Dorothy Leigh

• The history of the ancient parish of Sandbach, co. Chester. Including the two chapelries of Holmes chapel and Goostry. From original records (1890)
• https://archive.org/details/historyofancient00earw
• https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00earw#page/n103/mode/1up
• Of the three shields on the front of the Lady's Altar Tomb, reckoning from east to west, we have
  • (A) Two bars, over all a bend compony, for Legh of Adlington, impaling Arg. two bars sa. on the upper a crescent, and in fess point a cross flory gu. for Brereton of Handford. This represents the marriage of Thomas Legh and Sybil Brereton, above mentioned.
  • (B) Arg. a lion rampant gu. between S.pheons sa. for Egerton, impales Arg. a chevron between 3 letters ?, sa. in mid chief a cinquefoil gu. for Holford, which impales Quarterly arg. and gu. in the 2nd. and 3rd quarters a fret or, in fess point a crescent for difference, for Warburton, being the marriage of an Egerton with two Ladies named Holford and Warburton, viz. Ralph Egerton, son of the Lady Mary, according to Ormerod.
  • (c) Arg. 2 bars sa. on the upper a crescent for difference, in mid chief a mullet of 5 points of the 2nd, for Brereton of Tatton, impaling Gu. a cross engrailed arg. for Legh of Lyme, which all impales Egerton as in (B) ; where Brereton and Legh are the two husbands of Dorothy Egerton, a daughter of Mary Grosvenor by her second marriage, according to Ormerod, and sister of Ralph aforesaid.
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Sir John was the son of Hugh Massey of Tatton, who died about 1371, and by his elder brother's death succeeded to the paternal estates. (fn. 27) His marriage with Alice de Worsley took place in or before 1372. (fn. 28) He was sheriff of Cheshire in 1389. (fn. 29) He sided with Richard II in 1399 and was imprisoned in Chester Castle; (fn. 30) four years later he joined in the Hotspur rising and was killed at the battle of Shrewsbury. (fn. 31) Thomas his eldest son incurred forfeiture on the like account, (fn. 32) but was restored, and dying in 1420, was succeeded by his brother Geoffrey. (fn. 33) Their mother Alice died eight years later, Geoffrey being then forty years of age. (fn. 34) On his death in 1457 without lawful issue (fn. 35) the Worsley manors went to his nephew William son of Richard Massey. (fn. 36) William died eleven years later; (fn. 37) his son and heir Sir Geoffrey (fn. 38) left an only child Joan, who by her first husband, William Stanley, (fn. 39) also left an only daughter Joan, heiress of Worsley, aged eighteen at her mother's death in 1511. (fn. 40) By John Ashton, her first husband, who died in 1513, Joan Stanley, the daughter, had no issue; but by her second, Sir Richard Brereton, a younger son of Sir Randle Brereton of Malpas, she had two sons and a daughter. (fn. 41) The eldest, Richard, died without issue, before his parents; (fn. 42) the second, Geoffrey, died in 1565, leaving an only son Richard, who at his grandfather's death in 1570 succeeded to Worsley. (fn. 43) He married Dorothy daughter of Sir Richard Egerton, of Ridley in Cheshire, but their only child Richard died in infancy. It was no doubt by Dorothy's influence that the Worsley manors were then granted by will to her father's illegitimate son, Sir Thomas Egerton, a distinguished lawyer, who rose to be Lord Chancellor, and was created Viscount Brackley in 1616. (fn. 44) Richard Brereton died in 1598; his widow Dorothy afterwards married Sir Peter Legh of Lyme, and dying in 1639 was buried at Eccles with her former husband. (fn. 45)