In 1906, the Catholic Record Society published a list of recusants convicted during the reign of Charles II [FN1]. Joseph Gillow produced lengthy accompanying notes for Lancashire recusants, which are split here into separate posts.
Johannes Houghton, gen Eliz ux eiusDitton [Prescot]
Hugo Rawson, husb Ester EntwistleSara Tildesley,[1] spinster Jacobus Cowley, husb
1. The Tyldesleys of Ditton were descended from a younger son of the Wardley Hall family. Edward Tyldesley, of Ditton, died about 1616, and Ellen, daughter of John Ditchfield, of Ditton Hall, was the wife of Thomas Tyldesley, of Ditton. The will of Henry Tyldesley, of Ditton, was proved in 1677.
Thurstan Tyldesley, lord of Tyldesley, obtained Wardley Manor with his wife, Margaret, daughter and coheiress of Jordan de Workesley, lord of Wardley.
Edward Tyldesley, younger son of Thurstan Tyldesley, of Wardley Hall, by his second wife, Jane, daughter of Ralph Langton, baron of Newton, married Anne, daughter and heir of Thomas Ley land, of Morleys Hall in Astley, by Alice, daughter of Sir Edmund Trafford, of Trafford, and founded the family of Tyldesley of Morleys Hall and Myerscough Lodge. He had a large family, of whom were — Thomas, his successor; Thurstan, of Stansacre Hall in Myerscough, who married Mary, daughter of Robert Charnock, of Charnock and Astley, and had, Edward, of Douay College in 1585, Richard, Thomas, Robert, William, who married Alice, daughter of John Butler, of Kirkland Hall, and Cuthbert, who died at Stansacre Hall in 1667, probably the father of John Tyldesley, of Stansacre Hall, whose son and namesake sold the hall and estate and settled at Fornham St Genevieve, co. Suffolk, where he was a Catholic non- juror in 1717, died Feb. 18, 1723, leaving by Catherine, his wife, daughter of John Stafford, of Bury St Edmunds, a younger son William, who died in 1729, aged twenty, Elizabeth, died 1727, aged twenty-seven, Mary, died 1728, aged twenty-five, and the eldest son John, of Bury St Edmunds, will dated Feb. 8, 1734, proved April i, 1735, who by Jane, his wife, left daughters Frances, and Bridget, wife of Mr Hanne, of Deviock, co. Cornwall, brother to Fr Charles Hanne, S.J.
Thomas Tyldesley, the eldest son of Edward, married Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Anderton, of Lostock Hall, and had issue — Edward, of whom hereafter, Anne, wife of Sir Cuthbert Clifton, of Westby Hall, Dorothy, wife of John Poole, of Poole Hall, co. Chester, and Elizabeth, Abbess of the English Convent at Gravelines.
Edward, born in 1585, of Morleys Hall and Myerscough Lodge, married at Cartmel Priory Sept. 15, 1605, Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Preston, of Holker Hall, who after her husband's death in 1622 married Thomas Lathom, of Parbold Hall, and thirdly Thomas Westby, of Burne Hall. Edward Tyldesley entertained James I at Myerscough Lodge during his royal progress from Scotland. He had issue — Sir Thomas, of Morleys and Myerscough, formally christened by the parson at Cartmel Priory Sept 10, 1612, major-general in the royal army, governor of Litchfield, slain at the battle of Wigan Aug. 5, 1651, and buried in the Tyldesley chancel at Leigh; and Edward, ob. infans, and buried at Cartmel Priory June 8, 1621.
Sir Thomas by his wife Frances, daughter of Ralph Standish, of Standish Hall, by Bridget, daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, of Sefton, Bart., had — Edward, born 1635, of Tyldesley, Morleys, Myerscough, and Fox Hall, Blackpool; Thomas, aged twenty-two at the Visitation of 1664, who married Mary, daughter of Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall, and sister and coheiress of Sir Alexander Rigby, settled at Preston Bardsea, and died in 1712; Ralph, recusant of Myerscough in 1682, and living in 1694; Bridget, wife of Henry Blundell, of Ince Blundell Hall; Elizabeth Christian, O.S.A., at Paris, born 1638, professed 1656, died 1719; Frances, wife of Thomas Stanley, of Great Eccleston Hall; Anne, O.S.A., born 1641, professed 1657, and Abbess of the Augustinian Convent at Paris from 1698 till her death in 1720; Dorothy, O.S.A., born 1645, professed at Paris 1662, died 1705; Margaret, died young; and Mary, wife of Richard Crane.
