[subsequently granted by the deed which contains such covenant], for the term of "the naturall and severall life and lives of Lidia, Martha, and Elizabeth, daughters of the said John Lever, and of the survivor of them, under the yearly rent of four shillings and eight pence," the same rent to grow "due and payable unto the said John Dorning" [the grantee or purchaser named in the earliest existing title deed, next described], "his heirs and assigns, during the continuance of the said lease" [of 1680]. Lydia, daughter of the Rev. John Lever, one of the lives, became the wife of Peter Dorning, and mother of John Dorning, who became the purchaser of the Bradshawgate property. She died 12th September, 1711.

The Rev. John Lever ("John Lever, clerk "), the lessee of 1680, must not be confounded with his clerical namesake and contemporary, the Rev. John Lever, vicar of the parish of Bolton from the year 1673 to the year 1691. Few Boltonians of the present day are aware that the lessee of 1680 was none other than the Rev. John Lever, the ejected minister of Cockey Moor Chapel in the adjoining parish of Middleton, who subsequently succeeded the Rev. Richard Goodwin, the ejected vicar of Bolton, as minister of the congregation which in those days of non-conformity worshipped at "The Meeting House," now part of the Old Wool Pack Inn, in Deansgate, Bolton, and who died 4th July, 1692. He was born in Bolton, and it is believed that the event occurred in the same 66 'messuage, burgage, or dwelling-house "* of which in 1860 he became the lessee-the relic of which we now write. His tombstone,† to be seen in Bolton parish churchyard, besides covering the remains of two of

* "In 1672 he (Rev. John Lever) preached to a good number in his own house."Calamy.

+ His tombstone may be seen in Bolton parish churchyard, on the south side of the new church. A few yards from it—in the thirteenth row from the Old Grammar School wall, ninth stone from the south side of the church-is the tombstone of his namesake, the Rev. John Lever, vicar of Bolton, who died 14th October, 1691. The tombstone of the Rev. John Lever (the lessee) may be easily identified. Besides being fractured across the middle, its right corner at top is missing, and with it are gone the ending letters of the first three lines of the first, record. The following is a verbatim copy of the inscription, the words or parts of words within brackets being those which are missing:

"Here Lyeth the body [of] Iohn Leaver Borne in th[is] Towne a Faithful Minister of t[he] Gospel who was baptized the 11 day of September 1631 and departed this life 4 day of July 1692

Lidia his Daughter and Wife to Peter Dorning was here interred the 12th day of September 1711

Also Elizabeth his Daughter and Wife to Robert Dunn who Departed this life the 10th day of February 1760 In the 82 Year of her Age

Here resteth the Body of John Dorning the Son of Peter and Lydia Dorning of Bolton who Died the 12th of April 1762 In the 63rd Year of his Age

Here Also resteth the Body of Mary Dunn the Daughter of Elizabeth Dunn who Departed this life Novr. 3d 1778 aged 76"

The surname spelled "Leaver" in the inscription, is written "Lever" in the earliest title deed, and in the latter form it appears in the entry of deceased's burial, in Bolton parish church register.

the three lives named in the lease of 1680, also covers the remains of some of the previous occupiers and subsequent owners of the old property.

The oldest title deed contains a covenant which shows that in and previous to the year 1743, John Blackburne, of Orford, Esq., "grandson of Thomas Lever" (the before-named lessor of 1680), was absolutely seized of this Bradshawgate property, "as a good, perfect, and indefeasible estate of inheritance in fee simple" This information was the highly serviceable clue by which our subsequent searches were initiated and guided. The mother of John Blackburne (the vendor) was Anne,* daughter of Thomas Lever, relict† of C. Lockwood, Esq., of Leeds, and heiress of Chamber Hall, who (as his second wife) married Jonathan Blackburne, Esq. (born 1646), of Orford and Newton, fourth son of Thomas Blackburne (died 1663, aet suae 58), of Newton, and Margaret, daughter of Robert Norris, of Bolton. They had three sonsThomas the first, who died in India; John, the second (of whom more presently), and Jonathan, the third son, of whom we need not give account. John, the second son, became by marriage the owner of the old premises in Bradshawgate, the subject of this article, and also became lord of the manor of Warrington, by purchase. He married, at Winwick, Catharine, daughter of the Rev. William Ashton, B.D., rector of Prestwich, and died 20th December, 1796, aet 96. He was the same venerable John Blackburne, Esq.,†† whose scientific pursuits, principally in botany and natural history, ¶ made him justly famous, and whose daughter, Mary, inheriting her father's tastes, became, celebrated for her devotion to botanical researches, and her stronger attachment to the study of natural history. ·

* Anne, sister and co-heiress with Sir Darcey Lever's wife, and aunt to Sir Ashton Lever, knight, She died in 1740.

