lands certain escheated manors in the counties of Nottingham, Derby and Lincoln, and certain royal manors, and bestowed it upon his nephew Stephen, afterwards king. During Stephen’s reign the history of the honour presents certain difficulties, for David of Scotland held the lands north of the Ribble for a time, and in 1147 the earl of Chester held the district between the Ribble and Mersey. Henry II. gave the whole honour to William, Stephen’s son, but in 1164 it came again into the king’s hands until 1189, when Richard I. granted it to his brother John. In 1194, owing to John’s rebellion, it was confiscated and the honour remained with the crown till 1267. In 1229, however, all the crown demesne between the Ribble and Mersey was granted to Ranulf, earl of Chester, and on his death in 1232 came to William Ferrers, earl of Derby, in right of his wife Agnes, sister and co-heir of Ranulf. The Ferrers held it till 1266, when it was confiscated owing to the earl’s rebellion. In 1267 Henry III. granted the honour and county and all the royal demesne therein to his son Edmund, who was created earl of Lancaster. His son, Earl Thomas, married the heiress of Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, and thus obtained the great estates belonging to the de Lacys in Lancashire. On the death of Henry, the first duke of Lancaster, in 1361, the estates, title and honour fell to John of Gaunt in right of his wife Blanche, the duke’s elder daughter, and by the accession of Henry IV., John of Gaunt’s only son, to the throne, the duchy and honour became merged in the crown.
The county of Lancaster is first mentioned in 1169 as contributing 100 marks to the Royal Exchequer for defaults and fines. The creation of the honour decided the boundaries, throwing into it Furness and Cartmel, which geographically belong to Westmorland; Lonsdale and Amounderness, which in Domesday had been surveyed under Yorkshire; and the land between the Ribble and Mersey. In Domesday this district south of the Ribble was divided into the six hundreds of West Derby, Newton, Warrington, Blackburn, Salford and Leyland, but before Henry II.’s reign the hundreds of Warrington and Newton were absorbed in that of West Derby. Neither Amounderness nor Lonsdale was called a hundred in Domesday, but soon after that time the former was treated as a hundred. Ecclesiastically the whole of the county originally belonged to the diocese of York, but after the reconquest of the district between the Ribble and Mersey in 923 this part was placed under the bishop of Lichfield in the archdeaconry of Chester, which was subdivided into the rural deaneries of Manchester, Warrington and Leyland. Up to 1541 the district north of the Ribble belonged to the archdeaconry of Richmond in the diocese of York, and was subdivided into the rural deaneries of Amounderness, Lonsdale and Coupland. In 1541 the diocese of Chester was created, including all Lancashire, which was divided into two archdeaconries: Chester, comprising the rural deaneries of Manchester, Warrington and Blackburn, and Richmond, comprising the deaneries of Amounderness, Furness, Lonsdale and Kendal. In 1847 the diocese of Manchester was created, which included all Lancashire except parts of West Derby, which still belonged to the diocese of Chester, and Furness and Cartmel, which were added to Carlisle in 1856. In 1878 by the creation of the diocese of Liverpool the south-eastern part of the county was subtracted from the Manchester diocese.
No shire court was ever held for the county, but as a duchy and county palatine it has its own special courts. It may have enjoyed palatine jurisdiction under Earl Morcar before the Conquest, but these privileges, if ever exercised, remained in abeyance till 1351, when Henry, duke of Lancaster, received power to have a chancery in the county of Lancaster and to issue writs therefrom under his own seal, as well touching pleas of the crown as any other relating to the common laws, and to have all Jura Regalia belonging to a county palatine. In 1377 the county was erected into a palatinate for John of Gaunt’s life, and in 1396 these rights of jurisdiction were extended and settled in perpetuity on the dukes of Lancaster. The county palatine courts consist of a chancery which dates back at least to 1376, a court of common pleas, the jurisdiction of which was transferred in 1873 by the Judicature Act to the high court of justice, and a court of criminal jurisdiction which in no way differs from the king’s ordinary court. In 1407 the duchy court of Lancaster was created, in which all questions of revenue and dignities affecting the duchy possessions are settled. The chancery of the duchy has been for years practically obsolete. The duchy and county palatine each has its own seal. The office of chancellor of the duchy and county palatine dates back to 1351.
