Watkin  will  be  long  remembered,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  he 
did  his  duty  well.  Captain  A.  E.  Marsland,  Captain  Scott,  and 
others,  will  also  be  long  thought  of  in  maintaining  the  efficiency 
of  one  of  the  finest  companies  in  the  Third  Cheshire  Battalion 
Volunteer  Rifles. 


2iO  SALE,    ASHTOX-OX-MEUSEY,    <Ct. 

Sale  Burial  Board  was  formed  in  1862,  and  the  Cemetery  in 
Marslands  Road,  consisting  of  about  six  acres,  was  opened.  The 
Board  solved  the  religious  difficulty  very  efficiently  by  providing 
an  edifice  divided  into  chapels  which  could  be  made  use  of  by 
various  denominations.  One  half  of  the  cemetery  was  consecrated 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England.  Although 
originally  intended  to  meet  the  increasing  requirements  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Sale,  the  cemetery  attracted  persons  from  Man- 
chester and  district.  The  surplus  profits  were  devoted  in  relief 
of  the  poors  rate,  and  in  this  way  the  sum  of  nearly  £15,000  has 
been  realised.  The  management  of  the  cemetery  is  now  merged 
in  the  Sale  Urban  District  Council.  An  additional  plot  of  six 
acres  has  been  added,  but  although  a  portion  has  been  consecrated 
it  has  only  been  used  to  a  limited  extent. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

A shton-on-Merscij  ami  its  parish — Some  notices  of  old  Vicars — Restora- 
tion of  St.  Martin's — The  begimmigs  of  modern  nonconformitij — Old 
Cross  Street  Chapel;  JVesleyanism ;  Congregationalism,  dx. — St. 
Anne's ;  St.  John's,  BrooMands ;  St.  Paul's  ;  St.  Mary's — Sale 
Local  Board — Progress  of  Sale — Sanitary  arrangements,  etc. 

THE  parish  of  Ashton-on-Mersey  was  not  an  extensive  one, 
and  at  an  early  period  appears  to  have  received  spiritnal 
oversight  from  Bowdon,  as,  indeed,  a  certain  portion  of  the 
township  is  still  included  in  that  ancient  parish.  Ashtown  is  the 
town  of  the  sacred  tree,  and  mear's-ee  or  eye  (according  to  Dr. 
Israel  Eenshaw)  appropriate  to  the  condition  of  the  river  Mersey 
before  it  was  banked  in  to  its  proper  channel.  About  A.D.  1,300 
its  first  parish  church  was  built  and  dedicated  to  St.  Martin. 
Ashton-on-Mersey,  in  1402,  was  held  as  to  one  half  by  Sir  George 
Carrington.  In  1666  the  greater  portion  of  Ashton-on-Merscy 
lielonged  to  the  Breretons  of  Honford  or  Handford,  and  Loi-d 
Delamer,  of  Dunham  Massey,  held  about  an  eighth  part.  After- 
wards it  descended  by  purchase  and  otherwise  in  1749  to  the 
Earl  of  Stamford,  and  was  sold  by  the  seventh  Earl  to  the  late 
Samuel  Brooks,  Esq.,  who  devised  it  to  his  son.  Sir  William,  who 
holds  a  court  annually,  as  already  noted,  as  Lord  of  the  Manor. 
The  old  church  was  anciently  valued  at  £13  4s.  7d.,  and  there  was 
once  a  chantry  chapel  here  dedicated  to  the  Virgin.  The  ancient 
edifice  had  not  many  claims  to  architectural  features,  and 
was  exceedingly  plain  in  its  proportions.  The  interior,  owing 
to  the  arrangement  of  the  pews,  was  very  inconvenient 
and  uncomfortable,  and  in  the  aisles  at  one  time  was  placed 
a  continuous  bench  for  the  Sunday  Scholars,  which  had  to  be 
stepped  over  by  each  worshipper  who  entered  the  pews.  The 
church  now  consists  of  chancel,  with  organ  chamber,  nave, 
baptistry,  vestries,  and  a  tower  containing  one  bell  and  a  peal  of 


24:; 


SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MEBSFA',    tfvj 


13  Harrington  tubular  bells.  In  1884  and  1885,  the  interior  was 
refurnished  and  refitted  with  open  oak  benches,  the  framing  of  the 
old  pews  being  converted  into  panelling  for  the  chancel  ^yalls.  In 
1887,  through  the  liberality  of  Su^  William  Cunliffe  Brooks,  Bart., 
the  vestries,  tower,  and  handsome  lych  gate  were  erected,  the 
work  being  carried  out  from  the  designs  and  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Mr.  F.  H.  Oldham,  F.R.I.B.A.,  of  Manchester,  and 
Mr.  Truefitt,  of  London.     There  is  a  lengthy  list  of  rectors,  curates 


LYCH   r,.\TE,    ARHTO\-ON-I\IERSEY. 

and  other  ministers  commencing  in  A.D.  1305  with  Willielmus  de 
Sala,  who  was  succeeded  in  1307  by  Kobertus  Ashton,  rector  in 
1331,  and  with  whose  name  is  linked  that  of  Thomas  de  Ashton. 
In  1350  Robert  Ashton  was  rector,  and  he  was  succeeded  in  1362 
by  Jordan  de  Hulme.  He  was  succeeded  by  Johannes  de  Massey 
two  years  later,  and  there  is  also  a  mention  of  Matheo  de  Sale, 
clerico,  as  having  been  witness  to  a  Congleton  charter  dated 
July  3rd,  1381,  although  Johannes  de  Massey  is  named  as  rector  in 
several  deeds,  notably  1382,  1389,  and  1401.  In  1409,  the  names 
of  Nicholas  de  Wynbelegh  or  Wynkylegh  and  Roger  de  Kingesley 


SALE,    ASHTON-OK-MERSF.Y,    dr.  24S 

appear,  followed  a  year  later  by  Kicardus  Twemlowe.  Then  in 
quick  succession  we  have  Dns  Walto  Seymor  (1412),  Robertus 
Lyster  (1413),  Wms.  Bagelegh  (1419),  H.  Downham  or  Doneham 
(1428),  Eic  Dokedale  or  Dugdale  (1435),  Ranulphus  de  Ashton 
(1457),  who  endowed  a  charity  in  the  parish  church  with  land  in 
Sale,  on  which  a  barn  was  built.  In  April,  1505,  John  Honford 
presented,  and  in  1522  Hugh  Tippinge  was  rector,  and  he  had  a 
dispute  with  Mr.  Massey  in  respect  of  the  tithe  of  a  corn  mill  at 
Ashton-on-Mersey,  which  was  settled  by  arbitration.  In  1567, 
John  Robinson,  clerk,  is  named  in  the  will  of  Thomas  Vawdrey  in 
that  year,  although  Ric.  Shelmerdyne  is  returned  as  rector  in 
1567.  The  oldest  presentation,  now  at  the  Diocesan  Registry,  for 
this  parish  is  that  of  Thomas  Richardson,  in  1582,  followed  by 
those  of  George  Tipping,  in  1613,  and  Daniel  Baker,  M.A.,  in 
1620,  whose  tragic  death  on  April  1st,  1632,  is  recorded  by 
Hollingworth  as  follows: — "Anno  1632,  Daniel  Baker,  M.A.,  rector 
of  Assheton  on  Mercy-bank  and  fellow  of  the  Colledge,  having  on 
Good  Friday  (as  it  is  called)  administered  the  Lord's  supper,  and 
being,  as  it  is  feared,  somewhat  over-charged  with  drinke,  in 
Salford,  was  found  dead  in  the  morning  in  the  water  under  Salford 
Bridge ;  whether  he  fell  downe  of  himself,  being  a  tall  man,  and 
the  battlements  then  but  low,  or  whether  hee  was  cast  doivne  and 
put  over  the  bridge,  it  is  not  certainly  known  to  this  day.  This 
death  of  his,  as  also  Dr.  Buttes,  the  Vice-Chancellor  of  Cambridge, 
hanging  himself  on  Easter  day  after  and  some  other  ministers  and 
professors  coming  that  year  to  an  untimely  end,  as  allso  the  above 
mentioned  difference  between  the  ministers,  seemed  to  the 
Papists  ....  signal  evidences  of  God's  anger  and  wath, 
and  presages  of  the  ruine  of  the  Refoniied  Religion." 

Ralph  Stirrup,  M.A.,  was  represented  in  1632,  and  it  was  during 
the  incumbency  of  this  gentleman — so  Dr.  Israel  Renshaw  informs 
us — was  begun  in  1636,  the  parish  Register  containing 
Christenings,  Weddings,  and  Burials,  within  our  parish  of  Ashton 
super  ripand  Mersey,  A.D.,  1636.  Mr.  Stirrup  died  in  1639,  and 
was  succeeded   in   1G40  by  Richard   Hcyricke,   B.D.,    Fellow    of 


244  SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MERSEY,    &c. 

All  Souls'  College,  Oxford,  who  was  also  a  warden  of  Manchester 
Parish  Church,  at  a  stipend  of  £70.  During  the  period  of  the 
interregnum  he  complied  with  the  requirements  of  Parliament, 
and  was  appointed  preacher  to  the  town  at  a  stipend  of  £100, 
when  the  office  of  Warden  was  abolished.  At  the  Eestoration  he 
was  reappointed  warden  by  Charles  II.  The  next  presentation  to 
the  living  was  by  Sir  "William  Brereton,  and  the  parish  Register 
states  that  Mr.  Jonnsonnsonne  (Mr.  Johnson's  son)  was  "  chosen 
minister  of  the  Word  of  God  at  Ashton  sup  Mersey,  the  1st  of  June, 
1642,  free  selected  by  all  the  people  of  the  parish  of  Ashton,  and 
not  by  virtue  of  any  prelate  or  other  absurd  usm-pation,  and  was 
possessed  by  the  right  worshipful  and  truly  honoured  Sir  "William 
Brereton,  patrone  of  the  same,  and  for  hee  preached  the  1st  day 
of  Jiuie  being  the  fast  day,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  forty  two."  Although  according  to 
some  authorities,  Mr.  John  Ford  was  ejected  for  nonconformity 
the  parish  Register  records  "  John  Ford,  minister  of  the  Gospell 
and  pastor  of  Ashton,  was  buried  16th  Oct.,  1661."  It  is  difficult 
to  reconcile  this  with  the  fact  that  Mr.  Ford  died  before  he  was 
ejected.  Is  it  possible  thai  Calamy,  a  great  authority  on  this  subject, 
may  have  been  misinformed  ?  It  may  be  that  the  man  ejected  was 
Mr.  Ford's  son,  as  he  could  not  have  been  ejected  after  his  death. 
On  Nov.  6th,  1661,  Henry  Hesketh  became  rector  on  the 
presentation  of  Sir  Thomas  Brereton,  and  in  1663  was  succeeded 
by  Hugh  Hobson,  who  signed  a  declaration  in  the  parish  register 
respecting  the  use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Pi-ayer,  and  the 
unlawfulness  of  taking  up  arms  against  the  King.  In  1679, 
Robert  Brown,  M.A.,  chaplain  of  Manchester  College,  was 
presented  by  Richard  Massey,  Esq.,  of  Sale,  and  in  1706,  Thomas 
Ellison,  who  was  also  rector  of  Pulford,  was  ajjpointed.  It  was 
during  his  incumbency  that  the  church  was  rebuilt.  In  1717,  the 
Rev.  Massey  Malyn,  LL.D.,  of  Sale,  was  presented,  who  is 
described  on  a  marble  tablet,  erected  by  his  sorrowing  widow,  as 
the  most  excellent  rector  of  this  church,  who  suddenly,  though 
not  immaturely,  snatched  away,  rendered  his  spirit  again  to  God, 


SALE,    ASTITOX-ON-MEUSEY,  dV.  245 

on  the  Slst  day  of  the  month  of  October,  in  the  year  of  Scalvation 
1729,  in  the  year  of  his  age  42.  The  Eev.  Thomas  Whittaker, 
M.A.,  who  succeeded  him  on  the  presentation  of  the  Bishop,  was 
rector  upwards  of  37  years,  and  died  on  the  29th  June,  1767,  in 
his  77th  year.  Tlu-ee  curates  meantime  ministered  in  the  parish, 
and  in  1767,  the  Rev.  John  Green,  LL.B.,  was  appointed,  during 
whose  incumbency  Mr^.  Hannah  Smith  bequeathed  a  sum  of  £20, 
the  interest  to  be  applied  to  the  poor.  In  1774,  Richard  Popple- 
well  Johnson  became  rector,  and  he  died  in  1835,  at  the  age  of 
8G  years,  having  had  charge  of  the  spiritual  concerns  of  the  parish 
for  the  long  term  of  61  years.  In  the  same  year  he  was  succeeded 
hj  the  Rev.  Charles  Backhouse  Sowerby,  M.A.,  who  resigned  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Ray,  M.A.  The  present  Vicar 
is  the  Rev.  Abraham  ^lendel  Hertzberg,  who  studied  at  St. 
Aidan's  Theological  College,  and  was  ordained  Deacon  in  1888, 
and  priest  1889.  He  was  curate  of  Hilgay,  Norfolk,  1888,  Vicar 
of  N,  Petherton,  Somerset,  1890,  and  rector  of  Ashton-on-Mersey 
(St.  Martin's),  1894,  of  which  living  he  is  also  patron.  The  income 
is  made  up  of  a  tithe  rent  charge  of  £700,  averaging  £519,  with 
27  acres  of  glebe,  value  £105  ;  fees,  £20  ;  Queen  Anne's  bounty, 
£5  ;  gross  income,  £649  ;  nett,  £535  and  house ;  population  3,700. 
Sale,  until  very  modern  times,  does  not  attract  much  attention 
from  a  nonconformist  point  of  view.  We  hear  of  Ashton-on- 
JMersey,  and  also  of  Cross  Street,  and  we  read  that  in  the  then 
Frodsham  Deanery,  in  1662,  Mr.  Ford,  of  Ashton-on-Mersey,  was 
ejected  from  his  living  for  nonconformity.  So  it  is  stated  by  some 
authorities,  but  it  is  just  possible  that  the  Mr.  Ford  referred  to 
was  a  son  of  the  rector  who  died  in  1661.  In  1647,  the  famous 
Adam  Martindale,  a  former  Vicar  of  Eostherne,  had  been  invited 
to  become  the  minister,  and  in  1662,  he  stated  he  had  been  asked 
to  minister  at  Ashton,  at  double  the  salary  his  people  paid  him. 
From  a  list  of  dissenting  chapels  and  ministers  in  Cheshire, 
compiled  between  1715  and  1729,  we  find  that  at  Cross  Street  "on 
ye  fund  books,  Ashton-on-Mersey,"  one  Michael  Fletcher  was  the 
preacher,  and  that  out  of  a   total  congregation  of   322,    which 


24G  SALE,    ASIirOX-OX-MERSEY,    c£r. 

included  five  gentlemen,  30  were  voters  for  the  County.  This  is 
without  doubt  the  "  Presliyterian  meeting  house,'  now  merged  in 
the  Sale  Unitarian  Sunday  School,  which  is  referred  to  by  Bishop 
Gastrell,  in  his  Notitia  Oestriensis,  as  being  "a  place  to  which 
great  numbers  resort,  anno  1716."  The  Rev.  Robert  Harrop, 
whose  name  appears  in  the  Sale  township  books,  preached  at  this 
chapel  for  37  years,  and  retired  "with  the  undivided  respect  and 
affection  of  his  flock."  The  old  chapel  at  Sale,  the  exact  age  of 
which  appears  to  be  uncertain,  was  vacated  on  the  opening  of  the 
chapel  in  Atkinson  Road.  Of  its  late  ministers,  the  late  Rev. 
J.  McConochie  is  perhaps  the  best  known  for  his  scholarly 
attainments  and  breadth  of  thought.  This  chapel  was  biu-ned 
down  December  20th,  1896,  and  damage  done  to  the  extent  of 
£3,000. 

It  was  at  Cross  Street,  too,  that  independency  or  Congrega- 
tionalism was  cradled,  to  develope  into  the  powerful  organization 
it  has  since  become.  In  the  year  1800  services  were  held  in  a 
cottage  there,  and  three  years  after  a  chapel  was  built,  which  will 
be  recognized  as  the  Sale  Institute,  capable  of  holding  about  400 
hearers,  and  in  1805  a  church  consisting  of  12  members.  After 
many  \-icissitudes  the  chapel  was  closed  for  about  two  months.  It 
was  then  that  at  the  request  of  the  Trustees  the  (late)  Rev. 
E.  Morris,  of  Stretford,  undertook  the  pastorate,  and  in  October, 
1812,  a  second  church,  consisting  of  11  members,  was  formed. 
The  substantial  growth  which  followed,  consequent  on  the  rapid 
increase  of  the  township,  required  the  erection  of  another  chapel, 
which  is  built  on  a  site  in  Montague  Road,  presented  by  the  late 
Mr.  Samuel  Brooks,  and  opened  in  1852.  It  is  in  the  early 
English  style,  faced  with  stone.  There  are  Sunday  Schools 
adjoining  and  all  the  equipments  for  a  thriving  congregation. 
The  Rev.  E.  Morris  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Adam  Scott,  now 
of  Southport,  the  present  minister  being  the  Rev.  T.  Hallett- 
Williams.  The  Ashtpn-on-Mersey  Congregational  Church  is  situate 
in  Cross  Street,  and  contains  a  stained  glass  window,  designed  by 
Sir  E.  Burne  Jones  to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Catherine  Johnson. 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-IilEBSEV,    dr.  249 

Wesleyanism,  at  an  early  date,  liegan  to  be  a  power  for  good,  and 
Wesley  ChajJel,  School  Eoad,  and  the  handsome  Trinity  Chapel  in 
Northenden  Road  are  substantial  evidences  of  the  feeling  existing. 
What  may  be  regarded  as  off-shoots,  although  really  older  than 
what  may  be  regarded  as  the  parent  churches  are  Barker's  Lane, 
Ashton-on-Mersey,  the  Egeiton  Street  Mission  School,  and  flourish- 
ing branches  at  Partington  and  Sinderland.  The  growth  of 
Scotch  Presbyterianism  is  shown  in  the  handsome  structure  in 
Northenden  Road,  erected  in  1874,  at  a  cost  of  £9,000,  with 
manse.  The  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  J.  Thoburn  McGaw, 
B.A.,  D.D.,  who  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Sim.  St. 
Joseph's  Catholic  Chapel  in  Hope  Road  is  a  neat  edifice  in  the 
French  gothic  style,  and  for  many  years  past  the  Rev.  Canon 
Crawley  has  laboured  with  much  patience  and  self  denial.  The 
Primitive  Methodist  Chapel  is  situate  in  Northenden  Road.  St. 
Anne's  Church,  the  first  in  the  township  of  Sale,  was  erected  on  a 
site  given  by  the  late  Samuel  Brooks,  Esq.  It  is  a  building  of 
stone  in  the  early  English  style,  consisting  of  chancel,  nave  of  four 
bays,  aisles,  north  and  west  porches,  and  a  north  west  embattled 
tower,  with  pinnacles  and  octagonal  spire.  To  meet  the  growing 
wants  of  the  congregation  it  was  enlarged  in  1864,  just  ten  years 
after  it  was  opened,  and  again  in  1887,  furnishing  sittings  for 
900  people.  The  first  vicar  was  the  Rev.  J.  Johnson  Cort,  M.A., 
late  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  The  interior  is 
adorned  with  a  new  reredos  and  communion  table,  the  gift  of 
John  Kendall,  Esq.,  to  the  memorj'  of  his  wife,  and  a  brass  tablet 
let  in  the  wall  states  that  "  in  loving  memory  of  Eliza  Jane  Kendall, 
this  sanctuary  was  beautified  and  reredos  erected,  1893." 

The  new  three  manual  organ,  40  stops,  by  Harrison  and 
Hairison,  is  considered  the  finest  organ  in  the  parish. 

In  the  Chancel  is  a  marble  tablet  inserted  in  wall,  to — 

"The  Rev.  Jonathan  Johnson  Cort,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  St.  John's 
College,  Cambridge,  Vicar  of  Sale.  This  monument  was  erected  by  the 
congregation.     Born  January  26th,  1827  ;  died  October  10th,  1884." 

GG3 


250  SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MEnSFA\    d-c. 


Another  marble  tablet  in  the  Chancel  certifies — 

"In  loving  memory   of  George  Yardon  Ryder.      Born  4th  Marcli. 

180.3;  died  '22nd  June,  1888."      "Sarah  Starkey.  his  wife.      Born  2nd 

March,  1804  ;  died  26th  March,  1889." 

In  the  Transept  is  a  stained-glass  window — 

"In  loving  remembrance  of  the  late  Thomas  Byron  HoUinworth. 
This  memorial  is  dedicated.  Died  August  8th,  1867  ;  age  34."  Subject  : 
Christ  blessing  little  children,  and  in  Temple. 

Another  stained-glass  window — 

"In  affectionate  remembrance  of  Williami  Wilson.  This  window  is 
erected  by  his  widow  and  children.  Died  April  1st,  1875  ;  age  58  years." 
Subject :  The  Epiphanj-. 

ass  window — 


"  To  the  memory  of  William  Joynson,  of  Ashfield.  Died  December 
27th,  1882."    Subject  :  The  Transfiguration. 

In  the  aisle  is  a  stained  window — 

"  In  memory  of  Mrs.  Cort,  wife  of  the  late  Yicar  of  Sale.  Erected 
by  members  of  congregation."  Subject  :  Dorcas,  St.  Anne  and  B.V. 
Mary,  St.  Elizabeth." 

Marble  tablets — 

"  To  the  memory  of  Marion,  the  devoted  wife  of  Charles  Samuel 
Evans.     This  tablet  was  erected  by  her  husband." 

To  "John  Wallace  Murray,  of  Fraserburgh,  and  afterwards  of  this 
parish,  who  died  at  sea,  on  his  way  to  Melbourne  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health,  October  28th,  1868,  aged  30  years." 

To  "Charles  Samuel  Evans.  Born  September  27th,  1791;  died 
September  6th,  1857."  A  three-light  stained-glass  window  to  "Elizabeth 
Hayes,  died  July  4th,  1888,  aged  49  years."  Subject :  Faith,  Hope, 
Charity.  Stained-glass  window  to  "Phcebe  Nancy  Haj-es,  died  September 
24th,  1882,  aged  17  years."     Subject  :  Martha  and  Mary. 

"  In  loving  memory  of  our  dear  parents,  John  Henry  Waltham,  born 
March  29th,  1824,  died  March  21st,  1893  ;  also  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  born 
May  19th,  1824,  died  June  10th,  1894,  who  were  for  nearly  40  years 
members  of  this  congregation." 

