in the pedigree. The occurrences, however, in which he was an actor, are so circumstantially described as to leave no doubt of their having taken place in the early part of the reign of Henry II.; and it is by no means improbable, therefore, that the number of descents may be correctly given in the pedigree. Supposing this to be the case, the benefactor of Basingwerk Abbey must have been either the first or the second Robert Banastre. The second is the one to whom the petition assigns the building of Prestatyn Castle, of which part was still standing in the time of Edward I. The foundations of this little fortress may still be detected; Pennant describes them in the following terms:-"A little below Prestatyn mill, in a meadow, is the site of its castle; nothing more than an elevated space, with the foundations consisting of stone and mortar, and a foss at some distance from it, still remain." (Tour to Snowdon, p. 5.)

Henry II. had not been three years on the throne when he was obliged to take arms against the Welsh. His first expedition was into North Wales, in 1157, in which year he restored Basingwerk Castle, which had been destroyed in the time of King Stephen; the second was directed against South Wales; and the third against Powis.

In 1165, that formidable combination was formed between Rhys, prince of South Wales, Owain ap Gruffydh, surnamed Gwynedd, prince of North Wales, Owain Cyveiloc, and the Sons of Madoc ap Meredith, princes of Powis, when Owain Gwynedd took and levelled Basingwerk Castle.

In 1167, Owain Gwynedd, with Cadwaladr, his brother, and Rees, or Rhys, prince of South Wales, laid siege to the castle of Rhuddlan, which King Henry had lately fortified, and, after a siege of two months, rased it to the ground. They then took the castle of Prestatyn, which they also dismantled; and finally brought all Tegengel under Owain's subjection.

In 1169, Owen Gwynedd died; and in 1188, we find his son David entertaining Archbishop Baldwin, in Rhuddlan castle. David died in 1194, 5th Ric. I., and was succeeded by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth ap Owen, called the Elder. In his time, the Earl of Chester appears to have rebuilt Diganwy castle, and in 1212, King John penetrated by the coast road to Rhuddlan, and proceeded as far as Diganwy; but in 1214, Rhuddlan was retaken by Llewelyn. In 1245, Henry the ARCHEOL. CAMB. VOL. I.]

PP

Third reached Diganwy; but this castle was again destroyed by the Welsh in his reign; and it was not until 1277, 5th Edw. I., that a final cession of the cantref of Tegengel took place, when the younger Llewelyn sued for peace. Rhuddlan was now once more fortified, and though besieged in 1281, in the last rebellion of Llewelyn and his brother David, it did not then fall into the hands of the Welsh.

With the correction of dates furnished by this Chronology, we now proceed to translate from the old French, in which it is written, the petition, in which the restoration of his lands in Wales is claimed by the descendant and namesake of Robert Banastre.

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The petitioner therein stated, that in the time of his ancestor the second Robert Banastre, "Oweyn ab Gweynor" was Lord of Wales, and carried war through the land, King Richard being beyond seas; and took the king's castle of Rothelan," and drove from the land all the king's people. And "Robert le fiz Robert Banastre" lost all his land in Wales at this time, and led all his people "tut sa gent" from "Pr'statun" within the Dyke (Deke) into the county of Lancaster, where still they are called "les Westroys."

He adds, that there was war in all the time of Thurstan son of Robert, in the time of "Llewelyn le viel," and that since he himself has been lord of land the country has been in war, peace only now having been established. The pedigree is recited, and he prays our Lord the King for an inquest that may be held by English, who better would know the truth of his rights to the manor of Prestatun with the appurtenances at Englefield, since our Lord the King has already twice commanded that an inquest should be taken of his rights to the above-named manors, by English and Welsh jointly, saying that it would be against their franchises if all were not of the country who were on the inquest. By which the petitioner is delayed to his great damage, and for which he prays of our Lord the King remedy, if so it please him.

"Responsio. Declaret jus suum et seisinam suam vel antecessor' suorum."

A precept was thereupon issued to Gunceline de Badelesmere, justiciary of Chester, 24 Octo., 7 Edw. I., (1279), to

1 The western folk, as Surroy is a convertible term for southern, and Norroy for northern.

hold an inquisition on the claim of Robert Banastre to the manor of "Prestaton," with appurtenances, within our four cantreds in Wales, which manor then appeared to be in the tenure of Robert Crevequer, to ascertain on the spot, by the oath of good and lawful men, how it had come into the King's hands and those of his ancestors, and if the said Robt. Banastre have a right thereto, how it had become alienated from him or his ancestors.

The inquisition was accordingly held at "Prestanton," on Wednesday, "in festo Sce. Lucie Virginis," 8th Edw. I., (13th Dec. 1279,) before Gunceline de Badelesmere, then justice of Chester, Kenewrick ab Gronoci, then bailiff of Rothelan, Gronoi ab Heylyn, then Bailiff of Rhôs, and Griffin, Archdeacon of St. Asaph, and a jury of twenty-four, who by their names all appear to have been Welsh. They find, that as to the King's right, K. Richard, whom they call his "p'avus," possessed the manor aforesaid with the four cantreds, by right of conquest; and that K. Henry, to whom this manor descended, gave it to King Edward, at the same time that he granted to him the four cantreds, together with the Earldom of Chester. Of the right of Robert, if he have any therein, they say that King Richard gave the manor to Robert Banastre, forefather to the petitioner, and whose heir he is, who held it peaceably three years and a half, and built there a tower,1 (oppidum) of which a part yet stands; and as to the alienation of the said manor from Robert, they say that "Owanus Gewenet," then Prince of Wales, with his army violently ejected the said Robert the ancestor, and overthrew his castle.

