at Betchton, there was another Hugh Broome, son of Geoffery, baptised at
Sandbach, 3rd March 1585. Possibly he may be the man who married
Margaret Twemlow, though in that case he was a very young bridegroom, unless
he was christened very late.
At any rate there was a connection between the Broomes of the Brook and
the Twemlows in the i8th century, as mentioned in Chapter HI. and Earwaker's
Sandbach, pp. 279 and 285.
To the information there given, I have only to add that Francis Twemlow's
note-book says that Mary Hilditch (the heroine of the elopement to Gretna Green
with Captain Francis Lowndes) was born 12th April 1755. It also contains a
number of payments made for her shoes, clothing, &c., and a doctor's bill,
shewing that she had smallpox in 1764.
George Twemlow of the Hill, by his will of 1808, left a sum of money in trust
for her and her children, the last instalment of which was paid over by Thomas
Twemlow of Peatswood to her trustees in 18 18.
The Brook Farm was on the old road between Cappers Lane and Dean
Hill, but the new road passes to the south of it, and on a higher level, so that
few people see the old house. The house must have been a very handsome one,
with a stone basement story, and half-timbered work above, the upper story
projecting beyond the lower. Some of the old windows remain, and are full of
interest as they have not been tampered with by restorers. The Betchton Manor
Rolls show that it was the property of the Broomes as late as 1790.
2. The Merriells, Merryells, or Merrills. These people were the
hereditary bailiffs of the Wilbraham portion of Betchton Manor. Ralph Merriell,
who was overseer of the will of John Twemlow the elder, was the son of John
Merriell, and was baptised in 1563. His tenement was at Hassall Green. The
old house has been turned into cottages, and the land goes with a new house
known as the " Fields Farm." It had belonged to a man named Hare in Henry
IV's time.^ Ralph Merriell took an active part in the legal proceedings of 1613,
giving evidence on behalf of the plaintiff, and making a distraint on one of the
defendants. Roger Wilbraham notes that on one occasion he allowed the
widow Lawton to take wood to which she had no right.
His son, John Merriell, was baptized in 1592. His wife's name was Cicely,
and she died in 1657. John lived to be 93, and died in 1685. Roger Wilbraham
valued him highly as an honest and faithful agent. In 1708 Merriell's tenement
was held by Richard Jackson.
3. The other overseer of John Twemlow's will was Richard Kettle. He
seems to have acted on behalf of the occupiers of land who bought up the
manorial rights of the Fittons, for the official transcript of part of the Fitton
title, which is dated 161 3, was issued by the Court on the request of Richard
Kettle. In 1605 he married Joan Shawe, and in 1608 his son Richard was
baptised. In 1629 he died, and his wife soon after.
I. Wilbraham M.S.S. at Delamere.
THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR IFIVES
The younger Richard Kettle's wife was named EHzabeth, and it seems
to me very certam that this couple were the builders of the interesting old house
known as the " Cross Farm," near Hassall Green. This house has «>k. carved
over the porch, and is thus identified as the Kettle tenement. Elizabeth Kettle
died in 1642. They had a son Randle baptized in 1636, and I think also a son
Richard. Richard Kettle was a lord of Betchton in 1681 and he died in 1694. A
Richard Kettle was a lord in 1708, and a Randle Kettle on the jury in 1731.
Afterwards the farm belonged to the Podmores, as already stated in Chapter VI.
It is now the property of Mr. Wakefield.
4. One of the witnesses of John Twemlow's will was Richard Steele.
Steele's tenement was on the road from Lawton Heath end to Day Green, just
beyond the point where a lane branches off from it and goes down the hill to the
higher Roughwood mill. There are two old timber houses still standing at the
spot, but no longer inhabited.
5. The last Chell of Chell's Hill died about 1676. Roger Wilbraham
records the fact, and the arrangements which he had made for the benefit of the
widow. She did not however remain there long, but was succeeded by a man
named Swaine. The Wilbraham widow's almshouses in Nantwich are endowed
by a rent charge on this farm.
6. There is an old timber house at Dean Hill, with "Randle Rode 1684"
carved upon it, which for some time belonged to the Levetts,' who succeeded the
Byrds.
This Randle Rode is probably the man who was found, at the court held for
the Betchton freeholders in 1 681, to be the heir of William Rode ; and therefore
born and bred in Betchton. Lysons, however in his " Magna Britannia,"^ says
that after the sale of Rode Hall in 1669 the Rodes removed to Betchton and
became extinct about 1740.
This is borne out by the M.S.S. at Delamere ; for amongst the fines
received by Roger Wilbraham previous to 1688, is one from Randle Rode ^^140.