A  large  east  window  was  erected  by  J.  J.  Occleston  in  1S63. 
Subject :  The  Ascension. 

The  Rev.  John  Patchett  Cort,  the  present  vicar,  is  the  only 
son  of  the  Eev.  J.  C.  Cort,  the  first  vicar  of  the  parish.     He  is  a 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEBSF.Y,    dr.  251 

graduate  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  the 
degree  of  B.A.  in  1879,  in  which  year  he  was  ordained  Deacon, 
taking  priest's  orders  in  1880.  He  was  curate  of  St.  Philemon's, 
Sheffield,  in  1879,  and  curate  of  St.  Anne's,  under  his  late  father 
from  1881  to  1884:,  when  he  succeeded  him  as  vicar.  He  was 
made  an  honorary  B.A.  of  Owen's  College,  Manchester,  in  1882. 
The  living  is  in  the  hands  of  Trustees.  The  amount  of  the  income 
from  the  endowment  is  £40 ;  rents,  £350 ;  fees,  £44 ;  gross 
income,  £434 ;  net,  £300  ;  with  a  popidation  of  5,956. 

The  Church  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  in  Brookland's  Road,  was 
erected  in  1867.  It  is  built  of  freestone  in  the  Gothic  style, 
consisting  of  chancel,  nave,  transepts,  north  west  porch,  and  a 
turret  on  the  western  gable  containing  one  bell.  There  are  500 
sittings.  In  the  west  end  is  a  memorial  window  to  the  memory 
of  the  late  John  Brooks,  Esq.,  M.P.  There  is  a  large  Parish  room 
in  Marsland's  Road,  and  a  National  School  on  Baguley  JMoor 
connected  with  the  parish,  which  is  ecclesiastically  in  the  township 
of  Baguley.  The  first  perpetual  curate  of  St.  John's  was  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Brooke,  and  was  afterwards  first  vicar. 

The  Rev.  Hugh  Bethell  Jones,  who  succeeded  the  late  Rev. 
Thomas  Brooke,  the  first  vicar,  is  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  took  his  B.A.  degree  in  1861,  and  M.A.,  1875; 
University  College,  Durham,  ad  eundum,  B.A.,  L.Th.  He  was 
ordained  deacon  in  1863,  priest  in  1867,  and  B.D.  in  1895.  His 
first  curacy  was  Whalley  Range,  Manchester,  from  1863  to  1867, 
when  he  was  appointed  Vicar  of  Christ  Church,  Appleton-le-Moors, 
and  from  1870  to  1876  he  held  the  important  curacy  of  St. 
Clement's,  Chorlton-cum-Hardy,  which  he  vacated  on  his  preferment 
to  the  vicarage  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  Brooklands,  or  Baguley. 
He  is  the  author  of  "  Freces  Liturgicce,  Lectures  on  the  morning 
and  evening  prayer,"  (1873),  "  Some  thoughts  on  the  Establishment 
of  the  Church  of  England,"  (1880),  etc.  The  patrons  of  the 
living  are  Sir  William  Cunlifte  Brooks,  Bart.,  and  Thomas  Brooks, 
Esq.     The  gross  income  is  £300,  and  the  population  627. 


252  SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEUSEY,    &c. 

The  growth  of  population  on  the  westerly  side  of  the 
Bridgewater  Canal,  necessitated  the  formation  of  a  new 
ecclesiastical  district,  and  in  1883,  the  fine  church  dedicated  to 
St.  Paul  was  erected.  It  is  iti  early  English  style  from  designs 
of  Mr.  H.  E.  Price,  of  Alanchester,  and  contains  750  sittings,  250 
of  which  are  free.  The  first  vicar  was  the  late  Rev.  T.  A.  Livesey, 
whose  learning  and  piety  are  remembered  and  appreciated  by 
many  of  the  early  worshippers  at  this  church.  He  died  after  a 
too  brief  ministry  in  1887.  Near  the  church  is  a  Sunday  School 
and  parish  room. 

The  Eev.  William  Edward  Chadwick,  the  present  vicar,  is  a 
scholar  and  exhibitioner  of  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  where  he 
graduated  B.A.  (JEgrot.  Math.  Tripos),  and  :M.A.  in  1881.  He 
was  ordained  deacon  the  same  year,  and  was  cm-ate  of  Holy 
Trinity,  Coventry,  1881,  and  took  priest's  orders  in  1882.  He 
was  curate  of  All  Saint's,  Bradford,  Yorks.,  from  1884  to  1887 
when  he  was  appointed  Vicar  of  St.  Paul's,  Sale.  The  living  is 
in  the  hands  of  Trustees  ;  gross  income,  £450,  with  house  ;  and 
population  of  parish,  3,126. 

The  growing  requirements  of  the  parish  of  Ashton-on-Mersey 
rendered  necessary  the  erection  of  a  Chapel-of-ease,  which  was 
dedicated  to  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  and  opened  in  March,  1874. 
The  site  was  given  by  Sir  William  Cunliffe  Brooks,  Bart,  who 
also  contributed  liberally  to  the  cost  of  the  building — about 
£9,000 — raised  by  subscriptions.  The  parish  was  formed  in  1894. 
The  architecture  of  St.  Mary's  is  of  the  early  decorated  period, 
and  was  erected  from  designs  of  Messrs.  Wilson  and  Oldham. 
The  building  consists  of  nave,  with  north  and  south  transepts. 
The  pulpit  is  in  Caen  stone,  with  marble  steps,  and  illuminated 
texts  adorn  the  walls.  The  ceiling  is  of  dark  wood,  moulded  and 
panelled,  and  with  bosses  relieved  by  black  and  gold.  The  tower 
and  spire  are  on  the  south  side  of  the  chancel  at  the  junction  of 
the  transept  with  the  nave. 

On  the  division  of  the  ancient  parish  of  Ashton-on-Mersey,  in 
1894,  the  Eev.  Christie  Chetwynd  Atkinson,  who  had  held  the 


SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MERSEY,    Ar.  255 

senior  curacy  under  the  Rev.  Joseph  Ray,  a  former  rector,  since 
1882,  was  appointed  by  the  Trustees  the  first  vicar  of  S.  Mary 
Magdalene.  He  is  a  I\I.A.  of  Keble  College,  Oxford,  where  he 
took  a  fourth  class  in  the  Theological  School  in  1878.  He  was 
ordained  Deacon  in  1879,  and  Priest  in  1880.  He  was  assistant 
master  of  All  Saints'  School,  Bloxham,  and  curate  of  Hempton, 
Oxon,  1879  to  1880,  assistant  master  of  St.  Paul's,  Stony 
Stratford,  1880  to  1882,  when  he  was  appointed  to  the  curacy  of 
Ashton-on-Mersey.  The  gross  income  of  the  living  is  returned  at 
£265  per  annum,  and  nett,  £90,  with  an  estimated  population  of 
3,108.  Already  schools  and  a  parish  room  arc  liuilt  to  meet 
the  increasing  educational  and  social  wants  of  the  parish. 

If  the  saying  be  true  that  happy  is  the  country,  and  let  us  in 
the  present  instance  add  township,  that  has  no  history,  then  Sale 
may  be  regarded  as  being  exceiitionally  favoured  in  this  respect. 
There  is  very  little  to  be  said  as  to  the  proceedings  of  its  Local 
Board  from  its  formation  in  1867,  which  is  specially  striking,  and 
it  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  business-like  way  in  which  its 
members  set  about  bring  the  afl'airs  of  the  to  wnship  up  to  date  in 
the  matter  of  sanitary  and  general  administration.  Wm.  Joynson, 
Esq.,  J.P.,  whose  venerable  appearance  and  sound  good  sense 
inspired  universal  respect,  was  unanimously  elected  Chairman  and 
under  his  able  direction  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  were 
distinguished  by  smoothness  and  harmony.  Under  the  superintend- 
ence of  Mr.  A.  G.  McBeath,  the  surveyor  and  engineer  to  the 
the  Board,  a  complete  and  efficient  system  of  drainage  was  laid 
down,  and  the  roads  of  the  township  greatly  extended  and 
improved.  This  policy,  the  Sale  Urban  District  Council,  on 
succeeding  to  the  inheritance  left  by  the  defunct  Board,  in  189i, 
has  continued,  and  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the 
Mersey  and  Irvvell  Joint  Committee,  a  scheme  for  the  purification 
of  the  Sale  Sewage,  has  been  laid  down  near  Dane  Road,  where 
about  two  million  gallons  per  day  is  dealt  with  in  order  that  a 
satisfactory  etllueut  may  be  passed  into  the  river  Mersey.  The 
works    have    been    constructed    from    plans    of   Air.    McBeath. 

HH 


256  SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEBSEY,    dx. 

Particulars  of  the  increase  of  the  township  will  be  found  in  the 
apiDcndix,  but  it  should  be  added  that  the  Free  Library  and 
Technical  classes  in  Tatton  Road  are  in  a  flourishing  condition, 
and  a  School  of  Art  adjoining  is  now  completed. 

The  total  amount  borrowed  by  the  Sale  Local  Board  and  Sale 
Urban  District  Council  up  to  and  including  July,  1895,  for  works 
of  sewage  and  public  improvements  amounted  to  £45,385,  of 
which  at  the  end  of  March,  1896,  the  sum  of  £23,219  9s.  4d.  had 
been  repaid,  leaving  a  balance  of  £22,105  10s.  8d.,  extending  over 
a  period  of  30  years,  at  the  low  rate  of  three  and  a  half  to  four 
and  a  half  per  cent,  interest.  Excluding  Bowdon,  which  has  a 
remarkably  low  district  rate.  Sale  compares  most  favourably  with 
surroundings  authorities,  having  a  comparatively  low  district  rate, 
while  its  death  rate,  considering  the  rapidity  of  increase  of 
population  is  next  to  Bowdon,  as  low  as  can  be  found  in  any 
similar  area  and  number.  Li  1895,  the  township  was  divided  for 
electoral  purposes  into  five  wards,  viz. :  North,  South,'  East,  West, 
and  Central,  each  with  three  members. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

IFythen?hmve  Hall  and  the  Tattons—Carrington  Moss,  iviih  an  account 
of  Carrington  fight,  a  memorable  local  event— Manchester  Ship 
Canal — A  Bishop  from  Carrington — Baguley  Ball  ami  the  Leghs  — 
Biddings  Hall — The  Gerrards  and  the  Vavdreys — Edlesion's 
Lepidoptera  of  the  Bollin  Falleij ;  ornithology,  etc. — Ashley  Hall, 
a  notable  meeting ;  a  lUtle-hnown  tragedy — The  murder  at  the 
Bleeding  JFoIf,  etc. 

THE  name  and  family  of  Tatton  of  Wythenshawe  have  been 
identified  with  this  district  for  many  centuries.  Mr. 
Earwaker,  the  historian  of  East  Cheshire,  points  out  that 
records  relating  to  Wythenshawe  are  extant  for  quite  550  years, 
and  it  is  noteworthy  as  one  of  the  few  estates  which  have  been 
handed  down  in  the  same  family  from  one  generation  to  another 
since  the  middle  of  the  14th  century.  In  all  probability  the 
descendants  of  Hamo  de  Mascy,  or  Massy,  of  Dunham,  very  soon 
obtained  possession  of  the  land  at  Wythenshawe,  as  there  was  a 
branch  of  the  Mascies  there  about  1275. 

Robert  de  Tatton,  of  whom  mention  is  first  made,  owned  land 
in  Northenden  in  1297,  and  his  grandson  marrying  a  daughter  of 
William  Mascy,  brought  Wythenshawe  into  the  Tatton  family  in 
1370.  Robert  and  William  seem  to  have  been  for  generations 
favourite  family  names.  There  is  one  Nicholas,  who  was  Baron 
of  the  Exchequer  of  Chester  in  1451,  but  down  to  the  year  1700 
Robert  is  either  succeeded  by  William,  or  William  by  Robert.  In 
1747,  William  Tatton,  of  Wythenshawe,  Esquire,  married  for  his 
second  wife,  Hester,  eldest  daughter  of  John  Egerton,  Esquire, 
of  Tatton  Park.  She  was  sister  and  sole  heiress  of  Samuel 
Egerton,  Esquire.  The  result  of  this  marriage  was  to  cause  the 
Tattons  of  Wythenshawe  to  assume,  by  royal  license,  the  name 
and  arms  of  Egerton  of  Tatton,  which  was  done  by  William 
(Tatton)  Egerton,  Esq.,  of  Tatton  Park  and  AVythenshawe,  who 
Hh3 


258  SALE,    JSHTOX-nX-MEnSEV,    dr. 

was  M.P.  for  Cheshire  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1806.  By  his 
first  marriage  with  Frances  Maria,  eldest  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
John  Fountayne,  Dean  of  York,  he  had  two  sons  and  one 
daughter,  who  retained  the  old  name  of  Tatton ;  those  by  his 
second  wife,  Mary,  second  daughter  of  Richard  Wilbraham 
Bootle,  Esq.,  of  Eode,  preserving  the  name  of  Egerton.  Their 
eldest  son,  Wilbraham  Egerton,  Esq.,  of  Tatton  Park,  was  the 
father  of  the  late  Lord  Egerton,  of  Tatton.  Their  second 
son,  Thomas  William,  resumed  by  royal  license,  dated  9th  Januar}', 
1806,  the  name  and  arms  of  Tatton,  on  succeeding  to  the  Wythen- 
shawe  estates.  He  was  High  Sheriff  of  Cheshire  in  1809.  By 
his  marriage  with  Emma,  daughter  of  the  Honourable  John  Grey, 
a  younger  son  of  Harry  Grey,  fourth  Earl  of  Stamford  and 
Warrington,  he  was  brought  into  still  greater  contact  with  our  own 
district.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  and  only  son — there 
being  eight  daughters — Thomas  William  Tatton,  the  late  worthy 
and  beloved  possessor  of  the  estate  of  Wythenshawe.  He  was 
born  on  the  2nd  June,  1816,  and  was  married  January  25th, 
1843,  to  Harriet  Susan,  eldest  daughter  of  Robert  Towneley 
Parker,  Esq.,  of  Cuerdon,  Lancashire.  She  died  in  London, 
February  20th,  1873,  Their  eldest  son,  Thomas  Egerton  Tatton, 
Esq.,  born  May  31st,  1846,  is  married  to  Essex  Mary,  second 
daughter  of  Col.  The  Hon.  T.  G.  Cholmondeley,  of  Abbott's 
Moss,  near  North wich.  He  has  two  brothers,  Robert  Grey  Tatton 
and  Reginald  Arthur  Tatton,  and  one  sister,  Mary  Emily.  The 
late  possessor  of  Wythenshawe  was  well  known  and  highly 
respected  throughout  the  county.  Amongst  those  with  whom  he 
was  brought  into  immediate  contact,  not  only  in  the  family 
circle,  but  amongst  his  tenantry,  he  was  justly  beloved. 
Courteous  in  his  bearing  and  kindly  in  his  manner,  the  merest 
stranger  received  a  patient  hearing  at  his  hands.  He  qualified 
as  a  Magistrate  for  the  County  on  the  17th  October,  1842,  and 
in  1848  was  High  Sherift  of  Cheshire.  In  his  magisterial  capacity 
he  was  Chairman  of  the  Altrincham  Petty  Sessional  Division. 
In  all  matters  relating  to  the  social,  moral,  and  physical  well- 


SALE,    ASHTOX-OX-MEBSEY,    dr.  259 

being  of  the  people,  he  took  the  deepest  interest.  When  the  fear 
of  an  invasion  on  the  part  of  our  French  neighbours^a  fear 
happily  found  to  have  little  or  no  real  foundation— caused  a 
national  call  to  arms  to  resound  through  the  land,  Mr.  Tatton 
practically  recognised  his  duty  as  a  patriot,  and  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  formation  of  the  Volunteer  force  in  this  district.  He 
was  for  many  years  the  respected  Colonel  of  the  3rd  Battalion 
C.R.V.,  which  had  its  headquarters  at  Altrincham,  and  his 
resignation  was  greatly  deplored.  His  latest  act  of  any  great 
public  importance,  was  the  laying  of  the  foundation  stone  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Wilfrid,  at  Northenden,  on  the  11th  April,  1874. 
In  this  work  he  took  the  deepest  interest,  and  in  addition  to 
restoring  the  north  and  south  chapels  at  his  own  cost,  he  gave  £750 
towards  the  subscription  for  re-building  the  main  body  of  this 
venerable  fabric.  In  politics  he  was  a  Conservative,  but  in  the 
moderateness  of  his  views  he  was  a  pattern  worthy  of  imitation 
by  the  members  of  any  political  party.  Indeed  we  may  apply  to 
him  most  truthfully,  the  lines  of  Pope,  which  have  already  been 
applied  to  another  member  of  the  family  : 

A  fair  example  of  unblemished  worth, 

Of  modest  wisdom  and  pacifick  truth  ; 

Compos'd  in  sufTrings,  and  in  joy  sedate, 

Oood  without  noise,  without  pretension,  great  I 

Wythenshawe  Hall,  which  next  claims  attention,  stands  about 
two  and  a  half  miles  from  Sale.  Originally,  the  structure  was  in  the 
black  and  white  style  of  Cheshire,  and  surrounded  by  a  fortified 
wall  and  moat.  It  has  numerous  gables,  which  lend  to  it  an  air 
of  great  picturesqueness,  and  at  various  periods  it  has  been  the 
subject  of  many  alterations  and  additions.  As  will  have  been 
already  seen,  the  family  has  been  singularly  fortunate  in  retaining 
possession  of  the  ancestral  home.  Webb,  in  his  Itinerary  (1614), 
states  that  "Wythenshawe,  or  AVithanshaw,  is  a  goodly  Lordship 
and  stately  house,  the  mansion  of  Tattons,  men  of  great  worship 
and  dignity.  A  race  of  them  for  a  descent  or  two,  through  the 
variable  inconstancy  of   all  mortall  happinesse,  much    eclipsed. 


260  SALE,    ASllTOX-ON-MEnSEY,    dx. 

And  the  heir  of  that  house,  though  a  gentleman  of  rare  suffi- 
ciency and  parts,  answerable  every  way  to  the  great  worth  of  his 
ancestors,  yet  by  troubles  and  encumbrances,  whereunto  greatest 
estates  are  oft  subject,  obscured  :  that  he  never  yet  shined  in  his 
own  sphear  ;  and  the  chiefest  hope  now  of  raising  the  house 
remains  in  the  Grandchild  of  his  own  loyns,  a  towardly  child  in 
minority."  It  will  be  thus  seen  that  the  familj'  has  passed 
through  many  vicissitudes. 

Although  Robert  Tatton  was  married  in  1628-9  to  Anne, 
daughter  of  AY  illiam  Brereton,  Esq.,  of  Ashley,  a  near  relative  of 
Brereton,  one  of  the  leaders  on  the  Parliamentary  side  in  the  Civil 
War,  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  warmly  espousing  the  cause 
of  King  Charles.  He  suffered  greatly  in  consequence,  and  Mr. 
Earwaker  in  his  "East  Cheshire,"  states  there  is  preserved  at 
Wythenshawe  an  "Inventory  of  all  the  Goods  and  Cattels  of 
Kobert  Tatton,  of  Withen,shaw,  Esq.,  viewed  and  praysed  the 
2  June  19,  Charles  I.,  1613,"  the  total  value  being  set  down  at 
£1,619  2s.  8d.  Soon  afterwards  Wythenshawe  was  besieged  by 
the  Parliamentarian  forces  under  Col.  Duckenfield,  and  for  a  year 
and  a  half  it  was  defended  by  the  owner.  Amongst  the  defenders 
were — Edward  Legh,  cf  Baguley,  Esquire,  Mr.  Eichard  Vawdrey, 
Mr.  John  Bretland  and  his  man.  Out  of  Baguley,  William 
Hamnett,  Eobert  Chapman  and  Nicholas  his  brother,  Thomas 
Hill.  Also  Eobert  Deane  of  Altrincham,  Hugh  Newton,  Eichard 
Grantham,  of  Hale,  Eobert  his  sonne,  and  George  Delahey  of 
Timperley.  Mr.  Thomas  Gerrard  of  the  Biddings,  and  Mr. 
William  Davenport  of  Baguley,  are  also  mentioned.  The  house 
was  taken  on  Sunday,  February  25tb,  1613-1,  two  pieces  of  heavy 
ordnance  which  were  sent  for  from  Manchester  being  brought 
against  it.  Had  it  not  been  for  this,  the  besiegers  might  have 
had  to  beat  a  retreat.  During  this  memorable  and  trying  time, 
one  of  the  maid-servants  is  credited  with  a  most  daring  act. 
Captain  Adams  was  so  bold  that  he  ventured  to  sit  on  the  outer 
wall.  Being  seen  by  the  domestic  in  this  exposed  position,  she 
asked  for  and  was  furnished  with  a  musket,  and  so  true  was  her 


S-ILE,    ASHTOX-ON-MEllSEY,    c\ic.  263 

aim,  that  the  officer  was  shot  dead.  However  questionable  this 
may  be,  there  is  no  doubt  Captain  Adams  met  his  death  there. 
Six  skeletons  were  found  in  the  last  century  lying  close  together 
in  the  garden.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  soldiers  who 
fell  under  the  fire  of  the  garrison,  and  were  buried  as  they  lay. 
For  his  "  Delinquencie,"  he  had  his  estates  sequestered  by  Parlia- 
ment, and  although  it  was  stated  that  he  had  been  "damnified 
since  theise  troubles  by  the  losse  of  his  goodes,  rentes,  waste  of 
bis  houses  and  tymber,"  £2,500,  and  in  other  ways  probably 
£2,000  more,  the  resolution  of  a  committee  convened  by  the 
Parliament,  inflicted  a  fine  of  X804  10s.  Od.  This  was  subse- 
quently reduced  to  £707  13s.  4d.,  a  fine  heavy  enough  in  all 
conscience  to  appal  the  stoutest  heart.  It  is  satisfactory  to  note 
that  Mr.  Tatton  lived  to  see  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  "  He 
died,"  says  Mr.  Earwaker,  "August  19th,  and  was  buried  at 
Northenden,  August  24th,  1669 ;  and  it  is  somewhat  strange  that 
amongst  the  numerous  monumental  tablets  to  the  various  members 
of  the  Tatton  family  in  Northenden  Church,  there  is  nothing  to 
commemorate  the  life  and  character  of  one  who  suftered  so  much 
for  his  loyalty  to  his  sovereign,  at  a  time,  and  in  a  part  of  the 
country  where  loyalty  was  a  crime  and  treason  a  virtue  to  be 
highly  rewarded."  However  much  we  may  question  the  accuracy 
of  this  sweeping  statement,  viewed  in  the  light  which  history  his 
unfolded,  all  will  concur  in  the  opinion  that  there  is  no  record  of 
the  kind  indicated  to  teach  us  a  lesson  of  at  least  consistency  and 
perseverance. 

