{"id":4137,"date":"2024-09-28T01:26:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T01:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newton-le-willows.com\/?p=4137"},"modified":"2024-09-28T17:07:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-28T17:07:53","slug":"bold-township-manor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newton-le-willows.com\/?p=4137","title":{"rendered":"BOLD TOWNSHIP & MANOR<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BOLD TOWNSHIP & MANOR<\/h2>\n

Bolde, 1212; Boulde, 1332; the final e<\/em> is wanting in some cases as early as 1300.<\/p>\n

The area, which measures 4,483 acres, (fn. 1)<\/a> is divided\nby a brook, now called Whittle Brook, but formerly\nHolbrook, running across it from the north-west\nboundary to Great Sankey. Cambal Wood lay in\nthe south-east corner; on the south was Bold Heath,\nwith Crow Heath and Lunt Heath on the borders of\nCuerdley and Widnes. In the south-west corner was\nCranshaw Hall.<\/p>\n

The flat and open country is divided into arable\nfields and pastures, interspersed with plantations, and\ndotted with farms. The crops are chiefly corn,\npotatoes, beans, and cabbages, which thrive in a clayey\nsoil. In the north there are collieries, and the country\nis even less wooded than in the south. One patch of\nold mossland also exists in the farthest northern portion of the township. Bold Old Hall and Barrow\nOld Hall are two picturesque buildings, surrounded\neach by a moat, situated respectively in the centre\nand far south east of the township. In the geological\nformation of the township the permian and bunter\nseries of the new red sandstone are represented; the\nred sandstone and red marl with limestone of the permian at Travers farm and Bold moss in the extreme\nnorth of the township, with a patch of the lower\nmottled sandstone of the bunter series adjoining. In\nthe south-eastern portion of the township the upper\nmottled sandstone is represented, and elsewhere the\npebble beds.<\/p>\n

The principal road is that from Prescot to Warrington, going eastward through the southern half of\nthe township. It is crossed by the roads from\nSt. Helens to Widnes, from which there are branches\nin the north to Burtonwood, and in the south to\nPenketh. The London and North-Western Company’s branch line from St. Helens to Widnes passes\nthrough the township.<\/p>\n

In addition to the collieries there are works where\ntools are made.<\/p>\n

The population was 950 in 1901.<\/p>\n

There is a parish council.<\/p>\n

The legend of Bold and the Dragon seems to have\nbeen based on an ignorant interpretation of the placename. (fn. 2)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Richard Bancroft, bishop of London 1597 to 1604,\narchbishop of Canterbury 1604 to 1610, was born\nhere and baptized at Farnworth chapel. (fn. 3)<\/a> Robert\nBarnes, of Bold, was bishop of Carlisle from 1570 to\n1577, and of Durham from 1577 to 1588. (fn. 4)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Tibb’s Cross and Bold Heath Cross were on the\nPrescot and Warrington road; the latter was taken\ndown about 1870, and the little green on which it\nstood has been turned into a garden. Close to it was\nthe pinfold. (fn. 5)<\/a> <\/p>\n

South of the hall there was an extraordinary cluster\n\nof fine old oaks, many of them of vast growth; they\ncovered 40 acres of land. (fn. 6)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Charles Leigh, in his Natural History<\/em>, states that\n‘the most remarkable thing of the wild duck is their\nway of feeding them at Bold in Lancashire . \u2026\nThey oftentimes adventure to come into the moat\nnear the hall, which a person accustomed to feed them\nperceiving, he beats with a stone on a hollow vessel.\nThe ducks answer the sound, and come quite round\nhim upon a hill adjoining the water. He scatters\ncorn amongst them, which they take with as much\nquietness and familiarity as tame ones. When fed\nthey take their flight to the rivers, meres, and salt\nmarshes.’ (fn. 7)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

MANORS<\/h3>\n

The earliest record of BOLD<\/em> is found\nin the survey of 1212. (fn. 8)<\/a> It appears that\nthe manor was assessed as four ploughlands and held in thegnage by the rent of 21s<\/em>. 4d<\/em>.\nyearly by Adam son of Richard; and that Adam’s\ngreat-grandfather Tuger the Elder (senex<\/em>) had\nformerly held it. Two minor manors had been\ncreated, or perhaps preserved from more ancient\ntimes, viz., La Quick and another unnamed, each of\nhalf a plough-land.<\/p>\n