Again in 1725 I find that " Mr. Randle Rode holds a tenement for two lives value
;C36 ; and in 1730 it is noted that Randle Rode died and his lease expired, and
that the farm was re-let for ^30 a year. The Randle Rode who sold Rode^ was
sixty-seven years old at the time ; and may very well have taken a lease from his
"cousin" Roger, and paid the fine of ;^i40 out of the proceeds of the sale of
Rode. The second Randle who died in 1730 may have been his son, or more
probably his grandson. It is clear at any rate that there were two sets of Rodes
in Betchton in the latter half of the 17th century; those of Dean Hill, and those
of the Wilbraham estate. I am not certain which farm on the Wilbraham estate
the Rodes had. It was the one which had previously been "Newton's."' In 1708
it was held by William Rode.
1. The Levett familv of Milford, near Stafford.
2. Vol. II., part 2, p. 389.
3. Ormerod, Vol. III., 53.
4. Wilbraham M.S.S. at Delamere.
154 THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR TFIVES 6- THEIR HOMES.
7. The Harderns, were in 1904 still at Betchton Farm, the largest on
Mr. Wilbraham's Betchton estate: and perhaps were descended from Roger
Hardern who was the third largest contributor on the Betchton Subsidy Roll of
1545. They have not however been on the farm continuously, as it was held by
the Lawtons during most of the 17th century, and afterwards by a man named
Skerratt. But they seem to have been there in 1745. And the old timber house
with its thatched roof, and the pewter plates and dishes, so recently as 1904,
remained as relics of the 17th century ; but they are now gone.
8. ^Stanway's tenement, where Randle Stanway lived in 161 1, was next
door to Merriell's on the way from Hassall Green to Malkins Bank. But I do
not think that this could have been "Stanwaie House," which is mentioned in the
Sandbach registers several times, and also in the Betchton Court Roll of 1681,
which also refers to Stanway House Bridge. Stanwaie House must have been
somewhere on the lane which leads from the main road to Malkins Bank, skirting
the vicarage garden; and which is still known as "Stanners House Lane."
9. The Jacksons of Thurlwood were a very old Betchton family. I do not
know whether the Jacksons who owned Betchton House in the i8th century, and
several of whom were in orders, were descended from them. Very possibly it
may be so ; for in a paper at Delamere of the date of 1681 there is mention made
of a Rev. Richard Jackson, son of John Jackson of Thurlwood. Richard Jackson
is mentioned in ;^the Inq. p.m. of John Davenport 1557. John Jackson is
mentioned in John Twemlow's will of 162 1 as being his godson.
10. The Shawes of Betchton are legion. Five of them were defendants in
the lawsuit of 161 2. William Shawe kept the "Noon Sun" public house in 1708.
I do not know where this was, unless it was the house (still standing), where the
old road from Capper's Lane to Dean Hill z/ia the Brook Farm crossed the lane
leading from Hassall Green to Betchton house. When the road was altered, this
house was superseded by the present "New Inn."
I. Stanway's lease of 1646 will be found in Appendix D. ii.
THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR JVJVES &- THEIR HOMES.
2. ARCLYD.
My information about the Brook House at Arclyd, now no longer in
existence, is extremely meagre. The site of it was pointed out to me by my
father long ago ; and a labourer has since told me that he had turned up bricks
there when ploughing.
The house stood about a quarter of a mile from the present Sandbach and
Congleton Union Workhouse, on the north-west side of the road leading from it
to Sandbach, near the brook from which it took its name, and close to the point
where the road comes out of a cutting with wooded banks.
The farm was in 1874 not much more than 120 acres, but some land was
very probably sold off before that time, and the house must have been very
similar in its main features to the one at Betchton, before the latter was added to
in Queen Anne's reign. All that I have learnt about it is gathered from the
inventory of George Twemlow's will dated 28th December 1704. This
mentioned the "dwelling-house" (or house-place), the parlour, the dining-place,
pantry, cellar, and kitchen, and various chambers above, the stairs apparently
going up from the house-place. When it was built there is no evidence to show.
Ormerod says (Vol. III. 177), that the estate of the Twemlow's in Arclyd
was originally purchased by William Lingard, 9 Jac. I.' This may be true,
though it seems certain that the Lingards were settled in Arclyd long before that
time (See Chap. VII.). For it is not unlikely that they were in the first instance
leaseholders only, and that William Lingard in 161 1 bought the freehold just as
so many of his neighbours in Betchton and Sandbach were doing at the same
time. (See Earwaker's Sandbach p. 8).