Lancashire is famed for the number of old and important county families living within its borders. The most intimately connected with the history of the county are the Stanleys, whose chief seat is Knowsley Hall. Sir John Stanley early in the 15th century married the heiress of Lathom and thus obtained possession of Lathom and Knowsley. In 1456 the head of the family was created a peer by the title of Baron Stanley and in 1485 raised to the earldom of Derby. The Molyneuxes of Sephton and Croxteth are probably descended from William de Molines, who came to England with William the Conqueror, and is on the roll of Battle Abbey. Roger de Poictou gave him the manor of Sephton, and Richard de Molyneux who held the estate under Henry II. is undoubtedly an ancestor of the family. In 1628 Sir Richard Molyneux was advanced to the peerage of Ireland by the title of Viscount Maryborough, and in 1771 Charles, Lord Maryborough, became earl of Sefton in the peerage of Ireland. His son was created a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Sefton of Croxteth. The Bootle Wilbrahams, earls of Lathom, are, it is said, descended from John Botyll of Melling, who was alive in 1421, and from the Wilbrahams of Cheshire, who date back at least to Henry III.’s reign. In 1755 the two families intermarried. In 1828 the title of Baron Skelmersdale was bestowed on the head of the family and in 1880 that of earl of Lathom. The Gerards of Bryn are said to be descended from an old Tuscan family, one of whom came to England in Edward the Confessor’s time, and whose son is mentioned in Domesday. Bryn came into this family by marriage early in the 14th century. Sir Thomas Gerard was created a baronet by James I. in 1611, and in 1876 a peerage was conferred on Sir Robert Gerard. The Gerards of Ince were a collateral branch. The Lindsays, earls of Crawford and Balcarres, are representative on the female side of the Bradshaighs of Haigh Hall, who are said to be of Saxon origin. Other great Lancashire families are the Hoghtons of Hoghton Tower, dating back to the 12th century, the Blundells of Ince Blundell, who are said to have held the manor since the 12th century, now represented by the Weld-Blundells, the Tyldesleys of Tyldesley, now extinct, and the Butlers of Bewsey, barons of Warrington, of whom the last male heir died in 1586.
At the close of the 12th and during the 13th century there was a considerable advance in the importance of the towns; in 1199 Lancaster became a borough, in 1207 Liverpool, in 1230 Salford, in 1246 Wigan, and in 1301 Manchester. The Scottish wars were a great drain to the county, not only because the north part was subject to frequent invasions, as in 1322, but because some of the best blood was taken for these wars. In 1297 Lancashire raised 1000 men, and at the battle of Falkirk (1298) 1000 Lancashire soldiers were in the vanguard, led by Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln. In 1349 the county was visited by the Black Death and a record exists of its ravages in Amounderness. In ten parishes between September 1349 and January 1350, 13,180 persons perished. At Preston 3000 died, at Lancaster 3000, at Garstang 2000 and at Kirkham 3000. From the effects of this plague Lancashire was apparently slow to recover; its boroughs ceased to return members early in the 14th century and trade had not yet made any great advance. The drain of the Wars of the Roses on the county must also have been heavy, although none of the battles was fought within its borders; Lord Stanley’s force of 5000 raised in Lancashire and Cheshire virtually decided the battle of Bosworth Field. The poverty of the county is shown by the fact that out of £40,000 granted in 1504 by parliament to the king, Lancashire’s share was only £318. At the battle of Flodden (1513) the Lancashire archers led by Sir Edward Stanley almost totally destroyed the Highlanders on the right Scottish wing and greatly contributed to the victory. Under the Tudors the county prospered; the parliamentary boroughs once more began to return members, the towns increased in size, many halls were built by the gentry and trade increased.
In 1617 James I. visited Lancashire, and in consequence of a petition presented to him at Hoghton, complaining of the restrictions imposed upon Sunday amusements, he issued in 1618 the famous Book of Sports. Another of James’s works, the Daemonologie, is