It was Tuger the Elder who granted La Quick out\nof his demesne; (fn. 9)<\/a> he was probably a contemporary of\nKing Stephen. The name of his son does not occur,\nbut Richard de Bold paid half a mark to the scutage\nof 1201. (fn. 10)<\/a> He died in or before 1211, and Adam,\nhis son and heir, proffered 100s<\/em>. for livery of the four\nplough-lands in Bold. (fn. 11)<\/a> The issues while the manor\nwas in the king’s hands amounted to 7s<\/em>. (fn. 12)<\/a> Richard’s\nwidow, Waltania, who was of the king’s gift, married\nWaldern de Reynham. (fn. 13)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Of Adam de Bold nothing more seems to be known.\nHe died in or before 1222, his brother Matthew\nsucceeding. The latter was called upon to show by\nwhat warrant he held two plough-lands in Bold, and\nin May, 1223, fined 3 marks for his relief, and had\nlivery of three plough-lands. (fn. 14)<\/a> Three charters of\nMatthew’s have been preserved; (fn. 15)<\/a> he was living in\n1242, when he was a juror on the inquiry of the\nGascon scutage. (fn. 16)<\/a> <\/p>\n

The next in possession was William de Bold. (fn. 17)<\/a> \nHis parentage is not stated. He received a grant of\nthe manor of Bold from William de Ferrers, earl of\nDerby, who died in 1254; the boundaries were fully\ndefined, and the services were to be the payment of\n10s<\/em>. a year and doing suit at the wapentake court of\nWest Derby. (fn. 18)<\/a> A change took place in his time in\nthe tenure, for about 1260 Robert de Ferrers enfeoffed Sir William le Boteler of Warrington of the\nmanor with the service of William de Bold and his\nheirs, rendering 10s<\/em>. a year for it. (fn. 19)<\/a> From this time\nthe manor of Bold became part of the Warrington\nfee; the old thegnage rent of 21s<\/em>. 4d<\/em>. was paid by\nthe holder of the manor to the lord of Warrington,\nwho paid 10s<\/em>. to the earl or duke of Lancaster. (fn. 20)<\/a> \nSome of William de Bold’s charters have been\npreserved. (fn. 21)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Robert son of William de Bold succeeded his father\nin or before 1278, and held the manor over forty\nyears. He is first mentioned in a complaint of\nWilliam son of John de Quick concerning the latter’s\nfree tenement in Bold. (fn. 22)<\/a> He himself had a suit\nagainst Henry earl of Lincoln a few years later. (fn. 23)<\/a> In\n1297 and subsequently he made certain settlements\non his eldest son Richard, (fn. 24)<\/a> who for a time at least\nappears to have been in possession of the manor. (fn. 25)<\/a> A\nconsiderable number of Robert’s charters have been\npreserved, reaching down to 1325, (fn. 26)<\/a> about which\ntime probably he died. (fn. 27)<\/a> <\/p>\n

His son Richard, who succeeded, held possession\nfor about twenty years. (fn. 28)<\/a> He married Margery\ndaughter of William de Mobberley of Mobberley, (fn. 29)<\/a> \nwho survived him and as ‘Lady of Bold’ managed\nthe affairs of her grandson. One of Richard’s first\nacts was to come to a settlement with William le\nBoteler of Warrington. The earl of Lancaster, disregarding the Ferrers grant of the manor to the lord\nof Warrington, had claimed the old thegnage service\nof 21s<\/em>. 4d<\/em>. from the lord of Bold, who was thus\nrequired to pay both to Boteler and to the earl.\nRichard therefore called upon William le Boteler as\nmesne lord to acquit him, and so obtained redress. (fn. 30)<\/a> \nAnother matter settled was the claim of Ellen de\nTorbock, the latter resigning all her right to the\nlands in dispute. (fn. 31)<\/a> A little later a boundary dispute\nwith John la Warre, as to land claimed by the latter\nas part of Cuerdley, was settled in Richard’s favour. (fn. 32)<\/a> \nA number of his deeds have been preserved, showing\nhis management of the manor and lands. (fn. 33)<\/a> He\nappears to have been successful in agreements with\nhis neighbours and in adding to his possessions. He\ndied in 1346 or 1347. (fn. 34)<\/a> <\/p>\n

