A HISTORY OF THE ASHCROFT FAMILY OF AUGHTON & BICKERSTAFFE IN SOUTH-WEST LANCASHIRE BY THOMAS STEEL
ASHCROFT of BICKERSTAFFE and AUGHTON The small parish of Aughton & the six townships of Ormskirk parish At Ormskirk in south-west Lancashire in 1877 John Culshaw of Ormskirk (1853 1934) married Sarah (1853 1935), youngest daughter of Peter Ashcroft of nearby Aughton (1812 1855) and his wife Martha Guy (1787/8 1883). 1 This genealogy file deals principally with seven generations of a descent beginning with Sarah s 4x-great-grandfather William Ashcroft of Aughton (died 1684/5) and ending essentially with the marriage in 1877 of Sarah Ashcroft and John Culshaw. After this the descent was to stretch for another three generations through the two further intermarrying lines of Molyneux and Steel. It is hoped that Sarah s descendants (who include the author, a great-grandson) and a wider kinship network will recognize their connection. Many New Zealand Ashcrofts descend from Sarah s elder brother James Ashcroft (1841 1930), to whom we shall also turn. A further cousinage descends from Sarah and James brother Robert Ashcroft (1843 1922). The tree on page 3 shows only the descent in the direct male line and ignores many siblings in each generation. Spelling of names was seldom consistent in earlier centuries and names in this account are shown in the form used in the source being quoted. Origins The earliest Ashcroft traced with certainty in the direct line is William Ascroft (died 1684/5), an Aughton linenwebster. 2 It seems most likely that William was a son of Henry Ascrofte (?1620 1657), a Bickerstaffe yeoman. 3 Other possibilities are that William was a son of Richard Ashcroft of Aughton (buried 9 January 1655/6) and his wife Margaret (buried 21 September 1652) or of Jamis Aiscrofte (baptised at Ormskirk on 15 December 1639). 4 It has been suggested that the name Ashcroft derives from Ashcroft, Lancashire, 5 but no such place has been found and it may be wiser to explain the name more generally as dweller at a croft with an ash tree. 6 Ascroft/Ashcroft was a surname occurring commonly throughout Lancashire from an early period and Ashcroft family seems to have had its origins in the south-west Lancashire parish of Aughton and in the adjacent townships of Bickerstaffe, Scarisbrick, Burscough and Skelmersdale, all in the parish of Ormskirk. Aughton and Ormskirk both lay in Lancashire s hundred of West Derby and in the deanery of Warrington and diocese of Chester. 2
The main line of descent of Ashcrofts treated here Aughton parish comprises only 4609 acres and the village lies ten miles from Liverpool, on the road to Ormskirk and Preston. A hilly ridge stretching west from Ormskirk ends at 270 feet at Gaw Hill in the centre of the parish and gives fine views to Liverpool and the sea. Aughton parish, with its two manors of Aughton and [Up]Litherland has a history well-documented from the twelfth century and parts of the south wall of the nave in the present parish church date from this period. On 20 August 1644 the battle of Ormskirk was fought on the Aughton hillside, when a retreating force of cavaliers was routed by parliament forces. There were 181 hearths taxed in 1666. 7 The whole area saw much tension during the Jacobite rising of 1745, when Ormskirk s Roman catholic chapel and mission house (just over the Aughton side of the boundary) was attacked and burned by a mob. Ormskirk races were held on Aughton Moss from c.1705 until 1815 when the common was enclosed. There were five greens in the parish, all except Holt Green now enclosed. There were also seven ancient crosses: the pedestals of three still standing on Holt Green, Green s Lane and at the junction of Mill Lane and the Liverpool road. Sixteenth century Ascrofts The earliest Ascrofts found in the area are those who occur in 1534 in what is probably an almost complete census of nine parishes in West Derby hundred, namely Altcar, Aughton, Childwall, Halsall, Huyton, North Meols, Ormskirk, Sefton and Walton. The names appear on a roll of all those who swore allegiance in the summer of 1534 to Henry VIII and to his heirs by the new queen Anne Boleyn, after Henry s previous marriage to Katherine of Aragon had been declared null and void. 3
Ascrofts of Skelmersdale It is perhaps surprising that no Ascrofts occur on the 1534 list for the parish of Aughton or for the townships of Bickerstaffe, Newburgh and Ormskirk, where they were to be settled not long afterwards. Of 13 Ascrofts on the roll eight were among the 44 men of 14 years and over who swore the oath at Skelmersdale: these were Edmund, Gilbert, Hugh, John, Stephen, Trystram and two Williams. Two others (Robert and Thomas) were in Bootle in Walton parish and one each at Litherland in Sefton (Roger) and Childwall parish (Otwell). 8 It is much to be hoped that Skelmersdale at this time was more attractive than the particularly bare, unpleasing district encountered by the County History contributor! An inquisition of 1537 named Stephen Astcroft as holder of a tenement in Skelmersdale and the lay subsidy roll for 1547 includes one Ascroft amongst six persons assessed there. 9 The 1534 oath was also sworn by one Henry Ascroft at Lathom. One John Ascroft was fl. at Skelmersdale in 1598. When Henry Ascroft died on 7 January 1600/1 his male heirs were Henry, son of Sylvester Ascroft; Richard, brother of Henry; John, son of James Ascroft of Skelmersdale; and Hugh Ascroft of Eccleston. 10 The Victoria County History noticed a family named Ascroft holding lands [in Skelmersdale] and in other places adjacent from 1598, when John Ascroft occured in the duchy pleadings. It failed to note earlier pleadings in 1558, which recalled that William Assecroft the elder of Skelmersdale, wheelwright had been a tenant of Sir Thomas Gerard and assignee of George Dandye, priest of Tarleton. William had given evidence in a land suit when on his death-bed in April 1557, as testified the following year after William s death by his son John Ascrofte (born c.1536), also a Skelmersdale wheelwright, then 21. 11 The earliest surviving will made by the Ascrofts of Skelmersdale is that of Thomas Ashcroft, a husbandman, proved in 1592. There are none for Aughton, Bickerstaffe or for Ormskirk town before 1620. The parish registers of Aughton survive from 1541 and those of Ormskirk (which included Skelmersdale and Bickerstaffe) from 1557: unfortunately the Ormskirk registers do not distinguish between its townships in this period and are thus of very limited use. Jinet, wife of Tristram Ascroft was buried at Ormskirk in 1558 and Gilbert Aiscroft in 1599; the wife of Hugh Aiscroft was buried in church in 1558, Hugh Ascrofte in 1576 and Hughe Askcrofte in 1593; John Ascrofte was buried in 1566 and John Aiscrofte in 1579; Katherin, widow of William Aiscrofte was buried in 1573 and William Aiscroft in 1574. Some or all of these may have belonged to the Skelmersdale branch. 12 There was a lease of a house from Sir Thomas Gerrard to James Ascrofte of Skelmersdale on 4 January 1580/1 and another of a house and lands from John Hooton of Upholland to Thomas Ascrofte of Skelmersdale on 12 March 1582/3. 13 There was an inquisition post mortem on the death of Henry Ascroft on 7 January 1600/1, when his heir was a two-yearold daughter Margaret. The estates were willed to Henry, son of Sylvester Ascroft; to Henry s brother Richard; to John, son of James Ascroft of Skelmersdale; and to Hugh Ascroft of Eccleston. On 26 September 1605 the wardship and marriage of Margaret Ascrofte who held lands in Skelmersdale was granted to Michael Doughtie. 14 Six members of the Ascroft family occurred in the 1609 rental of Lord Derby s lands at Skelmersdale: these were Jenkine (paying 29s 10d), Hugh (21s 11d), John (19s), Widow (6s 2d), Raphe (12s 4d) and [illegible name] (13s). 15 The main line of this Ascrofte family continued at Skelmersdale over a long period. Richard Ashcroft, wheelwright and his wife Margery are found there in 1631 and 1632, when each was summoned to appear at sessions. 16 Henry Ashcroft was appointed constable of Skelmersdale in 1660. 17 James and Henry Ascrofte each had two hearths there in 1663 and 1666 and the wife of Henry Ascroft had one. 18 Thomas Ascrofte of Bickerstaffe In 1618 one Thomas Ascrofte, late of Bickerstaffe had to answer to a plea of trespass and damage in a close at Bickerstaffe. 19 Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Ascroft was buried in Ormskirk church on 7 May 1632. One Thomas Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe was buried in Ormskirk church on 8 July 1668. 20 4