It does not appear why Robert Banastre did not obtain restitution of his estate, but it is evident Robert de Crevequer kept possession. In 1281, one of the griefs of the men of Rhôs was, that he vexed Grono ap Heilyn, so that he could not go to Ruthlan or Chester without a great guard of his kinsfolk. Pennant labours under the idea that Crevequer derived his claim by descent from the Banastres; but we can find no authority for this. On the other hand, we know

1 Pennant, who evidently quotes this inquest at second hand from the Sebright MSS., translates oppidum as "the town." The petition, of which the verdict is an echo, uses the word "Tur." He does not appear to have detected the anachronism which makes Owen Gwynedd a contemporary of Richard, who did not come to the throne until about twenty years after Owen's decease.

that he was of a Norman family originally settled in Kent; and in the inquisition at his death, 10 Edw. II., it is stated, that he had obtained the grant of "Prestalton" in exchange for other lands.

At a later period, Sir Henry Conway married Angharad, heiress to Sir Hugh Crevecoeur, of Prestatyn, which continued in the possession of his family till the death of Sir John Conway, of Bod Rhyddan, Bart., in 1721, the last of the male line, when the estates were divided. 1 1 One of the coheiresses of Conway married Sir Thomas Longueville, Bart.; and the estate of Prestatyn is now vested in his descendant, Thomas Longueville Jones, Esq., (who has taken the surname of Longueville.)

2

We are led to infer that the Banastres had possessions in Lancashire before the date of their expulsion from Wales, in consequence of finding that Robert Banastre held the lordship of Walton in le Dale, with its appurtenances, Mellor, Eccleshill, Little Harwood, Over Darwen, and Lower Darwen, as one knight's fee, by charter of Henry de Laci, lord of Blackburn hundred; but we have found no record of their original grant of Newton in Makerfeld, which gave to this family and to their descendants the feudal title of baron.

The fee of Makerfeld appears in Domesday Book as Neweton hundred, and is mentioned still as a separate wapentake in the the time of Edward I., though it finally merged, as did the neighbouring hundred of Warrington, in that of West Derby.

"Neweton" is stated in the survey to contain five hides of land, whereof one was in demesne. The church of the manor (viz., Wigan) was endowed with one carucate, and the church of St. Oswald (viz., Winwick) had two carucates of land." The rest of the territory had been held by fifteen Drenchs for as many manors, being berewicks of the fee; and there

1 Pennant quoting the Salusbury pedigree. The manor of Walton le dale still possesses the peculiar privilege of having its own coroner.

3 The respective rectors of these large parishes are lords of the manor in the townships where their churches are situate. The parish of Wigan contains thirteen townships or chapelries, of which only four are without the fee of Makerfeld. Winwick contains as many, (some of them associated for municipal purposes,) and all but one are parcel of this barony. More than one of the townships in Warrington parish are also included within the same jurisdiction. Wigan was amongst the first boroughs sending representatives to Parliament. Newton returned two members from the first of Elizabeth until the passing of the reform Bill, when it was disfranchised.

were then six Drenchs,1 twelve villans, and four bordars, holding amongst them nine carucates.

This Hundred formed part of the great possessions which had been granted by the Conqueror to Roger of Poictou, and which he finally forfeited in the reign of Henry I. The whole district lying between the Ribble and the Mersey was, at the time of the survey, classed under the head of "Cestreschire"; and, not long after the forfeiture of Roger, we find that, with the exception of Blackburn hundred, it had fallen into the hands of the Earls of Chester.2

Within this territory Robert Banastre, after his expulsion from Wales, held not only the Barony of Newton in Makerfeld, but also Shevington, Charnoc, and Welsh Whittle." The host of Banastres soon after this time scattered over Lancashire, were doubtless a portion of the clan (“tut sa gent" of the petition,) which he brought with him on that occasion; but we have no evidence to affiliate any of them

1 These drenchs, like the thanes in West Derby hundred, had been tenants in chief to the Saxon king, who held in his own hand all South Lancashire. Their tenure, however, appears to have been by services of the baser sort, similar to those of villans, as were also those of the thanes in West Derby.

The antiquary Kuerden, anxious to claim for the county of Lancaster the rights of a palatinate from the earliest Norman period, accounts for Lancashire not appearing as a territorial division in Domesday Book by the circumstance of Earl Roger being under attainder at the date of the survey. The Commissioners were, therefore, he says, obliged to follow the bounds of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction for want of a temporal authority, and the dioceses of York and Lichfield (otherwise Chester) were divided by the Ribble. Without entering into this controversy, or the one as to whether the Ribble or the Mersey formed the division between Northumbria and Mercia, we may find a probable cause of the classification alluded to in the circumstance, that immediately prior to the conquest the lands between the Ribble and the Mersey were in the King's own hands, while those north of the Ribble were held by Earl Tosti. The Commissioners, therefore, were doubtless guided by the boundary of the ancient jurisdiction.

We have reason to believe that the county, as we now know it, was first constituted into an earldom when Henry III. endowed his son Edmund with the forfeited estates of the Earl of Ferrers (who had inherited the lands between the Ribble and Mersey from the Earls of Chester, in whose tenure they had been from the time of K. Stephen), as well as with the honour of Lancaster north of Ribble, which after Roger of Poictou's final attainder had been held successively by Stephen and his son William of Blois, and had afterwards been given by Richard I. to his brother John.

3 The township of Welsh Whittle may not improbably take its distinctive prefix from this immigration; an analogous instance of localities being named after the origin of their settlers, occurs in Amounderness, where the township of Lea was anciently divided into French-Lee and Lee-English.