His son William, who died before him, was married\nabout 1329 to Sibyl, daughter of Sir Richard de\nHoghton, (fn. 35)<\/a> and left a son and heir Richard, who was\nstill under age in 1352. (fn. 36)<\/a> Margery de Bold was still\nliving in November, 1364; (fn. 37)<\/a> she was defendant, as\nguardian, in several suits. (fn. 38)<\/a> Richard de Bold, who\nwas made a knight between 1368 and 1370, married\nEllen daughter of Richard de Molyneux of Sefton. (fn. 39)<\/a> \nHe died between 1387 and 1391. (fn. 40)<\/a> <\/p>\n

His son and successor John had been contracted in\nmarriage in 1378 to Emma daughter of David de\nIreland of Hale. (fn. 41)<\/a> He was knighted about 1400; he and\nThomas Bold were engaged in April, 1403, for the\ncampaign which Henry Prince of Wales was about\nto prosecute against Owen Glendower. (fn. 42)<\/a> He was\notherwise employed in the public service, being\nsheriff of Lancashire in 1406. (fn. 43)<\/a> In November, 1404,\nhe had obtained a grant of free warren in his demesne lands in Bold and Prescot. (fn. 44)<\/a> He died on\n27 June, 1436, being then constable of Conway\nCastle. (fn. 45)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Richard, his son and heir apparent, had been\nmarried in 1404 to Ellen, daughter of Sir Gilbert de\nHalsall; (fn. 46)<\/a> she was a widow in 1433, (fn. 47)<\/a> her husband\nhaving predeceased his father. Sir Henry was succeeded by his grandson Henry, who was subsequently\nmade a knight and survived until 1464. (fn. 48)<\/a> The latter\nSir Henry’s widow was named Grace; he left two\nsons, Richard and Tuger, and several daughters. (fn. 49)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Richard had in 1439 been married to Katherine\ndaughter of Richard Bold of Chester. (fn. 50)<\/a> But little\nseems known of him except that he took part in\nthe Scottish expedition of 1482, in which he was\nmade a knight by Lord Stanley; (fn. 51)<\/a> he died between\n1483 and 1487, (fn. 52)<\/a> leaving his manors to his son,\nSir Henry Bold, who was made a knight at the battle\nof Stoke, 1487. (fn. 53)<\/a> He had two sons, Richard, who\nsucceeded to Bold, and Tuger, who purchased Eccleston\nand other manors in Lancashire and Harleton in\nBuckinghamshire. (fn. 54)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Richard son of Sir Henry married Margaret\ndaughter of Thomas Boteler of Bewsey. (fn. 55)<\/a> He acquired other lands in Bold, but sold some in Flintshire. (fn. 56)<\/a> He was made a knight between 1500 and\n1506, (fn. 57)<\/a> was collector of a subsidy in 1503, (fn. 58)<\/a> and died\n16 November, 1528, (fn. 59)<\/a> leaving a widow, Margaret, (fn. 60)<\/a> \nfour sons, and five daughters. (fn. 61)<\/a> <\/p>\n

His eldest son, Richard, succeeded. He was thrice\nmarried. (fn. 62)<\/a> By his second wife, whom he married in\n1535, he had a son Richard, who succeeded in 1558; (fn. 63)<\/a> \nand by his third, another son, William, whose descendants came into possession in 1612.<\/p>\n