Henry Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe James Fagan (a Canadian researcher) recently identified one Henry Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe ( 1620 1657 ), as the probable husband of Cicely Ashcroft (died 1688, about whom more is known and set out below) from whom the Aughton line is almost certainly descended. Fagan noted that one Henry Ascroft was appointed constable of Bickerstaffe in 1650 and that in 1657 the body of Henry Ashcroft was seized for burial at Ormskirk, rather than in the quaker burial ground at Bickerstaffe. 21 Certainly one Henry Ascroft of Bickerstaffe was buried at the backside of Ormskirk churchyard on 14 April 1657. It was probably another Henry (son of Thomas Ascroft) who was baptised at Ormskirk on 19 September 1620. Silvester, son of Henry Ashcroft was baptised at Ormskirk on 6 September 1620. Elizabeth, daughter of Henrie Aiscrofte was born on 22 February 1642/3 and Thomas, son of Henry Ascroft of Bickerstaffe on 30 June 1655. We know that Silvester spent all his life in Ormskirk, other than 10 years apprenticeship in Manchester from the age of 14. He was a great-nephew of William Laithwaite, who lived in a house in Aughton Street which was one of the best in Ormskirk. 22 One Silvester Ashcroft was fl. at Skelmersdale in 1656. [?]Another is found in the hearth tax returns for nearby Eccleston (Prescot) in 1666 and [?]another was a tenant at Burscough in 1677. 23 We shall see that William Ashcroft, the first certain name in the Aughton Ashcroft line, was probably a brother of Cicely s son Thomas and thus a son of Henry Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe. Fagan suggests that Henry may have been a son of Thomas Ashcroft ( 1600 1664 ), who was thus possibly grandfather to William and Thomas. Jamis Aiscrofte of Ormskirk William Ashcroft was perhaps a son of Jamis Aiscrofte of Ormskirk, baptised there on 15 December 1639. 24 There are many incidences of James Ashcroft in the Ormskirk parish registers in this period. Jamis, son of Jamis Aiscroft was baptised on 14 December 1601. Jamis Ascrofte was buried in the church on 25 May 1603. Jamis, son of John Aiscrofte was baptised on 20 May 1604. Elloner, wife of Jamis Aiscroft, was buried on 3 May 1606. Jamis Aiscroft married Emlin Hesketh 25 on 19 November 1606. A child of Jamis Aiscroft was buried on 27 December 1609. Elizab., wife of James Ascroft was buried in church on 29 January 1613/4. 26 James Ascroft married Elizabeth Spencer 27 on 18 October 1616. Mary, daughter of James Ascroft was baptised on 27 August 1620. James was fl. 1621 23 at Skelmersdale. 28 Henry, son of James Ascroft was baptised on 26 June 1623. James, son of James Ascroft was baptised on 19 February 1625/6. James Ashcroft married Margaret Parr, widow 29 at Prescot on 10 January 1627/8, by licence granted on 13 July 1626. James Ashcroft married Isabell Molyneux of Wigan 30 at Ormskirk on 25 January 1626/7, by licence granted on 22 January, with Thomas Ashcroft as bondsman. Edward, son of James was baptised on 15 April 1630. Elizabeth, daughter of James was baptised on 12 May 1633. Katheryne, daughter of James was baptised on 19 November 1635. Emlin, ux. [wife of] James was buried on 15 April 1637. John, son of Jamis was baptised on 11 January 1637/8. Alis, daughter of Jamis Ascroft was baptised on 7 June 1638. William, son of James was baptised on 15 December 1639. James Ascrofte was constable of Burscough in 1641/2. Sislie, daughter of Jamis was baptised on 16 October 1642. Thomas, son of James was baptised on 1 May 1642. Henry, son of James was baptised on 22 December 1644. Elizabeth, wife of James Ashcrofte of Scarisbrick was buried in church on 18 November 1662. James, of Scarisbrick was buried in church on 17 November 1671. Isabell Ashcroft, vid. de [widow of] Lathom was buried in church on 29 March 1678. In 1638 Henry Ascrofte of Ormskirk, gent. died with a holding at Lathom under the Stanleys: his will provided for his wife, son Sylvester and daughters Elizabeth and Ann. By 1666 Widow Ashcroft and James, Henry, Margery and another James each had one hearth there: from 1671 James was charged for Widow Ashcroft s two hearths. 5
Aughton in c.1598 (The National Archives, MPC 1/24) William and Elizabeth Ashcroft William Ashcroft, an Aughton webster (weaver) was perhaps a son of Henry Ascrofte, a Bickerstaffe yeoman and probable quaker (see above) and of Henry s wife Cecily; or the son of Jamis Aiscrofte, baptised at Ormskirk on 15 December 1639; or a son of Richard Ashcroft of Aughton and of his wife Margaret (see above). The link with Cecily Ashcroft and the Bickerstaffe Ashcrofts was clearly a strong one, as William s great-great grandson James Ashcroft of Aughton (elder brother of John Ashcroft junior of this line) was named as a life in Bickerstaffe leases as late as 1773 and 1778. 31 William had a brother Thomas (his executor in 1685): if he can be identified with Thomas Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe (died 1686), 32 husband of Alice and son of Cicely, then William also had sisters Ann (wife of Robert Lyon), Ellin (wife of Robert Fogg) and Margaret (wife of William Fogg), another sister (wife of John Hey) and a nephew Henry Ashcroft. On 26 September 1666 a licence was issued for the marriage of William Ashcroft to Elizabeth Bickerstaffe, also of Aughton (for a wedding at Aughton or Halsall). 33 The wedding does not appear in the registers of either parish, but may have been at Aughton: the marriage register for that year has only one entry and seems obviously defective. 34 One of the bondsmen for the licence was a brother James Ashcrofte. 35 William and Elizabeth Ashcroft s eldest child Richard was baptised at Aughton on 6 December 1666. James was baptised on 6 July 1673; Margaret on 25 April 1676; Thomas on 11 April 1679; and Ellen on 17 December 1682. Baptism of Richard Ashcroft, Aughton, 1666 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) 6
[At the bishop s visitation of 1669 there was a report of the existence of a [non-conformist] conventicle in Aughton ( and others formerly ), but of attenders it was noted the number and the condition of people not great ]. 36 William Ashcroft is not to be found in any of the Aughton hearth tax returns from 1662 1673. 37 By 1676 William was occupying a small messuage and three acres of land in Aughton owned by Viscount Molyneux and previously occupied by John Webster, husbandman. On 8 March 1675/6 William (a linen weaver) surrendered the old lease for the premises and paying the consideration of 21, received a new lease at 6s rent per annum, for the lives of his wife Elizabeth and his then two children Richard and James. Peaceable possession was certified in November, with Thomas Bikursteth (doubtless a relative of William s wife Elizabeth) as a witness. 38 It seems likely that this holding is identical with that described in 1782 in the will of William s grandson James Ashcroft as Webster s at Aughton (2½ acres owned by Lord Molyneux s estate), close to Holt Green and later known as Johnson s and Bold Farm. 39 It is unclear whether the name Websters relates to the tenancy of John Webster prior to 1676, to that of Robert Webster in 1785, or to the linen-weaving trade carried on there. Webster s /Johnson s/bold Farm, Aughton, as in 1769 ((Lancashire Archives, DDM 14/22) Lands at Bold Farm, looking north to Aughton Church William Ashcroft was churchwarden at Aughton in 1680. 40 As churchwarden he witnessed the sacrament certificate of John Brownsword, the rector on 25 April 1680. 41 7
Death of William Ashcroft William Ashcroft of Aughton, webster made his will on 27 December 1684. He had already assigned over to his son Richard (by now 17/18) his own small messuage (in Aughton, the inheritance of Richard Mossock, gent ) and to James (11) his other small messuage (perhaps in Bickerstaffe or that leased from Lord Molyneux in Aughton): both these were now charged with the support of Elizabeth and the younger children, until Richard and James respectively reached the age of 26 (in 1692 and 1699). Elizabeth was in any case to have a half share of both during her lifetime, unless she remarried. Half of William s goods were to be divided between his five children. The cupboards, dishboard [dresser] and great table were to remain in his house for Richard s use, while James was to have the dishboard, bedstocks [frames] and fall [folding] table at the other house. The executors were to be his wife Elizabeth; his brother Thomas Ashcroft (probably Thomas Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe, died 1686, husband of Alice and son of Cicely) and Robert Molyneux. The witnesses were Henry Mollineux and Richard Latham. William Ashcroft marks his will, 1684 (Lancashire Archives, WCW) Burial of William Ashcroft, Aughton, 1684/5 (BT, Lancashire Archives, DRL/2) William was buried at Aughton on 17 March 1684/5. An inventory was appraised on 20 April by Cuthbert Watkinson (died 1714), Robert and Henry Mollineux, and Richard Latham: it showed goods worth 57, adjusted to 37 after debts and bonds. William s trade as a linen-weaver is shown by the inclusion of linnen of all sorts ( 1 10s); yarn (6s 8d); and loomes, reeds and healds ( 1 10s). 42 Yet the chief value lay in the farm, where four cows; three calves; four mares; five ewes; and five lambs accounted for almost 30. Wheat on the ground was worth another 4 10s. There were also pigs, geese and hens, together with threshed wheat, barley and blendcorn and beans, peas and kale. The inventory makes further mention of 7s-worth of pewter; brass pots and pans, a feather bed with boulsters and pillows, coverlets and blankets, a cort cupboard [three-tier shelving for display] and the usual kitchen equipment. Richard, James, Ellen and Margaret children of William Ashcroft, deceased were each left 5 in the will of Margaret Bickerstaffe, widow of Aughton (probably their maternal grandmother), made on 15 February 1686/7 and proved on 28 June 1687. It was perhaps their brother Thomas (not mentioned in the will), but more likely William s brother who was Thomas Ascroft, Bicursteth ) buried at Ormskirk on 31 March 1686. 43 8
