Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/189

 To whom the grateful erector, Alexander Rigby, Esq., was Cornet; And when he was High Sheriff of this county, 1679, Placed the high obligation on the whole Family of the Tyldesleys, To follow the noble example of their Loyal Ancestor."

Sir Thomas Tyldesley married Frances, daughter of Ralph Standish, of Standish, and had issue—Edward, born in 1635; Thomas, born in 1642; Ralph, born in 1644; Bridget, who became the wife of Henry Blundell, of Ince Blundell; Elizabeth; Frances, wife of Thomas Stanley, of Great Eccleston; Anne, who was abbess of the English nuns at Paris in 1721; Dorothy; Mary, wife of Richard Crane; and Margaret.

Edward Tyldesley, the eldest son and heir, followed in the footsteps of his father, and was a staunch supporter of Charles II. When that monarch had been restored to the throne of his ancestors he purposed creating a fresh order of Knighthood, called the Royal Oak, wherewith to reward a number of his faithful adherents, whose social positions were of sufficient standing to render them suitable recipients of the honour. Edward Tyldesley was amongst those selected; but the design was abandoned by the king under the advice of his ministers, who considered that it was likely to produce jealousy and dissatisfaction in many quarters, and might prove inimical to the peace of the nation. Under an impression, which afterwards proved erroneous, that Charles II. intended to confer upon him the lands of Layton Hawes, in recognition of the loyal services of his father and himself, Edward Tyldesley erected a residence, called Fox Hall, near its borders, where he lived during certain portions of the year until his death, which occurred between 1685 and 1687. Edward Tyldesley espoused Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Fleetwood, of Colwich, in Staffordshire, and baron of Newton, in Lancashire; and after her decease, Elizabeth, daughter of Adam Beaumont, of Whitley, by whom he had only one child, Catherine Tyldesley, of Preston. The offspring of his union with Anne Fleetwood were Thomas, Edward, Frances, and Maria. Thomas Tyldesley succeeded to the estates, on the decease of his father, with the exception of Tyldesley, which had been sold by Edward Tyldesley in 1685, and resided during a considerable part