The son Richard held the manors for more than\nforty years. He was a justice of the peace, and in\n1590 made ‘show of good conformity’ to the ecclesiastical laws, but was ‘not greatly forward in the\npublic actions of religion.’ (fn. 64)<\/a> A few years earlier,\naccording to information furnished by a servant of\nhis, ‘neighbours used to come to Bold at such time as\nother men were at church.’ (fn. 65)<\/a> Richard Bold had no\nchildren by his wife, (fn. 66)<\/a> but made over all his manors to\nhis illegitimate son, Sir Thomas Bold. (fn. 67)<\/a> The latter\ndied without issue in September, 1612, when Richard\nBold, son and heir of the William Bold mentioned\nabove, entered into possession. (fn. 68)<\/a> <\/p>\n

The new lord married Anne, daughter of Sir Peter\nLegh of Lyme. (fn. 69)<\/a> He was sheriff in 1630, (fn. 70)<\/a> and died\non 19 February, 1635\u20136, his heir being his second son,\nPeter, aged only nine years. (fn. 71)<\/a> The heir escaped the\nmost dangerous period of the Civil War, and on\nattaining his majority accepted the existing order, (fn. 72)<\/a> \nserving the office of sheriff in 1653\u20134. (fn. 73)<\/a> He died\nbefore the Restoration, leaving an infant son, also\nnamed Peter, to succeed.<\/p>\n

The heir was in 1671 entrusted to Adam Martindale to be educated, along with her own son, by Lady\nAssheton of Middleton, his mother’s sister. (fn. 74)<\/a> Soon\nafterwards he was entered at Lincoln’s Inn, and sent\nto Christ Church, Oxford. (fn. 75)<\/a> At an early age he was\nelected one of the knights of the shire, (fn. 76)<\/a> and in 1690\nwas sheriff. (fn. 77)<\/a> He died in 1691, his son Richard\nbeing still a minor.<\/p>
\n


<\/p>\n

Soon after coming of age Richard Bold was elected\nknight of the shire, (fn. 78)<\/a> but he died young on 21 March,\n1703\u20134. (fn. 79)<\/a> His heir was an infant son Peter, who went\n\nup to Oxford in 1722, (fn. 80)<\/a> and was elected to Parliament\nsoon after coming of age, serving for Wigan in 1727,\nand for the county from 1736 to 1741 and from\n1750 to 1760. (fn. 81)<\/a> He died in 1762, leaving six\ndaughters. (fn. 82)<\/a> The eldest, Anna Maria, succeeded to\nBold and his other estates, and dying unmarried in\n1813, aged eighty-one, (fn. 83)<\/a> was succeeded by Peter son\nof Thomas Patten of Bank Hall, Warrington, by\nDorothea his wife, younger sister of Anna Maria\nBold. Peter, upon succeeding to the family estates\nin 1814, took the surname of Bold. He served in\nParliament for various constituencies, and on his\ndeath in 1819, (fn. 84)<\/a> left four daughters as coheirs. Of\nthese Mary, the eldest, succeeded to Bold. She\nmarried at Florence, and afterwards at Farnworth,\nPrince Sapieha of Poland, but died in 1824 without\nissue. Bold then passed to her sister Dorothea, who\nmarried Henry Hoghton, afterwards baronet; he\nsubsequently assumed the name of Bold in addition to\nhis own surname. (fn. 85)<\/a> Their son, Henry Bold-Hoghton,\nsold the Bold estates in 1858 and later, and in 1862\ndiscontinued the use of Bold as part of his surname. The purchaser of Bold Hall, William Whitacre\nTipping, (fn. 86)<\/a> died intestate in March, 1889, the estate\npassing to the next of kin, Mrs. Wyatt, then of\nHawley Parsonage, Hampshire. About ten years\nlater, after various attempts had been made to dispose\nof the estate, it was purchased by a syndicate, registered under the style of the Bold Hall Estate, Limited;\nthe hall, much dilapidated, was taken down, and a\ncolliery opened.<\/p>\n

The mansion was thus described in 1860: ‘The\nhall stands on a gentle elevation commanding extensive scenery to the south, extending over a fine\nexpanse of park to the distant hills of Cheshire; to\nthe north and east it overlooks the pleasure grounds\nand the finely timbered north park with its groves of\nunrivalled oaks. It is a handsome, uniform, and very\nsubstantial edifice, adorned with fine stone columns\nand corresponding decorative dressings, designed and\nerected about 1732 under the superintendence of the\neminent Italian architect Leoni.’ (fn. 87)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n