Re-marriage and death of William s widow Elizabeth William Ashcroft s widow Elizabeth married Robert Woofall by licence at Aughton on 15 June 1686. 44 Elizabeth Woofall was buried at Aughton on 12 July 1688. Marriage of William Ashcroft s widow Elizabeth & Robert Woofall, Aughton, 1686 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) Burial of Elizabeth Woofall, Aughton, 1688 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) Robert Woofal and Elizabeth Golborn married at Aughton on 27 January 1689/90. There were fl. at Aughton in 1690 Robert Woolfall of Aughton and his wife Elizabeth, sister of John Holme. Robert Woolfall was among those who signed the oath roll for Aughton in 1696. 45 Elizabeth Woofall died in 1704 and was buried at Aughton on 27 September: Robert Woofull died there in 1709 and was buried on 30 April. It was probably William and Elizabeth Ashcroft s elder daughter Margaret (born 1676) who married Gabriel Haile of Bickerstaffe on 2 August 1702: Gabriel Hale was buried at Aughton on 4 January 1716 and Margaret on 25 April 1747. 46 Gabriel Hailes (and one Michael Ashcroft) was among the papists, reputed papists and disaffected persons in Aughton failing to take the mandatory oath of allegiance to the king after the rebellion of 1715. 47 William s brothers James and Thomas Ashcroft We have seen that William Ashcroft had a brother James at the time of his marriage in 1666 and one Thomas who was named as his executor in 1684. We have no further information about James. Thomas may have been Thomas Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe ( husband of Alice; father of Henry; and son of Cicely), who was buried at Ormskirk on 31 March 1686: his goods were appraised on 14 December by Robert Lyon [his brother-in-law, who died in 1710]. 48 Cicely Ashcroft made her will on 28 March 1688, naming daughters Ann, wife of Robert Lyon; Ellen, wife of Robert Fogg; and Margaret, wife of William Fogg; and grandsons Edmund Hey and Henry Ashcroft. Cicely died at Bickerstaffe and was buried at Ormskirk on March 31 1688: her will was proved on 28 May. 49 Alternatively William s brother may have been Thomas Ashcroft, wright buried at Aughton on 14 February 1702/3; or Thomas Ashcroft buried there on 17 January 1708/9. 9
Richard and Elizabeth Ashcroft Richard Ashcroft, baptised at Aughton on 6 December 1666, was 18 when his father William died in March 1684/5. There is some doubt about the date and place of Richard s marriage to his wife Elizabeth and about her identity. [On 19 June 1694 Richard Ashcroft of Ormskirk parish married Elizabeth Ashurst of Ormskirk after banns, at Ormskirk parish church. It seems unlikely that this was Richard of Aughton, unless his first two children were illegitimate (but baptised in his name); or children of an unrecorded previous marriage.] Margaret Ashcroft, the first of Richard s children was baptised at Aughton on 26 July 1691 ( daughter of Richard Ashcroft ) and his eldest son William was baptised there on 12 November 1693 ( son of Richard Ashcroft ). 50 The children s father Richard entered his inheritance on 6 February 1692/3 (having reached the previous December the age of 26 stipulated by his father s will). An assessment of Aughton for the poor rate in 1688 lists the occupiers of Ashcrofts two houses at 1s. Church rates for 1694 and 1696 have Richard Ashcroft and James Ashcroft assessed at 3d and 4d each. 51 Richard Ascroft appears in the 1696 association oath roll for Aughton. Richard and Henry Ashcroft and Richard and Thomas Ascroft all signed at ʻBickerstaffe and Skelmersdaleʼ. 52 Richard Ashcroft s daughter Martha was baptised at Aughton on 26 Jun 1698 and Thomas son of Richard Ashcroft, husbandman on 23 March 1700/1. Richard s youngest surviving child James was baptised on 3 September 1704. Baptism of James Ashcroft, Aughton, 1704 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) [An infant Richard, son of Richard Ashcroft of Lydiate was baptised at Aughton on 10 April 1708, but Richard, son of Richard Ashcroft was buried at Aughton on 9 August.] Richard Ashcroft and his brother James were again assessed for the Aughton church rate at 4d (1700); and Richard alone at 6d (1703, highways rate), 4½d (1709 highways) and 9d (1711 highways); 1s and 1s 6d (1710 and 1712 poor rate). 53 Richard Ashcroft of Nearer House was surveyor of Aughton in 1703 and Richard served as churchwarden with Mr [Thomas] Bickersteth in 1716 1717: they signed the bishop s transcripts in this capacity. In 1716 Aughton church acquired a new oak altar table: noted in 1908 as then in the vestry, the table carried a brass plate with the words Thomas Bickersteth, gent. and Richard Ashcroft, churchwardens 1716. 54 Richard Ashcroft certifies Aughton BT, 1717 (Lancashire Archives, DRL/2) Richard ( agricola [farmer/husbandman]) was a bondsman for the licence when his daughter Margaret Ashcroft ( of Ormskirk parish ) married Thomas Crookham ( agricola ) of Aughton at Ormskirk on 26 November 1717. Although Margaret would have been 26 the licence papers noted the consent of her father : strictly speaking under the canons of 10
1607 marriage by licence required parental consent, whatever the age. 55 Thomas Crookham was among those at Aughton failing to take the oath of allegiance in 1715 1716. 56 Thomas and Margaret s son Richard Crookham was born at Burscough in 1718, although the family was back in Aughton when Mary was born in 1720; another son John was born in 1725. Richard Ashcroft s daughter Martha Ashcroft married James Heyes of Bickerstaffe by licence at Ormskirk on 9 April 1725: 57 their son John Heys was born in 1728. 58 Details of Richard Ashcroft s landholding are found in his will made on 19 February 1722/3, by which time he was clearly living at Bickerstaffe, where his chief holding seems to have been. This he bequeathed to his elder son William, describing it as a messuage and tenement held by two leases, one part under Sir Edward Stanley and the other under Mr Walmesley of Showley. The Stanley lease was of 18 acres by the lives of Richard, his son James and William Liptrot of Standish (born c.1692, fl. 1737): signed on 2 March 1718/19, it replaced an earlier lease with one life in being. 59 The rent was 16s and one capon, with a 1s boon and a 115 entry fine. Richard s signature is on the indenture. 60 Richard Ashcroft marks his will, 1722/3 (Lancashire Archives, WCW) William was also to receive a cottage in Aughton held by lease under Woolfall. Other property described in Richard s will was William s cottage in Aughton held under lease from Viscount Molyneux (probably Webster s ): this he left to his wife Elizabeth, together with the parlour bed, the clock and the furniture belonging. One further cottage in Aughton, held under lease from Mr Walmesley, Richard left to his younger son James (then 19), to enter on the 2 February following his father s decease. Three of the landholders from whom Richard Ashcroft leased his properties were Roman Catholic recusants and it is likely that the properties bequeathed in his will were the same as those registered in 1717 as papists estates. In Bickerstaffe and Aughton was Mossock Demesne, a total of 60 acres let to Richard Ascroft, Margret Ascroft and three others at 54 rent under Richard Walmesley of Showley, gent. (husband of Elizabeth Mossock of Mossock). The remaining three holdings were all in Aughton: these were a messuage and tenement with three acres let in 1707 for 18 and the surrender of the old lease, held at 10s rent under Walmesley; another messuage and tenement held for 7s and 40 under Richard Wolfall, esq. of Wolfall (in Huyton parish); and the messuage and tenement (Websters) held under Lord Molyneux at 6s rent by the lives of Richard and of his wife Elizabeth and young son James. 61 Deaths of Richard and Elizabeth Ashcroft and of their elder son William Thomas, son of Richard Ashcroft died at the age of 21 and was buried at Aughton on 13 February 1722/3. Richard himself drew up his will six days later on 19 February 1722/3. The executors were to be his eldest son William, his wife Elizabeth and his neighbour Joseph Taylor. Richard Ashcroft (yeoman, of Bickerstaffe) was buried at Aughton on 21 February 1722/3. Burial of Richard Ashcroft, Aughton, 1722/3 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) 11
A clear picture of the fortunes of the Ashcroft family at this time comes from the inventory of Richard s goods appraised on 26 February by Mr Cristopher Ince of Aughton and Benjamin Fletcher of Bickerstaffe. Only one house (probably in Bickerstaffe) is described: it was obviously the centre of a large dairy and arable farming operation. Downstairs were the house; the buttery; the kitchen; and the parlour. There were also rooms over the house, the kitchen and the parlour. In the house were pewter, brass, a firegrate, a clock and chairs and stools and there was more pewter and brass and a spice box in the buttery. The kitchen held brown ware, a cheese press and spinning wheels and there was a bed, stools and a furniture chest in the parlour. Upstairs lay another three beds, with bedding, linen and other furniture. There were four horses, cows valued at 49, corn at 30, together with a few sheep, some wheat, rye and meal and some 138 owing to the deceased, in bonds and mortgage payments (due from Henry Mollinex and Richard Goulborn). The total value of the goods came to an impressive 297 9s 8d. Richard Ashcroft s widow Elizabeth was rated (as widow Ashcroft ) at 8d in Aughton in 1724: 62 she died in 1726 and was buried (as Elizabeth Ashcroft ) at Aughton on 25 November. Burial of Richard Ashcroft s widow Elizabeth, Aughton, 1726 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) Richard and Elizabeth s elder son William (churchwarden of Aughton in 1723) 63 made his will on 28 June 1728, leaving his Bickerstaffe lands to his younger brother James. There were further bequests to nephews and nieces ( 40 at 21 between his sister Margaret Crookham s children; 10 to his sister Martha s son John, son of James Heays) and 5 to his cousin Elizabeth Yeats, who has attended me. 64 William died on 6 July 1728 and the will was proved on 8 August. 65 Richard and Elizabeth s daughters Margaret Crookham and Martha Ashcroft received legacies of 50 and 100 in their father s will in 1723 and further legacies from their brother William in 1728. 66 12
