Holt Ancestry – History 1700

1700–1749

This section brings together the recorded appearances of the Holt family in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1906). Each entry is drawn from contemporary legal, manorial, and ecclesiastical documents, tracing the family’s landholding, obligations, disputes, and social roles across the centuries. These chronological notes provide a documentary framework for understanding the Holts’ presence and influence within the evolving landscape of Lancashire.

1700	Sir John Holt was involved in the case of Ashby vs White (p305, Stuart England, J.P. Kenyon, 1978). “This celebrated case dated back to the election of 1700, when the Tory Mayor of Lord Wharton’s borough of Aylesbury struck several Whig voters off the electoral list. Wharton financed one of them, a cobbler named Ashby, to bring an action at the Assizes, which he won. The mayor, White, appealed to Queen’s Bench, which reversed the judgement 3 to 1 on the grounds that this was a matter for the House of Commons. But the lone dissentient was the Whig Lord Chief Justice, Holt, who held that a vote was a species of property, and therefore came within the cognizance of the courts. By this time it was 1703, but Ashby (and Wharton) took the case on to the House of Lords…” A long story in which other objectives (such as an argument between the two Houses to force a general election) were evident, finally resulted in the Aylesbury men being imprisoned and Parliament being dissolved by Queen Anne as necessitated by the Triennial Act.
1700	Richard, younger son of the Richard who fought in the Civil War, with brothers William (described as of York) and Thomas, came into possession of Ashworth, which they sold. There were also sisters Elizabeth and Mary. Mrs Grantham, mother of Dorothea Holt, left £30 to the poor of Castleton and Rochdale (p201).
	ANNE 1702–1714
1704	James Holt and wife Dorothy held the manors of Castleton, Naden and Marland (p203). See also 1712 entry.
1707	“The effect of this long‑drawn‑out crisis was to increase Godolphin’s reliance on the junto peers; it was they who defended him in the Lords for allowing the Act of Security to pass, it was they who framed the Aliens Act, and it was they who dominated the Commission for the Union Treaty — and not just Somers, Wharton, Halifax and Sunderland, but their allies Archbishop Tenison and Lord Chief Justice Holt.” (p312, Stuart England, J.P. Kenyon, 1978) This relates to the way the union with Scotland was achieved and the setting up of the first Parliament of Great Britain with Scots representatives. “Queen Anne cordially hated the Junto” (perhaps because they seemed always to be pressing for power).
1708	James Holt made a settlement of his lands to wife Dorothy, Vincent Grantham and Edward Jodrell (p131).
1710	Fine recorded: Thomas Winchley v Alexander, Edward and William Holt (vol 6 Whalley).
1712	James Holt (born 1647, Brasenose College Oxford, Stubley) died. His four daughters became co‑heirs: Frances, Elizabeth, Isabella and Mary. Mary and her husband Samuel Chetham of Turton purchased all and improved Castleton Hall (p224). James Holt augmented the endowment to Rochdale Grammar School (founded 1564) by £100. Richard Holt released Balderston Hall to his two sons Thomas and Richard, London merchants (HR p320).
1713	John Holt’s son Richard sold Balderstone Hall (p203).
	GEORGE I 1714–1727
1720	Mrs Jane Holt of Shevington gave £70 for woollen cloth for the poor — previously £60 (vol 6).
1721	Lower Hey and Lowerplace in Rochdale were occupied by a branch of the Holt family (possibly of Stubley) since the early 17th century (HR p232).
1724	Holts of Ashworth had always allowed £4 to the ministers of the Church (p179).
1725	Edward, son of Robert Holt of Wigan, inherited land from Henry Brown which descended by two daughters to General Clegg and Thomas Case (vol 4 Wigan, p105).
	GEORGE II 1727–1760
1732	Blainscough was sold to Richard Holt of Wigan, but in 1836 was the property of George Case of Liverpool (vol 6).
1737	Little Mitton Hall passed to the Beaumonts on the death of Elizabeth (née Holt), who had owned it since 1665 (vol 6 p389). There was a screen with the initials TDH, thought to be of Sir Thomas Holt and Dorothy (Longford) his wife, suggesting it had been brought from Gristlehurst. Sir Thomas Holt of Gristlehurst died in 1562, which would place the screen in the mid‑16th century.
1741	A benefaction of £100 was given by Edward Holt, plus two other similar ones — this may be the Holt charity earliest recorded in 1788 (p232).
1745	The invasion did not touch Rochdale, but Valentine Holt joined the Young Pretender at Manchester and was shot in Carlisle (p189).
	General information: Prestwich Church — the Langley chantry was founded by Agnes, wife of Thomas Holt (p75). Haslem Hey was held by the Holts of Stubley at some time (p135). William Holt the Jesuit was a distinguished man in the Middleton parish — no dates (p151). Rochdale in 1724 was a market town with woollen manufacturers. There was one manor and the Holts of Stubley were the principal resident family (p188). They also claimed the manor of Naden — no dates (p207).