In the round room at the Public Record Office there is a set of manuscript
volumes known as the Cheshire " Docket Books," in which a record of fines and
recoveries was kept.
Looking through these in March 1908, I found that in the month of April
in the tenth year of James ist, William Lyngard was demandant and John Brayne
and Margery Brayne his wife, and John Brayne junior were deforciants of lands m
"Ardyde." The loth year of King James began 24th March 1613, so that this
entry agrees perfectly with Ormerod's statement, and shows that the fine which
secured the estate to the purchaser was levied with all convenient despatch.
The Braynes were an old Cheshire family, and belonged to Aston-in-
Mondrem, near Nantwich. Ormerod III. 364.
There are three deeds in the British Museum (additional charters 37,299 to
37,301), dated between 1612 and 1616, to which he was a party. By one of these
he conveys certain corn tithes in Arclyd to John Baddeley, yeoman of the same
place. By the other two he and John Baddeley conveyed certain other tithes
in Arclyde to Margerie Leake, and these deeds show, at any rate, that William
Lingard was busy in the Arclyd property market at this particular time.
I. King James' reign began 24th March 1603.
IS6 TRE TWEMLOWS: THEIR WIVES &' THEIR HOMES.
Ormerod says that from the time of the marriage of George Twemlow and
Mary Lingard down to the time when he wrote, the Arclyd estate had been in
settlement.
At some time in the i8th century the ancient half-timbered house was burnt
down, and a new farmhouse was built on a different site, which has been since
occupied by tenants.
This house stands at the point where the road from Sandbach to Congleton
crosses the old London and Liverpool coach road, in the south-east angle formed
by the intersection of the two roads.
I visited it in March 1905, and as it was then vacant, I was able to inspect
it thoroughly.
It is a plain brick house three storeys high, consisting of two parlours
facing the coach road, with an entrance hall and staircase between them, and a
tail consisting of kitchen and pantries at the back. In general arrangement it
resembles the house on the upper Casde Farm at Tyrley, which was finished
about the year 1777. The brickwork is rather rough and coarse, and the roof of
low pitch and slated. The old windows and mantelpieces have been replaced by
modern ones, and there is little to give a clue to the date of the house. The only
peculiar feature is the staircase window at the back, which is very long and
narrow, extending over nearly the whole height of the house, and divided by
several transoms. I know of two like it, one at Cannon House, Hanley,
described in Part IIL of this Chapter ; the other at Weston Hall near Standon,
described in Part V. And both of these windows may be safely ascribed to my
great grandfather Thomas Twemlow and his brother George, and dated between
1765 and 1780.
The parlour doors have some character about them, their panels are raised,
but the mouldings are small and have fillets, and belong to the time between
1775 and 1780.
The farm buildings are on a liberal scale, in one long range, with the stable
nearest the house, barn at the furthest end, and cowhouse in between them.
Some of the loft beams are of oak, with old mortice holes in them, and it is
evident that they came from the more ancient house or buildings. One of the
attics also had some lead lattice glazing with diamond panes about two inches
square, which must also have come from the earlier house. This I was able to
obtain, and it is now in the larder of the bailiff's house at Peatswood, the only
relic of Arclyd that I possess.
The last George Twemlow of Arclyd, who died in 1778, made a will (see
Appendix C. v.) by which he devised "All that my messuage farm or tenement
situate lying and being in Artclid in the said County of Chester and in the tenure
or occupation of the said Thomas Pickering as tenant to or under me with the
lands grounds tythes hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging
(formerly purchased by me from the Rt. Honble. the Earl of Cholmondeley and
his son or one of them or his or their trustee or trustees) unto my said grandson
Thomas Twemlow of Leverpoole his heirs and assigns for ever." This is
THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR WIVES &- THEIR HOMES. 15;
somewhat ambiguous, and leaves one in doubt whether the property referred to
was the whole of George's possessions in Arclyd including the land which came
to his grandfather and namesake in 1654 through his marriage with Mary
Lingard ; or whether on the other hand the passage in the will only refers to the
land purchased by George himself from Lord Cholmondeley, the old land being
in settlement, and therefore outside the scope of the will.
In the list of Arclyd freeholders of 1671 (Harl. M.S.S. 2,010) the name of
Robert Lord Cholmondeley occurs, next to that of George Twemlow. It seems
likely therefore that the properties adjoined. The Cholmondeleys seem to have
been selling outlying property in this part of Cheshire about the middle of the
i8th century. Galley's tenement in Alsager was sold by them to "Counsellor"
Wilbraham in 1746.
