Biography

B111.137.111.13. William Norreys of Speke, Lancashire, died after 1453. He was the son of Sir Henry Norreys of Speke and his 2nd wife.

William Norreys married around 1416 to Elizabeth [Perceval] Harrington, daughter and heiress of Sir James Harrington, Esquire of Westby Lane, and Ellen Urswick, widow of Sir Richard Molyneux.  10 children.

William Norreys and Perceval had a large family and was succeeded by his son Thomas. They had four sons:

1. Thomas, his heir,
2. John,
3. William, and
4. Richard; and daughters
5. Catherine, m. to Robert Grosvenor, esq. of Eaton
6. Agnes, m. to John Bunbury, esq. of Cheshire
7. Elizabeth, m. to Thomas Gerrarde of the Ynnce, co. Lancaster, gent.
8. Margaret, m. to Robert Lathom, esq. of Parbold
9. Beatrice, m. to John Irelande of Lydiate
10. Jane, m. William Worthington of Worthington
11. ... a dau. marryed to John Yeuvance [Evans] of Hawarden, co. Flynt.

Notes

•  24 Jun 1416 John Totby, rector of Sefton, and William Merser, chaplain, granted to William, son of Henry le Norreys, knight, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of James Harrington, knight, and their heirs the messuages, lands, tenants, rents and services which the grantors had by gift of Sir Henry Norreys (William's father) in Lydiate, Formby, Ines, Botull, Wlaton, Hale, Garston, and Speke. In 1429 Roger de Tranmore of Garston sold to William le Norreys of Speke all his lands in Garston and Allerton, Lancashire. In about 1431 Sir William succeeded his father in the Manor of Speke. A grant of land was made by him in 1433-4. A record of 16 Oct 1443 at Westminster names "William Norres, late of Speke, Lancashire, esquire, son of Henry Norres of Speke, knight." He was fined for failing to appear before William Mercer, late vicar of Childwall, Lancashire, to answer the prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England concerning a debt of 40 shillings. John Norris of Kirkby, Lancashire (B111.137.131.1) conveyed lands in Garston and Allerton, Lancashire, which he had received from his own father's estate in 1451, to Thomas Lathom of Knowsley, who conveyed them to William Norreys of Speke, his cousin. In 1453 William Norreys of Speke is mentioned in a bond for 40 pounds from William Gerard, the father of Thomas Gerard. There were covenants as to the dower of Lettice the wife of Thomas Norreys (111.137.111.131.) and as to the provision to be made for his younger sons and brothers. Lettice had sworn upon the Holy Evangelists before Sir Thomas Gerard and other witnesses that the whole of her inheritance in Lancashire and North Wales (except at Bodiarda and Beaumaris in Anglesey) should descend to her son William.

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• The Victoria history of the county of Lancaster; (1906)
• https://archive.org/details/cu31924088434554
• https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088434554#page/n181/mode/1up
• Pg.134
• Of Sir John le Norreys, the next lord of Speke, but little is known. In 1369 he granted to feoffees his manor of Speke, together with lands in Garston, Hale, Woolton, Walton, Ince, and Lydiate.(4) He died about three years afterwards, leaving a widow and three young children — Henry, Katherine, and Agnes. In November, 1372, an agreement was entered into by Cecily his widow with Nicholas le Norreys of Halsnead,(5) and Gilbert le Norreys, coroner, with regard to the children. She was to be responsible for their living and clothing, such as belonged to their estate, for the next twelve years, and to make suitable provision for each of them when they were married.(6) But as already stated Roger Erneys, as superior lord, quickly intervened,(7) and in 1379 released to Cecily and her second husband the custody of the heir. At this time Henry was still under age, and the daughter Agnes is not mentioned.
• Except for the dispute with John Ie Norreys, related in a note, Sir Henry's tenure seems to have been undisturbed. By his marriage with Alice Erneys he became lord of the manor.(8) In 1416 he made provision for his son William on his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James de Harrington.(9)
• William, son and heir of Sir Henry, succeeded about 1431.(10) A grant of land was made by him in 1433-4, and he occurs in 1453 in a bond for L40 from William Gerard.(11) He had a large family, and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who married a distant cousin Lettice,(12) daughter and heir of Thomas Norris of West Derby ; by her he had six (or seven) sons and five daughters.(13)' He died in 1487-8, seised of a messuage and land in West Derby, of four oxgangs and other land in Formby, also of the manor of Speke and land, meadow, wood, heath, and pasture in Speke, but the jurors at the inquest did not know of whom he held the same. William Norris, his son and heir, was then twenty-eight years of age.(14)
• Sir William Norris, the successor, must therefore have been born about 1459. His knighthood appears to date from 1487, after the battle of Stoke, in which .... etc.
  • (11) Norris D. (M.B.), 611, 615. In 1458 a marriage was arranged between his daughter Elizabeth and Thomas son and heir-apparent of William Gerard of Ince, for which a despensation had been obtained as early as 1449, the parties being related in the third degree; ibid. 643-5.
  • .... etc.

