Fazakerley, 1321; Phesacrelegh, 1333.
Fazakerley is the name of a town and family. It is a very
old English name, originating from the county of Lancaster (now Lancashire),
just North of the modern city of Liverpool.
Originally, Fazakerley was the name of a piece of land. As
was typical of the time, the name was later adopted by the family that settled
on the land as their surname. The name is constructed from three Anglo-Saxon words, faes,
acer and leah. Faes means "border", acer means "cultivated
land" and the earliest meaning of leah is "clearing in a
forest". Faes-acer would be a piece of cultivated land against or defining
some border, so faes-acer-leah would be
when the same land was extended by woodland clearance.
Fazakerley was not mentioned in the Doomsday Book, so we can
assume that no one of importance was living there in the eleventh century. The
first mention of the family is in the Assize Rolls of the County of Lancaster
concerning a Henry de Fasackerlegh in 1276, so it seems that the family settled
on the land some time between 1066 and 1276.
The township was included in the City of Liverpool in 1905.
In the thirteenth century Fazakerley was one of the Walton
town fields as the woodlands were cleared, there grew up a hamlet and
ultimately a township. Extending about two miles in each direction, this
township has an area of 1,709 acres. It
is separated from Walton by the brook called Fazakerley or Tue Brook, and from
West Derby partly by Sugar Brook up to the point where it is spanned by Stone
bridge. At the junction of these brooks Fazakerly borders the town of Kirkby in
the north-east.
Manor
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| The Fazakerly de Fazakerly Coat of Arms |
The early history of the manor is obscure, Henry and Richard
de Fazakerley, the first of the local family on record, appearing towards the
end of the thirteenth century. Richard had three sons— Henry, Richard, and
Robert; and Henry's son Robert de Fazakerley was lord of the manor for about
forty years. After his death the succession is again uncertain. Robert de
Fazakerley, who married Ellen de Walton and claimed her father's manor,
obtaining a third part, emerges in the first quarter of the fifteenth
century; and later, Thomas son and heir
of Roger. The visitations of 1613 and 1664 place on record a few generations. The family adhered to the Roman Catholic
faith at the Reformation, and to the king's side in the civil war, Nicholas
Fazakerley losing his life in the cause at Liverpool in 1643. The family
estates were sold by the Parliament, though probably not much was recovered.
Spellow House
In 1426, at the same time that the arms were quartered, the
Fazakerley family was awarded one third of the Walton Manor, due to the
marriage of Robert Fazakerley to Ellen (Hellin) de Walton, daughter and heiress
of Robert de Walton of Walton, This included 40 acres of land in Walton and
Liverpool , that had once belonged to a Thomas Spellow. In particular, the land
included Spellow House and Spellow Mill. Spellow House was close to the modern
Spellow Lane . The original Spellow House was built in the about 1270. The
property consisted of the main house
with a number of large outbuildings and a chapel. It also had numerous hiding
places, for priests to hide in during the religious troubles of the 17th
century.
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| Fazakerly House |
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| Fazakerly de Fazakerly Coat of Arms variation The quartering meant that the original Arms were no longer in use, so they became available for another individual to register and use. |
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| Spellow House |
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| Spellow Mill |
The principle family home
for many hundreds of years was Fazakerley Hall. The first
mention of the hall was during the civil war, when it was noted that the hall
had a chapel and a number of priest hiding places, but it would have existed as
far back as the thirteenth century. The family rapidly declined after the Civil
War and sometime immediately before 1698 the hall passed by marriage from the
Fazakerley family to Percival Ryce. Although a few years later the family
reacquired hall, Robert Fazakerley, on his deathbed in 1731, with no heir, left
the hall to a John Hawarden, provided that John changed his surname to
Fazakerley . In 1820, Joseph Hawarden went bankrupt and Fazakerley Hall was
sold to a member of the Walton Family, a Richard Bullin. Richard was the Nephew
of Thomas Leyland, who owned the adjacent Walton Hall. It is unclear how many
times the hall was rebuilt, but
certainly at least once in 1823. There are no images of earlier buildings, but
there is one photograph of the hall that was built in 1823. The photograph was
taken in 1910, when the hall was nearly one hundred years old.
