William (Dalton) of Bispham (bef. 1513 - abt. 1543)

Born before 1513 in Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Jane Towneley — married 1538 in Witney, Oxfordshire, England

Descendants

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Biography

William Dalton (alias Dutton),^[1] esq. of Bispham, co. Lancs., was the s. & h. of:^[2]

• Roger Dalton, esq. of Byspahm, co. Lancs.,^[2] (living 1482 & 1520),^[3]
• and ..., dau. of ... Radcliffe of ...^[2][4]

William was alive in 1520 and 1533 but dead before 1558, when his widow Joan and Robert Dalton of Bispham, sold the "fourth part of the manor of Croston with all other their hereditaments," to Sir Thomas Hesketh.^[3]

By Rodney G. Dalton -- William Dalton, was born at Bispham Manor, co. Lanc. in 1513. With William we reach the second of those much larger families which distinguish the Daltons of the Tudor period.

In 1533 William Dalton “demised to Thomas Hough an acre of the hill and half an acre in the town meadow in Croston”

Marriage

William married twice. His first wife is said to be Margaret Mary or Maud Tarbock.^[1] He remarried to Jane Townley.^[2]

Tarbock

m.1 Margaret, dau. of Sir William Tarbock or Torbock of Tarbock (d. 05 May 1505).^[1][5][6]

Towneley

m.2 Jane (living 1558),^[3] daughter of Sir John Towneley.^[2][5]

Some documents claim Jane was illegitimate. In the Chetham Society’s publication dealing with the Visitation of Lancashire in 1533, the Towneley pedigree shows Sir John Towneley married one daughter into the Hesketh family; another to a Shirburne, and a third to a Banastre.

children

William and Jane Towneley had at least eight children. Their daughters are named in his will, along with their younger son Richard.

sons:

• 1. Robert, esq. of Thurnham (dsp 1578, will 1578), sold the Bispham estate to William Stopford in 1558.^[7][8]

m. Anne Kytchn.^[2][9]

• 2. Thomas, esq. of Thurnham^[10]

m. Anne, dau. of Richard Molyneux, Earl of Sefton. ^[2]

• Roger^[2]
• Richard.^[11]

daughters (named in will):

1. Jane
2. Margery
3. Anne m. ... Westmer.^{[citation needed]}
4. Margaret

Will

• Date: 28 Nov 1543

The Will of William Dalton, son of Roger Dalton of Croston: by R.N.D. Hamilton of the DGS.

William of Bispham, elder son of Roger Dalton by his first marriage, must have continued to hold the Croston property, under some settlement of it. His second wife Jane is described as the “bass’ daughter of Sir John Towneley, ... another important Lancashire family.

However, in the addenda and corrigenda in the volume of the Harleian Society in which the pedigree appears, there is a note that Jane Towneley is not called a base daughter in Vis. of Lancs., 1613,^[2] where the issue of her son Thomas is given.

Also ... in the pedigree, William’s aunt Ellen, was described as Lady Garter. It is noted in the addenda and corrigenda that she married twice:

1. ... of Rigbys and
2. Sir Christopher Barker, Garter, King-at-Arms.

There is a copy of William’s will in the Towneley manuscripts held in the Manuscripts Department of the British Library, where I have inspected it. It is in a bound volume and is numbered 1474 in that volume. There is a note at the front of the volume, Evidences of Lancashire Gentry, and the manuscripts were purchased at a sale at Sotheby’s in 1883. I noticed that besides the will there were other documents containing the name Dalton, but I did not have time to note them, particularly as sow at least were in Latin, though William’s will itself was in English.

text

The will reads:

“ In the name of god Amen. I William Dalton of Bispham in ye County of Lancs. Esq. 28th November in the year of Henry VIII ye 35th and in the year of our lord 1543 my testament and last will duly made in manner and form following first I ordayne Jane my wife my Executrix.

Also I give unto Richard my youngest some all my portion of goods which remain over and above my debts and funeral expenses.

Also I will yt that my said wife by the decease of Richard Radcliffe myne Uncle shall have all the goods which I ought to have.

Also I will yt that my said wife shall bestowe such sums of money as she shall receive for the marriage of my son and heir up on the marriage of my four daughters:

1. Jane
2. Margery
3. Anne
4. and Margaret.

And also I ordayne Sir Henry Ffaryngton, Knight and Raufe Bradshaws, Esq. to be supervisors of this my said will and to the same I have sett my seale and subscribed my name the day and year first above written.