James Ashcroft and Margaret Jarman Richard and Elizabeth Ashcroft s younger son James entered into his father s cottage in Aughton in February 1723/4 and inherited his father s principal lands in Bickerstaffe from his elder brother William in 1728. A new lease granted that year from the Molyneux estate of his messuage and two acres in Aughton was for James own life and those of his nephews John Crookham (born 1725) and John Heys (born 1728). 67 This property was almost certainly that known as Webster s and later as Bold Farm in Holt Green. 68 At Aughton on 9 July 1730 James (then 26, a husbandman) married Margaret German/Jarman of Bickerstaffe by licence, granted that day: both were of Bickerstaffe and the witnesses to the application were Thomas Latham and John Parkinson (the Aughton schoolmaster). 69 James Ashcroft applies for licence to marry Margaret German/Jarman, 1730 (Cheshire Archives, EDC 8) Marriage of James Ashcroft & Margaret German/Jarman, Aughton, 1730 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) James Ashcroft certifies Aughton BT, 1731 (Lancashire Archives, DRL/2) James Ashcroft was churchwarden of Aughton in 1730/1 and (as James Ashcrofte of Bickerstaffe ) in c.1741. 70 A daughter Elizabeth was born to James Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe and baptised at Ormskirk on 10 November 1730. Richard, son of James and Margaret Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe was baptised at Ormskirk on 9 January 1733 and a daughter Betty on 16 March 1734/5. 13
Death of James Ashcroft s wife Margaret Margaret Ashcroft of Bickerstaffe was buried at Aughton on 22 March 1734/5. Burial of James Ashcroft s first wife Margaret, Aughton BT, 1734/5 (Lancashire Archives, DRL/2) James was rated in Aughton at 3s 4d and 4s 8d in 1731 and 1732 (highways rate) and 3s in 1734/5 (constables rate) and 2s in 1735 (poor rate): 71 he paid 3s 11d land tax in 1732 and 15s 8d in 1740. 72 James and Margaret s son Richard Ashcroft (1733 1794) was ʻof Aughtonʼ on 3 December 1753 when he was licensed to marry Jennet Bullen of Bickerstaffe (ʻat Aughton or Lathomʼ). They had a son James (1753 1832), farmed at Bickerstaffe (where Richard was a freeholder in 1776) 73 and died in 1794 of a decline, aged 62. He was buried at Aughton on 17 April. James Ashcroft and Ellen Frearson On 18 January 1735/6 James Ashcroft, widower, of Bickerstaffe, yeoman took a licence to marry Ellen Frearson (single) of Euxton, Leyland. 74 The marriage is not recorded at Leyland or Ormskirk (or at Aughton), but John, son of James and Ellen Ascroft of Bickerstaffe was baptised at Bickerstaffe s parish church in Ormskirk on 10 December 1736. James Ashcroft applies for licence to marry Ellen Frearson, 1736 (Cheshire Archives, EDC 8) Baptism of John Ashcroft senior, Ormskirk, 1736 (Lancashire Archives, PR 2886/1) James and Ellen also had daughters Margaret (born at Bickerstaffe and baptised at Ormskirk on 31 August 1740, wife of Richard Appleton) and another daughter (wife of Robert Bullen). 75 Ann, wife of Robert Bullen of Bickerstaffe, yeoman was buried at Aughton on 28 September 1784. By 1745 James was paying 6d per annum in leys for his tenement held under Mr Stanley of Moor Hall. This payment continued as 7d until at least 1760. From 1745 he paid 6s for his Molyneux land. 76 From 1755 Richard Ashcroft paid 6d for late Dr [Henry] Bartons Pudding Street land. 77 14
In 1742 James continued what was to become a long period of service to the parish, when he was one of those certifying the accounts of the parish constable: he was to do this again in 1746, 1747 and 1749 1752. In 1744 1745 he served for a year as one of the overseers of the poor, one of his duties being to attend for two days at quarter sessions in Wigan: he paid out 49 during his 12 months in office and ended up 3 16s 8d out of pocket. 78 It was in 1744 that James (as overseer) was caught up in an action in the King s Bench court: in the absence of his fellow overseer (Robert Guy) on 8 August James met with William Aspinwall of Aughton, gentleman (one of the churchwardens) in order to set a poor rate for the year. They were interrupted by Mr Stanley, a local justice who objected to the basis of the rate. Aspinwall was persuaded not to sign the rate, but James did so and Guy (who was eventually to deny knowledge of the objections) was persuaded to sign soon afterwards. The cause came to court on 3 September. On 16 April 1745 James was one of the principal inhabitants and landowners of Aughton, meeting to decide on action after a spate of robberies. 79 There was much excitement in the area on 25 November 1745, when 200 Jacobite sympathizers assembled in Ormskirk, beating drums, recruiting for the Young Pretender and proclaiming the Old Pretender as James III: they were eventually dispersed. 80 The Plumbe estate records show that on 2 November 1745 John Plumbe granted to James Ashcroft a lease by three lives for Johnsons tenementʼ, near Aughton church at Bold Lane, Holt Green. This had recently been abandoned by the widow of John Parkinson, the parish clerk, who had payed 18s 5d in rent and boons, as Ashcroft did initially. 81 James paid by 1746 7d in chief rent and a further 17s 10d as commutation of the boons and duties endorsed on the lease: the larger payment was in lieu of six hens, four days shearing, one day filling dung and leading a task of turves. From 1752 he was also paying 7d chief rent for Moor Hall lands. In 1763 Jamesʼ Holt Green rent was for ʻJohnsonʼs tenement near Aughton churchʼ. 82 James Ashcroft certified the vestry minutes in December 1744 and April 1745, the churchwardens accounts in 1745, 1749 and 1752, the overseers accounts in 1749 and 1751 1752, those of the highways surveyor in 1750 and the bishop s transcript in 1751. In 1751 he was paid 9s for 6 loads of stones and 4s 8d for 14 stubs [all for highway repairs]. In 1752 the constable spent 3s on James Ashcroft and others when they worked together to fix the book by house row. 83 James Ashcroft (churchwarden) certifies Aughton BT, 1751 (Lancashire Archives, DRL/2) Rentals of the Molyneux estate in Aughton show James paying 6s in 1745 and 1755. 84 A new lease of James Stanley lands at Bickerstaffe was granted in 1750 by his life and those of his son Richard and of William Liptrot (then 56): there was a fine of 64 10s and the rent was fixed at 1 0s 6d. 85 A further lease of James messuage and two acres in Aughton was granted in 1760 by the lives of James, his son John ( 23 ) and John Heys ( 32 ). 86 A Bickerstaffe lease of Stanley land was granted in 1765 by the lives of Richard Ashcroft, Jenet his wife (born c.1716) and James their son. 87 James Ashcroft was again churchwarden of Aughton in 1750 1752 and served as overseer again in 1764: a stray note in that year records the receipt from James as overseer of 7s 6d in full for the quarter. 88 James was one of those certifying the constables accounts on 29 September 1765, 89 which seems to have marked the end of his public service, apart from one further year as churchwarden in 1771 1772. James Ashcroft certifies Aughton BT 1772 (Lancashire Archives, DRL/2) 15
Marriage of John Ashcroft, senior On 31 August 1761 at Ormskirk, James son John Ashcroft married Grace Lyon, a daughter of Robert Lyon, tanner and yeoman of Cunscough, Melling (originally from Rainford), and of his wife Margaret. 90 John and Grace Ashcroft had three sons, all baptised at Aughton: James (1764 1840, 23 September 1764); 91 Robert (1774 1861, 4 September 1774); and John, junior (1776 1850, 21 April 1776). 92 Marriage of John Ashcroft senior & Grace Lyon, Ormskirk, 1761 (Lancashire Archives, PR 2886/1) In 1764 John Ashcroft and another were paid 1s 4d by the highways surveyor for mending a breach and 1s 8d for 4 loads of side stones and a stubb. 93 John now took up his father s service to the parish. John was an overseer for the poor in 1765 94 and then a frequent signatory of the accounts of the various parish officers. He was parish constable in 1770 1771 and for the two years 1779 1781. 95 John first served as churchwarden in 1773 1774 and 1777 1778. 96 On 10 March 1778 he and his fellow-churchwarden John Southworth wrote to Henry Blundell s steward seeking reimbursement of 4s spent on repairs to the chancel roof in Aughton church. 97 John Ashcroft senior serves as constable of Aughton, 1770 (Liverpool Archives, 920 PLU) Deaths of James and Ellen Ashcroft John Ashcroft senior certifies Aughton BT, 1774 (Lancashire Archives, DRL/2) In 1768 the Plumbe rental of Aughton shows James Ashcroft paying 17s 10d for the 6½ acres called Johnsons in Bow Lane, Holt Green and an additional 7d in chief rent for Moorlands : these payments remained constant for many years and the rentals show James paying cash for the whole period to 1776. 98 In 1769 James Ashcroft is shown holding a messuage and yard from the Molyneux estate at Holt Green, five statutory acres comprising Church Field (2 acres 0.35) and Nearer and Further Meadow (1 acre 11 and 1 acre 1.18). 99 16