+ Burke's Landed Gentry, p. 134.

Baines, vol. ii. p. 233-4; Gregson, Foster, and others give the date as 1786, æt 93. ++ The family of Blackburne is of ancient lineage. The origin of the surname is traceable to the name of the turgid burn or stream, which gave its name to the town of Blackburn. The Lancashire branch of the family commenced with William Blackburne, the elder brother of, and partner in trade with, Richard. These two brothers came from Yorkshire, and settled as merchants in the Filde, in an extensive Russian trade, and resided at Thistleton. Richard Blackburne (eldest son of William) first of Scorton Hall, near Garstang, afterwards of Thistleton, and lastly of Newton married Jane, daughter of John Aynesworth, of Newton. Their third son, Thomas Blackburne, of Orford and Newton (baptised 9th June, 1604), was esteemed a learned man in his time. He had seven sons and nine daughters. The fourth son was Jonathan (named in the text), who became heir of his brother Thomas. "Blackburn ". street in Bolton was named after the Blackburne family, not after the town of that The corporation of Bolton should correct their error by adding the final “e” to the word. Crook-street, in the same neighbourhood, was named after the Crooks, a related family.

name.

"It is recorded of this amiable man that he was the second gentleman of England who cultivated the pine apple, and he was probably the first to cultivate the cotton plant to any practical purpose, having raised in his garden at Orford a supply of British cotton, from four ounces of which was made a muslin dress for his lady, with

C

"By indenture, dated 2nd June, 1743, and made in the sixteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Second, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.," the same John Blackburne, in consideration of £87, paid, &c., granted, &c., unto John Dorning, of Farnworth, chapman, the old premises under the description of "ALL THAT Messuage, Burgage, or Dwelling-house, Backside and Garden, with their and every of their appurtenances, situate and being in Boltonin-the-Moores, in the said county, in a Place or Street there called Bradshawgate, heretofore in the holding or occupation of John Lever, clerk, deceased, and late in the holding or occupation of Peter Dorning, deceased, late father of the said John Dorning, and now in the possession of the said John Dorning, his subtenants or assigns," &c., TO HOLD, &c., unto the said John Dorning, his heirs and assigns, &c., for ever. "To BE holden of the Chief Lord or Lords of the ffee or ffees of the said Premises (if any such there be), by the Rents and Services therefore due and of right accustomed," &c. The handwriting of the signature, "John Blackburne," is scholarly, bold, free, and distinct, the Christian name and surname having a red wax seal between them, the latter bearing the combined arms of Blackburne and Lever. The following are fac similes of signature and seal:

The execution by the grantor is attested by two witnesses :

"HUGH ENTWISLE.

HENRY MORETON."

John

the intention to appear at Court in it on the King's birthday in 1793; but a change of dress, occasioned by the death of a near relative, prevented it. Miss Anna Blackburne's house, in the immediate vicinity of Warrington, was a perfect museum, and had to boast some of the finest transatlantic specimens in this kingdom. She was a correspondent of Linnæus; and a genus of plants was named after her (Blackburniana) by Reinhold Forster, the celebrated naturalist, who accompanied Capt. Cook in his second voyage, in testimony of her great acquirements in natural history, and her kindness to him during his abode in Warrington. On her death her collection was removed to Hale, where it is still preserved."-Baines, Vol. III. p. 677.

§ Son of Peter and Lydia Dorning.

Blackburne

"RECEIVED the day and year first within mentioned, of and from the within-named John Dorning, the sum of Eighty-seven pounds, of lawful money of Great Britain, in full of the consideration within mentioned.

my hand,

AS WITNESS "JOHN BLACKBURNE.

66

Within the large initial letter "T" of the engraved ornamental heading or beginning word, "This Indenture," are the royal arms. Outside of and encircling the royal motto, are a name and address, thus, "Sold by S. Gibbons, stationer, near the Temple Church," which to us served as a hint that in those days deed parchment and deed stamps needed by Bolton lawyers required to be imported from the metropolis. The price of the parchment was indicated in the margin at foot by a crown and "S 12d.," within a half-inch circle-rather a large figure for a skin of a small size, considering the value of twelve pence at that period.

It will be observed that in the description of the premises in the deed of 1743, no mention is made of any street other than Bradshawgate as a boundary. The inference is that the passage or thoroughfare now represented by Folds'street did not then exist, or was not then named.