Numerous  articles  were  removed  from  Wythenshawe  after  the 
siege,  amongst  them  two  bells,  which  appear  to  have  confounded 
historians  somewhat.  By  one  it  is  stated  that  the  old  house  bell 
was  carried  off',  but  afterwards  restored  by  Charles  II.,  with  a 
small  silver  snuft-box,  having  the  donor's  initials  and  medallion 
upon  it,  as  a  mark  of  his  esteem.  Another  has  it  that  this  bell 
remained  with  Col.  Duckenfield's  successors  until  the  20th  October, 
1807,  when  Sir  Henry  Diickenfield,  their  then  representative, 
"gracefully  restored  this  prize  of  war  to  the  then  representative 

II 


264  SALE,    ASHTON-OX MERSEY,    <fr. 

of  "Withensliaw  Hall,  in  which  house  it  now  hangs  ;  and  so  a 
trophy  snatched  in  a  time  of  civil  war  was  restored  in  a  time  of 
domestic  peace,  after  a  lapse  of  more  than  a  century  and  a  half." 
The  inscription  on  this  bell  is 

'Gloria  in  Excelsis  Deo.' 
MDCXLI." 

Mr.  Earwaker  states,  however,  that  the  chapel  bell,  which  is 
evidently  the  one  here  referred  to,  after  having  been  preserved 
at  Duckenfield  Lodge  for  over  200  years,  was  recently  presented 
by  Jlr.  Astley  to  Mr.  Tatton,  and  is  now  at  Wythenshawe. 
Cromwell  stayed  at  Wythenshawe  Hall,  and  the  room  he  slept  in 
is  still  called  "Oliver  Cromwell's  room."  The  bed  which  is  dated 
1619  is  of  elegantly  carved  wood,  the  furniture  and  mirrors 
matching  it  and  of  the  same  age.     "  All's  well  that  ends  well." 

A  vigorous  stride  across  the  country  brings  us  to  Carrington 
Moss,  and  it  is  very  amusing  to  read  in  this  connection  the 
quaintly  droll  description  given  by  Mr.  Leo  H.  Grindon,  in  that 
notable  and  delightful  work,  "Manchester  Walks  and  Wild 
Flowers."  He  says,  "Should  any  of  our  unknown  companions 
in  these  rambles  be  vegetarians,  they  will  please  here  take  notice 
that  Carrington  Moss  in  the  summer  time  is  a  scene  of  ravenous 
slaughter,  such  as  cannot  but  be  exceedingly  painful  and  shocking 
to  them.  It  will  ajjpear  the  more  repulsive  from  the  high 
character  for  innocence  ordinarily  borne  by  the  destroyers,  who 
are  the  last  beings  in  the  world  we  should  ex2Dect  to  find  indulging 
in  personal  cruelty,  much  less  acting  the  jiart  of  perfidious  sirens. 
Having  given  this  warning,  our  friends  will  of  course  have  only 
themselves  to  blame  should  they  persist  in  following  us  to  the 
spectacle  we  are  about  to  describe  ;  and  now  it  only  remains  to 
say  that  the  perpetrators  of  the  deeds  alluded  to  are  plants." 
Then  we  are  treated  to  a  description  of  the  Sarracenias,  and  the 
Droseraceaj  or  Sundews  ;  the  pea  green  Sphagnum,  in  the  little 
marshes  ;  the  Lancashire  Asphodel,  which  grows  very  profusely  ; 
the  Ehyncospora  Alba,  the  Cranberry,  the  Andromeda,  and  the 


SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MERSEY,    dr.  255 

Cotton  Sedge,  all  in  great  abundance,  with  luxuriant  grasses 
peculiar  to  moorlands,  and  the  finest  specimens  of  purple  heather 
to  be  seen  within  so  short  a  distance  from  Manchester.  Owing 
to  its  acquirement  by  the  Manchester  Corporation,  the  Moss  is 
being  rapidly  brought  into  cultivation,  and  while  the  advance  of 
population  has  its  drawbacks,  yet  the  borders  of  the  Moss  and 
the  lanes  approaching  it  are  prolific  in  curious  plants.  "  July," 
says  Mr.  Grindon,  "  is  the  best  time.  Then  the  foxgloves  lift 
their  magnificent  crimson  spires,  and  the  purple  tufted  vetch 
trails  its  light  foliage  and  delicate  clusters  beneath  the  woodbines  ; 
and  the  tall  bright  lotus  in  coronets  of  gold,  and  the  meadow- 
sweet, smelling  like  hawthorn,  make  the  lady  fern  look  its 
greenest,  while  in  the  fields  alongside  stands,  in  all  its  pride  of 
yellow  and  violet,  the  great  parti-coloured  dead  nettle,  which 
here  grows  in  luxuriant  perfection.  All  the  lanes  leading  to 
Carrington  Moss  are  remarkably  rich  in  wild  flowers  and  ferns, 
the  latter  including  the  Royal  fern  or  Osmunda,  and  in  early 
summer  show  great  plenty  of  the  white  lychnis,  called,  from 
not  opening  its  petals  till  evening,  "  the  vespertina."  The  pink- 
eyed  lychnis,  or  "  Brid  e'en,"  or  Bird's  eye  of  our  country  friends, 
is  always  open.  There  is  also  abundance  of  blackberries,  wild 
raspberries,  &c.,  and  nature's  gifts  are  everywhere  found  in  great 
profusion  and  beauty. 

Carrington  Fight,  or  "feight,"  as  it  is  termed  by  the  natives, 
occupies  a  relative  position  in  the  annals  of  this  primitive  village, 
that  the  battle  of  Agincourt  does  to  those  of  England.  It  was 
formerly  held  up  to  strangers  as  an  overwhelming  proof  of  the 
victoriously  pugnacious  propensities  of  their  ancestors,  and  at  the 
wakes  and  other  festive  gatherings,  its  recitation,  generally  by 
one  of  the  "  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet,"  was  a  feature  in  the 
proceedings.  It  is  moreover  a  reminder  of  those  little  neighbourly 
battles  which  took  place  something  like  half-acentury  ago,  when 
it  was  regarded  as  a  privilege  for  the  boys  of  one  village  to  give 
those  of  another  place  a  thrashing — if  they  could.  It  was  a 
period,   too,   when  strength  amongst  the  lower  orders    was  a 

II  3 


2G6  SALE,    JSIITON-OX-MERSEY,    dr. 

synonym  for  brutality,  and  when  there  were  no  neighbours  handy 
a  little  battle  was  occasionally  fought  between  themselves  for  the 
mastery.  Carrington  fight  is,  in  the  flowing  cups  of  the 
Carringtonites  still  both  freshly  and  freely  remembered.  It  has 
been  worked  into  verse  by  a  local  "  poet,"  and  from  this  fact  and 
the  implements  used,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  conflict  was  of  a 
more  than  usually  sanguinary  character.  Pikels,  axes,  sticks, 
stones,  and  similar  things  were  brought  into  requisition,  but 
singu'ar  to  relate,  no  lives  were  lost,  probably  owing  to  the 
opponents  of  the  Carrington  men  thinking  discretion  the  better 
part  of  valour,  and  disappearing  with  marvellous  celerity.  There 
are  no  fewer  than  18  verses  in  this  extraordinary  "poem."  The 
first  is  inviting  in  its  character  : — 

Good  people,  pay  attention  to  what  I'm  going  to  lay  down, 
It  is  of  a  dreadful  battle  that  was  fought  in  Carrington  town  ; 
The  Flixton  men  they  did  come  here,  thinking  to  have  some  fun, 
But  as  soon  as  Carrington  lads  stept  up,  they  showed  how  things 
were  done. 

Chorus. 
We're  all  true-hearted  lads,  my  boys. 

We  all  fought  in  one  mind, 
We  made  Packer  with  his  pikel  run 
And  leave  his  troop  behind. 

The  gentleman  alluded  to  as  Packer  was  evidently  a  celebrity 
who  was  engaged  in  the  packing  of  wool,  the  combing  of  which 
was  a  pursuit  in  the  Flixton  district,  and  was  not  probably  his 
real  name.  The  second  verse  describes  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  encounter  takes  place.  It  was  on  Soft  Tuesday  (Shrove 
Tuesday  ?)  and  at  the  local  races  the  Flixton  men  showed  their 
vexation  that  their  favourites  did  not  win.  A  sufficient  casus  belli 
is  found  in  their  determination  to  take  "that  hat  off  Smith," 
when  he  went  to  "  the  Bell "  for  refreshments.  The  Partington 
men  shouted  for  fair  play,  but 

"  As  soon  as  the  Carrington  lads  went  in 
They  made  them  cut  away." 

In  the  fourth  verse  the  battle  rages.     Five  of  the  Flixton  men 
flew  away  like  lightning,  and  by  the  time  the  fifth  verse  is  reached 


SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MEBSEY,    dx.  2Q7 

the  reverse  has  become  a  rout,  and  the  others  ignominiously  effect 
a  retreat  by  the  back  door  of  the  "Bell"  down  to  the  river  side. 
Those  who  have  read  the  Greek  poets  are  only  too  familiar  with 
the  hairbreadth  escapes  they  make  their  heroes  run  on  many 
occasions.     It  is  thus  mth  our  local  Homer  : — 

It  was  at  Parson's  Sale  second  fight  began, 

These  Flixton  men  came  shouting,  thinking  we  were  gone, 

"  Come  out,  ye  Carrington  rebels,  we  know  you've  had  enough," 

As  soon  as  Carrington  lads  stepped  up,  into  th'  Windy  Jlill  they  flew. 

What  they  did  when  they  got  inside  the  Windmill  Inn  is 
vividly  depicted — 

Now  when  they  geet  in  th'  Windy  Mill,  thro'  windows  they  did  peep. 
They  said  to  one  another,  "  Lads,  up  th'  chimney  let  us  creep  ;" 
The  landlord  sat  in  his  arm-chair,  and  cocking  up  his  face. 
He  shouted  to  the  landlady,  "  They're  hiding  in  th'  clock  case  ! " 

Some  disappear  in  various  directions.  One  old  blacksmith 
from  Flixton,  more  terror-stricken  than  the  rest,  runs  into  the 
furnace  hole.  When  he  gets  home  his  face  is  covered  -with  soot, 
and  he  describes  to  his  wife  his  actions  and  feelings  very  truth- 
fully. Another  battle  is  imminent.  The  "  Carrington  lads," 
armed  with  "axes,  swords,  and  bills,"  again  go  forward  to  meet 
the  Flixton  men  with  "  loud  huzzas." 

The  Flixton  men  they  did  run  oS,  feer't  lest  they  all  geet  killed, 

One  of  theni  shovited  out,  "  I  see  the  savage  men, 

I  wish  I  could  get  Flixton,  for  I'd  ne'er  come  here  again." 

In  this  encounter  four  of  the  defeated  party  were  so  badly 
wounded  that  they  had  to  be  removed  to  the  Manchester 
Infirmary,  where  one  of  them  regrets  his  visit. 

One  said  unto  the  doctor,  "  JSIy  wounds  are  very  sore, 
I'll  ne'er  go  ower  Carrington  bridge  a  feightin'  any  more." 

A  magisterial  investigation  followed,  in  which  we  are  told 
"  two  'tornies  "  and  two  justices  were  engaged  for  two  days  at 
the  Blue  Bell,  with  what  result  deponent  sayeth  not. 

That  magnificent  feat  of  engineering  skill,  the  Manchester 
Ship  Canal,  enters  the  Altrincham  Union  at  Partington,  passing 


268  FALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEUSEY,    dr. 

through  Carrington,  Warburton,  and  Thelwal),  d'c,  on  the  way  to 
.Eastham.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  go  over  the  vicissitudes  of 
this  undertaking.  For  some  years  it  was  in  abeyance,  and 
although  Lord  Egerton  of  Tatton  was  appointed  Chairman  of  the 
Directors  of  the  Ship  Canal  Co.  in  February,  1887,  it  was  not 
until  November  of  the  same  year  that  the  first  sod  was  cut.  The 
contract  with  the  late  Mr.  T.  A.  Walker,  was  £5,750,000,  but  his 
demise  caused  the  work  to  be  taken  in  hand  by  the  Ship  Canal 
Co.,  with  the  result  that  when  the  Canal  was  opened  in  January, 
1894,  the  total  cost  amounted  to  nearly  £15,000,000,  of  which 
the  Manchester  Corporation  provided  close  upon  £5,000,000. 
The  formal  opening  by  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  did  not  take 
place  until  May,  the  occasion  being  marked  by  great  rejoicings 
and  a  most  loyal  and  enthusiastic  welcome.  The  Canal,  which  is 
about  35  i  miles  in  length,  has  been  excavated  throughout  to  a 
depth  of  2G  feet,  which  is  the  depth  of  the  large  docks  at 
Manchester,  the  smaller  docks  being  20  feet. 

The  bottom  width  at  the  full  depth  of  26  feet  is  120  feet, 
with  the  following  exceptions  :  — 

(rt)  At  the  curve  at  the  Weaver  Outfall,  the  width  at  the  full 
depth  is  140  feet,  and  at  the  bend  at  Runcorn,  approaching 
the  Runcorn  Railway  Bridge,  it  is  150  feet, 
(i)  For  a  distance  of  about  2i  miles,  between  Latchford  Locks 
Partington  Coal  Basin,  the  bottom  width  is  at  present  only 
80  to  90  feet,  and  large  vessels  are  not  allowed  to  pass 
each  other  on  that  portion  of  the  Canal. 
(c)  From   Barton   Aqueduct   to   the    Manchester   Docks   the 

bottom  width  is  170  feet. 
For  purposes  of  comparison  it  may  be  stated  that  the  Suez 
Canal  had,  until  recently  (when  widening  operations  were  begun), 
only  a  bottom  width  of  72  feet,  except  at  the  passing  places. 
The  tidal  portion  of  the  Ship  Canal  from  Eastham  to  Latchford 
Locks  (21  miles)  is  maintained  at  a  level  of  9  feet  6  inches  above 
mean  tide  level.     When  the  tide  rises  above  this  level  it  flows  in 


SALE,    ASHTOiY-OiX-MEnSEY,    dr.  269 

and  out  of  the  Canal  over  three  tidal  weirs  and  three  sets  of  sluices. 
The  fixed  bridges  across  the  Canal  are  75  feet  above  the  normal 
water  level,  but  as  the  headway  is  necessarily  a  few  feet  less  when 
high  tides  or  floods  occur,  to  avoid  detention  masts  should  clear 
the  bridges  at  70  feet  above  the  water  level.  The  locks  and 
swing  bridges  are  all  connected  by  telephone  with  each  other  and 
with  the  Dock  Office  at  Manchester.  The  Manchester  Docks  are 
equipped  with  transit  sheds  of  new  design,  hydraulic  and  steam 
cranes,  and  other  appliances  for  giving  quick  despatch  in  loading 
and  discharging.  The  railways  of  the  Company  convey  traffic  direct 
between  the  various  loading  and  discharging  berths  at  the  docks 
and  along  the  Canal,  and  are  connected  with  all  the  railway 
systems  of  the  country.  The  Canal  and  docks  are  in  direct  com- 
munication with  the  whole  of  the  barge  canals  of  the  district. 
The  chief  engineer  was  Mr.  (now  Sir)  E.  Leader  Williams,  a 
resident  for  many  years  past  at  Altrincham,  and  formerly  the 
principal  engineer  to  the  Weaver  Trust  and  the  Bridgewater 
Canal  undertakings,  the  last  named  now  merged  in  the  Ship  Canal 
Company. 

John  Rider,  Bishop  of  Killaloe,  Ireland,  was  born  at  Carring- 
ton  in  1.562.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Jesus  College,  Oxford,  and 
after  passing  through  many  successful  preferments,  was  made 
Bishop  of  Killaloe  in  1613.  He  was  the  author  of  several 
political  and  controversial  tracts,  of  a  Dictionary  (English-Latin 
and  Latin-English),  printed  at  Oxford  in  1689.  His  career  is 
fully  dealt  with  in  Athena  Oxoniensis  (Bliss). 

Within  a  few  square  miles  of  Altrincham  we  have  the  remains 
of  halls  and  other  residences,  now  mostly  converted  into  farm- 
houses, indicating  the  existence  of  families,  some  of  whom  have 
in  a  certain  degree  left  their  mark  on  the  history  of  this  country. 
For  instance,  the  family  of  Brereton,  so  far  as  this  district  is 
concerned,  has  faded  from  popular  memory.  It  was  as  ancient 
and  honourable  as  any  in  the  county,  and  we  will  briefly  sketch 
its  descent,  and  the  manner  of  settlement  of  one  of  its  branches 
at  Ashley.     For  this  purpose,  let  us  look  a  little  way  over  the 


270  SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MERSEY,    <Cr. 

hill  tops  of  time.  The  Breretons,  like  many  others,  took  the 
names  of  the  townships  or  places  in  which  they  lived,  and  they 
were  settled  in  the  township  of  Brereton  about  the  time  of  the 
Conquest.  In  1632,  they  claimed  a  moiety  of  the  Barony  of 
Malpas  by  descent,  and  their  branches  spread  over  the  county, 
their  connections  by  marriage  being  the  Leghs  of  Booths,  Meres 
of  Mere,  the  Dones,  and  Leghs  of  High  Legh,  &c.  In  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.,  Eichard  Brereton,  of  Lea  Hall,  Middlewich, 
younger  son  of  Sir  William  Brereton,  married  Thomasin,  daughter 
and  heiress  of  George  Ashley,  Esq.,  of  Ashley.  The  estate 
continued  vested  in  the  Breretons  till  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  it  was  left  by  Thomas  Brereton  to  be  divided 
amongst  his  three  sisters  who  had  married  into  the  Tatton, 
Barlow,  and  Ashton  families. 

Baguley,  or,  as  it  is  anciently  spelled,  Baggiley,  was  held 
along  with  SinderlanJ  at  the  coming  of  the  Normans  by  Edward 
and  Suga,  Udeman  and  Pat,  who  are  described  as  "  gentlemen," 
and  later  the  township  gave  its  name  to  the  family  of  Baggiley, 
who  were  seated  here  as  early  as  the  18th  of  Henry  III.  (123-4), 
and  in  one  charter  it  was  granted  to  one  John  Baggiley  the 
payment  of  12d.  for  all  services,  saving  to  Wm.  Baggiley,  John's 
third  best  pig  when  the  pig  could  find  mast  for  itself.  After- 
wards, the  Leghs,  one  of  whom  wrote  several  historical  poems, 
entitled  "  Scottish  Fielde,"  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  held  the 
township  for  a  long  period,  until  the  line  terminated  in  Edward 
Legh  in  1688.  After  passing  through  the  hands  of  several  owners, 
the  township  is  practically  owned  by  the  Tattons  of  AVy  thenshawe. 
Of  great  interest  to  antiquarians,  as  well  as  excursionists,  is 
Baguley  Old  Hall,  with  its  ancient  oak  wood  work.  Only  one 
large  apartment  of  the  old  hall  remains,  the  greater  portion  of  the 
structure  having  at  some  remote  period  been  destroyed  by  fire. 
Here  is  still  to  be  seen  the  effigy  of  Sir  William  de  Baggiley, 
formerly  in  Bowdon  Parish  Church.  The  tumulus  on  Baguley 
Moor  was  opened  many  years  ago,  and  from  the  remains  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  site  of  an  old  windmill. 