James Ashcroft of Aughton, yeoman made his will on 11 August 1775, leaving all his tenancies in Aughton and Bickerstaffe to his widow Ellen; sons John, of Aughton; and Richard, of Bickerstaffe; daughter Margaret Appleton; and son-in-law Robert Bullen (born c.1722, fl. 1784). 100 These were now described as: Bowkers Green, Aughton (owned by William Stanley); the Royal Oak at Bickerstaffe (seven acres owned by the representatives of the late Thomas Walmesley); 20 acres at Bickerstaffe owned by Lord Derby); six acres at Aughton owned by T. Plumbe; Webster s at Aughton (2½ acres owned by Lord Sefton); and 2½ acres adjoining Holt Green at Aughton, owned by the late T. Walmesley. James daughter Margaret Appleton or her son was to be added as a life to the Bowkers Green lease. The Royal Oak and Lord Derby s 20 acres at Bickerstaffe were to go to Richard Ashcroft for the existing lives. Plumb s, Webster s and the 2½ acres at Holt Green were to go to John Ashcroft. The witnesses were James Moorcroft, Edward Aspinwall and Richard Woods. James Ashcroft senior s will, 1775 (Lancashire Archives, WCW) A new lease of the Stanley land at Bickerstaffe (probably Ashcroft s Farm ) was granted to James son Richard Ashcroft on 17 September 1781 by his life and those of his son James and nephew James of Aughton. The rent was now 1 9s and the fine 170. 101 James Ashcroft appears in the first of the later extant land tax returns for Aughton in 1781 (listed between Robert Taylor and William Pilkington and paying 4s) and Bickerstaffe (12s 8d). 102 In 1782 his listing came between the occupiers of Glovers and John Ashcroft, who preceded Robert Taylor. James died that year and was buried at Aughton on 28 October 1782: his estate was sworn above 300 and the will was proved on 9 June 1783. Burial of James Ashcroft, Aughton, 1782 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) A new lease of Websters at Aughton was granted in 1783 by the life of John (1736 1818), his son James (1764 1840) and John Heys (born 1728). 103 James Aughton property was still rated at 4s in 1784 (held by his executors) and 1785 (in which year it was owned by Ellen and occupied by Robert Webster). From 1781 the Plumbe rentals show John Ashcroft taking over his father s payments of 18s 5d and from 1784 there was an additional chantry rent for Bow Lane of 14s 8d. 104 James widow Ellen ( of Bickerstaffe, widow ) died in 1787 and was buried on 10 May at Aughton. 17
Burial of James Ashcroft s widow Ellen, Aughton, 1787 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) When chronicling the Ashcrofts of Bickerstaffe James Fagan noted that James Ashcroft s son Richard (1733 1794) continued to hold land in Bickerstaffe in the succeeding years. Married to Jenet Richard had a son James, born c.1754. Taking a lease at Bickerstaffe in 1773 Richard named the lives not only of his son James, but of James (7), son of [Richard s brother] John Ashcroft of Aughton. A lease of moss land at Bickerstaffe in 1778 named Richard s son James, Betty Heys, aged 6 and John, son of Henry Ashcroft (8). Richard was shown as a protestant, when such distinctions were made in the early land tax returns: he had already been paying 6s 1d in 1782; and by 1788 he paid 6s 1d for Horrockses; 3s 6d for Walmesley s; 10d for Molyneux s; and 12s 3d, no doubt for his father s 20 acres. Other land in Bickerstaffe (including Moss House and Taylors) continued to be held by one Henry Ashcroft. 105 Richard Ashcroft, yeoman died of a decline at Bickerstaffe in 1794, aged 62: he was buried at Aughton on 17 April. As late as 1808 [Richard s nephew] James Ashcroft of Aughton (then 44) was named in a Bickerstaffe lease to Richard s son James. 106 John and Grace Ashcroft John and Grace Ashcroft s sons James, Robert and John junior were all baptised at Aughton, John on 21 April 1776. Baptism of John Ashcroft, junior, 1776 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) John, senior seems at first to have held two properties in Aughton. In the 1781 land tax returns, in addition to his father s 4s land, John himself held 9s 4d worth of land (probably owned by Miss Julia Clifton) marked for a double charge as part of a papist s [Miss Clifton s] estate and listed between John Southworth for the Brew House and Richard Brighouse. 107 By 1782 John Ashcroft (listed next to Robert Taylor) also held Green House, for which he paid 10s 8d. The Molyneux general rental of 1786 shows him paying 6s at Aughton on leases with three lives in being. 108 Other surviving tax returns for years from 1786 show John Ashcroft assessed for 9 windows and a farm cart. Shown as a yeoman in 1801 John was also taxed for three horses. 109 In 1788 Charles Stanley of Aughton registered as a papist s estate a messuage and four acres leased by William Stanley, esquire to John Ashcroft for 30 fine and 5s rent. 110 By 1787 John, senior held three sets of land in Aughton, for which he paid 19s 4d; 3s 9d (Green House); and 17s 6d (Miss 18
Clifton s). A fourth holding (Clarkson s), costing 11s 3d followed in 1790. Miss Clifton s land was replaced in 1793 by some further closes costing 2s 3d and held under Sir T. Stanley Massey. By 1795 these assessments, similarly described, were 1 0s 8d; 6s 0d; 2s; and 16s 0d. John Ashcroft occurs in the freeholders lists for Aughton in 1792 (aged 54 ); 1795, 1798 and 1799 ( John Ashcroft senior, 55, 60 and 61 ). 111 The 1797 survey of the Molyneux estate shows Bold Farm leased to John Ashcroft at a reserved rent of 6s by his life and that of his son James. There was a large cottage of brick and thatch in two tenements, with a small barn, occupied by Ann Babot and Henry Bispham. It had five acres and a reversion value of 204. 112 By 1796 John had the following six holdings: Plumbe s (a messuage and six acres, redeemed from land tax in 1799, 11s 3½d); Derby s (15s 11¼d); Stanley s (5s 3¼d); land (11s 3½d); a holding occupied by William Hampson (9s 3½d); together with fields owned by the executors of Sir Thomas Stanley Massey (2s 0d). These holdings and assessments, with the exception of the 2s fields which were removed from the assessment on John Ashcroft s death, continued unchanged from 1800 at least until 1831. 113 The land tax returns may be compared with the list of John Ashcroft s lands contained in his will drawn up in 1810. He was living on his Plumbe s holding (11s 3d); then came his freehold near the Holt Green ; then his leaseholds under Derby (15s 11d) and Stanleys (5s 3d); and finally a freehold called Watkinson s in Aughton and Lydiate (in what is now Back Lane, near Hollin House Green) which in 1810 was occupied by his son John (9s 3d) and was later to be farmed by John s son Peter. 114 Watkinsons (later Home Farm) centre foot of picture, in Back Lane, Aughton, c.1818 (Lancashire Archives, DP 488) John Ashcroft senior was constable of Aughton in 1785 1786 and 1817 1818 115 and churchwarden in 1775, 1778, 1798 1800, 1805 1807, 1809 1811, and 1813 1816. 116 As constable in 1785 he travelled to courts in West Derby, Warrington, Ormskirk and also journeyed to Blackburn for four days. His disbursements amounted to 28 5s 9d and he was paid 8s for assessing [liability for tax on] windows. In 1787 he was paid 17s for having Ellen Thomas in custody and at Wigan sessions. Of John and Grace Ashcroft s three sons, James seems to have been unmarried when he died in 1840; Robert was married to Mary by 1798 and then, as a farmer, by licence on 17 February 1814 to Ann Darwin; and John, junior married on 6 January 1806. 117 19
Marriage of John, junior and Mary Guy On 26 December 1805 Peter and Betty Guy marked their consent to the marriage of their daughter Mary (then 20) with John Ashcroft, junior. Ralph Lyon and Betty Ashcroft were their witnesses. The licence was granted on 28 December, with Lyon as bondsman: he and the bridegroom signed the papers and Betty Ashcroft marked. Marriage Licence Bond: John Ashcroft junior & Mary Guy, 1805 (Cheshire Archives, EDC 8) Marriage of John Ashcroft junior & Mary Guy, 1806 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) The wedding was at Aughton on 6 January 1806, with Robert Ashcroft and Ann Gorse as witnesses. John and Mary had a daughter Ann (born 14 October 1806, baptized at Aughton 2 November; married Peter Pilkington by licence on 21 February 1837); 118 and sons James (born 19 January 1808, baptized 14 February; buried 18 November 1884) and Peter (born 12 October 1812, baptized 8 November; died 1855). By 1810 John, junior was occupier of Watkinsons (his father s 9s 3d freehold land at Back Lane in Aughton and at Lydiate). As John Ashcroft, junior he paid 9s 3½d for his non-exonerated land in 1815 and 1819. In 1830 and 1833 John was paid 7s 6d by the parish for jury duty at Kirkdale sessions. 119 Death of John Ashcroft, senior John Ashcroft of Aughton, yeoman made his will on 30 July 1810, leaving the entire benefits from his several freehold and leasehold messuages and lands of inheritance to his widow Grace for her lifetime. After Grace s death the eldest son James was to have his Plumbe s leasehold and the Holt Green land of inheritance ; Robert was to have the Derby and Stanley leaseholds; and John, junior was to have the land of inheritance called Watkinsons in Aughton and Lydiate (already in his occupation). The executors were to be his sons James, Robert and John and the witnesses were Caleb Lyon, James Wilson and Peter Barton. 20
Will of John Ashcroft senior, 1810 (Lancashire Archives, WCW) Land tax returns show that in 1815 John Ashcroft senior was occupier of his own unexonerated land and of Lord Derby s, assessed at 11s 3½d and 15s 11¼d and also occupier of John Plumbe s exonerated land and Sir Thomas Stanley s, assessed at 11s 3½d and 5s 3½d. 120 John Ashcroft senior died on 27 February 1818, aged 81 and was buried at Aughton on 2 March: the will was proved on 30 May. A stone in Aughton churchyard bears the simple inscription Burial ground belonging to the family of John Ashcroft, who died 27 February 1818. 121 His will was sworn under 600 and duty paid on his all freehold estate was 7 11s 2d. 122 Burial of John Ashcroft senior, 1818 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) Burial place of John Ashcroft, Aughton 1818 (as in 1987) & (as in 2009, at bottom left) 21
