The Crombleholme / Sherburne Marriages

From the well established Crombleholme of Dutton family, the three children of Richard Crombleholme [Cro0058], (c1518-1588) gentleman of Dutton, would be the generation that established the families of Long Preston and Crombleholme Fold in Goosnargh.

Two of the three children married into the locally important Sherburn family thus increasing the family's local status and wealth.

Their father, Richard Crombleholme [Cro0058] was born in Dutton about 1518 and nothing is known about his wife Elizabeth (nee ???) [Cro0059] or their marriage. He died in 1588 in Dutton holding Huntingdon of the Queen by 1/100 part of a Knight's fee. Unfortunately, the exact birth dates of his three children are not known but it appears that :

Margaret Crombleholme [Cro0063] His daughter seems to have been the oldest of the three children as she married Robert Sherburne of Chippingdale and Wolfhouse, near Chipping, the son of Roger Sherburne of Wolfhouse in about 1600. She would have thus been born c 1575 / 80. They had four sons Roger, Hugh, Henry & Robert Sherburne.

Richard Crombleholme [Cro0064] the eldest son was born at Huntingdon in Dutton and was only 7 years old when his father died, so his birth year was 1581. He married Tryphena (nee Bymsome) [Cro0059] on 11th February 1601 (aged 20) at Standish and in 1609 granted lands out. As eldest son, he inherited the estate in the Dutton area and he built or substantially altered / enlarged Huntingdon Hall in Dutton and recorded the fact by putting his initials "R 1619 C" over the front doorway. His wife died in 1628 and he died a few years later c1637 leaving some 8 children who continued the Dutton family line.

William Crombleholme [Cro0390] (c1585 - c1639) the younger son was born in Dutton but later moved to Long Preston across the border in Yorkshire. He married firstly Jane (nee ?? ) [Cro0391] in about 1615 / 20 and it is thought that they had an (unknown) daughter who later married into the Stirzaker family but no children have been found and Jane (nee ???) [Cro0391] died young as the Long Preston register records her burial on 12th May 1623.

c1624 : William Crombleholme [Cro0390] then remarried - the record has not been found as yet but his second wife was almost certainly Katherine (nee Shireburne) [Cro0111] (1604-1645), the daughter of Roger Shireburn of nearby Buckley.

William Crombleholme [Cro0390] would have been about 39 years old and his wife Katherine (nee Shirburne) [111] much younger at about 20 years old as her baptism is recorded on 3rd January 1604.

Katherine (nee Sherburne) [111] 's brother Richard Sherburne had no heirs but made bequests in 1672 to his kinsfolk as detailed below.

Katherine (nee Sherburne) [111] was remarried (after William Crombleholme [390]'s death in c1639) to George Benson on 22nd July 1640. They had three children, James Benson (b. 1641); Ann Benson (b.1642) and George Benson (jnr (b1643 d 1647). An unnamed child was buried on 29th November 1644 and Katherine herself died only 21/2 months later perhaps due to complications relating to the child birth.

Roger Sherburne was the son of Richard Sherburne and married Isabella (nee ??). Their son Richard was born 1599-1600 and their daughter Katherine [111] was baptised on 3rd January 1604. Richard Sherburne married Alice (nee ??) but they had no children. She died in 1673.

Richard Sherburne gent of Buckley built Buckley Hall with the inscription on the front elevation :

NEW . BVCKLEY . IS . MY . NAME . RIC. SHERBVRNE . BVILT . THE . SAME : ANNO . 1662 AGED . 62 :

He died in 1673 and in his will dated 20th June 1673 : Left all his lands to be divided into four parts (his slate delph (quarry) at Buckley excepted) among his kinsfolk,

Roger Crombleholme, James Benson, Ann Benson and Richard & Tabitha Moodie.

To Richard Sherburne of Stonyhurst Esq, he left his slate delph at Buckley, upon payment of £500 to Roger Crombleholme [97] etc; and of £400 to his kinsman Sherburne Crombleholme.[105 / 211 ??]

