Henry was born about 1206, the son of Walter [or William] de Baskerville, de Northwode and Ysolda de Baskerville, de Northwode. The place is not known.
His wife is not known. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their three known children were William (c1224-?), Richard (c1230-?) and Reynold (c1235-?).
| Event | Date | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | ABT 1206 |
Note 1
!Notes: Despite traditional claims of Norse meaning, the name “Hesketh” is likely to be another variant of Hoxwode or Hawkins [Hotchkiss and Hoskins didn’t exist yet in 1246], formed in the northern county of Lancashire, but using keth [kith] as the ending and “Hes”, a scribal variant of “Hos”. “Kith and kin” refers to one’s friends, acquaintances, and family members. "Kith" represents familiar friends or neighbors, while "kin" signifies blood relatives. The idiom, rooted in Middle English, denotes a person's entire close social circle, including both family and friends.
If we use the dating derived from the 1246 land transfer record below, where William would need to be 21, then William must be born by 1225. Henry must be born before 1207 if we use 18 as a minimum age for him to be a father. If the rest of the Hoxwode / Hawkins / Hesketh theory is true, then he would have to be a son of Ysolda de Northwode, de Baskerville [~1181 - >1266 and still alive in 1246] and brother of Nicholas [~1200 - ~1242]. There is no record of a Henry among Ysolda’s children, but most of those were insinuated by being given Northwode property, when it’s distribution was regulated by the representative of the King, and being named de Northwode at that time. If Henry had already gone out on his own, and taken land in Lancashire with his son, that might be a reason for missing that inheritance. The names and dates of many early Heskeths exactly match Hawkins / Hotchkiss relatives, making this theory seem likely, though we still aren’t sure.
The short lines for Henry and Richard are documented, but nothing so far confirms they continue. One visitation chart seems to have alternated them as ancestors of Sir William, husband of Maud, but that's not what the actual sources from the time say. Thus, I'd theorize that Henry and Richard went to Lancashire and paved the way for William meeting Maud, thus starting the Hesketh line, then faded from history. Maybe we'll find them later.
!Note: Summary Boteler, Hesketh, and the Lancashire Re-Formation:
An early marriage between the Botelers of Wem and the de Ferrers line — through Ankaret le Boteler [1310–1361] and Thomas de Ferrers [1305–1353] —
shows an established partnership between those families and the wider Sybil-descended group.
By the early 14th century, the lines of Henry [de Baskerville] Hesketh of Hesketh [~1206 - ?] and Sir William Hawkins Hesketh [~1243 - ~1327] are
established in the Hesketh and Heskin area, along with the Clerk and Taillour lines, forming a working local network.
At the same time, the Lancashire Botelers are split between the Warrington barony, which ends c.1328, and the Wem barony, created 1308 and continuing
through William le Boteler [d. 1334], William [d. 1361], and William [d. 1369].
During the final phase of the Wem line, Nicholas le Boteler is active in Lancashire from about 1331 to 1368, holding land beside Hesketh and supporting
the group, including land transfers into their hands. This places the Wem interest directly next to the developing Hesketh network.
In 1369, the 3rd Baron of Wem dies and the line passes through Elizabeth, effectively ending the male baronial line. At the same time, Nicholas
disappears from the Lancashire record.
What follows is a short gap in authority for the Botelers. The local Hesketh-side group remains in place, but the Boteler structure is no longer unified.
The turning point comes in 1389, when Elizabeth Boteler of the Warrington line marries Richard Boteler of the Rawcliffe line under papal dispensation.
This reunites the two Lancashire branches into a single organized line.
After this, authority stabilizes. By the 1390s, Sir John Boteler of Rawcliffe appears as sheriff, marking the return of a functioning Lancashire leadership.
!Note: The principal branches of the Hesketh family may be distinguished by their territorial designations. The senior line is styled “Hesketh of Hesketh,” reflecting its descent from the original lords of the manor. The cadet branch is styled “Hesketh of Rufford,” a designation consistently confirmed by visitations, inquisitions post mortem, and Duchy of Lancaster records. These locative identifiers provide a reliable basis for separating the two lines.
!Source: Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Lancaster;"
The Victoria history of the Counties of England, EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A., A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE, VOLUME VI, THE VICTORIA HISTORY
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088434620/cu31924088434620_djvu.txt#:~:text=k%20[Standish]%2C%20211%20Emmott%20[Whalley]%2C%20525%20Euxton,[p]%20115%2C%20[m]%20115%20Thorp%20[Croston]%2C%20104.
III. 1. Henry Hesketh father of William with land in Beconsaw. <<<<
Henry -> William -> William.
!Source: Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Lancaster;"
The Victoria history of the Counties of England, EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A., A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE, VOLUME VI, THE VICTORIA HISTORY
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088434620/cu31924088434620_djvu.txt#:~:text=k%20[Standish]%2C%20211%20Emmott%20[Whalley]%2C%20525%20Euxton,[p]%20115%2C%20[m]%20115%20Thorp%20[Croston]%2C%20104.
—
Adam Banastre confirmed to William
son of Henry de Hesketh part of his land
in the vill of Becconsall and Hesketh,
with common of pasture and other
liberties, at a rent of 12d.; Towneley
MS. C 8, 13 [Chet. Lib.], B 314. John
de Hesketh was a witness. Richard
Banastre in 1246 claimed 4 acres in
Becconsall from William son of Henry
and William son of John de Beconsaw,
but failed; Assize R. 404, m. 3d.
Note: This record places John with his brother Henry in Lancashire. The 1246 date would be slightly after the land transfer from Adam to William. If that transfer was in 1245, then John and William would both have to be born by 1224. If Hesketh Bank first appeared recorded as Heschath in 1288, we can conclude, that this record is refering to the land of the Heskeths, rather than the village which didn’t exist yet.
—
William son of Henry de Eskehagh
occurs in 1258-93; Orig. R. 43 Hen.
III, m. 6.
!Source: Hesketh Bank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesketh_Bank
Hesketh Bank is a village in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, 7 miles north-east of Southport and 7 miles south-west of Preston. The village is within the civil parish of Hesketh-with-Becconsall, which includes the village of Becconsall immediately to the south and which borders the Ribble Estuary to the north. The parish had a population of 4,187 at the 2021 census.[1] Hesketh Bank, Becconsall, and the village of Tarleton to the south form a single built-up area with a population of 8,755.[2]
Toponymy
Hesketh was first recorded in 1288 as Heschath.[3] The name is derived either from Old Norse hest shei meaning "race course",[3][4] or from a plural of the Welsh hesg, meaning "sedges".[4]
History
The village of Hesketh is known to have existed in the 13th century.[5] Hesketh Bank had a substantial brick-making industry using the local boulder clay, bricks being transported by the West Lancashire Railway which opened in 1878.[6]
Due to its geographical location, close to the cities of Preston and Liverpool, the village suffered during the Second World War. Stray bombs hit the old church in 1943, and landed along Becconsall Lane, causing extensive damage to the housing there.