An exterior view and interior plan of Aughton church as it appeared in c.1820 (and an interior sketch of September 1836), before the wholesale Victorian alterations are to be found amongst the Hadfield manuscripts at Stafford. 123 Another early exterior sketch and a photograph of the interior as it appeared before 1876 also survive. 124 After the death of John Ashcroft, senior the land tax return from 1819 continued to show his five holdings with Grace as owner and occupier of 11s 3½d land, as owner of Robert Ashcroft s 15s 11¼d and occupier of Stanley s 5s 3¾d land. James held Squire Plumbe s 11s 3½d tenement, while Robert Ashcroft held Thomas Molineux s (4s 1d) and Miss Watson s ( 1 18s 6d). John, junior continued to occupy the 9s 3½d land. Grace Ashcroft died on 21 June 1824, aged 88, and was buried at Aughton on 21 June. Burial of Grace, widow of John Ashcroft, senior at Aughton, 1826 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) Administration of her estate was granted on 19 July 1826 to James and John Ashcroft, her sons, both yeomen of Ormskirk. By 1830 James occupied all the land which had been in his name and his mother s in 1819, including Mill Heys, assessed at 17s 3d. James Ashcroft, yeoman was taxed on seven windows and two horses at this time. 125 Land tax returns show Robert and John Ashcroft s holdings as identical to those of 1819. 22
John and Grace Ashcroft s eldest son James Ashcroft died on 3 August 1840 at Aughton aged 75 and was buried there on 6 August. An inquest into the death of James Ashcroft, described as a bachelor, with no parent living was held on 5 November (confirming the 3 August death date), at which Hannah Coxhead and Ellen Gaskell of Aughton were witnesses. The coroner s fee was 1 6s 8d, plus 9s for travelling 12 miles: 3s was paid to the witnesses and 3s 6d for room hire. The parish provided four jurors at a cost of 8s. 126 Administration of James 600 estate was granted on 10 December 1840 to his brother Robert. 127 The will of John Ashcroft, senior had specifically provided that if his eldest son James were to die without children, the Holt Green freehold was to revert to Robert and John as tenants in common. When John Ashcroft made his will in 1810, he neglected to assign remaining periods of 500 and 1000 years in his leasehold of a cottage and closes of land at Maghull leased from the Molyneux estate on 17 February 1704, 13 November 1725 and 23 May 1725 (Thistley Hey; Barn Hey; Rook Hey; Brook Hey; Near and Further Moss Hey). By 1843 John had no living legal representative and the Molyneux estate applied for power of administration to make such an assignation: this was granted on 17 June 1843. Deaths of Mary and John Ashcroft, junior Mary Ashcroft, who had been suffering from inflammation at the breast died on 24 October 1838, aged 53. The death was registered that day by James Ashcroft (probably her eldest son) and Mary was buried at Aughton on 29 October. 128 Death of Mary, wife of John Ashcroft junior, 1838 Burial of Mary Ashcroft, Aughton, 1838 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) At the 1841 census her widower John (now 65) was head of household at Holly Lane (Back Lane), living with his newly-married son and daughter-in-law Peter and Martha Ashcroft; their son James (10 days); two servants (one of whom was Ellen Guy, aged 20 (probably Martha s younger sister); and one agricultural labourer. Their neighbours at High House were Thomas Winteryall (independent) and Edward Johnson (an agricultural labourer) and at High Lane, William Rainford (an agricultural labourer). 129 The Ashcroft family at Holly Lane, Aughton, 1841(The National Archives, HO 107/511) The electoral registers of 1842 and 1845 show John Ashcroft with a freehold house at Back Lane. 130 John is shown by the 1843 tithe award as owner and occupier of the 15 acres comprising Town Hey (660); Barn Hey (777); Knowl (1199); Barn Hey (1209); Garden Croft (1210); House, etc. (1211). 131 23
Ordnance map sheet 91, surveyed 1845 1846 showing John Ashcroft junior s Home Farm (on corner west of High House. Back Lane is incorrectly identified as one west-east lane north of that later so named) By his will made on 13 April 1848 John Ashcroft appointed his sons Peter and James as his executors. The messuage in which he was now living and Lower Golding Meadow and Holt Green together with several closes called Church Land were to go to Edward Lyon of Skelmersdale and William Lyon of Melling in trust respectively for John s granddaughter Grace Pilkington (probably born at Clitheroe in 1837) and his son Peter and for his son James. 132 Peter and James were to be tenants in common of all his lands and an endowment policy made on 28 March 1838 with Guardian Fire and Life of London and an additional bequest of 3000 was to go to Grace Pilkington. 133 John Ashcroft junior signs his will, 1848 (Lancashire Archives, WCW) Tithe Map of 1848 showing John Ashcroft s farmhouse & Home Farm (bottom left) at Back Lane, Aughton (IR 30/18/24: 1 inch to I chain) 24
John Ashcroft junior died of consumption, aged 74, on 13 April 1850. The death was registered on 13 April by James Ashcroft (who had been in attendance ) and John was buried at Aughton on 17 April. Death of John Ashcroft junior, 1850 Burial of John Ashcroft junior (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) A memorial inscription to John and Mary Ashcroft can be seen in Aughton churchyard: Mary wife of John Ashcroft, Aughton who exchanged time for eternity on the 24 th Octr 1838 aged 53 years. Also of the above John Ashcroft who departed this life on the 13 th day of April 1850 aged 74 years. 134 Gravestone of John & Mary Ashcroft at Aughton (as in 1987) The Aughton land tax returns of 1850 show John s executors holding his 9s 3d land, occupied by [his son] Peter. John Ashcroft s estate was first sworn under 200 and then under 450 and the will was proved on 23 September 1850. 135 25
Peter and Martha Ashcroft John and Mary Ashcroft s son Peter was born on 12 October 1812 and was baptised on 8 November at Aughton. Baptism of Peter Ashcroft, Aughton, 1812 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) On 8 October 1840 as a farmer of Aughton he took out a licence to marry Martha Guy. Both were over 21 and the marriage took place at Aughton on 13 October, with Thomas and Ellen Guy and James Ashcroft as witnesses. Licence for marriage of Peter Ashcroft & Martha Guy, 1840 (Cheshire Archives, EDC 8) + Marriage of Peter Ashcroft & Martha Guy, Aughton, 1840 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) 26
In 1841 Peter and Martha were still living at Peter s father s farm at Holly Lane, Aughton (now Home Farm, Back Lane). 136 Their first child James (1841 1930) was 10 days old on census day and was baptised at Aughton on 6 June 1841, son of Peter, farmer and Martha. Peter Ashcroft s farm (now Home Farm, Back Lane) (with 1704 listed barn) Home Farm (centre left) viewed from West, over boundary brook Further children followed: Robert (1843 1922), baptised at Aughton on 8 January 1843); Mary (1845 1885, baptised at Aughton on 3 March 1845); William (1846 1848), born c.december 1846, baptized at Aughton 19 January 1847, buried there on 29 January 1848; William (1848 1850), born 10 September 1848, baptised at Ormskirk Methodist Church 1 October, buried at Aughton on 16 May 1850; John (1850 1852), born?april 1850, buried at Aughton on 26 April 1852; Ann (1851 1920, born 26 November 1851, baptised at Ormskirk Methodist Church on 21 December 1851); and Sarah (born on 18 September 1853 and baptised at Ormskirk Methodist Church on 9 October). The baptism of Peter and Martha Ashcroft s younger children from 1848 provides the first evidence of the family s link with the Methodist Chapel in Ormskirk, which was later to become strong through the association of Peter s elder brother James. 137 Occupier of his father s farm under his executors in 1850, Peter Ashcroft appeared as owner and occupier in the surviving Aughton land tax returns for 1851 and 1852. In 1851 Peter Ashcroft s farm next to High House, Aughton was described as at Back Lane, near Holly (now Hollin) House Green: he farmed 29 acres and employed two labourers and a boy. 138 Their neighbours were Matthew Wright (agricultural labourer) and at High House, John Widdowson (a retired watchcase-maker). 139 27
Peter Ashcroft & family at the same farm in Back Lane, Aughton, 1851 (The National Archives, HO 107/2196) Peter Ashcroft is shown at Back Lane in a directory of 1852. 140 An advertisement for a sale at other premises in Holly House Green gives a full list of agricultural implements in use there. 141 Mr P. Ashcroft was one of the donors to the Patriotic Fund in December 1854. 142 By his will made on 20 February 1855 Peter made his brother James and nephew Ralph his executors and devised Barn Meadow or Lower Golding Meadow to James. Peter Ashcroft signs his will, 20 February 1855 (Lancashire Archives, WCW) Peter Ashcroft died of delirium tremens and effusion on the brain on 27 February 1855 and was buried at Aughton on 2 March: he was only 42. The death was registered on 7 March by his widow Martha and a notice appeared in the newlyfounded Ormskirk Advertiser. 143 Death of Peter Ashcroft, 1855 Burial of Peter Ashcroft, 1855 (Lancashire Archives, PR 3019/1) 28
Peter Ashcroft s widow Martha (née Guy) On 11 September 1856 the Advertiser announced the sale of two acres of barley arranged by James on the farm lately occupied by Peter Ashcroft, deceased. There was a further sale of 2½ acres of hay grass on 18 June 1858 in a field near the Holly House Green lately occupied by Peter Ashcroft deceased. 144 In 1857 the estate duty registers recorded Peter as insolvent as to personal estate : duty was eventually paid in 1875. 145 Peter s widow Martha moved to Chapel Street, Ormskirk where as a landed proprietor (1861) she lived with her son Robert (18), a printer s apprentice and daughters Mary (16), Ann (nine) and Sarah (seven). Sarah was in 1861 a scholar : 146 she was educated at a private school. 147 The neighbours in 1861 were John Blundell (a retired farmer) and William Bell (a joiner). Later in 1861 Martha s five sons and daughters were to receive a share of the estate of their great-uncle Robert Ashcroft. Martha Ashcroft at Chapel Lane, Ormskirk, 1861 (The National Archives, RG 9/2765) 29