In the absence of further information we are left in doubt as to whether the
present house and buildings were put up by old George, with the help of his sons,
before 1778; or whether they were erected by his successor. And further, we
are unable to say whether his successor was his son John of Macclesfield, or his
grandson Thomas of Liverpool.
William Hamilton Twemlow, the son of this Thomas sold his Arclyd land in
1874 (see Chapter VI). It was cut up into lots, and only about 40 acres are held
with the house and buildings at the present time.
My father considered whether he should buy the land and keep it in the
family ; but wisely decided not to do so. There is nothing interesting or
attractive about the place, and it is dominated and overshadowed by the big ugly
workhouse buildings which adjoin it.
Note ox Arclyd Families.
In 167 1 there were six freeholders in Arclyd, viz: "Roger Berrington,
William Turner, George Twemlow, Robert Lord Cholmondeley, Thomas
Mainwaring of Calveley, gent., and John Furnivall of Betchton, late George
Mainwaring of Arclyd gentlemen." Harl. M.S.S. 2010.
As to these, R. Berrin(;ton may have been a cadet of the Bradwall family,
and he may have been related to Ellen Berrington who married William Lingard
in 161 1. He was not a resident in Arclyd.
William Turner may have been descended from Katherine Turner, sister
of William Lingard Rector of Warmincham. He may have been one of the
family of that name who lived at the Lyn-house.
George Twemlow owned the " Brook," in right of Mary his wife.
Lord Ciiolmondeley's property in Arclyd seems to have been bought by
the second George Twemlow of Arclyd probably about 1740. (See George
Twemlow's will.)
Thonl\s Mainwaring of Calveley owned "Leake's tenement," and sold it
28th December 1695, to Thomas Moore. Additional charters, British Museum,
Nos. 37308 and 37309. The second deed is witnessed by John Twemlow, son of
the first George Twemlow of Arclyd.
IS8 THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR WIVES &• THEIR HOMES.
George Mainwaring's estate was sold 4th April 1674, by Edward Mainwaring
of Wrexham, to John Furnival for ^1040. Additional charters, 37302.
With regard to the occupiers — in 161 2 Margerie Leake, a widow, was a
resident there, no doubt at Leake's tenement. We know that the Lingards were
there, also a man named John Baddeley, and others named Corker and Goodhynd.
In 1664 the hearth tax returns give only 17 chimneys for the whole township of
Arclyd. Besides George Twemlow and his mother-in-law Mary Lingard, I find
John Leake (no doubt at Leake's tenement) John Smallwood (no doubt at Arclyd
Hall, as he had four chimneys), John Stretch^ (as to whom I know nothing), and
William Twemlow. This last man I suppose lived at Arclyd Green, about a
quarter of a mile from the " Brook," and near Arclyd Hall. There were Twemlows
of Arclyd Green for a hundred years or so from 1660 onwards ; and it requires
some little care to keep them separated from the family at the " Brook." This
William died in 1692, and John Twemlow, perhaps his son, was buried 25th May
1703; another John, perhaps a grandson of William, was married 30th December
1713 to Jane Broome of Betchton, at Holmes Chapel. He died in 1761.^
When George Twemlow left Arclyd and went to Shelton, he would naturally
take with him some of his most cherished possessions. Amongst these were, as
I suppose, three very fine old chests. And these seem to have been handed over
to his sons Thomas and George and by them removed to the Hill in 1788. When
my father went to live at the Hill in 1863, he found them put away in a lumber
room ; and had them repaired and brought downstairs. They are at present the
property of Mrs. Kennedy, of Brookside near Sandbach. One of these chests has
LT. cut upon it ; and I take it to be the fine linen chest mentioned in the will of
John Twemlow of Betchton, dated 1659. Another one which is richly carved,
probably belonged to William Lingard rector of Warmincham, and was by his
will, dated 1620, bequeathed to William Lingard the younger of Arclyd, and
described as "the pillowchest in my chamber."
"Chests" are mentioned in the administration papers of William Lingard
of Arclyd, dated 1647. Also in George Twemlow's inventory of 1704 three chests
occur, two in the parlour, and one in the little chamber.
1. Katherine Lingard, daughter of John, married Joseph Stretch, igth April 1592. Hannah
Twemlow, daughter of John Twemlow, of Arclyd, married Thomas Stretch some time after
1724, and had a son Samuel living 1759. See Chap. III.
2. See Earwaker's Sandbach, 41 and 180.
THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR WIVES &- THEIR HOMES.
3. SHELTON.
The house, which was built by George and Thomas Twemlow at Shehon
is still to be seen. It is known by the name of " Cannon House," and stands
back from Cannon Street, in its own grounds.