    ---

Norris of Speake, (Vis. of Lancs., 1567)

References

1. Burke's A Genealogical & Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. I, pg. 311
2. Steven Norris, The "le Norreys" Family in England from 1135 to 1650
3. http://members.dslextreme.com/users/enorrste/norreys2.html
4. http://cybergata.com/roots/5189.htm
5. https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00697156&tree=LEO cites
   1. [S01534] Watney, Vernon James, The Wallop Family and Their Ancestry 1928 . 593
   2. [S04180] Chetham Society Publications (old series ) . 81:83
   3. [S04520] Ormerod, George, Miscellanea Palatina, Consisting of Genealogical Essays Illustrative of Cheshire and Lancashire Families. 1851. ped. at 26-7
   4. [S01352] ~Burke's Peerage and Baronetage 1938 . 432
   5. [S01212] Burke, John, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, 4 volumes 1836/38. 1:311
6. WikiTree contributors, "William (Norris) Norreys esq (aft.1390-aft.1453)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Norris-3755 : accessed 04 March 2025). cites
   1. "Townships: Speke," in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London: Victoria County History, 1907), 131-140. British History Online, accessed December 2, 2023, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp131-140#anchorn38
   2. Farrer, W. & Brownbill, J. (1911). Townships: Ince, A History of the County of Lancaster, 5, pp. 101 - 106. British History Online. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
      1. "Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 3–7; the date should be 6 Hen. VIII. The plaintiff's pedigree is given: 'The said moss . . . is the freehold and inheritance of plaintiff as parcel of his manor of Ince, whereof William Gerard his great-grandfather, Thomas his grandfather, and William his father, and many others of his ancestors were time out of mind peaceably seised.'
      2. In 1448 Thomas Gerard son of William Gerard, Roger Gerard, and Cecily wife of William Gerard, were accused of causing the death of Robert Gidlow, but were acquitted; (Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 12, m. 25; see also R. II, m. 15, 16). In that year a dispensation was granted by Nicholas V for the marriage of Thomas son and heir of William Gerard of Ince, and Elizabeth a daughter of William Norris of Speke, the parties being related in the third degree; Norris D. (B.M.), no. 643.
      3. Ten years later an indenture was made, reciting the fact of this marriage, and stating that lands in Aspull and Hindley had been assigned to them; William Gerard, the father, 'had not made and would not make any alienation of the manor of Ince or of any messuage, lands, and tenements that were Ellen's that was wife to John Gerard mother to the said William Gerard,' but such as should determine at his death.
      4. William's brothers, Robert, John, Hugh, and Richard are named, as also his younger sons, Roger, Edmund, Lawrence, and Seth; ibid. no. 644. To Thomas Gerard, the son, a pardon was granted in 1479; Towneley MS. RR, no. 1430. In this year Thomas Gerard of Ince and William his son, with Roger and Seth his brothers, were parties to an engagement to keep the peace with Alexander Standish and others (Standish D. nos. 160, 161).
      5. In 1490 the marriage of Thomas son and heir apparent of William Gerard, and Maud daughter of Sir Henry Bold, was agreed upon, (Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 210, nos. 118, 119)," (footnote 16).
   3. Baines, E (1836). History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, 3, pp. 755. London: Fisher, Son & Co. < GoogleBooks >
   4. Roger Erneys: sheriff of Chester in 1281 ?(Wikipedia:High_Sheriff_of_Cheshire); Lord of Speke in wife's right.[1]
   5. Burke (1845), claims Joan's father was Sir John of Crosby.< GoogleBooks >
   6. < GoogleBooks >
   7. Raines, F.R. (1862). "The chantry in the parish church of Childwall." Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, 59, pp. 98. Chetham Society. < [https://books.google.com/books?id=8bJCAQAAMAAJ&dq=Elizabeth%20perci... GoogleBooks} >
   8. < GoogleBooks >
   9. < GoogleBooks >
   10. Flower, W. (1870). "Ireland of Lydiate." The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, Made in the Year 1567, 81, pp. 122. Chetham Society. Google Books.
   11. Baines, E. (1870). "Hundred of West Derby - Childwall Parish." The History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, 2, pp. 265. John Harland, (Ed). Routledge. < GoogleBooks >
   12. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/speke-hall-garden-and-estate
   13. The Norrises. National Trust. Accessed on 2 December 2023.
   14. < GoogleBooks >
   15. Flower, W. (1567). "Norris of Speke, Harl MS fo. 72, Chetham MS fo. 16," in Vis. of Lancs., 1567, p. 83. < Archive.org >. eBook. Pedigree. See Also...
7. Space: Norris of Speke < Wikitree >
8. The Four Visitations of Berkshire Page 184: Norris < Archive.Org >