Robert and Jane Ashcroft John and Grace Ashcroft s middle son Robert (1774 1861) was the longest surviving. We have seen that he was married first to Mary (by 1798): their son William was baptised at Aughton in 1802 and buried there 1864: there were also to be sons Ralph and John. Robert made a second marriage to Ann Darwin (c.1791 1858) in 1814. In 1841 and 1851 Robert and Ann were farming 19 acres at Towns Green. 148 At the time of the 1843 tithe award Robert Ashcroft was occupier of 21 acres at Town Green under Lord Derby: Woosey s Acre (1031); House (1067); Garden Croft (1068); Brick Kiln Hey (1070 & 1074); Road (1071); Nearer Meadow (1072); Further Meadow (1073); Half Acre (1075/6); Nearer and Further Bold Lane Fields (1106 and 1107). 149 Robert was also owner of 29 acres at Holt Green occupied by James Ashcroft. This lay to the east and north of Aughton church and comprised Browy Hey (776); Bull Stake (778); Browns Meadow (779); Water Mill Hey (780); Rough Hey (781); Church Field (782); Church Hey (783); Barn Hey (808); Horse Pasture (809); Potato Croft (810). (James Ashcroft also occupied additional land under Plumbe Tempest: see below). Robert Ashcroft made his will on 8 April 1857, appointing his late brother John s eldest son James and his sons Ralph and John as executors. After certain bequests to nephews and nieces and one of 200 to his daughter Jane (wife of Henry Riding), Robert left his estate in two equal parts to his nephew James and to the children of Peter Ashcroft. Robert s wife Ann died on 16 July 1858, aged 74 and was buried at Aughton on 20 July. Robert died on 22 March 1861, aged 86 and was buried at Aughton on 25 March. On 28 March the Ormskirk Advertiser invited tenders for the letting of Robert s house, farm and 20 acres. 150 Robert s will was proved on 18 April 1861. 151 38 duty was paid on Robert s estate and bequests included those paid to Jane Rideing ( 200), James Ashcroft ( 100) and the children of Robert s nephew Peter ( 380): the residue was split between James and the children of Peter (James, Robert, Mary, Ann and Sarah). 152 By 1871 only Mary (26) and Sarah (17), both dressmakers, were left at 42 Chapel Street, Ormskirk with their mother late farmer : their neighbours were Ann Blundell (44, a former housekeeper) and John Aspinwall (40, a joiner). 153 By 1873 Martha owned 7 acres, with a rental value of 32. 154 In 1881 Martha, a seamstress, had only her daughter Mary living with her: the neighbours were Ann Blundell and Kirkdale-born Henry Ashcroft (40). 155 Martha Ashcroft at Chapel Street, 1871 (Sarah, 17, wrongly entered as Martha) (The National Archives, RG 10/3879) Martha Ashcroft still at Chapel Street, 1881 (The National Archives, RG 11/3755) 30
Sarah Ashcroft marries John Culshaw Martha Ashcroft s daughter Sarah married John Culshaw on 2 August 1877 at Ormskirk Old Wesleyan Church, in Chapel Street. 156 Sarah Ashcroft & husband John Culshaw on their Golden Wedding day 1927 Death of Martha Ashcroft Martha Ashcroft, widow of the late Mr Peter Ashcroft of Aughton, 157 died of congestion of the liver, icterus [jaundice] and exhaustion at the home of her son-in-law John Culshaw at Southport Road, Ormskirk aged 66, on 7 October 1883. Martha s death was registered on 8 October by her son James (of Mill Lane, Lathom) and Martha was buried at Aughton on 10 October. Death of Martha Ashcroft, 1883 Sarah and John Culshaw were living at Southport Road, Ormskirk in 1885 when their daughter Mary Frances was born: by that year John had a vote as the owner of No 3 Court, 1 Southport Road (1890 and 1895 2 Court Cottage ). 158 Martha s unmarried daughter Mary died at Southport Road on 12 September 1885: by her will she made bequests of interest on sums of 20 and 10 to her siblings James, Robert, Ann and Sarah and her aunts Ellen and Mary Guy, with the capital to be divided at their deaths between the children of James, Robert, Ann and Sarah. The executors were to be her sister Sarah Culshaw and Josiah Wainwright, ironmonger. 159 By September 1906 when Mary Frances married Albert Edward Molyneux, John and Sarah were living in Walton at 24 Haddon Avenue. 160 John Culshaw beloved and loving husband of Sarah died aged 80 on 7 May 1934 at the residence of his son-in-law [J.W. Bagnall], 16 Whitchurch Road, Withington, Manchester. The burial took place at Kirkdale Cemetery, Longmoor Lane, Aintree at 2.30 p.m. on Friday 11 May, after a 2.00 p.m. service at Brook Road Methodist Church, Rice Lane, Walton. Enquiries were to be addressed to Sans Souci, 19 Lower Lane, Fazakerley [residence of her daughter Mary Frances Molyneux]. 161 John s widow Sarah late of Aintree died aged 81 on 29 March 1935 also at Whitchurch Road, Withington and was buried at Kirkdale on 1 April. 162 31
The brothers and sisters of Sarah Culshaw Sarah was the youngest of eight children born to Peter and Martha Ashcroft at Aughton. The New Zealand Ashcrofts: James (1841 1930) and Henrietta Riley (1837 1904) Sarah Culshaw s eldest brother James Ashcroft joiner of Ormskirk married Henrietta (daughter of the Preston solicitor William Walker Riley) at Ormskirk parish church by licence on 28 September 1865. 163 Their son John William was born on 30 January 1867 and baptised at Ormskirk Methodist church on 27 December. Twins Alfred and Arthur were born at Aughton on 1 April 1869 and baptised at Ormskirk by the Methodist minister on 23 April. It seems probable that James was James Ashcroft, joiner, builder and wheelwright of Aughton who got into financial difficulties in that year. On 9 December 1869 the Ormskirk Advertiser announced that James was giving up and leaving, causing an auction of his stock-in-trade at the premises he occupied as a wheelwright and joiner 10 minutes walk from Town Green station. On 6 January 1870 James lodged a copy of his debts and assets in compliance with the Bankruptcy Amendment Act of 1868 and covenanted to pay 15s in the pound (10s by 1 February 1870 and 5s by 1 February 1871): a trustee covenanted to pay the remaining 5s by 1 February 1871. 164 The family seems to have moved immediately to Burscough Bridge, where another son Robert Walker was born to James and Henrietta on 19 May 1870. On 14 July Mrs James Ashcroft (late Miss Riley of Ormskirk) informed the inhabitants of Burscough that she intends to open a school for Young Ladies : having conducted a school in Ormskirk for several years she hoped for their support. 165 At the 1871 census James was a joiner, living at Burscough Bridge with Henrietta and their four sons. 166 We may suppose that James creditors were fully repaid in 1871. There was then a further move to Mill Lane, in nearby Lathom, where Peter and Charles were born on 10 April 1873 and in September quarter 1875. John William died aged 9 and was buried at Aughton on 4 April 1876 and Charles was buried there on 16 April 1877. Another son Septimus was born on 10 January 1878. 167 In 1881 James was a Lathom joiner and Methodist local preacher. The family were to remain at Lathom until their departure from England in 1884. Five of their sons survived to emigrate with James and Henrietta to New Zealand on the British King on a voyage starting in London on 13 March 1884 and lasting 48 days. It must surely be significant that this move to New Zealand did not take place until five months after the death of James mother: on departure James was 41 and Henrietta 46. James and his family lived for 15 years in Napier, Hawkes Bay province, North Island: James was listed at Napier as a carpenter in 1887 1888 at Owen Street, in 1892 1893 at Craven Street and in 1895 and 1896 on the left-hand side of Carlyle Street from Clive Square, next to the Free Methodist Chapel, with a vote there in 1896. James & Henrietta Ashcroft, taken in New Zealand The family moved in 1899 to Dannevirke, inland from Napier and it was the arrival of Mr Ashcroft and his sons which was to inspire the Dannevirke methodists to make a new attempt to set up a church there after earlier failure. By 1900 James (carpenter) and his sons Robert (storeman) and Septimus (clerk), together with Robert's wife Elsie all had residential votes at Dannevirke. 32