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| Fazakerly Hall 1910 |
Fazakerley Hall 1910
In 1930, part of the Leyland Naylor Estate was sold along
with fifty acres to Liverpool council who built the Fazakerley Hall Housing
Estate on the land. A few years later, the hall was demolished and the site
became a park until around 1990.
Kirkby Hall
Early in history, one branch of the family settled in
Kirkby. An important branch, which had their own coat of arms, and owned Kirkby
Hall lands, which amounted to the largest farm in Kirkby.
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| The Fazakerly de Kirkby Coat of Arms |
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Kirkby Hall 1959
The hall was demolished in 1968 to make way for the councils Civic Buildings.
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Stock Cottage
Probably the only original Fazackerley property that is
still standing is Stock Cottage, in Haskayne. This is the oldest cottage in
Lancashire and dates back to the 12th Century.
The cottage is located in School Lane, about 10 miles up the A59 from
Walton.
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| Stock Cottage |
Fazakerley Hall
was located to the east of Lower Lane, the opposite side to
the Hospital, in the vicinity of the road now called Blueberry Fields. The map
below was printed in 1927 and shows the hall built in 1823 and outbuildings.
Thomas de Fazakerleigh
became the Coroner for the county of Lancaster in 1379.
John Fazakerley became Governor of the Isle of Man 1418 to
1422. John de Fazakerley became Mayor of Liverpool in 1428. Nicholas Fazakerley
was reckoned amongst the gentry of "The West Derby Hundred" in 1512. Roger
Fazakerley became Mayor of Liverpool in 1530. William Fazakerley of Kirkby died
in 1600 and was buried at St Mary's,
Walton. Today, his grave is the oldest surviving grave in Walton. Hugh de Fazakerley accompanied the Duke of Lancaster to
Brittany in 1356/9.
Catherine Fazakerley became a Benedictine nun at Cambrai in
1662 Samual Fazakerley was Town Clerk of Liverpool in 1664~1668. Captain
Fazakerley of Walton was Governor of Liverpool Castle in 1668.
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The High
Street in Prescot was, until 1850, called Fazakerley Street, named after
Nicholas, who lived at number 3. The house is still there today.
|
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| Nicholas Fazakerly |
Nicholas Fazakerley was born in Prescot in 1682, died 1767
and is famous for three reasons. Firstly, he was the Member of Parliament for
Preston in the years 1732-1767, secondly
his will gave rise to the "Myth of the Fazackerley Millions" and thirdly, he is the oldest member of the
family with a surviving portrait.
Fazakerley Street
Fazakerley Street, Liverpool, was named to commemorate a nearby piece of
land, that was awarded to the Robert de Fazakerley in 1426, along with Spellow
House and Spellow Mill and land in Walton.
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Fazakerley
Street, Liverpool 1962
Photograph Brian
Saville
|
The land and properties, which amounted to one third of the
Walton Estate, were awarded to Robert in lieu of his marriage to Hellin de
Walton in 1416.The road was named together with the adjoining Spellow Place.
The photograph is taken looking down Fazakerley Street with the entrance to
Spellow Place approximately half way down the Street on the left. The second
photograph, is taken further down the Street, at the junction with Spellow Place.
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Spellow Place, Liverpool 1962
Photograph Brian Saville
|
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, England.
Portrait of Nicholas Fazackerley. Note that the portrait is
not on display so if you want to see the original you need to book an viewing
appointment with the "Keeper of Fine Art" at the museum.
Sources
Liverpool Central Library
Liverpool Records Office
British History Online
Encyclopedia Brittanica
Robert F Edwards
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