These being witnesses, Alexander Hoghton, Sir Robert (?) John Waddington, Thomas Bowker, Ann (?) and Thomas Rydinge”

There were two names, which I was unable to decipher. There is no mention in the will of the manor of Bispham or any other lands. These would probably have descended under the terms of some settlement or the law of inheritance of land.

William’s mother was the daughter of [Sir John] Ratclyffe^{[citation needed][4]} and it looks as though his uncle Richard Radcliffe had died, but the distribution of goods under his will had not yet be en carried out at William’s death.

It would look from the pedigree as though his daughters Jane and Margery were daughters of the first marriage and Anne the daughter of the second marriage, while Margaret is not specifically shown but may have been one of the “3 others” of the first marriage, particularly as the first wife’s name was Margaret.

However, there is small pedigree in the margin to the manuscript containing the copy will showing them all as daughters of the second marriage. There is no mention in the will of any sons of the first marriage and no mention in the will of the first and second sons of the second marriage, possibly because they were considered adequately provided for by the settlements of land as Robert the eldest, who established the Thurnham estate and sold Bispham and Croston, almost certainly was. Sir Henry Ffaryngton is appointed supervisor as he was in William’s fathers will. It is particularly interesting to see that Alexander Hoghton is a witness to the will for the Hoghton’s were another important Lancashire family, living at Hoghton Tower five miles east of Preston.

Note

• Sanborn and Sanborn say this couple married "before 1545, " but it appears this may be a typo since all 3 children were born by 1540. Sanborn, George F. and Melinde Lutz, "The Dalton Cluster," (N.E.H.&G.R., July 2000), vol, 154, pgs. 259-289, at pg. 280.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Richardson, D. "Margaret Stanley," in Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 498. Google Books.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} "Dalton, Harl MS 1437, fo. 32b.," in Vis. of Lancs., 1613, p. 32. Archive.org. eBook.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "Townships: Croston." A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Eds. William Farrer, and J Brownbill. London: Victoria County History, 1911. 91-96. British History Online. Web. 6 July 2020. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp91-96.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} DISPUTED ID OF MOTHER
   • Anne, dau. of Sir John Radcliffe.
   • Anne, dau. of Hugh Radcliffe, gent., wife of Roger Dalton and mother of William Dalton, ("File 779," in Early Chancery Proceedings).[1]
   • UNKNOWN, dau. of UNKNOWN Radcliffe (Radclyff) of Wymerley. Wife of Roger Dalton, esq. of Bispham, co. Lancs., and mother of s. & h. William Dalton, who married Jane, dau. of Sir John Townley of Townley, (Vis. of Lancs., 1613).[2]
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancs. & Chesh., 1892, 42, p. 100. Google Books.
6. ↑ Gregson gives Dalton of Bispham among the Torbrock alliances, but in spite of the seven children born to them, none left descendants. (see Vis. of Lancs., 1613).
7. ↑ "Townships: Bispham." A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Eds. William Farrer, and J Brownbill. London: Victoria County History, 1911. 100-102. British History Online. Web. 5 July 2020. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp100-102.
8. ↑ When William Dalton died in 1543, there devolved on his eldest son, Robert, the care of his widowed mother (Jane) and the younger members of the family. Trouble and change were before them, due to their Roman Catholic faith, and severe penalties on its adherents. The Reformation begun under Henry VIII had involved, with the suppression of the Monasteries in 1536 and 1539, not only religious difficulties, but immense changes in land ownership, since thousands of acres and a vast amount of real property were thrown back into the hands of the Crown, and by it sold or leased to new owners.
9. ↑ "Dalton, Robert of Thurnham, esq., will 1578.," in Lancs. will of Archdeaconry of Richmond. Record Society for the Publication of Original Documents relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, 1879, p. 85. Archive.org. eBook.
10. ↑ This was a family “among the oldest of our Norman houses.” Sir Richard Molyneux, father of Thomas’wife, was at the coronation of Queen Mary in 1553. Lord Byron was among the descendants of this family.
11. ↑ Richard is descirbed as his William's "youngest," in his William Dalton's will. He is not listed in Vis. of Lancs., 1613.[3]

See Also...

• George F Sanborn Jr, Melinde Lutz Sanborn Title: The Dalton Cluster: Timothy Dalton, Philemon Dalton, Richard Everard, and Deborah Everard Blake Abbreviation: The Dalton Cluster: Timothy Dalton, Philemon Dalton, Richard Everard, and Deborah Everard Blake Publication: The New England Historic and Genealogical Register, Vol 154, July 2000
• http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=15949597&pid=422307760
• Dead link: The Biography of William Dalton Ancestry.com. Web.