Research Notes:
Baines' History of Lancaster, for Eccles Parish, reported [1]
On referring to the pedigree of Booth, it will be seen that John de Booth, in the beginning of Edward II, married Loretta, daughter and heiress of Anne or Agnes, the daughter and heiress of sir Gilbert de Barton. Kimber supposes this to be a mistake, and opines that Thomas or Tomalin of the Booths, was the first of Barton, and that he probably became master of the estate by purchase ; but as this is unsupported conjecture, we prefer the concurrent testimony of the different pedigrees. The issue of Booth, after producing two archbishops, failed in the early part of the sixteenth century, soon after the coronation of Henry VII., and Barton passed from Robert to his brother sir John Bothe, who fell in the battle of Flodden Field. The male line of the Bothes of Barton, expiring with John Bothe, 9th May, 8 Elizabeth, the line of Robert Bothe, second son of John Bothe of Barton, became the chief branch, from whom was descended George Booth, the second and last earl of Warrington, who died in 1758, leaving an only daughter, Mary, married to Harry Grey, the fourth earl of Stamford, and thus Ashton, Dunham, and many other estates, were conveyed to this noble family. John Booth, of the elder branch, left four daughters his coheiresses, among whom the estates were divided; Margaret married sir Edmund Trafford, whose descendant is the present lord of the manor of Barton; Anne married George Leigh, of High Leigh, whose descendant now possesses Barton Hall ; Dorothy married John Molyneux, of Sefton; and Katherine, the fourth daughter, died issueless about 25 Elizabeth.
The original arms of the Booths were—a chevron, engrailed, in a canton, a mullet: the crests, a Catherine's wheel, and an Agnus Dei, as appears from the seal of Thomas del Bothe, the public benefactor, which is affixed to the deed wherein he gave to Henry, his son, all his lands in Irwell : datum apud Barton die Sabbati proxime ante festum sancti Georgii 43 Edward III., which deed was in possession of George Booth, of Dunham Massey, lord Delamer, in 1666. Thomas Barton, in 1403, made a grant of the Barton arms- ar. 3 boars' heads, erased and erect, sa.—-to John del Both in the following terms :
Sachent toutz Gentz q' ieo Tho. de Barton ay done & p [5 Hen. IV] cest ma p'sens chartre confirme a John fitz Tho. del Boothe de Barton ses heires & a ses assignes mes armes p't porter cest assavoir: D'Argent, treiz cheifes de Sanglier de Sable raset, a aver & tener al dit John ses heires & ses assignes memes les armes a touz jours Et ieo l'avant dit Tho. & mes heires les dit armes a dit John ses heires & ses assignes a toutz jours encontr' toutz gentz garanterons et defenderons En testmoignaunce de quel chose a ycest ma present chartre jay mys mon seale Done a Barton le dismagne p'chaine devant la Fest de seynt Michaell L'Archangelle lan Regne le Roy Henry quart puys le conquest quint."
A revision of Baines' History reported [2]:
John de Booth, in the beginning of Edward II, married Loretta, daughter and heiress of Anne or Agnes, the daughter and heiress of sir Gilbert de Barton. The issue of Booth, after producing two archbishops, failed in the early part of the sixteenth century, soon after the coronation of Henry VII., and Barton passed from Robert to his brother sir John Bothe, who fell in the battle of Flodden Field. The male line of the Bothes of Barton, expiring with John Bothe, 9th May, 8 Elizabeth (1566; another account gives the year 1570), the line of Robert Bothe, second son of John Bothe of Barton, became the chief branch, from whom was descended George Booth, the second and last earl of Warrington, who died in 1758, leaving an only daughter, Mary, married to Harry Grey, the fourth earl of Stamford, and thus Ashton, Dunham, and many other estates, were conveyed to this noble family. John Booth, of the elder branch, left four daughters his coheiresses, among whom the estates were divided; Margaret married sir Edmund Trafford, whose representative is the present lord of the manor of Barton; Anne married, about 1578, George Leigh, of High Leigh, whose descendant now possesses Barton Hall ; Dorothy married John Molyneux, of Sefton; and Katherine, the fourth daughter, died unmarried about 25 Elizabeth (1583).
