Hi John ,

Where did you get the name " Manor House " from ?
Do you know any of the names of the " agents " you mention?

Cheers

Andrede

Town: butz65@blueyonder.co.uk

Hi John
I don't know where it was, but don't forget the boudaries of Ashton in Makerfield have not always been as they are today.
There was a large house at the south side of Liverpool Road close to where the junction to the East Lancs Road is now. If you go down Liverpool Road there are some gate posts to a field that suggest they were gates to something much grander in times past.

Alan

Town: ajames46@fsmail.net

Re: The Manor House. Many thanks Andrede and Alan for your answers. I am researching the life of Bishop Thomas Penswick who was respondible for Catholics in the north of England in the 1830s. He was born in 1772 in the Manor House, Ashton-in-Makerfield, his father being Thomas Penswick senior, who was Agent to the Gerard family The "Agent" would have been the Estate Manager or "Man of Business" for the Gerards. Bishop Penswick, having lived mainly in Chester and in the Liverpool area, also died at the Manor house in 1836. His brother Randolph Penswick had then succeeded to the post of Agent to the Gerards and was living there. Alan, I wonder if the gateposts you mention might mark one of former entries to Garswood Hall where the Gerards lived? A map of 1849 shows two entries with a entrance lodge at each, on the osuth side of Liverpool Road.

Town: oduinn@btinternet.com