Henrietta Ashcroft died after a short illness while visiting her son Robert at Collins Street, Hawera from Dannevirke on 24 July 1904. Much later James went to live with Robert at Otahuhu, South Auckland, dying there on 10 September 1930, aged 89: he was buried on 12 September at Otahuhu cemetery after a service at the Methodist church. 168 In their obituaries of James the Auckland Star and New Zealand s Methodist Times repeated the story passed down in the English and New Zealand branches of the family, but apparently quite without foundation that James mother [the former Martha Guy] was one of four sisters descended from John Guy who 200 years ago founded and endowed Guy s Hospital. 169 The Methodist Times also claimed that James was a schoolfellow of Richard Seddon, later prime minister of New Zealand. Since Seddon was five years younger than James, lived at Eccleston (eight miles from Aughton) and was educated at Eccleston Grammar School this seems unlikely: had James attended a grammar school it would surely have been Ormskirk s. James Ashcroft (1841 1930), patriarch of the New Zealand Ashcrofts, after the death of his wife Henrietta Among the children of James and Henrietta Ashcroft it is extraordinary that Alfred Wells (1869 1913) became an Anglican priest (serving in Tasmania until his death in 1913), 170 while his twin brother Arthur was a Methodist Minister (at Palmerston North, Wellington, Oamaru and Paparoa). 171 In 1930 James and Henrietta s other sons were Robert (who lived in early adulthood at Hawera and later at Otahuhu), Peter (Napier) and Septimus (Hastings). All James and Henrietta s sons except Alfred have descendants living in New Zealand. Robert Ashcroft (1843 1922) and Ann Ormesher (c.1838 1914) Peter and Martha Ashcroft s son Robert, by now a Preston printer s compositor formerly of Chapel Street, Ormskirk, married Ann Ormesher, an Ormskirk nailmaker s daughter by licence at Ormskirk on 9 February 1865. 172 Daughters Elizabeth and Martha were born at Preston in March quarters of 1866 and 1868. 173 By 1870 Robert was a printer and stationer at 44 Market Street, Chorley, and Sarah Ann was born there in March quarter that year. Two further daughters Alice Ormesher and Mary were baptised at Ormskirk Methodist church on 16 April 1872 and 11 November 1877. It was probably the eldest child Elizabeth who was buried at Ormskirk on 31 May 1876, aged 10 and another daughter Mary was buried on 27 November 1877, aged 5 weeks. By 1880 Robert (called by his obituarist a born printer ) had begun more than 30 years on the staff of the Ormskirk Advertiser, becoming in due course deputy foreman at the steam printing works. In 1881 Robert and Ann were at 5 The Grove, Ormskirk, with daughters Martha (13) and Alice Ormesher (9) and a son Robert Peter (6). Another son Samuel was born in 1885. There was a move to 45 Church Street by 1891. Robert Ashcroft, printer, was the main beneficiary in the will of his aunt Ellen Guy, schoolmistress, who died on 19 February 1895: Ellen Guy had been living in a cottage at 25 Wigan Road, Ormskirk in 1890. 174 In 1901 Robert Ashcroft printer compositor was at 45 Church Street, Ormskirk with his wife Ann, daughters Martha (33, a clerk) and Alice O. (29) and son Samuel (19, a clothier s assistant). Next door at 47 was Robert junior (27), also a printer s compositor, with his wife Elizabeth (24), a son Robert Eric (3) and his sister-in-law Mary Hargreaves. 33
By 1911 Robert ( 68, foreman, letter-press printing ) was at the six-room 42 Derby Street West with Ann (73). Four of their nine children were still alive and three of them were with their parents: Martha (42, a clerk), Alice Ormesher (38, at home ) and Samuel (27, manager tailor and outfitting. 175 Robert and Ann s son Robert Peter was living next-door at 44 Derby Street with his wife and four children Robert Eric (13), Marion (8), Ronald (3) and Stanley (1). Robert s obituary was to stress his close connection with Emmanuel Methodist Church at Ormskirk: he was a familiar figure on Wesleyan Methodist platforms in the Ormskirk circuit. 176 Robert senior s wife Ann pre-deceased him at Derby Street West on 6 February 1914, aged 77. Reporting the death of an old Ormskirkian the Advertiser called Ann a devoted wife, a real mother and a kindly friend to her neighbours. She was buried in Ormskirk churchyard after a service at home taken by the Superintendent Minister of the Methodist circuit. Among the mourners were Mr and Mrs J[abez] Ashcroft of Egremont and Mr and Mrs J[ohn] Culshaw of Aintree (sisters and brothers-in-law of Ann s husband). 177 Robert himself died on 18 March 1922 at 18 Southport Road, Ormskirk, aged 79. The Superintendent Minister of the circuit led a service at Robert s house on the day of his funeral, which then followed at the parish church. Mary Ashcroft (1845 1885) We have seen that Mary Ashcroft remained unmarried in her mother s household until her death in 1883 and survived her only by two years. William, William and John Ashcroft None of the three sons William, a second William and John survived infancy, dying at 13 months, 20 months and two years respectively, all being buried at Aughton. Annie Ashcroft (1851 1920) and Jabez Ashcroft (1845 1922) Peter and Martha Ashcroft s second daughter and seventh child Ann(ie) (the closest in age to Sarah) married her widowed first cousin Jabez Ashcroft (son of Peter s brother James) in the March quarter 1878 and in 1881 they were living at West View, Ormskirk. Jabez was a commercial shipping clerk: he already had daughters Bessie and Grace (born 1870 and 1872) and a son Harry Lyon Ashcroft (born 1875) and Annie now bore him Martha (born at Ormskirk in September quarter 1880), Annie born at Toxteth Park in March quarter 1886), Nellie (Ellen, born in Birkenhead district in June quarter 1887) and Dorothy Elsie (born at 5 Littledale Road, Seacombe on 4 April 1891). In 1891 the family were still at Littledale Road (Jabez was a shippers clerk). In March quarter 1894 Jabez daughter Bessie married Andrew Cochrane in Birkenhead district. By 1901 the family were at 28 Brompton Road, Liscard: Jabez was 55 and a mercantile clerk and with him were Annie (49), Ormskirk-born Grace, Southport-born Harry Lyon (25), Ormskirk-born Martha (20) and Seacombe-born Nellie (14) and Dorothy (9). Grace married Frederick Harrop in Birkenhead district in September quarter 1903. In 1911 the family was at 3 Crescent Road, Egremont, Wallasey. Ellen Ashcroft married Alfred G. Glass in Birkenhead district in September quarter 1911. On 17 January 1920 Annie, beloved wife of Jabez Ashcroft died at Crescent Road, aged 68. Jabez Ashcroft made his will on 20 February 1920 bequeathing to [his daughter] Nellie all his interest in the will of his late brother John Ashcroft of Ormskirk, with the remainder to his daughters Bessie and Grace. Jabez died at 16 Sherwood Road, Egremont on 14 January 1922: his will was proved ( 442) on 6 April by his son Harry Lyon Ashcroft, bookkeeper and daughter Ellen Glass, both of Egremont. The last Ashcrofts at Bold Lane Following the removal of Martha Ashcroft and her family to Ormskirk by 1861 and the death of Robert Ashcroft in that year, the main representatives of the Ashcroft family left in Aughton were John and Mary Ashcroft s eldest son James and his wife Dorothy (the parents of Jabez). 34
James (1808 1884) was an Aughton farmer, who married his second cousin Dorothy Lyon (1811 1876) of Melling by licence at Melling on 11 February 1832 (with Peter Guy and Jane Lyon as witnesses). 178 At the 1841 census they were living at Johnsons, Holt Green with their children Elizabeth (Betsy) (born at Melling in 1832 and baptised at Aughton on 13 December); Ralph (1834 1857) (born at Aughton and baptised on 14 May); John (born 1835 and baptized on 17 June); James (c.1837 1872) and Grace (born c.1838). 179 [James and Grace were probably baptised at Ormskirk Methodist chapel: neither was baptised at Aughton]. The tithe award shows James as occupier of 29 acres owned by his uncle Robert Ashcroft (see above) and of a further 11 acres owned by Tempest Plumbe and comprising Middle Pasture (812); Hill (813); Carthorse Croft (814); House (815); Nearer and Further Sharp s Croft (1126 and 1127); and Cud s (1171). 180 In 1845 James was occupying a house and 20 acres at Bold Lane. 181 Entrance to Bold Farm, Bold Lane, Aughton (formerly Webster s/johnson s) in 2015 By 1851 at Bold Lane, next to Smithy Lane, James was farming 42 acres and employing two labourers: the family now had the addition of Robert (born 1843), Jabez junior (born September quarter 1845). Another son Samuel was born in March quarter 1852) to James and Dorothy. 182 James was shown at Bowl Lane [recte Bold] as a farmer in directories of 1854 and 1855: 183 he occurs in the 1860 electoral register as occupier of 20 acres at Bold Lane turnpike. 184 James and Dorothy s eldest son Ralph died at Bold Lane in 1857, aged 23 and was buried on 2 July. By 1859 James was a leading figure at Ormskirk s Wesleyan Chapel in Chapel Street: Mr James Ashcroft of Aughton presided at a Tea Meeting there on 26 December 1859 and at the sermons on 7 October 1860 in aid of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. James also presided at the Chapel s anniversary celebrations in 1867. At the 1859 Tea Meeting and the Wesleyan Sabbath School on 28 April that year the choir were accompanied by Mr James Ashcroft junior on the harmonium. 185 On 6 November 1861 there was an accident outside James Ashcroft s house in Bold Lane, when a drunken man was killed by his own cart-load of manure from Liverpool. In 1861 James and Dorothy Ashcroft were at Bold Lane with Elizabeth, John, James, Grace, Jabez and Samuel. 186 On 15 July 1861 James, son of James Ashcroft, farmer, Aughton was married at Ormskirk Wesleyan chapelʼ to Sarah Elizabeth Williams of Burscough and James daughter Grace was married to John Wainwright on 10 September 1861. 187 The Ormskirk Advertiser announced the sale at The Buck i t Vine, Ormskirk on 14 October 1861 of 9 acres of freehold land at Aughton now in possesssion of Mr James Ashcroft, ¾ mile from Town Green and comprising Bull Slake, Browy Hey, Barn Hey, Bull Stake, Brown s Meadow, Water Mill Hey and Rough Hey. Browy and Barn Heys fronted the Liverpool to Ormskirk turnpike and were therefore most eligible for building purposes. 188 In May 1868 the body of a fully grown child (dead for six days) was found on Mr James Ashcroft s farm, Aughton, tied up in cloth in manure brought from Liverpool. 189 A curious story attaches to James and Dorothy s son Robert. He later said that at 17 he began to think of ordination and connected himself with Ormskirk Independent church. In 1861 he was an 18-year-old druggist s apprentice living with his master s family in Ormskirk. He received further education at Didsbury Wesleyan College in Manchester, but then acted as a pastor for the new Congregational Church at Adlington (near Chorley), which opened in February 1865. In April 1868 Robert married his former master s daughter Clara Garside at the Congregational church in Ormskirk and on 35