To his cousin Alice Parkinson, wife of John Walkenden £20; to Richard Sherburne Esq and his wife; to his cousin Ann Townley, wife of Robert Edmondson ogf Heigham; to his cousin, Katherine Lawde, wife of Christopher Parker of Bredkirk; to his sister Maude, wife of Thomas Seede of Chesbanke, each a gold ring.

Other bequests were : 5s each to all godchildren: servants 20s each; his sister wife of William Johnson of Rawcliffe, 20s for a ring: his cousin Richard Crombleholme [103], a watch; his cousin James Lawde of Kirkham 20s; his cousin Henry Turnley 20s; and his cousin John Parkinson if Dolphinholme 20s. He desired to be buried in the quire at Chipping "belonging to my cousin Robert Sherburne of Wolfhouse (my grandfather having been the owner of the said house). The inventory dated 14th January 1674 amounted to £446.

Wolfhouse :

Location : OS Grid Ref : SD 60394 44830; [Lat 53.898120 Long -2.6042116]

Norse farming communities established themselves in this area and Parlick Hill was thus named - "Pyre-lich" being a place of fire worship. Parlick was later a beacon hill. At the foot of the hill, there are small farms and one much larger one - Wolfen Hall. The first Wolfen Hall or Wolfhouse (locally the farm and fell were called "woofus") was there in the C13th and before that a shelter from which watchers gave warning of the approach of wolves. Wolves were a real menace in the early days of the area and it is thought that the last ones were not exterminated until c1500. This date is supported by the first records of sheep being kept in the area.

An article (in the 1991 Longer Sen *) suggests that the last wolf lair was in an area of loose rocks caused by a large landslide on the south side of Wolf Fell above the farms. The local cattle of the area in earlier times were long horned with thick hides and shaggy hair very hardy and able to withstand severe weather and the wolves. Wild boars were also in the area and they were regarded as game for the local gentry landowners to hunt.

The Knoll family came here in the C13th and for their lands "between Lude and Black Lake", they paid Robert of Chipping "One pair of gloves at the feast of St Giles". Later in the C14th, they became Lords of the Manor of Chipping and the Court Baron was held in the Manor house. At this period, the parish was suffering from the depredations of Scots raiders who laid waste and destroyed as they passed through the dale. The most severe raid by the Scots was in July 1322 when Robert Bruce rounded up all the best cattle before returning over the border with his plunder.

Later with the marriage between the Shireburne and the Knoll families , a branch of the Sherburne family (cousins of the Stonyhurst family ?) came to Wolf House claiming the manor of Chipping for their own and continuing the manorial courts at their dwelling. The De Hoghtons also claimed manorial rights and Black Hall as their manor house. This led to disputes for generations and divided loyalties amongst the Chipping population. Chipping was held from the Earls of Derby and when war was imminent in 1553, messages came from Wolf House with letters from Knowsley with commands for Roger Shireburn. (Source : Lancashire Fairface - Lofthouse p148/9 and Miscellany by the Chipping Local History Soc 1993 - online)

The Wolf Hall Estate occupied most of the whole of the north end of Chipping township, except Parlick which remained as Chipping's common. The original house and farmyard are understood to be on the site of the present Wolfen Hall . The demesne mill (now Wolfen Mill) was at the southern boundary of the estate.

There is an interesting account of Roger Shireburne of Wolf Hall (from source below with original taken from Lanc CRO ref DDst.uncatalogued (in 1989). He was the father of Robert Shireburne who married Margaret Crombleholme [Cro0063] in about 1600. In 1574, the tenants of Roger Shireburne of Wolf Hall unanimously gave their "free consent and assent" to a list of Roger's orders :

Disputes had to be settled within the estate by Roger himself and any tenant who approached any of the Queen's courts without his permission had to pay him 6s 8d (about 1/2 year's rent !). Roger required a similar fine from anyone fighting or brawling - in addition to any penalty imposed by the Crown.

There is a list of the tenants in 1574 but no Crombleholme families are noted. These tenants had to render annual service to Roger "as of olde and ancyente tyme" by working free for 1 or 2 days undertaking various tasks including ploughing, harrowing, ditching, turf cutting, mowing and haymaking, shearing and maintaining boundary fences in the spring.

(Source : Information extracted from Longer Sen - a miscellany by Chipping Local History Society 1989-1991)