Edward, the eldest son, was at Douay College in 1650, was in the list for the intended order of the knighthood of the Royal Oak, and married (i) Nov. 26, 1655, Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas ffleetwood, of Calwich Hall, co. Stafford, Bart, Baron of Newton, co. Lancaster, by Gertrude, daughter of Thomas Eyre, of Hassop Hall, co. Derby, and (2) EHzabeth, daughter of Adam Beaumont, of Whitley, by whom he had a daughter Catherine, of Preston, spinster. By his first wife Edward had issue — Thomas, bom April 3, 1657, whose "Diary" was edited by the present writer in 1872 and 1873; Edward, recusant of Ribbleton, in 1679; James, living in 1713 ; Frances, buried at Leyland May 19, 1659; and Anna Maria, of Preston, spinster, will dated Mch 6, 1753, proved Dec. 5, 1755, and buried in the Tyldesley chantry at Leigh, Feb. 9, 1755,
Thomas, the eldest son, of Morleys Hall, Myerscough Lodge, AstleyHail, and Fox Hall, an ardent Jacobite and a staunch recusant, was buried at Church Town, Garstang, Jan. 26, 1715, having been twice married, (i) in 1679, to Eleanor, daughter and coheiress of Thomas Holcroft, of Holcroft Hall (by Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Birch, of Birch Hall, who married secondly Henry Bunbury), who was buried at Church Town, Nov. 7, 1693, and (2) Agatha, whose identity has not been ascertained, and whose will was proved at Lancaster April 30, 1747. By his first wife he had issue — Edward; Thomas Holcroft Tyldesley, died young; James, who may be identical with Fr Anthony Tyldesley O.S.F., who died in 1720; ffleetwood Tyldesley, who married and had issue a son Thomas, living in 1711; Eleanor Helena Augustine, O.S.A., entered the convent at Paris in 1701, took the veil in 1706, and died in 1760; Anne Cecilia, O.S.B., born 1688, professed at the English convent at Ghent in 1707 or 1708, Abbess from 1727 till death 1736; Frances, at York Bar Convent in 1 712, and visited the Augustinian Convent at Paris in Dec, 1720; Elizabeth, at York Bar Convent in 1712; and Mary, visited the Augustinian Convent at Paris on her way to Flanders in 1717, died and her heart was interred at the convent in Paris in 1718. By his second wife Thomas had issue — Charles, baptized at Bispham May 9, 1706; Agatha, wife of John Bleasdale, of Goosnargh ; and Winefrid, baptized at Bispham Oct. 8, 1702, who married Edward Winckley,M.D.,of Banister Hall and Preston.
Edward, the eldest son, succeeded to the family estates, which were greatly encumbered, and also to Holcroft Hall. In 1715 he raised a troop for the Chevalier de St George, which he commanded at the battle of Preston. He was tried for high treason before the Court of Admiralty in the Marshalsea, but pleading that he had been forced into the Jacobite rising, he was acquitted by the jury, for which they were reprimanded by the judge. He died at Myerscough Lodge, and administration to his estate was granted at Lancaster to his principal creditor, John Crouchley, July 12, 1736. By his wife Dorothy, living a widow at Holcroft Hall in 1725, who died Nov. 15, 1739, he had issue — James Tyldesley, of Holcroft Hall and Astley Hall, who served in the army of Prince Charles Edward in 1745, sold Morleys Hall in 1755, and died in Augt, 1765, his will, dated Feb. 8, 1765, being proved at Chester, April 23, 1768; Catherine, spinster, of Chester in 1720, then of Ormskirk, and finally of Preston in 1744; and (presumably) Mary Michael, O.S.B., of Ghent, professed about 1728-30, died 1759.
James, by his wife Sarah, had issue — Thomas, baptized at Astley, Jan. 9, 1740, living in 1765; Charles, baptized May 12, 1747; James, bapt. Jan, 25, 1748; Edward; bapt. March 21, 1750, buried at Leigh, March 28, 1751 ; Henry, bapt. Oct. 6, 1752, living in 1765 ; Jane, baptized Augt 13, 1743, married at the Collegiate Church of Manchester, in April, 1767, to Charles Gossett, of London, merchant; and Anne, bapt. Sept 25, 1744, buried at Leigh Feb. 22, 1745-6. After this the family are lost in obscurity. There were chapels maintained by the family at Morleys Hall, Myerscough Lodge, and Fox Hall.
1. A List Of Convicted Recusants in the Reign of King Charles II, Catholic Record Society, Miscellanea V, 1909
