BUTLER OF RAWCLIFFE HALL.
The name of Butler, or as it was formerly written Botiler, belonged to an office in existence in earlier times, and was first assumed by Theobald Walter, who married Maud, the sister of Thomas à Becket, on being appointed Butler of Ireland.
Theobald Walter-Botiler gave to his relative Richard Pincerna, or Botiler, as the family was afterwards called, the whole of Out Rawcliffe and one carucate of land in Staynole. This gentleman was the founder of that branch of the Butlers which was established at Rawcliffe Hall for so many generations. Sir Richard Botiler, of Rawcliffe, married Alicia, in 1281, the daughter of William de Carleton, and thus obtained the manor of Inskip. He had issue—William, Henry, Richard, Edmund, and Galfrid. Richard Botiler, the third son, who had some possessions in Marton, left at his death one son, also named Richard, who was living in 1323, and became the progenitor of the Butlers of Kirkland. William, the eldest son, espoused Johanna de Sifewast, a widow, by whom he had Nicholas de Botiler, who was alive in 1322, and had issue by his wife Olivia, one son, William Botiler, living in 1390. William Botiler had three children—John, Richard, and Eleanor. John Botiler was created a knight, and in 1393-4-5 was High Sheriff of the county of Lancaster. Sir John Botiler left at his death, in 1404, three sons and one daughter, the offspring of his marriage with Isabella, his second wife, who was the widow of Sir John Butler, of Bewsey. Nicholas, the eldest son, was also twice married, and had issue by his first wife, Margeria, the daughter of Sir Richard Kirkeby,—John and Isabella Botiler. John Botiler espoused, in 1448, Elizabeth, the daughter of William Botiler, of Warrington, and had issue—Nicholas and Elizabeth Botiler. Nicholas Botiler married Alice, the daughter of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, knt., and was succeeded by his eldest son John Botiler, who subsequently espoused Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Lawrence, knt., and had issue—William, James, Richard, and Robert Botiler. James Botiler, the second son, inherited the estates, most probably owing to the death of William, his elder brother, and married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Thomas Molyneux, knt., of Larbrick Hall. James Botiler, or Butler, was living in 1500, but died shortly afterwards, leaving two sons and two daughters—John, Nicholas, Isabella, and Elizabeth. John, the elder son, had issue four daughters, whilst Nicholas, the second son, had issue by his first wife, the daughter of Richard Bold, of Bold, two sons, Richard and Henry, and by his second wife, Isabel, the daughter and co-heiress of John Clayton, of Clayton, one daughter, who died in 1606. Richard Butler married Agnes, the daughter of Sir Richard Houghton, knt., but having no offspring, the estates of Rawcliffe passed to William Butler, the eldest son of his younger brother, Henry Butler, somewhere about 1627. William Butler espoused Elizabeth, the daughter of Cuthbert Clifton, of Westby, by whom he had one son, Henry, who was thrice married, and had numerous offspring. Richard, the eldest son of Henry Butler by his first wife, Dorothy, the daughter of Henry Stanley, of Bickerstaffe, died before his father, but left several sons, one of whom, also named Richard, succeeded to the Rawcliffe property, and was thirty-two years of age in 1664; another, Nicholas, was a colonel in the time of Charles I.; and another, John, was a citizen of London. Richard Butler espoused Katherine, the daughter of Thomas Carus, of Halton, by whom he had a large family, the eldest of which, Henry, was six years of age in 1664. Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe, espoused as his first wife, Katherine, the granddaughter, and subsequently heiress, of Sir John Girlington, knt., of Thurland Castle, and had issue—Richard, Christopher, Philip, Mary, and Katherine. Henry Butler, and Richard, his eldest son, took part with the Pretender in the rebellion of 1715, and for this piece of disaffection their estates were confiscated by the crown, and afterwards sold. Henry Butler made his escape over to France, but Richard was seized, tried, and condemned to death. He died in prison, however, in 1716, before the time appointed for his sentence to be carried out, leaving an only child, Catherine, by his wife, Mary, the daughter of Henry Curwen, of Workington, who married Edward Markham, of Ollarton, in the county of Nottingham, and died a minor without issue. Henry Butler lived in the Isle of Man for several years, and espoused Elizabeth Butler, of Kirkland, his third wife, but had no further issue.
CLIFTON OF CLIFTON, WESTBY, AND LYTHAM.
