HALSALL MANOR

Descent of manor

In 1066 Halsall was held by Chetel, and later granted to Pain de Vilers, lord of Warrington, who gave the manor to Vivian Gernet in marriage with his daughter Emma. By 1212 Robert de Vilers was the Lord of Halsall, and Alan de Halsall held of him, probably in right of his wife, the Gernet heiress. The manor descended in the Halsall family (created earls of Macclesfield in 1678-79) until the death of Fitton Halsall in 1702. His two sisters, Elizabeth and Charlotte, were co-heirs. Elizabeth married Digby, fifth Lord Gerard of Bromley, and died in 1700, leaving a daughter and heiress Elizabeth, who married James Duke of Hamilton; and Charlotte, wife of Thomas Mainwaring, who left a daughter and heiress Charlotte, who carried them to her third husband, Colonel Charles Mordaunt. It remained with the Mordaunts until around 1808 when it was sold to Thomas Eccleston, lord of the neighbouring manor of Scarisbrick. The manor has since descended with Scarisbrick into the 20th century.

Nature of jurisdiction

Courts used to be held in July and October; an annual court was held each November into the 20th century.

Sources

A History of the County of Lancaster, Volume 3 (1907), pp.191-197.