WILLIS, (DE ANYERS) OF HALSNEAD PARK. WILLIS, RICHARD, esq. of Halsnead Park, and of Hall of the Hill, both in the county of Lancaster, b. 18th September, 1760, m. Cicely, only daughter of Joseph Fielden, esq. of Witton Park, near Blackburne, a branch of the ancient and ennobled family of Denbigh, by whom (who d. in April, 1822) he has had issue, RICHARD, of West Cottage, near Leicester, b. 16th July, 1787, m. 17th July, 1819, Lucy, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Atherton, esq. barrister at law, of the family of Atherton, of Atherton. Joseph, of Calcutta, b. 9th July, 1789. Daniel, b. 4th August, 1790. John, b. 7th October, 1792, m. 8th March, 1821, Eliza, daughter of George Roach, esq. of Everton, near Liverpool, which marriage has since been annulled. Henry, b. 3rd April, 1795, lieutenant in the 13th light dragoons, d. while on service with his regiment at Reta, in the province of Leon, Spain, 13th October, 1813. William, b. 5th May, 1798, a midshipman in the royal navy, d. at Corunna, in the Surveillante frigate, 31st August, 1812. Thomas, b. 27th April, 1804. Frederick, lieutenant in the 9th lancers, b. 17th July, 1805. Edward, lieutenant in the 37th regiment of infantry, b. 8th October, 1806, m. 12th May, 1831, Harriette, daughter and co-heiress of the late lieutenant colonel Robbins. Margaret-Dorothea, m. 1st May, 1821, to Charles-Robert Sherbourne, esq. of Hirst House, son of the late admiral, honorable Robert Digby. Cecilia, m. 18th September, 1816, to Thomas Farrer, esq. son of James Farrer, esq. of Clapham, in the county of York, and has issue, Mr. Willis, who rebuilt the Hall at Halsnead, s. his father in 1790. Lineage. The family of DE ANYERS, or DANIEL, whence Mr. Willis derives in lineal descent, accompanied WILLIAM the Conqueror into England in 1066, and the name of its patriarch is to be found inscribed on the roll of Battel Abbey.* Owing, however, to the destruction of deeds in the turbulent times of CHARLES I. the lineage can only be traced with accuracy from the year 1250. * Burke's Extinct and Dormant Peerage. WILLIAM DE ANYERS, sen. of Daresbury, in Cheshire, espoused, in 1270, Agnes, daughter of Thomas de Legh, of High Legh of the West Hall, and had, with several daughters, three sons, viz. 1. THOMAS. 2. William, who inherited his father's lands in Daresbury, and left issue at his decease, in 1306, with several other children, a son and successor, whose son, JOHN (Sir), knt. of Daresbury, | Calveley, of Lea. He espoused Katherine, daughter and heiress of William, son of Adam de Over Tabley, and upon this marriage one-third part of Over Tabley was settled on Sir Thomas De Anyers and his wife. His eldest son, WILLIAM D'ANYERS, espousing Clemence, daughter and heiress of Alan de Norreys, obtained large possessions in Cheshire and Lancashire; and from this marriage descended the Daniells of Daresbury, a family which existed in 1666, when Sir Peter Leycester published his history of Bucklow Hundred, but which has been extinct now for several years. 3. John. The eldest son, THOMAS DE ANYERS, had lands in Limme by grant of his father, 17th EDWARD II. and purchased, in 1301, Bradley, from Peter Dutton, lord of Warburton. He m. first, Margaret, daughter of Adam de Tabley, and had, with other children who all d. s. p. THOMAS (Sir), who m. Isabel, daughter and heiress of William Baggiley, and dying in the lifetime of his father, 26th EDWARD III. left an only daughter, MARGARET, heiress to all her mother's lands, those of her father being settled on the heirs male of the De Anyers: she m. thrice. John (Sir), of Gropenhale, who married twice, but had issue only by his first wife, Joan, daughter of Sir William Boydell, and sister and co-heir to William Boydell, of Dodleston, in the county of Cheshire, viz. Robert, d. s. p. in 43rd EDWARD III. THOMAS DE ANYERS, of Over Tabley, m Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Aston, of Aston, and widow of Thomas Boydell, jun. of Gropenhale, and left at his decease, in 1431, with other issue, a son and successor, THOMAS DE ANYERS, of Over Tabley, stiled the elder, who m. in 1413, Isabel, daughter and heiress of John Rixton, of Rixton, by which