The original arms of the Booths were—a chevron, engrailed, in a canton, a mullet: the crests, a Catherine's wheel, and an Agnus Dei, as appears from the seal of Thomas del Bothe, the public benefactor, which is affixed to the deed wherein he gave to Henry, his son, all his lands in Irwell : given at Barton on Saturday before St. George's day, 43 Edward III. (i.e. April 21, 1369), which deed was in possession of George Booth, of Dunham Massey, lord Delamer, in 1666. Thomas Barton, on Sunday, September 28, 1404, made a grant of the Barton arms- ar. 3 boars' heads, erased and erect, sa.—-to John, son of Thomas del Both of Barton.
A description of the Manor of Barton reports [3]:
Of the Booth family only a brief sketch can be given. Loretta, the heiress of Barton, was perhaps still unmarried in June 1292; (fn. 35) but about this time, if not earlier, John del Booth or Booths married her. (fn. 36) He was succeeded by his son Robert; (fn. 37) in or before 1343 Robert was followed by his son Thomas del Booth, (fn. 38) who died, apparently by violence, (fn. 39) in 1368, having directed his body to be buried before the altar of St. Katherine in Eccles Church. (fn. 40) His eldest son John succeeded, and lived until September 1422; he had a numerous offspring, of whom Sir Thomas, the eldest son, succeeded him; Sir Robert married Douce daughter and co-heir of Sir William Venables of Bollin in Cheshire, and became ancestor of the Booths of Dunham Massey, Earls of Warrington; Roger, a third son, was ancestor of the Booths of Mollington; William and Lawrence, other sons, became respectively Archbishop of York and Bishop of Durham. (fn. 41) John del Booth died seised of the manor of Barton, with various messuages and lands in Barton and Manchester, all held of Thomas La Warre in socage by the service of 1d. yearly, and worth £60 a year. Thomas his son and heir was over forty years of age. (fn. 42)
The new lord of Barton, who became a knight, was succeeded by his son Thomas (fn. 43) and his grandson Robert. The last-named left a son and heir, Sir John Booth, (fn. 44) slain at Flodden in 1513; (fn. 45) his son and heir John, then about twenty-three years of age, died in December 1526, leaving as heir an infant son John, (fn. 46) who died in 1552, (fn. 47) and whose son John, then ten years of age, died in 1576, leaving four daughters as co-heirs—Margaret, who in 1564 was contracted to marry Edmund Trafford; Anne, who married George Legh of East Hall in High Legh, she being his second wife; Katherine, who died in 1582 unmarried; and Dorothy, who married John Molyneux, a younger son of Sir Richard Molyneux of Sefton. (fn. 48)
35. Loretta, as daughter of Agnes daughter of Sir Gilbert de Barton, released her lands in Barton to her trustee, Ralph de Monton, chaplain; De Trafford D. no. 210. No direct proof of the marriage with John del Booth has been met with, but it may be assumed from the descent of the lands; Loretta is not heard of again.
36. Averia, wife of Adam son of Simon de Barton, in 1284 demanded against John de Barton a messuage in Barton, and against John del Booths an oxgang of land in the same vill; De Banco R. 52, m. 24. In 1292 Amery, daughter of Gilbert de Barton claimed land in Barton against John del Booths, but was non-suited on failing to appear; Assize R. 408, m. 16. Ten years later John de Booths did not prosecute a claim against Cecily widow of Gilbert de Barton; Assize R. 418, m. 8. The plural form, Booths, which occasionally appears, leads to the supposition that the place from which this family derived its name was Booths in Worsley. If so, the founder of it may be identified with a John de Booths, who as late as 1303 was claimed by Henry de Worsley as his native and fugitive, but who produced Henry's charter, releasing to him all action of nativity, so that he with his sequel and chattels should remain free and of free condition for ever; De Banco R. 145, m. 1 d.