SALE,    ASHTON-OK-MERSEY,    dr.  27J 

The  Manor  of  Timperley  was  held  at  a  very  early  period  by 
a  family  assuming  the  local  name,  and  amongst  the  charterers  is 
Thomas  Gerard,  of  Eiddings,  gent.,  Biddings  Hall,  having  been 
purchased  from  the  Vaudreys.  Bank  Hill  (Bank  Hall)  and 
Biddings  were  both  seats  of  the  branches  of  the  Vaudreys,  of 
Bowdon,  and  in  1567  Robert  Vaudrey,  of  Eiddings,  made  a 
lengthy  will,  in  which  he  wills  that  his  "bodie  be  chested 
decentlye,  brought  home  and  buryed  at  the  Parishe  Churche  of 
Bowdon,  in  the  Chappell,  and  placed  where  my  parents  do  lye." 
"Item  to  sixe  of  the  poorest  men  of  my  ten'ntes  wth-in  the  parishe 
of  Bowdon,  vj.  white  gownes,  desirynge  they'm  heartfullye  to 
praye  for  me,  and  to  go  afore  my  corps  to  the  churche  and  buryall 
of  the  same.  And  to  other  vj.  of  the  poorest  of  my  ten'ntes 
wth-in  the  parishes  of  Northerden  and  Ashtou-upon-M'see  banck 
other  vj.  gownes  of  blacke  cotton,  desyrynge  and  bertfullye 
prayinge  theym  likewise  to  praye  for  me  in  comynge  next  after 

my  corps  to  the  Churche  and  buryall The  testator 

also  disposes  of  his  property  and  manors  in  Bowdon,  Bollington, 
Hale,  Ashley,  Chester,  &c.,  and  to  Margaret  V.  (Vaudrey,  his 
daughter)  at  suche  tyme  as  she  shall  leave  her  dishonest  and 
uncleane  ly vynge  for  and  durynge  all  such  tyme  after  as  she  shall 
lyve  honestlye  V"  by  yeare."  There  are  bequests  to  his  relatives 
and  to  poor  kinsfolk  friends,  poor  "  maydes,"  poor  men,  poor 
children,  and  to  the  curates  and  clerks  on  certain  feast  days.  He 
had  a  large  number  of  God-children,  to  every  one  of  whom  he 
left  iiij*  "by  estymation  xxiiij"  viij'."  "I  do  bequeath  and  forgyve 
my  disobedyent  sonne  Thorn's  all  such  and  those  sum'es  of  moneye 
wch  he  hath  wrongfullye  recey ved  (embezzlement  was  not  unknown 
in  these  times)  and  taken  from  me,  and  also  the  sum'e  of  C' 
xvijsiiij''  wch  he  alsoe  is  indebted  to  me  or  such  p'te  thereof  as 
shall  remayne  vulgived  me  at  the  tyme  of  my  decease  accordynge 
as  by  a  bill  of  his  hand  appeareth  willynge  and  com'andyne  and 
upone  my  blessynge  chargynge  and  requyrynge  hym  to  use 
sobrietie,  and  to  leave  all  evell  and  drynkynge  companye  and  for 
to  say  o'r  Lordes  praier  with  such  other  praiers  and  thankes 
J.I  3 


274  SALE,    ASETOX-OX-MEBSEY,    (f;c. 

gevynge  to  God  as  he  shall  gyve  his  grace  and  put  hym  in  mynd 
daylye  uppon  his  knees  everye  mornynge  humblye  besekyne  hym 
to  have  m'cye  nppon  all  his  creatures,  and  to  gyve  hym  grace  to 
lyve  honestlye  and  iustlye  in  the  world  uppon  my  blessynge, 
also  willynge  hym  to  say  the  Articles  of  o'r  fayth,  the  Crede, 
once  everye  week,  and  to  be  lovynge,  kynde,  and  helpynge  to 
his  mother,  brethren,  and  sister,  exortynge  her  to  repeat  her 
evell  lyfe,  and  to  lyve  honestlye  from  henceforth,  and  also  to  be 
kynde  and  helpynge  in  his  powre  to  all  his  poore  cousens  and 
friendes  and  to  all  the  ten'ntes  of  the  landes  wch  God  hath 
lent  me  and  I  have  left  hym,  and  to  take  nothynge  of  theym  nor 
of  any  of  theym  but  only  their  due  rente  ande  servyce,  inasmuche 
as  God  hath  sent  hym  the  landes  without  labor,  and  they  must 
labor  and  paye  for  theym,  and  to  be  satisfied  wth  the  same  wch 
is  much  better  than  was  left  me,  and  wuld  have  byn  better  to 
hym  if  he  wuld  have  byn  counselled  or  advysed  by  me  or  have 
shewed  hym  selfe  obedient  or  lovynge  toward  me,  for  although 
I  wuld  not  yet  I  rather  desire  to  have  hym  dye  affore  me  than 
to  lyve  to  do  hurt  after  me,  wch  God  forbid,  and  uppon  my 
blessynge  I  warn  the  said  Thorn's  from,  requryeynge  hym  to  love 
areade  and  to  serve  God,  to  frequent  to  charitie,  &c."  For  this 
he  forgives  him  his  "  mysbehayvyor  and  tresspesses  done  to  me, 
and  gyve  the  my  blessynge,  besekynge  God  to  do  the  same,  &c." 
There  are  other  legacies  of  personal  effects,  including  more  than 
"one  bowe  and  a  shoff  of  arrowes,"  and  to  Cousin  "William 
Barneston's  two  boys  "iijsiiij'' to  buy  theym  bookes."  "To  my 
sister  Brook  vj'  viij'^  and  a  lambe."  He  appointed  Ales,  his  wife, 
daring  her  widowhood  only,  his  sons,  John  and  Richard  Vaudrey, 
and  the  Eev.  John  Eobinson,  his  executors.  Wm.  Arderne,  of 
Timperley,  gent.,  is  supposed  to  have  been  Mayor  of  Altrincham 
in  15G0,  but  in  the  list  of  Mayors  the  name  is  given  as  Ardron. 
Alexander  Vaudrey  is  said  to  have  been  Mayor  in  1616,  and 
George  Vaudrey,  also  of  Timperley,  Mayor  in  1636.  The  land 
in  this  and  other  surrounding  townships  came  by  heirship  and 
otherwise  to  the  Earl  of  Stamford,  who  in  or  about  1857  sold 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEBSF.Y,    d-c.  275 

his  possessions  in  Baguley,  Timperley,  Hale,  Ashton-on-Mersey, 
Carrington,  Partington,  Sale  (that  portion  known  as  Brooklands), 
to  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  Brooks,  banker,  of  Manchester.  How  this 
large  property  was  developed  is  well  known.  The  large  water 
drain,  considered  at  the  time  of  its  construction  a  perfect  triumph, 
extended  from  Hale  to  the  river  Mersey,  a  distance  of  over  three 
miles,  and  was  made  at  a  cost  of  £12,000.  Mr.  Brooks,  as  lord  of 
the  Manor  of  Ashton-on-Mersey,  revived  the  ancient  court  leet, 
and  his  views  and  ideas  have  been  well  carried  out  by  his  son, 
Sir  William  Cunlifte  Brooks,  Bart. 

Bink  Hall,  Hale,  another  residence  of  the  Vaudreys  is 
supposed  to  have  been  a  monastic  institution,  but  there  is  no 
historical  evidence,  and  tradition  is  only  supported  by  the  jtw 
trees  planted  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  house.  The  "Oaklands" 
at  Timperley,  formerly  the  residence  of  the  late  Mr.  George 
Falkner,  the  head  of  the  famous  Manchester  printers,  is  the  scene 
of  "Sybilla,"  a  short  but  interesting  story  by  Mrs.  G.  Linnseus 
Banks.  Christ  Church,  Timperley,  has  little  pretension  to 
architectural  beauty.  It  was  opened  in  1849,  the  Rev.  Edward 
Bowling,  M.A.,  being  appointed  incumbent.  He  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  S.  Wilkinson,  the  present  vicar. 

Quoting  from  Mr.  Grindon's  delightful  "  Country  Rambles," 
we  find  that  on  the  Cotterill  side  of  Mobberley  the  country 
resembles  that  in  the  ^^cinity  of  Castle  Mill,  consisting  of  gentle 
slopes  and  promontories,  often  wooded,  and  at  every  turn 
presenting  some  new  and  agreeable  feature.  The  little  dells  and 
and  doughs,  each  with  its  little  rill  of  clear  water  scampering 
away  to  the  Bollin,  are  delicious.  The  botany  of  Cotterill  is  also 
reproduced  in  its  best  features  ;  mosses  of  the  choicest  kind  grow 
on  every  bank — Hypna,  with  large  green  feathery  branches,  like 
ferns  in  minature  ;  Jungermannias  also  ;  and  the  noblest  plants 
of  the  hart's-tongue  fern  that  occur  in  the  district.  One  of  the 
dells  positively  overflows  with  it,  excepting  that  is,  where  the 
ground  is  not  pre-occupied  by  the  prickly  shield  fern.  All  the 
Spring  flowers  open  here  with  the  first  steps  of  the  renewed 


276  SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MERSEY,    &c. 

season.  Mr.  Grindon  says  the  interest  of  the  BoUin  Valley  is 
quite  as  great  to  the  entomologist  as  to  the  botanist.  The  late 
Mr.  Edleston,  whose  magnificent  collection  was  then  well  known, 
states  that  the  meadows  near  the  river  Bollin  from  Bank  Hall  to 
Castle  Mill  produce  more  diurnal  Lepidoptera  than  any  other 
locality  in  the  Manchester  district,  the  following  butterflies  being 
a  select  list  : — Gonepteryx  Rhamni,  brimstone  ;  Pieris  Brassicoe, 
large  white  ;  Pieris  Eapse,  small  white  ;  Pieris  Napi,  green  veined 
white  ;  Anthocaris  Cardamines,  orange  tip  ;  Hipparchia  Janira, 
meadow  brown  ;  Hipparchia  Jithonus,  large  Heath  ;  Hipperchia 
Hyperanthus,  wood  Ringlet ;  Goenonympha  Pamphilus,  small 
heath  ;  Cynthia  Cardui,  painted  lady  ;  Vanessa  Atalanta,  Red 
Admiral  ;  Vanessa  lo.  Peacock  ;  Vanessa  Uturicoe,  small  Tortoise 
shell  ;  Melitrea  Artemis,  greasy  fritillary  ;  Chrysophanus  Phlocas, 
small  copper  ;  Polyommatus  Alexis,  common  blue  ;  Thanaos 
Tages,  dingy  skipper ;  Pamphila  Sylvanus,  large  .skipper.  jMoths  : 
Procris  Statices,  green  forester  ;  Anthrocera  Trifollii,  five  spot 
Burnet ;  Anthrocera  Filipendulse,  six  spot  Burnet ;  Sesia  Bomby- 
liformis,  narrow  bordered  bee  hawk  ;  Heliodes  Arbuti,  small 
yellow  underwing  ;  Euclidia  Mi,  Mother  Shipton  ;  Euclidia 
Glyphica,  Burnet. 

Mr.  T.  A.  Coward  has  supplied  me  with  the  following 
information  : — The  vertebrate  fauna  of  the  district  includes  a 
larger  number  of  species  than  might  be  expected  from  the 
proximity  to  the  large  manufacturing  towns,  and  in  spite  of  the 
rapid  growth  of  the  population,  there  are  still  a  great  variety  of 
animals  and  birds  thriving  within  a  few  miles  of  Bowdon  and 
Sale.  The  extensive  park  land  of  Dunham,  the  water-meadows 
of  the  Mersey  and  Bollin,  and  the  numerous  coverts  devoted  to 
the  preservation  of  game,  afford  shelter  or  suitable  feeding 
grounds  for  many  of  our  most  interesting  species.  Five  bats 
have  been  identified  in  the  district,  the  old  timber  in  Dunham 
Park,  Tatton,  and  elsewhere,  supplying  their  diurnal  and  winter 
resting  places.  The  long-eared  bat,  pipestrelle  and  noctule  or 
great  bat  are   the  commonest,  and  may  be  observed  in  many 


SALE,    ASHTOX-ON-MEUSEY,    dr.  277 

suitable  localities  any  fine  summer  evening.  The  whiskered  bat 
is  not  uncommon,  and  Daubenton's  bat  skims  over  the  surface  of  the 
water  on  all  the  larger  pools  and  the  straight  reaches  of  the  Bollin. 
All  the  Insectivora  included  by  Bell  in  his  British  Quadrupeds 
occur  :  the  hedgehog,  mole,  and  the  three  shrews — a  skull  of  the 
lesser  shrew,  one  of  the  smallest  and  rarest  British  mammals, 
having  been  obtained  from  an  owl  pellet  picked  up  in  Dunham 
Park.  Squirrels  may  often  be  seen  when  the  trees  are  bare  of 
leaves,  and  the  dormouse  has  been  reported  from  the  Tatton 
estate.  Field,  bank,  and  water  voles  are  abundant,  the  last, 
locally  known  as  the  water-rat,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
brown  or  common  rat,  which  often  frequents  the  banks  of  streams 
and  ponds,  and  lives  a  semi-aquatic  life.  The  common,  and  long- 
tailed  field  mouse  are  both  too  plentiful. 

Hares  and  rabbits  are  partially  preserved,  but  the  former  are 
not  as  plentiful  as  they  were  a  few  years  ago.  An  extensive 
domesticated  herd  of  fallow  deer  exists  in  Dunham  Park.  Of  the 
Carnivora,  we  find  foxes  preserved  for  sporting  purposes,  and  we 
have  seen  them  within  a  very  short  distance  of  houses  both  in 
Bowdon  and  Sale.  The  polecat  or  foumart  is  practically  extinct, 
one  of  the  latest  records  is  of  one  killed  near  the  shooting  grounds 
about  six  years  ago.  Incessant  persecution  has  failed  to  make 
much  impression  on  the  numbers  of  weasels  and  stoats,  though 
it  has  told  upon  the  otters,  which  are  only  rarely  seen  now.  A 
short  time  since  one  was  killed  in  Dunham  village,  and  their 
footmarks  may  still  occasionally  be  seen  on  the  mud  of  the  Bollin 
and  Birkin. 

About  seventy -eight  species  of  birds  breed  in  the  district,  and 
many  others  visit  us  regulai'ly  every  winter ;  the  autumn 
migrants  from  the  far  north  filling  the  gaps  left  by  those  that 
only  spend  the  summer  with  us,  and  also  increasing  the  numbers 
of  the  resident  species.  Besides  these,  there  are  a  large  number  of 
birds  that  do  not  remain  with  us,  but  may  be  occasionally  seen 
as  they  stop  to  rest  on  the  migration,  or  are  storm-driven  from 
their  usual  haunts,  and  which  may  be  termed  accidental  visitors. 


278  SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MEIISEY,    ix. 

The  song  thrush  and  blackbird  are  particularly  abundant,  and 
breed  freely  with  us  ;  the  missel  thrush  is  not  as  common  as  it 
was  a  few  years  since,  but  its  nest  in  the  fork  of  a  tree  may  still 
often  be  found.  The  fieldfare  and  redwing  come  to  us  in  autumn, 
and  though  the  latter  is  notoriously  shy,  in  hard  winters  we  have 
seen  it  feeding  on  the  holly  berries  on  Bowdon  Downs.  The 
wheatear  is  only  an  accidental  visitor  on  migration,  breeding  on 
the  higher  land,  in  East  Cheshire  and  the  Peak.  The  whin- 
chat  and  stonechat  visit  us,  the  former  breeding  occasionally. 
The  smart  redstart  is  evidently  increasing  in  numbers  and 
familiarity,  and  we  have  known  it  successfully  rear  its  brood 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  gates  of  Dunham  Park.  The  cheerful 
song  of  the  robin  is  familiar  to  all,  for  he  sings  when  all  the  other 
birds  are  silent.  The  whitethroat  is  far  more  abundant  than  its 
smaller  relation,  the  lesser  whitethroat,  which  occasionally  nests 
in  the  district.  The  songs  of  the  blackcap  and  garden  warbler 
are  about  the  prettiest  of  our  summer  chorus.  The  gqldcrest 
sometimes  breeds  with  us :  Mr.  Grindon  says  in  the  yews  in 
Dunham  Park,  but  it  is  far  commoner  in  flocks  in  winter,  when 
the  over-sea  migrants  have  arrived.  The  chifFchaff,  willowwren, 
and  woodwren  come  to  breed,  and  their  pretty  songs  are  most 
welcome  heralds  of  spring.  The  sedge  warbler  breeds  among  the 
rank  herbage  of  almost  every  pond,  skulking  in  the  undergrowth, 
and  singing  a  song  whioh  is  a  curious  mixture  of  beautiful  notes 
and  harsh  grating  sounds.  From  his  habit  of  singing  at  night, 
he  has  been  mistaken  for  the  nightingale,  a  bird  which  to  our 
knowledge  has  never  visited  Bowdon.  In  1863  one  created  quite 
a  sensation  at  Wilmslow,  and  last  year  we  had  the  good  fortune 
to  hear  one  at  Eomiley  ;  but  the  reported  visit  of  one  of  these 
wonderful  songsters  to  a  plantation  near  Sale  Station  some  years 
ago  requires  confirmation.  Suspended  to  the  tall  reeds  round 
Rostherne  Mere,  the  beautiful  deep  nest  of  the  reed  warbler  may 
be  found,  and  in  secluded  spots  we  may  have  the  good  fortune  to 
hear  the  long  trill  of  the  grasshopper  warbler,  though  this  bird  is 
only  a  very  rare  breeder  with  us.     The  long-tailed  tit  sometimes 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEUSFA',    Ax.  270 

builds  its  beautiful  round  nest  of  moss  and  lichen  in  the  planta- 
tions, but  is  commoner  in  flocks  in  winter.  The  great,  marsh, 
cole,  and  blue  tits  are  resident  with  us,  and  in  the  spring  the 
notes  of  these  birds  are  the  commonest  sounds  in  Dunham  Park. 
The  wren  builds  its  cosy  nest  under  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  or 
among  the  roots  of  fallen  trees  ;  and  behind  loose  bark  we  may 
sometimes  find  the  home  of  the  tree  creeper,  that  sombre-tinted 
little  bird  that  runs  up  the  boles  of  trees  like  a  mouse,  as  it 
searches  the  crevices  for  insects.  Only  two  wagtails  breed  with 
us,  the  pied  and  yellow,  but  the  grey  wagtail  frequently  comes 
down  from  its  breeding  grounds  on  the  hills  to  visit  our  streams 
in  winter.  The  meadow  pipit  is  perhajis  the  commonest  bird  in 
the  water  meadows  of  the  Bollin  and  Mersey,  and  in  the  park 
land  its  place  is  taken  by  the  tree  pipit,  who  frequently  becomes 
the  foster  parent  of  the  cuckoo,  a  bird  especially  abundant  in 
Dunham.  The  spotted  flycatcher  is  a  common  spring  migrant, 
often  building  in  creepers  on  houses,  but  the  pied  flycatcher  is 
only  known  as  an  accidental  visitor  on  its  migration  north,  to  its 
breeding  haunts  in  the  Lake  District  and  Scotland.  The  swallow, 
house  martin,  and  sand  martin  are  most  abundant,  the  last  bird 
digging  its  holes  in  gravel  pits  and  the  sandy  banks  of  the  rivers. 
The  monotonous  note  of  the  greenfinch  is  familiar  to  all,  and  its 
rarer  relation,  the  hawfinch,  is  a  resident  with  us,  though  it  is  so 
exceedingly  shy  that  it  is  seldom  seen  except  when  it  visits  the 
market  gardens  in  search  of  food.  The  goldfinch  does  not  breed 
with  us,  but  is  occasionally  seen  in  winter,  sometimes  in  company 
with  linnets,  which,  also  owing  to  the  lack  of  suitable  places,  do 
not  nest  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood.  The  lesser  redpole  or 
jitty,  as  it  is  locally  called,  is  an  occasional  breeder.  In  hard 
winters  siskins  visit  us  in  flocks,  and  the  same  remark  applies  to 
the  snow  bunting.  The  house  sparrow  is  everywhere,  and  the 
tree  sparrow  nests  in  a  few  suitable  spots.  The  mountain  linnet 
or  twite  formerly  bred  on  Carrington  Moss,  but  probably  now 
does  not  visit  the  district.  The  bullfinch  is  by  no  means  rare,  in 
fact  the  fruit  growers  complain  that  it  is  far  too  common. 
KK 


280  SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MEHSEY,    dr. 

The  wheezy  notes  of  the  corn  bunting  may  ha  heard  in  Sale 
meadows,  but  it  is  very  local,  and  cannot  be  called  a  common 
bird.  The  yellow-ammer  is  the  most  familiar  member  of  this 
family,  and  the  black  headed  or  reed  bunting  is  to  be  seen  near 
most  of  the  ponds.  Starlings  or  shepsters  are  increasing  in 
numbers  almost  everywhere,  and  this  district  is  not  an  exception. 
After  the  breeding  seasons,  the  birds  gather  in  flocks,  and  roost 
together  in  some  covert  or  reed  bed ;  up  to  a  few  years  ago  a 
plantation  in  Ashton  was  monopolised  by  these  birds,  and  count- 
less thousands  used  to  arrive  about  dusk,  gathering  together  from 
all  the  country  round,  and  from  an  ornithologist's  point  of  view  it 
was  one  of  the  most  interesting  spots  in  the  district.  The  bright 
plumaged  jay  inhabits  the  preserved  land,  and  its  noisy  scream  is  a 
familiar  sound  in  Duaham  Park.  Magpies  are  rare  near  Bowdon, 
but  exceedingly  plentiful  about  Sale  and  Xorthenden,  and  when 
the  trees  are  bare  in  winter,  the  huge  domed  nests  are  most 
conspicuous  objects.  The  old  timber  in  the  park  supplies  plentiful 
nesting  holes  for  jackdaws.  Some  years  ago  a  pair  commenced 
to  nest  in  the  spire  of  the  Bowdon  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
have  occupied  it  annually  ever  since,  and  now  a  branch  colony 
has  been  started  in  St.  John's  (Altrincham)  Church  spire,  and  we 
hope  the  cheerful  birds  may  long  be  left  in  possession.  Large 
rookeries  have  existed  for  years  at  Oldfield  and  Ashley,  and 
lately  smaller  branch  rookeries  have  been  started  in  many  places, 
such  as  the  Higher  Downs,  and  Hope  Eoad,  Sale;  and  we 
welcome  these  respectable  birds  wherever  they  will  build.  The 
carrion  crow,  that  bugbear  of  the  game  preserver,  builds  when 
not  molested  in  one  or  two  localities.  Skylarks  breed  plentifully, 
and  in  winter  consort  in  large  flocks,  feeding  in  the  fields.  The 
swift  is  another  of  our  birds  that  has  increased  within  late  years. 
It  returns  to  its  haunts  with  gieat  regularity  every  spring,  and 
announces  its  anival  by  flying  backwards  and  forwards  with  its 
curious  but  not  unwelcome  scream.  One  of  our  most  noteworthy 
spriag  migrants  is  the  goatsucker  or  nightjar.  For  years  two  or 
three  pairs  have  inhabited  Dunham  Park,  and  on  spring  evenings 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEBSEY,    dx.  281 

the  churring  notes  may  be  heard  ;  and  the  two  eggs  laid  on  the 
bare  ground  have  several  times  been  found.  The  green  wood- 
pecker formerly  nested  in  the  Parle,  and  is  still  an  occasional 
visitor  a  little  fuither  afield.  The  starlings  occupy  most  of  the 
holes  that  the  greater  spotted  woodpeckers  made.  Kingfishers 
are  common  in  winter,  and  still  breed  where  not  disturbed. 
Four  owls  occur,  the  barn,  tawny,  long  eared,  and  short  eared 
owl,  the  first  three  breeding,  the  last  only  as  a  winter  visitor, 
although  it  formerly  nested  on  the  mosses.  The  barn  or  white 
owl  breeds  in  the  roofs  of  one  or  two  houses  in  Bowdon  ;  and 
often  cause  alarm  by  appearing  in  unexpected  places.  One  made 
its  appearance  during  service  in  St.  John's  Church,  Altrincham  ; 
and  a  couple  were  captured  in  the  clock  tower  of  the  Town  Hall 
in  the  Old  Market  Place,  after  terrifying  the  man  who  had  gone 
up  to  clean  the  clock.  The  sparrow-hawk  and  kestrel  represent 
the  resident  hawks,  but  as  breeding  birds  are  far  from  common 
now,  though  both  have  nested  near  Dunham  within  the  last  few 
years.  Some  of  the  rarer  raptorial  birds  have  been  killed  in  the 
neighbourhood,  among  them  the  noble  osprey  was  obtained  at 
Eostherne  many  years  ago,  and  quite  recently  two  were  observed 
for  several  days  capturing  fish  in  the  mere. 

Many  years  ago  a  heronry  existed  in  Dunham  Park,  but  now 
the  bird  is  only  seen  as  a  visitor,  the  nearest  existing  heronry 
being  at  Tabley.  In  the  early  morning  herons  still  visit  the 
old  man  pool  in  Dunham  Park,  and  we  have  often  seen  them 
flying  over  Bowdon.  Large  numbers  of  ducks  and  geese  pass 
over  Bowdon  on  migration,  but  the  mallard  is  the  only  breeding 
species,  nesting  in  the  Park  and  in  preserved  plantations. 

Wigeon,  pochard,  teal,  and  tufted  duck,  come  in  large 
flocks  to  Eostherne  Mere  in  the  winter.  The  last  named  bird 
may  possibly  remain  to  breed,  though  we  have  no  certain  evidence, 
but  as  the  tufted  duck  is  extending  its  breeding  range  all  over 
England,  it  is  possible  that  in  a  few  years  it  may  be  numbered 
amongst  our  residents. 