alliance he acquired lands at Warrington. He was s. at his decease by his eldest son, THOMAS DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, who espousing, in 1440, Maud, daughter of John Leycester, esq. of Nether Tabley, had, with other issue, a son, THOMAS DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, who m. Catherine de Middleton, or Milneton, and was s. by his son, THOMAS DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, who took possession of Cherry Tree Hurst, in Lymme, as next heir, upon the decease, in 1493, issueless, of Thomas Daniell, of Lymme, the last heir of that family. The matter was not, however, fully settled until the award of William Hill, prebendary of Lichfield, 23rd HENRY VIII. when William Daniell, of Longdon, in Staffordshire, who claimed as next heir to Daniell, of Lymme, as son of William, brother of John Daniell, late of Cherry Tree Hurst, conveyed all his right in those lands to Thomas De Anyers, esq. grandson of this Thomas. THOMAS DE ANYERS m. Blanch, daughter of Piers Warburton, esq. of Arley, and dying in 1494, was s. by his eldest son, PIERS DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, who m. in 1499, Julian, daughter of Sir Peter Newton, secretary to Prince Henry, and was s. at his demise, in 1522, by his son, THOMAS DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, who purchased from William Sneyd, 36th HENRY VIII. the property called Wiche's lands. He m. Margaret, daughter of William Wilbraham, esq. of Woothey, in the county of Chester, and had issue, PETER, his successor. THOMAS, who inherited, upon the de-. mise of his brother. William (Sir), a lawyer of eminence, appointed a judge of the common pleas. Richard, d. in 1605. Ellen, m. in 1553, to John Massy, esq. of Codington. Margaret, m. first, to Christopher Hol ford, esq. of Ilcoit, in Flintshire, son of Sir John Holford, of Holford; and, secondly, to James Barker, of Hamond. Thomas De Anyers d. in 1551, and was s. by his eldest son, PETER DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley. This gentleman purchased, in 1556, the Hall of Woodlands, in Over Tabley, which escheated to the crown upon the attainder of Matthew de Tabley, 22nd EDWARD IV. He espoused, in 1550, Alice, daughter of George Booth, esq. of Dunham Massey, by whom he had an only daughter, DOROTHY, Who m. William, son and heir of Richard Massy, esq. of Rixton, in the county of Lancaster. Peter De Anyers dying thus without male issue, in 1557, was s. by his brother, THOMAS DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, who m. Alice, daughter of Foulk Dutton, esq. of Chester, and had, with other issue, a son, 1 PETER DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, his successor in 1575. This gentleman wedded, in 1574, Anne, daughter of Henry Mainwaring, esq. of Carinckam, in Cheshire, by whom (who subsequently married Thomas Ashold, esq. of Swetenham, in Cheshire, and d. in 1633) he had issue, 1 PETER, his successor. Frances, m. to Edward Littleton, esq. Anne, d. unmarried. Mary, m. first, to John Woodroot, esq. and, secondly, to John King, esq. Jane, d. without issue. The elder son and successor, PETER DE ANYERS, esq. of Over Tabley, was but six years of age when his father died. In 1625, he represented the county of Chester in parliament, and marrying Christian, daughter of Richard Grosvenor, esq. of Eaton, in Cheshire, had issue, 1. PETER, of Over Tabley, a captain of a foot company in the regiment of John, Earl of Rivers, raised for the king's service. He d. at Oxford of a shot received at the siege of Glou cester, leaving (with a daughter, Margaret, who probably married into the Minchull family, a gentleman of that name being mentioned as the uncle of Sir Samuel Daniell) a son, THOMAS, of Over Tabley, who m. Alice, niece of Henry Neville, esq. of Holt, in Leicestershire, and had (with other children who d. issueless) 1. SAMUEL (Sir), who served as colonel in King William's army, from which prince he received the honour of knighthood. He m. first, Anne, daughter of Robert Tatton, esq. of Withenshaw, in the county of Chester; and, secondly, Frances, daughter of the Hon. Robert Dormer, of Rowsham, in Oxfordshire, by