By his will, dated 10th April, 1755, John Dorning, the purchaser of 1743, devised "ALL THAT my Messuage and Dwelling House, with the appurtenances, situate, standing, and being in Bolton-in-the-Moors, in the county of Lancaster, now or late in the tenure or occupation of Mr. Timothy Aspinwall, his assigns or undertenants, unto my sister, Sarah Dorning, and her assigns, for and during the term of her natural life, she keeping the same in good repair, and from and after her decease unto my cousin, Dorning Rasbotham, his heirs and assigns, for ever," &c. Of said will testator nominated and appointed his cousin Peter Rasbotham and his sons, Dorning Rasbotham and Nathan Rasbotham, executors. The original will was witnessed by Sarah Kay, John Kay, and Will. Higginson. A codicil annexed, dated 27th March, 1762, which did not affect the disposition made by his will of the Bradshawgate property, is witnessed by one person only" Richard Mason." A second codicil, not dated, was also added, and signed by the testator, but was not witnessed. Two other sisters of the testator named in his will as legatees, were Hannah Bradshaw and Lydia Hindley. According to the Leaver-Dorning-Dunn tombstone, in Bolton churchyard, John Dorning died in the 63rd year of his age, on the 12th of April, 1762, or in about a fortnight after the date of the first codicil to his will. Upon his death the Bradshawgate premises passed to his sister Sarah (who survived him) for life.

Sarah Dorning died on the

day of

17, whereupon the

premises became legally vested in her (and testator's) cousin, Dorning Rasbotham," of Birch House, in Farnworth, Esquire.”

*

Dorning Rasbotham, by his will, dated 19th August, 1791, amongst other things, gave and devised, "ALL my messuages, dwelling-houses, farms, lands, hereditaments, and real estates of inheritance whatsoever, in Farnworth, Great Bolton, and Ashton-in-Mackersfield, with the appurtenances, unto my dearly beloved wife, Sarah Rasbotham, for and during the term of her natural life;" and from and after her decease, he gave and devised the same unto his brotherin-law, James Bayley, of Withington, clerk, Thomas Butterworth Bayley, of Hope, Esq., and James Touchett, of Manchester, merchant, their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, for ever UPON TRUST, to sell the same immediately after the decease of his wife, Sarah Rasbotham, and to apply the money arising from such sale in payment of certain bequests directed by his will. The testator died on the 7th November, 1791. His wife, who survived him, and enjoyed the property for over thirteen years, died on the 30th April, 1805. Thomas Butterworth Bayley, one of his trustees, died on the 24th day of June, 1802, at Buxton, in the 58th year of his age.

Upon the death of Mrs. Sarah Rasbotham (testator's widow), Messrs. James Bayley and James Touchett, the surviving trustees, in pursuance of the trusts in them vested under and by the will of Dorning Rasbotham, advertised the deceased's estates for sale, at various dates and at various places, and sold same by auction. Among the properties advertised for sale, and sold on the 29th November, 1805, were the Bradshawgate premises. The advertisement occupied seven-eighths of an entire column of a Manchester newspaper of the period, called The Manchester Mercury and Harrop's Gene

*The Rasbothams, who were of Scotch extraction, settled in Lancashire soon after the Battle of Flodden Field. The family name was then spelled Rosbotham. Dorning Rasbotham was born in Manchester in 1730. In 1754 he married Sarah, eldest daughter of James Bayley, Esq., of Withington and Manchester, and granddaughter of Bishop Peploe. Their six children were Anne, who died unmarried; Dorothy, who died in infancy; Peter, who married Dorothy (born 1767), eldest daughter of John Lever, who, in 1778, succeeded to the Alkrington estates of his brother, Sir Ashton Lever; Dorning, who married Sarah, daughter of John Gray, Esq., of Finedon, in Northumberland; and Frances (born 25th August, 1774, died 12th January, 1838), youngest daughter, who became the wife of William Gray (born 15th August, 1774, died 16th September, 1842), Esq., of Wheatfield, in Haulgh, Bolton. Dorning Rasbotham, senior, retired in 1762 from Manchester to Farnworth, and soon after became a presiding Justice of the Peace on the Bolton bench, meanwhile pursuing his literary studies. He died 7th November, 1791, in the 61st year of his age, and was buried in Deane church yard, where also lie the remains of his widow, who survived him nearly 14 years, and died 30th April, 1805, aged 77. A mural tablet in Deane church, erected by their surviving children, bearing a long inscription, perpetuates the memory of "Parents so revered and so dear." On the "Gray" altar monument in Bolton parish church yard there is a touching allusion to the death of Mr. Rasbotham's youngest daughter Frances (Mrs. Gray) in these words :-" Her loss will be sincerely and deeply mourned, not only by her family, but also by her poorest neighbours and a numerous circle of friends and acquaintances, to whom she was endeared by many most amiable qualities and her good life."