37. By fine in 1307 a settlement of lands in Barton was made, Robert son of John del Booths being plaintiff, and John del Booth of Barton deforciant; Mr. Earwaker's note. Robert de Booth attested charters in 1317 and 1325; De Trafford D. no. 265, 264. Agnes widow of Robert del Booth is named at Easter, 1354; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. 2.
38. John son of Gilbert de Barton in 1343 granted to Thomas del Booth and his tenants at Bickford common of pasture on Pool Moss in Barton, viz., between Pool Brook and Sandyford under Harley Cliff in Boysnope, and between the fences of Poolfields and the bounds of Worsley upon Chat Moss; Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 158b. Thomas del Booth had claimed common of pasture as the right of his father Robert, dispossessed by Gilbert de Barton, John his son and Denise his wife, and Robert son of John; De Banco R. 334, m. 179 d. In 1345 John La Warre, lord of Manchester, and Joan his wife granted to Thomas son of Robert del Booth 30 acres of the waste in Barton at a rent of 10s., with remainder to John son of Emma de Bury, brother of the said Thomas; Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 157b. Roger La Warre, lord of Manchester, confirmed to Thomas del Booth all the lands, &c., in Barton which had descended to him from his father, and his other lands more recently acquired; ibid. fol. 160b. Roger La Warre in 1355, after reciting that John La Warre had granted Thomas del Booth 30 acres in Barton at a rent of 29s. 4d., and 30 acres of the waste at a rent of 10s.; and that Joan La Warre and Roger had granted to Thomas and Ellen his wife and their heirs 10 acres for the rent of 1d. during the life of Thomas and 5s. afterwards, reduced the total rent to 2d. a year for the life of Thomas and his sons Thurstan and Robert, 44s. 4d. to be paid afterwards, and granted other lands; De Trafford D. no. 219. The rent was in 1357 reduced to 1d. after the death of Thomas; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 15. Roger, a son of Thomas, is named in 1362; De Banco R. 418, m. 1 d.
39. In 1369 Ellen his widow appeared against John son of Thomas de Hulme, Robert son of Richard de Worsley, and many others, concerning her husband's death; Coram Rege R. 434, m. 11 d. John de Hulme was pardoned in 1384 for his share in the matter; Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 393.
40. Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc.), 131. His will is printed in Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1868), i, 283; from Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 133/169. Licences for his oratories were granted to Thomas del Booth of Barton in 1361, 1365, and 1366; Lich. Epis. Reg. v, fol. 6, 11, 15b.
41. For Sir Robert Booth and his descendants see Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 523, &c. For Roger, ibid. ii, 382. William Booth, after study at Cambridge, became prebendary of Southwell in 1416, and steadily rose till he was made Bishop of Lichfield in 1447 and Archbishop of York in 1452. He founded the Jesus Chantry at Eccles. He died at Southwell in 1464, and his will is printed in Test. Ebor. (Surtees Soc.), ii, 264. There is a notice of him in Dict. Nat. Biog. Lawrence Booth, master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, from 1450 till his death, and chancellor of that university, adhered to the Lancastrian side in the wars of the Roses, being chancellor of Queen Margaret and tutor to her son the Prince of Wales. He became Bishop of Durham in 1457, and though suspected by Edward IV, was afterwards reconciled to him, and was Lord Chancellor in 1473-4. He was promoted to the archbishopric of York in 1476, and died four years later. See Dict. Nat. Biog. He founded a chantry in Eccles Church. The Booth family provided other notable ecclesiastics in the 15th century.
42. Towneley MS. DD. no. 1486; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 24-5. John del Booth was knight of the shire in 1411 and 1420; Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of Lancs. 47, 51. There are grants of land to John son of Thomas de Booth in De Trafford D. no. 232, &c. John de Booth of Barton had licence for his oratories in 1421; Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 3b.