whom he had an only daughter, Anne, who died in infancy. Sir Samuel d. 24th December, 1726, and by his testamentary injunction directs his body to be buried in his chapel at Rosthorne, where a monument is erected to his memory. His estates were left, by will, in the first instance strictly entailed upon strangers, of whom the first were his great nephews, the sons of Charles Duckenfield, esq. of Mobberly, in Cheshire, by whom the name and arms of Daniell were taken, the entail cut off, and the estates sold. Thus the surviving descendants of Sir Samuel's great uncle, Colonel William Daniell, were deprived of their inheritance, although Colonel William Daniell, in order to repair the injury the Tabley estates had sustained, had left from his own dau. his possessions in Staffordshire to Sir Samuel Daniell's father. 2 Sarah, whom. Hewitt Park- with other children, who all d. unmarried, a son, WILLIAM (Sir), bart. who assumed, by act of parliament, the surname of DANIELL upon inheriting the fortune of that family. Dying without issue, the estates passed from his relict to her second husband, John Astley, esq. II. WILLIAM, of whom presently. III. Thomas, slain at the battle of Brain ford, in 1642. 1. THOMAS WILLIS, esq. of Ha' nead and of Hall o' th' Hill. T. gentleman, who rebuilt the north front of Halsnead, d. unmarried in 1727, and was s. by his brother, 2. DANIELL WILLIS, esq. of Halsnead and Hall o' th' Hill, who m. Anne, daughter of William Ffarrington, esq. of Shaw Hall, in the county of Lancaster, but dying without issue, 1st November, 1763, his estates passed to his cousin, Thomas SwettenhamWillis, esq. of Swettenham, at whose demise also, without children, the property devolved upon his kinsman, RALPH EARLE, esq. Iv. Margaret, m. to Richard Green, esq. The eldest surviving child, of Congleton. ELIZABETH DE ANYERS espoused twice; by v. Christian, m. to George Devonport, her second husband, William Hutton, esq. esq. of Calveley. vi. Mary, m. to Col. Finch, an officer in the parliament army, and a member of the noble family of Winchelsea and Nottingham. VII. Elizabeth. she had one son and a daughter, who both d. issueless; and by her first, Ralph Finch, esq. of the noble family of Winchelsea and Nottingham, an only daughter and heiress, MARY FINCH, who m. John Earle, esq. of VIII. Anne, m. to Robert Sanford, esq. of Liverpool, descended of the ancient house of 1. William, of Everton, m. and has issue. 2. Thomas, of Shekelands, who m. his cousin, Mary, daughter of Thomas Earle, esq. and had issue. 3. Mary, m. to Arthur Heywood, esq. of Larkhill. Sarah, m. to the Hon. and Rev. John Stanley, rector of Winwick, in the county of Lancaster, and brother of Edward, eleventh Earl of Derby. The eldest surviving son, RALPH EARLE, esq. assumed, upon inheriting, 28th August, 1788, the Willis estates, in pursuance of the will of Daniell Willis, esq. of Halsnead and of Hall o' th' Hill, the surname and arms of that family. He espoused Dorothy, second daughter and heiress of Richard Aldersey, esq. of Liverpool, a branch of the Alderseys, of Aldersey, in Cheshire, and had issue, RICHARD, present proprietor. SHAFTO, OF WHITWORTH. SHAFTO, ROBERT EDEN-DUNCOMBE, esq. of Whitworth Park, in the county palatine of Durham, b. 23rd March, 1776, m. in November, 1803, Catherine, third daughter of Sir John Eden, bart. of Windlestone, and has had issue, ☆ ROBERT-DUNCOMBE, b. in London, 7th April, 1806. Frederick-William-Duncombe, b. 18th July, 1812, and d. in 1820. Slingsby-Duncombe, b. 11th August, 1811. Catherine, m. 17th May, 1827, to William-Charles Har- Maria-Georgiana. Mr. Shafto, who represented the City of Durham in parliament, in 1804, succeeded his brother in July, 1802. Lineage. The family of SHAFTO is of great antiquity in the north of England. Some little incidental proof of the rank which the old lords of Shafto held on the border may be gathered from song and tradition. At the "Raid of the Redswire," in 1575, a hostile meeting between the Scotch and English Wardens, one of the war-cries of the latter was, "A Schaftan and a Fenwick." The Scots had the honour of the day, and amongst the many English who were taken prisoners or wounded, |