282  SALE,    JSHTON-OX-MEBSEY,    dr. 

"Woodpigeons  or  ringdoves  abound  especially  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Wj'thenshawe  and  Sale,  and  cause  great  annoyance  to 
the  farmers  in  winter.  The  stock  dove  breeds  in  several  places, 
and  the  rare  little  turtle  dove  probably  nests  in  secluded  spots, 
as  we  have  heard  of  several  in  the  spring,  and  obtained  a  specimen 
in  full  breeding  plumage  from  Dunham  Park.  Before  Carrington 
was  drained  red  grouse  were  abundant,  but  now  we  doubt  if 
more  than  one  or  two  pairs  are  left. 

Pheasants  and  partridges  are  strictly  preserved.  The  visits 
of  the  quail  are  erratic,  and  for  many  years  none  are  to  be  seen 
but  in  quail  years  it  has  been  observed  in  fair  numbers,  and  has 
nested  within  a  few  miles  of  Bowdon.  The  grating  notes  of  the 
corncrake  sound  in  our  fields  every  summer,  and  the  bird  has 
been  obtained  in  the  winter  at  Sale.  The  water  rail  has  been 
seen  on  several  occasions,  and  may  possibly  breed,  but  its  habits 
are  so  retiring  that  it  easily  escapes  notice.  Waterhens  and  coots 
are  plentiful,  the  former  breeding  in  the  smaller  ponds,  and  the 
latter  in  large  numbers  at  Rostherne,  Mobbsrley,  and  other  large 
waters.  The  great  crested  or  tippet  grebe  is  one  of  our  most 
interesting  birds,  many  pairs  breeding  on  Eostherne  Mere,  where 
their  wet  floating  nests  are  attached  to  the  tall  reeds.  The 
dabchick  or  little  grebe  breeds  there,  as  well  as  on  some  of  the 
smaller  ponds.  Lapwings  inhabit  the  fallows,  and  when  they 
congregate  in  large  flocks  in  winter,  golden  plover  may  often  be 
seen  in  their  company.  Woodcock  come  as  winter  visitors,  and 
the  common  snipe,  though  more  frequent  in  winter,  breeds  in  a 
few  marshy  spots.  The  sandpiper  frequents  the  Bollin  in  summer, 
and  breeds  on  the  shores  of  Rostherne  Mere.  The  curlew 
formerly  bred  on  Carrington  Moss.  Storm  driven  or  wandering 
gulls  and  terns,  such  as  herring  gulls,  blackheads,  and  lesser 
black  backed  gulls,  and  common  and  arctic  terns,  may  often  be 
seen  on  the  meres,  or  in  the  meadows  when  the  water  is  out ;  and 
two  of  the  skuas  have  been  obtained  in  the  neighbourhood.  It 
is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  since  the  opening  of  the  Ship  Canal, 
large  numbers  of  blackheaded  gulls  follow  the  line  of  the  water, 
and  aftord   "  sport  "   to  the  local  pothunters. 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MEBSEY,    dr.  283 

The  common  frog  and  toad,  and  two  newts,  the  crested  and 
great  warty  newt,  represent  the  amphibians.  AVhen  Carrington 
Moss  w^as  in  its  original  state,  viviparous  lizards  and  vipers 
were  fairly  abundant,  and  some  years  ago  a  ring  snake  was 
captured  near  Peel  Causeway,  but  the  district  is  now  almost, 
if  not  entirely,  destitute  of  true  reptiles.  Most  of  the  coarse 
fish  are  to  be  captured  in  the  numerous  ponds  and  streams, 
such  as  pike,  roach,  dace,  and  eels,  and  we  hope  now  that  active 
steps  are  being  taken  to  prevent  the  sewage  of  the  manufacturing 
towns  from  entering  the  streams,  we  may  soon  welcome  back  to 
the  waters  of  the  Bollin  trout  and  grayling,  which  have  been 
almost  banished  to  the  clearer  waters  of  the  Birkin  and 
smaller   streams. 

The  romantic  village  of  Rostherne  also  claims  attention.  At 
the  time  of  the  Doomsday  survey  this  manor  belonged  to  Gilbert 
Venables,  baron  of  Kinderton,  and  was  held  under  that  barony  at 
a  very  early  period  by  the  family  of  Rostherne,  which  ended  in 
two  female  heiresses  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  In  1320  the 
Venables'  share  was  conveyed  by  William  Venables  to  the 
ancestor  of  Leighs  of  Booths,  and  Peter  Leigh  sold  it  to 
Wilbraham  Egerton,  Esq.,  grandfather  of  the  present  Lord 
Egerton  of  Tatton,  who,  as  the  descendant  of  the  Massej's  of 
Tatton,  now  owns  the  entire  township.  The  church,  dedicated  to 
St.  Mary,  was  carefully  restored  under  the  direction  of  Lord 
Egerton  of  Tatton,  and  the  interesting  features  of  the  ancient 
edifice  have  been  retained.  The  memorials  are  not  only 
numerous  but  interesting.  There  are  several  monuments  to  the 
memory  of  members  of  the  Egerton  family,  amongst  the  most 
noteworthy  being  a  fine  production  by  Westmacott  to  the  memory 
of  Charlotte  Lucy  Beatrix  Egerton,  who  died  suddenly  November 
10th,  184.5,  in  her  21st  year.  It  represents  the  recumbent  figure 
of  the  young  lady  as  she  was  found  on  the  morning  of  her  death  ; 
over  the  body,  in  a  stooping  posture,  is  the  representation  of  an 
angel  with  expanded  wings,  with  the  inscription  underneath  : — 
"  Weep   not,    she   is   not   dead,    but   sleepeth."      There  are  also 


284  SALE,    ASHTOX-OX-MERSEV,    dr. 

memorials  to  the  Masseys,  the  Daniels,  and  the  Leghs.  It  was 
currently  believed  by  that  somewhat  mythical  personage,  "  the 
oldest  inhabitant,"  that  Eostherne  Mere  has  no  bottom,  and  the 
old  superstition  was  that  it  had  underground  communication  with 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  legend  of  the  mermaid  of  Eostherne 
Mere  is  derived  from  this  idea.  This  lake,  "Eood's  Tarn, 
(Eoderstorne),  or  the  Lake  of  the  Holy  Cross,  points  to  a  long 
antiquity  for  Eostherne  Church.  It  is  supposed  that  the  tower 
was  completed  and  the  bells  hung  in  the  belfry.  An  evil  spirit, 
however,  seems  to  have  possessed  one  of  these  bells,  which  rolled 
down  the  bank  into  the  Mere,  and  it  sank  to  sleep  — 
Where  mortal  fingers  ne'er  dared  to  creep. 
For  ever — evermore. 


On  Easter  morn  the  mermaid  appears  on  the  floating  bell,  and 
sings  her  song.     Then — 

The  song  dies  out,  and  the  waves  roll  on, 
The  sunbeams  rest  where  the  metal  shone, 
The  bell  has  sunii  with  a  sad  refrain. 
The  Naiad  bindeth  her  locks  again  ; 
With  a  mocking  laugh  she  bids  adieu, 
Then  dives,  mayhap,  to  the  deeper  blue  ; 
For  a  purple  mist  enshrouds  her  fate. 
And  the  mere  rolls  drear  and  desolate. 


SALE,    ASHTON-ON-MERSEY,    <fr.  285 

Thus  sings  John  L.  Owen  in  his  "Lyrics  from  a  Country 
Lane,"  and  they  are  much  more  harmonious  and  to  the  point  than 
a  "morning,"  quoted  by  an  elderly  and  worthy  dame  about  its 
peal  of  bells,  as  follows  : — 

Higher  Peover  pans, 

And  Lower  Peover  kettles, 

And  Knutsford  sweet  roses, 

And  Rostherne  great  drones. 

Hale  Barns,  in  the  township  of  Hale,  derived  its  name  at  a 
comijaratively  recent  date  from  the  tithe  barns  which  existed  in 
the  district  for  many  years,  one  of  which  stood  until  after  1848 
just  behind  the  Mission  Church.  The  smithy  and  wheelwrights' 
shops  were  built  about  1883  upon  the  sites  of  the  old  thatched 
ones.  In  the  immediate  neighbourhood  is  "  vallum  field,"  which 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  site  of  a  Roman  camp  or  township. 
In  support  of  this  view  we  may  quote  from  Watkin's  "  Roman 
Cheshire  "  (pp.  306-7),  the  author  of  which  bestowed  much  care 
and  research  on  his  subject.  "It  is  probable,"  he  writes,  "there 
has  been  a  Roman  villa  at  a  place  called  'Wall  Field,' at  Hale 
Barns,  near  Bowdon.  This  wall  field  lies  on  the  western  slope 
of  a  ridge  of  land  which  runs  between  two  small  streams  and 
points  to  Bowdon.  The  soil  from  the  eastern  or  upper  part  of  the 
field  seems  to  have  been  in  a  great  degree  removed  to  the  western 
side,  which  is  all  "  made  ground  "  for  the  purpose  of  producing  a 
level  surface.  The  western  side  still  rises  for  a  length  of  about 
two  hundred  yards,  about  six  feet  higher  than  the  field 
immediately  beyond.  There  is  a  large  ditch,  now  filled  up  to  a 
great  extent,  at  the  boundary  between  them,  and  this,  which  runs 
in  a  straight  line,  is  exactly  parallel  to  the  elevated  field  above  it, 
the  surface  of  the  latter,  as  before  said,  being  level  and  forming 
a  sort  of  terrace.  In  the  ground  to  the  east  of  wall  field  stands 
a  house,  purchased  some  years  since  by  the  late  Dr.  Leigh, 
Medical  Ofticer  of  Health  for  Manchester,  with  the  ground 
around  it.  This  is  on  the  summit  of  the  ridge.  Dr.  Leigh 
informed  me  in  1880  that  in  the  previous  year  in  taking  down 


286  SALE,    ASHTOX-ON-MEBSEV,    &c. 

a  portion  of  the  house,  which  is  an  old  half-timbered  one,  ths 
foundations  of  the  walls  were  found  to  be  formed  of  red  tiles, 
about  two  inches  thick  and  seven  and  a  half  inches  square.    Many 


ALTIIINX'HAM 


hundreds  of  these  were  found,  and  he  considered  them  Roman. 
In  digging  up  the  old  courtyard  to  extend  the  garden,  a  small 
piece  of  '  Samiau'  ware,  embossed  with  vine  leaves  was  also  found ; 
so  that  with  this  evidence  before  us,  there  seems  from  the  con- 


SALE,    ASllTnN-OX-Mh:nSEY,    -fv.  287 

struction  of  the  ground,  the  etymology,  the  remains  found  (scanty 
though  they  may  be)  a  prima  facie  case  that  a  Roman  villa  may 
have  existed  on  the  ground.  I  must  own,  however,  that  I  have 
seen  none  of  the  bricks  named,  which  are  small  in  size,  though 
we  have  undoubted  instances  occurring  on  Roman  sites,  and  it  is 
also  well  known  that  bricks  of  this  size  and  shape  were  made  in 
the  middle  ages.  We  must  take  the  evidence  for  what  it  is  worth." 
Precisely.  And  the  writer  of  these  lines  is  prepired  to  offer 
confirmation  of  the  highest  character.  He  was  informed  by  the 
late  Mr.  Titus  Hibbert-Ware,  to  whom  reference  is  made  later  in 
this  chapter,  that  in  his  father's  days  there  were  in  this  field 
distinct  marks  of  the  existence  of  a  Roman  camp,  the  vallum 
being  exceedingly  well  defined  and  distinctly  Roman  in  appearance 
and  character. 

Nearly  opposite  the  smithy  is  the  old  cottage,  where  the  late 
Mr.  John  Clarke,  who  was  stricken  with  physical  deformity,  kept 
school  on  old  fashioned  lines.  He  did  not  spare  the  rod,  and 
thereby  spoil  the  child,  and  it  is  subject  of  local  comment  that 
many  of  his  quondam  pupils  are  now  substantial  farmers,  who 
have  also  in  course  of  time  risen  to  the  dignity  of  parish 
councillors.  The  "  manor  house,"  now  the  residence  of  H.  Sowler, 
Esq.,  has  been  built  to  harmonise  with  the  old  Cheshire  "  Magpie" 
style  of  farmhouse,  which  has  been  amalgamated  with  it.  A  little 
further  on  southwards,  at  an  ivy-covered  house,  Dr.  Hibbert-Ware, 
the  learned  author  of  the  foundation  of  the  Manchester  Collegiate 
School,  lived  for  many  years  until  his  death  in  1848.  His  son, 
Mr.  Titus  Hibbert-Ware,  barrister-at-law,  resided  in  Stamford 
Road,  Bowdon,  and  with  his  gifted  wife,  was  the  instrument  of 
great  good.  He  was  the  means  of  mediating  amongst  neighbours, 
and  many  sought  his  advice  on  legal  matters.  This  was  given 
with  a  kindly  disinterestedness  which  was  highly  appreciated. 
Mrs.  Hibbert-Ware  is  a  novelist  of  high  merit,  and  her  numerous 
works  have  been  well  received.  Her  review  of  the  life  and  times 
of  "Beau  Nash,"  under  the  title  of  the  "King  of  Bath,"  was  very 
painstaking  and  natural,  and  there  are  other  works  from  her  pen 


288  SALE,    ASHTON-OX-MERSEY,    &c. 

which  have  found  a  place  in  contemporary  literature.  Amonc;st 
her  local  works  we  have  "The  Bleeding  AVolf,'  a  tale  of  old 
Bowdon  Parishj  wherein  is  related  the  murder  about  Christmas 
time  of  a  Scotch  traveller  or  packman  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
that  now  locally  well-known  "  public." 

There  are  many  traditions  connected  with  Ashley  Hall,  more 
or  less  reliable,  the  narration  of  some  of  which  would  cause  our 
readers  to  grin  "like  a  Cheshire  cat  chewing  gravel."  According 
to  Axon,  this  phrase  takes  its  origin  from  the  unsuccessful  efforts 
of  some  wandering  showman  whose  lions  were  humorously 
suggestive  of  the  domestic  sjiecies,  to  encourage  them  into  activity 
by  a  surreptitious  long  pole.  The  crest  of  the  Egertons  of  Tatton, 
"  the  ruddy  lion  ramped  in  gold,"  as  the  poet  hath  it,  when  over 
the  door  of  a  village  public,  as  at  Ringway,  is  better  known  as 
the  "  Romping  Kitlin,"  or  "  'th  Romper,"  just  on  the  same 
principle  that  the  Legh  Arms,  at  Cross  Town,  Knutsford,  is 
known  as  " 'th  Sword  and  Serpent,"  or  vulgarly,  "  Snig  and 
Skewer." 

Ashley  or  Asseley  Hall  was  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Brereton 
family.  One  tradition  affirms  it  to  have  been  built  by  King  John 
for  a  hunting  seat.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  a  place  of  great 
antiquity.  Remains  of  furnaces,  ilx.,  and  iron  occurring  in 
nodides,  which  have  been  found,  show  that  iron  smelting  was 
carried  on  here  by  the  Romans.  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  is  stated 
to  have  stayed  a  night  when  on  her  way  to  Beeston  Castle, 
Like  many  other  ancient  mansions  it  is  fairly  encompassed  with 
tragedy  and  tradition,  the  spectre  of  the  "  White  Lady,"  and  a 
blood  stained  handkerchief  retaining  their  hold  on  popular 
imagination  until  a  comparatively  recent  period.  It  has  no  doubt 
many  secret  rooms,  and  it  is  even  now  thought  by  many  that  a 
subterranean  passage  communicated  with  Bowdon  Church, 
whereby  the  inmates  of  the  Hall  might  attend  divine  service  in 
troublous  times,  when,  to  ha\e  gone  by  road  would  have  been 
a  source  of  danger.      A  most  notable  event,  and  one  which  has 


SALE,    ASHTOX-OX-MEBSEY,    <('c.  289 

historical  basis,  took  place  at  Ashley  Hall  in  1715.  George  I. 
had  only  the  year  before  ascended  the  English  throne,  and  party 
feeling  ran  high.  Many  of  the  Cheshire  Squires  were  descendants 
of  Cavaliers,  while  on  the  other  hand  there  were  many  powerful 
Whig  families  who  were  strongly  favourable  to  the  House  of 
Hanover.  Risings  had  taken  place  in  the  North,  and  James  HI. 
had  been  proclaimed,  and  his  army  had  marched  to  Preston. 
Under  the  circumstances  Squire  Ashetoii,  to  whom  the  Ashley 
estate  had  descended,  invited  fourteen  fellow  squires  to  a  con- 
ference, which  took  place  one  autumn  afternoon  at  Ashley  Hall. 
They  were  equally  divided.  Seven  were  for  mounting  the  "  white 
cockade,"  while  seven  were  for  joining  the  Royal  forces  then  at 
Manchester.  Squire  Asheton,  with  true  Cheshire  caution,  and  a 
keen  perception  of  the  trend  of  events,  gave  his  casting  vote  in 
favour  of  the  reigning  house.  Subsequent  events  showed  that  his 
prescience  was  justified,  and  to  celebrate  this  notable  meeting 
those  present  had  their  portraits  executed  in  oil  and  presented 
to  Squire  Asheton.  These  portraits,  by  an  unknown  artist, 
hung  at  Ashley  Hall  until  1879,  when  they  were  removed  to 
Tatton.  About  1730  Ashley  was  the  seat  of  Sir  William 
Meredith,  and  in  18-11,  it  was  the  residence  of  Mr.  Hill,  Q.C., 
whose  father,  Captain  Hill,  fought  at  Waterloo,  and  who  is 
immortalised  as  Captain  Brown  in  Mrs.  Gaskell's    "  Cranford." 

Later  on  the  hall  and  land  passed  into  the  possession  of  Asheton 
Smith,  Esquire,  reputed  the  finest  horseman  of  his  age,  who  sold 
it  to  the  late  Wilbraham  Egerton,  Esquire.  The  hall  and  farm  were 
afterwards  let  to  tenants,  the  late  Mr.  William  Whittingham 
being  the  first  ;  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  who  was  a  quarter- 
master in  the  Tatton  troop  of  yeomanry,  and  very  popular.  He 
left  about  1879  and  has  since  lived  in  retirement  near  Sandbach. 
The  present  tenant,  Mr.  Charles  Sherwin,  is  well  known  as  a 
Judge  at  Agricultural  Shows,  and  in  his  hands  the  farm  has  been 
brought  into  a  highly  prosperous  condition,  and  is  a  model  of 
what  good  farming  should  be.  He  also  holds  the  rank  of 
quarter-master  of  "A"  squadron  in  the  Cheshire  yeomanry,  and 


290  SALE,    ASHTOX-ON-MERSEV,    ,h. 

has  also  filled  various  public  offices  in  connection  with  the 
township  most  creditably.  The  schools  ,it  Ashley  were  built 
about  1850  by  the  first  Lord  Egerton  of  Tatton,  and  the  new 
church,  which  is  a  remarkably  neat  and  well  designed  edifice,  is 
also  due  to  the  munificence  of  the  Tatton  family,  by  whom  it  was 
erected  in  1879.  The  designs  were  drawn  and  the  work  super- 
intended by  the  Hon.  Wilbraham  Egerton,  M.P.  (now  Lord 
Egerton  of  Tatton).  The  present  Vicar  is  the  Rev.  Geoflfrey 
Birtwell,  whose  unostentatious  and  self-denying  labours  are 
warmly  appreciated  by  his  parishioners. 


APPENDIX. 


First  Cheshire  County  Council — Bucklow  Union  and  Rural 
District  Council — Magistrates  for  Altrincham  Division — Altrin- 
cham  Local  Board  ;  list  of  members  and  contested  elections,  etc. — 
List  of  Towns  and  Villages  in  the  neighbourhood,  with  population, 
acreage,  rateable  value,  distances  from  Chester,  Altrincham,  etc. — 
Sale  Local  Board — Altrincham,  Bowdon,  and  Sale  Urban  District 
Councils,  etc. —  Election  Records  —  Altrincham  Parliamentary- 
Division,  etc. 


Names  and  Addresses  of  the  County  Aldermen. 


N.\ME. 

ADDRESS. 

Armitage,  William 

Townfield  House,  Altrincham 

Bates  Rvli^h 

Acres  Bank,  Stalybridge 

Bedell,  Alexander 

Beeley,  Thomas    

Pole  Bank  Hall,  Hyde 

Collier,   Thomas 

Greenall,  Edward 

Ashfield,  Alderley  Edge, 

Cheshire 
Grappenhall  Hall,  Warrington 

Hewitt,  David  Basil  

Winnington  House,  Northwich 

HODGKINSON,     SAMUEF 

Woodville,  Marple 

Kay,  Christopher 

Davenham  Hall,  Northwich 

Neild,   Henry  

Orton,  Robert  Oliver 

The  Limes,  Higher  Whitley, 

via  Northwich 
Bank  House,  Tattenhall,  Chester 

RiGBY,  Thomas 

Sutton  Weaver,  ^ia  "Warrington 

Smith,  James 

Dalmorton    House,   New 

Sykes,  Thomas  Hardcastle... 

Brighton,    Cheshire 
Cringle  House,  Cheadle, 

Tollemache,  The  Hon.  Wil- 
BRAHAM  Frederic 

Cheshire 
Tilstono  Lodge,  Tarporley 

Tomkinson,  James 

Willington  Hall,  Tarporley 

Verdin,  Joseph 

The  Brockhurst,  Northwich 

Webb,  Francis  William 

Crewe 

Westminster,  The  Duke  of, 
KG 

Eaton  Hall   Chester 

ATPENDIX. 
COUNTY    COUNCILLORS. 


Name. 

Address. 

Division. 

Antkodu.s,  Joiix  Coutt.-s 

Eaton  Hall,  near 
Congleton 

Congleton 

ASIITO.N,  'WlLLIA.M  -MaUK 

Heyscroft,  Didsbury, 
Manchester 

Xewton      Waid, 
Hyde 

AsHwouTH,  John 

Lakes  Villas,  Dukin- 
field 

Dakinfield  West 

Atkinson,  James 

Baklow,  John  Emmott 

Bate,  Eoger 

Beckett,  Joseph 

Mirion  House,  Crewe 
Torkington  Lodge, 

near  .Stockiiort 
Ash  Hill,  Tarporley 
Belvidere,  Wirswall, 

near  Whitchurch 

Eastward,  Crewe 
Bramhall 

Tarpoiley 
Audlem 

Buatt,  Henry  

The  Poplars, 

Winnington,    near 

Northwich 

Witton 

Brocklehurst,  William 
Brocklehuest 

Butley  Hall,  near 
Macclesfield 

Division  4, 
Macclesfield 

BuowNsoN,  George 

Cheetham,  John 
Frederick 

Gower  Hey,  Hyde... 