'Ford's China Works, which were built in 1865, adjoin it on the south side,
and occupy the site of the older works.
Cannon House has for more than sixty years belonged to a family named
Moxon, and Mrs. Moxon, the present owner, kindly allowed me to see it, and
gave me much information about it. Beyond having had new windows and doors
the house has been but little changed externally since it was first built. It is of
red brick, with stone dressings ; the drawing-room and dining-room face the
front, with a west aspect, and behind the drawing room come the study and
kitchen offices. The front doorway is of stone, with a Doric frieze and compass
pediment, and the house has a handsome stone cornice with modillions, and lead
spout-heads with foliage.
Inside there is a good staircase, and the bedrooms retain their old chimney-
pieces and plaster cornices. In the downstair rooms these have been renewed,
and a tile floor has been substituted for the original stone one in the entrance
hall. But the old oak floors remain in excellent condition, both upstairs and
down, and also a good deal of the inside carpentry. The staircase has a
modillion cornice of plaster, and from the character of the mouldings I should
guess the house to be not later than 1770. Mrs. Moxon told me that it was built
in Thomas Twemlow's bachelor days, and he married first in 1770. The
staircase window goes from the top of the house to the bottom, like those at the
present Brook House, Arclyd, and at Weston Hall, near Standon. The one at
Cannon House has a pointed arch, which the other two have not. It has been
fitted with stained glass in modern times.
Altogether the arrangement of the house is very much like that of the Hill
before it was altered in 1873, and it probably had more land with it originally
than it has at present.
I suspect that some of the mahogany furniture, which was afterwards at
the Hill, was originally here.
The site of the house and works was purchased by George and Thomas
Twemlow, 9th January 1760.^ It is copyhold land of the manor of Newcasde-
under-Lyme, which belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster. Part was occupied by
works, which had formerly belonged to Warner Edwards. Simeon Shaw in his
History of the Potteries, says that this Edwards had considerable chemical
knowledge, and was the great authority of his time on potters' colours.^ He died
about 1753. George and Thomas Twemlow were already in possession of these
works in January 1760; but I do not know how long they had been there.
Probably not very long, for at that time George was only twenty-three years old,
and Thomas twenty-one.
1. Staffs. "Sentinel," 28th Feb. 1880.
2. Abstract furnished by Mrs. Moxon.
3. Shaw's "History of the Potteries," Edn. of 1900, 167.
i6o THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR WIVES 6^ THEIR HOMES.
The land was surrendered to them by John Middleton, clerk, and Joseph
Knight, gentleman.^ This John Middleton'' was the first clergyman of Hanley
Church, and had been Warner Edwards " secret partner." The part not
covered by the works is described as the meadow, called "the Lower Handley
Hill " or "Workhouse Croft," then in the holding of Sympson Chatterley.
George and Thomas bought the Hill, near Sandbach, in 1788, and went to
live there soon afterwards. But they did not sell their Shelton property till 1800,
when Samuel Grey Simpson bought it from them. It would seem that in the
interval their nephew John (son of John Twemlow of Macclesfield) lived at
Shelton, and carried on the business. In a deed of 1793^ he is described as of
Shelton, potter; and he was "mock-mayor" of Hanley, in 1795. (See
Chapter VI.) After 1800 he found other employment.
In the map of the Potteries attached to the directory published by J. Albert
and Son in 1802, these works appear to be those which are numbered 90, and
stated to be in the occupation of Simpson and Wright. In 1829 when Simeon
Shaw wrote his book, they were being carried on by Messrs. J. and W.
Ridgeway.
1. Abstract furnished by Mrs. Moxon.
2. For anecdotes of Mr. Middleton, see Ward's "History of Stoke-on-Trent."
3. Schedule of Deeds attached to an agreement between George Twemlow and his nephew Thomas
Twemlow, dated 1804, at Peatswood.
I62
THE TWEMLOWS: THEIR WIVES 6- THEIR HOMES.
J TM.c >^oA J I v//.;?-^ f{^''ihfi> 1
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THE TWEMWWS: THEIR WIVES dr THEIR HOMES.
4. THE HILL NEAR SANDBACH.
I have already in Chapter IV. given some account of this place as I
remember it before i860. At that time anyone looking at it from the south would
have seen an old-fashioned red brick house, with pilasters and inside chimneys,
and with its green slate roof enclosed in parapet walls and stone-coped gables,
the water being carried off by large lead down spouts, one bearing on its head the
initials T.G., and the date 1733. The house stood back from the high road, with