Then occurred an extraordinary hitch in the history of primogeniture. His eldest son, John, had died without issue before his father. Peter, the second son, and natural heir of his brother and father, then aged twenty-four, on his father's death found by the inquisition[479] that he died possessed of "no lands,"[480] all his vast possessions being settled on himself and his wife Ellen only for life, and secured by a deed of gift, in reversion to Thomas, the elder illegitimate son of Ellen Wasteneys. By an appeal, however, to the courts, based on the previous settlement on his great-grandfather, Peter, the legitimate heir recovered Alvanley. He married Cicely,[481] daughter and heiress of Adam de Bredbury, who inherited Hawarden from her father, and henceforward Alvanley and Hawarden were the chief seats of the Cheshire Ardens. It is evident, therefore, that the root-meaning of Hawarden, or Harden, has no relation to the family name.
The favoured Thomas received Aldford, Etchells, and Nether Alderley, Cheshire; and Elford, Staffordshire. He was knighted before 1359, and died 1391. He married Katherine, daughter of Sir Richard Stafford, heiress of Clifton Campvile, Pipe, Haselover, and Statfold, and was buried in Elford Church, where his beautiful marble monument still remains. He is represented in full knightly armour, wearing a rich collar, with the letters "S.S." interwoven, his basinet bearing the words "The Nazarene." His wife lies by his side, richly robed, and also wearing a collar with "S. S." His son and heir, John, born at Elford, March 12, 1369, was over twenty-one at his father's death,[482] 15 Richard II. He married Margaret Pilkington, and died in 1408, leaving no male heir.[483] A large monument in memory of him in Elford Church is almost decayed.
In his inquisition, his nearest male relatives are stated to be Robert de Legh, of Adlington, aged forty, and Hugh de Wrottesley, aged eight. His only daughter was Matilda, aged twelve, who was granted Alderley and Etchells only. She married Thomas de Stanley.[484] John's widow, Margaret, took for her second husband Sir Robert Babthorpe, and died 1423. Her Inquisition Post Mortem is very interesting. She died seized of Nether Alderley only, which reverted to her daughter, Matilda Stanley.
"The Prince of Wales as Earl of Chester versus Margaret, formerly wife of John, son of Thomas de Arderne, to determine the right to the manors of Aldford, Alderdelegh, and Echells, the advowsons, and 10 marks a year from the manor of Upton, in Wyrehale. It mentions that Thomas and Walkelyn were illegitimate; but Walkelyn died s.p., and pleaded the settlement" (Chester Pleas, 10 Henry IV., m. 9, Genealogist, New Series, vol. xv.).
Another Chester Plea Roll records the suit of Richard, son of John de Radcliff and Matilda his wife, against Isabella, formerly wife of John de Legh, Chivalier, for land in Modberlegh, which John de Ardene gave to John de Legh for his life, with remainder to John, son of John de Legh and Matilda, daughter of John de Ardene, and to the heirs of the bodies of John de Legh and Matilda (Genealogist, New Series, vol. xiii.).
Sir Thomas Arden and Sir John bore as arms the three crosses crosslet, and the chief or, the same as the legitimate family.
Hugh, the son of Peter Arden, of Alvanley and Hawarden, carried on the main line, and had full possession of his estates by 1372. He married twice—first, Agnes Hulme, by whom he had Peter and Ralph;[485] and second, Cicely de Hyde,[486] by whom he had John, who lived in the service of the King. The seal of Peter, son of Hugh de Arderne, of Macclesfield, co. Chester, 1372,[487] is preserved in the British Museum, and bears three crosses crosslet and a chief Arderne. Old and infirm, Hugh was granted exemption from military service in 1408.
Charles Arden, son of John, son of Peter, married Elizabeth Radcliffe in Edward III.'s time, and through her inheritance became owner of Timporley, and founded the Timporley branch of Ardens.
The pedigree of the family is given in extenso in Drummond, Earwaker, Ormerod, and the Visitations of Cheshire, so that it is unnecessary to repeat it here. Further intermarriages with the Hydes[488] are recorded. Ralph Ardern, of Harden, led his tenantry against the Royalists, 1642, and died 1657. Sir John, head of the family, in 1660 was Sheriff of Cheshire. One of his brothers was the Rev. James Arden, Dean of Chester, 1691.
John, who was Sheriff in 1760, married Sarah Pepper, who brought Pepper Hall into the family. Their son, Richard Pepper Arden, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, was created Baron Alvanley[489] 1801. He had three sons, John, William, and Richard. The title became extinct 1857.[490] The arms were the three crosses crosslet and a chief or; crest, a double row of ostrich feathers out of a ducal coronet.