Eastwood,  Staly- 
bridge 

Werneth   Ward, 

Hyde 
Division  3,Staly- 

bridge 

Cooke,  George 

Clayley  Hall,  Hand- 
ley,  near  Chester 

Tattenhall 

Crew,  Thomas 

Park  Villa,  Maccles- 
field 

Division  3, 
Macclesfield 

Davies,  Charles 
Brereton 

Eardswick  Hall, 
Minshull  Vernon, 
near  Middlcwich 

Church   Conpen- 
hall 

Davies,  James 

Dix(.)N,  (Ieouge 

Hollinfare,  near 

Warrington 
Astle  Hall,  Chelford, 

Cheshire 

Bowdon 
Alderley 

Dvsi.x,  AiiTiin;  Kaye... 

Jice  House,  Sale 

Sale 

Dyson,  James  

Gatley  Hill,  Cheadle, 
Cheshire 

Cheadle 

APPENDIX.  295 

COUNTY    COVlsGihhOU^.— Continued. 


Name. 

Address. 

Division. 

Earp,  William  Richakd 

The  Tan  nery ,  Pieston 
Brook,  Cheshire 

Daresbury 

Eddowes,  Staxtox  

Brookfield  House, 
West  Kirby, 
Cheshire 

West  Kirby 

Edwards,  John    

Haslingtou  Hall,  near 

Willaston 

Crewe 

Egerton  of  Tatton, 
Wilbraham  Baron 

Tatton  Park,  Kniits 
ford 

Knutsford 

Evans,  John  James 

Brackenwood, Higher 
Bebingtoii,  Birken- 
head 

Bebington 

Fentem,  Mark 

Beechwood,  Staly^ 

bridge 
Elworth  House, 

Bradwall,  near 

Sandbach 

Division  2,  Staly- 

bridge 
Sandbach 

FoDEN,  Edwin 

France-Hayhurst, 
Colonel  Charles 
Hosken 

BostockHall.Middle- 
wich 

Davenham     and 
Church  Hulme 

Graham,  D 

The  Lydiate,  Willas- 
ton,  near  Chester 

Neston 

Graveson,  1\Iichael 
Tyson 

Hill  Side,  Rowson 
Street,  New 
Brighton 

Liscard 

Green,  Peter  

Silver  Hill,  Hyde  ... 

Quarry  Bank,  Hand- 
forth,  Cheshire 

Godley  Ward, 

Hyde 
Wilmslow 

Greg,  Edward  Hyde  . . . 

Greg,  Francis 

Turner  Heath, 
Bollington,  near 
Macclesfield 

Bollington 

Hazlehurst,  Charles 
Whiteway 

Runcorn 

Runcorn,  North 

Hirst,  Joshua 

Oaklands,  Godley, 
Hyde 

Mottrani-in- 
Longdendale 

MM 

296  APPENDIX. 

COUNTY    COUNCILLORS.— C(w<m««<;. 


Name. 

Address. 

Division. 

HoDG.soN,  William 

HOPWOOD,  KOBERT     

Hornby,  Albert 
Neilson 

Helmsville,  Crewe... 

Broolvlands,  Staly- 

bridge 
Parkfield,    Nantwich 

Sea  Bank  House, 

Liscard 
Gracemount, 

Altrincham 
Manor   House, 

Brinnington,   near 

Stockport 
Stechford,    near 

Birmingham 
Agden  Hall,  near 

Lymm,  Cheshire 
Hartford  Manor, 

Northwich 
Eavenscroft  Hall, 

near  Middle wich 
Pvoe  Wood  House, 

Higher  Hurdsfield, 

near  :Macclesfield 
Bramall  Hall,  near 

Stockport 
Churton  Hall,  near 

Chester 
Grappenhall    Heyes, 

near  Warrington 
The  Brooklands, 

Macclesfield 
Ivy  House,  Weaver- 
ham,  Cheshire 
The  Mount  Higher 

Runcorn,  Runcorn 

West  Ward, 

Crewe 
Division  l,Staly- 

bridge 
Nantwich 

KiLLICK,    TilOJIAS 

■\Villl4m 
Leigh,  James  

Lewis,  Joseph  Slater... 
Lister,  Charles 

Altrincham 
Bredbury 

Frodsham 
Lymm 

Moss,  Edward  Howard 
Needham,  James 

Nevill,  Charles  Henry 

Middlewieh 

Division  2, 
Macclesfield 

Marple 

Malpas 

Appleton 

Division  1, 

Parr,  Joseph  Charlton 
Smale  John 

Smith,  Joseph  William 
Speakman,  Philip   

Macclesfield 
Weaverham 

Runcorn  South 

APPENDIX.  297 

COUNTY    COUNCILLORS.— Coft^Mwef?. 


Name. 

Address. 

Division. 

Tatton,  Thojias 
Egerton 

^Yythenshawe, 
Northendeii,    near 
Manchester 

Timperley 

Thompson,  John  

Netherleigh  House, 
Chester 

Chester  Castle 

Thornycroft,  Charles 
Edward 

Thornycroft  Hall, 
Chelford,  Cheshire 

Sutton 

Turner,  William  

Over  Hall,  Winsford, 
Cheshire 

Winsford 

The  Royal  Hotel, 
Nantwich  Road, 
Crewe 

Crewe 

Wilbraham,  General 
Sir  Richard,   K.C.B. 

Rode  Hall,  near 
Stoke-on-Trent 

Astbury 

Wrigley,  Emor  Green 

Victoria  House,  off' 
Yew  Tree  Lane, 
Dukinfield 

Dukinfield    East 

GUARDIANS  OF  THE  BUCKLOW  UNION. 

Altrincham :  

AV/A  Ward...  Fullerton,  Hugh,  Westwood 

South  Ward  ...  Armitage,  Mrs. KATHERiNES.,Townfield  House 

East  Ward  ...  O'Brien,  James,  77,  New  Street 

West  Ward  ...  Griffiths,  Alfred,  Normans  Place 

Central  Ward..  Meadows,  Henry,  Barrington  Road 

Ashley  ..  ' Sherwin,  Charles,  Ashley  Hall 

Ashtonon-Merscij  Hall,  William,  Hawthorn  Villa 

Atkinson,  Christie  C,  Fairfield  House 
Aston-by-Eudw'fh   HoRNBY,  Richard,  Aston  Park 

Baguley     RoGERSON,  T.,  Ashfield  Road,  Altrincham 

Bollin'tn  (I-  A'jden  Davies,  Williaji,  Bollington 

BollinFee Norbury,  William,  Rotherwood 

Prince,  Charles  H.,  The  Moss,  Moss  Brow 

Hall,  James,  The  Vale 

Stevens,  Henry,  Stamford  Road 
mm  .3 


298  APPENDIX. 

GUARDIAXS  OF  THE  BUCKLOW  UNION,— CW<»m«i 


Carringlon    "WAUcnEX,  William,  Canington 

Dunham  Masscy..  Higham,  Alfred  M.,  Dunham  ^Massey 

GiBB,  James,  Dunham  Massey 
Hale RiDGWAY,  Geo.  E.,  Ashley. 

HiGNETT,  Rev.  Canon,  Vicarage,  Ringway 

High  Legh    Cross  John  Edward,  High  Legh 

Kmihford Hough,  James,  King  Street,  Knutsford 

Garstang,  Dr.  T.  W.  H. 
Lymm  Smith,  J.  R,  Birch  Brook  Lodge,  Heatley 

Mercer,  William,  Newfield  View 

Maiihall  Stanier  Charles,  JMarthall 

Mere Hough,  William,  J.P.,  Mere 

Millington    Walkden,  Thomas,  Millington 

Mobberley Leycester,  E.  G.,  Mobberley  Old  Hall 

Wmihenden  Baker,  Rev.  E.  J.,  The  Rectory,  Northenden 

Northen  Ekhells..  Simpson,  J.,  Northen  Etchells 

Ollerton  &  Toft...  Wilkinson,  William,  Moss  Farm,  Toft 

Partington    Ockleston,  Thomas  S.,  Partington 

Peover  Inferior  ct  Tr,„.^„   t..,,       n  o         • 

Peover  Superior  I^^^^'^^'  J^^^'  feover  Superior 

Pichnere  Moreton  John,  Pickmere 

^XerioV'!^^'^.  Hall>  H.,  Tabley  Lawn,  Tabley  Inferior 

Rostherne&  Tatt'n  Smith,  John  T.,  Tatton  Dale 

Sale Atkinson,  Miss  Jane,  The  Laurels 

Burgess,  Henry,  153,  Marsland  Road 

CORT,  John  P.,  The  Vicarage 

Lawson,  Wm.  E.,  81,  Chapel  Road 

Taylor,  William,  6,  Irlam  Road 

Siiial Greg,  Robert  A.,  Quarry  Bank,  Styal 

^'"S2'^'™''.!^'  Beech,  W.,  New  Road  End,  Tabley"superior 
Timperley Bell,  Wm.,  Addison  Villa,  Timperley 

AsHTON,  Robert,  Charlecote,  Timperley 

irarhurton    Davies,  Peter,  Moss  Lane,  AVarburton 

JFilmdmv Clare,  George,  Alderley  Road 

Dale,  John  Goodier,  Morley 

Jessop,  David,  Grove  Street 


APPENDIX.  29 

BUCKLOW  RURAL  DISTRICT    COUNCIL. 

Population   20,3S2.  Area  56,199   Acres. 

Rateable   Value   £192,452. 

Mileage  of  District  Highways.  248  miles,  5  furlongs,  92  yards. 

Toionships.  Names  of  Pepresenfatires. 

Ashlei/  Sherwin  Charles,  Ashley  Hall 

Asion-hy-Budw'th  Hornby  Richard,  Aston  Park 

Bagvley    EoGERSON,  T.,  Ashfield  Road,  Altrincham 

Bollingt'ni&Agden  Davies,  Williajf,  Bollington 

C'arrinfiton    Walkden,  William,  Carrington 

Dunham  Masseij..  Higham,  Alfred  M.,  Dunham  Massey 

Gibe,  James,  Dunham  INIassey 
Hale RiDGWAY,  George  E.,  Ashley  Heath,  Hale 

HiGNETT,  Rev.  Harry  A.,  Vicarage,  Ringway 

Hi'jh  Legh  Cross,  John  Edward,  Metton,  High  Legh 

Marthall  Stanier,  Charles,  Marthall 

Mere Hough,  William,  J. P.,  j\lei-e 

Millington    Walkden,  Thomas,  Millington 

MoUerleii Leycester,  E.  G.,  J.P.,  Mobbeiley  Old  Hall 

Northcmlcn  Baker,  Rev.  E.  J.,  The  Rectory,  Northenden 

Northen  Ekhclls..  Simpson,  James,  Northen  Etchells 
Ollei ton  (&  Toft...  Wilkinson  William,  Moss  Farm,  Toft 
Partington    Ockleston,  Thomas  S.,  Partington 


Inferior  £  j^^^  j^jj^    pg^^.g^,  Superior 

Peover  bupenor  '  ^ 

Pichncre  MoRETOX,  John,    Pickmere 

Plumley  &  Tahley  ^  jj    t^jj^ey  Lawn,  Tabley  Inferior 

Infenw 

Rostherne&Tatton  Smith,  John  T.,  Tatton  Dale 

Styal Greg,  Robert  A.,  Quarry  Bank,  Styal 

^"'PeftlT'''™^' '^'  ^^^^■^'  '^^'•.  J^ew  Road  End,    Tabley  Superior 

I'imperley Bell,  William,  Addison  Villa,  Timperley 

AsHTON,  Robert,  Timperley 
Warhmtun Davies,  Peter,  Moss  Lane,  Warburton 


300  APPENDIX. 

CHAIRMEN     OF     THE     ALTRINCHAM 

UNION  SINCE     ITS     FORMATION. 

183G-37  Earl  of  Stamford  and  Warrington 

183840  WiLBRAHAM  Egerton,  Esq. 

184043  Eev.  Robert  Clowes 

1843-59  Joseph  Swinburne,  Esq. 

1859-64  Robert  Armstrong,  Esq. 

1864-67  W.  T.  PowNALL,  Esq. 

1867-69  Charles  Balshaw,  Esq. 

1869-76  Rev.  Tho.m.\s  Brierley 

1876-87  John  Ambler,  Esq. 

1887-93  John  Goodier  Dale 

1893-94  William  Hough,  Esq. 

1895  Rev.  Canon  Hignett 


CHAIRMEN     OF     THE     ALTRINCHAM 
RURAL    SANITARY    AUTHORITY. 

(Now  Riii-al   District  Council). 

Date    of   First    Meeting,    23rd    August,    1872. 

1872-76     Rev.  Tiiom.^s  Brierley 
1876-83    Nicholas  Kilvert,  Esq. 
1883-84     William  Fair,  Esq. 
1884-85    Charles  Holt,  Esq. 
1885-87    John  Goodier  Dale,  Esq. 
1887-88    Charles  Holt,  Esq.,  and 

John  Goodier  Dale,  Esq. 
1888-93     William  Hough,  Esq. 
1893-94    T.  W.  H,  Garstang,  Esq. 
1894    T.  W.  H.  Garstang,  Esq.,  and 

Rev.  Canon  Hignett 
1895-96    William  Hough,  Esq.,  J.P. 


APPENDIX.  301 

ACTING  MAGISTRATES   FOR    THE    ALTRINCHAM 
PETTY    SESSIONAL     DIVISION. 

Bazley,  Sir  Thomas  Sebastian,  Hatherop  ^^''"^^"  Q"^iii««''i- 

Castle,  Gloucestershire...  Uth  Aug.,  1860 
Allen,  BuLKELEY,  Esq.,  West  Lynn,  Altrincham  19th  Oct.,  1885 
Armitage,  Geo.  Faulkner,  Stamford,      ,,  20th  Jan.,  1894 

Bellhouse,  Walter,  Mynshall  Mills,  ^lanchester  7th  April,  1879 

BowEN,  George,  George  Street,  Altrincham 1st   Jan.,    1897 

Brabazon,  AVm.  Philip,  Brook  House,  Lymm...   1st   Jan.,    1890 

Crosfield,  Ernest  Morland,  Lymm  7th  April,  1896 

Cawley,  Hugh,  Arclen  House,  Ashley 2ik1  Jan.,  1893 

Clegg,  Neville,  Oklfiekl  Brow,  Altrincham    ...   2nd  April,  1894 
Dewhurst,  G.  Littleton,  Beechwood,  Lymm...  7th  April,  1896 

*Dyson,  Arthur  Kaye,  Lee  House,  Sale  1st  Jan.,    1890 

Gaddum,  H.  T.,  Green  Walk,  Bowdon 21st  Nov.,  1882 

Gill,  E.  P.,  Woodheys  Hall,  Ashton  on-Mersey..  7th  April,  1879 

Haworth,  Abraham,  Green  Walk,  Bowdon 15th  Oct.,  1883 

H.A. worth,  Jesse,  Green  Walk,  Bowdon  15th  Oct.,  1883 

Hogg,  Adam,  Silverlands,  Bowdon    15th  Oct.,  1883 

JOYNSON,  Ed.  Walter,  Ashfield,  Sale  4th  Aug.,  1881 

Jones-Parry,  Admiral  John,  Thelwall  Hall, 

near  Warrington  14th  Oct.,  1895 
JoYNSON,  KiciiARD  Hampson,  Park  Rd.,  Bowdon  Gth  Jan.,  1875 
Killick,  Thos.  W.,  Gracemount,  Altrincham  ...   30th  Dec,  1889 

Kendall,  John,  Moorlands,  Sale  7th  April,  1896 

Legh,  H.  M.  Cornwall,  High  Legh 19th  Oct.,  1877 

Mills,  A.  W.,  Green  Walk,  Bowdon 4th  Aug.,   1881 

Mothersill,  C,  Alton  House,  Buxton 15th  Oct,  1883 

Neild,  Alfred,  East  Downs  Road,  Bowdon 20th  Nov.,  1883 

NoRRis,  T.  Potter,  Eagle  Brow  House,  Lymm  16  h  Feb.,  1875 

Platt,  John,  The  Oaklands,  Timperley    4th   Jan.,    1888 

POLLITT,   William,  Fernlea,   Bowdon 7th  April,  1896 

Platt-Higgins,  Fred  (M.P.),   Bowdon   17th  Oct.,  1892 

*  Died  October  19tl),  1896. 


302  APPEXDIX. 

ACTING    MAGISTRATES    FOR    THE    ALTRINCHAM 
PETTY    SESSIONAL    DIVISION.— Cow<jnMc<Z. 

When  Qualifieil. 

KuOKE,  George,  Moorside,  Sale loth  Oct.,  1883 

SiDEBOTHAM,  J.  W.  (M.P.),  The  Thoiiis,  Bowdon  4th   Jan.,    1S88 

SiDEBOTH.Air,  Ed.  John,  Eilesdene,  Bowdon 7th  April,  1896 

Stubs,  Peter,  Newnhani,  Gloucestershire 1st   Jan.,    1872 

Tatton,  T.  Egerton,  Wythenshawe,  Northenden  13th  Aug.,  1868 

Thornber,  Harry,  Rookfield  Avenue,  Sale 4th  April,  1893 

Watkin,  Alfred,  Dane  Bank,  Lymm  20th  Jan.,  1891 

WORTHINGTON,  Henry  Hugo,  Feintoii  Court, 

Honiton  1st  Jan.,    1890 


OHAIRMEN    OF   DISTRICT   COUNCILS    QUALIFIED 
TO    ACT    AS    JUSTICES. 

Altrincham Vacant  at  time  of  going  to  press 

Bowdon H.  T.  Gaddum,  Esq. 

Sale  J.  E.  D.wies,  Esq. 

AsHTOX-ox-MEn.SEY  ...  H.  V.  KiLVERT,  Esq. 
Lymm G.  L.  Welford,  Esq. 


MEMBERS   OF    THE   ALTRINCHAM  LOCAL   BOARD 

SINCE  ITS  FORMATION  IN  1851. 

1851. 

R.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 
Thomas  Maksden  AV.  Milnes  Millington 

John  Wort  P^dward  Joynsox 

Samuel  Barratt  Robert  Willl\m  Bennett 

■\ViLLL\M  Warren  Jesse  Blew 

Officials : 
Isaac  Turton,  Surve3or  ; 
NiCHOLLS  and  AVoRTHlNGTON,  Legal  Advisers. 


APPENDIX. 


James  (tRanci 
T.  .Marsden 

E.  JOYNSON 
li.  W.  rjENNEI 


E.  JovxsuN 
AV.  Warren- 
John  Da\e.\i'( 
S.  Barratt 


Alexander  H.  P 
J.  I)a\enpurt 
John  Mort 
S.  Barratt 


Samuel  Barratt 
A.  H.  Paterson 
Thomas  Knight 
J.  Daveni'ort 


A.  H.  Paterson 
Thomas  Knight 
J.  Daveni'ort 

J.  MORT 


John  Hethorn 
g  bowiien 
John  Mort 
K.  W.  Bennett 

NN 


1852. 

R.  Broaubent  (Chairman) 
J.  Mort 
S.  Barratt 
\\.  Warren 
W.  M.  Millington 
1853. 

Ii.  Broadrent  (Chairman) 

T.  Marsden 
R.  W.  Bennett 
J.  Grange 

J.  .MORT 

1854. 

R.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 
U'ERSON  T.  Marsden 

William  Warren 
James  Grange 
R.  AV.  Bennett 
1855. 

R.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 

R.  W.  Bennett 
(teorge  Bowden 
\X.  Warren 
.1.  Murt 
1856. 

R.  Broadiient  (Chairman) 

\y.  Warren 
R.  W.  Bennett 
George  Bowden 

I  S.  Barratt 

1857. 

R.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 
T.  Kni(;ht 
AViLLiAM  Warren 
J.  Davenport 
S.  Barratt 


APPENDIX. 


George  Bowdex 
"\V.  Waruen 
Samuel  Barratt 
Isaac  Gaskarth 


J.  MORT 

S.  BARRA-n- 
E.  AV.  Benneit 
J.  Hethorn 


John  Astle  Kelsall 
James  Street 
John  Mort 
Thomas  Knight 


J.  Hethorn 

J.  MORT 

Thomas  Knight 

G.  BOWDEN 


James  Southern 
J.  Mort 
James  Street 

G.  BoWDEN 


1858. 

E.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 

E.  W.  Bennett 
Thomas  Knight 
J.  Hethorn 

J.   MORT 

1859. 

E.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 

G.  BoWDEN 

.Tames  Street 
Thomas  Knight 
"W.  Warren 
1860. 
E.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 
S.  Barr.vit 
John  Hethorn 

G.  BOWDEN 

E.  AY.  Bennett 
1861. 

E.  Broadbent  (Chairman) 

J.  A.  Kelsall 
Samuel  Barratt 
J.  Street 
E.  W.  Bennett 
1862. 

Thomas  Knight  (Chairman) 
J.  Hethorn 
John  Davenport 
J.  A.  Kelsall 
S.  Barratt 


Thomas  Knight  (Chairman) 
John  Hethorn  James  Street 

S.  Barratt  John  Astle  Kelsall 

John  Mort  James  Southern 

John  Davenport  G.  Bom'den 


APPENDIX. 

1864. 

Tnf>MAs  Knight  (Chairman) 
John  Da\'enport  S.  Barratt 

J.  A.  Kelsali.  *Samuel  Holker  Norris 

George  Bow  den  James  Southern 

James  Street  J.  Hethorn 

1865. 

Thomas  Knioht  (Chairman) 
Joseph  Gaskarth  J.  A.  Kelsall 

James  Southern  S.  H.  Norris 

S  Barratt  George  Bowden 

Kobert  Burgess  J.  Hethorn 

1866. 

Samuel  Barratt  (Chairman) 
J.  Gaskarth  James  Southern 

G.  Bowden  J.  A.  Kelsall 

Thomas  Dyson  tM.  Fowden 

William  Armitage  K.  Burgess 

1867. 

S.  Barratt  (Chairman) 
R.  Burgess  J.  A.  Kelsall 

G.  Bowden  T.  Dyson 

J.  Southern  J.  (Gaskarth 

W.  Armitage  .M.  Fowdex 


S.  Bai;ratt  (Chairman) 
M.  Fowden  AV.  Arjiitage 

John  Shelmerdine  Moirr  T.  Dyson 

J.  Southern  J.  A.  Kelsall 

J.  Gaskarth  G.  Boavden 

*  In  place  of  the  late  J.  Mort. 
+  Solely  nominated  in  place  of  Thomas  Knight,  resigned. 


306 


APPENDIX. 


RoBEKT  Burgess 
J.  Gaskarth 
W.  Armitage 
J.  Southern 


J.  A.  Kelsall 
S.  Barratt 
E.  Burgess 
J.  Ambler 


R.  Burgess 
P.  Pons 
S.  Barkatt 
J.  Ambler 


S.  BAiiitAiT  (Chairman) 

M.  FuwiiEX 
J.  A.  Kicr.sAr.i. 

(}.  lioWDEX 
J.  S.   MORT 

1870. 