43. In 1421 Thomas son of John Booth leased to his brother Robert the land called Westslack, as recently inclosed; De Trafford D. no. 238. In 1429 Thomas Booth the elder and Thomas his son were defendants in a Barton case; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 2, m. 14. Sir Thomas Booth was living in 1445; ibid. R. 8, m. 20, 37b. In 1454 William Booth, Archbishop of York, and Sir Robert Booth, sons of John Booth, as surviving feoffees, granted to Thomas, son and heir of Sir Thomas Booth, various lands in Salford, Flixton, Hulme, and Croft, with ultimate remainders to the heirs male of John Booth; De Trafford D. no. 102. Nicholas Booth of Barton, and Henry, sons of Sir Thomas Booth, were with others in 1445 called to answer Alice widow of Nicholas Johnson, who accused them of the death of her husband; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 8, m. 29; 9, m. 27.
44. He was made a knight by Lord Stanley in the Scottish Expedition of 1482; Metcalfe, Book of Knights, 7. Sir John was made a justice of the peace in 1487; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 162.
45. The statement is an inference from the date of his death, 9 Sept. 1513; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, 15. The inquisition gives an outline of his descent from Thomas del Booth 1357, which has been followed in the text.
46. Ibid. vi, no. 46; the manor of Barton, Barton Hall, and lands in Barton, Irlam, Hulme, Newham, &c., Poolmill, Barton Mill, Croft Mill and fishery, &c., were held of the lord of Manchester in socage by 1d. rent. Dorothy [Boteler] his wife survived him. John, the heir, was only a year old. At the Visit. of 1533 he was said to be six years of age; Chet. Soc. 78.
47. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, 39. The estate included 200 messuages, three water mills, a fulling mill, &c., in Barton, Manchester, Bradford, Openshaw, Higher and Lower Ardwick, Pyecroft, Florelache, Marshallfield, and Salford; the lands in Salford were held of the queen in socage by a rent of 4s., but all the rest were held of Lord La Warre. Anne, the widow, afterwards married Sir William Davenport, and was in possession of her dower in 1564, when the inquisition was taken; she was the daughter of Sir Richard Brereton of Worsley, and was still living at Bramhall in 1576. For a suit between her and her son John Booth in 1559, see Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 209.
48. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xii, 8; the ages of the daughters are thus given:— Margaret Trafford, 15; Anne, 13; Dorothy, 12; and Katherine, 12. Katherine died early in 1582 while still under age and in the queen's guardianship, holding, as it was wrongly stated, a fourth part of the manor of Barton by the fourth part of a knight's fee; ibid. xiv, 13. The marriage agreement between Edmund Trafford and John Booth for the marriage of the former's son Edmund with Margaret, 'daughter and heir' of the latter, is printed in the Visit. of 1533, vii-ix. In 1574 John Booth had a dispute with his fatherin-law, Sir Piers Legh, as to his wife's marriage portion; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 14.
John de Booth was reportedly married to Agnes, daughter and heir of Gilbert de Barton, Lord of Barton, Lancashire [An error, Agnes was apparently the mother of Loretta, the wife of Thomas] and son of Thomas de Booth and grandson of William Booth and Sibell, daughter and heir of Gilbert de Brereton. William was reportedly the son of Adam de Booth. [4] [5]
[1] Edward Baines, History of the county palatine and duchy of Lancaster Vol. 3 (1836), 113, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[2] Edward Baines, John Harland, ed., The History of the county palatine and duchy of Lancaster Vol. 1 (1868), 583, [HathiTrust].
[3] William Farrer and J Brownbill, eds. The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster, Vol. 4 (London: Constable and Company Limited, 1911), 363, [InternetArchive].
[4] A.R. Maddison, ed., Lincolnshire Pedigrees, Vol. 10 (London: Publications of the Harleian Society, 1902), 153, Booth of Killingholme, [GoogleBooks].
[5] Thomas Wotton, Edward Kimber and Richard Johnson, The baronetage of England: containing a genealogical and historical account, Vol. 1, (London, 1771), 18, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].