QUICK,<\/h3>\n

QUICK<\/em>, (fn. 88)<\/a> now forgotten, was sometimes styled a\nvill. About the reign of Henry II Tuger the Elder,\nas lord of Bold, gave half a plough-land to Albert,\nwhich was held by Albert’s son Henry in 1212\nby an annual service of 4s<\/em>. 6d<\/em>. (fn. 89)<\/a> This estate is identified as being in the Whike, because Henry son\nof Albert was a benefactor of Cockersand Abbey, (fn. 90)<\/a> \nand their lands lay in the ‘Quickfield.’ A charter\nof about 1270 shows that part of the Whike had\nbeen recovered by the lord of Bold. (fn. 91)<\/a> Another portion\nwas held by the Rixton family. (fn. 92)<\/a> More than a century\nlater the messuage called the Whike was held of the\nBolds by Nicholas Penketh for a rent of \u00a34 6s<\/em>. 8d<\/em>. (fn. 93)<\/a> <\/p>\n

A local family took surname from it. (fn. 94)<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Hospitallers had a close in Quick Hill held\nby Richard Bold about 1540 at a rent of 12d<\/em>. (fn. 95)<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Haydock family had early an interest in\nBold, and in particular in CRANSHAW<\/em>. (fn. 96)<\/a> The\nBolds acquired this estate also, and in the sixteenth\ncentury it is found as the dower of Margaret Bold\nand the portion of younger sons, Francis and\nRichard. (fn. 97)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n

BARROW<\/h3>\n

BARROW<\/em> is mentioned in 1330, when a messuage\nin Bold in a place called the Barrow was given to\nHenry son of Alan de Barrow and Margery his wife;\nwith remainder to Alan’s brother Ellis. (fn. 98)<\/a> Almost a century later Cecily de Collay, or Cowley, daughter and\none of the heirs of Ellis de Barrow, granted all her share\nof the inheritance to Randle son of Richard son of\nHenry de Bold, and to his son Richard. (fn. 99)<\/a> This\nproperty also was acquired by the senior branch of\nthe family, and in 1537 formed part of the dower\nassigned to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Gerard, (fn. 100)<\/a> \non her marriage with Richard Bold.<\/p>\n

In the survey of 1212 it is mentioned that ‘Gilbert\nheld anciently four oxgangs of land for 3s<\/em>. 6d<\/em>., and\nnow Richard his son holds them’ of Adam de Bold. (fn. 101)<\/a> \nThis estate has not been identified, but may be HOLBROOK<\/em>, which was held of the chief lords by a rent\nof 3s<\/em>. 6d<\/em>., as appears from a grant in 1329 by William\nson of Henry de Holbrook of Bold to Henry his son,\non the latter’s marriage with Agnes daughter of Roger\nde Ritherope. (fn. 102)<\/a> Very little is known of the family;\nbut their estate passed to the Corans, or Currens, of\nBold, (fn. 103)<\/a> and in 1535 Holbrook House was given by the\nfather to Richard son of Ralph Coran, on his marriage\nwith Margaret daughter of Richard Lancaster of Rainhill. (fn. 104)<\/a> Twelve years later this Richard Coran appears\nto have sold his lands to Richard Bold. (fn. 105)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n

BRINSOPE<\/h3>\n

BRINSOPE<\/em> is another estate of which a few particulars have survived. (fn. 106)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Various families and place names occur in the deeds\nand pleadings, but no consecutive account of them can\nbe given. (fn. 107)<\/a> <\/p>\n

In 1662 Mrs. Joan Owen, mother of the heir, was\nliving in Bold Hall, which had twenty hearths; Henry\nGreene had Cranshaw and Holbrook. (fn. 108)<\/a> <\/p>\n

Two ‘Papists’ registered estates in Bold in 1717:\nNicholas Lurkey of Eccleston, shoemaker; and Mary\nwidow of John Longworth. (fn. 109)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

References<\/h2>\n\n\n