W.  Arjiita(;e  (Chairman) 
J.  S.  MouT 
J.  Gaskarth 
II.  Davies 

J.    SOITTHERN 

1871. 

J.  Gask.mith  (Chairman) 
.1.  BviiuM 
W.  Akjiitacje 
W.  II.  Holt 
J.  A.  Kelsall 


1872. 

Number  increased  to  Twelve.) 

J.  Gaskarth  (Chairman)  J.  BYuo^r 

R  Burgess  .1.  S.  .Moirr 

W.  H.  Holt  W.  Armitage 

H.  Balshaw  p.  Pons 

S.  Barratt  Thomas  Warrington 

J.  Ambler  J.  Daventort 


1873. 


J.  Gaskarth  (Chairman) 

R.  Burgess 

J.  Bvrom 

J.  S.  Mort 

S.  Barratt 

J.  Amuler 


II.  liAI.SIIAW 

S.  I)E[.\i:s 
"W.  Armitage 
W.  H.  Holt 
Thomas  Warrlxgton 
Thomas  Timperley 


A 

PPENDIX. 

1874. 

J.  Gaskaktii  (Chairman) 

T.  TiMPERLEY 

J.  Amclek 

J.  Daxenport 

H.  Balshaw 

S.  Barratt 

S  Delves 

J.  S.  MORT 

W.  Aejiitage 

T.  AVarrington 

J.  Byroji 

r.  Kinsey 

1875. 

J.  Gaskarth  (Chairman) 

P.  Kinsey 

J.  Davenport 

\V.  AiiMrrAGE 

H.  Balshaw 

J.  Ambler 

T.  TiMPERLEY 

T.  Warrington 

S.  Barratt 

S.  Delves 

J.  Byrom 

J    S.   MORT 

1876. 

J.  Gaskarth  (Chairman) 

II.  P,.\I.SH.\W 

J.  Byroj[ 

S.  B.\I!R.VTT 

T.  TiMPERLEY 

R.  Burgess 

H.  Kenyon 

P.  Kinsey 

J.  Ambler 

G.  Smith 

J.  Davenport 

'S.  Delves 

1877. 

J.  Gaskap.tii  (Chairman) 

G,  Smith 

R.  Burkess 

J   Hamilhin 

J.  BYRO>r 

J.  Ambler 

G.  Wood 

H.  Kenyon 

J.  Davenport 

II.  Balshaw 

P.  Kinsey 

William  Smith 

1878. 

John  Ambler  (Chairman) 

G.  Woon 

E.  Burgess 

W.  Armitage,  Ji 

G.  Smith 

P.  Kinsey 

H.  Kenyon 

J.  Byroji 

J.  Davenport 

W.  Smith 

J.  Hamilton 

H.  Balshaw 

307 


(*  James  Cowsill  from  September,  1S70,  vice  Delves  deceased.) 


APPENDIX. 


1879. 

Joseph  Gaskarth  (Chairman) 
J.  Ambler 
R.  Burgess 
James  Byrom 
T.  Davenport 

P.  KiNSEY 


G.  Smith 
George  Wood 
James  Hamilton 
William  Smith 
William  Armitage,  Jun. 
John  Siddeley 


Joseph  Gaskarth  (Chairman) 
John  Ambler 
William  Griffin 
John  Newton 
George  Wood 

1881. 
Joseph  Gaskap.tii  (Chairman) 
John  Ambler 
Eobert  Burgess 
George  Smith 
George  Wood 
William  Armitage,  Jun. 


1882. 


John  Ambler  (Chairman) 
William  Ai;mitage,  Jun. 
George  Bowen 
W.  E.  Cave 
Charles  Estcourt 

A.  L.  lATE 


R  Burgess 
George  Sjiith 
William  Armitage,  Jun. 
John  Siddeley 
Ja:^ies  Hamilton 

John  Siddeley 
John  Newton 
William  Griffin 
James  Hamilton 
George  Bowen 
Henry  Kenyon 

William  Griffin 
James  Hamilton 
John  Newton 
James  Percival 
E.  Whitney 
George  Wood 


1883. 

Ambler  (Chairman) 


William  Armitage,  Jun. 
George  Bowen 
James  Boyd 
W.  E.  Cave 
Charles  Estcourt 


William  Griffin 
James  Hamilton 
John  Newton 
James  Percival 
E.  Whitney 


APPEXDIX. 


1884. 


J.  Ambler  (Chairman) 
William  Armitage,  Jr: 
George  Bowen 
James  Boyd 
George  Brett 
W.  E.  CxxE 


Charles  Estcourt 
Enoch  Farr 
William  Griffin 
James  Hamilton 
John  Newton 
James  Pei;cival 


John  Ambler  (Chairman) 
S.  E.  Armitage 
George  Bowen 
James  Boyd 
George  Brett 
W.  E.  Cave 


AViijjAM  Griffin 
James  Hamilton 
Thomas  Lewis 
John  Newton 
James  Percival 
John  PtOBsox 


John  Newton,  C.E.  (Chairman) 

John  Ambler 

S.  E.  Armitage 

George  Bowen 

James  Boyd 

George  Brett 

1887. 
John  Newton,  C.E.  (Chairman) 
John  Ambler 
S.  E.  Armitage 
George  Bowen 
James  Boyd 
W.  E.  Cave 


W.  E.  Cave 
William  Griffin 
James  Hamilton 
Thomas  Lewis 
James  Percival 
James  Steen 

William  Griffin 
James  Hamilton 
Thomas  Lewis 
E.  G.  Parker 
James  Percival 
James  Steen 


J.  Hamilton  (Chairman) 
S.  E.  Armitage 
George  Bowen 
J.  Boyd 
George  Brett 
W.  E.  Cave 


William  Griffin 
Thomas  Lewis 
John  Newton 
E.  G.  Parker 
James  Percival 
James  Steen 


J.  Hamilton  (Chairman) 


S.  E.  Aumitai:e 

T.  Lewis 

S.  AUXOLU 

E.  Neild 

G.  lioWK.N 

J.  Newton 

B.   GOODALT. 

E.  G.  Parker 

W.  Griffin 

1890 

J.  Steen 

W.  Griffin  (Chairman) 

J.  Hamilton 

S.  E.  Akmitage 

E.  Neild 

S.  Arnold 

J.  Newton 

G.  BOA\'E\ 

E.  G.  Parker 

B.  GOODALL 

J.  Perch-al 

J.  GOTT 

1891 

J.  Steen 

WlLLLVM  GUIFFIN 

(Chairman 

) 

J.  Hajiilton 

!:?.  Arnold 

J.  Hill 

G.  BOWEN 

J.  Newton 

T.  J.  Farrell 

E.  G.  Parker 

B.  Goodall 

J.  Percival 

J.  GoTT 

1892 

J.  Steen 

George  Bowex  (Chairman) 

J.    Ha  Jl  I  ETON 

8.  Ai;noli) 

J.  Hill 

T.  J.  Fakrell 

J.  Newton 

i;.  Gatley 

E.  G.  Parker 

•T.  tldTT 

J.  Percival 

W.  Griffin 

1893 

J.  Steen 

George  B 

UWEN 

(Chairman) 

Samuel  Arnold 

Joseph  Hill 

Thomas  J.  Faurell 

John  Newton 

11.  Gatlicv 

Jajies  Steen 

James  Gott 

J.  N.  Sidebotham 

William  Griffin 

E.  Yarwood 

George  Bowex  (Chairman) 
Saimuel  Arnold 
George  Bowen 
Thomas  J.  Farrell 
R.  Gatley 
James  Gott 


William  Gkiffix 
JosEi'H  Hill 
John  Newton 
James  Steen 

J.  N.  SlDEBOTHAM 

E.  Yarwood 


GONTESTKI)  ELECTKJXS, 

WVni  NUxMBER    OF    VOTES    KECOKDEI)    FOR    EACH 

CANI)IDx\.TE. 

(Those  marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  declared  elected  ;    those  marked  (1) 
refused  to  serve. ) 


1851 

*SaMUEL  BaRR ATT 482 

*WiLLiAM  Warren    -114 

*john  mort  270 

James  Grange 150 

George  Bowden  98 

*Ed\vard  Joynson 466 

*lioiiERT  \Vm.  Bennett  ..  351 


*W.  MiLNES  Millington  185 

John  Davenport  135 

t  John  AVoollam 36 

*  Thomas  Maksden  419 

'■■■Richard  Broadeent...  332 

*Jesse  Blew 171 

JuiLN  Barrow 124 


1852. 

*Edward  Joynson     169       *  J  a  mes  Grange    . . . . 

*Samuel  Barratt   . 
Charles  Balshaw. 


Charles  Houtt 120 

Henry  Service 137 

t\VlLLL\M    BaDCOCIC 


Jesse  Blew  

.    114 

'Thomas  Marsden   

.    119 

1853. 

*Eighard  Broadeent  . . 

.   180 

♦Robert  Wm.  Bennett.. 

.    151 

♦John  Davenport    

.   170 

William  Dav I Es 

.    137 

00 

312  APPENDIX. 

1854. 

William  Davies 110        ■■■Tuhx  :\Iort 205 

John  Bradford  lU       *Willl4m  Warren 196 

Henry  Service  110       *Alex.  Hy,  Paterson...   171 

1855. 

Henry  Service    81       *Thomas  Knight 210 

John  Bradford  70       *George  Bowden   193 

*Samuel  Barratt 230 

1856. 

Henry  Service   72       *John  Davenport  242 

Joseph  Smith  34       *Robt.  Wm.  Bennett  ...  215 

♦Richard  Broadbent  ...  247 

1857. 

(No  Contest). 

1858. 

(No  Contest). 

1859. 

(No  Contest,  Mark  Pierson  refusing  to  serve). 

1860. 

(No  Contest). 

1861. 

(No  Contest). 

1862. 

*James  Street  287         William  Armitage   ...  213 

*JoHN  Daa'enport 219       *James  Southern    214 

tHuMPHRY  Davies 

1863. 

(No  Contest). 

1864. 

(No  Contest). 


APPENVIX. 


313 


1865. 

*  James  Southern 322       *Robert  Burgess    229 

*JosEPH  Gaskarth    242         John  Davenport  221 

James  Street   206 

1866. 

John  Hethorn 204       *Wili,iam  Armitage    ...  341 

James  Street  121       *Thomas  Dyson  378 

*John  AsTLE  Kelsall  ...  242     ((*Mattue\v  Fowden 241 

a  Nominated  solely  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Thomas  Knight,  resigned. 

1867. 

*SaiMUEl  Barratt 315       *iMATTnE\v  Fowden 260 

AViLLiAM  Paulden  103         Henry  Hough    151 

*CtEorge  BowDEN  247         Thomas  Partington  .. .  202 

John  Ambler  239 


MosEni  Gaskarth    .... 

,.  407         Robert  Burgess    .. 
1869. 

....  310 

'•William  Armitage  .... 

..  605       *RoBERT  Burgess   ... 

....  413 

Mohn  Astle  Kelsall  . 

..  398         John  Newton 

...  237 

Thomas  Dyson 

..  371 

1870. 

"■Samuel  Barratt 

. .  386         James  Byrom 

...   279 

Samuel  Delves    

..  375       *JoHN  Ambler 

...   411 

Matthew  FowDEN  .... 

..    375          *HUMI>HRY  DaVIES    ... 

...  433 

1871. 


Thomas  Partington   ...  328 

*  Joseph  Gaskarth    679 

^Peter  Pons  676 

Samuel  Delves    455 

00  3 


*James  Byrom 

James  Pearson  . . 

Thomas  Davison  . 
*Wm.  Henry  Holt 


263 
619 


APPENDIX. 


1872. 


*JoHX  Davexpout 

S9.3 

SAMt'ET,  Delves 

..   862 

*Henry  Balshaw 

960 

John  Siddei.ey  

...   842 

*WlLUAM  AllMITAGE 

990 

S.AMUEL  Arnold 

...  792 

tWM.  Tudor  Mabley    . . 

5 

^Robert  Burgess  .... 

...  932 

*J.  Shelmerdine  Mort.  . 

957 

Peter  Colliver 

...  700 

*Tho5[As  "Warrington  .. 

9GG 

George  Hodgkinson 

...   63.5 

J(JHN'  ASTLE  KELSAI.L  .. 

-,.10 

1873, 

*JoHN  Ambler  984         Henry  Dean,  .Tun 826 

John  Davenport    808       *Thomas  Timperley   ...  8-56 

Peter  Pons  688       *Samuel  Delves 984 

*SAMUEL  BaRRATT 850  PEfERKlNSEY 739 


1874. 

970       *JoHN  Davenport  830 

927         James  Pearson  659 

963         Wm.  Hill  Parkes 602 

700 

1875. 

No  Election,  owing  to  the  passing  of  a  new  Act  of  Parliament 
relating  to  Local  Boards 


*■  Joseph  Gasicvrth 

*-PETER  KiNSEY   

Mames  Byrom    

PiOBERT  Burgess  . . 


1876. 


*H.  B.VLSHAW 803 

IThom.vs  Davison 3 

*Henry  Kenyon    719 

*RoBERT  Burgess  1175 

Enoch  Farr 366 


James  Percivai 429 

Jajles  Cowsill      714 

Thoslis  Jackson    617 

*George  Smith    938 


1877. 


*JoHN  Ambler  1143 

'^ James  Hamilton 1001 

James  Cowsill 686 


*\ViLLL\M  Smith  .. 
Thomas  Davison 
•■George  Wood 


795 
492 
1129 


APPENDIX. 


315 


*Wm.  Armitage,  Jtn. 

*j0hn  d.u'entokt 

*James  Bykom    


*RoBERT  Burgess 
George BowEN  ... 
Thomas  Davison 


1878. 

968  Joseph  Gaskauth 
947  William  Clegg  .. 
95S       *Peteu  Kinsky    . . , 

1879. 
987         Henry  Kenyon   . 
747       *George  Smith 924 

.341  *J0HN    SlDDEI.EY     1049 


.'J  00 


*Jos.  Gaskartii  1109 


Tate 


44: 


*JOHX  Amrler 1255 

George  Bowen  653 

James  Co^vsILL  733 

*  William  Griffin  829 


John  A.  Kelsall     ...  385 

Henry  Kenyon  633 

*  John  Newton  843 

*George  Wood 1234 


1881. 

*Wm.  Armitage,  JuN....  1258       "-"James  Hamilton 1323 

*George  Bo^vEN  1214       *Henry  Kenyon  1060 

James  By  ROM 890         Peter  Kinsey 672 

1882. 

(No  Contest). 

1883. 

♦John  Ambler 1374       Enoch  Farr   911 

*J.4MES  Boyd  1218     *William  Griffin  1004 

*John  Newton 1405 

1884. 
(No  Contest). 

1885. 
(No  Contest). 


MoHN  Ambler    

..     813 

John  Newton     

.     773 

Wm.  T.  Ascroft    ... 

73 

*George  Richards  .... 

.   1070 

Jajies  Boyd    

..     894 

George   Smith  

.     680 

-Matt.   Fowden  

..     656 

James  Steen  

.     701 

William  Griffin  ... 

..     777 

Peter   Williamson  . 

.     619 

APPENDIX. 


1887. 


*GEORf;E  BowEN  968 

George  Brett  730 

Thos   James   Farrell    -I-jI 

*James  Hamilton  1192 


John  iAFilnes 536 

■<"E.  G.  Parker 903 

*  James  Percival 965 

Peter  Williamson  ...  653 


(No  Contest). 


*S.  Arnold  1154       T.  B.  Parkes  926 


J   Boyd  

104-1:       W.  Shuttleworth    . 

..     994 

J.    Fl.ETCHEI! 

998     *B.  GooDALi 

..   1097 

'W.  Grifitx., 

,  1131      *J.  Steen  

1890. 

(No  Contest). 

1891. 

..   1145 

'Thos  James 

Farrell.. 

1125     *Jos  Hill 

1122 

MamesGott.. 

1205       Edward  Xeild    

..   1067 

*J0HN 

Newton 1454 

1892 

*.S.  Arnold 984     *J.  Steen  1075 

W.Collins 970       J.  Drinkwater 889 

m.  Gatley  996      *W.  Griffin 1034 


G.  Arrowsmith 741 

*J.  Percival 821 

W.  Brooks 463 

T.  B.  Parkes 527 

*E.  Yarwood.. 


*G.  Ijowen  1047 

W.  Collins 733 

S.  Birtles  496 

*J.  N.  Sidebotham  866 


1894. 

No  Contest — Members  retaining   office  unt 
District  Council. 


election  of  Urban 


APPENDIX.  317 

ALTRINCHAM    URBAN    DISTRICT    COUNCIL. 

FIIiST     ELECTION,     1,S95. 


NORTH 
George  Allan 115 

tSAMUEL  RiGBY  ArMITAGE     56 

George  Arrowsmith  ...     3t 

J.  G.  B.  Barber   105 

*Thomas  Henry  Y 


WARD. 

tWiLLiAM  Griffin 101 

Herbert  Congreve  ...  42 

t*JoHN  Newton    129 

*Charles    Pierson 127 

EKNON 148 


SOUTH 


58 


Williamson  Atkinson.. 
*George  Drinkwater...  287 

t*JosEPH  Hill 183 

John  Edward  Meakin..   101 
*Isaac  Watts  . . . . 


EAST 

tSamuel  Arnold 82 

♦Alfred  Barker 215 

*Thomas  Henry  Caine..  130 

James  Gregson   67 

Thomas  Hildage 23 

WEST 

t*JAMES  Boyd 108 

John   Gibbon  71 

t*jAMES  Gott  96 

William  S.  Mainpkice..     93 
Wm.  Agar  Renshaw  ...     74 


WARD. 

William  Pearson    ...     94 
Wm.  Hy.  Pendlebury    55 

t James  Percival    105 

Thomas  Turner   153 

164 

WARD. 

William   Hulme  100 

William  Okell 61 

*J0HN   Palmer    214 

Chas.  Henry  Skipper..    61 

t James  Steen 99 

WARD. 

John    Robinson    48 

t  J.  Nasmyth  Sidebotham  90 

John  Smith    71 

John  RichaPvD  Ward  ..     46 
t*EvERY  Yarwood    118 


318  APPENDIX. 

ALJRINOHAM    URBAN    DISTRICT    COUNCIL. 

FIi;,ST  ELEOTIUX,   \6<db.~Uuntuiacd. 


CENTRAL     AVARL). 

Samuel  BiRTLES  81       *Josiah  Drinkwater  ...  131 

t*GEORGE  BOWEX 105        f '''ROBERT    GaTLEY      165 

John    Brierley  84         Walter  Sydney  Scott  50 

Joseph  Brooks G7         Jonathan  "Woon    72 

In  North  Ward  Mr.  Charles  Pierson  retired  through  ill  he.ihh, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  George  Allan. 


ELECTION     189G. 


NORTH     WARD. 

George  Allan 98     *Samu£l  Tho.mp.son 

SOUTH     WARD. 

John  Ed\vard  Meakin..  79      Reuren  Pearson 

*Isaac  Watts 200 

EAST    AVARD. 

Thomas   Henry  Caine  (withdrew)  3 

WiLLLVM  Iln.ME 118     *Mark  Pearson 

WEST    WARD. 
Joseph    Brooks    (Unopposed). 

CENTRAL     WARD. 

Samuel  Biktles  123      ^Geoiuie  Bowen  

Jlcmbers  marked  thus  *  elected. 
Members  marked  thus  t  members  of  Altrincham  Local  Board. 


APPENDIX  319 

ALTRINCHAM  URBAN  DISTRICT  COUNCIL. 

statement  of  Loans,  dc,  on  taking  ouer  the  affairs  of  ttie  late  Local  Board. 
SEWERAGE. 


1871 

30 

4000 

1505  14  0 

2494  6  0 

260  4 

1 

1901 

1871 

oO 

2500 

941  3  2 

1558  16  10 

162  12 

6 

1901 

1874 

30 

2300 

1033  8  2 

1266  11  10 

125  1 

3 

1904 

1878 

30 

1300 

704  10  11 

59.")  9  1 

70  13 

9 

1908 

1881 

30 

2500 

1416  13  4 

1083  6  8 

136  8 

8 

1901 

1882 

30 

1750 

1020  16  8 

729  3  4 

96  10 

8 

1912 

,f7727  13     9 
STUEET    IMPEOVEMENT. 
1881     20         1000  441  12  10  558     7     2  73  11     8     1901 

1893  13         1400         1313     2     3  86  17     9         135  17     9     1906 

1894  20        3500        3500    0     0  0    0     0        246     5     4     1914 


i-645 

4  11 

RECREATION  GROUND. 

1879 

30 

4000 

2604 

16  11 

1395 

3  1 

238  7 

10 

1909 

1883 

30 

791 

600 

16  7 

190 

o  5 

45  14 

10 

1913 

1883 

10 

2296 

0 

0  0 

2296 

0  0 

0  0 

0 

1883 

10 

500 

0 

0  0 

500 

0  0 

0  0 

0 

i.-4381 

6  6 

MARKET. 

1878 

30 

4500 

2779 

17  8 

1720 

2  4 

268  10 

0 

1908 

1882 

30 

653 

478 

0  3 

174 

19  9 

37  15 

4 

1912 

i.1895 

2  1 

FARM. 

1890 

50 

10125 

9810 

15  5 

314 

4  7 

411  8 

11 

1940 

1890 

30 

875 

804 

17  9 

70 

2  3 

48  6 

6 

1920 

1893 
1894 


5350 


i-348     6  10 
CEMETERY. 
3274  16    2  25     3  10         140  13  10 

5246     7     3  103  12    1)        290  17     9 


il28  16     7 
LIDRARY  AND  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION. 
30         4000         3922  10     2  77     9  10         217     9  10 

30         1100         1100    0     0  0     0     0  59  16     4 


9  10 


i:57,740  X-42,499  19     6  115,240     0     6  ■£3,096     6  1( 

Xorii :— The  Loan  t.ikeii  up  durins  the  year  (1S:)1)  which  will  cause  an  incre 
e  is  £3,500  for  .street  improvements,  the  annual  payment  being  equal 
107  pence  in  the  £. 


320  APPENDIX. 

ALTRINCHAM   URBAN    DISTRICT   COUNCIL 


BOUNDARIES      OI=      iA£  K  R  D  S  . 


Boundaries   of  North    Ward. 

