Article reproduced from TLHS Newsletter No. 109 (April 2026), by Stephen Tonge.
A new accession was received in 2025 by Bolton Archives; 24 deeds tracing the descent of Davenport Fold between 1606 and 1822. The deeds had apparently been in a family member's loft in Heaton for some time. The documents add to our knowledge of Harwood that was set out in Fred Horridge's excellent book (TLHS No 27). As Fred described, the manor of Harwood was purchased by five yeomen in 1612 for £1,100. They were entrusted to convey the various tenements located in their 300-acre holding to the other tenants in possession.
Fred had been able to track down the deeds for four of the Harwood farms, and had pieced together details of the other eight farms (including Davenport Fold) by cross referencing other documents. We now have the additional detail for Davenport Fold that was not available at the time he was researching.
The earliest document in the collection is a lease to John Davenport in 1607. He bought the property outright from the five yeomen on 4th March 1627 for £26. The following year he put it in the hands of trustees, Ellis Hardyier of Harwood and Alexander Ward of Sharples, although he remained resident there. The purpose of the transaction was seemingly to bar his wayward son John from inheriting his share of the estate unless he mended his ways, and allowing his other son Thomas to have the whole estate. If John ‘shall become a lawful and dutiful servant’ he could have his share, but if he remained ‘in trouble’ he should not (although he was given a 30-shilling annuity to be paid out of the estate by his brother).
There are various other documents which detail the descent of the property down seven generations of the Davenport family. I have photographs of the original documents if any members have an interest in them. The collection has not been entered on the Bolton Archive catalogue yet, and doesn't have an archival reference code. We have been helping Bolton Archives out with deciphering the documents and producing a handlist, which can be found on this link: Davenport Fold Old Deeds.
As part of the same accession, there was also a collection of documents relating principally to Bankbottom in Edgworth, a list of which can be found at this link: Edgworth Deeds