The family of the Cliftons, whose present seat is Lytham Hall, has been associated with the Fylde for many centuries. The earliest ancestor of whom there exists any authentic record, was Sir William de Clyfton, who lived in the time of William II., surnamed Rufus, and during the last year of that monarch’s reign, A.D. 1100, gave certain lands in Salwick to his son William upon his marriage. In 1258 a namesake and descendant of this William de Clyfton held ten carucates of land in Amounderness, and was a collector of aids for the county of Lancaster. His son Gilbert de Clyfton was lord of the manors of Clifton, Westby, Fylde-Plumpton, etc., and High Sheriff of the county in the years 1278, 1287, and 1289. He died in 1324, during the reign of Edward II., and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir William de Clifton, who was Knight of the Shire for Lancaster 1302-1304. Sir William de Clifton,[59] knt., the son of the latter gentleman, came into possession of the estates on the demise of his father, and married in 1329, Margaret, the daughter of Sir R. Shireburne, knt., of Stonyhurst, by whom he had issue one son, Nicholas, afterwards knighted. He also entailed the manors of Clifton and Westby on his male issue, and settled the manor of Goosnargh upon his son and heir. He died in 1365. Sir Nicholas de Clifton, during one portion of his life, held the post of Governor of the Castle of Ham, in Picardy. He married Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas West, of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire, and had issue two sons—Robert and Thomas. The former, who succeeded him, was Knight of the Shire 1382-1383, and espoused Eleyne, the daughter of Sir Robert Ursewyck, knt., by whom he had three sons—Thomas, Roger, and James. In course of time, Thomas, the eldest, became the representative of the family, and married Agnes, the daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, of Sefton. This gentleman (Thomas Clifton), accompanied the army of Henry V., when that monarch invaded France in 1415. He settled Goosnargh and Wood-Plumpton upon his second son, James, while the other portion of the estates passed, on his death in 1442, to Richard, his heir. Richard Clifton formed a matrimonial alliance with Alice, the daughter of John Butler, of Rawcliffe, from which sprang one child, James Clifton, who afterwards espoused Alice, the daughter of Robert Lawrence, of Ashton. The offspring of the latter union were Robert and John Clifton. The former on inheriting the property married Margaret, the daughter of Nicholas Butler, of Bewsey, in Lancashire. His children were Cuthbert and William; and now, for a few generations, we have two separate branches, the descendants of these gentlemen, which afterwards became united in the persons of their respective representatives:—
This Thomas Clifton retained the Fairsnape estates, which he had inherited from his mother, during his lifetime, but on his decease they passed to his uncle. He married Eleanora Alathea, the daughter of Richard Walmsley, of Dunkenhalgh, in Lancashire. At his death he left a family of five daughters and two sons, the eldest of whom, Thomas Clifton, of Clifton, Westby, and Lytham, subsequently espoused Mary, the daughter of the fifth Viscount Molyneux. His heir, also Thomas, and born in 1728, rebuilt Lytham Hall, and allied himself to the noble house of Abingdon by marrying, as his third wife, Lady Jane Bertie, the daughter of the third earl. The children of this union were seven, and John, the eldest, born in 1764, inherited the estates, and married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Horsley Widdrington-Riddell, of Felton Park, Northumberland. John Clifton was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas, who had four brothers and three sisters—John, William, Charles, Mary, Harriet, and Elizabeth. Thomas Clifton, of Clifton and Lytham, born in 1788, was a justice of the peace, a deputy-lieutenant, and in 1835, High Sheriff of the county of Lancaster. He married Hetty, the daughter of Pellegrine Trevis, an Italian gentleman of ancient lineage, by whom he had issue John Talbot, born in 1819; Thomas Henry, lieut.-colonel in the army, and knight of the Legion of Honour and of the Mejidie; Edward Arthur, died abroad in 1850; Charles Frederick, who espoused Lady Edith Maud, eldest daughter of the second Marquis of Hastings, and assumed in 1859, by act of parliament, the arms and surname of Abney Hasting; and Augustus Wykenham, late captain in the Rifle Brigade, who married Lady Bertha Lelgarde Hastings, second daughter of the second Marquis of Hastings. John Talbot Clifton, esq., is still living, and is the present lord of Lytham, Clifton, etc. He was for some years colonel of the 1st. Royal Lancashire Militia, and sat in Parliament from 1844 to 1847 as Member for North Lancashire. In 1844 he married Eleanor Cicily, the daughter of the Hon. Colonel Lowther, M.P., and has one son, Thomas Henry Clifton, esq., who was born in 1845, and is now one of the Members of Parliament for North Lancashire. John Talbot Clifton, esq., is a justice of the peace, and deputy-lieutenant of this county. Thomas Henry Clifton, esq., M.P., espoused, in 1867, Madeline Diana Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir Andrew Agnew, bart., and has issue several children.
In 1872 Henry Lowther succeeded his uncle as third earl of Lonsdale, and at the same time his sisters Eleanor Cicily, the wife of John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, and Augusta Mary, the wife of the Right Hon. Gerard James Noel, M.P., younger son of the first earl of Gainsborough, were elevated to the rank of earl’s daughters.