Commencing  at  the  most  northerly  point  of  the  district,  at 
the  junction  with  the  Township  of  Dunham  Massey,  at  Wash  way, 
continuing  along  Timperley  Brook  (the  boundary  line  with 
Timperley),  to  its  intersection  with  the  Manchester,  South 
Junction,  and  Altrincham  Railway,  then  continuing  in  a  southerly 
direction  along  the  centre  line  of  such  railway  to  Stockport  Road, 
then  continuing  in  a  Westerly  direction  across  Stockport  Road, 
to  the  centre  of  Harrington  Road,  then  continuing  in  a  northerly 
direction  along  the  centre  line  of  Barrington  Road  to  Woodlands 
Road,  otherwise  called  Bank  Street,  then  continuing  in  a  westerly 
direction  along  the  centre  line  of  Woodlands  Road  to  Church 
Street,  then  continuing  in  a  northerly  direction  along  the  centre 
line  of  Church  Street  and  Manchester  Road  to  Oldfield  Road,  then 
continuing  in  a  westerly  direction  along  the  centre  line  of  Oldfield 
Road  to  its  junction  with  the  Township  boundary  with  Dunham 
Massey,  then  continuing  such  boundary  line  in  a  northerly 
direction  to  the  before-named  most  northerly  point  at 
Washway.— ELECTORATE,  454  (1895). 

Boundaries    of    Soutli     Ward. 

The  north  boundary  commences  at  the  end  of  Ashley  Road, 
continuing  in  an  easterly  direction  along  the  centre  line  of  Lloyd 
Street  to  the  centre  of  the  Cheshire  Lines  Railway,  then  con- 
tinuing in  a  southerly  direction  along  the  centre  line  of  the  said 
railway  to  Long  Lane  Bridge,  then  continuing  along  the  boundary 
line  with  the  Township  of  Hale  to  near  Bath  Street,  then  continuing 
in  a  westerly  direction  along  the  boundary  line  with  the  said 
Township  of  Hale,  then  along  the  centre  line  of  a  portion  of  Peel 
Causeway,  being  the  boundary  line  with  the  Township  of  Bowdon, 


APPENDIX.  321 

then  continuing  along  the  bounduiy  line  of  the  said  Township  of 
Bowdon  in  a  northerly  direction,  and  also  in  an  easterly  direction, 
to  the  centre  of  Ashley  Road,  then  continuing  in  a  noitherly 
direction  along  the  centre  line  of  the  said  Ashley  Road  to  its 
junction  with  the  commencement  of  the  north  boundary  line. — 
ELECTORATE,  675  (1895). 

Boundaries    of    East    Ward. 

The  most  northerl_v  boundary  commences  at  the  junction  of 
the  Manchester,  South  Junction,  and  Altrincham  Railway  and 
Timperley  Brook,  then  continuing  along  Timperley  Brook  and 
the  boundary  line  of  the  Township  of  Timperlej',  then  continuing 
along  the  boundary  line  of  the  Township  of  Hale  to  Long  Lane 
Bridge,  then  continuing  in  a  northerly  direction  ateng  the  centre 
line  of  the  Cheshire  Lines  Railway,  and  the  centre  line  of  the 
Manchester,  South  Junction,  and  Altrincham  Railway  to  the 
junction  with  the  most  northerly  boundary.— ELECTORATE,  559 
(1895). 

Note  — This  Ward  consists  of  the  whole  of  that  portion  of 
the  District  situate  on  the  east  side  of  the  centre  line  of  the 
above  named  railways. 

Boundaries    of     West    Ward. 

The  most  northerly  boundary  commences  at  the  Township 
boundary  with  Dunham  Massey,  continuing  easterly  along  the 
centre  line  of  Oldfield  Road  to  Manchester  Road,  then  continuing 
in  a  southerly  direction  along  the  centi-e  line  of  JIanchester  Road 
and  Church  Stieet,  the  Market  Place  and  Market  Street  to  Regent 
Road,  then  continuing  in  a  south-easterly  direction  along  the 
centre  line  of  Regent  Road  to  Railway  Street,  then  continuing 
in  a  southerly  line  along  the  centre  line  of  Railway  Street  and 
the  centre  line  of  Ashley  Road  to  the  boundary  with  the  Town- 
ship of  Bowdon  at  Albert  Square,  then  continuing  in  a  westerly 
direction  along  the  said  boundary  to  its  junction  with  the  Town- 
pp3 


322  APPENDIX. 

ship  of  Dunham  Massey,  then  continuing  in  a  westerly  and 
northerly  direction  along  the  boundary  line  with  the  said 
Township  of  Dunham  Massey  to  the  northerly  boundary  in 
Oldfield  Road.— ELECTORATE,  527  (1895). 

Boundaries    of   Central    Ward. 

The  most  northerly  boundary  commences  at  Church  Street, 
then  continuing  easterly  along  the  centre  line  of  Woodlands  Road, 
otherwise  called  Bank  Street,  to  Barrington  Road,  then  continuing 
in  a  southerly  direction  along  the  centre  of  Barrington  Road  to 
Stockport  Road,  then  continuing  along  the  centre  line  of  the 
Manchester,  South  Junction,  and  Altiincbam  Railway  and  the 
Cheshire  Lines  Railway  to  Lloyd  Street,  then  continuing  in  a 
westerly  direction  along  the  centre  line  of  Lloyd  Street  to  Railway 
Street,  then  continuing  along  the  centre  line  of  Railway  Street, 
the  centre  line  of  Regent  Road,  and  then  continuing  in  a  northerly 
direction  along  the  centre  line  of  Market  Street,  the  centre 
line  of  the  Market  Place,  and  the  centre  line  of  Church  Street 
to  the  first-named  boundary  line  in  Woodlands  Road. — ELEC= 
TORATE,  488  (1895). 


JPrENDTX. 


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ui  s.iiunsici 

SSr,  ?5S5§;^sSS?5gSS 

(•3.ins:i,vnv' 
aSii3.i.iv 

572 

657 

2,173 

1,611 

1,769 

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828 

2,266 

3,470 

3,679 

754 

1,512 

1,981 

1,628 

o 
1 

i 

106 
12424 

4,234 

814 

223 

2,792 

668 

2,079 

3,128 

676 

407 

9,644 

2,461 

1 

104 
11249 

3,325 

736 

272 

2,6.69 

438 

1,977 

2,221 

438 

382 

7,916 

2,241 

i 

109 
8,478 

634 

263 

2,262 

469 

1,790 

1,711 

511 

391 

6,573 

2,112 

1 

98 
6,628 

375 
1,478 

611 

277 
1,827 

621 
1,536 
1,160 

445 

3,031 

i 

76 

4,488 

379 

1,174 

670 

300 

1,164 

636 

1,266 

996 

485 

388 

1,720 

1,008 

2 

113 

3,372 
377 

1.105 
600 
297 
649 
559 

1,253 
974 
457 
386 

1,307 
943 

i 

S  P  g  i  i  S  i  1  i  1  g  1.  E 

324  APPENDIX. 

ALTRINCHAM  PARLIAMENTARY  DIVISION. 


November  1885. 
Result  of  Poll  :— 

.Mit.  John  Brooks  4798 

Ml!.  Isaac  Saunders  Le.vdam 4046 

Majority     752 

Bye-election,  March,  1886. 
Vice,  Mr.  John  Brooks,  died  March  8ih,  1886. 

Sir  W.  C.  Brooks 4.508 

.Mr.  I.  S.  Leadam  3925 

Majority 538 

General  Election,  July,  1886. 
Sir  Wm.  Brooks  returned  unopposed. 

Bye-election,  July   13th,  1892. 

Mr.  Coningsry  Kai.pii  Disraeli 5056 

Mr.  I.  S.  Leadam    4258 

Majority 798 

General  Election,  July  22nd,  1895. 

Mr.  CoNiNG.SBY  Ralph  Disraeli 5264 

Mr.  Alexander  Mere  Latham 3889 


Majority 1375 


APPENDIX.  325 

LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  ACT,   1888. 

(County  Cuuncil  Election,  January  39th,  1SS9.) 

Mr.  Wm.  Armitage,  J.P 841 

Mr.  John  Newtox,  C.E 723 

Majority 118 

Bye-election,  vice  Mr.  Wm.  Armitage  elected  Alderman  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Cheshire  County  Council. 

Mr.  T.  W.  Killick,  J.P 961 

Mr.  John  Newton,  C  E 879 

Majority 82 

LOCAL  MEMBERS,  1889. 

Bowdon  Division  .Mr.  J.  Davies,  Hollinfare,  nr.  Warrington. 

Timperley    „  Mr.  T.  E.  Tattox,  Wythenshaw. 

Knutsford    „  Lord  Egerton  of  Tatton. 

Sale  „  Mr.  A.  K.  Dyson. 

Lymm         ,,  Mr.  Ch.vrles  Lister. 

Election,  March,  1892. 

Altrincham     Mr.  T.  W.  Kilijck,  J.P.  (unopposed). 
Bowdon  Di!.  E.  J.  Siderotham  (Vice,  Jas.  Davies). 

Sale  Mr.  H.  Thornber. 


32G  APPENDIX. 

SALE     LOCAL     BOARD. 

List  of  Members  of  Fird  Board,  elected  1867  : 
Wm  Joynson  (Chairman).  Alfred  Watkin 

JoHEi'H  Clarke  Jameh  Worthikgton 

William  Butterfield  Isaac  Hoyle 

James  Hodgson  Williami  Wilson 

William  Thornbeu  John  Morley 

John  Henry  Storey  Joseph  Curdingley 

SALE     URBAN     DISTRICT     COUNCIL. 

List  of  Members  of  First  Council,  elciicd  1S95 : 
John  Edwaiu)  Daxies  (Chaitman). 
Harry  Thornber  Joh.n  Morley 

William  Critchley  Tho.mas  Foster  Wainwright 

SamcelSmith  Faulkner  Henry  I!ro\ynhill 

"William  Tayloi;  John  IJattkrsry 

Matthew  AN'ells  .Iosicmi  Wiijjam  Lloyd 

Thomas  Kirkley  1;(_)i;i-.i;i'  Wright 

John  Campbell  AVilliam  Speed  Coppock 

BOWDON    URBAN     DISTRICT    COUNCIL. 

List  of  Members  of  Council  lS9d-'Jti  : 
H  T.  Gaddim  (Chairman). 
J.  Hall  K    W.  Trenrath 

E.  J.    SiDEROTHAM  S.    W.    GiLLETT 

F.  G.  Whittall  D.  Senior 
J.  Alderley                                    a.  Haworth 
R.  A.  Warburton                            J.  Fep.gtson 

ASHTON     URBAN     DISTRICT    COUNCIL. 

Members  elected  June,  lU'dS : 

St.  Mary's  Ward. 

Alexander  Lawson      William  Hall      John  Edward  Dean 

Mersey  Ward. 

Jos.  Hughes  Slater     Wji.  Hy.  Wai.mslev      Enhs  Wallwork 

St.  Martin's. 

Harry  A'eiinon  Kilvert  (Elfctcd  Cliairman). 

Richard  Read  John  Arthur  Gilbody  Chadwick 


LIST      OF      SUBSCRIBERS 


TO 


HISTORY  OF  ALTRINCHAM  &  BOWDON 


AT     ONE      GUINEA 


Adams,  W.  Salkeld,  Esq.,  Ellersdene,  Hale. 
Alexander,  A.  H.,  Esq.,  The  Hermitage,  Hale. 
Allen,  Bulkley,  Esq.,  West  Lynn,  Dunham  Massey. 
Armitage,  J.  Fred,  Esq.,  Heathside,  Knutsford. 
AsHTON,  T.  W.  H.,  Esq.,  Norwood,  Altrincham. 
Atkinson,  James  H.,  Esq.,  Glentwood, 

South  Downs  Drive,  Halo. 
Atkinson,  Rev.  C.  Chetwynd,  M.A.,  Fairfield  House, 

Ashton-on-Mersey. 

Barker,  John  Lees,  Esq.,  Dunham  Road,  Bowdon. 
Barton,  Edward  W.,  Esq.,  Holly  Bank,  Sale. 
Bowland,  Jacob,  Esq.,  The  Limes,  Norman's  Place, 

Altrincham. 

Bowland,  James,  Esq  ,   48,  Chesterfield  Road, 

Montpelier,   llristol. 
Bowland,  John,  Esq., 

BoYDELL,  Joshua  H.  Esq.,  Dinglehurst,  Arthog  Road,  Hale. 
Braga,  a.,  Esq.,  Raby  Mount,  Ashley  Heath,  Hale. 
Brogden,  Henry,  Esq.,  Hale  Lodge,  Hale. 
Brookes,  Wm  ,  Esq.,  Albert  Square,  Bowdon. 
Burgess,  Mrs.,  Bowness  Villa,  Altrincham. 
Burgess,  H.  M.,  Esq.,  Stamford  Street,  Altrincham, 
Burns,  John,  Esq.,  3,  Arrow  Street,  Lower  Broughton, 

Manchester. 
Bush,  Samuel,  Esq.,  Columbl.i  Villa,  Burlington  Street, 

Altrincham. 

Clanahan,  Hugh  C,  Esq.,  Oakfield,  Ashley  Road,  Hale. 
Courtney,  Mrs.,  The  Rookery,  Manchester  Road, 

Altrincham. 
Coupe,  James,  Esq.,  Central  Stores,  George  Street, 

Altrincham. 
Cowan,  William  Robert,  Esq.,  5,  Laurel  Mount, 

Rose  Hill,  Bowdon. 
Coy,  Dr.,  Sale. 

Darbyshire,  John,  Esq.,  5,  Ra,ilway  Street,  Altrincham. 
Disraeli,  C,  Esq.,  M.P.,  Hughendon  Manor,  Bucks. 
Donald,  James,  Esq.,  M.B.C.INL,  Sutton  Lea, 

Ashley  Road,  Hale. 


Earnshaw,  Jacob,  Esq.,  Lindhum  House, 

Ashton-on-Mersey. 
Egekton,  Hon.  Tatton,  Rosthcrne  Manor,  Knutsford. 

P'arrell,  John,  Esq.,  Holly  Bush,  Market  Street, 

Altrincham. 
FoDEN,  Joel,  Esq.,  Church  Street,  Altrincham. 
Forrest,  Rev.  James,  JLA.,  3,  Cromwell  Terrace, 

Ashton-on-!Mersey. 
Fox,  llEV.  A.,  MA.,  Albion  House,  The  Downs,  Dowdon. 

Gaddum,  Cii.arles  E.,  Esq.,  Hale  Can-,  Hale. 
Gaijdum,  Henry  J.,  Esq.,  J. P.,  Oakley,  Green  ^^  allc, 

Bowdon. 
Galloway,  Edward  N  ,  Esq.,  Normanby,  Altrincham. 
GiBB,  James,  Esq  ,  Heyscroft,  Bowdon. 
Golland,  Dr.,  Church  Street,  Altrincham. 
GuEY,  W.,  Esq.,  Albert  Road,  Hale. 
Groves,  James  Grimbi.e,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Oldfidd  Hall, 

Altrincham. 

Hall,  Joseph  K.,  Weston  Villa,  The  Firs,  Bowdon. 
Hampson,  11.  J.,  Esq.,  The  Gorse,  Priory  Road,  Bowdon. 
Hardy,  Thomas,  Esq.,  Mere  Hall  Farm,  Mere, 

near  Knutsford. 
Harrison,  James,  E.sq.,  Hope  Cottage,  Ashley  Road,  Hale. 
Harris,  J.,  Esq.,  The  Downs,  Bowdon. 
Haiisford,  J.,  Esq.,  Addison  Villas,  Timperley. 
Haworth,  a.  W.,  Esq.,  Ecclesfield  Park  Road,  Bowdon. 
Hawortii,  Jesse,  Esq.,  J. P.,  Woodsidc,  Bowdon. 
Haworth,  John  F.,  Esq.,  Oldfield  House,  Altrincham. 
Hertzberg,   Rev.   A.   M.,   St.   Martin's   Itcctory, 

Ashton-on-Mersey. 
lIiGHAM,  A.  .Maushaix,  Es.i.,  Duiiliaiii  Town,  Altrincham. 
Hill,  Joseph,  Esq.,  Fernside,  Broomfiuld  Lane,  Hale. 
Holmes-Poulton,  MA.I0R  James  V.  D.,  The  Kims, 

Vale  Road,  Bowdon. 
Holt,  Oliver  S.,  Esq.,  Sidcot,  South  Downs  Road,  Hale. 
HoMAN,  Harold,  Esq.,  Claremont,  Hazel  Road,  Altrincham. 
HuwoKTii,  George,  Es(J.,  Woodthorpo,  South 


Downs  Ri 


Hale. 


Hughes,  J.  Taylor,  Esq.,  Surgeon  Dentist, 

Thorleymoor,  Ashley  Road,  Altrincham. 

Johnson,  Fredk.,  Esq.,  Railway  Street,  Altrincham. 
Jones,  Wm.  Owen,  Esq.,  Surgeon,  32,  The  Downs, 

Altrincham. 
JoYNSON,  E.  Walter,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Ashfield,  Sale. 
JOYNSON,  R.  H.,  Esq.,  Chasefield,  Bowdon. 


Kershaw,  G.,  Esq.,  Holm  Side,  Dunham 
Kennerley,  Harry,  Esq.,  Woodcote,  South  Downs 

Road,  Hale. 
KiLLiCK,  T.  W.,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Gracemount,  Altrincham. 
KiLVERT,  H.  v.,  Esq.;  J.P.,  The  Lodge,  Ashton-on-Mersey. 

Leather,  J.  B.,  Esq.,  The  Nag's  Head  Hotel, 

Bollington,  near  Altrincham. 
Leech,  Sir  Bosdin  T.,  J.P.,  Oak  Mount,  Timperley. 
Lees,  Jauies,  Esq.,  Westfield,  Chesham  Place,  Bowdon 
Lindsell,  F.  R.  B.,  Esq.,  Cotswold,  Groby  Road, 

Altrincham 
Lord,  Miss,  Oakleigh,  Ashton-on-Mersey. 

McBeath,  Robert  J.,  Esq  ,  M.S.A.,  Birnam  House,  Sale. 
MacKennal,  Alexander,  Esq.,  Beech  wood,  Bowdon. 
Mason,  Fredk.  Wm.,  Esq.,  Homehill,  Groby  Road, 

Altrincham. 

MoFEAT,  Arthur,  Esq.,  Belmont  Park  Road,  Bowdon. 
MoRLEY,  James  S.,  Esq.,  V.D.,  Stamford  Street, 

Altrincham  (Two  copies). 

Mothersill,  H.  J.,  Esq.,  Heathside,  Knutsford. 

MOTHERSILL,  Major,  Knutsford. 

Munro,  a.,  Esq.,  M.R.C.V.S.,  Stockport  Road,  Altrincham. 

Newhouse,  Richard,  Esq.,  4,  Ash  Terrace, 

Vicarage  Lane,  Bowdon. 
Newton,  James  W.,  Esq,,  2,  St  Peter's  Square,  Manchester. 

O'Brien,  Rev.  Father,  New  Street,  Altrincham. 
Oxley,  Arthur,  Esq.,  The  Griffin  Hotel,  Bowdon. 
Owen,   William,  Esq.,  A.J.B.A.,  Ferny  Lea, 

Ashley  Road,  Hale. 

Parker,  Eustace  G.,  Esq.,  Broomfield  Lane,  Altrincham. 
Paterson,  D.  R.,  Esq.,  Green  Bank  House, 

Langham  Road,  Bowdon. 
PiERSON,  Charles,  Esq.,  18,  Tib  Street,  Manchester. 
Pierson,  Charles,  Esq.,  Woodlands  Road,  Altrincham. 
PoDMORE,  G.,  Esq.,  Dunham  Road,  Altrincham. 
Proctor,  J.,  Esq.,  Northendcn  Road,  Sale. 


Renshaw,  Adolph,  Esq.,  M.A.,  L.R.C.P.,  Lindenholme, 

Sale. 
Renshaw,  Charles  J.,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Beech  Hurst, 

Ashton-on-Mersey. 
RiGC,  SiBSON  S.,  Esq.,  Motley  Bank,  South  Downs 

Road,  Hale. 
ROGERSON,  Thosias,  Esq.,  53,  Ashfield  Road,  Altrincham. 


Schwabe,  Edward,  Esq.,  Claremont  House,  Cambridge 

Road,  Hale. 
Shaw,  Charles,  Esq.,  Devonshire  Cottage,  Ashley  Road, 

Hale. 
Shaw,  John,  Esq.,  F.R.H.S  ,  Landscape  Gardener, 

Ashley  Road,  Altrincham. 
Sherwin,  Charles,  Esq.,  The  Hall,  Ashley.  m 

Shiers,  R.  Herbert,  Esq.,  Moss  Side,  Queen's  Road,  " 

Altrincham. 
Sidebotham,  J.  N.,  Esq., 
Smith,  Mrs.  Ford,  Harrington  Road,  Bowdon. 
Southern,  Jas.,  Esq.,  Booth  Hurst,  Dunham  Road, 

Altrincham. 
SowLER,  Harry,  Esq.,  The  Manor  House,  Hale. 
Stamford,  Earl  of,  2,  Whitehall  Court,  London,  S.W. 

(Two  copies). 
Stafford,  J.  H.,  Esq.,  Oak  Hill,  Grob}'  Road,  Bowdon. 
Steel,  James,  Jr.,  Esq.,  2,  Hawthorn  Bank,  Stamford 

Road,  Altrincham. 

Taylor,  William,  Esq.,  Devon  Villas,  L-lam  Road,  Sale. 
Thornton,  J.  E.,  Esq.,  Rokeby,  Oldfiekl  Road,  Bowdon.       ^ 

Valentine,  Miss  Anne,  The  Elms,  Hale.  ' 

Walkden,  Wm.,  Esq.,  The  Hall,  Carrington. 
Walmsley,  W.  H.,  Esq.,  Magdala  House, 

Ashton-on-Mersey. 
Waltham,  W.  H.,  Esq.,  Waltham  Lodge,  Stretford. 
Warburton,  Wm.,  Esq.,  South  Holme,  Bowdon. 
Warburton,  H.  a.,  Esq.,  The  Grove,  Hale. 
■Warburton,  John,  Esq.,  Greenbank,  Bowdon.  J 

AVare,  Hibbert,  Esq.,  Hall  Bank,  Bowdon.  ■ 

A\''aters,       Esq.,  Hawthorn  Lea,  Langham  Road,  Bowdon. 
Williams,  Frank  V.,  Esq.,  Braeside,  Altrincham. 
AViLLSHAW,  Tiios.,  Esq.,  Holmrook,  Dunham  Massey. 
Woodhead,  Dr.  A.  Miall,  M.B.C.M.,  Chisholme, 

Ashton-on-]\Icrsey. 
Wright,  Richard,  Earlsleigh,  Groby  Road,  Altrincham. 


3397 


PriuWis :  Cartwiight  aiul  Rattray  Ltd.,  12,  lirown  Street,  Manchester  ;  and  at  Ilyile  ari.l  Loiiilon.